Part 2: Roses and a Doll

_{content warning: potential stalking, suicide + suicidal ideation}



Sometimes, we might see multiple messages from two or more people at the same time.

Why do humans have so many problems...

In cases like this, you have to read through both messages in one breath before we can start working on them.

Hmm...

What are you doing?

I'm trying to see how long I can hold my breath... I don't think I could finish two letters in one breath...

It's just a metaphor...

Well, what should I do to find the other letter after reading the first one?

After reading one letter, you might see the Next Letter option. Whenever you need to switch between the two letters, just use that button to switch back and forth.

Okay. I'll start now.

[BGM: Broken Dream 1]


The Last Words

It had been 10 years.

I had been cursed since the “incident”.
Every time I picked up my paint brush my mind would start tormenting me, wreaking havoc.
For ten years I hadn't been able to paint anything.

I was suffering. And I deserved it.

By now I had spent all of my savings, yet I was still alive.
A friend was kind enough to set me up with a teaching job at a high school, teaching the art class. I would start tomorrow.
It wasn't particularly well paid, but for someone who had been living without power, water or heat in his apartment, it was like a burning pit of charcoal in the middle of a blizzard.
I was really grateful to my friend.

Ironically, I had just bought myself some charcoal earlier today.
I thought I might be able to leave something worthwhile to the world as a painter before I died.
Yes, I wanted to make one of those “final masterpieces”.

I set up my easel.
One hour passed. Two hours... Three hours...
I had to put down the brush.

Even if I managed to paint something, how would it be different from all of the other garbage in this room?



It would just be another piece of soulless trash. Just like me.
All TRASH!

I poured the coal into a basin and put it on the bedroom floor.

I put on my best clothes.
I carefully made my bed.
And I lit the coals.

I tried the doorknob and realized that the door was not locked.
I chuckled.
That was careless of me.
I double checked all of the doors and windows, making sure that they had been locked and sealed. I couldn't take any chances.

I lay down on my bed. All I could see was her face...
Here I come, honey.
Sorry for making you wait so long.



God, I am ready.
Please take me away.

Wen Zhaoren



[BGM: Lethal Affair]


Roses and A Doll

The apartment building I had just moved into was quite old. It didn't have an elevator so I had to climb the stairs every day.
As usual it was already past midnight when I got back from tennis practice.

I noticed something at my door as soon as I walked into the 4th floor hallway.
Was that... a bouquet of roses?
And the Ser Spotty toy I had seen in the arcade a few days ago!



I had a sudden, sinking feeling of anxiety.
I had been getting strange emails starting the day before yesterday.

This was the first one:

[I've been watching you for a long time. Write back to me.
(￣艸￣”)<※ <※ <※ <※ <※ ]

At first, I thought maybe someone had sent it to the wrong address by accident.
Or it could have been some random phishing email, so I didn't pay any attention to it.
But the next day I received another one...

[Please write back to me ~>_<~]

I still have no idea what those weird symbols mean.
And whoever had written these emails seemed to think that we knew each other......

My cellphone suddenly buzzed in my pocket. I had a new email.
I clicked on the email app with a shaking finger...



[WE SHALL
MEET SOON
~~>_<~~]

In my defense, I TRIED to replicate the heart as well, but it wouldn't format correctly.

I couldn't understand those symbols at all, but the words in the middle...
All of a sudden I felt a chill down my back, as if I was being watched by someone... or something. But my body had frozen and I didn't dare turn around.

I looked into the reflection in the glass of the window in front of me, trying to see if there was anything behind me.
There wasn't... I was just being paranoid.
Still, I decided to go and spend the night at Jing's place just in case.

I walked towards the staircase, but then I heard it: footsteps, coming upstairs, closer and closer.
Who could it be at this late hour...
Could it be... the one who had written those emails?

I immediately turned around and ran back towards my apartment.

But I lived alone... what if they broke in...
He would force me into the corner, pull a chainsaw out from behind him and cut me to pieces...
Oh god... No!



I stopped at the door of my neighbor, Room 414.
I... I choose you!

Help me!

No matter how hard I knocked, nothing happened.
I tried not to cry so much that I wouldn't be heard.
But tears were already streaming down my face.
Calm down, Li Wen!

The footsteps stopped at the 4th floor, and were now moving towards me.
There was only one more corner between us...

It was too late for me to hide in my own apartment now.
I held my tennis racket up. I swung it down as hard as I could with my eyes closed when the person arrived at the corner.

The person I had hit wobbled and fell down the stairs.
It was Uncle Sun! He seemed to be just going around the building and picking up the trash...

Uncle Sun was laying on the ground, and he was not moving at all.



Oh my god... what have I done?!
God, please help me, please please...

Li Wen

…



When there is more than one letter, the white pieces can be moved left and right as well, in addition to up and down. Since it will impact the fate of both people, you must be careful when making your decisions.



Once again, we're still getting introduced to the primary puzzle mechanic of this game, so this is a no-brainer; moving the white piece from Wen Zhaoren's side over to Li Wen's will change both outcomes as a result...



...as it will make him no longer check his door, while Li Wen will notice the doorknob of her neighbor's apartment is unlocked.

…

[BGM: Broken Dream 1]


God, I am ready.
Please take me away.

…
…
…
?!

What was that noise?

I struggled to sit up in my bed. My head felt like it was going to explode.

Damn it...
Just a little longer, and God would have taken me...
Whoever had made that noise... be it a burglar or a utility guy, I would never forgive them...



[BGM: Angelic Touch]


Excuse me... sorry for the intrusion...

I sneaked into my neighbor's apartment.
It was completely dark inside and smelled funny.
It was so hard to breathe in this apartment... I wondered who would live in such a place.

I shut the door right behind me.
I accidentally knocked over some jars that were shelved next to the door, and they made some very loud noises.
Still, nobody responded. I supposed there really wasn't anyone home.

I looked out from the peep hole while I held my breath.

A thin, old humpbacked man walked by the door, with empty plastic bottles in his hands.
It was just Uncle Sun, the manager... phew...

…



This one is easy too.

Hmm, as Shakespeare once said, “security is mortals' chiefest enemy”, which could mean that overconfidence is man's greatest enemy.

Shakes... what... who?

Shakespeare. He is one of the greatest writers in human history.

Overconfidence is man's greatest enemy? Well... but I am no man.

Okay. Then do you remember this person's name?

Er... Wen... Zhao... Ugh, I have it on the tip of my tongue!

Hahaha, you should pay more attention. His name is Wen Zhaoren.

Okay... I have a bad memory. I get your point.

It's only easy because you are just getting started. You will see soon enough.

…

[BGM: New Life]


What does this yellow star mean?

When you see a yellow star, that means you have unlocked all of the possible endings of that particular event.

Oh. Should I try to collect all of the yellow stars?

Oh no, that won't be necessary. Our job is just to help the humans with their troubles.

No matter how many times we try or how many endings we unlock, for the humans there is only one ending to each story that they will ever know.

So it doesn't really matter whether or not you unlock all of the endings.

In that case, what is the star there for?

Well... I know you're asking me, but...

To be honest I don't really know.







NEW MESSAGE: Farewell...



[BGM: Broken Dream 1]


Farewell...

Somebody had ruined my plan...
Damn it...

I sat up, and realized I could barely stand.
The entire room was spinning; I felt so nauseated that I almost threw up.
Just a little longer and I could have seen her again...

The room was completely dark since I hadn't been able to pay my utility bill for a while.

I lifted my foot and tried to take a step, but I tripped over my easel. The brushes and paints fell all over the place. I crouched down and slowly started to pick them up again. It took me a while as I was so exhausted.
I put out the fire and opened a window.
I stumbled upon my flashlight and pressed the button.



BOOM!!

I heard a deafening explosion.
Was that a... gas explosion?
I thought I saw a slender figure of somebody fall down in the fire before I passed out.

When I woke up, the doctor told me that there was a 17-year-old girl who had been sent to the hospital along with me.
She hadn't made it.
“Fortunately”, however, I was still alive.



I had third degree burns all over my body. I lost my right arm and I couldn't speak.
I couldn't even do something as simple as ask what the girl's name was.

God, why...
Why didn't you just kill me instead?

Wen Zhaoren



***

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