Chapter 37: Haunted House Escape (1/2)

After settling the factors that affected his clearing the game, Bai Yan had a great weekend.

On Monday noon, Bai Yan was done making preparations and opened the app. Just when the sun was at its peak, he pressed on the fourth level’s icon, waiting for the game to match him up with a hopefully reliable teammate.

[Successful Matchup]

[Number of Players: 2 players]

[Level of Difficulty: Normal]

[Level Description: This game’s fourth round is a Haunted House Escape. You have to purchase some tickets on the 4th floor and enter the haunted house. You need to successfully leave the haunted house to clear the game. The duration of this level is 1 hour and 30 minutes. The countdown will start once you get your tickets.]

[Backstory: You are a bull-headed excited young man. Today, you and your friend, Su Yize, went to the mall, prepared to take on the challenge of the haunted house. Since you are a renowned seasoned player for haunted houses, you hoped that this haunted house inside the mall could give you a good scare that you have longed for.]

[Game Rules:]

Upon seeing him, Bai Yan thought that he could be his teammate, thus, he stepped forward and asked, “Hello, are you my friend Su Yize?”

“En, I am Su Yize, and you are Bai Yan.”

“Yes, it looks like it’s only going to be the two of us at this level.”

Su Yize was a man with glasses, and he was about the same height as Bai Yan.

After a simple exchange between the two and confirming that they were the only two players at this level, Su Yize asked, “We don’t have much time. The game is requiring us to buy the tickets in under half an hour. How about we go inside now?”

“Sure.” Bai Yan subtly nodded his head and the two entered the mall’s big entrance one by one.

The mall’s entrance was a revolving door, and after passing through them, the brightly-decorated red and yellow interior greeted their eyes.

The mall must have been celebrating an event today since the stores inside lined up in a never-ending stream of sales banners. However, the two weren’t there to do some shopping. They both felt that these were completely unrelated to the game, so they didn’t pay them much attention and hurriedly went straight to the fourth floor.

Due to the elevators being an easy target for accidents, the two avoided them and prepared to ride the escalators to the fourth floor.

Compared to a closed-off elevator, if something bad were to happen at the escalators, they would still have a chance to evade death. Additionally, as they were looking for the escalators, they could still do a general sweep of the mall’s map. Although the two focused on the haunted house on the fourth floor, they still didn’t disregard the places where hidden clues could be found, keeping them all in mind on their way up.

Soon, the two had reached the fourth floor.

Without even taking a few steps, they already saw the store, where an eye-catching sign was suspended from above, featuring the words ‘Haunted House Escape.’

Seeing the haunted house, the two weren’t in a hurry to go inside.

They first made sure that this was indeed the fourth floor, and after, they strolled around the whole floor to make sure that this was the only haunted house.

When they returned to the haunted house’s entrance, two other people were standing before it.

A pair of touchy lovers stood in front of the haunted house, the guy told the girl beside him, “Dear, let’s go inside and take a look. Haunted houses are super fun.”

“Let’s leave. I haven’t played in a haunted house before. I’m not brave, and I’m afraid of ghosts and other whatnot.”

“Let’s try it out once. I heard that this specific haunted house isn’t that terrifying, even someone with as little courage as you wouldn’t be scared if they entered.”

“No way. I don’t want to go, so I won’t go. Since you’ve played it before, you won’t be scared. If I go in, come night time, I’ll surely get nightmares.” The girl rolled her eyes at the man. She was already well aware of her bravery, “Let’s leave. We’ll walk around somewhere else. You agreed to go shopping with me, so how could I not happily come.”

The man showed a bitter smile as he rolled his eyes and was dragged away by the woman, looking like he didn’t have a choice.

Su Yize’s eyes flashed with envy as he watched the man be helplessly pulled away. What a nice girlfriend. This guy doesn’t know what he got away from.

According to his last two experiences in the game, those NPCs that were eager to die served as the best scapegoats for the players.

He covetously watched the young couple walk away, his heart turning a bit restless. Since the couple was able to avoid the minefield, were there any other NPCs walking around?

Were there any brave NPCs that were willing to test out the game’s poison? Do the players have to do everything themselves?