Grim Reaper Game

Chapter 3 A Close Call

Logically speaking, the beginner’s quest should only require me to escape from this haunted dormitory building. Finding out if the ghost outside the door was Shaina or even the truth behind her death probably did not need to be within my plan of action.

However… What if investigating the truth was a necessary step to escape?

I shook my head and discarded the thought. After all, it was only a beginner’s quest. It should not be so difficult.

I looked at the three remaining sheets of paper. There were simple paintings on them that looked like they were drawn by primary school students.

A pair of eyes were drawn on the first sheet, an old-school camera on the second, and a swaddled baby on the third.

I looked repeatedly at each of the drawings in turn, unable to figure out what they meant.

“Are these new hints? What do they mean?” I thought out loud.

Despite thinking hard for a few minutes, I still could not figure out the answer. Deciding not to think about it for now, I folded the paper and tucked it into my pocket.

After rummaging around the female dormitory room, I did not find anything else. I shifted my gaze to the tightly shut window.

It was pitch black outside. I could not see anything. It seemed like a blackhole that would even suck light in. Oddly enough, there was actually a lock on the window.

I walked to the window and touched the cold glass. I sensed chills. This reminded me of a saying. “When God closes a door, He opens a window.”

Could this window be the way out? Otherwise, why would it be locked?

I touched the lock. After pondering for a moment, I came up with two options.

The first option was to play hide-and-seek with Shaina, the ghost, and look for a way to unlock this window.

The second option was to break the window by force. This window seemed to be the only thing I could break in this haunted building.

However… Was it really fine to break the window? This seemed too good to be true. If one could really escape by breaking the window, who would be dumb enough to go looking for the key?

I hesitated. In the end, I decided to break the window.

I did not want to stay in this haunted place for even a second longer.

I picked up a chair and lifted it high above my head. Gritting my teeth, I smashed it against the window.

Crash!

I made a huge hole in the window. After repeating the act several times, I destroyed most of it.

There was dense, black fog outside the window. It seemed to move as if it contained a life of its own.

I reached out with one hand. As soon as my hand entered the black fog, I felt a strong suction force on my hand. It felt like the most viscous liquid in the world.

“Ahh!” I screamed. With much effort, I managed to pull free.

‘Damn! This black fog is everywhere out there. How am I supposed to escape? I guess it was too good to be true. The only way out is to find the key, isn’t it?’ I thought to myself.

Just then, my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I quickly retrieved it.

“You have completed the beginner’s quest. The fog will disperse in two minutes. The countdown from 120 seconds begins now.”

“Holy s**t! Did I just complete it?” I could not resist laughing. This was exhilarating. It seemed that the Grim Reaper game had elements that were not too good to be true after all. All it mattered was if one was brave enough to take the leap of faith.

“Grr… Wahh!” Suddenly, I heard a pitiful cry from afar. It was terrifying. I immediately got goosebumps all over my body.

Immediately after that, a series of thumping sounds were heard. The sound occurred very frequently. I could hear it two to three times each second. Compared to before when it was once every two seconds, this was practically the ghost in its enraged mode.

I suddenly realized I celebrated too early. The final 120 seconds decided whether I would live or die!

‘She’ was fast approaching. Within sixty seconds, she had made it to the door. I immediately heard a loud bang. She had thrown herself against the door, but it did not end there. She began to knock repeatedly.

With how strong the impact seemed, the rusted door would not even last thirty seconds. By the time the deadly fog dispersed, she would have already broken in and ripped me to shreds.

“What do I do? What do I do?” I sweated profusely as I stared at the door that seemed like it would break at any second.

‘Hide! Use the same trick. Hide!

‘But where do I hide? How can I make sure ‘she’ won’t find me?’

I quickly processed all the information I had gathered.

“Don’t ever be seen by ‘her’.

“The ghost cannot bend its joints. Its body will always remain in the state just before it died.”

Zombies in television shows would only hop forward because they could not bend their joints. Based on the thumping sound the ghost made when ‘she’ walked, ‘she’ was probably like a zombie. ‘She’ was a monster that could not bend her joints, and she could only hop forward.

“Under the bed!” I made my move. If my logical reasoning was correct, ‘she’ would definitely not see me if I hid under the bed.

However, the moment I moved under the bed, I felt a great sense of danger. My instincts were telling me that I would certainly die if I hid there.

“No! Something’s not right! I must have overlooked something!”

I suddenly recalled the drawings on the three sheets of paper. I had not figured out the hints from those three drawings.

Eyes, an old-school camera, and a baby. How were these three things related? Was there anything these things had in common?

Bang! Bang!

The knocking sound had not stopped. In less than ten seconds, she would break in. I had to make a life-or-death decision.

At this crucial moment, I suddenly entered a completely calm state. I was absolutely focused.

“Ahh! I’ve got it! So that’s what it means!”

In reality, everything was upside-down to one’s eyes. However, one’s brain would process everything to normalize one’s perception.

Old-school cameras captured objects in black-and-white, but the colors were inverted. On film, black would appear as white, while white would appear as black.

A newborn needed to be upside down with his legs held up. He would then have his buttocks smacked so that he would cry. This was the only way to drain the remaining amniotic fluid in his lungs and allow him to breathe for the first time.

All three things had one thing in common, and that was they were all upside down!

“Ghosts will always remain in the state just before they died.” This was a hint from the Grim Reaper game. Shaina had jumped off the building and died. What if she was unlucky enough to have landed on her head?

That would explain the thumping sound she made when she moved forward. It must have been the noise of her head landing on the ground.

That meant her head was on the ground while her feet were in the air. She moved forward by hopping on her head. If I hid under the bed, I would be dead without a doubt.

After figuring all this out, I no longer hesitated. I grabbed onto the bed railing and hopped onto the bed. I then lied down and stayed close to the wall.

One second after I lied down, the door was pushed open. A cold aura engulfed the entire dormitory room instantly. I could not help but shiver.

Thump! Thump!

The thumping sound echoed throughout the dormitory in a regular beat. I kept my eyes closed and held my breath. I did not even dare to move an inch.

Time seemed to stand still. ‘She’ finally left the dormitory room. As the thumping sound moved further away, I finally started breathing again.

The Grim Reaper game was terrifying. A single mistake could lead to a horrible death.

I slowly sat upright and saw a pool of red and white liquid on the floor. There were also strands of long, black hair. These were probably traces left behind by ‘her’ while hopping on the ground.

I sighed softly. I felt a little sorry for Shaina. Should I stay here and continue investigating to find out the truth?

“Forget it. I can’t even keep myself safe. I’ll think about this in the future when I become capable.”

I got off the bed and walked to the window, carefully avoiding the stains on the ground. The black fog had already dispersed. However, it was still pitch black, and I could not see anything.

I extended one hand through the window…

Suddenly, the entire world seemed to be shaking. I panicked. Was there an earthquake? Would there be an earthquake in a fantasy world created by the Grim Reaper game?

“Azrael, Azrael. Wake up!”

I suddenly woke up and sat upright.

“It’s already noon. Why are you still in bed? Let’s go and have lunch.” Freddie Lane patted me on the shoulder.

“Am… Am I back in my room?” I looked around. Outside, the sky was blue, and there were clouds. I had finally returned to the real world.

“Did you just wake up? Were you having a good dream?” Henry Rudd, my roommate, chuckled.

I could not help but laugh. If that was considered a good dream, I would rather not sleep again.

The three of us went to the cafeteria together. We bought food and ate while we chatted.

“Hey, Henry. I read a book about human memory yesterday. Do you want to hear about it?” Freddie asked.

“Oh? What’s so interesting about the book?” Henry asked.

“Hmm… Normally, humans only remember the things they want to remember. We selectively forget the things we don’t want to remember. That’s what the book says,” Freddie explained.

“Are you serious? In that case, why do I have so many awful memories? Based on what you said, I should’ve forgotten about all of them,” Henry said.

“Hehe. Think about it. Can you recall the details of those ‘awful memories’? Or do you only remember the fact that those were awful memories, but not the details?” Freddie asked.

Henry thought for a moment. “That makes sense, but it doesn’t completely make sense at the same time.”

Seeing that Henry would not believe him, Freddie turned to look at me. “Azrael, do you think you’re an upright person?”

Thinking about the dream last night, I answered without even thinking. “Of course. I’ve always been an upright person..”

“Haha. Cut the crap, will you…”

Lunch ended with laughter. Life was wonderful.