(text-style:"blur")[#ゴーストタイム] <img src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/3407bab6-b072-4170-ad2d-423b918051a2/dcu8dj6-4d75c882-4c85-42cb-86e2-18ebac3bb239.png"> You spent most of your day hiking through the trails of the forest, enjoying nature, getting a little bit lost, but always getting back on a trail soon afterwards. As the day winds down you figure you should get back to the lodge near the base of the mountain. As you make your way through the trails back to the stone steps that lead up to the lodge you notice something strange. At the top of the steps is a red wooden gate that you don't recall being there before. Approaching the gate, it seems like it's new and freshly painted, so you think they may have just put it up while you were gone somehow. You don't really think much about it, and continue through the gate towards the lodge. <img src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/3407bab6-b072-4170-ad2d-423b918051a2/dcu8did-f3a6f7f9-e397-499e-9074-d9295558e2dc.png"> Once you walk through the gate you come out into a clearing that is entirely unfamiliar to you. The lodge that was here before is nowhere to be seen, instead all you can see is a broken down old shack, a wooden path to the right, seemingly leading closer to the mountain, and a <a href="http://yokai.com/myoubu/">white stone statue of a fox</a>. Looking behind you, past the gate, the forest and trail you came from is now covered in a thick fog. Before you can do anything a voice rings out from the fox statue. (text-style:"outline")[####"お名前は何ですか？"] You jump back in surprise, unsure of what the statue just said or how it said it in the first place. It looks at you expectantly for a moment before tilting it's head to the side. (text-style:"outline")["日本語話せますか？"] You stare in confusion for a few seconds before the statue straightens it's head back out and looks over at the broken down shed to the left. It points one of it's stone paws over to the shed and then looks back over to you. [[Go To Shed ->path1.0]] [[Ignore statue. Go down the path ->pathichi]] [[Turn around and go back through the gate ->deadend1]]

You suspiciously eye the statue and walk over to look through the dilapidated shed. There is no door on the frame, so you just walk in and begin looking around. Half of the shed is completely caved in, and you can see the starry night sky from the broken roof. On the other side is a small shrine with a beaded necklace and two lightly flickering red candles on either side of it. <img src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/3407bab6-b072-4170-ad2d-423b918051a2/dcu8diu-e21affd2-a3a0-4b43-9c09-b33e299c6d68.png"> [[Pick up the necklace and go back to statue ->path1.1]] [[Put on necklace ->path1.1b]]

You'd rather brave the thick blanket of fog than do whatever this moving statue wants you to do. You run back through the red gate, back down the way you came. It's impossible to see more than a couple feet in front of you in this fog, but you continue, just barely dodging a few trees as you make your way down the obscured forest trail. After what feels like half an hour of wandering the fog finally breaks, and as your eyes adjust you can see... the same clearing you just came from. The fox statue still looks at you, with one paw outstreched to the shed. You look behind you and see the red gate and the fog behind it once again. [[Fine. go to Shed ->path1.0]] [[Ignore the statue. go down the path ->pathichi]]

You take the necklace off the small shrine. As it leaves its place on the pedestal the two candles flicker and go out. You turn the necklace around in your hand and decide to bring it back out to the statue. As you return with the necklace in hand the statue looks at you and tilts it's head. (text-style:"outline")["何?そのネックレスを着用する。"] You hold the necklace out to the statue, still unsure of what it's saying. The statue straightens again and puts it's paw out, gently pushing your hand back towards you. It seems like the statue wants you to have it. [[Put on necklace ->path1.2]]

You take the necklace off the small shrine. As it leaves its place on the pedestal the two candles flicker and go out. You put the necklace on and wait a few seconds to see if something happens. . . . And nothing does. After you put it on you walk back outside to the statue, which is still pointing towards the old shed. It seems glad to see you wearing the necklace. [[Talk to the statue ->path1.2]]

(set: $fool to "false") The fox statue straightens itself back out and speaks to you once more. (text-style:"outline")["I'm assuming you can understand me now, yes?] You nod at the statue; you can understand it but you're still not sure what's going on. (text-style:"outline")["Good. Now that you're here I'm afraid you can't leave. Or well, you can, just not as soon as you'd like. You either need to wait until morning or search around for another way out."] None of what the statue said sounded good to you. You just wanted to get back to the lodge and go to sleep, but now you're stuck in... wherever this is. You briefly look between the path towards the wooden path leading to the mountains and the foggy gate that you came through. Neither of them look like good options, but you feel like you have to do something. (text-style:"outline")["Whatever you decide to do, be careful. There are Yōkai wandering around. Most of them should leave you alone, but others you will want to avoid."] [[Go down the wooden path ->path1.3]] [[Sounds scary. Try to leave ->path1.3b]] [[Absolutely not. Sit down next to the statue and wait until morning ->end1]]

The thought of having to deal with... whatever the statue just said fills you with dread. You'd much rather just try to get out of here. You run back through the red gate, back down the way you came. It's impossible to see more than a couple feet in front of you in this fog, but you continue, just barely dodging a few trees as you make your way down the obscured forest trail. After what feels like half an hour of wandering the fog finally breaks, and as your eyes adjust you can see... the same clearing you just came from. The fox statue sits there and stares at you. It seems very unamused with your antics. You look behind you and see the red gate and the fog behind it once again. [[Accept your fate and go down the path ->path1.3]] [[Continue being difficult. Sit down and wait ->end1]]

You follow along the wooden path through the lightly wooded area. After around 10 minutes of walking you come to another old looking house and a set of stairs leading downwards. The stairs seem to lead down into a village that looks to be lit only by a few distant fires of some sort; probably torches or lanterns, as the fire doesn't seem to be spreading. In the distance you can see another red gate just before the land stretches up into a mountain. The mountain gate seems to be lit up by some kind of blue lights of some sort, but it's difficult to distinguish from where you stand. [[Check the house by the stairs->path2.0]] [[Walk down into the village->path3.0]] [[Walk through the village to the mountains->path4.0]]

You approach the old house just before the stairs. It seems to be in similar shape to the old shed in the clearing, except not half collapsed; at least from what you can see. The door to the house lies on the ground along with a pile of rotted wood and some tattered cloths. Inside the house seems fairly dark, but still visible. [[Enter the house ->path2.1]] [[Explore the village instead ->path3.0]] [[Go towards the mountains instead ->path4.0]]

You make your way down the staircase towards the village below. Once you get closer you can see that the lights you saw were, in fact, lanterns that are just floating around freely in the streets. Taking a look at the buildings you can see quite a few of them are either collapsed or inaccessable because of other debris. Many also have old splintering signs that you can't quite read; both because of the smudging and because they seem to be written in another language. Through the village there are several pathways. One leading off to some mostly broken buildings on the left. One leading to a slightly less raggedy looking area where the floating lanterns seem to be gathering at. And a path straight to the mountain gate that seems to be engulfed in a strange blue flame. [[Go straight towards the mountain ->path4.0]] [[Check buildings to the left ->path3.1]] [[Check buildings to the right ->path3.9]]

You move through the village, and down the large center path that leads to the base of the mountain. As you get closer you can see another red gate, much like the one you walked through to get to this terrible place. You can also see many small blue flames floating around the gate, but as you get closer the flames scatter and float off speedily. The flames all float off, but don't seem to get too far away. You can see them lingering around some houses and trees about 20 feet from the gate. After watching the blue flames dance about for a little bit, you decide it's time to go through the gate. Most of you is hoping that going through this gate will return you back to the forest you know; that somehow it will lead you back to the lodge so you can finally go to sleep. With a deep breath, you walk through the gate to the mountains. Much to your dismay, as you look in front of you it's still the same dark, shitty area you saw through the gate before. Looking back towards the gate you can see a cloud of fog surround the area behind it much like the one before. This time, however, as you approach the gate again, a wall of blue fire springs up in the opening. It seems you won't be able to go back. [[Continue up the path ->path4.1]]

As you enter the house you can see how old and rickety it really is. Some parts do seem to have collapsed; several walls are broken down, and the ceiling in the back of the house has caved in. Some of the house still remains relatively intact though. There seems to be a hallway in the back, just before the rubble of the collapsed area. It also looks like theres a second floor, but the stairway up to it seems like it's not in the best repair. A few steps are missing, and most of the remaining ones look rotted or broken. As you stand there and survey the area you begin to hear a couple distinct noises. Some small thumping, and occasional crashes are coming from upstairs, while a strange and distant sloshing sound is coming from the direction of the hallway. [[On second thought... ->path2.0]] [[Explore down the hallway ->path2.2]] [[Try to get up the stairs ->path2.7]]

(set: $fool to "true") You take one look at the statue and immediately don't want anything to do with it. You're not sure what's in the shed it's pointing at, but you don't wanna find out. Instead you make your way off to the wooden pathway to the right. [[Continue ->path1.3]]

You slowly make your way towards the back of the house. As you get closer the strange sloshing noise gets ever so slightly louder, so you seem to be on the right track. Or at least the track that will help you figure out what the noise is. Upon reaching the edge of the hallway you look down and see a couple doors. One of them is open and the other seems to have a rusted lock on it. As you slowly make your way down the hallway you can hear that the noise is coming from the open room. Peeking inside, you can see <a href="http://yokai.com/tenjouname/">a horrible grey beast, that looks like it's covered in post-it notes</a>. The creature is very clearly the source of the noise, as it is loudly licking at the ceiling with it's long, snake like tongue. As you gaze upon it in horror the creature looks over and makes eye contact with you and makes a loud shrieking noise. It then promptly returns back to what it was doing. <img src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/3407bab6-b072-4170-ad2d-423b918051a2/dcu8dio-c591ab53-62ab-465b-a267-c77007ade33b.png"> [[RUN ->path2.3]] [[Slowly back out of the room and go check out the other part of the house ->path2.7]] [[Stay and watch the weird looking thing ->badend1]]

You manage to make your way up the half broken staircase. As you reach the top you can hear a lot of thumping and banging noises coming from behind a ripped up paper sliding door. You approach the door and slide it open, revealing a bunch of <a href="http://yokai.com/yanari/">small demon men</a>, all weilding small demon hammers. They looked like they were using their little hammers to hit anything they could find. Walls, floors, bottles, anything in the room they could reach. Almost as soon as you open the door all of the little demons simultaneously stop what theyre doing, stare directly at you, and start a cacophony of tiny screams. [[Scream right back and run out of the room ->path2.7a]] [[Enter the room despite the screaming ->path2.8]]

Run out of the house in a panic because of that weird thing you saw. As the monster shrieks you panic and sprint back down the hallway, smashing yourself against the wall at the end of it. That doesn't stop you for long though, as you push yourself off it and immediately run back out the doorway to the area near the stairs. You look back over your shoulder into the house. The creature doesn't seem to be chasing you, but you don't want to stay here for too long. (if: $fool is "false")[ [[Run back to the statue area ->path2.4]] ] [[Run towards the village ->path3.0]] [[Run towards the Mountain path ->path4.0]]

You watch the creature intently as it makes its way around the room, leaving no part of the ceiling unlicked. The longer you watch the less disgusting the creature looks, and the more appealing what it's doing seems. You suddenly really want to help it in its endevour to clean the ceilings of the house. You can't quite recall what happened after that, but you don't quite care either. What you do know, is now you're helping get that sweet dirt off the ceilings, and you will keep doing so, forever. [[End 2/10. Try again? ->Start]]

You run back down to the area you started in. Before you can try to run out the gate again the statue tells you to stop it. You talk to the statue for a little bit and it tells you about the thing you just saw, and some other things you might encounter around. You run back the way you came, hoping you can escape from there. As you dash accross the clearing and towards the gate you hear the familiar voice of the statue yell (text-style:"outline")[###"STOP."] Just before you reach the red gate you come sliding to a stop and look back towards the statue. It stares at you from its perch and speaks once again. (text-style:"outline")["There's really no point in going back through that gate, you'll just end up right back here. What did you see that has you in such a panic anyhow? There shouldn't be anything too terrible out yet."] You look back at the gate again, and then decide to walk back over to the statue. As you explain what you saw in the house the fox nods its head slowly. (text-style:"outline")["The creature you saw is called a Tenjōname. They are generally harmless, as long as you don't stare at them for extended periods. All they do is wander around homes and lick the dirt off the ceilings. They're really nothing to worry about. Most creatures you find in the houses around here shouldn't give you trouble, in fact. But avoid looking at anything for too long, just in case."] You nod as the statue explains this to you. Then you look back towards the wooden path to the house. Might as well keep going along. [[Go back to the old house ->path2.5]] [[Go explore the village instead ->path3.0]] [[Head towards the mountain path ->path4.0]]

You go back to the old rickety house. It's still broken, and the noises from both directions continue You return back to the house you saw the ceiling licker in. You can still faintly hear it slurping down the hallway. You also hear the sound of shattering glass up the staircase. You ran out in such a panic last time you forgot there were sounds upstairs as well. [[Go up the stairs this time ->path2.7]] [[Go check out that monster again ->path2.6]]

You make your way down the hallway, slightly more confidently this time. Once again you lean into the doorway and look at the gross, ashy, tongue beast. As you look at it, it gives you a bit of a sideye, but otherwise ignores your presence as it continues its work. [[Continue watching it ->badend1]] [[Sideye it back and go check out the rest of the house ->path2.7]]

The demons may be the size of your palm, but whe 20-30 of them are staring at you and screaming it's quite frightening. You slam the sliding door shut again and run down the rotting stairs. You trip up as one of the boards breaks in half, but manage to catch yourself and continue running out of the house. You don't know if the tiny army of demons is chasing you, but you don't want to stay here and wait for them. [[Run into the village ->path3.0]] [[Run towards the mountains ->path4.0]]

As you enter all the little demons scatter, climbing into holes in the floorboards and walls. You look around the room and find some old torn kimonos on the wall, a closet to the left, and a large trunk/chest on the far wall. Theres a bunch of bits of glass and broken wood all around the room Despite the many screaming demons you decide to enter the room anyway. As soon as you start walking in all of the tiny creatures scatter across the room and disappear into small cracks in the walls and floorboards. Looking around, you see a lot of broken glass and splintered wood. You also see a wall with several torn kimonos hanging on it, a door that is just slightly slid open on the left wall, and a dusty old chest pushed up against the right wall. [[Look at the kimonos ->path2.9]] [[Look in the closet ->path2.10]] [[Open the chest ->path2.11]]

On the wall there are three different kimonos in various states of ill repair. One has a few large gash marks in it, and has a lovely blue wave pattern adorning the not destroyed parts. Another only has tattered edges, kind of like a cat had been reaching up and clawing at them; the kimono also sported a tree with pink sakura blossoms on a black background. The third kimono is incredibly torn and tattered, only really recognizable as a kimono because it's hanging in the same way as the two next to it. There's nothing particularly interesting about the kimonos. There's nothing hidden behind them besides holes in the wall. But when you turn away from them you swear you can see the patterns moving out of the corner of your eye; waves crashing around the fabric, and sakura petals blowing around the other. But when you look back at them again, they look exactly as they had before. [[Look in closet ->path2.10]] [[Open chest ->path2.11]] [[Leave the room ->path2.12]]

You walk over to the door and open it up. It seems to be a closet. A closet filled with more of those tiny demons, who proceed to scream and scurry away once again. Aside from them, the only other things that seem to be in the closet are torn and tattered clothes and some old wooden sandals. [[Open the chest ->path2.11]] [[Look at the Kimonos ->path2.9]] [[Leave the room ->path2.12]]

You make your way to the right side of the room and inspect the dusty old chest. There doesn't seem to be a lock of any sort on it. You decide to push aside the pile of holey cloth that was stacked on it and open the chest up. A puff of dust greets you as the top swings open. You cough and choke for a second before waving the dust away and checking the contents of the box. Inside is a <a href ="http://www.ninjaencyclopedia.com/weapon/kusarigama.html">rusted sickle attatched to a heavy looking chain</a>. It's just laying in the chest on top of what seems to be blankets, and some more miscellaneous cloths. [[Take the weapon ->path2.13b]] [[Leave the weapon ->path2.13]]

You leave the room and carefully make your way down the staircase. You have no issues getting back past the rotting stairs besides the constant fear of falling through them. Once you exit the old building you look down the other, non rotting, staircase to the village. [[Go towards the village ->path3.0]] [[Head towards the mountain path ->path4.0]]

(set: $weapon to "true") You pick up the old sickle and chain. It's a bit heavy, since there's a weight on the other end of the chain, but it's not too heavy. Despite it being rusty and quite blunt, it could still probably come in handy. Not for cutting anything, obviously, but at least for hitting something. [[Leave the room ->path2.12]]

The sickle looks too old, blunt, and rusted to be able to do anything. You pick it up and inspect it just to be sure, and a small bit of the tip crumbles off. You think it would be best to put it back in the chest and leave. The only thing that hunk of metal is gonna bring you is tetanus. [[Leave the room ->path2.12]]

As you wander down the left path you see mostly collapsed buildings. There seems to be only two that are still standing. One on the right towards the back of the row, which seems like it's a little worse for wear. Then there's one on the left that's a bit closer to you and seems like it's old, but not damaged. Looking down towards the broken-but-still-standing house, it looks like theres a stone wall that leads to a garden across from it. [[Check out the house on the right->path3.2a]] [[Check out the house on the left ->path3.2b]] [[Check out the garden ->path3.2c]]

You make your way to the right side of the village, following the gently floating paper lanterns through the streets. There seems to be a lot of buildings with signs on this end of the village, presumably shops of some sort. A few are collapsed, some are very clearly empty as you pass and see through the broken walls. Most of the buildings seem to have at least one lantern floating around in them, making it easier to see that there's nothing inside. Many of the lanterns seem to be gathering at one of the larger buildings at the end of the street. Some occasionally float in, others seem content to just float around it. Aside from that building it doesn't seem like there's much else to check out on this side of town. [[Approach the building ->path3.10]] [[Check out the other side of town ->path3.1]] [[Head towards the mountain instead ->path4.0]]

You walk down the path a little towards the more damaged house to find that the door to it is nowhere in sight. Looking inside it's difficult to see anything but utter darkness, but you could still go on and try to look around. [[Enter the house ->path3.3a]] [[Check out the other house ->path3.2b]] [[Check out the garden instead ->path3.2c]]

You decide to approach the better looking of the two houses you can see. It doesn't look the best, but it seems like the most stable house you've seen so far. As you approach the door you can see a large, mildly rusted padlock on the door. Despite the rust, the padlock still seems like it's quite sturdy, and would be difficult to get past without a key. [[Try to open the door anyway ->path3.3b]] [[Check out the other house instead ->path3.2a]] [[Go to the garden instead ->path3.2c]]

You walk down the path and glance at the broken looking house, but decide to branch off towards the garden instead. You come to a small wooden gate door attached to the mossy stone wall that surrounds the area. Looking over it you see a surprisingly flourishing garden of flowers, along with several types of squash, and intricately cut hedges. The garden seemed dark before but once you got close you can see that there are the same sort of floating lanterns meandering around in circles in the garden. There also appears to be a pair of floating shears gently slicing off bits of a hedge. Whenever you move you think you can see the outline of a person holding the shears, but it's difficult to tell. You push the door open slightly to go in, and as soon as you do the shears stop cutting at the hedge and point towards you. The form of a rather angry looking older man materializes, holding the shears in his hand. The still transluscent figure of the man makes direct eye contact with you and snaps the shears in your direction a couple times. [[Understandable. Have a nice day ->path3.3c]] [[Go in anyway ->badend3]]

The interior of the house is very dark, but you can see several beams of light shining from the broken ceiling. Through the dim light you can't see much around you, but you do see a sliding door off to the left a bit, and a hallway off to the right of it. [[Open the sliding door->path3.4a]] [[walk down the hallway->path3.5a]]

You make your way over and open the sliding door into an empty seeming room. There are many tatami mats laid out on the floor, and as you look around you can see that theres another door leading to the right, presumably to the hallway. Off in the far corner there also seems to be a closet that's flung open. It doesn't look like theres anything in it, but it's also dark and difficult to tell. [[Look through the tatami room->path3.6a]] [[Check down the hallway instead->path3.5a]]

As you walk down the hallway it seems to just keep going, and going, and going for quite some time. It feels like you walk past the exact same doors and hanging scrolls at least 10 times each. You try to open some of them, but the only thing behind each of the doors is a blank wall. The only way for you to tell you're getting anywhere is the distant sound of crying getting louder and louder as you continue to walk. Eventually, you reach a door that's slightly ajar. It sounds like that room is the source of the crying. [[Peek through the door ->path3.7a]] [[Open the door and walk inside ->badend2]] [[Nevermind, I'm going somewhere else ->path3.8a]]

You search around the room for awhile. Looking through the closet reveals that it is, in fact, empty. Lifting up the tatami mats reveals that there is also, in fact, nothing there. The room is just large and empty, and frankly looking through it was a waste of time. [[Fine, go down the hallway ->path3.5a]]

You cautiously peek through the open door to see an apparition of an <a href="http://yokai.com/yonakibabaa/">old woman</a>, curled up and weeping in the corner. The rest of the room is too dark to see, but theres a strange, eeire glow outlining the woman. [[Nevermind, let's go somewhere else ->path3.8a]] [[Go inside ->badend2]]

You decide you really don't want to be in this house anymore. You make your way back down the hallway, which seems to have returned to the length of a normal hallway somehow. You briefly consider going back to check if it will have the same effect if you go down it again, but decide you'd rather not try. You exit the house without issue and find yourself back on the dirt street of the village. [[Check out the other house ->path3.2b]] [[Go towards the garden->path3.2c]] [[Walk to the other side of the village->path3.9]] [[Head towards the mountains ->path4.0]]

You walk into the room, unable to see anything but the figure of an old lady. As you approach, the woman turns around and you can see that she's missing her eyes, and a mix of blood and tears is streaming down her face. As she turns she lets out a horrific screech, and her hair that was once up in a messy bun unwinds itself and starts floating upward wildly. You try to back up, but the woman reaches out for you, her gnarled hands sinking themselves into your shoulders. Where she grabs you feels cold for a second, and then loses all sensation, and soon the rest of your body follows suit. First all the heat drains from your body, and then all sensations slowly disappear as the hag continues to screech at you. [[End 3/10. Try again?->Start]]

You jiggle the door a little to find that the padlock is actually doing its job by keeping the door shut. Inspecting the padlock a little closer you can tell that you definitely won't be able to break it off. It seems the only way you're getting into this house is with a key. [[Check out the other house instead ->path3.2a]] [[Go to the garden instead ->path3.2c]]

You promptly decide that you're having None Of That and sit down on the damp ground next to the fox statue. The statue gives you a strange look but ultimately leaves you alone. As the night passes on you can see various silhouettes in the forested areas, down the wooden path, and around the shed. Most look like they could be animals, and others look like strange or deformed humans; every so often you see a shoe or a lantern skittering across the ground. Most of them seem to be ignoring you, some look directly at you, and then at the statue next to you, and wander off back into the night. It seems as if whatever creatures are out there don't like to get close to the fox statue. Eventually you manage to close your eyes and drift into sleep, leaning your back against the cold stone of the statue. . . . . . . . . . . . When you come back to conciousness you're met with an incredibly confused looking old man poking you with his walking stick. The sunlight burns as you open up your eyes to look at the man. Past him you can see the lodge that you had been looking for last night. As you continue to look around you can't seem to find the red gate, or the old shed, and even the statue you had been talking to seemed to be gone. In the fox's place was a completely mossed over stone pillar which you had been leaning against. The old man pokes you with his stick once more and then points over at the lodge. "I don't know why you're out here sleepin' in the dirt when there's a perfectly good little lodge right there. Might wanna go in an get a blanket from 'em at least, it's cold out here at night." With that, the old man stepped over your legs and continued on his way down one of the hiking paths. You took one more look around to see if you can find any traces of whatever you saw last night, but find nothing. It seems like you just had a strange dream. [[End 1/10. Try again? ->Start]]

You slowly nod your head at the ghost and close the door to the garden, taking a step backwards as you do so. The figure glares at you for a moment longer before turning back to the hedge and continuing his work. Once again, the man disappears and it seems like the shears are cutting the hedge on their own. You step back onto the path, right in front of the rickety old house. [[Enter the rickety house ->path3.2a]] [[Go to the other house instead ->path3.2b]] [[Check out the other side of town ->path3.9]] [[Go directly to the mountains ->path4.0]]

Despite the gardener's threatening appearance you decide to enter the garden. Once you take a step in both the man and the shears disappear from view. You take the opportunity to wander around the garden and look at the various colorful flowers. Now that you're inside you can see that there are some other vegetables planted along with the squashes. The garden has a very pleasent aura, despite the rest of what you've seen in the area. Some of the flowers scents mix together to create an indistinct sweet smell over the area. The hedges, you can see now, are made into the shape of long, wingless dragons, and foxes with multiple tails. As you continue to look around you notice that the floating lanterns have all stopped moving around, and are just hanging stationary in the air. You then feel a cool breeze pass over you, and with it all of the lanterns go out at once. You can still somewhat see around the garden by the moon's illumination, but not very well; you figure it may be time to leave the area. As you turn around to head back towards the gate you're greeted by an old set of chipped shears being held in front of your neck by the angry gardener you saw before. Before you have time to react, the shears close on you, and the last thing you can recall is the sense of falling, and the smell of flowers. [[End 4/10. Try again? ->Start]]

You follow some of the lanterns over to the building and inspect it. It looks like it's 2-3 stories tall, and incredibly dark inside. Despite you seeing some of the lanterns float in and out of the building, it looks like there's absolutely no light inside of it. It also looks just as shabby as the rest of the buildings around it. Rotting wood, broken out windows, pieces of roof looking like they're about to fall off the upward curving slopes. It still seems structurally sound, however, which seems to be a rarity in this village. The door to the building is closed, despite it looking like the lanterns were floating right into it. You watch it for a few moments to see if any more go into the building, but they all seem to be find floating where they are. [[Go into the building ->path3.11]] [[Actually maybe not ->path3.11b]]

You walk up to the door and try to open it, finding that it's not locked. As you push the door open you can only see darkness inside. Vague shapes of furniture are just barely visible by the light of the door, but you can't really see much. Stepping inside, you feel the sensation of running into a cobweb, and quickly close your eyes and start wiping at your face. When you open your eyes again you find yourself in an almost pristine looking house. Everything is illuminated by lanterns hanging from the ceiling, similar to the ones you've seen outside. The floor is made of a polished black wood, and the pillars and ceiling seem to match. The walls are all either a freshly painted white, or made of paper. There is a step up into another room from the entrance way, with very light green tatami mats decorating the wooden floor. Further into the room you can see a square table, surrounded by padded mats, and a folding screen with a picture of a crane in the back. The sides of the room are covered with sliding doors and seem to go off into different rooms, but you can't see what's in them. You you go to step up into the tatami room, but before you can put your foot down a large sword swings down in front of you. Surprised, you fall backwards with a yelp and frantically look around to see where it came from. You can see behind one of the wooden pillars stands a shining suit of samurai armor. The armor lifts up it's sword, rather robotically, and returns it to the sheath on his hip. Then, with a metalic creaking sound, the suit of armor turns its head to you and says (if: $fool is "false")[(text-style:"emboss")[####"No shoes."]] (if: $fool is "true")[(text-style:"emboss")[####"靴を脱ぐ。"]] (if: $fool is "false")[ [[Take your shoes off and try again ->path3.12]] [[Keep your shoes on and try again ->badend4]] ] (if: $fool is "true")[ [[Try to step up again ->badend4b]] ] [[Just leave instead ->path3.12b]]

You step away from the house, not really wanting to know what the lanterns find so interesting about it. Back down the road you go, past all the broken down shops, and to the crossroads that you started at. [[Check out the other side of town ->path3.1]] [[Head towards the mountains ->path4.0]]

You nod at the suit of armor and quickly take off your shoes before standing back up. The armor stops staring at you and turns its head back to face forward, returning to its statue-like posture. Keeping an eye on the suit, you slowly step up onto the tatami mat, afraid it may attack again. To your relief, the suit stays stationary, and seems to be inanimate. Turning your attention back to the room, you see there is now a woman sitting at the head of the table. She is wearing a many layered kimono of white, red, and yellow. She has a light glow outlining her, and her face looks like it's glowing as well, with the only parts that are distinguishable being her bright red lips and pitch black eyes, as well as some other red markings around her face. She puts her hand out in front of you and gestures for you to sit. <img src="https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/3407bab6-b072-4170-ad2d-423b918051a2/dcu8diz-b1dc41b4-d923-4176-9bbf-4d30a05b8544.png"> [[Sit down ->path3.13]]

Defiantly, you once again step up to the tatami room without taking off your shoes. You look at the talking suit of armor as you put your foot down, and are surprised when another sword comes swinging down from the other direction, slicing your leg off. You fall forward into the room, and before you can even let out a scream, the other suit of armor draws its sword and buries it in the back of your head. Just before you cease living you hear the suits say in unison: (text-style:"emboss")[###"No. Shoes."] [[End 5/10. Try Again? ->Start]]

You decide you don't really want to deal with this samurai armor today, even if the house seemed nice. You step back outside, and the door closes behind you with a soft thud. Back down the road you go, past all the broken down shops, and to the crossroads that you started at. [[Check out the other side of town ->path3.1]] [[Head towards the mountains ->path4.0]]

You slowly walk and sit down on one of the padded mats on the other end of the table. (font:"Courier New")[(text-style:"smear")["What do you need?"]] You nervously shift as you're not really sure how to respond to that. You didn't really come here for anything, you just wandered in. You sit there in silence for a minute, the woman just staring at you expectantly. (font:"Courier New")[(text-style:"smear")["Lost, pherhaps?"]] You nod your head, and she nods back at you. (font:"Courier New")[(text-style:"smear")["Well, I'm assuming you don't come from here. If you wish to leave just look for the Hōsōshi in the mountain temple, he should be able to help you. Or I suppose you could stay here until morning, we have guest rooms upstairs, but I can't guarentee your safety."]] She gestures over to left room, where you're assuming the stairs are hidden. (font:"Courier New")[(text-style:"smear")["Or I suppose you could try to cleanse the shrine, but that seems like a foolish endeavor. But anyway, would you like to wait here, or are you in a hurry?"]] [[Stay the night ->end2]] [[You gotta get out of here ->path3.14]]

You take up the woman on her offer to stay the night. Whatever is outside isn't something you particularly want to deal with. The woman stands up and leads you through the left sliding door, up a nice black wooden staircase. As you walk through you can see various statues of foxes, and more full suits of armor standing guard outside of certain doors. At one point the woman waves her hand and two suits of armor step aside, and let you pass through a hallway. As you continue to follow her she leads you to a relatively empty room and gestures around. There's a <a href="https://shop.r10s.jp/igusakotatu/cabinet/10kotatu/5934610.jpg">table with a red blanket attached to it</a> on top of a similar looking mat. (font:"Courier New")[(text-style:"smear")["Feel free to sleep here, though I don't advise leaving the room, the longer the night goes on the more... rowdy the Yōkai get.]] With that, she leaves you in your room and closes the door. You spend a few moments looking around the relatively empty room before deciding to go to sleep under the weird table. It's much warmer than you expected, there seems to be a vent under the table that is heating up under the blanket. The warmth quickly lulls you to sleep. It feels like almost instantly you wake up, your eyes snap open and you look around the room. Instead of being in the empty room with the weird blanket table, you're in a normal room in the lodge you were looking for. You get out the bed and look out your window. Outside you see the forest as you remember it. The same entrances to different trails you've been down. No roaming beasts or floating lanterns, just normal old forest trails. [[End 6/10. Try again? ->Start]]

(set: $directions to "true") You inform the woman that you'd rather get out of here as soon as you can. She nods at you and gestures for you to stand up. (font:"Courier New")[(text-style:"smear")["Well than I wish you luck, head straight up the mountain and you'll find a crossroads. When you get there take the left path, that should lead you to the temple. Be careful of anything you might run into on the mountain."]] You nod to the woman and stand up. If all it took was a hike up the mountain to get out of... wherever you were, then it was probably worth it to get going. As you put your shoes back on and start to leave the building you hear the woman speak behind you. (font:"Courier New")[(text-style:"smear")["Oh, I forgot to mention. The Hōsōshi is a rather frightening looking creature. He has 4 eyes, and the face of an Oni, but he shouldn't be a danger to you."]] [[Go to the mountains ->path4.0]]

You continue wandering up the mountain path, most of which is dirt paths and stone staircases. Flanking the path are forested areas that you can occasionally see different colored lights floating through; they all seem to be far, far into the woods though, and you really hope they stay that way. As you keep going occasionally a wind will stir up, bringing down leaves with it. When you get up to a certain level, the leaves start changing color; they go from their regular green color, to a strangely bright yellow. The leaves also change from what you consider a normal shape to a more fan-shaped leaf. After following the trail for a bit you start to hear the distant ringing of a gong. You look around for where the sound could be coming from, and don't see the source. You do, however, see a fainter dirt path leading off into the woods towards where the sound is coming from. The path also seems to be scattered with those yellow fan leaves you've been seeing on the path. [[Go down the side path ->path 5.0]] [[Continue on the main path ->path4.2]]

Your curiosity gets the best of you and you break off the mountain path to follow the sound of the gong. The trail you found isn't the clearest, but you manage to follow it. Eventually it turns less into a dirt path, as most of it becomes covered in the yellow leaves. You can tell you're headed in the right direction, since the gong sound is getting louder the farther down this path you go. After what feels like 10 minutes, the pathway opens up into a clearing. In the center of the clearing is a huge tree with those yellow leaves you've been seeing. And in front of the tree seems to be a tall creature dancing around and banging a gong. [[Approach the tree ->path 5.1]] [[Retreat back to the main path ->path5.1b]]

As the path continues, you look upward and see a steep slope in front of you. There are stone staircases leading upwards, zig-zagging up the slope to what seems to be an overlook with a wooden railing. You start making your way up the stairs very carefully. There aren't any railings, and if you fall you're not confident you would survive. You make it up the slope without issue, and at the top you see some boulders lining the road, which seems to have turned into a much nicer stone path. At the end of the path you can see another fox statue, which is placed between a fork in the road. [[Approach the statue ->path4.3]]

You begin to approach the tree, and the creature in front of it, and finally start to make out its form. It's a very tall creature, with tattered black robes and a <a href="http://yokai.com/bakeichounosei/">strange, amorphous yellow head</a>. Once you get closer it turns around to look at you, it's little eyes bulging and set far apart. It's a little hard to tell, but the look on its face seems like its just as surprised as you are to see someone else here. The creature continues to stare at you and then rings its gong once more; the ringing seems to be done by the creature just slapping the gong. Now you don't know much about gongs, but you're pretty sure you're not suppose to just slap them. With another slap of the gong, the creature starts hobbling its way over to you. [[Let it approach ->path5.2]] [[Run away from it ->path5.2b]] (if: $weapon is "true")[ [[Attack ->path5.2c]] ]

You can't see the creature very well, but you know you don't want to mess with it. You have no idea what it could be capable of. Quietly, you start slowly moving backwards until you can't see the clearing anymore, at which point you turn and continue back down the path normally. It takes slightly less time for you to get back to the main pathway, since you know where the path leads now. And also because you may be a little scared the creature could be following you. You get back to the main path with no issue, and you continue on your way back up the mountain as if you never left the path. [[Continue upwards ->path4.2]]

The yellow creature approaches you, and as it does you realize it's much taller than you thought; much like the tree it towers over you. It gets within a couple feet of you and slaps the gong again, causing you to jump a little bit. (if: $fool is "false")[(font:"Arial Black")[(text-style:"expand")["Have you seen my mallet?"]] You slowly shake your head at the question. You haven't seen any mallets of any sort around. The creature makes a sad face at your answer and walks back over to the tree, smacking the gong with its hand once more. [[Find something for it ->path5.3]] [[Head back to the path ->path5.1c]] ] (if: $fool is "true")[(font:"Arial Black")[(text-style:"expand")["あなたは私のマレットを見ましたか？"]] You don't know what the creature just said, but you're not a huge fan of it. Slowly, you start to walk backwards away from it. Each step you take back the creature takes a step forward. Once you reach the edge of the forest you realize this thing won't just let you leave. [[Run ->path5.3a]] (if: $weapon is "true")[ [[Attack ->path5.2c]] ] ]

As soon as the creature starts walking towards you you immediately take off back down the trail. You sprint through the forest, jumping over a fallen log and almost slipping in mud at one point. You don't look behind you to see if it's following; partially because you don't want to run into anything, partially because you already know the answer. Behind you are the sounds of another set of hurried footsteps, along with the occasional gong strike. Not really like it's hitting the gong deliberatly, more like the gong keeps hitting into other things. Though you can hear the thing chasing you, it doesn't sound like it's very close behind you. You very quickly manage to get back to the main pathway. Once you break into the clearer area you look behind you to see if the creature is still following. You don't see it, but you can still hear its gong in the distance. [[Continue running ->path5.3b]] [[Hide somewhere ->path5.4b]]

(set: $bastard to "true") Once the thing gets closer, you panic and swing your rusty sickle at it. The yellow creature screams as you nick its face, leaving a large red gash on its cheek. It gives you a frightened look and holds its hand to its cheek before turning and running off behind the tree. You feel a little bad seeing the thing scared like that, but not bad enough to go after it. You look down at the sickle and surprisingly see no blood on it. You inspect it a little closer, and end up wiping off a small bit of rust, revealing a shiny spot underneath. You can wipe a little more of the rust off, but only the tip of the blade seems to be cleanable. Weird. [[Head back to the trail ->path5.3c]]

Confused, you once again step up to the tatami rooms. You warily watch the talking suit of armor as you put your foot down, ready to move if it starts to swing again. You are incredibly surprised when instead of the armor moving, another sword comes swinging down from the other direction, slicing your leg off. You fall forward into the room, and before you can even let out a scream, the other suit of armor draws its sword and buries it in the back of your head. Just before you cease living you hear two voices speak in unison, but you can't understand what they're saying. (text-style:"emboss")[###"靴なし。"] [[End 5/10. Try Again? ->Start]]

In front of you you can see a few stone stairways zig-zagging up a pretty steep slope. But you're less concerned with your surroundings, and more concerned with getting far away from that thing that's chasing you. You bolt up the stairs, almost losing your footing on a few of the steps, but always managing to catch yourself. At the top you can see a boulder-lined pathway that leads to a fork in the road. In the middle of the split is another stone statue of a fox, which you can see is painted an orangish-red color as you run towards it. Once you get to the forked road you stop to catch your breath. After a few deep breaths, and wiping some sweat off your forehead, you look up and turn your attention to the fox statue. [[Continue ->path4.3]]

Looking around the path you don't see a ton of good hiding spots. It's mostly just tall trees, none of which seem good enough to hide behind. Up the path a little way though seems to be an overlook, with a wooden railing, that is mostly obscured from where you're standing. There are a few staircases that zig zag up a fairly steep incline up to it. You don't have enough time to think before you hear the gong again, much louder this time. Not wanting to get caught standing there, you rush up the stone stairways to the overlook and find a fairly large boulder to hide behind. From your hiding spot you hear the gong continuously getting louder, and soon after the sound of feet slapping against the ground. When it sounds like it's gotten out of the woods the sounds of it stop for a short while. [[Peek over the edge ->path5.5b]] [[Wait it out ->path5.5c]]

You stick your head under the railing and peak over the edge of the cliff. You can see the yellow creature at the bottom of the stairs, looking around the clearing. It slaps its gong a couple times as it circles around the area in search of you. Eventually it seems to give up and retreat back into the forest. You wait a few more moments until you're sure the thing is gone, and then turn to look at the main path. You can see some boulders, including the one you hid behind, lining the road, which seems to have turned into a much nicer stone path. At the end of the path you can see another fox statue, which is placed between a fork in the road. [[Approach the statue ->path4.3]]

You curl up behind the rock and wait for something to happen. The silence is broken by the slapping of the gong once, and then another time a minute later. You're unsure what's happening but it sounds like the creature is staying at the bottom of the stairs. One more gong sound rings out before you hear the footsteps start up again. For a brief moment you're afraid that it's on its way up the stairs, but as you sit still you hear the footsteps fade off back into the forest. You wait a few more moments until you're sure the thing is gone, and then turn to look at the main path. You can see some boulders, including the one you're hiding behind, lining the road, which seems to have turned into a much nicer stone path. At the end of the path you can see another fox statue, which is placed between a fork in the road. [[Approach the statue ->path4.3]]

The red fox statue sits up and looks at you, much like the first one you saw. It waves a paw at you and speaks, sounding almost exactly like the first one as well. (if: $fool is "false")[(text-style:"outline")["Hello there, are you lost?"] You try to open your mouth to say something, but before you can the statue interrupts you. (text-style:"outline")["If you are, and you'd like to leave, just take this path here!"] The statue points one of its paws to the path on the right. The fox seems to have a friendly smile on its face as it stares at you. This statue also seems more animated than the first one; its head is moving more while it speaks, and the tail behind it looks like it's swishing back and forth. (text-style:"outline")["Maiko-san can help you find your way. She knows exactly how to get out of this village."] You don't know who the statue is talking about but you look off towards the right path. The stone walkway trails off and turns back to dirt not far down it. It also seems to curve around in the forest, so it's hard to tell where it goes. Taking a look down the other one, the stone path seems to persist, and continue to head upwards. (if: $directions is "true")[You recall the glowing woman from the village telling you about a fork in the road. From what you remember she said to head up the left path to the temple, and you'd meet someone, or something, that could get you home. The fox seems insistent that there's someone that will help you on the other path though.] [[Go up the left path ->path6.0]] [[Go up the right path ->path7.0]] ] (if: $fool is "true")[(text-style:"outline")["こんばんは。あなたは失われていますか？ "] You tilt your head and give the statue a look, and it continues talking at you in unintelligable words. At one point the statue points one of its paws to the path on the right. The fox seems to have a friendly smile on its face as it stares at you. This statue also seems more animated than the first one; its head is moving more while it speaks, and the tail behind it looks like it's swishing back and forth. You don't know what the statue is talking about but you look off towards the right path. The stone walkway trails off and turns back to dirt not far down it. It also seems to curve around in the forest, so it's hard to tell where it goes. Taking a look down the other one, the stone path seems to persist, and continue to head upwards. [[Go up the left path ->path6.0]] [[Go up the right path ->path7.0]] ]

You look back towards the tree for a moment, but can't see the yellow monster anymore. The sounds of it whimpering can still be heard from behind the tree though. Perhaps it's best to leave it alone. You turn around and make your way back down the woodland path you came through. On your way back you occasionally see some lights in the corner of your eye, but when you turn to look at them nothing is there. Aside from that, you make it back to the main pathway just fine. [[Continue ->path4.2]]

With the creature continuing to get close to you, you decide to just turn around a book it through the trail. You sprint through the forest, jumping over a fallen log and almost slipping in mud at one point. You don't look behind you to see if it's following; partially because you don't want to run into anything, partially because you already know the answer. Behind you are the sounds of another set of hurried footsteps, along with the occasional gong strike. Not really like it's hitting the gong deliberatly, more like the gong keeps hitting into other things. Though you can hear the thing chasing you, it doesn't sound like it's very close behind you. You very quickly manage to get back to the main pathway. Once you break into the clearer area you look behind you to see if the creature is still following. You don't see it, but you can still hear its gong in the distance. [[Continue running ->path5.3b]] [[Hide somewhere ->path5.4b]]

(set: $friend to "true") The creature may be ugly and a little threatening, but you don't like seeing it's weird sad face. You start walking around the edge of the clearing, looking for its mallet, or at least a replacement for it. You search around for awhile and pick up a few rather large sticks. They probably won't work very well, but it's probably better than slapping the gong with your hand. You manage to find a couple sticks with some wide ends that you could hit a gong with before you spot something out in the woods. As some leaves blow across the ground, you can see a weird orb that was hidden underneath them. Walking over to it, you pick the orb up and see that it's attached to a nicely crafted wooden stick. As you turn it over in your hands the top orb seems to be some kind of semi-squishable fabric. This must be the mallet that creature lost. You drop your other sticks and bring the mallet back to its owner. The creature gives a very weird smile and takes the mallet from you, happily banging his gong with it. The sound is a lot nicer now, and rings through the forest much louder. The creature continues to dance happily around the giant tree and bang its gong. As it rejoices you slowly back towards the trail and make your way towards the main path. Within a few minutes you find yourself back at the path on the other side of the trail, and you continue your way up the mountain. [[Continue ->path4.2]]

You stand there for a moment and watch the creature pace around the tree, occasionally hitting its gong with its hand. When it's behind the tree you quietly moving backwards until you can't see the clearing anymore, at which point you turn and continue back down the path normally. It takes slightly less time for you to get back to the main pathway, since you know where the path leads now. And also because you may be a little scared the creature could be following you. You get back to the main path with no issue, and you continue on your way back up the mountain as if you never left the path. [[Continue upwards ->path4.2]]

You continue up the nicely constructed but worn old stone path. As you continue upwards, eventually a large building comes into sight much farther up the mountain. You can't see much, but you do see lanterns lining the pathway getting closer to the building.(if: $directions is "true")[ You assume this is the temple that the woman told you about, and feel relieved that you'll probably be able to leave wherever this is soon.] You hurry up the path, not wanting to be outside in the dark for too much longer if you don't have to. As you approach the building you see more of the same lanterns from the village floating around. They line the edges of the stairs up to the building, and move up every so often. A gate very similar to the ones that have trapped you before stands at the top of a wide stone staircase. This time, however, the gate is a bright white color instead of the ominous red you've seen before. You start up the staircase, watching as a few lanterns float up and then stop. The lanterns continue the pattern a few times, almost like they're waiting in line for something. You continue walking up, they may be in a line but you aren't. Reaching the top you can see the building more clearly now. It looks like several of the same building stacked on top of each other, with upwards sloping roofs seperating the various floors. The paint on the building looks slightly worn and peeled, but it's clear the building is white, with various shades of red for the trim and the roof shingles. There is one more small staircase up to it that looks like it goes all the way around the building. In front of you you can see an ornate double door that's slightly open and leads into the building. Looking to either side you can see the lanterns continuing in their line, going all the way around the perimeter of the area. [[Go into the building ->path 6.1]]

You glance back towards the direction the fox is pointing and decide it couldn't hurt to check it out. You wander down the right path, which twists its way through the forested area, never seeming to want to go straight for more than a few feet. As you continue to wander along the path you search through the forest for anything interesting. You see the occasional lights, as you have with all the other areas in the forest before. Most of the lights look like flickering blue flames, like those you saw around the second gate. But every so often you'll see a few red orbs pop in and out of existence. The red lights are easily dismissed at first, since they seem to be far away and you have no idea if it's normal or not. But soon enough you look to your side and see a pair of the orbs right on the edge of the trees. And then the howling begins. [[Run ->path7.1]]

You walk up the last set of stairs up to the doors of the building and push them open. When you enter you are in a large, mostly empty room with many wooden pillars towards the middle. The colors of the room are the inverse of the outside of the building. Most of the walls and floor are red, or decorated with red lanterns and fabrics, and the pillars and trim are all painted white. In the back of the room you can see an altar surrounded by very ornate looking metal lanterns, all burning a bright yellow light. On top of the altar is a large statue of the Buddha. There is also a figure that seems to be kneeling in front of the altar. You're unsure exactly what the figure is, and as you move further into the room it doesn't seem to move. It looks like it could be a person, but it could also just be another statue. You continue walking further into the room, and as you cross the threshold after the first set of pillars you can hear the door slam behind you. The figure before the altar snaps its head up and turns to look at you. The <a href="http://yokai.com/housoushi/">face staring at you is that of a demon</a>; with a red face, four yellow eyes, two horns curving upwards, and large tusks protruding from its large, frowning mouth. The demon picks up something next to it, and you hear a metallic scraping sound as it drags and raises up its three-pointed spear. The figure then stands up, turns to look at you, and speaks in a loud booming voice. (if: $fool is "true")[(font:"Rockwell Extra Bold")[(text-style:"shudder")[###"なんでしょう？"]]] (if: $fool is "false")[(font:"Rockwell Extra Bold")[(text-style:"shudder")[###"What do you want?"]] (if: $directions is "true")[You remember what the woman told you once more. She mentioned a little of the person you were looking for, and this man seems to fit the description. He may look scary, but she did say he would help you leave.] [[Answer him ->path6.2]] ] [[Run back out ->path6.4]]

You explain to the demon... man? that you were just hiking, and you don't know how you got here, but that you would like to leave.(if:$directions is "true")[You also mention that you were told to come here by the lady in the village.] He quickly makes his way over to you, slamming his spear on the ground with each step he takes. The demon towers over you by a significant amount, and leans down to look at you. When he gets closer you can see that his bottom eyes are facing towards you, but the top set are facing in opposite directions. When he gets to you, however, all the eyes snap forward to look directly at you. He quietly surveys you for a minute, all of his eyes darting around and looking you head to toe. Then, after a bit, the top two eyes go back to looking off in different directions. (font:"Rockwell Extra Bold")[(text-style:"shudder")[####"So you wish to leave then?"]] You nod your head rapidly as the man still looms over you. He doesn't seem to mean any harm to you, but he's still very large and very frightening. As you continue to nod the demon grabs you by your shirt and begins dragging you towards the staircase in the corner of the room. You try to fight back, but it proves ultimately useless. [[Go limp ->path6.3a]] [[Keep pulling ->path6.3b]] [[Walk with him ->path6.3c]]

Not entirely enthused by the giant demon man you've found, you decide to sprint back out of the building. You hear him yell something behind you as you bound down the stone stairs in front of the building you just busted out of. As you sprint back down the mountain path you hope to whatever god presides over this world that the fox statue was right about the other path. Half way back down the path you have to stop and take a second. A frightened look behind you reveals, to your relief, that the demon wasn't chasing you. With that in mind, you fall down onto the stone path and desperately try to catch your breath. You close your eyes and focus on your breathing for just a second. And in that second you start to hear howling. [[Howling?->path7.1]]

Instead of either trying to escape, or giving in and going with him, you decide to make things more difficult. As he drags you to the stairs you just let your body go limp, forcing him to drag you. He doesn't seem to care much, and just keeps going up the stairs. You, on the other hand, are now coming to regret your decision as he continues to drag you. Up The Stairs. Once you reach the second floor, and he continues towards another set of stairs, you feel like maybe it would be better if you weren't acting like a ragdoll and getting your head hit on several flights of stairs. You straighten yourself back out and start walking along with him up the next three floors. Once you reach the top floor, you can see a smaller version of those red gates you've been seeing set up in the middle of the room. The demon man lets go of your shirt and walks over to the gate. He taps it with his spear, and begins chanting something that you can't quite hear in front of it. [[Wait ->end3]] [[Run down the stairs and away from the building->path6.4]]

The demon pulls you forward, but you will not cease in pulling back. You struggle to get away, but he has a firm grip on the front of your shirt. Maybe you could worm your way out of your shirt and run for it; it would be cold, but you'd rather be cold than... do whatever this demon man was going to do to you. Before you can even try to do that though, the demon stops and lets out a loud, exasperated sigh. He then turns around and picks you up, hoisting you over his shoulder. You try to kick him and punch at his back but it seems to have no effect as he carries you up several flights of stairs. Once you reach the top floor, the demon throws you onto the ground and continues towards the center of the room. Getting up, you can see a smaller version of those red gates you've been seeing set up in the middle of the room. The demon man taps the gate with his spear, and begins chanting something that you can't quite hear in front of it. [[Wait ->end3]] [[Run down the stairs and away from the building->path6.4]]

You decide to go along with the demon, walking very briskly to keep up with his pace. He seems to recognize that you're not going to fight him, and lets go of your shirt. He leads you up a few flights of spiraling staircases, all the way up to the fourth floor. Once you reach the top floor, you can see a smaller version of those red gates you've been seeing set up in the middle of the room. The demon man taps the gate with his spear, and begins chanting something that you can't quite hear in front of it. [[Wait ->end3]]

You stand by the stairwell and wait for the demon to finish with his chanting. As soon as he stops speaking, a swirl of yellow light comes from the center of the gate. The demon steps aside and points at the gate with his spear. (font:"Rockwell Extra Bold")[(text-style:"shudder")[###"Leave."]] His loud voice makes you jump a little. You nod to him and quickly walk through the red gate, looking at the demon man nervously as you do. All of his eyes once again seem to be focused on you, and the rest of his face doesn't look any happier than before. The stern and disapproving face of the demon faces away as you're engulfed in the yellow light of the gate. You close your eyes from the intensity of the light surrounding you, and when you feel the light fade away you open them back up to see the lodge. Frantically searching around it seems like everything is back to the way you knew it before. There is no gates, no fox statues, no strange fog or floating lanterns. Just the lodge, with the inside glowing brightly against the dark forest around it. You breathe a heavy sigh of relief, and make your way inside to go to sleep. [[End 7/10. Try Again? ->Start]]

As you look around you see that you're now surrounded by small, glowing red orbs, and as they step onto the path you understand they're actually the eyes of some large black wolves. You instantly take off down the path, sprinting as fast as your legs can carry you as you hear continuous barking and snarling behind you. As soon as you started running you knew it was a foolish endeavor to try and outrun a pack of wolves, but you also weren't going to just stay there and get eaten. While you run down the path your eyes dart back and forth for anything you could hide in or use to get away from the wolves. Just a bit off the path you spot a huge tree with some low hanging branches that you could probably reach. A tree may not be the safest place, but you're fairly certain wolves aren't the best climbers out there. Once you get closer, you break off the pathway and run through the brush of the forest floor to get to the tree. You can hear the snarls, and teeth snapping shut behind you as you get nearer and nearer to the tree. Then, just before one of the wolves attempts to tackle you, you manage to jump up and grab onto the lowest branch of the tree. Using all your strength, and all the adrenaline in your body, you hoist yourself up onto the branch. Looking down, you can see a couple of the wolves jump up at you, and very nearly bite your toes off. You know wolves can't climb, but you don't know how far they can jump. So, you decide to climb further up the tree. As you ascend, you look down at the wolves every so often. They circle the tree, continously trying to jump up even though you're higher than they could ever reach. Yet, each time you look down and see them jumping, you feel the need to climb higher. [[Wait in the tree ->path7.2]]

Once you reach the highest branch you possibly can, you cling to the tree and look down to the wolves. The continue to circle and jump and snap up at you, but you feel safe knowing they can't get you. As you cling to the rough bark of the tree you close your eyes and try to calm yourself down. Deep breaths. Pretend you're not in some kind of nightmare scape with wolves trying to eat you. Deep breaths. And... silence. Your eyes snap open once you stop hearing the snarling of the wolves down below you. But as you look down to the ground, you don't find relief, but absolute horror grips your being. Somehow, the wolves seem to be <a href="http://yokai.com/senbikiookami/">stacking up on each other's backs</a> in order to reach you. You closed your eyes for just a few seconds, and now there is a huge tower of wolves building up underneath you. Once they get to about a foot under you it seems that they've run out of wolves to continue their tower. The one at the top continues the snarling and nipping at you, despite being just out of reach. They snap and howl all they want, but they still can't reach you. [[Cling to the tree and wait for them to leave ->path7.3]] (if: $weapon is "true")[ [[Slash at the top wolf ->path7.3b]] ]

You cling for dear life onto the tree, hoping and praying that the wolves give up on you eventually. They continue snapping at you without success for quite some time. Then, after what feels like forever, they stop. And then they all start howling in unison. (if: $friend is "true")[ Their combined howl doesn't last for long, maybe only a minute at most. Whatever they were doing was thwarted by the loud and rapid ringing of a gong beneath you. You watch as the stack of wolves starts to scramble and fall apart. The wolves at the top flail and fall down, while the ones at the bottom break off and scatter away. Down at the bottom of the wreckage you see the strange yellow creature you found earlier. It waves up at you, and then holds up its gong and hits it a couple times, letting a nice ringing sound fill the forest air. [[Climb down ->path7.4]] ] (else:)[ Their howl chills you to the bone, though it only lasts for a short while. Once the combined howl ends you look down, and feel horror grip you yet again. A much, much larger wolf seems to have appeared at the bottom of the tree, and seems to be climbing up the wolf ladder towards you. Desperately, you search around for anything that can help you, a stick, a place to jump to, anything. The only thing you could do now is jump off the tree, but there's nothing close enough for you to jump to without falling. As you panic and try to think, the giant wolf has already made his way up to the top of the tower. [[Give up ->badend5]] (if: $weapon is "true")[ [[Slash at the wolf ->path7.3b]] ] ]

As the wolves snap and growl at you, you suddenly remember the sickle you found earlier. It wasn't very sharp, but it was better than nothing. You hold the weapon by its chain and swing it down into the top wolf's eye. The wolf yelps and scrambles, and in doing so pushes itself off of the tree. Just like that, the tower of wolves starts to crumble. The ones at the top being to sway away from the tree and fall down, while the rest try to jump off of each other with varying degrees of success. Some are taken out by the wolves falling above them, others, mainly the ones at the bottom, manage to untangle themselves and run off farther into the forest. When you bring the sickle back up you can see as the blood on it fades away into the blade. You inspect the blade, and end up rubbing off(if: $bastard is "true")[ more of] the rust that had built up on the blade. Under the area you rub off you can see a shining blade, which seems to be incredibly sharp. Not all of the rust comes off, but enough to be noticable. (set: $bastard to "true") [[Climb down ->path7.4]]

(if: $friend is "true")[ You carefully make your way down the tree and greet your yellow friend. It gives you a weird smile and then bangs on his gong once more. (font:"Arial Black")[(text-style:"expand")["Thank you for helping me. Try not to die."]] You profusely thank the yellow creature for saving you from the wolves. It gives another smile and bows to you before turning around and wandering off further into the woods. You take another deep breath, and sigh, relieved that you didn't just die. You briefly look at the dead wolves that are scattered around the ground before deciding to leave. They may appear dead now, but you have no idea if they could get back up again. ] (else:)[ You carefully make your way back down the tree, being very careful not to slip on any of the branches. Once you get down you take deep breath, and sigh, relieved that you didn't just die. You briefly look at the dead wolves that are scattered around the ground before deciding to leave. They may appear dead now, but you have no idea if they could get back up again. ] [[Get back to the path ->path7.5]]

The wolves work quicker than you can think, and before you know it the giant wolf has got its teeth around your leg. You scream in pain as the sharp teeth dig into you; trying to kick and get away only makes the pain worse. It doesn't last too long though, as soon after you are flung off the tree branch you were perched on, and sent hurtling towards the ground. As you fall you hear the happy yipping of the wolves. And then soon after, the cracking of your own bones as you hit the ground. [[End 8/10. Try again? ->Start]]

You head back towards the path, following the same way you took into the woods. When you come out of the trees, however, you don't see the dirt path you were expecting. Instead, you're standing in front of a row of wooden gates, similar to the red ones you've seen, but instead painted black. Through the gates you can see a building, which seems to be mostly broken down. Before you can decide what to do, you hear the ringing of a bell, follwed by the sound of a gong. Looking behind you it's very easy to see the source of the noises. Two strange little creatures are chasing each other around. One looks a bit like a <a href="http://yokai.com/shougorou/">turtle made out of a gong</a>, and the other looks like some sort of... <a href ="http://yokai.com/waniguchi/">fish... lizard... creature with a circular bell for a head</a>. The two creatures dart past you, the fish bell chasing the gong turtle, and run through the gates up to the building. Curiously, you follow the little creatures through the gates and to the building. As you get closer you can see the building is falling apart, and black wood lays scattered around the area. Several stone pedastals sit in front of the building, presumably where statues once were. [[Look around ->path7.6]]

(set: $ghost to (text-style:"fade-in-out") + (text-style:"blur") + (font:"Palatino")) You start to look around the building, though there isn't much to look at. You search around for the little noisy creatures, but can't seem to find them. In the distance you can hear them though, the bell ringing as the creature runs, and the gong sounding every couple minutes. Once you turn your attention back to the shrine, you're startled by the face of a woman appearing only inches from your own. You jump backwards and fall to the ground at the sudden appearence of the woman. Now that she's more than a couple inches away from you you can see what she looks like. There's an eerie blue glow about her, and even the <a href="http://yokai.com/ushinokokumairi/">candles that seem to be placed on her head</a> glow with a blue flame. The kimono she wears is pure white, but incredibly tattered. She tilts her head to the side and speaks to you, a cold mist coming from her mouth as she does. (if: $fool is "false")[$ghost[####"Who are you?"] [[Answer her ->path7.7]] [[Run ->badend6]] ] (if: $fool is "true")[$ghost[####"お名前は?"] [[Run ->badend6]] ]

(set: $ghost to (text-style:"fade-in-out") + (text-style:"blur") + (font:"Palatino")) You tell the ghost who you are and she continues to stare at you for a few silent moments. $ghost["That doesn't sound familiar. Why are you here?"] You stutter and stammer, but manage to explain to her how you got here. Normally you would be able to explain yourself easily, but there's something about her that fills you with a new form of dread you didn't even know existed. $ghost["What a shame. I'm assuming you'd like to leave."] You nod your head at her and as you do she floats a little closer to you. This time when she speaks, her voice carries a very sweet, almost childlike tone with it; instead of being cute, however, it makes her much, much more horrifying. $ghost["I can help with that."] (if: $weapon is "true")[ She reaches her hand out to you, but stops just before touching you. Her hand lingers in the air for a bit, until she crouches down and reaches to your side. You feel as if you're frozen in place, and are unable to do anything but watch her as she take the rusty sickle away from you. The ghost stands back up, turning the sickle around in her hands before looking back down to you. (if: $bastard is "true")[ $ghost["It looks like you've found my favorite toy. And you've even cleaned it for me too. How nice."] She runs her hand over the blade and the rest of the rust crumbles off, revealing a shiny silver blade. $ghost["I suppose since you've returned this to me, I can help you out. Just this once."] The lady snaps her fingers and a swirling blue mist appears abover her. It then shoots past you and envelops one of the many gates that led you to this building. You turn to look, and the paint on one of the black gates peels off to reveal a bright red color underneath. The mist swirls around the gate for a few seconds before coming together in the middle and creating a soft blue light within the gate. $ghost["Leave now. Before I change my mind."] [[Get up and go through the gate->end4]] ](else:)[ Her face is one of clear disgust. She then throws the sickle back down at you, and you watch as it just barely misses you and sticks between your legs. $ghost["My favorite sickle, reduced to nothing but a rotten hunk of metal. How pitiful... "] Without another word, the ghost reaches out to you, her hand seemingly covered in frost. [[Give up ->badend6]] ] ](else:)[ Without another word, the ghost reaches out to you, her hand seemingly covered in frost. [[Give up ->badend6]] ]

You attempt to get up and run away, but as you scramble to get up the lady grabs you by the face. She tightly squeezes you with her hand, and you try to scream, but they're muffled under her palm. As she squeezes frost starts to spread from her fingers and cover your face. The bitter cold engulfs your whole body just before her grip tightens again, and your face is crushed. [[End 9/10. Try again? ->Start]]

You scramble to your feet and look at the ghost lady holding the sickle. She gives you an incredibly unnerving smile and waves the sickle in the air. You take that as your cue to leave. Very Quickly. You turn and run through the blue portal she created, without even thinking of looking back. You close your eyes from the intensity of the light surrounding you, and when you feel the light fade away you open them back up to see the lodge. Frantically searching around it seems like everything is back to the way you knew it before. There is no gates, no fox statues, no strange fog or floating lanterns. Just the lodge, with the inside glowing brightly against the dark forest around it. You breathe a heavy sigh of relief, and make your way inside to go to sleep. [[End 10/10. Try Again? ->Start]]

↶

↷

ゴーストタイム

You spent most of your day hiking through the trails of the forest, enjoying nature, getting a little bit lost, but always getting back on a trail soon afterwards. As the day winds down you figure you should get back to the lodge near the base of the mountain. As you make your way through the trails back to the stone steps that lead up to the lodge you notice something strange. At the top of the steps is a red wooden gate that you don't recall being there before. Approaching the gate, it seems like it's new and freshly painted, so you think they may have just put it up while you were gone somehow. You don't really think much about it, and continue through the gate towards the lodge.

Once you walk through the gate you come out into a clearing that is entirely unfamiliar to you. The lodge that was here before is nowhere to be seen, instead all you can see is a broken down old shack, a wooden path to the right, seemingly leading closer to the mountain, and a white stone statue of a fox. Looking behind you, past the gate, the forest and trail you came from is now covered in a thick fog. Before you can do anything a voice rings out from the fox statue.

"お名前は何ですか？"

You jump back in surprise, unsure of what the statue just said or how it said it in the first place. It looks at you expectantly for a moment before tilting it's head to the side.

"日本語話せますか？"

You stare in confusion for a few seconds before the statue straightens it's head back out and looks over at the broken down shed to the left. It points one of it's stone paws over to the shed and then looks back over to you.

Go To Shed

Ignore statue. Go down the path

Turn around and go back through the gate