Chapter 13 Skip Tutorial? （Again）
Skip Tutorial? (Again)
The van pulled into a gravel parking lot as the sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows across the facade of Drosselmeyer County Sanitarium. Levi pressed his face to the window, studying the three-story brick building with a mixture of relief and apprehension.
In Ethan’s horror games, the really dangerous places always looked too normal on the outside.
The sanitarium maintained an eerie structural integrity rather than the crumbling ruins Levi had expected.
The red brick walls showed weathering but no major decay.
Symmetrical wings stretched from a central entrance, creating a balanced architectural nightmare.
The maintained grounds made Levi’s skin crawl. Someone had been caring for this place.
“My uncle owns the land,” Elliot explained as Tyler cut the engine. “The groundskeeper comes twice a year for property values.” His grin turned sharp. “But inside? That’s all authentic decay.
The afternoon light slanted across the building’s facade, creating harsh angles and deep shadows that made the structure seem alive, watching.
Levi’s fingers drummed nervously against his thigh as he studied each window, each doorway, scanning for exits the way Ethan always said to do—“find your way out before you need it.”
At least it’s still daylight. We have time to set up, get oriented.
“Alright, people,” Tyler announced. “Let’s get this gear unloaded before we lose the light.”
Levi slid out of the van, positioning himself to keep Asher in his peripheral vision while maintaining distance. His muscles tensed every time Asher moved, every casual gesture triggering memories of hands around his throat, lips pressed against his in mockery of intimacy.
“Camera one, camera two,” Owen counted off as boxes emerged from the van’s cargo area. “EMF detectors, digital recorders, infrared thermometer...”
Zoe stretched as she climbed out behind Owen, joints popping audibly. “God, I hate long drives. My back feels like someone beat it with a cricket bat.”
“Worth it though,” Elliot said, hefting his laptop bag. “This place has serious potential. My research turned up patient records dating back to the 1940s. Electroshock therapy, insulin comas, experimental lobotomies.”
Levi’s attention drifted to Asher, who was testing a handheld microphone.
“You okay?” Jasper asked, noticing Levi’s stillness. “You’ve been quiet since the van.”
“Just processing,” Levi replied, forcing his voice to remain steady. “It’s bigger than I expected.”
“That’s what she said,” Tyler called out, earning a collective groan from the group.
As they organized their gear, Levi noticed subtle differences in his companions’ behavior from previous loops. Owen wore a different superhero t-shirt—Doctor Strange instead of Star Wars. Maddie’s phone case was blue rather than pink. Tyler’s watch displayed a different brand logo.
“First priority is getting the base camp set up,” Owen announced, consulting a tablet. “We need a staging area for equipment and a safe zone to retreat to if things get... intense.”
Asher hefted a canvas bag filled with audio equipment. “I’ll need about thirty minutes to run sound tests throughout the building. Check for interference, dead zones, optimal microphone placement.”
The casual professionalism in his voice sent chills down Levi’s spine. This wasn’t the creature who had pinned him to the floor, who had whispered threats against his ear. This was a colleague, a trusted team member, someone the others relied on.
“Levi and I can handle the visual survey,” Elliot suggested. “Map out the floor plan, identify key filming locations.”
“Actually,” Levi said quickly, “I should stick with the group. Safety in numbers, right?”
Elliot’s eyebrows rose. “Since when are you the cautious one? Yesterday you wanted to explore that abandoned mill alone.”
“Just feeling responsible,” Levi deflected. “It’s my channel, my liability if someone gets hurt.”
“Fair enough,” Tyler shrugged, shouldering a heavy equipment bag. “Let’s stick together for the initial sweep. We can always split up once we know the layout.”
As the group moved toward the sanitarium’s main entrance, Levi hung back, letting the others take the lead. This positioned Asher directly behind him, close enough that Levi could feel his presence like heat from a flame.
“Nervous?” Asher’s voice was barely above a whisper, meant only for Levi’s ears.
Levi’s step faltered, but he didn’t turn around.
“Just focused,” Levi replied, matching Asher’s quiet tone.
“Good,” Asher murmured. “I like you focused.”
Levi shifted his weight from one foot to the other, placing himself beside Maddie as the others unloaded equipment. Her presence felt safer somehow—all kinetic energy and bright colors next to Asher’s controlled stillness.
“So,” he began, “how many of these ghost hunts have we done together?”
Maddie looked up from her phone, surprise flashing across her face.
“Did you hit your head earlier or something? This is our fourth investigation for your channel all together.” She tucked her phone into her back pocket.
“Remember that old theater where Asher caught those crazy EVPs? That episode got you like a thousand new subscribers.”
“Right,” Levi nodded. “Just making sure we’re all on the same page for the video intro.”
Tyler approached the sanitarium’s entrance, twirling an oversized brass key between his fingers like a magician preparing for a trick. “Showtime, folks.” He gestured for Owen to start recording.
Owen lifted the camera to his shoulder and gave a thumbs-up. Tyler cleared his throat and adopted a dramatic expression that Levi suspected was his “YouTube personality.”
“The doors of Drosselmeyer Sanitarium have remained locked to the public for fifty years,” Tyler intoned, inserting the key with theatrical slowness. “Tonight, we step into the darkness that waits within.”
The lock turned with a heavy click that echoed against the brick facade. When Tyler pushed, the door swung inward with a cinematic creak.
“Drosselmeyer Sanitarium operated from 1924 to 1971,” Owen began, tablet in hand, “primarily treating tuberculosis patients before transitioning to psychiatric care in its later years.”
The main lobby stretched before them, a testament to institutional decay.
Paint peeled from the walls in long curls that resembled flayed skin.
An abandoned reception desk dominated the center of the space, its wooden surface covered with scattered paperwork turned yellow with age.
The air smelled of dust and something chemical that caught in the back of Levi’s throat.
“The base camp goes here,” Tyler decided, gesturing to a corner with relatively intact flooring. “Central location, multiple exits if we need them.”
Owen unfolded a floor plan across the reception desk.
Everyone except Asher gathered around. “I’ve marked the hotspots based on previous paranormal reports.
” His finger traced paths across the yellowed paper like he was planning a military operation.
“Surgical theater on the third floor—most reported apparitions. East wing children’s ward has documented temperature fluctuations. ”
Think like a player, he could hear Ethan saying. Not a victim.
“Standard protocol,” Elliot said, already setting up his laptop. “Base readings first, then filmed investigations of each hotspot.”
Across the lobby, Asher worked alone, setting up audio equipment. Levi felt each movement like a subtle vibration across his skin. When their eyes met, Asher’s expression was professional, normal. Levi’s throat closed up anyway, pressure wrapping around his windpipe.
His hand rose unconsciously to touch the spot, fingers brushing against skin that remained unmarked despite the choking sensation he could still feel.
Fuck. Get it together.
Asher coiled a black cable over his shoulder, his movements economical, precise. A technician’s hands. A killer’s hands. Levi’s skin prickled with sensations—those fingers against his jaw, tilting his face upward, forcing eye contact.
Their lips crushed together...
Levi forced his attention back to Owen’s lecture, desperate for any distraction from the contradictory signals his body was sending him. Fear and something else—something he refused to name.
“Alright, let’s split up and start setting stations,” Tyler announced, clapping his hands together.
“Elliot and I will take the basement morgue. Maddie and Owen, set up in the surgical theater. Levi and Zoe, second floor patient rooms.” He glanced toward the sound equipment.
“Asher will run cables between all stations so we can communicate.”
The group dispersed, equipment in hand. Levi felt Asher’s gaze burning between his shoulder blades as he and Zoe headed toward the main staircase, but he refused to look back. Looking back meant acknowledging him.
The wooden stairs creaked underfoot as they ascended to the second floor. A long corridor stretched before them, doorways gaping open on either side like hungry mouths. The evening light filtered weakly through boarded windows, creating alternating patches of dim illumination and deep shadow.
“According to the floor plans, these were the private patient rooms,” Zoe said, consulting her tablet. “The wealthier patients got individual accommodations while the charity cases were housed dormitory-style in the east wing.”
Levi nodded, scanning the hallway for anything unusual. “What’s our plan?”
“EVP sessions in the most promising locations,” Zoe replied, lifting a digital voice recorder. “We’ll set these up in different rooms, ask questions, leave them running for ten minutes, then review.”
They entered the first room—a visitor’s area with faded armchairs arranged in a circle, as if waiting for guests who would never arrive. Dust motes floated in the weak sunlight, swirling as they moved through the space.
“Good spot,” Zoe said, placing a recorder on a small table. “I’ll set this while we check the next room.”
As Levi surveyed the space, details jumped out at him—a framed landscape photograph showing a forest clearing unnervingly similar to the meadow where he’d first awakened; a glass display case containing antique medical instruments, including a barber’s straight razor that made his hand twitch involuntarily toward his throat.
“This place has serious energy,” Zoe said, sending a subtle shiver up Levi’s spine. She activated the recorder and spoke clearly: “EVP session one, visitor’s room, second floor. Is anyone here with us? We’d like to speak with you.”
They waited in silence for thirty seconds before moving to the next room—a patient’s quarters with a narrow metal bed frame, a nightstand, and a dresser with a cracked mirror. More recorders were placed, more questions asked to empty rooms.
“That’s weird,” Zoe frowned, checking a device that had gone silent. She tapped it against her palm. “I just put fresh batteries in this morning.”
“I’ve got spares in the van,” Zoe sighed, handing him a second recorder. “Can you set this up in the next room while I run down? I’ll be quick.”
Levi nodded, reluctant to be alone but unwilling to show fear. “Sure.”
“Back in five,” Zoe promised, heading for the stairs.
The moment her footsteps faded, the hallway seemed to grow longer, the shadows deeper. Levi gripped the recorder tightly, fighting the certainty that he was no longer alone.
Levi dropped to his knees beside the dusty nightstand, yanking his small notepad from his pocket. The pencil dug furrows into the cheap paper as words poured out—messy, desperate, nothing like his brother’s neat gaming journals:
6th Loop
scenario changed, ghost hunting in hospital
Killer from before named Asher, now ally?
PREVIOUS DEATHS:
· STRANGLED
· DROWNED
· SHOT
· STABBED
· THROAT CUT
Levi’s breath came in short gasps as he flipped to a new page, sketching a crude map of what he’d seen of the building so far, marking exit points and potential weapons.
The others think this is normal. They don’t know they’re NPCs or hostages or whatever the fuck they are.
The setting sun streamed through gaps in the boarded window, painting the room in bloody crimson. Shadows stretched across the floor like grasping fingers, reaching toward him as daylight faded.
Time’s running out. Night is coming.
Footsteps echoed from the hallway. Levi quickly pocketed his notes, composing his expression into something approximating normal.
Just Zoe coming back. Act natural.
The door creaked open.
Asher stood in the doorway, coils of audio cable draped over one shoulder. His tall frame nearly filled the entire opening, blocking the dim hallway light.
Levi’s mouth went dry. His hands instinctively clenched into fists.
Asher stepped into the room, kneeling to examine a power outlet near the baseboard.
“I sh-should—” Levi’s voice cracked as his body reacted violently to his presence—heart hammering against his ribs, skin flushing hot then cold. He cleared his throat. “I’m going to check on Zoe.”
He moved toward the door, trying to give Asher a wide berth.
Asher’s arm shot out without him looking up from his work, blocking his retreat with casual strength. The movement was so smooth, so effortless, it seemed almost choreographed.
Levi froze, caught in the narrow space between the bed frame and Asher’s extended arm.
Asher looked up, locking onto Levi’s with unnerving intensity.
Nothing in his expression revealed a killer, a stalker, a tormentor.
His features remained composed. Yet something lurked beneath that composure—something that felt like it recognized Levi, that knew their shared history across multiple realities.
“We need to talk.”