Trapped in the Beastworld Breeder System (BL)-Chapter 46: Deceptive Death

Chapter 46: Deceptive Death
With everything exorbitant that had happened so far, Areis knew painfully and clearly that he truly needed to start using his brain, in case he hadn’t been using it properly before. Not just his own brain either, but the system’s as well.
"System," Areis called out, his voice strained, "can I purchase an escape protocol for this?"
[Host, I thought you’d never ask about the protocol. The escape protocol is just a call away for ten CE.]
"Damn it," Areis sighed heavily, dragging a hand down his face. "Where has my brain been all this time that I utterly forgot about it? And now I’m remembering when I have just two fucking retrials left."
"/Escape Protocol/," Areis requested immediately after his frustrated wail, and the system notification chimed in at once.
[Escape Protocol Activated.
Host appears to be in a critical situation where an escape route is required. The route provided is not physical but rather logical and mental.
Because this protocol is being used to successfully complete a mission, the guidance will be limited.
There is only one entry for this route.
A single phrase.
Deceptive Death.]
"Huh?" Areis frowned deeply as the words registered. "What the fuck is deceptive death?"
He stared at the floating blue screen as if it might suddenly explain itself. What was he supposed to derive from something so vague? The confusion was so intense that he scratched at his bald head in irritation, his eyes never leaving the glowing interface before him.
His breathing grew uneven as the system countdown appeared beside him. After failing twice combined with the first attempt that made three retrials already spent. He was now left with only two retrials and a brutally shortened countdown of five minutes.
He glanced at the ticking numbers after gathering his thoughts and felt his chest tighten when he saw it had already dropped to three minutes.
"So first, I’m short on time," Areis muttered bitterly, pacing as he analyzed his situation, "short on money, and lastly—short on knowledge."
He let out a humorless laugh. "I must be incredibly stupid if a single phrase is supposed to free me from death, and I can’t even grasp it."
"What could it mean?" Areis pondered aloud as he moved back and forth in the space he found himself in after everything.
As he walked to and fro, his thoughts spiraled faster and faster. "Deceptive death... does this mean that someone still needs to die at the end of the day?"
"Is it the king?" he wondered grimly. "Or one of the officials?"
His thoughts were completely tangled, and when the timer ticked down to about one minute and a few seconds, something finally snapped into place.
"But it said deceptive," Areis murmured, his eyes widening slightly. "And deceptive means a lie. Could this mean that someone needs to die... but it isn’t actually a real death?"
His eyes lit up as a slow smile crept onto his lips. "I need to kill someone, but that person doesn’t actually need to die?"
His excitement quickly twisted into frustration. "How the hell do I make that happen?"
He scratched at his head again, the complexity of the situation pressing heavily on him. "How is death meant to be deceptive? A fake death? How am I supposed to pull that off?"
Just then, the system chimed in again.
[Host, I cannot help further, but I will clarify one thing. If the person for whom the death is intended isn’t aware, then it cannot be called deceptive.]
"Wait..." Areis froze mid-step, the system’s words sinking in slowly. "I think I get this now. If I decide to attack Lucien and make it a false one, he must be aware and that’s how he can deceive people into thinking he’s dead. So, does this mean... the deceptive death is meant for me and not anyone else?"
"I need to kill myself?" His brows furrowed deeply. "But how do I kill myself without actually killing myself?"
Though still confused, Areis felt a surge of grim relief—at least he had finally grasped the core of it. Just as time ran out, he felt his knees hit the cold, familiar stone floor of the courtroom, and every pair of eyes snapped back onto him.
Areis lifted his gaze and looked toward Lucien, who was still speaking to the king, then toward Kenzie. He let out a quiet sigh. He still had things to think through and it had to be fast.
Yes, the system had helped his admittedly stupid brain decode the message, but now came the hardest part: figuring out how to execute it.
"How do I kill myself... but not kill myself?" he asked internally, knowing that the answer to that single question would determine whether he escaped this loop or vanished entirely.
Areis had initially believed this mission would be one of the easiest things he’d done since entering this world. Now, he realized it was no different from the brutal legal debates and group discussions he used to face in college—except this time, his life depended on a two-line phrase.
"So here’s how it goes," he reasoned carefully. "If deceptive means make-believe, then I have to do something that isn’t true... but make them believe it is."
Lucien was already walking toward him when the realization hit.
"This isn’t for Lucien," Areis thought sharply. "It’s for Kenzie."
Kenzie was the one aiming to kill. The one watching. The one waiting.
"How about I lie to him that I’m dead?" Areis whispered under his breath.
"How about... I kill myself?"
A smile curled across Areis’s face as he realized he had finally, painfully deduced the escape protocol. Just then, Lucien arrived before him, repeating those familiar questions—questions Areis had heard far too many times and no longer wanted to hear.
As Lucien turned to leave once again, Areis raised the dagger in his hand. For a split second, confusion seized him as he stared at the blade.
Without enough time left to think, Areis plunged it into his chest and missed something crucial.
Pain exploded through his senses. His grip faltered, and his hands trembled violently as he failed to push the dagger any deeper. The last thing he saw was the scene crumbling apart before his vision fractured completely, dragging him back to the familiar place he had grown far too accustomed to.