Volume 1 - CH 12

Ponytail is hurrying to the bookstore like a gust of wind to take advantage of the time before the next wave of dolls. Her speed even sends the neatly placed newspapers by the counter flying to the ground.

She stops, then tries to adjust her breathing while kneeling down to pick the newspaper back up, and inadvertently notices the content on the newspaper. She suddenly has a revelation, turning to Xü Beijin, asking, “laoban, do you have newspapers from earlier here?”

“Earlier?”

“Like…” Ponytail says, “when the owner’s daughter next door went missing.”

Xü Beijin is slightly surprised too, pausing for a moment before answering, “that would be more than two months ago. I’m not sure if they’re still around… You can search for them,” he points to the cabinet beneath the shelves, “they’re inside there.”

Ponytail hesitates a little bit before kneeling to open the cabinet and search through the newspapers. Her line of thought is that, since these newspapers are all here, with proper print, content and everything, then there must be some deeper meaning to them.

Xü Beijin also walks out from the counter to help search.

Lin Qin is standing outside the door, acting like a guard.

The newspaper in the cabinet are all arranged neatly chronologically, so soon enough Ponytail yells out in joy, “found it!”

Xü Beijin, meanwhile, is recalling how he’s nowhere as organised usually… They should thank the Server for this.

The Server is actually in charge of all the details in the scenery in these Nightmares; they are not necessarily entirely dependent on the Tower residents. Therefore, Ponytail was right on point there.

If these detailed newspapers exist, then some reason must exist to justify so. They do not pop in randomly.

The newspapers, meanwhile, are the local ones mainly reporting on local occurrences. Ponytail is carefully perusing the front page of one of its editions.

‘DOLL STORE OWNER’S DAUGHTER MYSTERIOUSLY MISSING! POLICE “RESIDENTS SHOULD PAY SPECIAL ATTENTIONS TO SURROUNDINGS”‘

This is the news on xiao-Chun’s missing case!

“[…]

The missing little girl, Wu Chun, is just six years old.

Two days ago, she mysteriously went missing in her own family store. Nearby CCTV cameras all failed to capture how she went missing or any suspicious individuals […] investigation by police has entered a standstill […]

“We cannot rule out if she just got lost wandering outside,” says the police spokesperson, “therefore, we advise the general public to keep an eye out for […] and provide clues at […] if […] to help us search for this missing child.” […]

Wu Chun’s parents have also requested help from the media, including this newspaper, hoping to draw attention and to search for clues.

During the interview, the parents were visibly distressed. “Xiao-Chun is a cute, caring little girl. I can’t imagine what she might be going through outside,” Wu Chun’s mother said with reddened eyes, “if anyone knows her whereabouts or any clues, please tell us! Xiao-Chun, come back to mommy and daddy soon. We miss you.” […]

A recent photo of the missing girl, Wu Chun, can be seen here. If any readers or residents have any clues, you may contact this newspaper directly, or call […] police and Wu Chun’s parents.

[…]”

Ponytail gives a glance at Wu Chun’s photo, printed specifically in colour against the greyscale newspaper.

It certainly is a cute little girl. She has two ponytails herself. Her smile is endlessly innocent. Her eyes are bright. She looks really likeable.

Ponytail can’t help but think if anyone might really do something to such a cute little girl. What sick bastards they must have been in that case. If she did just wander outside and got lost, though, would there really have been no clues and no witnesses after so many days?

Besides…

Ponytail reads the news report in detail again, focusing on the part describing xiao-Chun’s parents.

It had a whole segment on the mother but not the father… Why? Perhaps the mother was acting much more devastated and left an impression on the reporter, compared to the father? She looked more in pain and saddened?

Or perhaps just for editorial reasons, they needed to establish a woman, a motherly figure in desperation to help draw the readers’ sympathies and better spread the news out?

If it’s the latter, then sure; if it’s the former, then it seems to conflict with the information they have received thus far.

From the diary to the letters to their conversation with Wu Shen on the second floor, or even information from the bookstore owner, it all seems to paint an overly rational and cold attitude of a woman after her daughter went missing…

No wait, actually, this bookstore owner also said Wu Chun’s mother did still love her and spoil her, even going so far as to take detours after a busy day of work to buy sweets she wanted.

What is the reason for this discrepancy?

Suddenly, her mind seems to have vaguely stumbled on the same spark again, but just like before, she is still very much in the dark.

Why…

That is when Lin Qin, who is keeping watch at the entrance, says, “the dolls are coming.”

Ponytail quickly snaps back to reality and cusses, “shit!”

She still hasn’t talked to the bookstore owner!

Yet the emergency affords her no time to think. She throws the newspaper back onto the counter and runs outside. It would be tragic if they were trapped immobile in the cramped bookstore until they suffocated to death like last time.

If this Nightmare were to restart once again… Her thoughts are digressing, but she thinks she might begin to use the utility cards then.

They’re rare, hard to acquire and are always limited in use. These factors combine to mean everyone is averse to using them.

In this situation, they’re facing the dolls’ chase that would be great if it could be resolved simply by running, but she is worried.

This is the sixth run already, and the chase has grown more ruthless already; if they’re still unable to truly resolve this Nightmare’s truth… Then, what kind of change would occur to these dolls as the Nightmare restarts again?

Ponytail is already losing trust in what the Missiontakers said, that they could just avoid the dolls, again and again, to reach a Normal End to leave the Nightmare if they needed to.

True End means they can ascend to a higher floor; Normal End means they stay whichever floor they’re on, which is, of course, leaps better than succumbing to a Nightmare forever.

Yet… Can they really avoid the dolls’ chase again and again? It’s still feasible now, but what about in future restarts?

Did they perhaps overlook some information? Did they still have important clues yet to be discovered?

Running, running, Ponytail can only hope that Quarrelsome and Glasses could discover something in their latest second-floor excursion.

Xü Beijin is now watching Quarrelsome and Glasses through the stream directly, and he can tell Ponytail that, she is probably in for some deep disappointment.

Even the viewers are all going ‘tch’ and lamenting, “sure is hard on them to have to be in the same place together”

Yes. They are moving together, but not cooperating at all. They just do whatever they want; the flames were lit in the very beginning by an argument.

Quarrelsome said to explore the last room first, Glasses said to wake up Wu Shen first;

Quarrelsome said the doll of the little girl will go berserk in five minutes, enough for them to investigate the mysterious workshop first. Go to Wu Shen first and who knows if he’ll let them in at all;

Glasses asked why he is so certain Wu Shen would not let them in there. And they should first confirm whether the doll’s disappearance was related to Wu Shen’s appearance first. They could move about freely on the second floor if that’s true.

Quarrelsome, perhaps reflexively, retorts, “why are you so sure the doll will disappear if we looked for Wu Shen? The only safe period we’re sure of is the five-minute time limit;”

Glasses… He was convinced.

While Quarrelsome basically has no stance, being the one to first suggest looking for Wu Shen and now suggesting the workshop instead, but Glasses would admit that what he said made sense.

Yes, true, the doll’s disappearance is a complete toss-up at this point. He cannot waste this chance for a gamble, not least on the sixth run of a Nightmare.

Thinking about that, Glasses can’t help but want to complain about that Missiontaker that forced himself out being so scared.

If not for him, they wouldn’t have wasted their first two chances…

After the consensus, they skipped Wu Shen’s room for the room on the left of the end of the corridor.

It seems the door hasn’t been opened in a long time, as when Glasses opened it, the axle made an unbearably loud screech that even made the two of them look instinctively at the room Wu Shen is sleeping in, afraid they’d woken him up.

Fortunately, they heard nothing after waiting two seconds, so they sigh in relief and turn to the mysterious workshop instead.

It’s not large, perhaps 10 square metres across in area at most.

It’s mainly occupied by a large wooden workbench. It certainly looks well-used, with the table already turning into a dark brown where it is often used. It looks like it has been paved over by paint and glue, sticky and mucky.

On the right side of the workbench is a rack that reaches all the way up to the ceiling where all sorts of parts for dolls and tools are placed. There are several heads for dolls, for example, uncoloured, white as skeletons, without the bead in their eye sockets yet either, just staring blankly at the two invaders with their empty holes.

Glasses takes an instinctive step back, almost crashing into Quarrelsome; he is reminded of the time his eyes were scoured from his eye socket by the doll, again.

Quarrelsome, avoiding Glasses, knocks over the trash can by accident. There’s a thump.

Spooked, he looks down, only to find a pile of paper with messy words written all over it. He picks one up and begin examining the pile.

They’re all torn letters, in fact, curled into a pile. It’s hard to distinguish what was written on the mess of paper.

Quarrelsome opens a ball up to check.

“You are… insane…,” he reads out loud what he is reading, “… I was wrong…”

Glasses has also turned around and saw the mass of paper. Furrowing his brow, he also kneels to check.

That is when…

“What… are you doing?!”

While they are reading the torn letters in the second-floor workshop, there is suddenly a shadow looming over them from the entrance. It is Wu Shen. Nobody knows when he walked over, but the moment they looked up, they see him staring at them in shock and fury.