Ah! Thanks for the review!
The guide doesn't contain that much spoiler because there is so much distraction in the game that's not entirely progress, it also contains some tips to progress and to reveal more story.
The silence when you first got in is an error, I don't know how to fix this but from some research I found out that it's just RPG Maker taking a long time to load up the music.
There is a shortcut in the town area right at the bottom of the long building because I thought it's a hassle to walk an U path again if you want to get to the other side. But if the error is not this, then please inform me further about it.
And that knife is not supposed to be picked up because it's not a very useful item. (the shear is designed to be found when you are further into the game, I thought the knife can be found too easily and at that point there is not much progress made yet)
Other things are downsides of some decisions made to increase the game's mood, I didn't think it'll be so bad, so sorry about that. If you haven't made it to the end yet, try to explore the maze a bit more. And in this game there is no one straight line of "progress" so you can go back to the places you've visited and might still find something new or interesting, since you can get to the ending in 5 minutes if you follow the guide (it's okay to look at the guide, ways to reach the end is not very obvious).