Part 24: Encounter, Wrong Endings

Encounter - Wrong End 1



At the first choice in the chapter, we choose to immediately leave the classroom after collecting the pencil case, instead of sticking around to play teacher.

Video: Encounter - Wrong End 1



I decided it would be best to put my yearnings aside and leave the classroom behind.

(Well, that particular wonder turned out to be nothing at all, it seems. Guess it's all just superstition.)

I couldn't believe I'd gotten so indignant with Tsukasa over something so trivial. Thinking about it now, it seemed kind of ridiculous.



(I have to get to bed early so I'll be ready for tomorrow.)

With this in mind, I walked toward the classroom doow and took one step out into the hall...when suddenly...

Huh?

Music: Distress



...the door slid shut on its own with incredible force -- and my neck was trapped in the narrow opening that remained.

I dug my nails into the door, frantically trying to open it back up. But the more I pushed on it, the more it pushed back, further constricting my neck.



I was flailing my limbs, twisting and contorting my body...trying everything I could to escape.

(Why? Why? Why? Why?!)

My neck was clamped tightly. I could feel the blood rushing to my head. I couldn't breathe. Opening my mouth in terror, I stuck my tongue out as if trying to swallow the air.

Ulgh...ghah...urkh...hlgahh!

Forcefully shaking my head left and right, I swiveled my body to face the ceiling. That's when I saw the tall, pitch black silhouette of a person.



A silent scream squirmed its way out of my throat. But the door was still pressing onto my neck.

(I...I can't...! Tsukasa!)

Music: None



(Wha...?)

As I was struggling to make sense of what was happening to me, the door that had been violently crushing my neck quietly slid open.

...!

The floor of the schoolhouse came down hard on my head. My vision had gone white and begun blurring...but I could still see.



I was rolling across the hallway -- and there, in the door frame, I caught sight of my own headless torso collapsing in a heap on the floor.

(What...just happened...?)

The last thing I saw, out of the corner of one bloodshot, unfocusing eye, was the familiar figure of the old woman from this morning...

Music: Wrong End



Video: Encounter - Wrong End 1 ends here.



Encounter - Wrong End 2

Music: Disquiet



After Yui calls out to the spirit in the hallway, she realizes that she needs to hide. We choose to hide in the locker, rather than the teacher's podium.

Video: Encounter - Wrong End 2



It was still pitch black in the room, so I really couldn't spare the time it would take to remove its contents. Instead, I just contorted myself to fit!



The locker was thick with the smells of mold and varnish.

(If I can hold my breath for just a little while, I think I'll be safe in here...)

So I waited. I waited for the footsteps to pass by and fade into the distance, signaling that it was safe to emerge.

(Whoever it is had better hurry. I feel like I'm going to suffocate if I'm in here much longer...)

Still, it felt a lot safer in the locker than it did out in the room.

...But the footsteps weren't receding. They were just getting louder. Closer. Faster.

Ratatatatatatatatatatatat...
Ratatatatatatatatatatatat...
Ratatatatatatatatatatatat...
Ratatat...

Music: None



...Huh?

They were close. Just outside the locker. I peered through the ventilation holes. Amidst the utter darkness of the classroom, there wasn't a soul to be seen.

(I'm okay. As long as I stay in here, I'll be fine.)

I'm not sure why I believed that. Maybe because I needed to. Maybe because it was so dark, or because I felt so much calmer in such a tight space, where nothing could possibly sneak up behind me. I didn't know why. And I didn't care. I just knew that, as far as I was concerned, I was safe in here. So I stood, motionless and cramped...and I waited.

I didn't have to wait long.

Sound Effect: Click



Suddenly apprehensive, I gently nudged the supply closet door, just to make sure it would still open for me when I wanted it to.

Ahh! No... It's locked!



Aough!

I let out a sudden yelp at this unknown voice and tried with all my might to push open the door blocking my escape.

No... No, please! Let me out! LET ME OUT!!

???: Is somebody still here? You'll need to be punished for that...

Ahhh! Huh?!

There was a brief moment of silence following the eerie voice's unsettling proclamation. And then...



Oww! Wh-What's going on?!

There was no force I could imagine that should've been able to do this...but it was happening. This already confined space was steadily closing in on me.

Ulgh...gngh...n...no... It hurts! Open the door! LET ME OUT!!

Crash! Crunch! The collapse of the locker all around me continued, slowly and steadily. I could feel all manner of things pushing and cutting into my body.



My vision went bright red. One of the blood vessels in my eyes probably burst from the pressure. I wasn't going to last much longer. The ventilation holes in the locker door were now pressed right up against my face...and through them, I could just barely make out the figure of a person.



AaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaahhhhh...!

It was the last sight I would ever see as the locker finally -- inevitably -- smashed in my skull. Crash! Crunch! ...Crack. Splat.

???: Uguhh...guhh...errrgh...

Music: Wrong End



Video: Encounter - Wrong End 2 ends here.




Encounter - Wrong End 3



While hiding under the teacher's podium, we're eventually given the choice to either remain hidden or to make a break for it. We choose to continue hiding.

Video: Encounter - Wrong End 3



But it only took a moment for that decision to come back and bite me.



My body was suddenly weighed down. In an instant, without knowing what was happening, my fetally- positioned form was essentially locked in place. It was like a boulder had fallen on top of me and was resting on my arched back. I twisted and shuffled myself around, trying to shake it off, but the more I struggled, the heavier it became.

And what's more, it felt like it was slowly inching its way up toward my head, as if it were planning on dropping down in front of my face. Was this...a person?



It was a female voice, reverberating ominously as if bubbling up from the depths of hell.

Aaaggh...!

I squirmed violently, desperate to throw her off of me.

???: Shall we play tag together?



My vision went red. Or at least, it felt that way. Whoever was on my back had dug her razor-sharp fingernails right into my eyes.

I collapsed on the spot. The pain was instantaneous and unbearable. I could no longer hold my position. I could no longer focus on anything but this agony.

My eyes! My eyes! GyaaaAAAAAAHHHHHHH!



The pain shot through my head in waves. It was indescribable...unthinkable. I couldn't take it any longer. My consciousness faded...and I was gone.

I would never know exactly what had happened to me. But maybe I was better off that way...

Music: Wrong End



Video: Encounter - Wrong End 3 ends here.




Encounter - Wrong End 4



In our flight from the classroom, we choose the broom as our weapon, leaving the bag of salt behind.



Maybe I could fend her off with it. It was a long shot, but it was better than just standing around and getting caught.

(What do I do now? What do I do? ...Aahh?!)



She really was trying to catch me. I wasn't just being paranoid. She was going to kill me and turn me into a ghost like her! I was convinced. This had to be Yoshie, the teacher from that urban legend.

Video: Encounter - Wrong End 4



I was running at top speed, hoping to escape behind the spirit's back. Unsurprisingly, trying to outrun a ghost proved to be a fruitless endeavor. The spirit saw me and moved at breakneck speed to intercept.

Music: Torture



Eeeagh...!



But my moment of bravado was short-lived. The broom immediately shattered into a million pieces. If my attack accomplished anything...it just made her mad.

Huh?! Aaahhh!
Agh...!



God, she really did have me by the throat! I couldn't breathe. For as old and frail as she looked, she was uncommonly strong.



Glgh... No...!

She was actually gripping me so tightly that she'd managed to raise me off the ground. By my neck! I could see her slender, bony hand in the periphery of my vision, and felt it cutting into my trachea. Was that hand really holding me in the air against my will, kicking and flailing, by just the tissue and bones in my neck?

I couldn't struggle anymore. I was like a puppet on a string.



Gyaah...! Ullrgh...

With a sudden crack, my field of vision shifted ninety degrees and everything turned blood red.




Music: Wrong End



Video: Encounter - Wrong End 4 ends here.

This Wrong End occurs if you select the broom, but it also happens if you let any of the chapter's timers run to zero. The difference being that Yoshie just comes up behind you and grabs you if you don't pick the broom, skipping the text referencing Yui's attempt to fight off the old woman with it.



Encounter - Wrong End 5

Music: Torture



When at the locked door, we choose to run somewhere else rather than breaking it with Yui's umbrella. This choice doesn't immediately put you into a wrong end though, and it's actually possible to get the true ending this way.



Or maybe I could hide somewhere and throw Yoshie off my trail...



I had no particular destination in mind. My only thought was, 'anywhere but here.' After maybe 30 seconds, I found myself in the second floor hallway. There was an outside corridor connecting the two buildings of the school there, and it was the first alternate escape route that came to mind. Naturally, it was walled off from the outside for safety purposes, but the wall wasn't so big that I couldn't scale it in a pinch. I didn't really want to jump from the second floor of the school, but if I had to, I was confident that I'd at least survive the fall with minimal injury.

(I should consider that a last resort. For now, let's just get out of sight!)

I climbed the wall faster than I thought possible and dropped down to the narrow ledge on the other side. It was just wide enough to sit down.



I really couldn't see much, though. The outside was completely dark. It was so dark that it felt almost like the whole world had been draped in a black veil.

Maybe I should just stay here until morning. I mean, even if I ran, I'm pretty sure I'd get caught...

I opened the pen case in my pocket and pulled out the pencil I received from Tsukasa.

(Tsukasa... Please, protect me...)

Was I really treating this stubby little pencil as a protective charm? Tsukasa said it would guarantee success on my test, not ward off evil spirits! Still, it was better than nothing. I clutched it tightly in my hands and prayed.



I whispered the words so quietly that I might as well have been mouthing them...but that seemed to be all the opening that damned spirit needed.



Eeeegh...!

I sensed a presence on the ledge with me, and was so startled that I almost fell from my perch.

N-No! Please! Why are you doing this?!

However, I could only sense her there. I didn't actually see her, and thought for one brief moment that maybe I was letting my imagination run wild.

But then I felt the horrible sensation of something coiling itself around my arm.



Before I knew it, a tall, shadowy figure had half emerged from the wall behind me. And she had me in her grasp. There wasn't much more to her than an indistinct, flickering silhouette, but I could clearly see she had a broken neck. Was this a different apparition?!

Her scraggly, root-like fingers were squeezing my arm with tremendous force, pushing aside muscle and tissue and pressing right on the bone.

Nooo! Wh-Who... What are you?!
Where are you going, my dear? I'll just be a little longer, so won't you please wait for me?
Ouuuaaggh... Th-That hurts! That really hurts!



L-Let go of me!
Sachi...

Music: None

I could offer no resistance. She was too strong. All I could do was plead with her.

S-Stop...please... You're... You're really hurting me!

I felt like my arm would snap in two at any moment.

Let's be together...forever...

She wasn't just grabbing, but twisting as well. The pain was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I couldn't think about anything else. Stopping it had become my first and only priority.

Aaaaaaagggghh...gghhhaaaahhhh...!



*gasp* Aaaaahhhhhhh...!

In the face of death, everything really does seem to slow down. I'd read somewhere that this is because the brain is sending out all kinds of distress signals or something. Slow motion or not, though, I was fully aware of my surroundings. I was cascading through the air just outside my school building...



Here's the actual choice that determines whether or not you get the Wrong Ending. If we choose to reach out hands, Tsukasa will catch Yui and pull her back up onto the walkway, then the chapter proceeds as usual.

Instead, we pray upon the pencil...

Video: Encounter - Wrong End 5



Those were the words echoing through my head as I clutched Tsukasa's pencil tight against my bosom, like a prayer talisman.



...and a horrible squelching sound echoed in my ears. My neck...was...

*cough* Ahh...auoooaagh...guaaaah... *cough*





Blood was spurting everywhere. I was practically drowning in it. I'd landed right on it...and it wasn't long before I gasped my final gasp...

Music: Wrong End



Video: Encounter - Wrong End 5 ends here.

And that's every Wrong End in this chapter; one for every choice present. By completing chapter 3, we also unlocked three new Soulful Testimonies. Once again, no spoilers are present in these videos.


Soulful Testimony - Hiro Shimono



Soulful Testimony - Miyuki Sawashiro



Soulful Testimony - Nobuhiko Okamoto