Feng Bujue and Like Rain had split up at the schoolyard. One crossed over the main building, entering the deeper areas of the school, while the other got into the building opposite to the school gate.
If the two of them could cooperate, this scenario wouldn’t be too hard as they could discuss the puzzles and fight together. When terrible things happened, it would be much better to have company. However, they were forced to work alone, and they had to follow that sick communication method, which signaled conspiracies. Obviously, the risks and difficulty level of this scenario were doubled.
The folksong had left them some hints on particular locations and objects, such as a well, the steps, the mirrors and a piano, etc.
Let alone the other hints, the well couldn’t be in the building or near the gymnasium. 80% that it would be situated somewhere near the wall.
Feng Bujue followed this flow of thought as he crossed the main building and continued walking. At this moment, the moon was as bright as silver that he didn’t need to use the flashlight to see the road ahead of him. He didn’t rush; sometimes, he checked the time of the scenario on his phone since he had to make a call at the 10th minute.
Among the five elements, Water is the North (1). Indeed, Feng Bujue found a well in the north corner of the school. The well’s wall was made of white stone with a rough surface. There was neither a lid to cover the well nor a wooden frame for pulley and bucket.
Around 10 meters from the well, there was an L-shaped storage. Looking through the window, there was a bucket and some hoses. Feng Bujue walked towards the door and found some iron buckets and mopping tools. It seemed to be a supply room.
Feng Bujue got inside the room and carefully searched for a while. He even counted all the mopping tools and hoses, but still, he failed to find any clues. He then went out of the room and checked his phone again. 9 minutes and 27 seconds had already passed. He pressed the speed dial.
Turned out his phone didn’t dial automatically as the screen displayed a message, [It’s not the set time. Your next call is from 00:10:00 to 00:10:45.]
"Oh, I can only call within that set 45 seconds…" Feng Bujue muttered, then waited for half a minute until the clock on his phone ticked at the exact 10:00. He pressed the speed dial again. A chain of numbers appeared on his phone screen. The first call had been started.
Beep —— It rang once, and Like Rain picked up the call.
Because they were friends in this game and they hadn’t spoken a word to each other since the beginning of the scenario, Feng Bujue wanted to say something polite like ‘what a coincidence!’, etc., but he didn’t expect that his teammate would jump straight to the matter. "This building is much bigger than what I’ve thought. All the lights inside can’t be turned on. After I went through some rows of getabako (2) and a corridor, I’ve seen a map on a wall. I’m still on the first floor, and I’m going to search each floor from 1F to the rooftop and check every door. Currently, I haven’t met anything strange. How about you?"
This was the first time Feng Bujue had ever heard her talking that much, and he wasn’t used to it. However, he understood that the one minute they had was precious. Moreover, Like Rain was possibly holding the phone with one hand and the portable lamp in the other. If she got ambushed in this situation, it would be perilous since she wouldn’t have time to take out her weapon.
Thus, Feng Bujue followed her flow and answered quickly, "I’ve found a well. It must be the place that the first verse of the folksong mentioned. I’m going to study it." He paused for a second, "I’ll explain simply about that folksong. The second verse mentions the creepy story about ‘The 13th step’. I’ve observed the place. This school has three tall buildings. The main building is the highest with seven floors and a rooftop. I gues
s when you climb upstair, there’s a high chance that you will trigger this content of the plot. Remember to count the number of the steps. If you find a staircase that has 13 steps, it means you have entered a space which is full of ghosts."
The third verse should be about some WC, if you hear the water dripping sound from a toilet, possibly it’s—"
Beep —— Beep —— Beep ——
The busy tone constantly resounded. One minute was over, and that’s how their first call had ended. Next, they had to wait for 15 minutes, and Like Rain would have to call Feng Bujue this time.
Although Feng Bujue hadn’t finished, they had to stop there. In fact, his reminder was redundant since Like Rain had heard about the 13th step already. Moreover, she could remember 80% or 90% of that folksong. In terms of fighting ability, Feng Bujue wasn't too worried for his friend. He should worry about himself though.
Feng Bujue retrieved his phone and checked the screen. He tried to call again, and this time, the screen displayed the message, [Time hasn’t come yet. Your next call will be from 40:00 to 40:45.]
"Yea, I somehow understood this sort of communication method," Feng Bujue thought, "one minute of talking is not enough, and this kind of communication is to not let players support each other but actually to implicate them all."
Indeed, he was right. Since they both had tremendous personal powers, the system had prepared such settings. With their competences, even if they had to be apart, it wouldn’t be some sort of pressure that they couldn’t bear.
However, worrying for their other teammate would become their burdens.
First, it was clear that they couldn’t be each other’s company in this scenario. Even if they met by chance, they couldn’t communicate. And, after a certain period, they had to make a call. If they couldn’t do that or couldn’t pick up the phone, the ghosts would hunt them down.
Imagine it this way, when the time comes and one of you can’t call or receive the call, of course, you or your friend would inevitably feel anxious. You would absolutely wonder why your teammate didn’t call or didn’t answer. Did he miss the time of the call? What happened to him? Not to mention the ghosts would chase after him, would he be able to withstand it?
Although players could check whether his teammate was still alive or not in the party menu, this couldn’t change anything since alive or not was the only information that the menu could provide. Regarding his actual situation like where he was or did he get hurt, how about his Fear Value, etc., the other player would never know. Even if one of them had one leg cut off and bleeding while being locked in a closet, the other would have no way to come and rescue. The one who wasn’t being pursued could only mess his head with a cranky mind and eventually end up making mistakes due to this chaotic status.
So, it would have been so much better if they didn’t have this kind of setting. Having the system create a setting in which they couldn’t talk or meet up, and each of them had to finish the scenario individually, would be far easier since their mind would be at ease.
He couldn’t put the phone into the bag, and the pockets of his newbie costume were shallow, so he couldn’t put it there either. Feng Bujue could only reluctantly hold the phone in his hand all the time.
Although he didn’t know whether it worked or not, he hauled out the wrench and kept it in his other hand, then he slowly walked towards the well. His steps were steady, but his mind was alert. In case he triggered something, he could react immediately.
The ambiance around him suddenly became colder. When Feng Bujue was two or three meters away from the well, an intermittent groan came from deep down there, "Save… Save me…"
Right after the voice sounded, the scene in front of Feng Bujue changed. It was just one second, and the dark night had turned into the dim shade of twilight.
A small and thin schoolboy wearing a uniform and a pair of glasses appeared next to him. There were three other young delinquent teenagers converging the shorter boy. They were talking excitedly, and sometimes, they knocked the shorter boy on his head or pushed him on his chest.
"Replaying a short part before death huh…" Feng Bujue said as he came over and poked them with his hand. Indeed, his hand went through the boys’ bodies, just like they were made from air.
He then waited patiently to see what was going to happen.
In fact, it wasn’t something special, just bullying and taking properties. But the shorter boy tried to show that he didn’t have any money, and obsequiously said something. The bullies, of course, felt irritated and displeased. The shorter boy soon got a kick at his tummy, crouched down in pain and continued to receive a shower of kicks and punches.
It was going on for a while, and suddenly, the bullies came up with a new idea. They dragged the poor boy to the well. One of them grabbed him by his collar and held him above the well. The other two immediately grabbed his legs and lifted him as high as the wall of the well.
The shorter boy, of course, was terrified. He struggled and waved his hands while crying out loud, asking them to stop. The other three just ignored him and laughed louder. The struggle had continued for almost one minute, and the tragedy happened. The shorter boy fell into the well; no one knew whether he was dead or still alive.
The three bullies felt scared a little bit as they spoke something to ease their mind, "Guys, I… I didn’t want to drop him… It… it was him… struggling… causing him to fall… is it right?"
"A... yeah, yeah, right… This boy was careless…"
And they just left without trying to call for help, leaving the boy behind.
One second later, those illusions disappeared altogether.
The night was still clear and cold, and Feng Bujue was still standing two or three meters away from the well, just like he didn’t move an inch during the replay. And, at the time the illusion appeared, his time didn’t even tick a second.
"Save… save me..." The feeble groan arose again.
Feng Bujue took a deep breath and inched to the well.
At the same time in the main building.
Like Rain found an article cut out from some kind of newspaper in a Staff Room. The piece of paper was eye-catching, but some parts of the content were marked with black ink, and she could only read some keywords, which included the name of this school—Yousuke High School. The content of this article was about a dry well in this school.
In the year Heisei 6 (3), a high school student named Tanaka Satoshi was found dead in a dry well in Yousuke High School. The police had closed the case with the conclusion of ‘accident’. However, rumors flew around the school saying that Tanaka had committed suicide because he was bullied.
One week later, the three teenagers, who used to bully Tanaka, left their home on the same night and went missing. Later on, people also found their bodies in the dry well.
At that time, the police were very concerned about this case. However, since they couldn’t find any ‘Murderer’, the case was left unsettled.
"Tanaka’s ghost is taking revenge!" This soon spread out among the students in the school.
In the year Heisei 7, another student named Sakagami Yuichi was found dead in the well. When they checked the body, besides the injuries caused when he fell down in the well, there were many strange bites all over the body, which came from at least four other people.
Sakagami used to be a famous bully in the school. One of his friends told the police that Sakagami had told him that he heard someone calling for help when they were smoking near the well, but his friend didn’t hear anything. He thought Sakagami was kidding, so he went home alone.
In the winter of the same year, another two bullies of the gang was also found dead in the well. Their bodies also had many bites. All of the two bodies’ fingers were cut off and missing. No one had ever found them.
In the year Heisei 8, the school’s staff then sealed the well with cement. They had spent the next two years in peace.
In the year Heisei 10, the cement seal on the well had a crack. No one knew why or how it happened.
In the summer of the same year, there were three other students that went missing. 10 days after the first student went missing, a terrible stinky smell exuded from the crack at the seal of the well. The school’s staff begrudgingly broke the cement seal and found three deposing corpses in there. Those three bodies were seriously damaged in different levels. Besides the heads, the other parts of their bodies were smashed.
The rumors then spread out again among teachers and students of the school: "If you hear the ghosts calling for help from the well, don’t look at it, or you will be dragged down to the well."
(1) According to Feng Shui, water is north; fire is south, wood is east while metal is west.
(2) Getabako: A getabako is a shoe cupboard in Japan, usually situated in the genkan, an entryway or porch of the house. In Japan, it is considered uncouth to not remove one's shoes before entering the house. Usually, there are big getabako in schools and kindergartens, and each student has his own section. Sometimes students store personal things there or use them to leave love letters.
(3) The year Heisei 6: it’s the year 1994 according to Gregorian calendar.