Chapter 71: The Knocking Sound.
All four at this time were very confused.
Airi immediately spoke up, clearing away this tense and silent atmosphere:
"This is a challenge, so possibly this is some kind of clue."
The three girls immediately sat down on the bed one by one, they all looked at the scraps of paper with a look of doubt.
Takeshi placed the hourglass on the small cabinet next to the bed and turned to walk towards the table at the window. He picked up the wooden chair and went out to the place opposite the three girls who had just sat down.
Takeshi sat in front of them and observed.
Elyssia sat there, she observed the small paper in Ayaka's right hand and glanced at the large paper she just gave, which was in Ayaka's left hand.
Airi with a pensive look, but she still spoke out her analysis:
"From what I see, these can be clues."
"The hourglass is to count down before one day ends and memory is erased, and the information on the piece of paper Ayaka offered also confirmed it. It seems like clues arranged beforehand."
"And the large paper on the table is for us to record."
Airi with a look of irritation before this challenge.
"Just hearing it feels this challenge is very complicated already. That Vilkel..."
Elyssia swung her legs when hearing Airi analyze, a strange feeling in her shoe made her stop.
She bent down, everyone paid attention to her, Airi who was speaking also stopped.
Elyssia immediately took off the high-top shoe with a bit of difficulty. She still wore a white and short sock.
She immediately turned the shoe upside down, dropping out a pen and a scrap of paper.
The three sitting observing were a bit surprised, Elyssia bent down and picked up both in one sweep of the hand.
"Is it another clue?"
She straightened up and looked closely at the two items, the three around as well.
Ayaka immediately spoke up:
"It seems the pen is for us to write, and the paper is another clue."
Elyssia placed the pen on her lap, and picked up the paper.
Looking over it was folded casually, but there were even words on the outside, showing this small paper was written on a lot.
Takeshi curious immediately stood up and went near to observe.
Elyssia slowly opened the scrap of paper, each fold was removed. The whole group held their breath observing, everyone knew clues would be very important.
She had opened in the right direction. One side was covered with words in small handwriting.
Elyssia had not read yet, but she opened her eyes wide when realizing:
-"This is my handwriting."
The four of them peered in and read each small word, though difficult to read. But not impossible.
"I am not sure, but this could be the first time."
"We were in a room, after a while. A loud noise echoed from outside the door. Then someone knocked. Then a man broke the door and burst in. He slashed off one of Airi's hands."
The group swallowed saliva, when finishing reading this side, everyone carried bewilderment. Especially Airi, but she still tried to keep calm.
Elyssia immediately flipped to the other side.
Above the line: When the hourglass runs out, memory will be erased. Must be careful in every action.
Was a short segment:
"Takeshi had his head slashed off..."
Takeshi started when reading to the end, he touched his neck with bewilderment.
"I... was slashed?"
Elyssia was silent, her voice switched to seriousness:
"Calm down."
The group immediately remained silent listening.
"When one day ends, memory is erased, and these scraps of paper are actually not clues of the challenge. But they are what the first memory erase left for us."
Airi nodded as if to agree.
"Very reasonable, and I think that. This event is for us to change."
Ayaka when hearing that, her face brightened when understanding.
Airi continued: "We need to change or do something to complete the challenge. This I think we have to find."
Takeshi pointed his hand at the door, a serious face.
"So it means we need to prevent some man who will burst in here in a little while?"
Airi nodded, she did not know what more to say, but also could not reason anything further.
"Probably so, consider it the first event and after preventing the man. We will have others."
Elyssia picked up the pen on her lap and raised it to attract everyone's attention.
"So we need to record, avoiding the case of an accident and memory being erased. Otherwise we will be like just now being brought here."
Ayaka pondered what she just read, she both nodded and thought, as if having thought of something.
She immediately spoke out her thought.
"The paper said there was a loud noise then there was a knocking sound. So outside the door will be temporarily safe, right?"
Takeshi stepped towards the door and turned back to ask one more time as if to be certain:
"I open it okay?"
Airi nodded, her eyes clearly showed tension.
Elyssia was leaning the paper on her lap and bending down writing. Ayaka peered over Elyssia writing, then looked over towards Takeshi.
Takeshi grabbed the iron door latch, the cold from the metal transmitted into his hand. His eyes were tense right next to the door crack.
He slowly pulled the door latch out with the worry there would be something.
Elyssia was still busy writing on the paper.
Airi and Ayaka held breath with worry, the air as if disappeared.
The door latch was pulled all the way by Takeshi, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva inside, like swallowing his own fear.
He gripped his hand on the door and pulled towards himself.
There was no one outside.
He looked outside, there was a wooden railing in front of his eyes. Far in view was a large wall. Takeshi slowly stepped outside in worry.
Elyssia had finished writing, she immediately put it into her shoe. The pen was also tucked inside. The three girls stepped outside and glanced around.
A "creak" echoed from behind, Takeshi immediately turned back. The three girls stepped right next to him.
Everyone observed the surroundings.
Downstairs, in the middle was a wooden table and long chairs quite old and decayed, signs of termite wear clearly visible through each aspect of the table.
In the middle of the table were four metal cups still quite new. Surrounding a metal water pitcher.
On the opposite wall below were two staffs placed with glowing stones. They were the only two things glowing in the middle of the house.
Glancing to the right was the small hallway they were standing in, along the hallway was only one glowing stone. A bit further away was the stairs going up, attached along were glowing stones helping light the path.
Glancing to the left was another room.
Takeshi while glancing around said:
"So now what to do?"
Elyssia with a calm voice:
"This is a challenge, and we have to find mysteries to solve the challenge. I think it will lie around this house."
Ayaka pointed her hand at the room to their left.
"So now should we check that room?"
Airi nodded lightly.
"Of course must check, finding clues after all."
Airi immediately turned to Elyssia.
"Still have paper Elyssia?"
Elyssia nodded.
"Still have."
Airi: "Then you will go behind and record, we go first."
Elyssia nodded lightly and took from her shoe the pen she had stored and a small scrap of paper torn from the large paper.
"Understood."
While Airi was talking with Elyssia, Takeshi had stepped forward to the door of the room to everyone's left. The door with old wood with faded brown color.
Takeshi stood looking and observing for a while in contemplation, he turned towards the three girls standing.
"Hey, I open it. I see this room is also safe."
The three girls immediately turned over.
Airi with a calm voice:
"I also think so."
The three girls immediately stepped near.
Takeshi grabbed the doorknob. Airi and Ayaka stood silently observing, a bit of worry flashed in the eyes of both. Elyssia with a small scrap of paper placed between her left palm, right hand holding the pen ready to write.
Takeshi pulled the door with a bit of worry.
Inside the room it was still the same, the arrangement and layout exactly the same as the room next door.
The four quietly stepped in with small and light footsteps a bit cautious.
Boom!!!
A thunderclap echoed from outside making their ears ring and making them shrink back. Along with that was the light from lightning flashing from the window, illuminating the room more.
All four were startled, hearts as if jumping out of the chest, sound of erratic heart beating incessantly.
Takeshi: "Startled me."
The three girls sighed a breath of relief, the feeling of safety as if just out of reach.
The four immediately spread out.
Takeshi: "Design no different from the room next door, probably nothing either."
After ransacking the room, they stood in the middle of the room together.
Airi: "None."
Ayaka: "Me neither."
Elyssia: "Me too."
Takeshi shook his head lightly.
Airi: "Go out, there is nothing here, try going down to see."
Ayaka: "Uh."
The group went along the hallway, the faint yellow light reflected on their faces.
Takeshi: "What on earth is the challenge anyway?"
Stepping down the stairs in a slow manner, the "creak" sound of the old stairs echoed.
Stepping down to the lower floor with a layer of rough stone floor with cracks crisscrossing everywhere, like a giant spider web.
Thud thud…
Footsteps on the rough stone floor echoed faintly, also difficult to hear if not focusing.
Right on their left was a small kitchen with pots and pans hung neatly.
Ayaka stepped to the stove and looked around.
"Here is a kitchen."
Airi stepped to the table and observed. Takeshi sat down on a chair silently observing around, trying to find each most useful detail possible.
Elyssia stepped to the rather large house door. Wind and rain continuously slammed into the door and made it shake violently. Feeling like nature also wanted to smash the place they stayed.
She peered through a small door crack at eye level, only small wooden pieces crisscrossing each other.
Outside, the incredibly heavy rain "whooshed" as if the sky was discharging rage and lightning struck lighting up the whole sky like someone flashed energy light then it went out.
When the light from lightning was gone, only a dark sky difficult to see remained, as if darkness had swallowed the world.
Elyssia glanced outside for a while in silence.
At the same time, a clinking sound from behind. That was Takeshi picking up a metal cup and touching several other cups.
Airi stood beside glancing.
Takeshi picked up the metal water pitcher, it seemed he wanted to drink water.
Airi: "You are thirsty?"
Takeshi nodded lightly.
"Yeah."
Ayaka stepped near.
"What if inside there is not water?"
Takeshi holding the pitcher immediately froze, glanced at Ayaka and sighed a breath.
"Suddenly made me lose the mood to drink water Ayaka."
Ayaka smiled.
"I am just guessing."
Elyssia slowly stepped over and sat opposite Takeshi.
Takeshi glanced then poured water out of the pitcher. The sound of water flowing down into the iron cup was like a lullaby.
Clear water drops had filled the cup.
Everyone looked into the cup.
Takeshi: "I see the water is clear, probably drinkable."
Elyssia with a voice and face a bit calm.
"What if it has poison?"
Airi: "If as in the scrap of paper is correct then we die and memory will be erased."
Takeshi did not care anymore, he felt it was not poisoned. Holding the water cup without hesitation and brought it to his mouth and drank in one breath the whole cup of water.
The three girls silently observed.
Airi: "If something happens then know that I warned you."
Takeshi refreshingly slammed the water cup down, the cool water stream flowing in his throat.
"Don't worry."
Ayaka and Airi also sat in chairs, each person in one direction.
Airi: "Now I also don't know what to do. This house is empty."
Takeshi glanced around once more.
"Don't know if it is puzzle solving or treasure hunting, doesn't give us anything. And forces us to find, like this we wait until it repeats without any harvest?"
Ayaka sighed.
"Wandering only a few normal details, don't know what should be done."
Elyssia: "Just wait everyone."
"We also know that the previous loop we were killed. Maybe in a bit that man will come kill us for all we know. It seems the events will appear gradually."
The group froze for a bit when hearing Elyssia say someone would come kill them.
Takeshi: "Could it be hidden somewhere? Like a hidden corner of the room that we haven't found yet?"
Airi: "This is also very possible."
Elyssia also felt it was reasonable and nodded lightly in agreement.
"Assume so, but we cannot split up and search, what if something happens?"
"Currently we still need to go together and record carefully, and currently only 1 small scrap of paper left so how to split up."
Ayaka: "Besides Airi and Takeshi do not have scraps of paper, and the small paper that I and Elyssia took out and are clues are quite small, combining both is only half. Like that it means must keep on the person, while the previous death maybe you two dropped them so didn't have any."
Airi with a pensive look.
"So we still have to go together and explore. This is a challenge so certainly there will be surprises jumping out for sure."
Takeshi pointed his hand at the small kitchen area on his left where he was sitting.
"Then let's try seeing if there is anything in the kitchen, I see the kitchen is quite small. Maybe there are more clues."
Elyssia nodded.
"That's okay too, but I think everyone should relax a bit. We are quite tense and at a very high alert level already."
Airi sighed a breath, showing she was also a bit tired.
"Don't know what else to do, alertness is the only thing we can do when we cannot know what will happen next. Just like prevention is better than cure."
Ayaka leaned her hands on the table.
"But it seems someone dying is memory erased entirely, I see Elyssia saying that is also correct."
Airi: "But the problem is although that paper is on our person, we also cannot be entirely sure, understand? And it could be just a part of the challenge arrangement. If we go around pointlessly and don't record anything, won't everything return to the beginning? So I think careful is still better."
Elyssia: "I know that, but I also just want to tell everyone to relax a bit."
Takeshi: "Anyway, generally just slow but sure."
Airi: "If the Challenge appears gradually, then we still have to be gradual."
"Now, everyone if meeting any strange thing, absolutely must not believe entirely. Must suspect, no matter how trustworthy. And certainly, each new detail will be a part of the solution."
"Besides, we are also participating in the challenge. And that Vilkel did not mention punishment or anything. Therefore, there is a possibility if we don't solve it, we might die or be trapped forever in here, like that is also considered dead...."
Takeshi immediately interrupted:
"In short, still need to be alert."
He turned over to look at the kitchen.
"So then we will try to see if this kitchen has knives or something useful hidden? We cannot use energy. And the body is even weaker, having a knife for self-defense is certainly better."
Ayaka turned around and looked at the kitchen behind her back.
"I see every kitchen has knives right?"
Takeshi shrugged.
"Who knows if it doesn't? Just collect. Currently I guess we have been here for about 1 incense stick's time already. And we still have plenty of time, but time will not wait for us."
Just after finishing speaking, Takeshi stood up abruptly. Making the three girls observe along, his body collided into the table making it shake, the iron cups collided with each other clinking: "clink clink". The chair was immediately pushed back, the sound of wood dragging on the stone surface.
Takeshi with an expectant voice, a bit alert.
"Let's go then?"
Airi nodded lightly.
Knock... knock…
Suddenly, a knocking sound from outside echoed, the dry sound of someone knocking from outside echoed in a rhythm of 2 knocks at a time, repeatedly.
The group immediately turned around, gaze directed towards the door being knocked by someone with an alert look.
The voices of all four by instinct also became small.
Takeshi: "I think it has come."
Ayaka: "Now what? Should we open the door?"
Airi: "Calm down, we haven't even seen what is outside yet, there are those cracks there."
Elyssia nodded, a serious look.
"Right, I just peered through that crack. Can see outside, let's try looking together."
Everyone was worried, the gaze did not leave the door.
Knock... knock…
The sound of knocking still steadily echoed, it was not fast, not slow. But it was enough to make the hearts in their throbbing chests beat erratically as if wanting to explode.
The four slowly stepped towards the door in a leisurely manner. Each footstep did not emit sound, like thieves walking stealthily.
Takeshi reached out his hand to block Airi from going forward. He turned over and smiled, voice soft:
"Let me go first."
Finishing speaking, he went forward and led. His eyes were alert, but flashed a certain look, seemingly not afraid.
Elyssia with a small scrap of paper placed in her left palm, already had a few words she had written previously.
Right hand holding the pen ready to write.
The atmosphere sank, despite the loud rain and rumbling thunder outside. They inside with a silence to the point of worrying. Not because they did not hear the thunder and rain howling out there, but because they had discarded all those sounds and there was only the knocking sound in their ears. The rain made the air humid, but currently inside, the air was thickened to the point of difficulty breathing. The feeling each time breathing in required more strength.
Takeshi went close to the door together with Airi who had gone forward with Takeshi. Takeshi focused so he also did not notice Airi.
Both at the same time peered into the small crack with wooden bars crisscrossing each other like a small net.
Outside was still the pitch black sky because of the rain, black clouds covered like a thick layer of color. The streaks of light flashing from outside were lightning, the light reflected on two pairs of eyes looking out exploring with all concentration and alertness.
Both saw no one outside at all, only the scene of nature howling outside.
They rolled their eyes continuously in eye sockets, glancing everywhere around the limited vision they had. But there was no one.
Knock... knock…
A shiver ran along the spines of both, an uncomfortable chilling feeling. Bewildered eyes and faces slowly retreated and turned back.
Ayaka and Elyssia were standing behind observing. When seeing Airi and Takeshi turn back, both had expectant eyes. But when seeing the eyes of both, Elyssia and Ayaka frowned.
Ayaka spoke softly: "Is something the matter?"
Airi shook her head, she had also calmed down now.
Takeshi with a serious face, spoke up softly: "Nothing out there, but the knocking sound still echoes? How so?"
Elyssia silently recorded. She was still very calm.
Ayaka was a bit confused, she frowned and grimaced.
"It is nothing?"
Takeshi nodded.
"Right."
Airi turned back to look at the door, the "knock knock" sound of someone knocking still echoed.
"Likely outside is something then, and we cannot see it."
Airi took quiet footsteps passing Elyssia and Ayaka. Her breath was a bit heavy.
"Go in here."