Chapter 37: Haunted House Escape

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?

Bai Yan stared at the couple until they were in a far off distance, his heart having the same thoughts. He felt that they shouldn’t be in a rush since only ten minutes have passed.

The two stood outside the haunted house, waiting for these ill-fated people, but while waiting for them, the boss of the haunted house came out.

“Hi there, you two. Are you interested in the haunted house?” The boss started to excitedly rub his hands together, “I’ll tell you guys this, my family’s haunted house is extremely fun and at a great price! It’s not a bad deal at all.”

Since the two wanted to wait for some random NPCs to rush towards disaster, the two were reluctant to do so.

However, just as long as they don’t buy the tickets, then the countdown won’t start, so Bai Yan inquired, “Why is it affordable?”

“My friend, you’re right to ask this. Today, the shopping mall is filled with activities, and our haunted house is offering a discount. My family’s Haunted House Escape uses the newest concepts and designs, which is a haunted house plus an escape room. Originally, going in alone in the haunted house or the escape room costs 35 yen each, but since we have a promo today, it only costs 50 yen to experience both. It’s not because I’m talking big, but throughout the whole city, my family’s haunted house is the cheapest. Would you like to come try it out?”

Seeing the boss’s earnest expression, the two people didn’t want to go in even more.

The others don’t know but the two players knew that this haunted house had real ghosts in it.

But, the game required them to enter, so the two people began touching their pockets and rummaging through them. Each of them felt a hundred yen bill in their pockets, which had a unique pattern on it, like the money in the real world.

“Bai Yan, let’s buy two tickets and try.”

Su Yize gave Bai Yan a meaningful look, making Bai Yan tell the boss, “We’ll talk it over. After we’re done discussing, then we’ll find you.”

“Okay, I’ll be inside the store waiting. My family’s haunted house is exciting. If you’ve tried it once, you’d still want to play it again.”

The boss beamed a smile before going back to the store. The door to the haunted house was quite small, and through the narrow opening, Bai Yan could faintly see a mysterious figure swaying in the air inside.

Bai Yan had guesses on what the figure inside was. This was a common pattern in many haunted houses.

Seeing that five minutes had already passed, Su Yize asked Bai Yan. “There are three types of tickets to the Haunted House Escape. Do we just play the haunted house, or do we also play the escape room one?”

“Although the game only required us to play the haunted house, there may be some clues concealed inside the escape rooms, and to add to that, the game gave us a hundred yen, which means that it wants us to play the two games.” Bai Yan muttered to himself, “Unfortunately, there were times that the game posed some limitations. If we played the escape room, we may get stuck and not be able to get out. But, if there’s enough time, we’d better play along and go for the escape room.”

Bai Yan’s words resounded to the bottom of Su Yize’s heart, so the two finally reached an agreement and prepared to wait outside the door for five more minutes. If there weren’t any people that came over within these five minutes, they would buy tickets.

The heavens did not disappoint those who wished for something because, after another five minutes, the haunted house finally attracted two more customers.

“Wenwen, I’ve never experienced a haunted house before. It just so happens that there’s a haunted house right here, so come inside with me,” a short-haired girl meekly said.

“Hold on a minute. I’ll look up some reviews here.” Wang Ziwen opened her phone and searched for this haunted house online. Soon, she raised her phone and knitted her eyebrows, “I’d rather not Xiaojing. All the reviews online say that this haunted house is a scam and it’s not fun. Moreover, the props inside look extremely fake, and the actors do their jobs too half-heartedly. Besides the sound effects inside the haunted house making you go deaf, the place overall won’t make anyone scared. If you want to go to a great haunted house, we can go to XX. They all say that the attraction is interesting and that the place’s reputation can’t be beat.”

“Isn’t it better if it isn’t scary? I’m not that brave to begin with, and I won’t have much fun if it’s too scary.” Xu Xiaojing pulled on Wang Ziwen’s hand, acting like a spoiled child and saying, “Let’s go together. Not only have I not tried a haunted house, but I haven’t been in an escape room as well. I heard that we can play both in this haunted house. You know, I’ll get scared if I do this alone. Just keep me company. I’ll treat you to a game, okay?”

“Fine. I’ll go and see if the comments online were true or not.” Wang Ziwen smiled.

As a result, the girls walked into the haunted house arm in arm, and when they saw this, the two men looked at each other and followed suit.

Seeing that four people entered his store, the boss flashed an uncontrollable smile, but before he could talk about the tickets, Xu Xiaojing let out a scream, making everyone jump from surprise.

“Ghost! There’s a ghost here!”

She pointed to a female ghost hanging itself on a beam and shuddered from utter fear.

Bai Yan tilted his head up to take a look. The girl’s finger pointed exactly at the figure he saw before. Inside, the haunted house was decorated by a doll hanging from the beams and facing the door, taking advantage of the unpredictability of the human mind and frightening every guest who entered.

As they entered the door, everyone was able to see the ghost of a person who died from hanging on the beam, but everyone was only surprised for a second and didn’t have the same big reaction as Xu Xiaojing had.

“…I stand corrected. This haunted house is not bad.” Wang Ziwen patted her best friend’s shoulder and told her to not be afraid, “Boss, I didn’t see a female ghost in your store’s pictures. Your props look extremely realistic, was she newly hung?”

Wang Ziwen raised her head and further examined the female ghost, realizing that it wasn’t strange for her friend to make such a big fuss over it. The female ghost looked incredibly horrifying. Her face was completely white and her eyes and mouth creepily emitted red-colored blood.

The female ghost’s eyes looked genuinely gloomy and cold and seemed that no matter where you stood, her bitter eyes would follow you, and no matter where you ran, you could never escape her sinister gaze.

“That beauty is a vision. I paid a lot of money to make this ghost.” The young owner cheerfully said, “The total for both the escape room and the haunted house is 50 yen. How about getting a set ticket?”