Quinn wandered through the town, looking for anything prominent that would help to indicate the location of a key. After barely surviving inside the bar, locating the first key, and being teleported back to the start, Quinn now had to figure out where the third and final key was to the secret door.

There are currently two locations I can think of that would have the last key. The first place would be the Inn, the place I had first visited in the town. The second place would be somewhere near the waterfall. These are the only two prominent locations that I can find.

During this regression, Quinn had already searched multiple houses in search of the key, but quickly realized that all the houses were empty. There wasn't a single piece of furniture in any one of them.

I guess I should check out the waterfall first. If by chance the key is in the Inn, I will likely have to fight the innkeeper for it, which I currently don't wish to do. I would rather search the waterfall for the key, where it will hopefully be much more peaceful.

Quinn had settled on visiting the waterfall, so he made his way toward the bridge at the edge of town. Once he got there, he began to search around for any sight of the key.

There doesn't seem to be anything in the water besides the fish. If I have to check under every rock for this key, I don't think I will escape for a long time.

Quinn turned his head away from the stream and towards the waterfall. Instead of looking at its beauty, he attempted to look past it to see what was on the other side.

“Quinn… golden me… what do I call you?” Quinn realized he had never settled on a proper name for his other version.

His other version thought decisively before settling on a name, “Just call me Golden Quinn, it will make things less difficult”

“Okay then Golden Quinn, you are able to fly, if you won't tell me information, at least let me use your capability to scout things out. Can you fly into the waterfall and tell me if there is anything of importance on the other side?”

Golden Quinn thought about it for a moment, “Fine, I will help you.”

He had decided that Quinn using him for reconnaissance was just him using the tools he had at his disposal, even though he didn't like being used as such, he decided he would allow it.

Flying over to the waterfall, Golden Quinn passed through and searched the other side before returning, “It seems there is definitely something on the other side.”

Realizing Quinn would get no more information about the subject, he pulled away from the bridge's guardrail and began making his way towards the waterfall, “I appreciate the help.”

After making his way to the base of the waterfall, Quinn pulled off his shirt and pants so they wouldn't get wet and made his way through the waterfall, climbing over the wet rocks, trying not to slip.

In only a few moments, Quinn was able to spot a cave illuminated by blue light that shined through the waterfall. The beautiful glow flickered as the water continued to change as it fell.

Almost slipping on the way in, Quinn finally made it into the cave. Water dripped to the floor as he walked across the cold dark stone.

Let's try to keep doing that to a minimum.

Quinn looked around the room, searching for anything of interest. There wasn't much, and the room was quite small, but there was one thing that caught his eye.

Sitting against the back wall, an old grandfather clock ticked away. It was quite strange for such a clock to be in this location. This led Quinn to believe it was important.

Analyzing the old clock, Quinn spotted a small golden keyhole, much too small for any of the keys he had already found.

What is the point of this grandfather clock? Is this the reason I keep going back in time?

Quinn knew the clock was important, but as for the location of the key, he could only take a guess.

If this really is what is causing time to revert, then that means it is likely one of if not the final things that need to be done during the trial. Likely, the final key is behind the hidden door in the middle of the woods. That just means I have to locate the final key, retrieve all three, grab the key for the clock and make my way back here… in the span of 45 minutes before time reverts…

Quinn was beginning to realize how much more difficult this trial was going to be. He would have to retrieve all the keys and sprint back to town in only a limited amount of time. Not including how long it would take to fight the puppets if they try rebelling.

If he wanted to escape from this trial, everything would need to be perfect.

If it takes me 5 minutes to get through the cave tunnel, 5 minutes to reach town, 7 minutes to get to the cabin and retrieve the key, another 3 and a half minutes to get to the secret door with all the keys, then return to town with the final key, not including the time it takes to grab everything…

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…plus, this only factors in me running, and there is no way I can sprint everything. I would run out of stamina too early on…

Then it would take me around 30–35 minutes to do everything, leaving me around 10–15 minutes to spare, but that is if everything is perfect.

This trial had become more daunting than Quinn had hoped for. Sure, he had enough time to grab everything and make it all the way back, but Quinn would have to fight the puppets in the bar, which would definitely be a difficult task.

After contemplating his thoughts a bit longer, Quinn stared at the grandfather clock. Its minute and hour hand were both about to reach twelve o’clock. As each second passed by, Quinn stared in anticipation.

Finally, the clock reached its pinnacle and Quinn’s vision began to blur before returning to the start. Just as he thought, it seemed the grandfather clock had something to do with time being reverted forty-five minutes.

Once again, after his vision returned, Quinn ran through the cave tunnel and towards the town. Once he made it there, he grabbed the scythe and located the Inn.

This was the place Quinn had believed held the third and final key to the door, so without much thought, he stepped inside the Inn and looked around.

After a few moments, the puppet, who was faced the opposite way just as last time, turned to him, “What can I do for you?”

Quinn looked at the puppet, trying to see if it held the key, then looked behind her to see what she was doing before he entered. Sat behind her, a small wooden box with the top closed could be spotted.

If there was ever a place to put the key, that would be it. Now I just have to check inside and make sure it is there.

Quinn looked at the puppet for a moment and smiled, “By any chance, can you tell me what is inside that box?”

This was the same way he asked about the key inside the bar.

“What's in the box? It is nothing, but I recommend you don't try opening it if you know what is best for you.”

The hostile comment was similar to that of the bartender. Quinn knew at that moment that the third key was definitely inside that box.

If I were to attack, I wonder if I could win.

Quinn had no way to enhance his Echoes to the next level. The only way he could is by completing the trial and escaping the eighth floor.

Quinn hesitantly walked behind the desk, observing the puppets' mannerisms in case of an attack. Slowly, he bent down towards the box, reaching out his hand to open its lid.

Just as he did this, the puppet leaped towards him, reaching for his arm. Quinn quickly backpedaled, dodging the attack and pulling out the scythe he grabbed just moments before. He slashed upwards, slicing through the puppet's arm. It fell to the ground with a clatter, but the puppet didn't seem to mind as it quickly tried attacking him again.

The puppet grabbed his arm, inhibiting him from moving the scythe. With quick thinking, he grabbed the scythe with his other hand and slashed at the puppet's head. Slicing through its neck, the puppet's head rolled across the floor and its body fell limp.

Quinn pulled his arms away from the puppets' grasp. After making sure the puppet would no longer attack him, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to the box.

It seemed that puppet was much weaker than the one inside the cabin house.

Bending down, Quinn opened up the small wooden chest. Inside was an old yellow key.

Just as he expected, there was a key inside the Inn, meaning he knew all three locations of the secret door keys.

Picking up the key, he put it in his pocket and thought about what he would do next.

If I can get my hands on the key inside the bar, I might be able to make it to the cabin, grab the final key, and open the secret door to see what is on the other side.

Quinn stepped out of the bar and made his way to the bar. After stepping inside, he looked around to see if the bartender was still angry, but he showed no signs of aggression.

Quinn took a seat at the bar and asked for a whiskey. The bartender poured him a glass, and he drank it all in one go. He then placed the glass on the table, so the bartender could clean in.

Just like every other time, the bartender is acting the same. Maybe I can use this to my advantage.

Once again, Quinn asked the bartender about the key. The bartender responded, becoming much more aggressive.

It's playing out the same way as last time. Then that means…

Quinn stood up from his seat, leaping over the bar and reaching for the glass with the key inside. The bartender became angry, quickly reaching for Quinn’s arm.

Just as Quinn expected, he twisted his body to avoid the bartender's arm and followed up with a kick directly to the bartender's head. The bartender fell backwards from the impact, slamming into the glass rack, shattering many of the glasses.

Quinn grabbed the old green key from inside the glass and quickly turned to run outside the bar. As he turned around, a puppet's hand quickly flew at his head. Barely ducking it, Quinn stumbled backwards, hardly keeping his footing.

The puppets, who had been customers of the bar, blocked the exit, making it impossible for Quinn to escape without fighting. Quinn had expected this, but he wasn't sure if he'd be capable of escaping.

The puppet who swung at Quinn rushed towards him, along with another. Quinn ducked under both of them, kicking them into the puppets blocking the door. Some of the puppets fell backwards, while others were able to keep their footing.

Once again, more puppets rushed forward, but this time, Quinn rushed at them as well. He jumped at one of the puppets with his scythe, slicing its head off and using its limp body to block the attack of another puppet. He then threw the puppet's body at the other puppet, and used the opening to split the second puppet in half.

Quinn then tried to rush towards the group of puppets positioned in front of the door, but before he could, the bartender puppet, much bigger than the rest of the puppets, grabbed his arms and held him tightly in place.

Seeing this opportunity, the rest of the puppets quickly charged at Quinn, cutting him open, ripping his flesh to pieces. After a minute of torture, the puppets took his scythe and used the blade to slice his head off.

Golden Quinn watched all of this, but was much less worried this time around. The only thing he could think of was how much more could Quinn take?