Chapter 67: This is my escape route

Silence fell over the room. The sounds of conversation, chewing, swallowing, breathing—all sounds from living beings—ceased. Only the faint sound of wind whistling through the cracks in the walls and floorboards remained.

Knock, knock, knock—

A rhythmic, unchanging knocking continued.

Selene, covering her mouth and nose, tilted her head slightly, looking at Richter.

What should we do? Or should we just pretend we’re not here?

Though she couldn’t quite discern her subtle expression, Richter could see her anxiety. He shook his head, signaling her not to act rashly, to wait and observe.

Louise quietly stood up. Unlike Selene, who had lost her memories, and Richter, whose body had been weakened, Louise’s mind and body were in peak condition. She was the most suitable person to handle this.

She silently approached the door.

She could hear the knocking more clearly from this position. The voice sounded childish, repeating the same words over and over. The disgusting metallic smell became stronger and more unbearable. It felt like being in a slaughterhouse, blood, organs, excrement, corpses, rotting flesh, maggots filling her vision, the stench of decay and death constantly surrounding her. Louise, with her acute senses, began to feel nauseous.

—What was outside the door?

What kind of thing could smell like that? And wasn’t the inn supposed to be safe? What’s going on? Could this be the danger associated with that mound of dirt? Some kind of two-stage activation that only happened after someone survived the first stage?

【Hee hee, hee hee—New toys, new treasures—】

As she was frowning and pondering, the childish voice changed, followed by a scream, then the dull thud of something heavy falling, and the sound of footsteps, like those of a centipede or a spider.

【Come play with me. Find my treasure—】

The childish voice faded along with the sounds outside the door. The slightly unstable inn seemed to tremble slightly.

The three remained still, not letting down their guard.

Only when the unpleasant smell slowly dissipated did they relax a little. Louise returned to the bed, pulling a blanket over herself, deliberately making a slight rustling sound.

The knocking stopped. The stench didn’t return.

Selene slightly loosened her grip, her fingertips emitting a warm puff of air.

She didn’t hear any sounds.

She used her hand to support herself, the bed creaking unpleasantly.

She didn’t smell anything.

Whatever it was, it was gone.

But who had seen it, who had encountered it unexpectedly? Jose?

Selene, lost in thought, seemed to see something else.

【■■■ is outside. He…】

A voice, laced with fear, trembled. He seemed to be leaning against a wall.

【Ignore him! He’s already dead! Ignore him… We don’t know how much longer we can live in this creepy place… Ah.】

A voice, filled with both anger and resignation. He wanted to smash the table, but was afraid of attracting attention. His rage was suppressed, turning into a sigh.

【Don’t say that. We’ll definitely survive this, ■■■■, uncle. You still have family waiting for you.】

A gentle female voice, seemingly trying to comfort others. You could vaguely see her sitting among a crowd. But no one responded to her words.

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【Speaking of which, Jose, you’re a painter, right? If we can’t get out, could you paint us? Paint everyone. As mementos.】

The voice of someone calm and composed. He was organizing the survivors, maintaining order, encouraging them. But even he couldn’t help but express his pessimism.

【Don’t say that, ■■■■, uncle. We’ll get out together.】

Jose’s voice. Fearful, trembling, yet determined.

There were more people, more voices, but they were all submerged in a sea of crimson.

This was something that had happened in the past, at a certain time, in this room, to a group of people.

Understanding this, Selene lowered her head, emerging from the vision. Though she didn’t know where this unique ability came from, her intuition was telling her things like “Your intuition is too strong. You should suppress it.” and “I don’t think I’m a historian or an archaeologist.”… But seeing this, it seemed reliable.

Considering that the creature outside was probably gone, Selene simply described what she had seen.

Her two companions reacted differently.

“No, wait, how can you see everything? Seeing those monsters is one thing, but how can you see the past? Haven’t you been turned into some kind of weird thing? The kind that travels with us, and then suddenly turns into a hidden mastermind?” Louise exclaimed.

Clearly, she found this unusual and excessive.

Though her words were mostly a joke, there was genuine curiosity, confusion, and concern.

“Uh… I don’t know,” Selene touched her head, slightly puzzled. “But this kind of thing probably won’t happen. Probably.”

“Can you be more certain? I’m really scared…”

“It might be related to identity,” Richter interrupted them. “I’ve been thinking. If this is a replay of Jose’s past, and we’ve been given roles to participate in it, then we must also have identities.

“Logically, the only people trapped here should have been those from the caravan. It’s unlikely that someone would appear out of nowhere. So our identities must be traceable,” Richter said. “And we know that they survived for a while, their numbers dwindling until only Jose and the nameless person remained. And only Jose left… If the other person had also survived, after everything they’d gone through, Jose wouldn’t have cut ties with them. They would have become close friends, or life partners. It’s unlikely they’d never see each other again.

“But I’ve never heard of anyone like that.”

Pausing, Richter, not hiding his good relationship with Jose, continued.

“Also, we know that time in the box isn’t continuous. It exists in segments. Based on our surroundings and Jose’s message, we’re probably in the period when the caravan was destroyed, only Jose and the nameless person remaining…”

“Isn’t that obvious? Our identities are ‘Jose’ and ‘the nameless person.’ And Louise and I are probably the same person, since your clothes are different, and you have unique abilities. We just need to figure out who is who,”

Selene immediately objected,

“Just because we haven’t seen anyone doesn’t mean there’s no one else here. The creature that took that thing…”

“That thing wasn’t human,” Louise said thoughtfully. “Don’t forget, the childish voice referred to ‘treasure.’ What was outside was just a head, like the one you saw.”

Selene fell silent.

“And that thing isn’t necessarily gone,” Richter touched his collar. “Want to take a look?”

“I don’t have any objections. Even if we don’t open the door now, we’ll have to leave eventually. There are many rooms in the inn that we haven’t explored. Waiting here might be safe, but after experiencing that, I don’t think Jose’s warnings are entirely reliable. The inn definitely isn’t completely safe. If we decide to run, we need to find another safe place, maybe even keep moving,” Louise frowned, her green eyes fixed on the crack in the door.

“And if we decide to face the danger, we need to gather more information. We need to know the patterns of those monsters… No matter which option we choose, we have to go outside.”

As she spoke, the air seemed to grow colder, a penetrating chill making their bodies stiff.

A low, no longer naive, but rather somber voice echoed from outside the door.

【Sister… why won’t you play with me?】

Bang—

It wasn’t a knock, but a forceful blow that shattered the door. The heavy sound made the dust on the floor tremble, scattering the insects crawling on the walls.

Bang—

The wooden door was smashed repeatedly. Clear cracks appeared on it. The impact even made the floor shake. Richter, whose body was light, was jolted from the bed and fell to the ground.

Bang—

The already-rickety door, stronger than it looked, had several new dents. Several of the wooden planks were broken, wedged together, barely holding the door together.

The three exchanged glances.

Fight or flight? Let’s be honest, I’ll be the first to run. I’ll be the first to run.

This was Selene in Louise’s eyes.

Fight!

This was Selene in Richter’s eyes.

Then, seeing their conflicting thoughts, the two exchanged glances, reaching an agreement.

In a normal situation, they would have chosen to confront the threat, regardless of whether they could win or not. As long as they weren’t crushed, they could gather information. But they couldn’t do that now, not with this extra burden.

Bang—

The door, struggling to hold on, finally cracked.

Blood flowed from the crack in the door. It carried an incredibly foul stench, but a faint sweetness lingered in the air.

Then, a large figure lowered itself, one of its limbs approaching the crack.

It was a child’s head, bound tightly by wire, its shape distorted. One eye had been gouged out. Brain matter and blood flowed from the hole, dripping down from the wire.

It looked into the room.

【Sister… come play with me…】

But the room was eerily silent, as if no one had ever been there. Only the faint sound of the wind remained.

Its gaze shifted downwards.

A large hole piercing the second floor and the first floor’s ceiling came into its remaining eye.