Chapter 11 - Gaki: The Monster’s Identity

1

I’m hungry...

Mika sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time since coming to the mansion as she listlessly watched Takuro angrily trying to work his cellphone in the entrance hall. Sitting on the staircase, she looked up at the chandelier overhead. Her cheek still stung where Takuro had hit her. At first she was overcome with anger and resentment like nothing she’d ever felt before after being unjustly hit, but that slowly decayed into hysteria and panic. She’d broken down and cried in the foyer for a while, but even that took its toll on her. She soon tired out and simply sat there quietly.

“Damn it! Why isn’t it working?”

Takuro kicked the door. He’d also been running hot for a while now, but unlike Mika, his battery still had a full charge. He’d been trying to contact someone in his cellphone’s address book, but even though his signal seemed to be good, he hadn’t managed to connect to anyone.

“Try all you like. It’s useless. Naoki’s blocking it,” Mika muttered. “We’re going to die here at the hands of Naoki’s ghost. Chopped up like Takeshi...”

She recalled being chased by the blue monster. But unlike when she was trembling and cowering in the second-floor bathroom, she felt almost no fear now. It felt like she’d cried it all out.

“Stop it. That’s stupid,” Takuro barked. “There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“Then who killed Takeshi? Do you think a normal human is capable of such a brutal murder? Obviously Naoki did it. I’m telling you that blueberry-colored giant is Naoki.”

“Calm down, Mika. This giant of yours doesn’t even exist!” he ranted, spit flying in all directions.

I’m not the one who’s lost my composure. You’re the one that needs to calm down, Takuro.

“Are you saying I’m lying?”

“No, I’m not saying that. But maybe you mistook what you saw. You can be surprisingly rash.”

“That’s not true. It wasn’t just me, either. Hiroshi saw the monster too.”

“Yes, I did see it with my own eyes.”

A reassuring voice came from the second floor. Mika turned around and saw Hiroshi walking down the stairs, wiping his hands with a handkerchief. Red stains dotted it.

“Is that... Takeshi’s blood?” she asked, pointing at the handkerchief.

“Yes, it is,” he responded with a look of dead calm.

A fear seized Mika that was different from what she felt around Takuro.

“You’re saying you saw Naoki’s ghost too?” Takuro asked, leaning brazenly against the front door.

“His ghost? It was nothing of the sort. Spirits, souls, and the like are all purely fictitious. They do not exist in reality,” Hiroshi answered flatly as he passed by Mika.

“See? No way is something like that real.” Takuro gave a satisfied nod and looked down his nose at Mika. “The class brain has spoken. We can all rest assured now.”

Normally Mika would have snapped at him for trying to belittle her, but strangely, she wasn’t angry. It seemed fear wasn’t the only emotion she’d cried away.

“If it’s not a ghost, then what did we see? Can you explain that?” she asked in a calm, even voice.

“It was most likely an illusion,” Hiroshi answered instantly.

“An illusion? What the hell? A ghost would be more believable, don’t you think?”

“Mika, you mentioned you were bitten by a blue grasshopper before coming inside this mansion, no?” Hiroshi asked her flatly.

“Huh? Yeah, I did.”

Mika nodded, looking at her right hand. The swelling had gone down, but there was still a small mark where she’d been bitten.

“I was actually bitten by the same species of insect,” Hiroshi said, lifting up his soft bangs to reveal a small mark on his brow just like the one on Mika’s hand. “I cannot say for certain whether that grasshopper was a sudden mutation or simply an unknown species without further investigation, but what if its body contained some sort of venom? Perhaps it injected us with it and that’s why we were seeing things.”

“You’re saying we were just hallucinating?” Mika shook her head adamantly. “And we saw the same thing? That’s just not possible.”

“Psychologically speaking, when people are together in the same environment and exposed to the same stressors, they can experience extremely similar visions. Many accounts of ghosts and demons can be explained by exactly this sort of shared hallucination.”

“Then what about Takeshi? Illusions and hallucinations don’t kill people.”

“Wasn’t he also injected with the same venom? It’s not uncommon for drug addicts to be so affected by their hallucination that they end up harming themselves.”

“You’re trying to say he chopped off his own limbs and head? Isn’t that exactly what you would call ‘unscientific’? No way that happened.”

Mika laughed even though it wasn’t funny in the least. In fact, tears were spilling from the corners of her eyes. It was like she had no control over what she was feeling. Some circuit inside of her must have gone haywire.

“What if the venom caused him to become insensitive to pain? With something like a chainsaw or guillotine, it’s conceivable that he chopped his own head off.”

“A chainsaw? Guillotine? Are you okay in the head? Maybe the venom’s gotten to you. There’s nothing of the sort in here.”

“There’s no guarantee that Takeshi killed himself in that second-floor room. Perhaps he died somewhere else in the mansion and was carried there by the rats.” Hiroshi answered her without hesitation, though his rationalizing seemed to grow more and more strained.

So it was suicide? Does he really believe that? At least it doesn’t seem like he’s hiding anything.

Mika scrutinized Hiroshi’s face to try and decipher his intentions.

“What?” Hiroshi looked at her. But his eyes, ever cool and calm, said nothing.

They’re just like mommy and daddy’s eyes.

A dark, rotten feeling bubbled up deep inside her.

“Mika dear, how was the sports festival? Are you keeping up with your studies? What do you want for your birthday?”

“Mika, did you grow again? That kitty really likes you, doesn’t it? What do you want as a souvenir from my business trip to Sapporo?”

It wasn’t that she never talked to her parents. But they always had this cagey attitude about them. Now she understood that that dull, avoidant look in their eyes was because they were never really looking at her at all. They were staring into nothing.

“Mommy, I told you before that I got first place in my grade for the foot race, and how my test scores improved on the final exam, didn’t I? Were you only pretending to listen? Does what I say just go in one ear and out the other? And daddy, whenever our conversations go sour, you always change the subject to my height. And would you stop calling her ‘kitty’? Do you even know her name? The reason Heart only likes me is because you guys completely ignore her. I don’t need a birthday present. I don’t need a souvenir. I’d be satisfied just actually getting to spend some time with you two. Why don’t you understand that?”

“Oh, hey, this looks like it’ll come off,” Takuro exclaimed.

His voice snapped Mika out of her thoughts. He was currently fighting with a wooden plank nailed over one of the windows, desperately trying to rip it off.

“If I could shove something thin between this and the wall, that might give me enough leverage to pop it off. Oh, I know. I’ve got the perfect thing.”

He took the knife from his pocket and inserted the blade between the board and the wall, but the tip snapped instantly.

“Damn it all!”

Throwing the broken knife to the ground, he started yelling at Mika and Hiroshi.

“You guys got any bright ideas? If you’ve got time to sit there spacing out, then go look for something that might help!”

And whose fault is it we’re in this situation in the first place?

Normally Mika would have thrown in a snide comment, but the urge never came. It would just start another pointless argument.

“Okay, I’ll go look,” she said lifelessly as she got up and proceeded east down the hall.

Mika entered the open door at the end of the hallway. There was a dining table that could easily seat ten, and a shelf filled with dishes. It was clearly the dining room. Behind the counter on the left wall was a fancy kitchen.

Opening the door beside the counter, she proceeded into the kitchen. She investigated the first shelf she laid eyes on and discovered all kinds of knives, all laid out methodically. They were all well cared for and certainly didn’t look like they’d been sitting there for twenty years. Mika picked up the cleaver to the far left. She stared at the sharp, pointed tip with fascination.

What would happen if I put this through my throat?

A dangerous thought crossed her mind. Without doubt, she’d tasted fear and suffering over the last couple of hours unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. But it wouldn’t last forever. Now that Takeshi was dead, he didn’t need to fear that monster anymore. If she took her own life right now, she’d never have to feel that way ever again either. It wasn’t a bad option, in her opinion.

Even if they did manage to escape, only her cat Heart would be waiting for her at home. And even at home, whenever she went to bed at night, it always felt like there was a deep, dark, bottomless loneliness crushing her. If that was all she had to look forward to, then she might as well...

She gripped the knife tightly, and then... The door to the north that connected to the back hall burst open. A giant blue head poked into the room.

“Noooooooo!” A shrill scream instantly escaped her lips. “Ahhhhh!”

She couldn’t stop screaming even if she wanted to. The blue monster tried to push its way into the kitchen, not seeming to care at all about the noise. It contorted itself in strange ways in an attempt to slip through the door.

Between her screams, Mika could hear the smacking sound of something sticky being chewed. The monster appeared to be eating something. Whatever it was, it was quite hard. The right half of the monster’s face was distorted as it chomped down on it with all its might. Its ugly, puffy lips lifted up, revealing sharp fangs. They were all bent inward, resembling a Venus flytrap. The same gruesome smacking noise continued as it opened and closed its mouth, part of its grisly meal hanging out from between two teeth.

“Aaahhhhhhhh!”

Mika simply continued to scream. It was a human arm dangling from the monster’s mouth. The fingers hung lifelessly, swaying ever so slightly as the monster gnawed on the upper arm.

“Ahhh! Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhhhh—”

Her voice cracked and the taste of iron spread through her mouth. The monster slurped the rest of the arm into its mouth like a wet noodle and chomped it down with a low growl. Mika could hear bones splintering and muscles being torn apart. She watched in horror as the monster swallowed the rest of what used to be someone’s arm in one gulp and then let out a satisfied burp. It licked the blood splattered on its lips with its long, blue tongue, then sluggishly scanned its surroundings. The moment its giant eyes locked on to Mika, it froze.

No...

Her screaming was finally silenced.

I said no!

Mika gripped the cleaver with both hands and pointed it at the monster.

Stay away!

She meant to say that with all her might, but her throat was so ravaged from screaming that barely any sound came out at all. She felt like something was stuck in her throat, but blood was all that came out when she coughed. The only thing she could think about was what the monster had just swallowed. She was fine with dying, but she couldn’t stand the thought of being eaten by that thing.

The giant tilted its head slightly as it slowly drew closer to Mika. Its muscles bulged with each step it took. Even with a knife, there was no way she could fight a monster like that. Instead, she turned on her heels and fled. With one leaping stride after another, she ran into the dining room. She glanced behind her, but the monster seemed to be struggling to fit through the dining room door.

It’s okay. I can escape.

Feeling a flash of hope and confidence, Mika nodded and clenched her fists. She streaked past the dining table and opened the door to the hall.

“Hey, what’s the matter?”

Takuro and Hiroshi were standing just outside the room. They must have heard her screams and come running.

“Run! That thing’s chasing me!” she shouted hoarsely, then took off down the hall as fast as her legs would take her.

“Whoa! Hey, what the hell is that?!” Takuro shouted shrilly from behind her. Not even he could deny it now.

When Mika was halfway up the stairs, her stomach let out an almost comical growl. It didn’t seem to care in the slightest that she was in mortal danger. She couldn’t help but crack a wry smile.

I really am hungry...

As she kept running, she thought about what she would have for dinner.

I wanna go to a family restaurant tonight. I’ll eat until my stomach bursts. Salisbury steak, spaghetti, pizza, fried rice, potato salad... Maybe not bone-in chicken, though.

2

Shun walked down the third-floor hall shakily as if he was in a dream. He still hadn’t fully recovered from the unspeakable scare he’d experienced in the wardrobe. If that sound hadn’t come from downstairs at the exact moment it did, he would have ended up killed and eaten just like Anna.

But he felt no joy in surviving. There was no telling where that monster would come from next, and his will and ability to escape were gone. Everything in the world was decided the moment the universe came into being—a novel Shun had read once said something along those lines. If his fate was to be chased and killed by that monster, then there was no point in fighting back. He should just accept it willingly.

But it wasn’t exactly nihilism that had overcome Shun. It was nothing that extreme. It was almost the opposite. A nothingness. So much had happened that his emotional circuits were fried. It was quite similar to the bleak, subhuman way he felt while Takuro was bullying him.

What was that monster?

Gazing at each of the Greek letters on the doors, he wandered down the hall in a daze.

It was two meters tall with blue skin. Its muscles were abnormally developed. A large, unbalanced head sat atop the blue mass, complete with bulging, piercing eyes that took up half its face. It had humanoid features, but nothing about it was human.

Just a few moments earlier, Shun had been convinced that either Takuro or Hiroshi had dressed up as the monster to scare him. But after actually encountering the monster face-to-face, his carefully built rationalization came crashing down with a magnificent boom. The lifelike texture of its skin and the nuanced changes in its expression weren’t replicable by a costume or mask. Perhaps a talented makeup artist or a professor of robotics could create a realistic monster on that level, but it was unlikely anyone like that would go through the trouble just to scare some kids out in the country.

Which means...

Shun formed a new theory about the monster’s true identity. But if he said it out loud, everyone would surely laugh. He could practically hear them mocking him and calling him crazy now, but he had no other explanation. It was all he could think of.

Is this reality? Or just some absurd illusion?

In order to find out, Shun walked to the room with a placard marked “σ.” In Shun’s game, you could use the key found in the child’s room to open the door to the study on the same floor. The bookshelf there hid a door that led to the attic.

He inserted the key with the same Greek letter as the door into the lock. Twisting left, it clicked open. Shun licked his dry lips, then slowly turned the knob. The room looked peaceful. In the middle of it sat a low desk, and against the wall was an antique-looking bookshelf.

“So there really is a bookshelf here too...” he muttered as he walked into the room, casually touching a paperweight on the desk.

A world just like his game surrounded him. The appearance of the mansion, the placement of the rooms, their layouts... It was all the same. Even the monster that attacked them. Its blue skin, giant head with swollen eyes, hulking muscles, and its taste for human flesh... It was exactly the monster from his game. And something like that shouldn’t exist in real life. The mansion might be one thing, but the monster was another story. Shun was finally sure.

This is the game I made. We’ve gotten sucked into the game world.

But even having figured that out, he still needed to figure out what to do next. Putting a hand to his chin, he racked his brain for a way to return to reality.

“Over here! This door’s open!” Mika shouted from the hall.

Not a moment later, she appeared in the doorway. Shun was shocked to see her tightly gripping a cleaver. But she didn’t even slow down. She ran right into him as she barreled into the room. Mika fell backwards as Shun’s elbow collided with the desk. The impact caused him to drop the key he was holding.

Takuro and Hiroshi weren’t far behind Mika either. Once they were both in, Takuro slammed the door shut.

“Hey! It’s coming! Help me brace this, you guys!”

Shun’s body almost reflexively responded to Takuro barking orders. He still wasn’t sure what was going on, but he didn’t question it. He immediately took to pressing against the door with Hiroshi.

Bam.

A low, heavy sound echoed from out in the hall and shook the whole room as the door bowed inward. The giant’s strength was incredible. Even pushing with all their might, they wouldn’t hold it off for long. Three boys were no match for a monster.

“Hey, you think this might do something?”

Mika picked up the key to the room that Shun had dropped and slipped it into the keyhole in the door. Hearing the lock click, they all backed away from the door. A horrifying howl that sounded like it was echoing up from the depths of hell assaulted their ears as the monster banged on the door. They could hear a terrible creaking sound with each hit. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the monster forced its way in.

“Let’s bring the desk over here and barricade the door.”

At Hiroshi’s suggestion, the four of them picked up the desk and pushed it right up against the door. It was a heavy, sturdy piece of furniture. With it in place, even if the lock did break, the door should stay shut.

Shun and the others backed as far away from the door as they could and huddled together, waiting to see what would happen. The creature continued to pound on the door, and the walls of the room shook violently with each blow. It seemed to go on forever, but at last, it finally seemed to relent and the hallway grew quiet.

Hiroshi stepped forward and hopped up on the desk to put his ear to the door. His courage was impressive. There was no way Shun could have done the same even if he knew for sure the monster was gone.

“I don’t hear anything. I think it’s given up.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Mika slumped to the floor like the nerves had been all that was keeping her upright.

“Hey, Mika. Do something about that, would you? It’s dangerous.”

Mika looked down at her own hands. She was still holding the knife.

“Oh... Sorry.”

She placed it on the ground, then put a hand to her chest and took a few deep breaths.

“We’re safe in here, right? It looks like it can’t get in.”

“Most likely. If it had the key, I suspect it would have used it and forced its way in. The door is more solid than I expected though. For the moment, we seem to be fine,” Hiroshi answered, peering at the keyhole.

“Hey. What the hell was that monster?” Takuro asked, pacing the room anxiously. “I wasn’t bit by any grasshopper. But I saw that thing too. That means it’s not a hallucination, right?”

“It still may be a sudden mutation, just like the grasshopper and the rats.”

“What animal would turn into that after a sudden mutation?”

“I don’t have enough data to answer you. It most closely resembles a gorilla or human.”

“A human? You’re saying that monster’s human?”

Listening to their bickering in one ear, Shun tried to recall the backstory for his game that wasn’t explained in-game. Twenty years ago, the biologist who lived in this mansion was performing genetic treatments on his sick daughter to try and cure her. They were a success and she made a shocking recovery. But their happiness didn’t last for long. The genetic manipulation had unintended consequences. An unexpected linkage caused her to continue to grow and get stronger until she eventually turned into a blue-skinned monster.

But if Shun told them that, they’d think he was crazy. He wasn’t even sure it was really the truth himself, so he kept quiet as he sat in the corner of the room.

“I’m telling you, that was Naoki!” Mika muttered, still hugging her knees. “Our parents are probably worried about us by now since we haven’t come home yet. If we can just hold out a little longer, I’m sure help will come. So when we get out of here, Takuro, you have to tell the police the truth about why Naoki jumped in front of that truck. Then Naoki will be able to pass on.”

“What, it’s all my fault now?”

The look in Takuro’s eyes changed. Shun tensed, expecting another fight.

“Maybe... You might be right.”

But the last thing Shun expected to hear came out of Takuro’s mouth.

“Everyone’s gotten involved in all this craziness because of me. Sorry.”

Takuro bowed. Mika’s expression, which had been as stiff as a statue until now, softened.

“Takuro...”

“After seeing what happened to Takeshi and being chased by that monster... I finally understand. Naoki and the new kid both probably saw me like that monster. They must have been so scared. They did everything I said to the letter. Naoki even ran in front of that truck. And the new kid...”

Shun covered his ears. He didn’t want to remember it.

“Mika, you’re right. I basically killed him. I don’t want to repeat the same mistake again. I swear to god. Thanks for helping me realize that.”

Takuro placed a hand on Mika’s shoulder, a refreshing smile on his face.

“I’m so glad... Takuro, I love you.” Tears fell from her eyes. “Hey, Takuro. You know how you talked about living on your own in high school? Can I come visit you? I’m actually really good at cooking, cleaning, and laundry. I swear I won’t be a burden.”

“Of course. Why don’t you live with me then?” Takuro asked, stroking Mika’s hair and drawing closer to her.

“Really? I’d love to!” Mika proclaimed joyously as she hugged him. “I’ve been so lonely every night, but now I won’t be alone...”

“No, you won’t. Naoki and Takeshi are waiting for you.” There was a crazed glint in Takuro’s eyes.

“Huh?” Mika’s smile froze.

Takuro then pushed Mika away from him, and both Shun and Hiroshi could see the cleaver in his hand. The tip of it was wet with bright red blood.

“Takuro... why?” she groaned, holding her side. Blood seeped from between her fingers.

“Are you an idiot? I’m not gonna give myself up just ’cause a couple nobodies died. I have to succeed my father and make the company even greater.”

“You really are an irredeemable fool...”

Mika’s hazy, unfocused eyes appeared to be on Takuro as she collapsed to her knees and slumped backward.

“Mika, are you okay?”

Shun rushed to her side as she lay face-up on the floor. She was pressing her palm over where Takuro had stabbed her, but the blood just kept coming and wouldn’t stop. She moaned in pain as she spasmed like a fish on land.

“Are you insane?” Hiroshi asked pointedly, flashing a rare glimpse of emotion as he glared at Takuro.

“Sorry, but everyone here needs to die. That way no one will find out about Naoki.”

“The police aren’t stupid. You’ll be caught soon enough.”

“I can just blame it all on that monster. I’ll tell them it ate you guys. They’ll never suspect me!”

Takuro now turned the knife on Hiroshi, but Hiroshi only scoffed.

“Better yet, if I throw your bodies in the hall, that monster might just eat you right up. And if they never find your bodies, it’ll just be a missing persons case and not a murder. They won’t investigate too hard.”

“You are indeed crazy. It’s a waste of time to continue talking to you.”

Hiroshi took off his school uniform jacket, shredded the dress shirt he was wearing underneath it, and approached Mika who was now lying in a pool of her own blood.

“What should we do, Hiroshi? Mika’s stopped moving,” Shun cried pathetically, not sure what to do next.

“This is bad. Her pulse is rapid.” Hiroshi held Mika’s wrist and frowned. “Let’s stop the bleeding for now.”

“Hey! Who said you could move?” Takuro shouted. “There’s no point in doing that. You can’t save her now.”

Takuro was standing across the room up against the bookshelf. He tauntingly waved the blade and smiled like a madman.

“You’re all going to be monster food.”

He raised the cleaver in his right hand just as the bookshelf behind him began to slide to the right.

“Oh!” Shun exclaimed.

Behind the bookshelf was the secret entrance to the hidden attic room, and it was the blue monster that now stood in the open doorway.

“Takuro, behind you!”

Hiroshi tried to warn him, but Takuro just continued to sneer.

“As if I’d fall for something so childish—” Those were Takuro’s last words.

The monster’s mouth opened wide, splitting its massive face from ear to ear. Sticky, green liquid dripped from its lips, falling onto Takuro’s head. But before he could turn around, the monster sunk its fangs into him. It was over in less than a second.

Takuro, now headless, toppled to the floor. Blood sprayed out from his body, dying the study’s floor, walls, and ceiling red. Shun could only stand there, mouth agape, and watch as the hellish scene unfolded.