'Well, there's nothing in the extracurricular building, for starters,' John said. 'Besides the dead guy, I mean. As with everything else here, it just looks like no one's been in the mood to put on any shows, or even do any cleaning up, lately.'
'Can't blame them,' Mason said. 'Not that I think this school valued that stuff even before this curse struck them.'
'Mm-hmm. Things were in a state of disrepair. Even the damn stage curtains had a rope missing,' John added.
'So, moving on to the exits,' Sheila said. 'We already know this instance is in a closed setting. No functioning cars, no way to leave or communicate with the outside. But there was something strange. John spotted…'
She turned to John, who simply said, 'Brake fluid.'
Aron blinked. 'Sorry, what?'
'Brake fluid. There's an old puddle in the parking lot. I'm almost positive it's brake fluid that's leaked out.'
'So someone's car was tampered with there,' Aron sighed. 'I doubt a world like this has a curse sophisticated or specific enough for messing with a vehicle's hydraulics.'
'Everything points to human saboteurs,' I agreed. 'Remember what that crazy guy in our room said this morning?'
'About how everyone's complicit, because they didn't drag the perpetrators out and kill them? Mm-hmm,' Aron nodded.
'And we're thinking whatever this curse is comes from the final wishes of the unfortunate victim. Or victims, I guess,' John shrugged. 'We already knew all that, so next, we went to check out the student dormitories.'
'To find some trace of a potential victim,' Sheila explained.
'And?'
'And, of course there was a reason why the instance put all the eight participants in that particular dorm,' Mason said.
'The second floor's ours. On the level just above us, is a room that has been chained up and padlocked from the outside. There's no one else living in any of the rooms around it. Either they've moved out, or –'
'Or they're fucking dead, yes, yes,' Aron nodded, gesturing to him to move along. 'So, what'd you find?'
'It belonged to some guy called Eli. That's the name that was written on the covers of the textbooks inside, anyway. Honestly, there isn't much to go off of. That guy had very few belongings other than the usual stuff relating to school.'
'But from what we could see, he wasn't having a great time in that room.'
Mason stopped talking, and Sheila took over.
'There were faint traces of old bloodstains smeared on the walls and behind the door,' she said. 'As well as some blood splatters around a small, broken desk mirror. Most importantly, the ceiling fan had a bent blade.'
'So that makes us pretty sure that this Eli guy offed himself in that room.'
I frowned.
'And what makes you think this is the 'victim' we're looking for?' I asked.
Aron nodded. 'Maybe this Eli was just a background NPC, frightened senseless by the curse and the creatures stalking everyone at this school. Maybe he just couldn't take it, and decided to end things after everything had already happened. What makes you think he's related to the curse at all?'
I noticed the three of them exchange glances.
Then, Mason gave a small nod.
There was a pause as John rummaged about in his pockets.
Then, he threw a handful of letters and notes down in the center of our small gathering.
I reached out to pick one of them up at random.
'Eli, we're sorry. Please, forgive us. Please.'
There was also a small prayer scribbled down in the back.
Another one;
'Rest in peace, man. You know I never wanted this to happen.'
The third one I checked was slightly crumpled, and had a completely different tone.
'WE WERE AS HELPLESS AS YOU! Why the fuck are you punishing us, fucker? WHAT the FUCK did I ever do to deserve this, huh?'
I looked up at the others.
'There are also all kinds of talismans for peace, and protection, and who knows what else,' Mason informed us, sifting through the piles of notes. 'Not to mention dried flowers and wish knots.'
'These things had been left inside on the desk, or pushed in through the gap underneath the door after the room was chained up, I suppose.'
'The only reason why the students would have so many mixed emotions regarding all this is if –'
'If Eli was at the center of it all,' I finished.
Inwardly, I was thinking about the contents of that intern teacher's diary.
Was Eli the 'he' who'd been mentioned in there?
'Now, you,' Mason said.
He was looking at Aron.
Aron grinned and pulled out the files he'd grabbed from the cabinet in the staff quarters.
'I went through the personnel records,' he said. 'A couple of the more high-level teachers here, department heads and the like, share the same last name. Pretty generic. Smith.'
'…Wow. A couple of people share a common last name,' Mason grumbled. 'They should put you in charge of the department of groundbreaking discoveries.'
'Well, yes. I'll even accept the role if it pays well,' Aron winked. 'But before that, have a look at the signatures at the bottom of these documents. Specifically, the Director's.'
He tapped a finger on the pages.
I squinted from where I was sitting.
Mason Smith.
'Oh, shit!' John laughed, turning to his companion. 'He also shares your first name! Talk about generic!'
Before Mason could retaliate, Sheila interrupted. 'You think they're family hires. Nepotism.'
'Mm-hmm,' Aron nodded. 'I also had a peek at an annual report; one of the teachers must've stashed it there with the files. Looks like the Director's pretty loaded. Well-connected. Dude probably treated this school like his own little playground, with absolute control over everything.'
'We have to find a way to get into his office,' Mason mused.
'We will,' I said. 'Tonight.'
This was all dragging too much. I couldn't wait to get it over with.
Besides, the sooner we finished the instance, the quicker I could get to hashing things out with the system.
And the smaller the chance that more people would have to die here.
'That's not all,' Aron said.
Everyone turned to look at him again.
'There's a certain name that's been struck from all the different staff lists. Assuming these lists were published at the beginning of the semester, that means there's a person who left very suddenly. I think that's also an area of interest. We'll have to check the employee records for that, though. They're probably in the main administrative building.'
'Which leads us back to the Director's office,' Mason sighed. 'Guess there's no confusion about what we're doing tonight. Get some rest, everyone.'
…
…
When we returned to our rooms, I saw that the NPC roommates hadn't returned yet.
Good.
'What are you not telling me?' I asked Aron.
'Whoa.' My bunkmate held up his hands, eyes wide. 'Not telling ya about what, newbie?'
'You said I'd already done enough, before I could bring up the diary I'd found. Why is that?'
Aron sighed.
'Firstly, it's because you did contribute more than your fair share,' he said, sitting down on his own bed. 'Helping us figure out the specifics of one of the survival conditions is a big deal. That was a very dangerous task you took on.'
'You didn't try to stop me,' I commented.
'No. Because you're better trained than any newbie I've seen. I figured if you were that confident, you'd be up for the task,' he laughed. 'Besides, people who take the initiative tend to live longer than those who don't.'
I waved off his words and said, 'Go on.'
He sighed again.
'You can tell them, and me, about what you found in that diary if you like. Cooperation among trustworthy parties always helps speed things along. I just thought you should make that judgement after you learn about one more thing.'
I sat down on the bed across from him.
'What is it?' I asked.
'You remember how to end an instance?'
I nodded. 'Conclusion. Defeat the bad guy, destroy the curse, appease the tortured souls, doesn't matter. There has to be some sort of conclusion.'
'Yes. But here's the thing; even after the conclusion, you don't just get to fade back to reality. Those last few minutes can get pretty volatile. And in all of that, you have to find a portal.'
'A portal?' I leaned in curiously.
'Mm-hmm. Even after solving and surviving everything, you must find the portal to leave. It is always related to the plot of the world. Think of it as the final hurdle.'
'Huh.'
I leaned back. 'I'm guessing there's some kind of competition that comes in here.'
'Sharp guy, damn.' Aron laughed. 'Yes. Unless you're in a group where teammates share all their resources even out in the real world, you'll want to figure out where the portal is, and leave through it first.'
'The first to exit gets a bonus. It could be an item that helps you, or lets you survive a very specific attack. It could be a weapon. It could even be a hint about your next instance.'
'Unless you're in a team, like those three, people usually try to keep some cards in their hands so they can get that advantage. Information exchanges outside of a team are usually restricted to an equivalent exchange. And you'd already done your part.'
'I just thought you ought to know before you offered everything up.'