I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

Unlike the front of the auction hall, ablaze with noise and garish lights, the corridor leading to the staff area was oddly silent and dim.
Only faint emergency lights illuminated the cold metal walls, and the air was thick with dust and the stench of oil.
I moved quickly, scanning the hallway and silencing my footsteps.

On the mental map in my head, scattered red dots showed what looked like patrolling entities.
"...There."
It didn’t take long to encounter the first masked monster.

As I turned a corner, I nearly locked eyes with one on patrol—but fortunately, it was facing the other way.
I immediately ducked into the shadows.
Assassinate.

The moment I silently recited the skill name, I felt a subtle shift in my surroundings—like a thin membrane had formed around me.
My footsteps made no echo in the corridor.
I crept up behind the monster without drawing the return blade, and with a powerful chop from my hand, struck the back of its neck precisely.

Thud!
Shatter.
With a dull sound, the monster’s neck snapped. It collapsed without resistance and scattered into chips.

Strangely, the sound of my strike—or the monster hitting the ground—didn’t seem to echo at all.
Only I could hear it.
Apparently, the Assassinate skill came with a noise-suppression effect.

...This is really useful.
Realizing the skill could dispatch the masked monsters both silently and efficiently, I gained confidence.
I moved faster, more boldly.
As I advanced through the corridor, I took out two or three more patrolling monsters the same way.

Each time, piles of chips were left behind on the floor.
"...Three down."
Then, I reached a wider section of the corridor—and spotted three masked monsters standing guard together.

The corridor was too narrow to bypass them.
Checking the map confirmed it: this was the only route to what looked like the storage room.
I had to go through them.

Three at once... Can I pull it off?
I hid behind a wall and watched their movements.
They weren’t moving much—just standing still and glancing around.

Looks doable.
I began calculating the timing.
As soon as one turned its head and momentarily separated from the other two, I moved.

Shiiing.
I drew the return blade from my belt.
And without hesitation—I hurled it like a javelin at the other two, the ones still close together.

Swoosh—!
Empowered by my immense strength, the blade shot forward, slicing through the air—and pierced through both their chests at once.
Crack!

Neither had time to scream. They instantly burst into chips.
The blade struck the opposite wall, embedded deep after skewering them.
"...!"

The third monster, just realizing what had happened, turned to charge me.
But it was too late.
I had already closed the distance, reversed my grip on the empty scabbard, and smashed it straight into the center of its mask.

CRACK!
The mask shattered. The last monster crumpled into chips.
Panting, I looked around.

Thankfully, no other monsters had been alerted by the noise of my blade hitting the wall.
The way forward to the storage room seemed clear.
The large space just beyond the hall—that had to be it.

I took another deep breath, then stepped forward into the darkened corridor.
When I reached the door to the storage area, I found it half open.
It felt like a trap—but after making it this far, I couldn’t turn back.

"...Let’s go."
Even to myself, my footsteps sounded courageous as I slipped through the open doorway.
Creeeak...

SLAM!
The moment I stepped inside, the door slammed shut behind me and locked.
All at once, the emergency lights in the storage room went out—and a barrage of harsh spotlights turned to shine directly at me.

"Ugh…"
The sudden light was blinding. I couldn’t see a thing.
Grrhhh…

From the shadows came a low growl—then, like mist, shadows shimmered, and black smoke began leaking from every corner of the storage room.
One by one, masked monsters emerged from the smoke.
Their featureless white masks all turned upward at once—a scene straight out of a horror movie.

Finally, a massive masked monster—clearly a leader—stepped into view, surrounded by dozens of the regular masked ones.
I was completely surrounded.
"...Heh…"

My heart pounded, but weirdly enough, I also felt calm.
Right. It was going too smoothly until now.
This was more like a monster encounter should be.

I tapped the scabbard at my hip twice—my familiar return blade slid out into my hand.
I tightened my grip and prepared for their assault.
The tension was thick—until one of the monsters broke it with a screech.

"Kiiiehh!"
It lunged.
Two more followed right behind.

I ducked and sliced clean through the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ mask of the first attacker, sidestepped the second, and thrust into its abdomen.
They disintegrated into chips almost instantly—but then—
THUD!

A kick struck my side from the blind spot!
"Urgh—wait, no."
It was a solid hit.

But I felt no pain.
Instead, I heard a faint cracking sound from my blade—the return blade had absorbed the damage.
I immediately retaliated, smashing the scabbard into the attacker’s mask and reducing it to chips.

But that exchange taught me something important.
My movements are too big.
The monsters weren’t particularly fast or well-coordinated.

But relying too much on raw strength and swinging wide left me with long recovery times and too many openings.
I was making myself slower.
I needed to change.

I had more than enough power already.
What I lacked was efficiency.
I revised my fighting style immediately.

Smaller motions. Tighter swings. Quicker movements.
I aimed solely for the masks.
Control your power...

Ting! Slice!
Smash!
Once my movement changed, the tide turned.

Even without wide swings, the strength behind my blade was more than enough to crush their weak defenses.
Their attacks never reached me—and my counters landed as clean, fatal blows.
One. Two. Three...

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but at some point, I stopped fending off attackers.
Now I was chasing them down as they fled in fear, slicing and smashing their masks from behind.
Chips littered the floor.
The horde of masked monsters had nearly vanished.

Only the massive leader and a few stragglers remained.
"What are they—"
The remaining monsters, apparently giving up, removed their own masks.

Then, just like when they had appeared, they melted into smoke and vanished into the shadows.
I stood still, stunned for a moment—then decided not to think too hard about it.
Now only the huge masked leader remained.

As I approached, it backed away and began hurling broken shelves and boxes at me.
"Grrrhhh!"
Wham!

Crash!
It roared like an angry bull, and the objects it threw were actually quite threatening—but still avoidable.
I dodged nimbly and closed in.

Then swung at its leg.
But—
Whoosh.

The blade passed through as if cutting mist.
What? No physical form?
I frowned and activated [Weak Spot Detection].

All of the monster’s body was faded and indistinct—except for the white mask.
That mask shone bright red.
Its only weak spot is the mask.

Creakkk!
Realizing its leg hadn’t been harmed, the monster let out a grating screech—then suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm with a massive hand.
Its grip was insane.

At the same time, I heard a crackle from my blade.
The return blade, which had saved me so many times, split—and shattered completely.
But instead of despairing—I grinned.

"Got you now, bastard."
It probably thought it had broken my weapon.
But I had something better.

Instead of trying to shake off its grip—I grabbed back, locking my hand tightly around its arm.
Then I pulled with all my strength.
The monster’s now-materialized arm—used to hold me—was turned against it.

"Ki-kiiiehh?!"
A pure contest of strength.
The size difference was enormous, but I yanked its hulking upper body forward.

Now the mask was right at eye level.
Earlier, it had been too tall to strike cleanly—but now, it was in range.
"Take this!"

With my free hand, I drew the scabbard—and stabbed it straight into the center of the mask.
CRRACK!
With a loud shatter, the scabbard pierced through the mask and the monster’s face underneath.

The monster froze.
Then—
Rattle-rattle-rattle—!

Chips rained down across the wide storage room.
"...Haaah… Haaaah..."
I panted heavily.

I wouldn’t call it a total struggle—but this had been the first fight that truly put me on edge.
A strange sense of exhilaration lingered.
Maybe now… I could finally shed the label of coward.

Clack.
Then I heard the door unlock—and saw a new monster step through, wearing a white mask drawn with a mustache.
"..."

I instinctively raised the scabbard again.
A name tag was pinned to its chest: [Manager]
The monster glanced at the mountain of chips and the scattered remains of its comrades—then looked at me.

Is this the real boss?
Unlike the others, its mask was stylized—with that mustache—and the name tag made it even more distinct.
It was clearly one of the key monsters of this casino.

I swallowed hard.
The Manager silently reached out and placed a hand on the door.
Click.

Then quietly closed it.
"...Huh?"
A moment of silence followed.

I stood still, blinking—then, realizing it wasn’t coming back, I decided not to waste any more time.
Quickly, I began searching through the storage room for the items meant for the evening auction.