---
Chapter 12 – Descent Into Familiarity
Haruto stepped down the stairs.
Each footfall echoed just a little longer than it should have.
The silver slime hopped onto his shoulder without a sound, its weight feather-light but comforting. A strange warmth spread slightly across his neck as it stabilized—it was syncing with him emotionally.
> "Just like a horror game," Haruto whispered.
"But not the kind with jumpscares. The kind where the horror waits behind normal things."
The descent continued… twenty steps… thirty…
The stairway turned once.
Then again.
No panic.
But he didn't trust it.
---
Finally—he reached the bottom.
He pushed open a plain wooden door—and stepped into a living room.
It was… normal.
Too normal.
Couch. Rug. Shelves.
All dusted. Clean. Slightly faded with time, but untouched by chaos.
A small lamp sat on a side table, casting a gentle yellow hue.
On the far wall, a curtained window overlooked what looked like… an outside afternoon sky. Cloudy. Still.
Haruto narrowed his eyes.
> This doesn't make sense. I'm underground. There shouldn't be a sky here.
He approached the window—but didn't touch it.
Just looked.
And behind the curtain?
The outside world looked… paused.
Like someone had printed a photograph of a calm suburban afternoon and pasted it to a glass frame.
> "This whole room is pretending to be alive," he muttered.
The slime on his shoulder jiggled gently—like it agreed.
---
Then the System chimed softly.
> 📜 [Quest Objective: Exploration Triggered]
• Search the environment
• Locate the missing Key
• Unlock the next room
Warning: The longer you stay, the more attention you attract.
Haruto turned to the far hallway—there was another door.
Closed.
Metal latch.
Locked.
No key in sight.
He began to move around the room cautiously.
Checked under the couch.
Opened a drawer.
Found nothing—until the TV flickered to life.
He hadn't touched it.
> SSSSHHHK—KZKT—kzzt—**
A grainy image: static and distortion.
But behind the noise…
A still frame appeared.
A family sitting in this exact room.
Smiling.
Then the mother slowly turned her head, unnaturally smooth, and looked directly at the camera—then at Haruto through the screen.
The TV shut off.
---
Haruto backed away slowly, dagger now drawn.
His hand shook slightly.
The couch now had indentations, as if someone had just been sitting on it.
The slime on his shoulder tensed. Its surface rippled—detecting emotion shifts in the air.
Haruto whispered, "Okay… keep moving. Don't ask questions yet."
---
He stepped toward a bookshelf.
A single book stood out—red-bound, no title.
He pulled it out—and behind it, hidden between the wood…
A small bronze key.
> ✅ [Key Acquired – Cold Iron Latch Key]
But before he could celebrate—
A scratching sound started. Soft.
Coming from… behind the walls?
And outside the window?
The clouds had moved.
And the sky was darker.
Even though only a few minutes had passed.
---
---
Chapter 13 – Do Not Seek Wilson
The next room had just opened—Haruto was halfway through the doorway when it happened.
> BEEEP—BEEEP—BEEEEP.
The sudden blare of an emergency broadcast shattered the eerie silence like a gunshot.
Haruto flinched hard, gripping his dagger with white knuckles, body crouched on instinct.
His head whipped around—
The TV in the previous room was on again, even though he never touched it.
Static first.
Then a blank white screen.
Then, it began:
---
> [📢 EAS: EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM – REGION: UNKNOWN DIMENSIONAL LAYER]
"ATTENTION TRAVELER: An unknown entity has entered your reality."
"This entity is classified as Type: Reality Warper."
"Its current location is UNKNOWN."
"Do not attempt contact. Do not acknowledge changes in the environment that appear sudden or spatially inconsistent."
---
Haruto's blood ran cold.
He wanted to look away—but the screen held his attention.
The voice was official. Robotic. But beneath it… something else whispered.
Then the screen flickered—and the second alert kicked in.
---
> [📢 WARNING – SECOND ENTITY IDENTIFIED IN IMMEDIATE AREA]
"Do not attempt to locate Entity #2."
"This being resembles a nostalgic childhood character: Wilson, from the 'Pinwheels' television network."
"Under current dimensional instability, Wilson is no longer benign."
"Previous lore: Wilson is a shy, awkward boy who hides in impossible places. Known for 'Find Wilson' puzzle games in early children's media."
"Do NOT seek Wilson."
"Do NOT call for Wilson."
"If Wilson finds you, do not acknowledge him."
---
The screen cut to static.
Silence.
The silver slime trembled on Haruto's shoulder.
Haruto's breathing was sharp. Shallow. His brain couldn't fully accept what he'd just heard. He finds a note on the floor and he picks it up it was written in pen, although he doesn't know what this 'character' was he reads it.
He whispered to himself, voice cracking:
> "Wilson… I used to play that game when I was a kid. 'Where's Wilson?' …He was always hiding in closets, corners, little puzzles…"
And then it hit him.
Closets. Corners. Small spaces.
He turned toward the next room, slowly.
It was a bedroom.
Dark. Dusty. With an open closet door in the corner.
> Do not seek Wilson.
He stood frozen in the doorway—pulse in his ears.
The childhood nostalgia scratched at his memories. That theme song. That smiling face.
But the System warned him:
> He is not your friend anymore.
---
Outside, the window that once looked "afternoonish" was now moonlit.
Even though only minutes had passed.
The air in the house was growing colder.
The corners darker.
And Haruto knew—
One entity was already in this world.
The other might be watching him now.
The slime made a soft sound—a quiet bloop of concern. It pressed closer to his neck.
Haruto tightened his grip on the dagger, keeping his eyes away from the closet.
> "Nope… not looking. Not calling. Not seeking."
But even as he stepped into the room, a faint voice somewhere behind him whispered:
> "Hey… wanna play again?"
---
---
Chapter 14 – Puzzle Fragments and the Third Door
> [QUEST – ACTIVE]
Find all puzzle pieces.
Do NOT find Wilson.
---
The second alert wasn't like the last.
It was worse.
Not a warning.
Not robotic.
But distorted, like an old cassette mangled in a blender—choppy, cracked, and breathing.
> BEEP—BZT—SSHHHKKK—hhhhahhh…hAHAHA...?
Haruto gritted his teeth.
His fingers curled tight around the dagger's hilt. Knuckles white.
His other hand trembled as he shoved a dusty baseball from a shelf into his inventory.
It wasn't much. But it was better than nothing.
---
The silver slime nestled firmly on his shoulder now, reacting to every audio fluctuation.
It blinked once at him, serious—like it knew even it couldn't help him inside whatever this place was becoming.
Haruto turned back to the first room—the living room—and nearly dropped the dagger.
The TV screen was flickering images—
Not motion.
Not a video.
But flashing stills.
Grey and black faces.
Human-shaped.
Their eyes—voids.
Their smiles either curling up too far, or down into impossible sadness.
Like someone turned every childhood show into a funeral.
Some of the heads turned slightly.
Only when Haruto blinked.
He didn't scream. But he wanted to.
---
> "This isn't right. I don't even have real magic yet…"
"Just sensing energy… what's that supposed to do against… that?"
His breathing grew ragged.
He wiped the sweat off his brow with his sleeve.
> "I should've stayed in Japan…"
But the words were bitter. Empty.
He was here.
There was no map back.
---
The second door creaked as he pushed it.
Another staircase.
> Again…?
He hesitated.
One step.
Two.
Ten.
The stairs went deeper—deeper than they should.
But the light didn't fade.
At the bottom was a secondary living room.
Larger.
Colder.
This one had no warm lamps. Just a ceiling fan spinning slowly, making a low hum.
A static-filled radio played a faint children's song in reverse.
Haruto scanned the room.
The layout was similar to the first.
But twisted. The couch was upside-down. The clock hands spun erratically. A child's toy cart was gently rolling in place—but there was no incline.
And then…
He noticed the third door.
It was open.
Not just unlocked.
Wide open.
Like someone—or something—had left it ajar for him.
---
His Guide pinged silently.
> 📜 Puzzle Progress: 0 / 7 Pieces Found
[Optional Bonus: Collect all without being seen by Wilson]
> "Not being seen."
That means he's here.
Haruto felt a prickle at the back of his neck.
The slime trembled against his shoulder.
> "Just find the pieces," he whispered. "Don't look for anything else."
He crossed the room slowly, eyes locked on the third doorway.
Beyond it… lay a hallway with seven doors.
Seven puzzles.
Seven chances.
And at least one of them… is being watched.
---