Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

Oversight

Translated by boilpoil

Edited by boilpoil

Even if Lin Qin can remain calm and expressionless under the gazes of both X Beijin and Mu Jiashi, he still cant help but blink.

Though he is still standing there unflinching; acting like if he left or sat down, hed have conceded defeat to Mu Jiashi.

X Beijin also stands up, while looking at Lin Qin with a complicated expression.

Mu Jiashi, observing their interactions, feels a bit more confident in his attempt.

X Beijin can feel his head throbbing in pain, having already experienced how headstrong Lin Qin gets when hes in the mood. He acts like nothing is out of the ordinary and ignores Lin Qin, and asks Mu Jiashi, do you need me for something?

Mu Jiashi starts considering his words carefully, and decides to go with a straightforward approach, its about your Nightmare

X Beijins expression almost immediately sours. His brows are furrowed, and his gaze is piercing. Mu Jiashi finds himself on the receiving end of an unreadable aura.

He still continues, the situation in the Tower has changed substantially. Are you still equally determined about not opening your Nightmare?

The aura from X Beijin lessens a little as he falls into thought.

Lin Qin, though, looking to one person and the next and back again, seizes the opportunity to interject, Beijin is already considering it, but he says he still has to think about it some more.

Mu Jiashi, astonished, first looks at Lin Qin, before turning his eyes back onto X Beijin.

X Beijin

He turns his expressionless, piercing gaze over at Lin Qin.

Lin Qin tilts his baby face to say, you cant get angry. Its exactly what you told me.

The corner of X Beijins mouth is twitching. He remains silent for a moment, before confirming it with Mu Jiashi with a heavy tone, yes. Its as he says.

His tone is heavy because frankly, hes just going to give up.

Yes! Thats right! He is considering, but he is not yet determined! So, just let him procrastinate and think some more!

Okay?!

Lin Qin has failed to dress it up in pretty words, but its precisely what X Beijin wants to get across; and to be frank, his straightforwardness has helped out X Beijin, who was still mulling over the choices of words.

Really, its even secretly a relief to him.

Anyway, now, he has finally committedbeencommitted, to this path To this choice.

For someone like X Beijin, if hes in the stages of considering opening his Nightmare, it means that, a certain day in the future, hewillopen his Nightmare.

He still just needed some more time to work out the costs and effects and minimise risks.

Well, not that he really has that much time to begin with.

X Beijin cant help but feel exhausted thinking about it again. He closes his eyes, to let his parched eyes be moisturised in a little respite. Then he opens his eyes, faces Mu Jiashi, and tells him, I still need a bit more time to consider the matter. So if if you want into my Nightmare, please come visit me at the bookstore within three days after leaving this Nightmare.

Also, you should expect that the principle of equivalent exchange is still in effect.

Mu Jiashi is listening pretty closely up to this point, when he gets a little surprised.

Exchange for what?

X Beijin clarifies, therefore, you may still trade inthingsof worth for clues on my Nightmare.

Mu Jiashi suddenly gets it.

Hes helping them cheat! Hes trying to clue him in to what his Nightmare is!

But can Tower residents really do that? Or is it a rule that they have to do that?

Here, Mu Jiashi starts recalling the many Nightmares he has been to. Some guesses start bubbling up his mind.

Oh man, this sure is

He turns to look at Lin Qin, and back at X Beijin again. Hes thanking the dalao Lin Qin in his mind.

Hes brought this powerful golden thigh on board for them.

Mu Jiashi was slightly worried earlier when Lin Qin interjected, that X Beijin might be unhappy about it; he didnt seem too terribly displeased, though.

Or really, how gentle hes been about it contrasts quite starkly against how he treated the people who besieged his bookstore all those years back.

Its pretty clear who X Beijin treats as someone close to him.

Mu Jiashi is really glad that the dalao Lin Qin has helped sway this mysterious, probably neutral, occasionally morally ambiguous bookstore owner over to their side Thank the lucky stars.

Yes. To Mu Jiashi, this bookstore owner whose principle is guided by equivalent exchange, would therefore sometimes commit to acts that run evil to more traditional ethical judgement.

This is not helped by X Beijins usual cold, apathetic attitude, and his almost fiendish, dastardly villainous and handsome face.

It means even Mu Jiashi would feel pressured simply interacting with X Beijin.

It cant be helped when first impressions keep screaming to him that X Beijin is a great villain.

The mystique X Beijin established in the Nightmare with the post-Apocalyptic ruins through his talk of his principles, the aura that always surrounded him as a results, plus his own identity as this impenetrable bookstores owner, meant he is absolutely seen as hard to approach.

That is why Mu Jiashi has been very hesitant to touch on anything related to X Beijins Nightmare.

He is also one of those deeply interested in the Nightmare, of course, both for curiositys sake, and for the possibility of escaping the Tower.

Especially after he has concluded that X Beijins Nightmare must hold some key secret.

Though it wasnt easy to act on that urge.

Mostly because X Beijin really is such an imposing figure to deal with.

That is why, when Wu Jian suggested a relationship between X Beijin and Lin Qin, that Mu Jiashi, while in a bit of a suspension of disbelief and some last-ditch effort sort of hope, approached X Beijin, and talked about his Nightmare.

He thought it not unlikely that this would backfire spectacularly.

But X Beijins stance is actually shifting!

Mu Jiashi would attribute a majority of the praise for that to Lin Qin.

Could X Beijin have changed his opinion of his own accord? Nonsense. Just before entering this Nightmare, X Beijin was still telling him with his usual mysterious tone to look for the truth in this Nightmare himself, and not tell him the truth of anything.

Mu Jiashi finds it exceedingly unlikely for X Beijin to have changed his mind in this short a timeframe.

Maybe hes been showing goodwill towards the Missiontakers, but his Nightmare has always been a very rigidly enforced, immovable red line!

Yet, it seems Lin Qin has done the impossible, and convinced X Beijin to reconsider.

Mu Jiashi was already losing hope and steam in the few seconds of silence earlier; he didnt see a single sign of X Beijin relenting when he was asking about it himself.

Yet as soon as Lin Qin intervened, X Beijins microexpressions completely changed. Perhaps it was almost a coerced expression, but X Beijin was implicitly agreeing with Lin Qin.

Though one can imagine that coerce would only happen because it was Lin Qin that he changed his attitude, no?

Mu Jiashi is frankly, amazed.

Its essentially common knowledge now that the crownless King of the bottom floor has romantic attraction to someone.

People talk about how he is moving all the obstacles out of the way for him, how infatuated he is with his romantic interest.

But as Mu Jiashi sees it now, the feeling looks to be mutual.

Regardless, Mu Jiashi is thankful to Lin Qin.

If it were not for Lin Qins intervention, they may not have this opportunity to enter X Beijins Nightmare, now or ever in the future.