Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

An Attempt, II

Translated by boilpoil

Edited by boilpoil

X Beijin could not answer Lin Qins question in timeNor could he have produced an answer anyway.

Outside the bookstore, the Missiontakers spotted Lin Qin from the glass door, and came to meet up with him. Oddly enough, they would feel more secure by Lin Qins side.

X Beijin finds it amusing, but he is staying quiet and ignores them so that the Missiontakers do not pay undue attention to him; he prefers no unnecessary interaction.

The Missiontakers, though, after some muffled discussion, sends Thin X Beijins way, asking, laoban, we just came here from that apartment complex there. Did something happen there? We saw nobody there.

X Beijin stands up to answer, but pauses.

The Server, NE, just suddenly opened up some information on this Nightmare for him.

He realises, unfortunately, that while he may want to relax and slack off as an extra, as the Missiontakers decided to come get information from him, he can only be his good tool-person NPC self without complaint.

After that brief pause, he answers, as is his job, you came from there? It was virtually abandoned in face of unexpected events already. I thought nobody would live there anymore.

He said that with a smile on his face. It was a smile that certainly looked to be mocking their choice of tenancy.

Thin is quiet as he examines this Tower resident anew.

Before he talked to him, he thought he might know some information, but when this, undeniably sarcastic smile has appeared, Thin cannot help but think more deeply.

Is he someone key to this Nightmare?

Could he be behind it all?

He is close enough to the Luoke Apartment that he knows exactly what happened inside. Would a normal NPC know that much?

Also, the dangers in this Nightmare all arise from the electronics, which happen to be absent entirely in this rundown bookstore. A coincidence? Or something else?

Thin is suspicious of this man in front of him.

Before Ding Yi went into the Nightmare and ultimately went up some floors, ordering them to keep an eye on the Tower resident Lin Qin has been paying attention to recently as one of her final pieces of advice, Thin and the teenage girl didnt pay particular attention, nor did they, even when they realise that this Tower resident was the bookstore owner directly causing the chaos a few years ago on the bottom floor.

Thin himself was on a different floor then, and didnt experience the whole mess himself, the fervent desire the Missiontakers had for X Beijins Nightmare; the teenage girl is herself unusually calm, and did not allow curiosity to take over her senses.

They still investigated Lin Qins relationship with him, though.

Not that they were expecting to actually meet X Beijin in the Nightmare Although, come to think of it, this Nightmare belongs to the mans neighbour, so it is natural he appears here.

However

Thin is now questioning what role this mysterious man plays in the Nightmare?

They know Tower residents always appear in different Nightmares, employing different roles and even functions within them as long as they arent the Nightmare owners themselves. They would know differing amounts of information.

It is kind of like laziness on the game companys part for reusing NPC character models, causing the Tower residents to employ multiple background roles in different Nightmares in addition to everything else.

Missiontakers certainly wouldnt expect that this guess of being background extras is in fact actually a spot-on description for the Actors, though.

As far as they know, these Tower residents in others Nightmares, would sometimes know nothing, or sometimes have key roles, or even play key parts in the entire story of the Nightmare itself, being someone the Nightmare owner fears, etc.

In this Nightmare, the Missiontakers have yet to isolate the owner of this Nightmare. So this mysterious man, who inexplicably seems to know some information on this Nightmare, has become important in Thins eyes now.

Especially when combined with his slightly derisive smile, Thin is estimating, that perhaps his stance would more lean towards the antagonistic side?

X Beijin, of course, does not know that his smile has caused him to be antagonised again.

It was a bitter, self-loathing smile at his own poor fate as a tool-person! Who the heck wants to mock these Missiontakers! Theyre seriously just judging by the cover of the book!

What else could he do when he has such a face? Hes equally distraught

It really is fortunate he doesnt know.

So our X the Misunderstood Nightmare Boss Character Beijin is still diligently recounting everything that has occurred in the Luoke Apartment to the Missiontakers, there has been quite the commotion with that apartment building this month.

I heard a tenant has died, so the rest of the tenants sued the entire apartment management, citing some issues with facilities in the apartment, though what those issues actually are, Im not sure.

However

That is when X Beijin hesitates.

He just realised something.

The Server never allows Actors to mention anything regarding Acting. This is inviolable.

Then, what about what the Actors know about the Nightmare itself?

Normally, Actors in the Nightmares will only know what the Server tells them about the Nightmare. There wasnt anything additional they could leak to the Missiontakers.

For example, the extras. They come and go in all the Nightmares, but know not a single thing about them all.

Some extras, afraid Missiontakers might go after them seeing how often they appear, would even stay put the whole time in Nightmares and hide themselves somewhere safe. They really do know exactly nothing as the Nightmare comes to an end.

X Beijin was part of this group of extras.

Circumstances have changed, however, because X Beijin is now able to monitor the progression of the Nightmare through his streaming system. Compared to other Actors, he is practically omniscient.

Given that, could it be possible for him to relay what he learned of the Nightmare from the stream to the Missiontakers?

X Beijin is always risk-averse, so he is quickly going through his memories for any similar situation he could use to reference this attempt.

He then recalls, that Dai Wu once told him, watch out behind you.

If Dai Wu did mean what he meant, despite being an extra in this Nightmare, which means the Server also could not possibly have given him any additional information at that point, then, while the source of the information he obtained remains unknown perhaps he learned about it from the owner of the Nightmare, or from when he once Acted in this Nightmare and saw the Missiontakers plight this still means that, outside of information the Server has provided them Actors, Actors could still relay information about the Nightmare that they came to learn themselves.

(TL: tl;dr the server cannot have provided the extra, Dai Wu, with information in the Nightmare this time when they met each other, so the fact that he has still told X Beijin to watch out means it was at least permitted for Actors to give spoilers to other Actors)

X Beijin is feeling an epiphany This means he has a lot of room to test things out!

He knows that Missiontakers often misunderstand him because of his appearance, assuming he must play some important role in Nightmares, like what happened the last two Nightmares around.

Of course, he himself knows best he has always been an Extra, so the Server never provided him with information on the Nightmare beyond what an extra should have known.

So, when the fact he knew nothing on the Nightmare was exposed, the Missiontakers would then turn around to be disappointed that, oh, he isnt some important character, he just had that handsome face.

It is different now; he may be an extra, but through information obtained in the stream, he could make changes! Even try to lead them to an Ending in the Nightmare!

He thinks he must have been an extra for too long, for him to have completely forgotten, that informationis such a valuable weapon!

If he hinted to the Missiontakers the issue with the Internet, then they will definitely draw the correct conclusions immediately, especially about the truth behind this Nightmare.

Oh, and hoping that Muscular, who already knows about this, to tell the Missiontakers? Ha, you might as well rely on X Actually Not an Antagonist Beijin instead.

At least, X Beijin really is a good person at heart.

It might not actually be anything substantial he is doing, because he still cannot expose the fact that he is Acting; he is yet powerless against the chaotic underflows of the Tower.

However, going against NE is itself a happy thing!

Dai Wu may have casually mentioned Defeat NE a few times, but for some Actors, it really would be their sole driving, teeth-gritting motivation.

X Beijin doesnt share that burden nearly as heavily, but where he could, giving little helpful nudges to the Missiontakers to also disrupt NEs settings and plans for the Nightmares

Is something he would so happily oblige!