Chapter 12 - Oni Ni Kanabou

1

By the purple fluorescent light in the room, Hiroshi worked to undo the bedroom doorknob. First, he carefully inserted the blade of the box cutter, still covered in the monster’s fluids, into the slot on one of the screws. The cold numbed his fingers, making it difficult to move them. But every time his mind flashed back to Takuro, the more panicked he became.

For a moment, he’d thought about going down the stairs after him, but if a monster did appear, then the lithe and agile Takuro would stand a better chance of escaping on his own. Hiroshi would just be a hindrance to him now. So instead, he decided to throw himself completely into something that would be useful.

A few screws later, he was finally able to pry off the knob. He then took it straight over to the door hidden behind the wallpaper. He installed it, and he patted his chest to calm himself before slowly turning it.

Before him opened up to a room much like the others, with only a bed and a wardrobe. But he knew that couldn’t be all. There had to be a reason this room was hidden. Hiroshi headed straight for the wardrobe and pulled on the doors.

“It seems I was correct.”

His chest felt a little lighter. Inside the wardrobe lay a fragment of the keycard. He picked it up and examined its shape. This was definitely the piece Takeshi had run off with. The monster must have feared them getting ahold of it and come to hide it here.

The fact that it had enough presence of mind to do that shocked Hiroshi, but in the end, it was just a savage creature that only thought about eating humans. It could never stand up to true human knowledge.

Moreover, they had all the pieces now. They could finally open the front door. A ray of hope was now shining on what had seemed like a dark and grim future for them. Hiroshi could feel energy filling his tired body. He had to laugh at himself. The human body was so simple. This was but one state of being of a seemingly ever-changing form.

Shaking off an image of Mika’s face that rose up in the back of his mind for a second, Hiroshi stood up straight. He only had two pieces of the keycard on him. Takuro had the last one. They needed to rendezvous as soon as possible. But the moment Hiroshi turned around to head for the door, he heard a sound from the adjoining room. Someone had entered.

Grrt... Grrt...

He could then hear a scratching sound like something being dragged across the floor. Someone was walking around in there. But it couldn’t be Takuro. Surely he would have come straight for the room Hiroshi was in.

Perhaps it is the monster. I should observe the situation before acting.

Hiroshi, careful as he could be not to make a sound, hid himself in the wardrobe. He closed the doors from the inside and held his breath. Then he heard the door to the room open. The hair standing up on the back of his neck told him something had come in.

Grrt... Grrt...

That strange sound traveled all across the room.

What is it doing?

Hiroshi tried to sneak a peek through the tiny gap between the wardrobe doors, but couldn’t see anyone. Yet the sound never stopped. Something other than the monster was patrolling the room. Something possibly even more dangerous than that. The scent of danger in his nose, Hiroshi held his breath and did his best to stay quiet.

How long have I been here?

Suddenly, the room shook. The sound of something heavy breaking echoed through the air. Then a stout blow battered the wardrobe. Hiroshi had no idea what was going on. He couldn’t see anyone that could have done it through the gap in the doors. And yet... there was certainly something out there.

Then the sounds ceased as suddenly as they had begun. He heard the door to the room open again, and with that, the dark presence that had been occupying the room was gone. Silence returned. Yet still, Hiroshi continued to hold his breath inside the closet. His heart was racing a thousand beats per second. Eventually, judging that the coast was clear, he opened the doors.

“...!”

Hiroshi was at a loss for words at the strange sight he beheld. The walls, floor, and ceilings—every inch of the room was scribbled over with blue magic marker. It was the same childlike graffiti he’d seen in the adjacent room, but this was off the rails. He could only sense a manic craziness from it.

“Help me...” He heard a voice croak painfully. “Please help me...”

Hiroshi fled from the room and rushed down the stairs as fast as he could. Fanged monsters had attacked him. He’d seen the mangled corpses of his classmates. Unimaginable phenomena were happening one after the other, the tragedies only increasing as time wore on. And yet what he feared most was the fact that he was losing his mind.

2

Hiroshi moved through the first-floor hallway, painting after painting of the eyeball monster sliding through his peripheral vision. Looking further down the hall, he spotted a giant door with intricate engravings on it. Making sure the monster wasn’t in the vicinity, he approached it carefully.

The art on the door was of the same bat-winged giant eyeball creature from the paintings. The same unreadable worm-like writing he’d witnessed in the study accompanied it. But what he’d thought was one large door at first was actually a set of double doors, clearly different from anything else he’d come across. Something special had to be on the other side.

What could it be?

He nervously placed his hand on one of the doors. Just then...

Skree!

A repulsive cry filled his ears as a ball tumbled down the stairs. No, it was no ball. It stopped at the bottom of the staircase and turned, looking right at Hiroshi. It rubbed the right side of its face over and over, as if its crushed right eye was paining it.

The small monster let out another high-pitched scream and half leaped, half charged at Hiroshi. He instinctively leaned back and to the side. The monster was so fast that it was all he had time to do. The monster flew past the tip of his nose and landed lightly right in front of the wall at the end of the hall. Instantly, it turned back around. There was less than a meter between them. The next time it jumped, Hiroshi wouldn’t even have time to dodge.

What do I do?

His mind was racing, but he couldn’t think of anything in his panic.

The monster leaped once more into the air. Reflexively, Hiroshi backed up. Suddenly, the floor beneath him gave way. He tried to grab on to anything he could, but his palms simply swiped at empty air. Down into the darkness he fell.

Predicting a hard landing against the unforgiving floor, Hiroshi moved to protect his head. But surprisingly enough, the landing was softer than expected. A burst of white powder shot up into the air. Some of it got sucked into his nose as he inhaled, making him cough uncontrollably. But he recognized the smell—wheat flour. His surroundings were dark, making it difficult to discern just where he was. But based on the sensation below his back, he could at least tell that he’d fallen atop a jute bag full of flour.

Skree!

A high-pitched squeal echoed from above. Hiroshi looked up to see the monster peering at him through the hole he’d opened up. But watch was all it did. It refused to come after him. It almost seemed afraid to descend floors.

But Hiroshi couldn’t afford to relax. There was no telling when it might have a change of heart. Hiroshi stood up and took the flashlight out from his pocket. He shone it about, looking for an escape route.

The cramped room was filled with bags of flour and many wooden boxes stacked on top of each other. Using brute force to break open the crates, he checked them for anything useful. It seemed he’d broken something inside one of them. A smell like a distinct mix of alcohol and oil wafted up. Had this once been the mansion’s storehouse?

He continued breaking open crates until he stumbled across a wooden door. Turning the knob, he burst out of the room. He was a little too eager in his escape, however, and stumbled forward a few steps. It was cold. Very cold. The moment he breathed in, he could feel the inside of his nose freezing over. It sent a chill through his entire body. It was like he was inside a freezer. Shivering, Hiroshi looked around.

The floor and walls were gray concrete. A single naked bulb hung from the ceiling casting, as he’d come to expect by now, purple light over the room. A crumbling passageway continued further in. Iron bars were affixed to either side of it.

What is this?

He could hear a creepy growling from somewhere. And it wasn’t just the wind. He could sense a deep hatred to it.

Slowly walking forward, he peered through the bars. On the other side were many different rooms separated by concrete walls. No, not rooms. They were cells. Hiroshi peered into them, but could make out no prisoners. Yet the unsettling growling continued.

What on earth was this place created for? Was it always here? Is it a part of Shun’s game? Or did someone else entirely construct this? Perhaps this is the true reason the mansion is called the Jailhouse...

The more he investigated the mansion, the greater its mysteries seemed to grow. The mansion proper they’d first set foot in seemed as though it had been lovingly constructed by an eccentric rich owner who had a taste for European flair—that was all. But after making it through the underground passage and arriving in the annex, it was clear the residents were a little more than just eccentric. The countless paintings of monsters lining the walls. The purple lighting. The freezing temperature. And this underground jail...

Based on accounts he’d heard from Shun and Takuro, Hiroshi knew there was a strange connection between Shun’s escape game and the real world. The discrepancies between the Jailhouse’s layout and the game’s map could only mean one thing: someone who knew about both had rewritten the code. The culprits were most likely the monsters haunting these very halls. Thanks to the web-enabled tablet, they were able to gain knowledge about various things. This was purely speculation, but the other side of the underground path—this newly created part of the annex—seemed to be much more conducive to the monsters’ habitation.

Of course, Hiroshi didn’t really think that the monsters had gained the knowledge to perform specialized programming. But Shun did push out new updates for the game every once in a while. Segments of past data and unused maps likely still existed within the game. The monsters could have potentially stitched together pre-existing elements like that to create a new Jailhouse.

Just... what were they? In the end, all the lingering mysteries came back to that one question. They weren’t simply carnivorous beasts. The monsters had near-human levels of knowledge.

How long have they been here? Where did they come from? And what is their goal?

Hiroshi passed by each cell, eventually arriving at the end of the hall. Before him stood a concrete wall. He could go no further. He touched the wall just to be sure, but as he suspected, there was no hidden door here.

Slowly, he turned to his left. The last room there was made of glass. Inside it sat a small desk and a single pipe chair. If this basement had been created to observe someone, this seemed like the ideal place to keep watch on a subject.

Sliding the door to the side, Hiroshi set foot in the room. His hand immediately shot up to cover his nose in response to the raw stench swamping him. The unceasing, echoing growl grew much louder.

Hiroshi looked to the back wall of the room. There was a sturdy-looking door stained with brown spots. The growl seemed to be coming from the other side. Taking a deep breath of the stale, filthy air in the room, he slowly tried the knob.

Don’t open it! Hiroshi’s subconsciousness warned him. You’ll regret it if you do.

Warning bells were going off in his head left and right. Perhaps after all the trials he’d been through in the mansion, his body had learned to anticipate danger.

It’s not too late. Turn back now.

However, he willfully disobeyed all of those warnings. He just couldn’t resist his mounting curiosity. Steeling himself, he opened the door.

“Oh...”

Something other than a scream or a sigh slipped from the depths of his throat. Before him was a giant cell, larger than any of the ones he’d seen so far. All at once, the creatures wriggling behind its bars turned to him.

A complicated mixture of dread and delight filled him. He couldn’t stop shaking. Tens, hundreds of the strange creatures were trapped inside. And they weren’t limited to the types of monsters that had attacked so far, either. One had octopus-like tentacles; another wriggled its whole body like a snake. There were soft-bodied creatures in some kind of slime-like state; there immovable objects that looked like stones until you noticed the hundreds of eyes covering them... Each and every creature was glaring right at him.

That wasn’t all they had in common, either. Every last one of them shared the same features: slimy, shining blue skin and sharp fangs. And upon seeing Hiroshi, they all began to stir and make a fuss as if they were demanding food. One with a relatively humanoid form grabbed the iron bars of the cell. Though it had the general shape of a human, it only had one eye on its face and long fangs ripping through its cheeks.

The one-eyed monster began violently shaking the bars. It let out a high-pitched screech, as if to try and scare him. Taking that as a signal, the other creatures in the cell clamored to the bars as well. They all began shaking them, too, glaring at Hiroshi as they did. The whole room shook like crazy. Pieces of concrete crumbled loose from the ceiling overhead. Hiroshi could see the bars beginning to warp.

Not good.

It was only a matter of time before the cell gave way. Hiroshi turned his back on the monsters, fully intending to flee this bizarre prison. But the door wouldn’t open. Somehow, it had become locked. No matter how hard he tried to turn it, the knob wouldn’t budge. All the blood in his body ran cold. Things had gone from bad to worse, and he could no longer maintain his composure.

What do I do?

He frantically looked around, desperate for a way to get out, but he was too panicked to think of anything. The loud cries of the monsters then suddenly stopped. Curious, Hiroshi turned around to see why, and was aghast at what he saw. The bars to the cell were bowed wide. Countless monsters were pushing their way through the opening.

Run!

His subconsciousness was screaming at him.

But where? Even if I wanted to, there’s nowhere to go.

Hiroshi quickly found himself up against a wall.

Don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up... This isn’t reality. Think of it as a game. If it’s a game, there has to be an escape route somewhere.

Hiroshi searched along the wall in hopes of finding a hidden door like on the second floor. But then suddenly, the wall next to the door exploded with a roar. Clouds of white dust blotted out his vision. Coughing as he waved them away, he saw the giant figure looking down at him.

A gasp of despair slipped Hiroshi’s lips.

It was the blue giant that had attacked him so many times that had broken through the wall. And this time, it was holding an iron pipe in one hand. Truly, he had gone from the frying pan straight into the fire. There was just no conceivable way for Hiroshi to win.

Takuro, Mika, Takeshi... I am terribly sorry, but this is as far as I go.

He could envision the words “game over” in the back of his mind. The monster’s eyes immediately locked on to him, and the beast let out a low growl. There was also the pack of monsters closing in behind him. Hiroshi could run no more.

The slime-like monster took the lead and attacked first. Behind it, countless other monsters followed. There was simply no escape. Hiroshi resigned himself and closed his eyes.

With a sound like the popping of a balloon, the air around him rumbled. A sticky substance splattered on his cheek... but he felt no pain.

Am I saved?

He opened his eyes and looked down to see a monster spasming and frothing at the mouth on the floor at his feet. Incited by the loss of its brethren, another monster attacked in a rage. But in the blink of an eye, it was knocked backward into the air.

The giant monster that had broken down the wall had stepped forward and was standing there post-swing. Hiroshi didn’t know what was happening. Did the monsters have some sort of falling out? It didn’t matter. Now was his chance.

Hiroshi darted through the hole the giant had created, passed through the observation room, and burst out into the dark passageway. But the giant had followed—it was right behind him. It closed the sliding door behind it, and instead of attacking Hiroshi, stood the pipe up against it to bolt it shut. The creatures following it assaulted the door, but they were now unable to open it. They smushed up against the glass, creating a horrifying wall of hungry eyes.

The giant monster then moved in front of Hiroshi and stopped. Its unbalanced eyes swiveled around in its head, but that was it. Still extremely confused, Hiroshi watched as the monster began to shrink before him. Its skin quickly changed color as the monster transformed into something more familiar.

“What’re you just standing there for? Hurry up and run, brainiac,” he said, sweeping his bleach-blond hair up with his fingers in a display of his usual attitude.

3

What is the soul, he wondered.

Takeshi knew that he had died at the hands of the monster. It had sucked the meat from his bones until there was nothing left of him. But his mind still existed here somehow. Hiroshi had theorized that the monster could copy the consciousness of those it ingested. Which meant that if he was that copy, then his memories should be from before he died.

I only lost my body, but my mind still exists. So is this what they call the soul?

Takeshi had always been self-conscious of his small frame. He had neither strength nor courage. If he hadn’t done anything, people would have looked down on him his entire life. That was why he curried favor with Takuro—to protect himself.

He was a sheep in wolf’s clothing. That’s what everyone called him. He knew it all too well. But what was so wrong with that? It was better than being torn apart by the wolves. Some people called him a liar. They just didn’t understand.

I’m not a liar. I’m a strategist.

That’s what he’d always thought, and that hadn’t changed even now. If he hadn’t clung to Takuro’s heels, he very well may have ended up in Naoki’s position. But nevertheless... that had come at a price.

Naoki had once visited Manpuku last summer. This was before he’d become the target of Takuro’s bullying. On Takeshi’s recommendation, he ordered the special fried rice and happily chowed down on it. Takeshi could still remember him saying how delicious it was over and over, his cheeks stuffed with rice. It was clear he wasn’t just being polite. Naoki wasn’t one for flattery, and even if he was, there was no need to go out of his way to give the same compliment three times.

“I’ll be back,” Naoki had said with a burp as he’d paid the bill.

“Next time, I’ll let you taste my fried rice,” Takeshi had said proudly.

“Huh? You’re gonna cook?”

“I saw that look of disgust just now! Don’t underestimate me, idiot. I can make fried rice way better than my dad.”

That comment had earned Takeshi a scolding and a smack on the back of the head from his father, which elicited a chuckle from Naoki.

“All right. Next time, then. I’ll look forward to it.”

That might have been the last time Takeshi saw Naoki smile. And in the end, he never did come back to the restaurant.

Even after seeing all the damage Takuro had inflicted on him, Takeshi couldn’t offer a single word of condolence. If he made an enemy of Takuro, he’d be next on the list. So he lied to himself and laughed along with Takuro at Naoki’s pain. What else could he do?

He’d always hoped to apologize to Naoki one day. But he never got up the courage to do it. And while he floundered in his hesitation and cowardice, Naoki died. It wasn’t just Naoki, though. Takeshi had a lot of people he needed to apologize to. Just how many sneaky lies had he told? How many problems had he caused just because he was a huge coward? But it was too late. He was dead now. He couldn’t apologize to anyone. The regret became a tidal wave, threatening to engulf him.

He’d always run from difficulty. And he’d always believed that it was the right thing to do. Of course, running away isn’t inherently a bad thing. It’s always an option. But it’s a means to an end. It should never be the goal.

I don’t want to have lived my whole life running away.

His body might be gone, but Takeshi’s soul still existed. It wouldn’t last for long, though. Just as his flesh and bones had dissolved inside the monster’s stomach, his consciousness would be consumed eventually. There was something he had to do before then: atone for the various evils he’d committed in life. No one needed to suffer anymore because he hadn’t acted.

Slipping back through the hole in the wall, Takeshi followed Hiroshi. It was pure instinct that told him it was Hiroshi. Or perhaps it was a special power belonging to the monster.

That’s right, I’m not a shrimp now! I’m super strong! I can stand up and be brave in the face of danger!

As his transformation into the monster neared completion, Takeshi’s consciousness was fading fast. He could barely control his body. But the sight of Hiroshi’s plight stoked his emotions.

Are you going to run away again?

Takeshi fought desperately against the monster’s quickly encroaching instincts.

If I don’t fight now, Hiroshi will die! Don’t run! Stand strong! I’m not a coward!

“Ugh, don’t just stand there. Come here.”

Hiroshi was standing there gobsmacked. Takeshi grabbed him by the hand and took off running. Doing his best to suppress the monster inside him threatening to take over at any moment, Takeshi punched the wall on the other side of the warehouse. The concrete crumbled and light shone in from the other side.

“Hurry. There’s a staircase up ahead.”

“How do you know that?”

Takeshi nearly burst out laughing when he saw the confused look on Hiroshi’s face. It made him a little happy to know that even the smartest kid in class could look so stupid.

“You can’t even understand that much? Some egghead you are. I’m one of the mansion monsters,” he replied, almost bragging.

“Do you mean that you’ve synchronized with the monster’s consciousness?”

“I don’t know the gory details. You’re the smart one. Once you’re safely out of here, you can spend all the time in the world theorizing about it.”

The sound of breaking glass echoed in the darkness behind them. A cloud of dust flooded from the dim passageway as monsters began surging in. Their last line of defense hadn’t held for long, it seemed.

“Quit dawdling, or they’ll catch you! Hurry!” Takeshi shouted as he shoved Hiroshi through the broken wall.

“Takeshi, if you know everything about the monsters, then, please, tell me one thing,” Hiroshi said, poking his head back from the other side of the wall. “What are they?”

“I don’t know that much. Look, do you want to die? Get going!”

He shot out his right arm and sent Hiroshi flying.

I lied again... But this time, I should be forgiven.

Where had the monsters come from? What was their goal? If Takeshi told him the truth, Hiroshi most likely would have lost his mind.

Repelling a slime-bodied monster that tried to chase after Hiroshi, Takeshi shouted at the top of his lungs, “Oh, no you don’t! You’ll have to get through me first!”

The look in the monsters’ eyes changed. They seemed to be filled with intense anger. They were incomplete beings that had been trapped underground their whole lives—surely their brains were undeveloped. A taunt should easily draw their attention.

“Over here, idiots!” Takeshi shouted, dashing in the opposite direction he’d sent Hiroshi.

As he expected, the monsters gave chase. The white powder that had settled on the floor was kicked up into the air once more. A familiar scent stung the insides of Takeshi’s nose. For some reason, tears welled up in his eyes.

This... smells like the restaurant.

The image of his dad wielding a wok with one hand rose up in the back of his mind. And there was his mom, busily running about the restaurant.

“Hey, Takeshi! How about you come down here and help instead of watching that confounded TV all day?”

He could swear he heard his mother’s voice.

“Heh heh,” he chuckled, sniffling a bit.

Picking up a bottle of oil from the floor, Takeshi climbed atop a stack of wooden crates.

“Come on, idiots! I’m right here!” he shouted loudly as he began dousing the teeming mob of monsters with the oil.

He watched the ensuing uproar from above as he pulled out the lighter from his pocket. Hands shaking, he flicked it to life.

“Huh? That’s weird,” he muttered to himself and laughed. “I can’t stop shaking. Takuro’s gonna call me a coward again.”

Takeshi paused for the briefest moment to wipe away his tears.

“I’m still scared of dying. I’m still scared even though I’m already dead. I’m still scared even though I’m strong now. But... I want this to be the end. I want to save them.”

Opening his hand, he let the lighter fall down below into the mass of monsters. Flame instantly engulfed the room. It shot up here and there, swallowing monsters one after the other. They thrashed about, squealing and screaming their last as the flames consumed them. Takeshi’s jacket too caught fire from the embers exploding into the air.

“Sorry, mom. I don’t think I’ll be able to help with the restaurant anymore,” he whispered as he wiped his tears and held his head high, his mouth resolutely drawn in a tight line.