After the shock of watching Kaede being executed finally wore off, I found myself sitting in the Courtyard, by myself. From what I could see of the sky, the sun was starting to set, turning the sky a pretty orange color.
Sighing to myself, I got up and headed to the Dining Hall, deciding to get something for dinner. I made myself some BLTs, frying up the bacon myself for the sandwiches. Putting some mayo on the bread, I made my way to the Dining Hall to eat.
Only Kenchikka and Kaito were present in the Dining Hall, and they were eating dinner together, having a discussion.
"Another Class Trial finished. Should mean another floor opens." Kenchikka commented. She seemed relatively calm, despite the execution we all just witnessed.
"Yeah, but at what cost? We need to get out of here, not open new floors," Kaito replied, unhappy about the situation.
"Agreed, Kaito. But how?" Kenchikka asked him.
Kaito thought for a moment. "I don't know. But we need to find a way to stop this crazy game, one way or another!"
Kenchikka nodded sympathetically, her expression not changing. "Still, need plan. Otherwise, get nowhere. Admire passion, Kaito, but without plan, get nowhere fast."
Meanwhile, I continued to eat my BLT, having nothing useful to add to the conversation. Neither Kaito nor Kenchikka addressed me, so I just let them talk.
After my dinner, I threw my trash away and returned to the Courtyard.
I found Theo out there, staring at the sky through the glass ceiling. He turned to me as I approached.
"Ah, good sir. I would ask how you are doing tonight, but after that dreadful Class Trial, I fear I already know."
Theo wasn't quite himself. I could pick up on his sorrow.
"Yeah, you're right. The murders, the trials, the executions, they're all taking a toll on me," I confess to Theo, who nodded back at me.
"As they do to us all, good sir. Yet, with no one from the outside coming to our aid, save for that one deranged lad who wished to kill us, I fear it is up to us to save ourselves," Theo pondered out loud, as if working out a plan.
"So, tomorrow, the Fourth Floor opens up. Looking up there, there should be one more floor to explore after tomorrow," I shared.
Theo nodded. "Indeed. I fear you are correct. While the fourth floor will provide us with more things to do, I fear a way out may not be found so easily."
I silently agreed with Theo, simply nodding.
Theo then looked at me. "I must depart for my dorm room. I believe it wise that we all get some rest, and prepare for the day to come."
"Yeah, I think you're right, Theo."
We departed for our separate dorms, where I just sat in my room, thinking to myself until the 10pm alert went off. Then I went to bed.
Mercifully, no dreams visited me tonight, and I was able to sleep in relative peace.
"Wake up, everyone! It's 7am, and Nighttime is now over! Time to enjoy another fun-filled day at The Ultimate Talent Enhancement Center!"
I looked over at my E-Handbook. The date showed Sunday, November 6th, 2022. We have been trapped in here for 11 days now, and we were still no closer to getting out.
But now, there was a new floor to explore, and I would rather go up there with someone else.
I met the others at the Dining Hall for breakfast.
The other nine students were already pairing up together. As we ate French toast, pancakes, and waffles, conversations focused on who would join who.
Chihiro and Chiaki paired up, discussing something of a digital nature. Unfortunately, I entered the Dining Room too late to know what they were talking about.
Makoto and Mukuro were seated together, and judging from the way she was looking at him, I figured they were a group.
Leon was trying to chat up Celeste, who seemed more interested in talking to Kaito. I reasoned that the three of them would pair up together.
That left Theo and Kenchikka paired up. I decided to approach them.
"Bera. Wish to join us, check out Fourth Floor?" Kenchikka asked.
I nodded and smiled, and Theo seemed pleased as well.
"Brilliant! Let us depart for the Fourth Floor then," Theo responded, and the three of us departed the Dining Hall, walking up all those stairs to the Fourth Floor.
As we arrived on the Fourth Floor, we were met with a similar layout of the hallways. Choosing not to turn left this time, we went straight instead.
We looked out the windows to the Courtyard, but no one was out there. Not surprised, we eventually made a left, and we were greeted with a T-intersection.
"Similar layout. Efficient, I suppose. Would prefer some variety myself, but, didn't create this building," Kenchikka commented.
Theo nodded. I shrugged, unsure how to respond.
Arriving at the T-intersection, we made a right, and came across a small Equipment Room directly on our left.
Inside were baseball bats and helmets of various sizes, for use at the Batting Cage across the hallway.
"Bats in one room, batting cages in another? Not well thought out. One could walk in, grab bat, murder," Kenchikka commented.
"Agreed, good lass. This room is trouble," Theo concurred, his eyes on the batting helmets.
We decided to leave the room, not much larger than a closet, alone, and went across the hallway to the Batting Cage room.
Inside the Batting Cage room was a home plate, appearing as a pentagram Monorakun face, with a batter's box on the left and right side.
There were foul lines going to each corner of the room, with a backdrop showing a stadium fence. The pitching machine was at the center, secured to the wall, with a mechanism that gathers balls from the floor and feeds it back to the machine.
"Pitching machine feeds itself? Impressive. Efficient, too," Kenchikka complimented.
Neither Theo nor I had any comments, so we shut the door and continued to the final room in this short corridor, marked "Spa Room".
Within were several massage tables, all remote controlled with mechanisms that would perform various massage styles while you laid down.
There were also two massage chairs, also remote-controlled with different settings and vibration levels. The legs elevated upwards, so you could lay back.
Finally, there were two round tubs in the back of the room, against the wall. One was a hot tub, with a red floor, and the other was a cold tub, with a blue floor. Each one looked like it could fit one personx's, but both were empty right now.
Theo approached the tubs. "Interesting. Heat and cold are often used for sore muscles. Combined with the massage tables and chairs, this could be a very relaxing room."
While I agreed, Kenchikka seemed equally leery of this room.
"Hot tub, cold tub, both filled with water. Easy to drown another. Tables, chairs seem safe enough, but, would avoid tubs, myself."
A shiver went through me. Why was Kenchikka pointing out ways to die? This was supposed to be a happy trip.
The three of us departed the Spa Room, passing Makoto and Mukuro chatting in the hallway. Well, Makoto was doing most of the talking; Mukuro was merely giving short responses.
Returning to the T-intersection, we continued on, and found a Bowling Room on our right.
Inside was a bench along the right side for everyone to sit at. There were also bowling balls of various weights, colored like Monorakun Heads.
Similarly, the 10 pins standing were also colored like Monorakun, from the raccoon faces for the pin heads, to the clawed hands painted on the sides of the pins.
"This is... huh." I was somewhat at a loss for words.
"Pick up Asshole Raccoon head, roll at Asshole Raccoons. Amusing," Kenchikka smirked.
"The irony is not lost upon me either, good lass," Theo observed. "This may, indeed, become a popular room."
I smiled as well. "I've never been very good at bowling, but I wouldn't mind trying this out later."
We eventually left the Bowling Room and headed further down the hallway. We passed Kaito, Leon, and Celeste going the opposite way, discussing how "quaint" (Celeste's words) and "totally messed up" (Leon's words) the Carnival Room was.
Coming across the usual locked gate, we made a left, entering the Carnival room...
Where a truly unnerving view awaited us.