I almost turned psycho for you. Appreciate it.

Eric didn't waste any time and said, "I need your help."

"My help?" suspicion rang in Tom's voice.

"My name's Timmy?"

"Timmy?'' it seemed like this name also had an effect on the innocent ones since Tom lowered his guard and seemed friendlier.

"You also-" Tom stopped, his eyes darting between the corpse and Eric.

"Yes," Eric spoke with confidence as if he knew what Tom said and confirmed his suspicion. Tom was perplexed but slowly nodded.

"We can trust each other," in any normal circumstance Eric seemed suspicious as hell but because he had the protagonist halo, Eric could achieve almost everything. This plot armour was very convenient, to be honest.

"I... ok, I trust you," Tom nodded again and his red puffy eyes looked brightly at Eric now. Eric almost teared up. Ah, being a protagonist was really damn easy. This was wonderful. However, Eric also felt bad for Tom. It seemed like Eric punched a hole in Tom's chest and ripped his heart out by dying. Eric silently promised not to die again.

"What happened to all the other residents?" Eric was curious why the woman didn't come out even though they were talking in the hallway.

"They all died," a determined glint swayed in Tom's innocent eyes.

Eric blinked. They were all dead? Even the woman? How? Eric glanced at Tom. Tom was a shy wimp. Too pure. He couldn't have done it. Eric quickly threw that thought away.

"How?"

"Slasherman," Tom only said and beckoned Eric to come in. So, did Slasherman kill the woman?

Eric thought as he stared at his corpse on Tom's bed. Honestly, this was creepy as fuck.

"I have a plan," Eric started as soon as they sat down, "Since Slasherman's in this tower, we go to the other. Scout each floor and get rid of all the murderers and ally ourselves with the innocent ones.''

"Do all Timmys think the same? You're very similar."

Eric sweated, "I've no idea but we should start as soon as possible. Slasherman is currently in one of the lower floors. Which floor leads to the other tower?"

"The fifth. The middle," Tom stood up and handed Eric his old weapon. Wow, Eric was impressed. In less than a few hours, Tom has changed a lot. A rope, a pot, a pen and bedsheets.

"Good job," Eric praised Tom and the all-familiar red hue spread across Tom's face. Ah, this was better. The serious Tom didn't suit him. This was the Tom Eric wanted to lend him company. Eric looked at his corpse again and suddenly realised the weird smell in the room.

"The corpse decayed a lot in just a few hours."

"Few hours?" Tom turned to Eric and his eyes started to tear up again.

"It's already been a week."

Thump. Eric's heart was beating wildly. No way. A week?

A whole fucking week passed and Eric spent this much time searching for a new body? Seriously? Then what about the first time Eric died? Did it also take a week or was it only this time because, as Eric assumed, there were almost no bodies he could possess anymore?

Anyways, this news unsettled Eric a lot, the longer Eric stayed in this story, the more his mind became anxious.

Eric had to force himself to stay calm. He didn't know why but he felt like he had to finish editing this story faster, the more he dragged it on, the worst of an outcome it was for Eric.

"Let's go," pushing this feeling away, Eric, together with Tom, armed and each carrying a backpack with all the food, left for the fifth floor.

There was a slight noise coming from downstairs. It must definitely be Slasherman dragging his axe around the ground. To their luck, there was no one on the fifth floor. Yet the hallway that connected this floor and the other tower was frighteningly dark. So black that one couldn't even see their own hands.

Walking into the hallway, since Eric was the protagonist he went first, he whispered to Tom, "Use one hand to feel the wall and the other to grip my shirt. Don't let go of me."

Tom nodded. Pressing themselves against the wall, they took one step after another until the darkness surrounding them completely swallowed them alive.

Then it was a test for their nerves of steel. Eric closed his eyes. Although it made no difference, he felt safer. He didn't even dare to breathe and tried to not make any sounds. Their footsteps were as light as possible. Who knew what laid in wait in this hallway or at the end?

Probably murderers who loved to massacre their victims here. Good thing that they didn't trip over anything like dead bodies. Painful ten minutes passed felt like an eternity but Eric breathed a sigh of relief as they arrived in the other tower.

It was completely silent, no sound at all. Yet Eric and Tom didn't dare to speak. Eric only pointed upwards. As planned before, they scouted from the top floor to the ground floor. Any murderer needed to be eliminated.

Tiptoeing to the stairs, they painfully slowly walked up. Tom still held Eric's shirt but Eric didn't mind, actually he felt safer this way as well.

It was reassuring to know that Tom was behind him. Eric hated horror stories, so he was impressed that a huge wimp like him managed to go through all of these obvious gruesome deaths.

Speaking of horror stories, suddenly several tropes sprung into Eric's mind. Panicked, Eric turned around and looked at Tom before sighing in relief. Tom tilted his head in confusion.

Eric had the daunting realisation that maybe throughout the way Tom was swapped with someone else.

Wasn't it like this in these types of stories? Jump scares, psychological games, gore, anything that could scare people... should be fucking banned!

Eric and Tom finally arrived on the tenth floor. However, a big surprise awaited them.

"Is this... actually for real?"