Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

Garbled Text; Descent

Translated by boilpoil

Edited by boilpoil

Fei is completely befuddled, asking, why did the Nightmare restart this time?

Death isnt a condition for restarting, Mu Jiashi lays out what they know so far, but none of us lost our entire memory either

Baldie furrows his brows, and asks, there was the fog disappearing the last run, though, what if it changed the condition for restarting back to death?

Mu Jiashi agrees with the possibility, and says, possibly. If so he hesitates to think, and then puts forth a suggestion, the amusement park?

Overall, the last run they skipped the amusement park entirely. If, after the Nightmare was fundamentally changed, and it caused something to happen in the amusement park, they wouldnt know.

Thinking so, Mu Jiashi cant help but sound frustrated, the last run, we should have made a stop in the amusement park as well

Fei quietly says, no use thinking about spoilt milk, now.

Collectors gaze darts between Mu Jiashi and Fei.

Mu Jiashi looks more depressed than usual. For a short while, he doesnt utter a single word, nor does he even know whether he should utter a word. It seems he has once again erred in a Nightmare, just like how it happened the last Nightmare he was in.

Though that said, nobody can avoid mistakes forever.

Once, he suffered incredible defeat on the upper floors of the Tower. Since then, he was like a sparrow, easily spooked, jumpy, irritable, but sometimes, he cant really say for certain if it was the defeat that crushed him, or if it was merely because

He wanted to avoid some terrifying, horrifying truth.

While he remains silent, Fei decides to try asking, so thats that uh, now, what should we do?

Baldie glances at Mu Jiashi before saying, we are in the third run of the Nightmare already, and the fog is back in place. The Nightmare still has some time before it crumbles, so, should we still try to trigger that change in this Nightmare? We didnt manage to get to the bottom of the clues the last run

Suffice it to say, they had great progress in clues of the Nightmare the last run, but with the book in hand, they failed to materialise the advantage into useful information in time.

They do not know what is behind the rolling shutter; they do not know who is the person that died, or who killed him, and what relationships they had to the man that walked into the fog; they do not know how the dead person and the killer can appear and disappear into thin air; and they do not know

Mu Jiashi takes a deep breath. He raises his hand instinctively, before recalling the fact that the Nightmare has restarted, and so the book in his hand is gone.

He then says, I think that there may be other Tower residents in this Nightmare with information outside of the bookstore owner. And about the dead person, and also the author who wrote his enemy into this book Im afraid there are still more details were missing here.

Fei nods in agreement, and asks, so, should we go to the amusement park right now?

Collector is mumbling, what amusement park?

Wu Jian looks equally lost.

Biceps doesnt actually remember anymore either, but because he has once been to this Nightmare already, he is still calm in demeanour, but he is also asking himself quietly, what run of the Nightmare are we in? I cant remember a thing that happened earlier

It is not so different from Fei, either, who can still remember some of what happened the last two runs, but only insofar as she heard it relayed to her from Baldie and Mu Jiashi; she is unable to consciously appreciate how she actually went through them as herself.

This is quite the awkward feeling. It sounds like she experienced and did lots of things, but she herself has no recollection. The only thing she can recall, is what Mu Jiashi told her that she did.

And

She cannot remember why the fog was gone the last run already. It is only compounding to her innate mental stress, which is already heavy thanks to her thoughts about the Apocalypse, their memories, the Tower, and everything else resurfacing in her mind.

She takes a look over at Wu Jian, and sees him looking deeply worried as well.

So while the six of them are heading for the amusement park, she quietly whispers to Wu Jian, perhaps, we can still come to this Nightmare next time.

Wu Jian looks up at her.

Feis tone is trembling slightly. She tries all she can to maintain her calm, but she is still enveloped in this shapeless fear and anxiety.

People in their organisation are often sensitive and even paranoid, which only contributes to them coming up with bolder, bolder and even outlandish claims.

She says, we have both forgotten what happened in this Nightmare, so if we come back here the next time, we could probably perform much better early on.

Wu Jian does not at all sound optimistic, though, but, what if we kept forgetting? He looks almost terrified when he continues, what if, NE would just make us forget, forever?

He doesnt dare make his words too explicit, but he knows Fei would get what he is saying.

They are trapped here. By they, he means humanity, trapped in this desolate dump of a Tower. They seem to be able to escape, or at least, rumours say that someone has successfully escaped.

It is a claim that nobody can verify, though.

Where NE can control, and even delete human memories, what if those Missiontakers who did actually win the game, merely just have their memories wiped and put right back onto Respawn Avenue?

What if What if Missiontakers like them, all the humans, are merely analogous to the man who keeps bringing bread into the fog repeatedly going through a Sisyphean task?

All they have been doing is going into and out of Nightmares. This seems to ominously resonate with that hypothesis.

They do not know any actual person that has left the Tower, the same way that they do not know, what has actually happened to those humans who succumbed to Collapsed Nightmares.

They know nothing. And, even if they did know, would that actually be any relief?

Those zombies, and the decadent Missiontakers, they do not want any part in this truth. They just want to keep living on under the guise of this is fine they put up themselves Or at least, to keep surviving. They refuse to know the truth.

And behind all that, is the high and mighty NE. Would it actually allow them to pry into the deepest, the fundamental secrets of the Tower?

There are also clearly distress and pain on Feis facial expression now. Trying to lighten the mood, she says, at least, when were talking about these, NE doesnt jump out and seal our mouths shut.

Wu Jian also makes a forced smile.