Hi hymeji, I'm so sorry the game has been giving you trouble!! I just edited all the lake events and updated the game with another patch that I think might fix the freezing issue, but this issue is a little difficult to troubleshoot since this bug seems to only happen on certain computers and I can't seem to replicate it on either of mine 😭😭
Yes, the last section is with a timer (the fading out mechanic) :)
If you're not wanting to start the game again trying the new version (which tbh I completely understand GHEHGE) from what I've heard other players have been able to get past the freezing by just trying again from the autosave a few times (since the freezing doesn't seem to happen consistently), so I would either recommend that or if you're still interested in knowing the story of the rest of the game checking out a playthrough (I linked one below that doesn't have commentary!)
Again, I'm so sorry about the freezing and thank you for bringing it to my attention!