Night Has Come

Having left the old man behind, Kairos, the golden-haired dude, and the almost-white-haired girl reached building 12. The blonde man, having been the last to enter, closed the door.

The inside of the building wasn't anything special. Walking inside, the first thing the 3 of them saw was a simple wooden table with 3 simple wooden chairs. To the left, there was a small kitchen with some cooking utensils, though no fridge, microwave, or anything that one would find in a modern kitchen. Though there was a strange thing that Kairos could barely tell was something like a medieval oven. Next to the kitchen, there was also a window with open curtains. There also didn't seem to be anything to eat at all, although now that the 3 had reached relative safety, they remembered that the quest stated that the reward for completion was "Ingredients".

At the time, everyone had been too focused on the penalty to think anything about the reward.

To the right, there was an open door that led to a "bathroom". Though in reality, it was basically just a room with a hole in the middle of it and an empty bucket next to it. Just like next to the kitchen, there was also a window with open curtains next to the bathroom.

Behind the wooden table, there were 3 closed doors, seemingly leading into each person's personal room. Kairos could now be 90% sure that each building can probably house only 3 people.

"Oh god, there's no toilet! How am I supposed to ...y'know." The girl said with a blush.

"...That's your main concern? That there's no toilet? And not, you know, that we have seemingly been kidnapped and our lives have been threatened? And also the strange voice we heard and the strange panel we saw?" The young man said with a frown.

"Now, Now. It's a valid concern. After all, even if we've been kidnapped, what can we do about it? It's not like we can...call...the police! We can call the police!" Kairos decided to intervene in the discussion, but in the middle of it, he remembered something. That's right, they could call the police! Everything had been so hectic the past few minutes that Kairos hadn't thought about it till now.

Though Kairos was left disappointed once he checked his pockets only to not feel his phone.

"Fuck, I don't have it on me!" Kairos cursed, rightfully so.

"I don't have it on me either." The young blonde man said, though strangely calm about it.

"Hmmm... Oh, It's on me!" The girl exclaimed as she took out her phone from her pocket.

"No! There's no connection! I can't call anyone!!" Though her having her phone seems to have only provided a false sense of hope.

"Now wha-" Just as the girl was going to say something, the trio heard a loud scream from very close by.

"PLEAAAASEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! LET ME INNNNNNNNN! I DONT WANT TO DIE-IE-IE-IEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! I CAN'T FIND MY HOUSE, AND TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!" The scream seems to have belonged to a man, and when the trio looked through the window, they saw a short man in his late 20s banging on a door of a building with the number "7".

"But, we're already 3 people in here. This isn't your "house"!" A muffled female voice was heard, seemingly coming from inside the building.

"AND SO WHAT??? LET ME IN!" The man, seemingly having lost his mind, continued to scream until the door was opened.

"Look! You can't come in here, didn't you read the Quest? If you do, you will di-!" A woman-seemingly the same one that had talked from earlier inside the building considering her voice- opened the door and tried to reason with the guy, but before she could finish her sentence the guy ran straight through her, toppling her to the floor of the building.

Though before she could scream from the sudden tackle, a scream, not her own, was heard.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! YIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOUUUHH!!!!!" The scream didn't even sound human, more like a high-pitched animal, though sadly, it did come from a human. It was from the guy who had forcefully went into the building.

With clear fear and disgust, the trio of Kairos, the girl with the phone, and the normally-calm young man saw the man in his late 20s become a fountain of blood. Seemingly from every pore and orifice, including the guy's nose, eyes, mouth, and ears, liters and liters of blood poured out. Obviously, the scream didn't continue for more than a few seconds. The man died extremely quickly.

"Bleerghh!" The almost-white-haired girl immediately started vomiting. A normal reaction, considering just how brutal and disgusting that death was. Also, not a unique reaction because-

"Bleeerghh!" Kairos tried to hold it in, but after hearing and seeing the girl puking, he could not anymore.

The blonde man seemed to really want to do the same but managed to hold it in. Well, not really. He did puke a bit but it was only in his mouth, and he immediately gulped it. Gross.

The people from the other building didn't seem to be doing any better. No, actually, they were doing worse. After all, quite a bit of the man's blood had landed on them.

"Aaaahh!!!" Another scream was heard, though this time a bit far away and not even close to the intensity of the previous one. The trio, startled by it, turned in the direction of the scream. It was coming from quite a far distance behind their door. Thankfully, there was also an open-curtained window next to the door so they could see what was going on.

It was the old man. He had just been enjoying the show before him, ridiculing and mocking the man in his late 20s, until he saw the man's fate. This seems to have been a wake-up call for the old man. Immediately, he looked around, trying to find his "house" number. Sadly, it wasn't any of the 6 in sight. There was no time left for him to search for his actual "house" number.

Though he did manage to see Kairos through the window of one of the buildings. The old man immediately started running to the building that Kairos and co. were in. An obviously illogical decision, considering the fact that he had just seen what happens to someone who goes into a building not designated as their "house". But so what, was he just supposed to sit there and die? Even if he went to search for his "house" through one of the roads, he would not have any time to reach it even if he got lucky.

Actually, it seemed like he wouldn't even have time to reach Kairos' "house". The old man was frail and weak, his running speed equating to that of a healthy adult's walking speed. And time was running out quickly.

[Time remaining until Night:00:00:07]

The trio was left rooted on the spot. Even if they weren't, it's not like they could do much. Actually, they could do nothing at all except watch.

While the seconds continued ticking away, Kairos had a thought. This was the first time he had seen a scenario such as this. A person right in front of you, obviously alive and obviously visible that he should still have quite a bit left to live. Yet, knowing that he was basically a walking corpse. After all, there was nothing to be done. The old man the trio was looking at right now, who was alive and running with all of his strength, would absolutely die in just a few seconds. And Kairos could only watch. And wait...

[Time remaining until Night:00:00:03]

[Time remaining until Night:00:00:02]

[Time remaining until Night:00:00:01]

[Time remaining until Night:00:00:00]