My Iyashikei Game

While Han Fei was wondering which pair of shoes to pick, the smell of trash burning intensified. Smoke oozed through the gap in the door.

"Is there a fire outside?"

Han Fei grabbed the shoes the daughter made for her daughter and ran out. Fire danced in the night. Smoke gushed out of the staircase and filled up the castle. There were rapid footsteps as two male, and one female player ran through the lobby. They looked panicked.

"Did you start a fire in the castle?" Han Fei walked out of the gallery and stared at the trio.

His sudden appearance startled the players. When they saw Han Fei, they were shocked. "Han Fei?! Hasn't Happiness Neighborhood reached the sixth layer of the nightmare? Why are you at the third layer?"

"This is the sixth layer!" Han Fei frowned.

His words caused the three players to shake. The female player thought of something, and her face paled. "I heard from my friend from the Merchant Union that a nightmare will only initiate when there are five players. You were probably attempting the sixth layer alone. Since there were not enough players, the altar would select random players from the same building to fill up the group!"

"Such a rule exists?" This was clearly a rule to hinder the players. Han Fei suspected that Dream did this on purpose for those who chose to side with the nightmare a chance to harm others.

Han Fei was not used to playing with other players. "What guild are you from?"

"We're from a small casual guild. We're friends in real life, and we like puzzle-solving." The players said.

"Did you set the fire?"

"No! We needed to find the princess' crystal shoes in the castle. We haven't even found the shoes. Why would we set the fire?" The three players were stunned when they found out they were in the sixth layer.

"If it weren't you, it means there is a fifth player in the castle!" Horse braying came from outside. The princess was running.

"Run!" Han Fei led the three players to jump out of the window. They felt the ground shaking. Black curses covered the street. Peace Street was like a black river.

The black horse dragged the pumpkin carriage into the castle. The fire spread wildly. The white walls were charred. No merchant came out to help. They hid inside and laughed as the castle burned. The fire soon consumed the castle. The smell of trash burning became even stronger. A shrill scream shattered the night. The princess walked out of the carriage. Fire danced on her silver mask. The black knight charged into the sea of fire. He carried out a few burnt handmade shoes. The top of the castle collapsed.

The mad princess ordered the knight to find the arsonist. They kicked down the doors and dragged the merchants out. The merchants expressed innocence. It was like they had already planned this before.

Everything she loved was gone. The princess' gaze chilled. She walked out from behind the black knight and stood before the merchants. "Which of you burned down my house?"

The princess' voice was melodious, but she didn't seem like she could stand any pressure. Her body twisted.

The merchants shivered, but one elder appeared to have suffered enough. He looked into the princess' eyes and used his staff to point at her. "The fire has nothing to do with us. Don't blame your misfortune on us!" 𝚏𝚛ee𝐰𝗲𝚋n𝐨𝘃𝗲l.𝐜𝐨m

"My misfortune has nothing to do with you?" The dress, made from crystals and silver threads, touched the ground. The princess removed her white gloves to reveal misshapen and black arms.

Han Fei looked at this, and he had a bad feeling, "When the cleaner's house burned down, his daughter was still at home?"

The black flame burned on the skin. The princess asked, "Didn't you do this to me?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about! You crazy woman, stop using this to try to manipulate us!" The elder stepped forward. "Peace Street is ours, and we don't welcome you. We hope..." The elder was agitated, but he might really have nothing to do with the fire. Suddenly, someone 'accidentally' pushed him from behind. The elder fell, and the black hands grabbed the elder. Black flame consumed the elder and scorched his soul. He screamed.

"The princess is killing again!" The merchants scattered. Peace Street dropped into chaos. The elder rolled on the ground in pain, but no one came to help her.

"Yes. Even if I just touch you, you'll pin the blame on me!" The princess looked at her burned hands. "In that case, I'll become the person you want to be. Haven't you been saying that I'm a killer? Then, I'll kill you all tonight!" The flame flowed down her arms and burned through the dress. The bright jewels melted into plastic, and the princess revealed her true form. She was a burnt monster.

"I'll burn all of you!"

The sound of chains came from the flame. When the princess used the black flame, it injured her too. The black knight followed the princess silently. Even if he were burned, he wouldn't back away. However, the mask covered his face. The fire spread from the castle to the spread. There were cries everywhere. The brothers came out of their hiding space. "Why can she still use her flames after her crystal shoes are destroyed? Did the outsider lie to us?" Based on the sibling's plan, after the clock shop boss' death and the crystal shoes are destroyed, the princess would be weakened. Then, everyone could work together to kill her and take back Peace Street.

"Why hasn't the flame stopped?"

The princess was like a lunatic. She started to kill everyone on Peace Street!

"Han Fei, shouldn't we stop her?" The player hesitated. He trusted Han Fei, but if they didn't stop the princess, they would be killed too. "Wouldn't it be better for us to work with the merchants?"

"If you really do that, you'll die horribly." Han Fei took out the album, "The nightmare owner is between the black knight and the princess. In the past, I thought this was the princess' nightmare. After all, this is a fairytale. But now, I believe it is the knight's nightmare."

Han Fei thought back to the princess who faced the crowd earlier. She was bright and cognizant. These didn't sound like things the real 'princess' would do. This princess was probably the daughter the cleaner made up after his real daughter died.

"His adopted daughter has mental problems. Whenever he was not home, she would be let out by the manager's sons to cause chaos. The cleaner had no idea about this, so he apologized and promised to compensate them every time. When he knew the truth, he must have felt a lot of guilt. However, simple guilt wouldn't create such powerful despair. Something else must have happened!" Han Fei saw the princess' body. He saw signs of strangulation near the wrists. A scary thought entered Han Fei's mind. He put away the album and ran to the shed on the western side of the street!

He ran past the naked madman and entered the shed. He found the rope beside the child's bed.

"Perhaps the adopted father tied his daughter to the bed whenever he went out so that she wouldn't sneak out again. Perhaps the merchants forced him to tie up his daughter. No matter the truth, the daughter was trapped at home when the shed was set on fire." Han Fei looked out the window. The princess and black knight hated the manager, but even so, they didn't lock him inside the house. Han Fei initially thought they did this to humiliate the manager, but now Han Fei understood that this was the princess' final kindness.

"Did the things they do to the manager once happen to the girl in real life?"

The man who was naked and lived as a trapped animal appeared to be symbolic.

"We've been here too. We heard from the nearby merchants that the princess used to live here. Back then, the two sons of the manager loved to trick the silly princess. They would lure her out using various tricks. One time, they got annoyed because she refused to come out. Therefore, they threw a burning cigarette butt at her..." The three players viewed Han Fei as their only hope. They stuck close to him.

"A burning cigarette butt?" All the clues were linked together. Fire danced outside the window. Screams echoed everywhere. The madman tied to the ally struggled. His face was carved by pain and fear.

"Are we going to die? The princess is covered in black flames. We can't even get close to her. Is this the difficulty of the sixth layer? In the first layer, the players could still work together to kill the murderer. In the second layer, the players could use talismans to stop the ghosts, but this princess is impossibly strong!" The players wailed. "We need to find a way to destroy those crystal shoes. That's our only chance."

"I'll repeat myself. This is not the merchant's nightmare. You'll die if you work with them. Even if you manage to kill the princess, we won't be able to leave. The merchants will become the new ghosts and turn us into part of the nightmare." Han Fei was clear-minded. "We need to deal with the nightmare owner. Perhaps we should give the crystal shoes made by the princess to her beloved black knight so that he wouldn't be consumed by hatred."

"What are you talking about?" Han Fei's version of Cinderella was crazy.

"The crystal shoes represent the adopted father's love, but they also represent the daughter's love for her father. The shoes pasted with her treasured stickers are the bond between the two broken souls." Han Fei moved his body. "How is your stamina?"

"We're average players. We're just slightly stronger than normal people." The temperature rose.

"If possible, I need your help to distract the princess. I'll help them regain their rationality."

Han Fei opened the shed door. Peace Street was a sea of fire. The merchants burned. The princess burned everything in her sight. The black smoke gathered to form a giant shadow. The curses consumed the princess and knight's souls.

Han Fei took a deep breath and ran into the night. As the three players looked on in shock, Han Fei charged into the flames.