"W-What's going on?! An earthquake?!"
In the kitchen, Sun Dajun, startled out of his wits, clutched his head and shouted. Beside him, Maeda Miwa let out a sharp scream.
"Stay put! Don't run around! Bro, sis, what the hell is happening?!"
Green, equally frightened, barely managed to bark at Sun Dajun and Maeda Miwa before instinctively trying to bolt toward the three outside.
"Don't move! The problem isn't on our side! Keep everyone quiet."
Takakai's voice cut through the chaos. Without hesitation, Maki spun around, scrambled up from the floor, and pulled out a wall clock from her backpack.
The source of the violent tremors wasn't Room 208—it was Room 210.
Though the specifics were unclear, it was obvious that whatever had been lured into 210 was now locked in a struggle with whatever had already been inside. And these two entities were putting on a far more terrifying show than the earlier knocking urban legend. The relentless, earth-shaking impacts made it feel like the entire building was about to collapse.
"This is…"
Kaguya, closest to the door, heard it most clearly.
While Maki could only roughly determine that the tremors came from 210, Kaguya could distinctly make out a muffled sob, tangled with roars and shrieks, pouring out from that room.
A cacophony of chaos.
Glass bottles shattering.
Bookshelves toppling.
Scattered debris spreading outward.
As though everything was losing its original form, slowly crumbling into ruin.
What in the…?
The wide-eyed girl suddenly realized the sounds in her ears were growing indistinct.
Takakai, somehow already in front of her despite the violent shaking, stumbled forward and plugged earplugs into Kaguya's ears.
"Don't. Listen."
He enunciated each word. Though Kaguya couldn't hear him through the earplugs, she immediately understood her mistake by reading his lips.
I got so absorbed in the sound I didn't even realize… My reaction time has deteriorated this badly?
Nodding slightly at Takakai, Kaguya braced herself against the wall. The two of them staggered down the shaking hallway, burst into the living room, and slammed the door shut, sealing the noise outside.
Strangely, though the tremors had been violent just moments ago, they began to weaken after Kaguya put in the earplugs—and after closing the living room door, they faded entirely.
"Even if we're not discovered or targeted, just being exposed to certain information—like sound—can still affect us? No, if that were the case, we should've been attacked back in 205. Maybe it depends on whether the entity is [activated] or [inactive]. This is getting more complicated. If things go south, is the living room with the door closed the only safe zone?"
Takakai mulled over the possibilities, still feeling like something didn't add up.
The corpse in 205—if it had always been "alive," why didn't it attack immediately? Why wait and follow them afterward?
It had been misdirected to 210, proving it had human-like senses and could understand speech. But how did its thought process work? What was its level of intelligence? Memory retention?
Whatever was in 210 had clashed with the thing they'd lured inside—at least, that's what it sounded like. Only Kaguya, with her sharp senses, had heard the details clearly. He'd have to ask her later.
Takakai's thoughts drifted back to the frozen corpse in 208.
Why did the thing in 205 act so quickly, while the one in 208 remained still?
And what about 204—the room he and Kaguya hadn't fully explored? Was something hiding there, watching them all along?
Most of these questions had no immediate answers.
And whether they could stay alive long enough to find them was anyone's guess.
"Instead of this puzzle-fest, I'd much rather be playing a brainless action game modded with Feng Ling Yue Ying cheats…"
Takakai could only sigh in resignation.
"B-Bro, what the hell was that outside…?"
Green, who'd nearly pissed himself from the earthquake-like tremors, peeked out cautiously from the kitchen.
"Not our problem. Don't freak yourself out. Where are the other two?"
Kaguya, still wearing her earplugs, didn't look too good—she probably needed time to recover. Maki, sitting on the floor, also seemed affected, though it wasn't clear how. Only Takakai remained unfazed as he stood up and asked coldly:
"They're fine. They're staying put."
Green nodded rapidly, grinning as he waved the knife in his hand as if to say all good.
Takakai frowned. After checking on Kaguya and confirming she was recovering, he walked past Green—who was a full head taller—and looked into the kitchen.
Sun Dajun and Maeda Miwa were huddled by the fridge.
"The hell were you guys doing out there?!"
Maeda Miwa stayed silent, but Sun Dajun mustered enough courage to snap at Takakai.
Takakai didn't answer. He just stared at Sun Dajun's resentful glare, Maeda Miwa's cowering form, and—most importantly—the completely motionless fridge behind them.
He watched for a long moment but didn't dare step forward to check if it was truly safe.
"In this hellhole, we only know a little more than you two idiots. I don't want trouble. I just want to get out alive. So as long as you don't screw with me, I won't screw with you. Got it?"
With that, Takakai tossed Sun Dajun two chocolate bars, watching as the man reflexively caught them. Then he turned to Green.
"Keep an eye on them. If they start acting weird, tell us immediately."
He considered explaining further, but with Kaguya and Maki still out of sorts, the initial tension already set, and the possibility that these two might die on schedule like some JoJo"Bites the Dust" scenario, he decided to maintain the status quo. If they were still fine after an hour, he'd try talking.
"B-Bro, are they…?"
Green gulped. What he'd thought was just babysitting two normies was clearly more sinister. He was already regretting it.
"If you're not up for it, we can switch. You go investigate instead. Want to?"
Takakai's flat stare made Green's face turn pale—almost as white as the ghost from The Wandering Soul.
"N-No, sorry! I'll watch them, I swear…"
Green shrank back, but Takakai had already turned away, missing the resentment in his eyes.
Back in the living room, Maki handed Kaguya the important letters before slowly sitting on a stool.
Something's off.
Everything looked normal, but Takakai couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong.
"Sanchez… 109… So the Shirakawa Apartments became like this because of a survivor's extreme actions triggering a chain reaction?"
Kaguya muttered as she skimmed the letters, brow furrowed.
"Be careful reading those. The letters feel… strange. I saw some sentences earlier, but now they're gone…"
Maki rubbed her temples, yawning. Her eyelids drooped.
Weird… My body feels heavy…
Did I forget something? Feels important… but I can't remember…
I wasn't like this earlier. What's happening…?
"You okay?"
A hand on her shoulder jolted Maki slightly awake.
"Hah, why wouldn't I be? Worrying about me? Focus on yourself. We've barely scratched the surface here. Don't get complacent. And—hey, you're not hurt, are you? The medical supplies are still good. Don't tough it out if you are."
Her sharp tone softened halfway into genuine concern.
Takakai didn't reply, just kept staring at her.
Something's wrong with her.
He couldn't explain why, but his instincts screamed it.
Ever since he'd touched the wall clock, ever since he'd become hyper-aware of the three head-clocks watching him, his senses had sharpened in a way that let him feel the abnormality radiating off Maki.
Are you really okay? You seem off.
He opened his mouth to ask—
But before he could speak, another sound cut in first.
Click—
A mechanical noise, like gears turning.
It came from Maki's backpack.
From the head-clock in her hands.
From the clock hands themselves, ticking unnaturally fast.
All three of them snapped their attention to the wall clock beside Maki.
And right before their eyes—
Its hands suddenly began accelerating.
Spinning wildly forward.
Toward an unknown time.
Toward an inevitable future.