Chapter 220: Multiplayer [5]

It was hard to explain.

However, the moment they entered the bathroom, it was as if something around them had shifted.

Joanna subconsciously licked her lips as she looked around her.

Broken tiles littered the floor, crunching faintly beneath each step. The shower curtains hung in torn, stained strips, gently swaying though no breeze stirred the air.

And then...

There was the tub.

A hulking shell of porcelain, fractured with several cracks. Dark stains ringed its rim, and from deep within the basin came a slow, deliberate

drip

that echoed through the silence.

Drip! Drip...!

Every sound seemed magnified in that moment.

The crunch of their steps on broken tiles.

The slow, rhythmic creak of the cupboard door above the sink, swaying on rusted hinges.

And then...

The sound of their own breath.

Not their characters. Their breath.

They could hear everything.

"....."

Silence filtered across the room as the three looked around the place.

They looked for the same arrows that usually indicated where the letter would be.

But...

—...Nn? I’m not seeing any arrows. Do you?

—I don’t.

Joanna shook while she looked at Min.

He was ever quiet, but his silence indicated that he had also not found a thing.

The three paused, unable to understand what they were supposed to do.

But then—

Cra Crack!

A sharp, piercing sound echoed across the room.

—....!?

—....!

—....!

All three turned their heads.

It was there that they noticed the mirror glass shattering, words manifesting in the mirror when they weren’t there before.

For a moment, Joanna felt her breath growing more shallow.

But that was only for a brief moment.

From shallow to pausing.

Just after glimpsing the letters scrawled across the mirror, she caught sight of a pair of hollow eyes in its corner. Her hand tensed, almost imperceptibly, as she flicked the mouse toward the eyes.

A bright light filtered across the room shortly after.

The other two froze.

"Hm?"

The old lady appeared again.

"...How interesting."

The old lady muttered, staring at the mirror in front of her.

"This wasn’t here before. How strange. How very strange..."

Her voice was hoarse, and as she slowly turned her head, her gaze paused on the three individually.

But then, it paused on a certain individual.

It was Mia.

Her wrinkles moved, and her face cracked into a smile.

And then...

She spoke, her voice changing. Sounding... more robotic.

More sinister.

"Oh my, I startled you? I didn’t mean to do that."

—H-huh?

Hearing Mia’s startled voice, Joanna blinked her eyes. Why was she reacting this way? Did something—

—Y-you... you can hear me?

Joanna paused in that moment.

Min too.

Both turned to look at Mia’s character.

Although they couldn’t see her directly, they could see the subtle trembling of her character’s head.

Was her hand trembling?

Or—

"Oh my, am I disturbing you, officers?"

The old lady put on a surprised expression, her face turning away from Mia.

"...I was just curious about the investigation. I do apologize for that. I will quickly move out of your way."

Holding onto her lamp, she slowly moved out of the door.

The three followed her back as she left the door, and the darkness swallowed her retreating back.

As the silence extended, Mia let out a strained chuckle.

—Hehe... I really thought she could hear me. It was probably some stupid coincidence.

—Hm.

Joanna shook her head.

For a moment, she had her a little bit tense.

—Let’s get out of this room. We’ve cleared the first floor.

Taking one last look at the letters on the wall, she quietly mumbled, ’don’t look’ to herself before leaving.

The three met the old lady again, and after a brief interaction with her, they moved towards the second floor.

Tracing the old lady’s back, Joanna’s eyes narrowed.

’...For how long is she going to appear?’

"Not long, dear."

—....!?

Her hand stopped, and so did her breath.

"...We don’t have long until we reach the second floor. Age... is slowly catching up to me hehe."

—Is everything okay?

Hearing Mia’s voice, evidently noticing something wrong with her, Joanna opened her mouth, but then closed it as she moved the mouse up and down.

They finally reached the second floor.

The moment they did, a certain tension seemed to hang in the surroundings.

Almost as if...

Someone was watching them.

Their breathing grew more shallow.

In that moment, all three forgot about the fact that this was a game, and their eyes narrowed. Joanna was the most experienced one in the group, and so she was able to remain relatively calm.

—Yes.

—...Not really. I’m not okay. This is weird.

Hearing the comments from the two, Joanna looked at Mia, who was the first to enter the next room.

—Nn? This...!

Mia’s voice caught Joanna’s attention as she entered.

It was also in that moment that she made a similar sound.

The room...

—Why is the place so clean? Is the old lady only taking care of the second floor?

Indeed, looking at the second floor first apartment, the place was a lot cleaner. The room looked like a bedroom, and the general vibe looked a lot better than before.

And yet...

Despite the cleanliness.

For some reason, the place felt even more unsettling than the lower floors.

—Keep a check on your surroundings. Let’s look for the next part of the task.

The three got to work.

Joanna started searching the place, looking through every cupboard and side that she could find.

As she was looking, her gaze couldn’t help but fall on a certain frame that rested by the nightstand.

She slowly reached out for it and grabbed it.

She couldn’t make out what was in the picture frame—it was too dusty.

Positioning the cursor over it, she clicked. The frame lifted into view, and only when it was close did she manage to peer through the film of dust and smudges clouding the glass.

A young girl and a man?

Inside the frame, a young man stood beside a little girl in front of a house. Both faced the camera, smiling faintly, posed like any ordinary family snapshot.

There was nothing overtly strange about it. Just a regular photo.

And yet... Joanna’s eyes kept drifting to the man’s clothing.

A gray suit and a matching gray top hat.

Something about it unsettled her. The longer she stared, the faster her heart began to race.

Those clothes...

She was familiar with them.

She had—

—....!?

Creaaak!

A creaking sound echoed, and everyone paused.

Someone.

Something was here.

Joanna kept her cool, recalling the previous words from before.

—Let’s go to the next room. Keep your eyes peeled to the floor. Remember the previous words from before. Don’t look.

Slowly turning her head, her hand paused as she saw a pair of leather shoes.

However, she quickly dismissed them and moved on to the next room alongside the others.

But it was right as they entered the next room that they saw it.

The next words.

Sprawled across the floor in red.

[Everything is a lie!]

[I... I am not sick! They are sick!]

[They try to trick me! They trick me through sight and sound!]

[Run!!]

Run...

All three paused.

And then—

Creaaak!

A soft, drawn-out creaking sound suddenly echoed, like weight shifting on old wood.

It came from behind them.

A chill stabbed down their spine, and every muscle in their body locked up. Joanna’s fingers clenched tighter around the mouse.

Then, a voice broke the silence.

"Oh, you’re here. Did you find anything?"

It was the old lady.

But—

—Whatever you do, don’t look!

Joanna rushed the words out, already understanding what was happening, her entire palm sweaty and her body trembling subtly.

—Don’t look! It’s a trick!