Goooood morning, this place had a coffee machine with actual beans, after making the coffee I stuffed it into my leather bag, feels amazing to have a good coffee after so long. My finger is causing issues, so I used sticky tape and just kind of pushed it until it seemed right in place. That won't bite me in the ass later, surely. The sky is still completely black, but everything is brighter, weird how that works. I stand on the rail of the balcony and get my hands onto the concrete, my backpack secured safely on my shoulder, the strap heavily digging into my bones.

I get both my hands onto the concrete of the balcony above and pull up, then grabbing the railing bars and pulling up again. If I fall I fall into an endless abyss so that would suck. I make it over and I'm officially on floor 296, just one more and I'm good. I get on the rail, pull up, grab the bars, pull up. Now I'm on the balcony.

Floor 297. I really thank Jack for giving me that advice to climb up floors. I walk through, this seems like a fresh room which is good, I look down, I can't see a bottom but it's fine, I look a bit just to try and look at the other balconies. And then I see it. Someone waving at me. I count the floors downwards.

299, 298, 297, 296, 295, 294, 293, 292, 291, 290, 289, 288, 287... I look closer. That thing isn't human. I can just barely tell, but its fingers are too long, it seems to be counting the floors up, to tell what floor I am on with its other hand. I don't like that at all. But it would be rude to not wave back so, I do.

I walk back off the balcony and to the exit, this room had nothing important, so I just left it. I open the hallway and see no marked doors, irritating. I walk around a bit to find any recognizable areas. I could setup a new home base if I wanted to, but I had spare clothes over there and right now my clothes are covered in spore ink.

I eventually find marked doors and make my way back home, i never thought I'd feel home sick to my apartment in hell but it's fine. I walk through my door and begin to clean up, the food from last night is rotting on the table. Just how long was i on that stairwell? I throw it into the hallway like always, sort of as a ritual now.

I throw away my clothes as well, I love the clothes but I'm not too fond of them having funky spores all over them. I shower quickly and get out, putting on my gross pyjamas. Theres no washing machine in this place so these pyjamas reek of death. I open my bag and take everything out. A pot for planting stuff, a plant for potting stuff, soil for plotting plants. A coffee machine which is a god send, multiple food items that are now moldy. Glasses, poker cards, some nice sneakers that are my size, a straw hat to plant plots of pots.

And other stuff that doesn't matter. Who cares right? I don't. I go out to do my usual scouting for food, I want to find some fruit so I can grow seeds, I think becoming a farmer is a natural progression from traumatised businesswoman. In a fresh room I find a plastic tub, it seems pretty rare and gives me a great idea. There are maggots right, so things decompose... can I make compost?

Compost would allow me to farm more, I'm taking this farming thing very seriously, then ill never need to leave and venture out for hours like Leo and Jack did. I take a bunch of items I found including some ‘pain pills.’ which will hopefully fix pain, not cause it. I take it back slowly.

“owwww.... damn ittt...” I hear quietly, I said that exact thing yesterday. I really hope giving it my voice doesn’t allow it to track me somehow. I walk over to my room and lock the door behind me, placing the moldy food into the tub after I moved all the items from it, this is my compost tub.

I hum to myself as I eat some fruit I found, making sure to save the seeds, after I’m done, I place them in the soil and pot, then watering them with sink water, please let this be a vine fruit and not a tree fruit.

I place the rest of the fruit in my compost tub, I think I need to setup a spinny thing for it, because compost tubs spin right? My mom had one, used to put coffee grounds in them even though it smelt like death.

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I just decide to shake the tub every day, hoping it does the same thing. Speaking of coffee grounds, it’s coffee time. I grind up some coffee and place it into the coffee thing, stick the coffee thing in the thing above the other thing, pour water in the water thing and it brews coffee. Great.

I wish I had milk, but black coffee is fine for now, maybe if I find a cow I could be a real farmer, you know what they say, you aren’t a real farmer until you rely on living animal's bodies to profit.

I cook, eat, put the leftovers in the tub, this time I made some simple lettuce and what I think is bacon. The lettuce was getting a bit old, so I put the whole thing in the compost tub.

I shower, my new shampoo doing wonders for my hair, there are still patches of white that piss me off, like a lot, I genuinely look like a zebra, but still. I got new body wash too, green smelling body wash, a little leaf is the logo with eyes and hands.

I step out and sleep naked like usual. I close my eyes and…

I dream of a man waving at me. I’m back on the balcony, I count the floors. 299, 298, 297, 296, 295, 294, 293, 292, 291, 290, 289, 288. He is waving at me, I still can’t see him too well, but a faint feeling of dread is prominent. A whisper is taken by the wind, “hello friend.” Slow and gentle, like a parent whispering in your ear while you cry.

I wake up.

Stretch my arms, try to reach my toes, almost there. One question: what was that?

No dreams until suddenly I'm dreaming like a character in the bible, god I wish I had Leo and Jack to ask what's happening, I really had it all, I had the tutorial NPC’s, too bad I had to skip it all and go straight into nightmare mode.

“Urghhhhh” My feet guide my body to the coffee machine, coffee bean in, water in, crazy sloshing sound, spitting sound, black liquid, transparent liquid. Easy.

I wish I had mugs, these glasses get way too hot, I pick it up and it explodes in my hand, the glass cracking on the floor. Oh, yeah glasses break at hot temperatures, don't they? I clean it all up and throw it into the hallway, annoying.

Quest! Find a mug, I put on a tank top and silky pants i had found and step out, going left instead of right this time. I find a fresh door within 2 minutes and open it up, no mugs, BUT there is another fruit, it has an egg shape and it incredibly slimy, but tastes actually delicious, I eat around the core and save it in my pocket for later. Thats a tree fruit, I think.

I walk into another room, this one had a purse, with a designer logo, its in some foreign language I don't understand but it feels premium. Could resell this. I walk out and see the elevator again, right in front of me.

I keep my eyes open and make my way, I press the one button it had, there's a digital screen at the top showing a number, 0. This can take me to floor 0.

It goes to 1, then 2, then 3. It speeds up, finally, is this it? That was easy.

“OWWWWWW, DAMN IT.” knocks me over, the elevator disappears, and I'm stuck looking at the turn in the hallway, I crawl backwards into the room i was in and hide. It didn't see me, I didn't make a sound, if it finds me that is incredibly unfair.

I hear it walking, “oooowwwwww.... Itttttt.... DAMNNNN ITTTT.” plays through my ears, i hate this thing so much, I hate it. I hate this place.

I stay silent as it complains, it turns the knob on my door, checking if its locked and then leaves. My heart jumps out of my chest, I am not letting that thing murder me again. I stay for around 10 minutes after I last hear it and walk back to my room, locking the door and putting a bed side cabinet in front of it, I hope its enough. But it really wont be.

I shake the compost tub and cook some food, all I had in the fridge was melted cheese and green beans, so I put chips in a bowl and the melted cheese above, the flavours did not mix well. I then ate the green beans raw to get some actual food in me.

I check out the pot of soil, I water it using the only glass I have yet, still no mug, but ill get there. I throw my compostable waste into the tub, then move the bedside cabinet to throw the other waste into the hallway, the pile significantly bigger now. I lock the door then move everything back.

Shower time. I shower, wash my hair, my body, I go to bed naked like always, the covers feeling nice, high thread count probably.

I close my eyes, I'm back on the balcony, the wind hitting my ears in annoying ways, straight into my brain.

I look down, 299, 298, 297, 296, 295, 294, 293, 292, 291, 290, 289... its getting higher and higher, “HEYYYYY, YOU HEAR ME? ILL BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU IF YOU GET ANY CLOSER.”

It just waves, its other hand slowly rises and stretches across the distance, crossing the pit, slowly, I can't even move, like I'm paralysed. the fingers land on my face, feeling my face uncomfortably. Eventually the rest of the fingers leave except for 1 on my lips, “shhhhhhhhhh.”

I wake up to banging noises.