Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

Nightmare II

Translated by boilpoil

Edited by boilpoil

Mu Jiashi leaves X Beijins bookstore almost in a trance.

When he tells Ding Yi his thoughts, the number of people in a trance increases by one.

Ding Yi thought about it for a long time, with many information coming in and out of her mind; she thinks she understood more, but there are yet more questions that she finds she has.

Then, she takes a deep breath, and says, never mind all that. Whether he is, or isnt NE, what we need to do now Is get this over with.

Mu Jiashi also nods.

He knows that even if they accuse X Beijin of being NE, the person in question would never actually answer them. Its a one-sided guess.

He parts with Ding Yi and leaves to do what he needs to do to form a consensus among the nine others about what to do after entering the Nightmare.

Notably, Lin Qin is joining in. Mu Jiashi wonders if this is of his own accord, or a request from X Beijin.

No one dares asking, of course.

Wu Jian seems restless and wants his curiosity satiated, but he practically peters out immediately as soon as he recalls Lin Qins fighting power.

They say curiosity killed the cat; hes no cat, hes a human, and he intends to continue being one.

Mu Jiashi, meanwhile, is actually quite curious why Lin Qin joined; sure, hes powerful, and that is meaningful all on its own, but considering X Beijins requirements, Lin Qin doesnt seem to fit.

But after actually probing the matter, Mu Jiashi is shocked to discover that, Lin Qin has actually been to a truly staggering amount of Nightmares.

Other Missiontakers impressions of Lin Qin is that he is disinterested in Nightmares and almost never intervenes in a Nightmares progression unless theyre dragged down enough to bore him to irritation. Otherwise, he simply takes strolls in them casually.

Therefore, when Lin Qin is in a Nightmare, the Missiontakers therein usually factors him out, as a sort of when-all-else-fails Abort button.

So even Mu Jiashi failed to take into account that, during these years when hes active, Lin Qin actually also frequented Nightmares almost nonstop. Maybe even more than most Missiontakers.

Its simply that he has never left the bottom floor, or showed any opinions, positive or negative, towards the Tower, that everyone treats Lin Qin like a looming but manageable shadow.

The crownless King that everyone acknowledges, but no one really takes seriously.

Thinking about it, that Lin Qin is able to proceed through all sorts of Nightmares unscathed, is itself interesting even in spite of his overwhelming power.

Of course there are a lot of Nightmares that can be resolved with violence and brawn, but there are also a lot that target the mind and psyche.

Brainless brawn can only get you so far in those.

So now, Mu Jiashi cant help but suspect Lin Qin a little.

Only momentarily, though. He doesnt have time to waste thinking about this, as he has to come up with countermeasures for whatever happens in X Beijins Nightmare.

Would they be separated in the beginning? Would they encounter an unreasonable Bad End right at the beginning? Would they succumb in no time?

These are all things he must consider, as he is responsible for his companions wellbeing.

Then, theres the matter of distribution of the utility cards.

Some Missiontakers want to keep and use their own, and gently made clear that they are opposed to sharing utility cards;

Some need more help, or a happy to help. Regardless, it is now Mu Jiashis problem to help arrange them.

Besides matters directly relating to X Beijins Nightmare, they also talk about other stuff sometimes, like the Apocalypse, or information they have, from possibly different floors, and their own hypothesis for what actually happened.

The only consistent theme of the discussions, is the many sighs that end up filling the air, marking the end of all discussions.

The general mood is sinking as well, as everyone begins avoiding topics unrelated to Nightmares. In the end, they talk about nothing but Nightmares.

Meanwhile, Ding Yi didnt have much difficulty doing what X Beijin asked of her. With the phrase Ultimate Nightmare there, many Missiontakers would be happy to comply for a little. It does take some time, of course, for Ding Yi to get into contact with some old acquaintances to help the matter.

They all become quite busy in the end.

At the same time, X Beijin, who is seemingly living in the eye of the storm at the moment, isnt actually as calm as he would appear to be.

He looks expressionless, but he is actually anxiously awaiting an update.

An information update from Olai.

A day before his Nightmare is due to open, he arrives at the empty residence he told Olai about.

Inside, he found a note from Olai. He did what X Beijin asked him to doTo leave a message in the Maertons network.

He probably has no idea at all why X Beijin asked him to do that, nor did he understand what the information actually meant. He might not even have comprehended it.

But, all that said, he did it.

Theyre the Bilers. Scaredy, introverted, play-it-safe, but absolutely keeps promises.

X Beijin is gripping the note tightly. At that moment, some kind of deep emotion is swirling within his chest. He is dazed.

He stands there for a long time, until finally, he starts smiling.

Hope, he thinks. Hope is what he now holds in his hands.

As for the Missiontakers who do not have the faintest idea what is actually going on behind everything, all they could notice, is that since some certain point in time, the Tower suddenly came to life.

The liveliness first appeared among the Tower residents, until it spread all the way through the Missiontakers.

At first, Missiontakers are shocked to discover that, the Tower residents who usually spend their days idling and trundling along like salted fish, are suddenly traveling to each other and communicating just out of sight.

They are rushing about, looking clearly excited under the usual disguise of madness, relaying the messages of joy to everyone.

Missiontakers who try to gather more information about it from them receives naught but heads shaking.

The Missiontakers, though, are now aware that the Tower residents are also humans like them, merely under more restrictions.

While many Missiontakers are still taking their time to come to terms with this, there are also some that are exclaiming in joyWe refer to those Missiontakers who have rather unsavoury desires of the Tower residents.

Of course, there would also be a very small minority who dislike humans already and find solace in the NPCs, now ending up looking utterly devastated as if theyve just had their heartstrings manipulated and dumped.

But we digress, as the matter at hand, is that the Tower residents abnormal elevated excitement has attracted the Missiontakers attentions.

They all realise that something must be happening in the Tower, even if they have no idea what the Tower residents are communicating to each other about.

What are they all running along to tell each other about? Why is there such a change in their endlessly repeating lives in the Tower?

And after a short period of time, some Missiontakers find that other Missiontakers are also acting weird, looking at each other with weird winks and gestures.

Did you hear?

Of course. You did as well?

Yeah, for sure.

Something has been set in motion.

The information swept through the entire bottom floor of the Tower in but one or two days like a storm.