“Huh?”
I stared at the notification in front of me with a blank expression.
’One minute? What do you mean I have one minute…?’
This had never happened to me before. While I wasn’t flustered, I was still surprised. Nonetheless, I quickly snapped out of it and frowned.
“This makes the situation more troublesome.”
I had purposely saved up my points in order to spend them at the gate. However, it seemed like this was no longer an option.
I frowned before thinking about all the items that were available in the shop.
Unlike the past, I was quite aware of the scenario of the gate.
Looking around the room, my gaze settled on a small wooden table resting in the centre. An unlit candle sat beside it, its wax cold and cracked from years of neglect. Next to the candle lay a weathered wooden board etched with strange runes and letters. It looked no different than an Ouija board.
’No, that’s exactly what it is.’
The room was empty besides me.
The other members were all in similar rooms.
The goal of the mission was simple. It was to use the board to ask questions and figure out who the ’possessed’ was. The main issue was that we all had one question each, and the only questions we could ask were ’Yes’ or ’No’ questions.
Furthermore, the ’possessed’ could make the board lie once.
At the same time, the possessed could hunt the others and turn them into possessed to hunt the others. There was a time limit of 66 minutes, and in that time, if the ’prime possessed’ wasn’t found, then the gate would fail and we’d all be stuck here.
This wasn’t supposed to be a hard challenge considering how we had a direct list of questions we could ask to figure out the possessed.
However, I understood that things were probably not going to be this simple.
’There’s a good chance that the possessed can lie more than once.’
This was the main issue.
If it could lie more than once, then it would make the entire situation more difficult to solve.
I pursed my lips and sorted through all the available items in the shop.
In the end, I decided to buy one item.
—
[Salt of the Sacred Rite]
: Pure white salt with an unusual crystalline pattern. Sprinkling it around a door or window creates a temporary ward that blocks spirits once.
Beware: Ineffective after one use.
Consumable.
Price: 12,000 GP
—
*Puff*
A small bag appeared from above me as I caught it.
Immediately after that, notifications appeared on my screen again.
[The time limit is up]
[The shop is now closed]
[Best of luck!]
’Luck my ass…’
I shook my head before looking at the small bags in my hand. Opening up and seeing the salt in it, I looked at it before closing the bag again.
’This should be able to save me once.’
I wanted to buy more, but it was only useful once.
“Okay, I think I’m ready.”
I turned my attention towards the wooden table and the flickering candle. The candle was a sort of timestamp. The moment it completely burned out was the moment that the time was up.
At the same time as I moved to the table, I opened up the salt bag and scattered it around me. I also put some near the door.
There was just enough that it could cover the entrance, too.
’This should be able to guarantee that I won’t be the affected one.’
Taking off my bag, I retrieved a small walkie-talkie.
I pressed on the communication.
“I’m ready. Is everyone ready?”
I waited for the next couple of minutes before I received messages from the others.
—Yes, I am here.
—…I am also ready. I’m inside a weird room.
—We’re all in rooms.
—I am also ready.
—Me too.
—Mhm.
Seeing that all six members were ready, I nodded and took a deep breath, mentally prepping myself for the upcoming scenario.
If there was one thing that I noticed while entering the scenario as opposed to the times in the past, it was the fact that I wasn’t as scared as I expected myself to be. This wasn’t even because of the weird ’side effects’ that I had been experiencing.
It really did seem that after everything that I had gone through, my tolerance for horror had increased.
’I honestly didn’t expect this, but this is good.’
Clearing my throat, I brought the walkie-talkie to my mouth.
“Okay, light up the candle next to you. The moment you do, the scenario will begin. Most of you are already aware of what will happen, so proceed as planned. If something out of the ordinary happens or you notice anything, report it immediately.”
My words were met with silence, but the silence was confirmation to me that they had all heard.
“Start.”
Taking out a lighter, I lit up the candle.
A faint flicker manifested the moment I did, and the atmosphere changed. Suddenly, the torches that were around the room turned off, and the door that had been open slammed shut.
Bang!
I didn’t flinch and kept my expression firm as the surroundings seemed to shift.
The shadows formed by the candles seemed to stretch around me, almost as if they had turned into invisible hands that were trying to grasp me.
Certain whispers that I couldn’t quite make out lingered in the air for the next several seconds until…
Silence.
The room turned incredibly silent.
I pressed on the walkie-talkie.
“Is everyone done?”
—….
—….
—….
—….
—….
—…
My words were met with silence.
I opened my mouth and asked again.
“Anyone?”
But…
Yet again, I was met with silence.
It was at this moment that my heart slowly sank as I closed my eyes and put the walkie-talkie down.
“As expected. Things are never easy when I’m participating.”
The scenario…
It had, without a doubt, already changed.
This was something that I had expected, and as such, I wasn’t very flustered. This was also something that we had already discussed in advance.
We had already taken into account the possibility of the walkie-talkies not working.
As such, staring at the candle, I slowly turned my attention towards the board, and placed my hand over the plachette. I waited like this for the next several minutes until a change occurred.
Skkrrr—
I felt a cold touch over my hand as the plachette moved on its own.
The candle next to me flickered violently as the plachette continued to move and the room plunged into a state of coldness.
Then…
’Is… the possessed a female?’
A soft voice whispered in the air. The voice was cold, but it was recognizable. It was Joanna’s voice.
Holding my breath, the pointer stopped at ’No’
I wasn’t relieved by the answer.
The possessed could lie.
Thankfully, we had already planned this in advance.
The flame danced again, shadows crawling as the cold deepened. My hand, nearly numb now, returned the plachette to its starting point.
“Is… the possessed a female?”
Another voice.
Min.
The pointer moved once more…
Yes.
I froze and felt a noticeable shift in the air.
One yes. One no.
It suddenly became clear.
One of the two… was lying.
And just as if that wasn’t enough…
Kh, Kh—
A sudden static sound came out from the walkie-talkies. Slowly turning my attention towards them, the walkie-talkies started working again.
This…
Wasn’t this a little too coincidental?