After reading the letter, Gray Porcelain was stunned.
Until then, he had thought this Instance was nothing more than a group of children playing at being heroes. Cat's cradle, hopscotch, hide-and-seek... They were all trivial little challenges in a childish hero game.
But once he finished the letter, the truth hit him.
There was a real hero in this Instance. And the town shown on the current map was no children's playground. It was an obstacle the hero had encountered on his journey.
"...The back of the letter also explains the Childlike Demon's abilities in detail."
The Childlike Demon was a Little Demon born in a demon's lair. It was unruly and mischievous, with an almost obsessive passion for bizarre little games.
Once it chose a target, it would find a way to drag their consciousness into a prison of games it had created and force them to play.
Win, and they could escape by the skin of their teeth, their consciousness returning to their body outside. Lose, and they would suffer its punishment, their consciousness trapped forever.
Valentine the "hero" had let his guard down and been dragged into this prison of games by the Childlike Demon.
When Valentine first entered the prison, he was still aware of who he was.
A longtime resident of the town had even given him a clue: to maintain this prison of games, the Childlike Demon needed an anchor for its consciousness. Find that anchor and defeat it at the right time, and he could escape.
Put more plainly—
A fragment of the Childlike Demon's consciousness was hidden inside someone in town. Find that person and defeat them at the right time, and he could leave the prison.
What counted as the "right time"?
Generally, night.
Like most ordinary people, the Childlike Demon's