One of those skeleton booths caught Masami's interest: they'll give a camera lacrima to the participants and they will have to visit the Haunted House and then come back to the booth, recording everything they have seen. The participants are required to explore the whole house for their submissions to be accepted. Masami took this job and was given the camera lacrima, which appeared like a magical cube that floated on top of his hand, supposedly recording everything in a 360° view (woah technology). Obviously, the recording is expected to show spooky sights such as hunting for ghosts or ending up in the same place, over-and-over again—similar superstitions like that.

He stood in front of the Haunted House's door; it already took enough courage for the kid to approach the scary-looking house, but he probably already ran out of that said "enough" courage to be able to go inside. The other participants visited other places, but Masami felt as if he was the only participant in that skeleton game. The cube that floated on his right hand had a faint blue glow, and it didn't help soothing the kid's fear of potential ghosts. He couldn't even dress up for Halloween—since, his daily clothes already looked like a costume, anyway. Ugh, I look like an idiot for just standing here and staring at the door, some might assume that Masami was possessed by a demon or a ghost, but most likely they'll assume that Masami really was an idiot that stood in front of a random house in the middle of nowhere.

"Maybe... I'll just wait for someone," hmm, that might be a good choice, indeed.

Walking along in the town of Samhain. Steel had pondered on what to do now I mean. He had already played all of the games. He had even finally been able to find a shower. And before showering he had of course removed his clothes and thrown them in a washing bin. Steel had then showered and dressed in new fresh clothes.

A new freshly pressed suit with matching black suit shoes. He had then taken a paper bag, painted a smiley on it and cut eye holes in it. His new halloween outfit was done.

Steel's new costume:

Steel had then started roaming the city of Samhain again. He was looking to find someone to play a prank on. The one standing outside of the haunted house was a prime target for Steel’s scariness. With very light steps Steel slowly oh so slowly snuck up behind the one standing outside of the haunted house.

When he was right behind the one standing outside of the haunted house he would move very quickly whilst stomping onto the ground and leaning in besides the person's ear “BOOO!” Steel said loudly. Whether the person was scared or not Steel would fall back laughing before then standing up and removing the paper bag for just a second.

“Looking to explore the house of horrors? Let me join you. Im alone as well.” Steel said and pointed at his entourage of nobody at all.

And, in that instant, as much as Masami tried not to react in an absurd, exaggerated way such as jumping, rolling around or just screaming... "HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—" just like that, it was as if his voice became a high-pitched whistle. Was he too focused on the door's uhh... "intricate designs" that he was unable to sense when people crawl up behind him in attempt to destroy the poor kid's courage? Masami had seen a glimpse of that creepy paperbag before revealing a real human behind it—all this time, Masami was told to dress-up otherwise the monsters of Samhain will "hunt the little children and eat them alive," and it just happened that Masami wasn't wearing an actual costume. He felt his spirit leave his body in that split-second.

Spoiler:

"Yes... rather, I need to accomplish a task from one of those skeleton booths, so I'd love someone's compa—" Masami twisted the door knob after acting as if he wasn't scared at all, thinking that he'd give off a bad impression to an adult, which will now think of Masami as nothing other than a huge scaredy-cat. When the door surprisingly opened up, Masami tripped inside, but caught himself before he'd successfully faceplant himself to the old, creaky floors. "We're going to hunt for ghosts! Somewhat, they gave me this... thing," now, he was inside the haunted house by accident, but it was better to give the image of a completely fine person.

Masami would hold the lacrima cube out, "I've never seen these, they're supposed to record everything it has seen." He still hasn't found out completely how the cube lacrima worked out, but he thought that it was a better choice to talk about it rather than fill the atmosphere with a child screeching in fear of getting eaten alive for not wearing a costume here in Samhain. At least, he was now sure that the person in that paperbag was human – better converse like a normal human, then?

Steel put the mask back on and as he put the mask back on the other male was responding to him and to his question. And it was just then when the mask was fully on that he saw how the door opened and the other person tripped inside but caught himself in the last second. Steel did not want to comment but it would be rude not to ask. “Are you ok?” He said as he waited for the person to stand back up again. Steel was about to say something when the other person interrupted him saying they were to hunt for ghosts. Spooky. Steel thought.

The stranger talked about some weird artifact that was floating above their right hand. Steel was getting annoyed with people who did not introduce themselves before they talked away. So Steel held up his right index finger and wagged it back and forth like if he was signaling a sort of “no no no.”

Then he took a step back and bowed his back a little before speaking. “My name is Steel. What is yours?” After having said that, he looked at the other person from inside his scary paper bag mask. Wondering what kind of answer would come from them. Were they a male or a female? Steel did not know yet.

Masami raised a hand too, by instinct, and that same hand facepalmed himself... by instinct. Dammit, introductions feel weird, all of a sudden, it's been a while since two strangers had introduced themselves to each other—it was because Masami has been meeting people that would rather get the job done immediately, rather than care for a social connection, which includes, introducing each other. "Ah, you may call me Masami," he said, offering a hand for a handshake (assuming that this is what they do here in Fiore), but then retrieving the hand due to hesitation and returning a bow instead. "Of course, I'm completely fine! I just want the job to get done quic—" he was cut off by the sound of a roaring thunder. Where did that even come from?! Goosebumps appeared from head to toe, "Eh? Are you one of the participants of that booth?"

Though, the boy recalled when the man—named Steel—shook his finger when Masami asked about the cube lacrima. Probably not, they'll get bored once they choose to watch the recorded files in the lacrima upon submission, so it was probably better to keep going. "Chilly," he turned his back after muttering a comment, and then started to roam around using his eyes. It was dark inside the haunted house and the cube lacrima, although glowing, was too faint to even help at all. It might take a while for the boy's eyes to adjust to the darkness to be able to see inside; the same is probably the same for the fellow, but considering how unpredictable the people Masami has met so far, he's probably one of those "heroes wearing the skin of peasants," as some may say. Better not; better not look down on strangers.

Masami seemed to be looking around in the entrance way. It was really dark inside but Steel would try to step inside by squeezing past Masami. Making a slight comment “huh it’s really dark in here isn’t it.”

He then looked to Masami who had asked a few questions and Steel felt it was at least of a little bit of importance so he would answer them in order. “Nah I was looking around for something to do. I've already played all of the games but I haven’t really explored this place so at least our goals are the same.”

He paused as the floorboards creaked and the door closed behind him. He had not closed it. It had closed by itself.

“Well if we want to find those ghosts we better start looking.” He paused and then pointed down the hallway towards a small lamp on the other side that was flashing on and off slowly. “What do you say we start by going down this long long corridor with a flashing light on the end?“ After Steel said that he looked back at Masami, then back down the hallway/corridor. Then he looked back at Masami.

And before Masami had any time whatsoever to answer him, Steel tried to put his arm around Masami. Forcing Masami to come along with him. Now if Masami was not going to try going down the hall then Steel would walk down the hallway on his own. Leaving Masami to stand alone in the darkness.

Whenever Steel reached the end of the hallway he would feel a gust of wind blowing in his face in the direction they came from. It smelt like the foul breath of an undead corpse. Clearly a ghost playing a prank.

He heard it, and he didn't even need to look back.

Despite Masami's disbelief in ghosts, it was inevitable that they'd still at least put some fear for the child. It has always been this way, he'd tremble in fear whenever he'd listen to the other kids that told each other spooky stories, even if he didn't believe in them. It was expected that the doors and the windows would get locked shut, but Masami still tried to pull them open just to make sure. This, too, is a very common occurrence in both fiction and non-fiction alike.

Then, Masami would hum as the two of them looks around, inspecting the house. "I was going to give up on those games," he'd respond before looking back at the glowing cube – it had started to record a more fine quality compared earlier. Steel suggested something, and Masami was yet to recognize what that "flashing light" was, so he had tried to squeeze his eyes for a peek. "Flashing light?" well, he hoped he had gotten answers, only to get dragged to wherever Steel suggested.

Sure, the kid would complain for being dragged around like that, so suddenly. Though, since both of them had a similar goal, it didn't seem so bad. At least, if someone—a ghost, or perhaps a human that was pretending to be one—had tried to pull Masami to the void, then Masami has someone's sleeves to pull with him. "Suddenly, I feel like I'm being kidnapped," he'd comment with enthusiasm, trying to be sarcastic. It was only now that Masami had noticed how loud their voices were in this haunted house, even if they would simply whisper; their voices would inevitably echo throughout, perhaps this is a bad thing.

Then, wherever it was, the grandfather clock had played its' short song, signaling the strike of midnight. "Do we have to visit every single room?" Masami would ask with a now quieter voice, and that he'd wait for the grandfather clock to stop ringing; they were ghost hunting already, anyway.

When Masami said that he felt like he was being kidnapped, Steel just let go. He understood that he had been rude by dragging Masami along like that. He stopped and looked back at Masami “I’m sorry… I hope I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable.” He gave Masami a small smile. Before moving on down the hallway.

Then the loud gong of a grandfather clock echoed throughout the building. It was midnight. The witching hour had begun. Steel could feel all the hairs on his body rise to attention as Masami asked if they had to check all the rooms. Steel heard something Masami seemed not to hear. Maybe it was because Steel was so tall and Masami was so much shorter but Steel swore he could hear the floorboards creak on the floor above just like if someone was walking on them.

Then it became very apparent as loud running footsteps could be heard from above. The direction of the footsteps. A stairwell. Steel instantly grabbed Masami and pushed Masami into a room. He then dashed after Masami and shut the door simultaneously. The footsteps closed in on them. And Steel held a hand over Masami’s mouth and his own.

He did not try to asphyxiate Masami leaving Masami with room to breathe through his nose. He just wanted Masami to be quiet which when he removed his hand from Masami’s mouth he hoped that Masami would understand. The footsteps got closer and closer until they passed by outside of the door and disappeared.

The cube lacrima recorded everything, right? Come to think of it, Masami wasn't told what kind of recording it did, other than "it records everything it sees," so what if it actually couldn't keep the audio? I'm being kidnapped, I'm being kidnapped, I'm being kidnapped... he had enough room to breathe, but probably not enough room to remember how to. Although perfectly still, calm and composed on the outside, Masami was very confident that he'll probably never see daylight ever again. The cube lacrima continued to float on top of Masami's hand, glowing very faintly, even if its' user just got his body whammed through the second room with a tall stranger that may or may not actually turn this topic into a red one. It'd be sad if Masami actually died in this site by getting accidentally suffocated (lol).

However, with no money to buy a Death Coin and 0% willingness for this character to die, we proceed: Masami would take a heavy breath once he is finally released, hoping that Lucifer won't get angry and take him over by force again. Don't wanna burn the Haunted House in a limited location. So far, Masami hasn't felt the demon soul do or say anything out of the ordinary, so maybe all's fine? Unlike Steel, Masami was quite slow to react in these sorts of things and didn't quite understand the exact reason why they suddenly had to escape or to become defensive. Magic seems to weaken in this sort of place so the two ghost hunters must act as if they had no magic at all—which, Masami was used to doing.

He heard the footsteps pass through the corridor, though; "Sounds like the footsteps of a child," he whispered, then sighed right after. If he was able to, he'd stand up and brush the dust off of his clothing and realize that apparently, it's awfully dusty in this room. Lucky for Masami, he had no allergies of any sort, so he wasn't able to risk the sneezing; however, the amount of dust that illuminated through both the faint glow from the cube lacrima and the moonbeam from outside the sealed windows. It concerned Masami; apparently the cobwebs also pile up on the corners of this room if you peek hard enough. It fit the "haunted house" vibe, though; do haunted houses always have to look all dusty?

Masami stayed on his spot for a moment, looking around to view the dirty white frills that were now grey in color. "Looks like a little girl's room," he whispered, but loud enough for Steel to hear—but hopefully not to loud to wake the ghosts. He'd raise the cube lacrima right above his head so it'd record everything, just like how it's supposed to.

The room was indeed dusty. So dusty in fact that simply being inside would dirty Steel and Masami’s clothing with small spots of naturally dusty gray. And Masami was correct. The footsteps from earlier had had a hint of the spring you could find in a child's footsteps. Steel nodded, pleased that Masami was very observant. Almost as if Masami was a private detective. They would need that kind of observant ability if they wanted to get out of this alive.

Steel looked around the room. There was some defining furniture in the room. Dressers, a bed, a bookshelf, a chest and in one corner of the room there was a dollhouse that was covered in cobwebs. Steel felt a need to clear the cobwebs and inspect it. And so he walked over to the dollhouse and started removing the cobwebs that covered it. The light from Masami’s recording camera coupled with the moonbeam coming through the window generated enough light for Steel to be able to see. And while the light was dim, after removing the cobwebs Steel discerned that the dollhouse was actually a copy of the  haunted house.

Whilst Steel did this, an echo could be heard through the hallways of the house “mommy.” a child’s voice said in a way as if it was asking for it’s mommy. The voice closed in on their room. The voice then stopped very abruptly before it whispered in both Masami’s and Steel’s ears at once “Mommy?”

Steel turned around quickly trying to find the source of the ghostly whisper. Instantly he saw the image of a ghostly female child standing in the doorway. It ran away and as it ran away one could hear a child's laughter echoing through the halls of the house.

Steel looked back at Masami. “I don’t know if this creature is evil. But it sure as hell likes playing pranks.” He paused. “Let’s get this over with before the parents come home.” He would then leave the room hoping that Masami’s camera had recorded the ghost.

Masami had let Steel investigate the location on his own. Other than the old, dusty, and vintage room, there was nothing else that caught his eye. Perhaps if something glistened, like a jewelry or a gem, that would force the eye to spot it, then Masami would have something to focus on. Except, there wasn't any, so he'd instead stare at the door while Steel analyzes the nearby dollhouse—and there goes the childish voice that called out for their parent, but Masami stood still and did not force himself to exaggerate a reaction.

It was Steel that left the room before Masami could follow, "It probably isn't a prank," he thought, but would frown at his own attempt in empathy, "I've read that childish ghosts—or generally, ghosts that feel like children—are more lost than they are malevolent. That ghost probably found our souls similar to the ones they met, before they died," which is ironic, because Masami knew too well about the demon soul that resided within him. Then, he'd shut the door behind him—locked and closed—Masami stood behind Steel. "Huh, is it just me, or are the hallways narrower than they were a while ago?" perhaps the ghost liked to play pranks in the end, after all.

Masami stretched a hand out, and it was "too easy" to touch the wall in front of him. That was when he realized that the hallways are now one-meter wide, or even less. It's also quite darker now, because Masami looked at the cube lacrima and realized how it no longer glowed a "faint" hue. It seemed like an actual light-source now, but it wasn't too dark for Masami to be unable to see or hear Steel at all. "We'll suffocate at this point, and I'm sure that we can't exit from the door we entered from. Let's attempt to leave."