Control
Use the mouse cursor to interact with objects in the environment—hover over items of interest, then click and hold to pick them up. Drag collected inventory to examine or combine with other elements, unlocking puzzles and progressing through the story. Explore every corner; subtle visual cues highlight interactable hotspots. Context-sensitive actions adapt based on where you click, so experiment freely. Remember to check your inventory often—key items might reveal hidden mechanics or narrative clues when inspected closely.
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The iron-banded gate groans shut behind you, its weathered timbers sealing with a finality that echoes through the mist-cloaked village. Cobbled paths snake between sagging wooden eaves, their paper lanterns flickering like trapped spirits. A rusted katana lies half-buried in mud near a well—its hilt engraved with a serpent coiled around a kanji you don’t recognize. Across the square, a shredded scroll flutters from a bamboo pole, its torn edges hinting at a map. Your fingers brush the cold steel of a broken lockpick in your sleeve, left there… when? Memory blurs like the ash swirling from a blacksmith’s cold forge. Somewhere, a shamisen’s discordant note hums—a sound that wasn’t there a breath ago. The gate’s lock gleams wetly, not with rust, but oil. Fresh oil. Shadows shift behind latticed windows. They’re watching. You’re not the first to be trapped here. But if you trace the serpent’s path on that blade, avoid the third step on the shrine stairs, and ignore the whispers urging you toward the moonlit graveyard—you might be the first to leave.
