Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

[WOMAN MURDERED IN SLEEPY TOWN!]

Mu Jiashis gaze fixates on the headlines for a little bit, but because hes in a hurry, instead of continuing to read, he looks back up at X Beijin, asking, laoban, how much is this?

Its free. Take it with you, X Beijin shakes his head and smiles, mentioning, I remember you.

Mu Jiashi appears surprised, and hastily responds, thanks Not just for the newspaper, and also

No problem, then he points towards Laosan, looking all anxious outside, I think that is your companion outside?

Mu Jiashi follows his finger and murmurs, thats right Then he hesitantly asks, laoban, later, can I look for you in the Tower to talk?

He knows where X Beijins bookstore is.

Well, that is pretty much assuming theyll not have a True End in this Nightmare too; if they did, the meeting may be postponed practically indefinitely.

X Beijin nods and says, certainly.

Mu Jiashi gives him a complicated look before leaving with the newspaper in hand.

He knows that, he is interested in this particular Tower resident because outside of him not sleeping and liking drinks, X Beijin is far too normal.

That is not how the Tower residents are. They know theyre insane, disorderly. Their actions are chaotic, desperate and full of hopeless self-loathe.

They are like mould growing inside this decrepit, narrow tower structure. They are some rotten, stinky stain that all Missiontakers would rather avoid;

And not Not like X Beijin.

He owns a bookstore. He enjoys sweet drinks. He wears a shirt that has been washed so many times it is decolouringHis hair is messy and unkempt, but, he is definitely clean. And, his gaze is always calmly, unreadably cast onto all the outsiders.

If he appeared more insane, evil, twisted, then the Missiontakers wouldnt have taken much interest in his Nightmare in particular with so many Tower residents, why should they fixate on him alone?

Because he is far too normal.

All the strange behaviour and odd aspects of the residents have left X Beijin alone.

Such a special Tower resident will, naturally, attract the Missiontakers attention, suspecting whether he carries some secrets related to the Tower, or even, if he might hold secrets to leaving the Tower for good.

Mu Jiashi was one of those adhering to that line of thought.

He, who just left his Golddigger team behind, desperately needed to prove how correct his decision was. Therefore, he chose X Beijin. Even though he ended up failing to uncover his secrets in the end, but he did successfully go up to a higher floor.

Although he has since met with another failure. And this failure could be permanent?

When Mu Jiashi leaves the bookstore, X Beijin is also mulling about him, staring at his retreating silhouette.

That is when Lin Qin slowly speaks up besides him, you would let him visit you in the Tower but not fight with me?

X Beijin

He turns his attention back to Lin Qin, looking at him with this vexed expression; he doesnt exactly know how to explain.

Lin Qin asks, I can give you drinks forever. Can he? He says, matter-of-factly, no, he cant. So, why wouldnt you agree to fighting with me?

X Beijin opens his mouth but no words come out. He is thinking that, Lin Qins world sure is simplistic to a fault.

It seems that Lin Qin treats fighting no differently from casual greetings.

So his logic would be, Mu Jiashi wants to visit X Beijin, and X Beijin agreed; so Lin Qin wants X Beijin to fight with him, X Beijin should also have agreed.

X Beijin ponders how he should reply, then tells them, but, for me, having a fight is a completely distinct thing from receiving a guest.

Oh, then can I go visit you?

Lin Qin continues his brute-force logic to conclude, that if he is able to visit X Beijin in the Tower, he may be able to more easily figure out why X Beijin is unwilling to fight with him and then, deal with that reason directly.

X Beijin looks like he just choked on his words hearing Lin Qins sincere question.

Recalling how he has endlessly refused Lin Qins invitation without hesitation; and how he just agreed to Mu Jiashi visiting him, while Lin Qin makes the exact same request

Although hesitant, X Beijin ends up relenting, of course.

He almost feels like he is opening the cage to an untamed beast with that answer, though.

Lin Qins eyes seem to light up as he makes a beaming smile with that adorable baby-face. Then he asks, where do you live?

X Beijin tells him his address.

Lin Qin seems elated to hear, remarking, oh, so its actually just around the corner from where I live!

X Beijin is quietly thinking how misleading Lin Qins appearance is, especially when he is smiling. He looks so sweet and gentle, though What do you know, under this innocent faade is actually a ferocious, uncontrollably wild beast.

The same way that, what do you know, despite the sharp features, the sombre, abyssal mood surrounding X Beijin which convinced all the Missiontakers he is hiding some big, big secret, fundamentally, he is merely a harmless, righteous, traditional good person.

No one could believe either at first glance, though.

X Beijin cant help but sigh.

Then, when he thinks about it, he suddenly realises that this means that after the Nightmare is over, he will be receiving two old acquaintances.

Putting Mu Jiashi aside, he actually knew Lin Qin for quite a while now, too. Though because Lin Qin would only ever ask him to fight tirelessly, he basically knows nothing about him.

After the Missiontakers have accepted the fact that he is a monster that never sleeps and lost interest in his Nightmare over time, his bookstore has rarely seen any liveliness like this.

X Beijin is even feeling a little nervous by now.

He is wondering if he should open up some rarer drinks he collected which he couldnt bring himself to waste to treat them.

Meanwhile, after leaving X Beijin behind for now, Mu Jiashi is walking outside with Laosan while looking over the newspaper in his hand.

This is probably one of the most heinous news that the local newspaper has ever had to report. It is given a horrifying subtitle and is dedicated this whole long section in the newspaper.

Mu Jiashi quickly skims through the text and extracts some pieces of information from it to compare with what the cashier told them.

The newspaper contained more detailed information, such as the fact that after the killer has murdered his own wife, he used his machete to chop the corpse into mincemeat, and then flush it down the toilet to destroy evidence.

And also, when the neighbours heard these loud, inexplicable noises and smelled the strange scent coming from the house, they called the police, who arrived after the killer has already escaped. The ten-year-old boy, hiding in the wardrobe, was discovered then.

The newspaper doesnt mention where the boy went afterwards, though.

There is also an additional warning in the newspaper saying that because the killer is at large, the residents are advised to stay alert, stay safe, and to call the police immediately upon spotting any suspicious individuals.

Mu Jiashi hands the newspaper over to Laosan for him to read while thinking that this must be the background story of this Nightmare.

The Nightmares owner is that little boy, and the dark bedroom is likely the crime scene. The womans cries they heard were probably the reenactment of the murder case.

But then, what does that make the corridor, the car park and the service area?

There are a lot of people in this service area too. Would any of them know anything else?

Mu Jiashi hopes there would be; he and Laosan would be heading back for the bedroom, but they left Ding Yi here to continue gathering information. Lets hope something turns up.

And then, after Laosan has finished reading the news, he also realises the important clue and blurts out, the wardrobe!

Yes, Mu Jiashi nods slightly, saying, the little boy was likely inside the wardrobe.

Laosan discusses with him, we never found out where the Nightmares owner was, so he was in the wardrobe all along? Then how do we free him from there Wait we numbered off

He begins murmuring, would numbering off correctly allow us to find him?

We are still not sure what the Difficulty of this Nightmare is, Mu Jiashi sighs and continues, I doubt its just something as simple as numbering off. Remember, we have eight total Missiontakers in here. We dont know if this is the minimum, maximum or somewhere in between, but no matter what, this is a lot of people.

On average, there might be five or so Missiontakers in a Nightmare.

Therefore, a Nightmare with eight Missiontakers in total can be said to be crowded already it is also a probable indication that the Nightmare is more difficult than usual.

Laosan is biting his lips in the meantime. It looks like he wants to say something, but he doesnt.

In fact, he wanted to ask the three of them entered the Nightmare together, but he is really curious where the other five people, including Mu Jiashi, came from.

The little boy is rarely seen inside the Tower; he is always shivering in fear in some forgotten corner.

It was really through sheer luck they discovered where the little boys house was. And before this, they have never even heard about this Nightmare at all from any Missiontakers.

But even so, there were somehow five others alongside them inside this Nightmare tonight. This is mysterious.

Laosan cant help but suspect if Lin Qin is involved, somehow.

They chased after the boy in the Tower, and Laoda said that he saw the boy disappear near some region which turned out to contain Lin Qins house. That was why they were loitering around Lin Qins house in the first place.

After Lin Qin chased them away, they couldnt find where the boy was anymore.

So, in the Tower, as far as they are aware, Lin Qin is the only other Missiontaker besides themselves that has interacted with the little boy.

Yet they also know that Lin Qin is a lone wolf. Even if he might have entered the Nightmare because he knew the little boy, where did these four other people come from?

Laosan cant help but feel slightly uneasy.

An unease that formed as soon as he realised Selfish and Scapegoat were hiding something.

Mu Jiashi, who is walking right next to him, is also a target of his suspicions.

They hurry along through the service area and arrive outside where the car they came here in is parked. They are about to board.

Suddenly, they hear car brakes.

Laosan and Mu Jiashi both look over.

And they watch as Selfish exit the car, and then drag a little boy out from the backseats.