Jason and Blake exchanged glances and climbed the stairs. Even though they knew Ren purposely ignored calling their group members, they still went. Of course, even if they fell short in shamelessness compared with Ren, they should at least have this much to cope up with the members of Tea & Drama.
Soon, everyone in the hall climbed the stairs and reached the attic, where both Ren and Nina stood frozen. An old television flickered there, showing endless mosquito dots on the screen.
"Did you switch it on?" Blake questioned Ren.
Ren shook his head. "It was already like this when I reached the attic," he shrugged.
Kai frowned and approached the old TV, touching the backside of the box. "It's been running for a long time," he cleverly put forth his analysis.
"Tch… what's so urgent that Grandma Yume even forgot to turn the TV off?" Rumi clicked her tongue.
"If someone kidnaps you, will you ask them to wait while you switch off the TV and do your makeup?" Nina asked blankly, staring at the girl.
Rumi fumed and was about to retort, but Ace quickly cut in. "What's the use of kidnapping an old woman? If it's for this house, it's still vacant, not to mention Grandma Yume's pictures haven't even been taken down yet."
The people in the attic quietly agreed with him.
Jason, on the other hand, squatted down and pulled out a small cardboard box from under the TV stand. The others leaned on their tiptoes, looking down at him curiously. Ren and Jamie's eyes were the first to light up in excitement.
"Game cassettes!"
Both yelled in unison. Even Kai, who had been standing silently at the back, stepped forward, quietly gauging the series of game cassettes arranged neatly inside the box.
The people in the attic almost went blind from the amount of stars shining in the three boys' eyes.
Jason nodded. "It is. Looks quite old," he said, pulling the box out completely and placing it in the middle.
"Old? How old? Don't say it's Super Mario Hunting Duck," Ren remarked as he squatted down to pull out the first cassette in the row.
But everyone's faces scrunched in confusion at the blank label. There was no name, no title, not even a single sticker to hint at what game it was.
Jamie scratched his head. "Is there a game console that comes without stickers?" he asked, genuinely confused.
Ren clicked his tongue and asked Kai to connect the console. Kai didn't delay, quickly setting it up with Nina's help.
"We're not here to play games. We should fight instead," Blake said in all seriousness, though his eyes were locked on the game cassettes Kai was fiddling with. He was outwardly indifferent, but inside he was just as curious.
As a child forced to grow up in a strict household where his parents made him recite laws instead of rhymes, he never had the luxury of enjoying things like this. The only reason he ever touched a game was because of Ren, who once challenged him to beat him in Mech Arena: Robot Showdown, a game Blake had never even heard of.
That shameless blonde gave him a half-day crash course and challenged him the next day. As expected, none of the members of Coffee & Saccharine stood a chance against Ren's gang of hardcore gamers.
They ended up doing homework for them for a whole week.
Ren looked at his rival and scoffed, "Why? Afraid I'll drag you into playing the game with me? With the way you displayed your measly skills last time, that'll be the last thing I'll do."
Blake glared at him, his eyes drilling holes deeper than bore wells.
Their banter was cut short by an abrupt stillness. The noisy mosquito dots on the old TV vanished, replaced by a blank screen.
"Looks like the console's too old," Ace commented with a tilt of his head. It's not that he wasn't interested in games, he just wasn't as good as the members of Tea & Drama. Not that he'd ever admit it, even if someone held a knife to his throat.
"Seems so," Jason agreed.
Kai narrowed his eyes at the screen, then walked to the backside of the TV. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and smacked it down with force.
THWAK.
Everyone flinched at his brute strength but surprisingly, the screen flickered to life.
Everyone's brows were drawn to frown as a large red danger symbol appeared in the center.
"Warning? Why? Does the game have heavy VR?" Jamie asked, earning a handful of dry stares.
Here, these cassettes look so old and fragile, if handled roughly they might break like bread crumbs and be swept away in the wind yet this dumbass was worrying about VR content.
"Are you sure Grandma Yume isn't hiding some 'papapa' content here, and to avoid people finding out she rigged this whole game cassette setup?" Ace grinned, his curiosity only growing as he stepped forward and pressed the play button.
Rumi rolled her eyes at his nonsense, but her attention was quickly stolen by the glowing words on the screen.
On the small TV, the black screen lit up, crimson letters flickering into existence one after another, each surrounded by a faint, eerie glow. Her lips parted as she read them line by line.
No lessons end until the bell struck
When the twelfth echo fades, so too shall you
The Hollows watches, the clock ticks, the halls shift.
Survive, or stay.