"Ok...so we just need to fix this..."
"..."
Silence envelopes them as they stare at the broken furnitures around them.
"But do we need to fix them literally? Because if we need to manually fix things, these whole place will take a while..."
"Probably...not?" Ken answered him unsurely.
Angelo walk towards a broken coffee table and tried to used the skill <
<< Object_Repair Error >>
A red pop-up appears on his vision as he tries it again.
Huh?
Angelo stop, he think for a moment before just tapping the broken coffee table.
[ Nails 0/4 ]
[ Wood 0/2 ]
[ REPAIR ]
A green screen emerged and Angelo can't help but recall the mobile games he played that have an eerie similar to this.
"@#£&.."
"What?" Ken asked as he heard him cursed.
"Nothing...just take a look of this. I've found out how to do this challenge"
"Huh..."
Angelo grab some broken planks lying around and some rusty nails. He at first didn't know how to put the items but apparently one just need to put the materials nearby.
[ Nails 4/4 ]
[ Wood 2/2 ]
[ REPAIR ]
Seeing it all completed, Angelo tap the repair button.
The screen shows a five seconds timer and five seconds later, the coffee table become good as new.
"Ta-da! GAME LOGIC!" Angelo sarcastically announced as he turn to Ken for reaction, only to see no one.
"..."
Ken meanwhile has been snooping behind the counter while Angelo was 'repairing'.
So far he found some 'Key Items' for this particular challenge. A new task bar with a question mark symbol also appeared on his vision. Upon clicking the task bar, a menu screen appears with two tabs.
[ ? ]
[ Quests / Items ]
"Shaira is right...this challenge isn't what it looks like"
"Hey! What are you doing there?"
Ken didn't answer Angelo but instead handed him a log book.
"Huh?"
Instantly his face changes as a similar task bar also appeared in his vision.
"@£#&!"
Angelo gazed at Ken sourly and sigh. He didn't really want to snoop around like Ken is doing. He just wants to finish this troublesome sidequest and resume earning points. Yes, he knows that finding such things is inevitable. Items related to some kind of plot are scattered around to pique someone's interest and make them investigate their purpose or story. It's pretty common in rpg games and puzzle-story-type games.
But even if you presented me with such items...
SORRY but NO!
Damn! A sidequest in a sidequest!
Angelo returned the log book to Ken.
"You started it, you do this", he gestured his arms around, "whole thing. I don't want to spend any brain cell on this one."
Ken look at him dumbfoundedly.
"I'll do the fixin' quest and you finish whatever this is" Angelo added.
And with that, Angelo left, leaving him in his devises.
"Ha...that happen..."
Sighing, Ken gazed at the Items bar and so far, the items recognised by this instance are the 10 room keys, the logbook, and the ledger.
Ken flip the logbook open and noted the last date written inside.
[ 03-10-1998 ]
He perused further and saw the names visiting this inn in the past.
[ Edward M. Pacheco/Carmen S. Santos | 10:30 am IN | -- OUT | Room # 5 ]
[ Soledad H. Pacheco | 10:40 am IN | 11:30 am OUT | Room #7 ]
[ Alfred S. Baltazar | 10: 45 am IN | 3:30 pm OUT | Room #1 ]
[ Robert G. Cagayan | 10: 45 am IN | 11: 40 am OUT | Room #8 ]
[ Jose D.C. Dela Rama | 10: 46 am IN | 5:30 pm OUT | Room #15 ]
[ Pedro N. Carmen | 12: 15 pm IN | 2:33 pm OUT | Room # 10 ]
[ Sam G. Abay | 12:30 pm IN | 2:10 pm OUT | Room #8 ]
[ Isabelle Cruz | 12:35 pm IN | 2:30 pm OUT | Room#10 ]
[ Marcos C. Libiran/ Seth S. Dela Cruz | 3: 30 pm IN | 5:30 pm OUT | Room#4 ]
[ Peter Hargreeve | 7:00 pm IN | -- OUT | Room#11 ]
[ Michael Jones | 7:00 pm IN | -- OUT | Room#12 ]
[ Sarah Lambert | 7:01 pm IN | -- OUT | Room# 6 ]
[ John Smith/Alice Smith | 7:05 IN | -- OUT | Suite # 1 ]
[ Alex Li | 7:30 pm IN | -- OUT | Room #13 ]
Ken flip the pages back and noticed that the last check out on March 10, 1998, was by a couple who have checked in five days earlier. He checked the room keys and nodded to himself. As expected, the keys in the room where the occupants haven't check out yet are missing.
He also discovered some peculiar details and just as he's pondering this. A quest appeared in the Quests tab.
[ Discover the Odditties ]
Hmm?
Ken tap the quest and further details are shown.
[ Discover the Odditties ]
[ As you nosed around, you discover something odd but you can't really put a finger on it. Explore and discover these odditties ]
This really doesn't help...
Ken remembered the ledger and hurriedly flip it open. There he saw some interesting things.
Meanwhile,
Inside one of the inn's room,
Shaira held her breath, her heart pounding loudly against her chest. Sweat dribbled from her forehead and her knuckles turned white.
She unblinkingly stare at the door as heavy footsteps sounded outside the room.
Suddenly the knob turns, only to halt. The door is locked. It twist and turns before the person behind the door stops. An ominous presence radiated behind the door.
Suddenly, foosteps are heard walking away. But beneath the door's gap, a red eye stares.
It blinks and it spun wildly, seemingly looking for something. After seeing no one, the eye receded, and footsteps are heard walking away again.
Shaira silently cursed, her grip on Marco tightened as they hid inside the closet.
She really regrets it now.
If she haven't cut off Marco back then, they wouldn't have enter this damn Challenge instance. Marco wouldn't have gone hurt and most of all...
They wouldn't be in this damn HORROR shit quest!
@#£&!
She glance at the new addition in her vision.
[ Do not make any noise ]
[ Do not let IT see you ]
[ Do not be complacent ]