The Author Is Speechless
Chapter 266: The Mourning Ceremony. Part 5

Chapter 266: The Mourning Ceremony. Part 5

The group of 7 slowly got off an evening bus and looked at the sea. The sun was setting on the horizon so some of them wanted to take a stroll around the beach. But they were running out of time so Adonis advised them to start moving or else they might get lost in the forest.

Slowly, they entered the forest and saw huge gates that lead to the mountain god shrine. Adonis knew where the house was going to appear but he wanted to make the trip like they accidentally found the house.

"Mahiko, are you sure you want to go inside? It’s a bit risky. We might get lost in the forest."

The girl who wanted to surpass Futaba at everything stepped forward and replied, "Hu?? I didn’t know Futaba had such a lame weakness. Perhaps you’re scared of the dark? How funny. Let’s go guys, I will take the lead and find the house."

Adonis was left behind at the very end of the group. It was already dawn but the deep forest made the environment feel like it was already night.

Frogs, crickets and so many bugs began to humm as the sky turned black. There was no sign of stars as the clouds covered the sky.

Soon, the clouds started to rumble and the group of hikers kept walking in circles.

Ryoko looked at the end of the group and saw Futaba staring at the darkest part of the jungle on his left. He kept his torch turned off so it seemed a little odd to him.

He then approached Futaba and asked, "What are you looking at?" He stared at the place where Futaba was staring and again said, "Is something there that caught your eye?"

Futaba looked scared to Ryoko. He was acting as if he had seen a ghost or something.

After a few seconds, he finally opened his mouth. "Guys, for the past 2 hours, we have been walking in circles. I am sure we have walked this way 5 times already."

Kanna and others stopped walking and glared at Futaba. "What do you mean Futaba?"

Adonis pointed his finger at the tree and everyone turned their attention to where he was pointing at. What they saw was a red cross mark on a tree. It looked fresh and new.

"I.. I don’t get it. I am sure we are walking on the right path. If we keep moving to the south, we can find a huge river. This path almost covers all the forest so if a house really exists here, it won’t be difficult to spot it."

Adonis shook his head and said, "What do you mean? The house is right behind you." Adonis smirked and pointed his finger at their back.

Some of them laughed, some of them cursed Futaba for making fun in a serious situation and some of them got a little scared because of the sudden change of the environment.

A second ago when they were on a muddy path, they were magically standing on a lawn covered with dead grass.

After realizing the sudden change, all of them looked back and saw a huge old Japanese traditional house. It was so big that they couldn’t measure how big it was inside.

Kanna was so scared that her knees started to tremble while the others were excited to find the house very soon. As the rumour says, the house only shows up when it finds a suitable person so they were excited rather than scared.

Adonis was the only one who was unfazed about the house. He knew almost everything about the house and had confidence that he would win. So he walked closer to the door and grabbed the door knob.

’I knew the house would appear right here. I was the one who made everyone circle on the same path more than 10 times and none of them realized. The house moves every 4 hours so I had to calculate the time, place and so many things. If they didn’t walk in circles, we would never find it. The house doesn’t show itself to anyone. It’s people who get unlucky.’

The moment Adonis was going to open the door, Mahiko spoke.

"Futaba, aren’t you scared? I mean? When did we arrive here? Aren’t you being too reckless? I want to go home. Let’s go back. I don’t feel safe at all."

’Heheh.. so he can already feel his death running towards him at full speed, huh.’

The clouds broke and rain started to pour heavily. The temperature dropped so quickly that all of them became drenched quickly, leading them to make rational decisions. They all decided to stay inside the house and leave after the rain would stop. It was only 7:30 in the evening after all. Kids in their 16-19 tend to stay up till 3 so in their eyes, 7:30 was early morning.

’Here it goes. My quest will begin now.’

The moment all of them stepped in, a floating screen appeared in front of Adonis which was only visible to him.

[Welcome to the House of Secrets.

Player count: 7

Game: Not yet selected.

Game stages: Not yet selected.

Please secret a game to continue the quest.]

Adonis looked around and saw a huge hallway that stretched so long that in the dark, everyone was unable to see the end. Inside the house, it was pretty much clean and it never looked like it was actually abandoned.

Kanna was excited after seeing all the old paintings as well as the others. They were happy that the house looked pretty normal and that they wouldn’t get scared if someone else pops out of any room.

The paper doors of each room, katanas displayed on each table and the flower pots with dead roses in them.

As the thunder rumbled, the rain began to pour much heavier than before which made Ryoko a little worried. He was worried about many things.

At first, they were walking around in circles. Second, a house suddenly appeared out of nowhere as if they were teleported. Third, the house looked so big compared to the size of the forest. If such house really existed in the forest, people should’ve known about this already.

Fourth, the house looked so clean to be called an abandoned house and lastly, the rain.

It was March and before coming for hiking, he checked the weather forecast more than 10 times to see if the weather was going to be good or not. But he never saw any rain there. The sky was empty as the air before they entered a forest so he started to think if he was hallucinating or if they were all caught up in something dangerous.

He was so cautious that he even refused to touch the wall, let alone touch the paintings, katana or do anything the others were doing.

He then spotted Futaba also not touching anything. He was putting up his guard even though he looked careless and free-spirited around everyone.

Slowly, he approached Futaba and grabbed his sleeve. Futaba noticed it and turned his attention to Ryoko. "What is it?" He asked.

"Man, aren’t you scared?"

"Scared? Don’t you think it’s strange?" Futaba pointed at the shoes which were near the door. He again said, "There are seven of us. Take a closer look. None of us took off our shoes but there were three pairs on the doorway. The footsteps are new and there are even umbrellas which look like they were recently used by someone. This isn’t an abandoned house. People live here and what we are doing is basically breaking and entering."

Ryoko was easily convinced by his words. He looked at those shoes and then yelled, "Guys. I think people live here."

Kanna glared at Ryoko and replied, "Shut up, you idiot. Why would anyone live here? Can’t you see this house is empty? If people lived here, they’d already come and check on us. We are pretty loud."

Ryoko was confused because none of them except him and Futaba could see the shoes and umbrella. He then grabbed Futaba’s arm tightly and said, "Futaba. I think we should leave."

*Thunder rumbles...*

"I don’t think we can leave now. It’s raining out there and the weather’s getting cold. If we leave, we might die from hypothermia. Not to mention, we are already lost. Did you forget this house appeared out of thin air and we walked in circles? Something is wrong. Stay alert."

Ryoko gulped a ton of saliva down his throat and looked at others laughing and playing around with the things they found in the house.

Suddenly, someone came up with an idea.

"Hey, guys. Why don’t we play hide and seek? We can play until the rain stops and leave the house." It was Mahiko who suggested the game.

All five of them raised their hands and said, "Mahiko!! What a great idea!! It will also be a chance to explore this house."

On the other hand, Mahiko was the only one who hated the idea of playing games in a house where people could be staying. Also, the whole thing seemed so odd to him so he wanted to oppose the idea but seeing Futaba silent and so vexed, he decided to shut his mouth and go with the flow.

[The players have chosen the game of Hide and Seek.

Game rules:

0. Choose the seeker.

1 . Play without waking anyone in the house.

2. Hide anywhere in the house without touching anything.

3. Finish the game in 1 hour.

4. Leave the house after the game ends.

5. If anyone breaks the rule, a penalty will automatically get activated, leading a player to disappear. This will be the beginning of the 2nd stage.

*Second stage should be played in 1 month and the quest will be evaluated as failed. ]

A smirk appeared on Futaba’s face as he looked at the screen in the dark.

’So the game has begun.’