Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

Jiang Shuangjie saw Jiang Shuangmei, who is currently crouched down, hugging her thighs by the wall almost immediately. She reflexively yells out, Shuangshuang!

That call seems to have triggered something, and Jiang Shuangmei just shot right back up from the ground like a spring and flies over to hug Jiang Shuangjie, her body still trembling ceaselessly from the horror.

Jiang Shuangjie hurriedly embraces her and quietly coos her.

Thin looks like he wants to say something. While he is curious what really happened the last run of the Nightmare, seeing how unstable Jiang Shuangmei seemed mentally isnt a good sign that theyll get anything useful out of this.

He looks towards the Muscular instead, or more specifically, towards the paper he is holding.

Muscular shrugs and hands the letter over to Thin, who is about to say something after having finished reading it when Shen Ynj interjects, it looks like there is something wrong with the facilities in the apartment building.

Thin then remains silent.

Muscular nods, saying, thats right.

Thin looks at Shen Ynj then at Muscular in silence. He hands the piece of paper over to the teenage girl, who also says nothing after reading.

The entire ground floor lobby is silent.

Muscular looks around with a curious expression, but hes not sure if anything is wrong, so he assumes they are thinking; he himself doesnt like to think, he has always been so.

Whatever Nightmare it was, hed always put that honest, trustworthy look on his face and do whatever was told to him and win other Missiontakers trust. Sometimes those Missiontakersd still guide him out of Nightmares even though hed stolen their utility cards already.

By luck, he might reach a higher floor, unfortunately, he does not have the capability to remain on a higher floor.

Nightmares on the higher floors are unlike ones on the bottom floor. They are more dangerous, more mad, more cruel.

On the bottom floor, Missiontakers could often resolve a Nightmare through simple cooperation. In that case, while True Ends remain elusive, Normal Ends are easily within reach.

And, Bad Ends arent exactly as problematic, since there isnt a lower floor for them to go to. Though hes heard that people who achieve Bad Ends might end up succumbing to a Collapsed Nightmare Who knows, its just another of those common circulating rumours.

On higher floors, the theme of competition between Missiontakers is much more apparent. They no longer belonged to a single cohesive group. In fact, they might be deposited into multiple, or even rival factions.

Theyd drag each other back, which causes a more barbaric kind of ruthlessness to permeate the Nightmares across the upper floors of the Tower. Some Missiontakers even hold the attitude of Rather the world burns with me than I suffering alone.

Therefore, after a few times on the upper floors, Muscular was no longer interested. He felt like if he was going to sink to the depths of depravity, hed rather do that on the bottom floor.

Besides, his greediness tells him, that stealing utility cards on the bottom floor of the Tower is much easier than doing it on a higher floor.

So he stayed on the bottom floor. So he became lazier and lazier in thinking.

He waits for the rest of the Missiontakers to speak.

Thin looks at Jiang Shuangjie, who is still coddling her younger sister. She continues cheering her up while raising her eyes to meet Thins gaze coldly.

Shortly thereafter, Thin nods slightly.

He suddenly turns towards Muscular, telling him, please go into a room and do not come outside again.

Muscular freezes for a moment before yelling with a beet-red face, what what the hell?! I told you I wasnt a Carddealer! Why are you believing in that madwoman?!

I saw, Shen Ynj suddenly interjects, I saw it, a blade between your fingers.

He stares at the Missiontaker with the typical distant gaze of a zombie.

Muscular is all trembling. A few minutes ago, he was still fantasising about how he could succeed twice in this Nightmare, but now, the rest of the Missiontakers are sending him into exile.

Youre kidding him!

Muscular yells out angrily, thats not You all dont have proof! Carddealer What the actual fuck! Then he glares intensely at Jiang Shuangjie, threatening her, madwoman, just wait and see!

He wants to walk towards Jiang Shuangjie, but Thin and Shen Ynj both take a step forward. Jiang Shuangjie caresses her younger sisters hair while calmly uttering, Ill be waiting.

Muscular grips his fists tight, while most of his body is now the same redness as on his face. He cannot accept this failure, so he just makes a loud, dismissive chuckle. He ignores Thins demand for him to retreat into an empty room and stay put, and rushes out of the apartment complex completely.

Thin wipes his face with slight frustration, and tells Jiang Shuangjie, I apologise.

Jiang Shuangjie shakes her head at him, and says gently, you dont need to Thank you, to everyone.

Thin then says, he might have put your utility cards in his apartment unit, he hesitantly proposes, we could grab a master key from Management and then search his house?

Somehow, those words seem to trigger something in Jiang Shuangmeis fear reflex, and she screams, no! Dont go to the apartments! You You mustnt!

The rest of the Missiontakers are taken aback.

Jiang Shuangjie continues smoothing her younger sisters hair as she gently asks, Shuangshuang, what happened before?

Madness Jiang Shuangmei is shaking as he recounts her experience, jiejie, those furniture were mad. All the furniture. The bathtub filled with water the Roomba kept knocking me over the air-con the bedroom locked up They, they are trying to kill me You cant go

Her sentences are fragmented and her logic is a mess, but the Missiontakers are able to understand now.

Electronics!

They simultaneously proclaim.

Then Thin exasperatedly asks, the household devices have gained sentience? What kind of unreal Nightmare is this?

When suddenly, he recalls how he went to the toilet and it flushed itself. Suddenly, he felt oddly uncomfortable.

No no no, he shouldnt be trying to humanise a toilet.

He tells himself that inside.

Fortunately, because the first run of the Nightmare prepared him mentally, he was able to forcibly relax himself when the second run of the Nightmare started. He succeeded in ignoring the anxiety and therefore avoided the stomach-aches.

Though hes probably going to have PTSD reactions to toilets for the rest of his life.

The rest of the Missiontakers may never figure out what Thin is thinking, because none of them have redeveloped the biological needs of hunger, thirst, and excretion in this Nightmare either. Even Thin himself isnt sure why he suddenly needed to do a number two.

Could this Nightmare just have had an ultrarealistic setting?

In any case, the Missiontakers have all achieved a basic level of understanding of this Nightmare.

Thin asks, so what now?

The Management office, replies the teenage girl, well search again, for a master key and other things. We probably missed something.

Thin thinks about it and adds, weve went through the whole apartment but Lin Qin, the dalao was nowhere to be seen. We dont know where he is, so well have to look for him.

The rest of the Missiontakers nods.

Jiang Shuangmei, who has thoroughly recovered already, looks like she really wants to dissuade them. She really, really doesnt want back inside the apartment units. Theyre dangerous.

But With her rationale returned, she knows that if they do not explore, then how ever are they going to be able to leave this Nightmare?

So, she stays silent, but is gripping on her older sisters sleeve tightly, not willing to be separated from her at all.

They head for the Management office directly.

On the other hand, Muscular, who has left the Luoke Apartment complex by now, naturally heads for the commercial area instead. He manages to run into X Beijin after a few minutes.