[https://i.imgur.com/gvhXYjf.jpg]

Part 4. Second Dust - Ear dropping the keys

"Are we saved?" Amisa knelt on the ground, struggling to catch her breath.

"Huff... huff... I think so," Jasky replied, gasping for air. His top hat had fallen to the ground.

"In the end, we were just drawing a bunch of things that were visible but invisible, haha!" Toosb lay on the ground, laughing uncontrollably as she thought about the experience they just had.

"By the way, where are we... Whoa!" Amisa attempted to stand up but was startled as the canvas suddenly stood up, causing her to quickly back away. The painted images inside seemed to come to life, dancing and moving.

"I... I'm moving!" Toosb pointed at her dancing image with joy.

Watching all the paintings happily dance, Jasky suddenly had a thought, "Could the correct answer to the riddle have been 'imagination'? It would make more sense in relation to what we were doing earlier."

"Wow! Shy guy, you're making sense!" Toosb joined in the dancing.

"Imagination..." Amisa's mind flashed back to a scene from her childhood. Besides singing, she always loved doodling and drawing all sorts of imaginative and whimsical things.

"Hmm?" At that moment, Amisa noticed that the painted characters were singing. Although there was no sound, she could decipher the lip movements and recognize a familiar song. She inadvertently started singing along, "On the grassy field... by the big tree... I want to sing out loud..."

"You know this song too!" Toosb exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh? I used to sing this song with my parents when I was little."

"I used to sing it with my parents too!"

"You did too?"

"Let's talk about it later. I think we've ended up in another strange place," Jasky said cautiously, squinting his eyes. The feast of paintings had vanished without a trace, replaced by a towering forest of gigantic audio equipment from the 90s: turntables, radios, headphones, microphones. The road ahead clearly split into three paths. The left path was filled with enormous record players and radios, the right path with giant mobile phones and telephones, and the middle path with various oversized headphones and microphones. In the heart of the audio equipment forest stood a colossal combination speaker, with a sign on top that read "Between Ears."

"Between Ears... Are we going to face another challenge? This cleverbug is so troublesome..." Amisa pinched her earlobe, furrowing her brow in annoyance.

Jasky approached the audio equipment forest and examined it closely, "There doesn't seem to be a door here either. Looks like we'll have to... just as I thought."

Beep beep beep beep beep beep─────────────────────

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Second Dust - Ear dropping the keys: Please listen to the sounds beyond the three measures. The door to understanding will open for you. The room will collapse in 10 minutes.

Then, the countdown began.

"The riddle has arrived. Let's continue to pass the test..." Jasky picked up his fallen top hat.

"The sounds beyond the three measures? Do we have to catch the rhythm or melody?" Amisa furrowed her brow.

"I think the 'three measures' might not necessarily refer to musical measures but rather keys," Jasky pointed at "Ears of Perception" and "Door to Understanding." "The title mentioned keys, and the latter mentions a door." He then gestured towards the audio equipment in front. "Perhaps we need to listen to those giant devices and find key parts, and the door will appear for us to open once we've collected all the parts."

After listening to Jasky's insightful analysis, Amisa stared in astonishment and asked, "You... were able to decipher the riddle just by glancing at it?"

"Well, I have a certain sensitivity to words..." Jasky blushed and looked away.

"That's amazing! You solved it so quickly, saving us the time of guessing and pondering! Truly a genius and shy guy!" Toosb clapped and praised.

"The 'shy guy' part was unnecessary."

"Anyway," Toosb embraced both of them from behind, "as long as we combine the power of our friendship, we'll break through every obstacle!"

"But speaking of which, do we have to listen to each device one by one?" Amisa looked incredulously at the devices that were several times larger than herself.

"There are three paths, so how about each of us chooses one? When we find a part, we'll shout 'I found it!'" Jasky suggested. Amisa, who was particularly sensitive to microphones, immediately pointed to the middle path and said, "Then I'll choose the path with microphones."

"I'll choose the right path with telephones and mobile phones!" Toosb declared.

"Then I'll choose the left path. Let's maintain the unity and cooperation we had in the previous challenge and immediately go support the others when we find a part."

"Okay!"

"Let's go!"

Watching the other two dash towards the depths of their chosen paths, Jasky decided to go against the flow and started by listening to the vintage record player at the entrance.

"It's really huge..." As he approached the device, which was several times larger than himself, a sense of unease washed over him. "Something feels off... Oh well, overthinking won't help."

Jasky reached the right side of the record player and discovered a handle that was several times larger than himself. He exerted all his strength to turn it, causing the vinyl disc to start playing a piece of familiar European classical music.

"Isn’t the music we usually play at home..."

"What are you doing instead of studying?"

Suddenly, a female voice appeared. Jasky looked up abruptly and noticed another record player behind him had started moving on its own. The speaker seemed to have a mind of its own as it angrily scolded him.

"This magic prop was bought for me by my teacher..."

Then, on the opposite side, another small record player started playing without warning. The speaker blared with the voice of a distressed boy engaging in a conversation with a mature woman:

"You shouldn't have that kind of thing. You should focus on being a pastry chef now. Give me that thing!"

But it's my birthday present...

Didn't I make you a birthday cake specifically? Give it to me!

Mom, what do you want to do?

Of course, I want to throw it away. You're not allowed to touch any magic props. Learn baking properly from your mom. Give it to me!

No, I won't! It's my gift!

If you don't listen, don't blame me for hanging you up and belting you! Give it to me!

No, Mom, please, don't throw it away! Waaahhhhhhhhhhhh...

Clang! Crash!

Whenever the boy said, "No," a nearby radio would intermittently play the sound of objects shattering, bringing back painful memories for Jasky.

"How did these things appear?" Jasky broke out in a cold sweat and quickly ran away, but he accidentally ended up in the depths of a dense forest, where more record players and radios approached him slowly. First, one radio played a noisy background noise, and then multiple record players flooded him with various voices of young men and women:

"Why did the fat guy come here?"

"You stink! Did you even take a shower?"

It's disgusting to see you sitting in the corner reading all the time. Can't you, the fat nerd, stay away from me?

Magicians are usually handsome, what kind of magician do you want to be, you fat nerd? Staying at home suits you better~

Why don't you ever talk? Are you autistic or something?

Then, the voice of the mother from before reappeared:

Why can you only make these kinds of pastries? You should strive to do better!

Customers won't like these kinds of desserts. Please do as your mother says and don't add any unnecessary creativity.

Why did you hide from me that you participated in a magic competition? What kind of son do I have! Do you even care about me, your mother?

Jasky, you can't lock yourself up at home all the time. Can't you go out and make some friends? Please, Jasky, I beg you~~~

"Get out of here!" A series of voices overwhelmed Jasky with negative emotions. He desperately tried to turn back and escape, but he was blocked by numerous record player speakers on the path. Taunting remarks from his mother's high-pressure voice and the rejection from his classmates echoed one after another. The painful experiences were pushing him to the brink of collapse. He covered his ears, desperately trying to block out those voices: "Go away! Stop talking!"

"Dreamforce Amplify!" Rabittsby quickly arrived from nearby, his upright pair of rabbit ears emitting a bright light that temporarily granted Jasky strength. With a swing of his fist, he shattered all those electronic devices: "Get away from me, all of you! ────────────"