[wwayalvjyxuitklvdku]
"What....the hell is this?"
Adrian asked, voicing the sentiments of the others.
*BEEP
Another message came in a couple seconds later.
You sure chose a difficult cross to bear, what are you, stupid?.....
Screw you, Moth!. I continued reading
...Anyway, welcome to the bonus stage, challenger. This is just like your linking game except this time, you only get three attempts, guess wrong even once, and you lose.....
"We're doomed, we're going to die. I want no part in this!"
"Like it or not, that collar is on your neck. If we lose, you'll die right along with us, male extra"
Good grief.
.......There are four hostages trapped in the fourth floor game room. To free them, you need to insert four distinct keys into the four locks on the door, tampering with the keys or locks in anyway is instant disqualification.
The four keys to free them are each located in one of the rooms in each wing of the fourth floor, your job is to deduce the room number the keys are located in and secure them. If you open the wrong door even once, you lose this game and die along with the hostages.
The previous message contains the room number of the first key, Good luck.
Good luck he says, after stacking the odds in his favor.
Ashley, ahem...extra 2 grunted after reading the message
"So all we have to go on are these random string of letters? Yep, we're screwed"
"It's a code of sorts so we just have to crack it"
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock"
A brief period of silence followed, which was broken by someone only I expected thanks to my curse.
"Uhm... I'm pretty good at codes and puzzles. Why don't I take a crack at it"
"Nicole?"
Brock said, his eyes widenening in admiration that she's trying to contribute and thoughts so mushy I could puke.
"Yeah.... You do that"
I handed the phone to female extra 1 and started walking towards the door. Brock called out to me
"And where are you going?!"
"Scouting. The fresh air up here is nauseating. Come find me once you've gotten somewhere"
I left the rooftop, ignoring the thoughts that said 'jerk' in tandem.
★ Adrian Wood's POV ★
He left us all on the rooftop, probably trying to distance himself.
Still as antisocial as ever.
"What a jerk! Doesn't he know we have a better chance working together?"
I could almost picture Adam shutting down Brock's comment with some big brain philosophical argument, haha.
"C'mon, I'm sure he's trying his best. He's just not that good with people"
"That's just an excuse. I'm not that great with people and I'm still trying to participate"
Not you too, Ashley.
Brock picked up where she left off
"Yeah, it's unfair to just push everything to poor Nicole here...."
The girl in question was completely detached from the conversation, seated on the floor with her eyes fixed on the phone screen and ruffling her hair in frustration, it's actually kinda' cute.
Guess she can't make heads or tails of that code, huh?
"... Especially since he's really smart himself"
"I don't think you're the best person to decide who's smart, Brock. He just seems like another delinquent to me"
"I'm being serious, Laylay"
"Don't call me Laylay!—"
"— A little over a month ago, I watched him solve a theft in the music room. He was amazing, I tell you. The way he cornered the culprit and how he figured out the trick..."
"Seriously? You think finding out who stole some lunch money or something is impressive?"
"It wasn't lunch money, and it wasn't just as simple as theft. There were trick and wires and some complex stuff, you just had to be there. He was so good, I'd say he's probably on the same level of Stone Valley's Holmes herself"
"Stone Valley's Holmes? Now you've really lost your mind. That girl is like a supercomputer, the fact you're comparing them proves just how dumb you are"
"I'm being serious here!"
"Okay then, Adrian, what do you think?"
Huh? You're dragging me into this?!
"What do mean 'what do I think'?"
"You're friends with dead eyes, right? And I've seen you hanging out with the valley's Holmes recently, so what do you think? Is that delinquent really as smart as this buffoon says?"
That's a good question. If you asked me before he joined the club, my answer will definitely have been no— I was so terrified of him back then but now that I've gotten to know him, I know a little more.
Sure, he might be rude and indifferent to things he doesn't care about and he's extremely antisocial, but he's a really nice person and he'll overcome any obstacle to protect those he cares about, he even bet his life to protect Lizbeth, or so I heard from Sara.
I've also caught glimpses of his abilities so I'd say....
"Hmmm....honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd already solved that code before leaving"
"Huh?! What? Are all men fools or something? that's just ridiculous"
"Haha, Maybe"
Yeah, maybe I'm being a little ridiculous. After all, he's not Judas. If that guy was here, he probably would've solved it right after looking at it, I'm sure.
Now that I think about it, it was on a night like this as well. I had a test of courage with my friends and ended up getting cursed.
I was wandering, afraid, alone and unable to control my powers, I was a danger to everyone and myself. Well, right before he saved me and gave me a normal life back.
Judas, I wonder what you're doing right now
*STOMP
I snapped out of my trance to find Nicole standing again. I could almost see the fumes exiting her head.
"I'm.... going to consult with him"
"Nicole?"
"I think I know what kind of code it is, but still... I'm stuck..."
She psyched herself up as she dashed towards the door
"... So, I'm going to get his input!"
She ran along with determination in her eyes. Even though she voted to leave out of fear, she probably wants to save Michelle more than any of us and Adam gave her that opportunity.
Between those two, we might just make it out in one piece.
Still though, I have a weird feeling about this place.....this game I can't seem to shake
★★★Adam Graves POV ★★★
"Alright, let's see..."
The layout of the fourth floor was pretty much exactly the same as the third, although, no puppets in sight.
I arrived at the four way intersection identical to where I saw my first puppet and started looking around, trying to confirm my reasoning.
"AAADAM!"
I didn't look in the direction of female extra 1 since I already knew she was coming
"I have good news and bad news"
"....."
"Good news, I figured it out, it's a vigenere cipher"
"Hmmm? Is that so?"
"Why do you sound so disinterested?!"
She fumed as I was still looking around, not really paying attention to her
"Huh? You're imagining it, I'm very interested"
"Then at least stop and look at me! Sigh— A vigenere cipher is a polyalphabetic code that uses a specified keyword to determine the placement of the plaintext to be encrypted"
I continued looking around
"Uhmmm, That's crazy"
"For example, let's say we want to encrypt Nicole using the keyword 'KEY'. First, you'll rewrite the keyword to have the same number of letters as the plaintext (i.e. keykey), next assign both numbers corresponding to their placement on the alphabet minus 1...."
C'mon, it has to be here somewhere
"..... N is 13, I–8, C–2, O–14, L–11, E–4, then K–10, E–4, Y–24, K–10, E–4, Y–24. After that you add the corresponding letters and for anyone above 25, find their value mod25 (13+10= 23, 8+4= 12, 2+24=26 mod25=1, 14+10= 24, 11+4=15, 4+24= 28mod25=3)"
"Wow, that's nice"
"AT LEAST LOOK AT ME!"
I could hear her voice shaking and her thoughts panicking. She's scared but still trying to contribute as best she can, sigh.
Well, an extra set of eyes won't hurt. I turned to face her
"...Then, you change them back to letters. So Nicole encrypted with the keyword 'KEY' will be [xmbypd]. It's the same with this code, except...."
"Except?"
"The bad news, we weren't given a keyword. I don't know if I should ask for it so I came to consult you, so.....what do you think?"
"Could you help me out with something, extra 1?"
"What did you call me?"
"I want you to call out everything that stands out in this intersection, no matter what it might be"
"Huh? What does that have to do with—"
She noticed me taking a deep breath waiting for her to call them out and concluded I had no intention of responding.
"Alright, let's see.... Aside from the creepy rug, broken fire extinguisher and rickety chandelier, there are the conspicuous mousetraps on the floor, broken vase and tattered paintings"
"...."
"Still though, I get the others but why the paintings as well? A waste of good art of you ask me. Let's see....Beckner, Tansey, Prince, Harring, Armstrong and Basquiat....geez—"
"Wait, what was that?"
"Hmmm? Geez?"
"No, not that. You can tell what pieces those are despite it being tattered so much?"
"Oh, that? Yeah. Michelle told me a lot about paintings once and like I said before, I'm quite good at puzzles"
"Alright then, can you tell me the name of Armstrong's piece"
"Armstrong? Yeah but why that in particular"
"Considering the other names you mentioned, their works would've been in the 70s or 80s, whereas John Armstrong died in 1979, and his works would've had to have been in the 30s of 40s. It's the odd one out"
"I see.... Not sure what it has to do with our situation but the painting is called the open door"
Hmmm....I get it, so that's how it is. I started moving and she scurried along behind me.
"Wait up, where are we going?!"
I soon stopped in front of a door, room 407. I opened it despite her protests and confetti came popping out
"Huh? You were correct? How?"
"Just call it a hunch"
"What?! You bet our lives on a hunch?!"
Ofcourse not, dummy. I already figured out it was a vigenere cipher before giving you the phone, the main problem was the keyword. However, clues to that were given in the instructions that followed.
The first thing that caught my eye was his choice of words, especially his greeting. He used the word challenger (singular) despite insisting everyone must be on board to play, why?
That was answered in the line that followed, namely his statement "just like your linking game".
My game was significantly harder than the rest primarily because there were two stark differences between my own and the others— first, my first hint was hidden in the instructions themselves and second, something in the escape room pointed back to those instructions, making a full circle.
His carefully crafted instruction sent two messages— one, he was reffering to me in particular as his opponent. Two, he's telling me that those two stark differences between my escape room and the others are the keys to finding the keyword.
The next hurdle was something in the message pointing to a location, that part was easy— in his term, "a difficult cross to bear", the main point of focus is the cross, or rather it's shape. The cross is the same shape made by the four way intersection.
I arrived to find the clue that points back to the exact point in the message but met everything damaged. I reckon he destroyed everything else to camoflague the odd painting out. With female extra 1's help however, I found out the odd painting out was called The Open Door which pointed to an extraneous statement in the instructions.
He already told us "guess wrong even once, and you lose", so there was no point in adding that line
"If you open the wrong door even once, you lose". Which means, opening the right door means victory.
With right as the cipher, I cracked it easily and got this room number [fourhundredandseven]..... ofcourse, I'm not telling her all that, Moth guy labelled me his challenger specifically and is probably watching to see how I clear this situation
I don't know why he did that or why he made my escape room different, but it's best not to show my hand till I face him later.
I picked up the key on the table and looked around the room before everyone else arrived about a minute later.
It was a cubic fortune telling room with different tools for that— a crystal ball, cards, magnifying glass for palm reading, ouji boards and every other weird stuff you can think of. It had a creepy looking chandelier and four paintings to match the atmosphere plastered on each wall.
Adrian stopped me as I was about leaving
"Where are you going, Adam?"
"Room 413, You coming"
Nicole noticed is leaving and scurried along several steps behind with the others.
They key to the next location are the paintings on the wall— A grim reaper, a zombie, A ghost and a dualahan. The common thread between them is death.
"Geez, did you run out of material that you had to resort to a pun?"
"Huh? Did you say something?"
"Oh, it's nothing"
In a fortune telling room, the word " death" will naturally draw your attention to tarot cards. Death is Arcana thirteen, get it?
Four paintings related to death, four death, four thirteen, 413.
It was pretty much smooth sailing from here—I opened 413 which was also peculiar in it's own right. It was full of photos, both black and white and coloured images. I obtained key and clue then headed to the last room which resembled a prison.
"Just what's up with this rooms?"
Good question, Adrian. Are the peculiar designs of these rooms just for hiding the clues to the next room? Or is there some other hidden message?
Also, I can't shake a weird feeling... Nevertheless
"We can worry about that later, let's head to the game room"
I walked out of the room and started heading for the game room with others scurrying behind m—
"No one likes a man who's too perfect"
Huh?....
Why am I remembering those words right now?
I wiped the sweat on my forehead and stopped walking, then, I turned to look at the faces of the others— they were dragging their feet, mostly exhausted and confused.
Good grief, why am I in such a hurry anyway? It's not like we were given a time limit anyway.
Once we open the game room doors, the next game will probably begin. We have no idea what kind of game it's going to be, however, if it's one involving teams, we'll be at a disadvantage if everyone isn't at full capacity. So then,
I sat on the floor
"What are you doing, dead eyes?"
"I'm tired"
"HUH?! What are you on about?"
"Wake me in twenty minutes"
"How can you take a break when Michelle is in danger? Hey?! Dead eyes?"
I ignored his protests and lay facing the wall, then closed my eyes pretending to sleep
"First, you drag us all over the place and now this? Geez, what's your damage?"
"Just shut up and sit down, Brock"
Female extra 2 growled from behind.
Aside from the annoyingly energetic Brock, the others saw it as a lucky break— they sat down to catch their breath and assess their current situation.
My mother's smile. As a child, I guess you could say it was entire reason for existing. I wanted to light up her cold indifferent eyes, I wanted her to be proud of me so I worked hard. Eventually, I was called a genius who could do anything, being praised by everyone I knew and those I didn't. However, it was around then I heard these words from her.
"No one likes a man who's too perfect. Having flaws makes one relatable and approachable, people might admire perfection, but a perfect human will always be alone"
Humans really are insatiable, haha. When I was that guy, she was wary of me, and when I fell to nothing, she was disappointed in me. I guess.... reintegration in stone valley was a blessing in disguise, because it gave me an excuse to escape those cold eyes....
"...am, Adam"
"Oh?"
I actually fell asleep?
"You looked like you were having a bad dream"
"Extra 1? How long was I out?"
"I knew I didn't mishear! You called me extra 1, didn't you?"
I glanced at the phone she was holding to check, I'd been out for about thirty minutes. I got up and dusted myself off
"Alright, let's go"
"Hey wait up, don't dodge the question"
I wonder... Maybe the reason Michelle pisses me off so much is because I she reminds me of myself long ago. Our approach might be different, but she also strives for perfection, for a similar reason I did..... and thanks to Sara, a similar ending awaits her.
Still though, my mom was right, the thoughts of everyone around me when I got cursed is sufficient proof. That was my judgement day, and hers will be the student council elections, no doubt. Sigh.
Am i really just going to standby and watch her meet a similar end? But then, what can I do about it?
I arrived at the game room and inserted the keys, after which, the large door creaked open.
*BEEP
A new message?
Extra 1 stood beside me, displaying the message on the phone as the others gathered around to see.
Congratulations on completing the first stage, the second stage will begin in ten minutes and you may be required to team up with the hostages for this one.
Use your time wisely, good luck.
I stepped into the game room and noticed the hostages were trapped in booths that could only be opened from the outside.
"I guess we should questions the hostages, huh?"
Extra 2 said, projecting my exact thoughts. I opened the first booth which had young blond man with blue eyes and a babyface inside.
"Thanks for getting me out of there, kids"
He was surprisingly calm for someone who had been kidnapped, but then, it was because moth guy had already informed them of the game and a possibility for their escape. That and probably because—
"Could you tell us about yourself and how you got here?"
"Oh, I'm John Allen , a photographer for The Nitro newspaper, I was in the valley following a story right before my partner who accompanied me went missing. While I was searching for her, I kinda got captured myself"
Sounds like the cliche backstory in a washout spy movie but his account was actually the truth. Nitro Newspaper? Feels familiar
"How long have you been here?"
"Not sure, what day is it "
"The 4th of April"
"I guess it's been a week then"
"Do you know anything about your kidnapper?"
"Hmmm, Not really"
According to his thoughts, he heard the voice of one male throughout his time here.
I opened the next two doors in succession which had Mr Cain, a prison guard who was drugged by a delivery boy and woke up in this building as well as Mr Aldinni, a fortune teller who was here after going to bed one night, both have been here for about a month or so.
They didn't hear voices, but rather footsteps. Cain apparently heard two or three while Aldinni heard several, probably the puppets.
"You!"
Allen grabbed Aldinni by the collar
"Where's Eleanor!"
"Huh? Who's Eleanor? Who are you?"
"Don't play dumb! We met right after coming to this town, also, she was going to see you the night she disappeared! What did you do with Eleanor Clark?!"
"What are you talking about? I've never met you before or this Eleanor you speak"
The thoughts of both confirmed none of them were lying, what's going on here?
Adrian tapped my shoulder
"Aren't you going to let the last person out?"
"Huh?"
"The last person. There's still one more hostage"
"You do that, I'll break these two up"
I stepped in between them to break them up. The name Eleanor Clark rang a bell and I was starting to get a picture of what was going on.
"ELEANOR!"
Allen ran past me, leaping into the arms of the fourth hostage who brushed him aside. There's something about this woman....
"Is there something on my face, boy?
Crap! I was staring. I turned to Mr Cain.
"Hey, could you tell me which prison you work for?"
"Belle Hive Penitentiary, why?"
The same prison the chameleon escaped from, I knew it.
I didn't notice it back then but I'm sure Eleanor Clark was the journalist who wrote the paper on chameleon's escape, Allen, I guess is their photographer. The Mr Aldinni they met was probably a fake, maybe even the same fake who disguised as Mr Cain and helped Sean break out from prison.
"Is something funny, dead eyes?"
"What makes you say that, extra 2?"
"That grin on your face is annoying"
I'm smiling? I guess I am. I realized only two people knew that a prison guard aided Sean's escape— I, who read Sean's mind, and the person who captured and replaced the prison guard
Could this moth guy really be.... The Butler?