Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

The other Missiontakers are having a far less easy time compared to Lin Qin.

They have basically all treated the world behind their first door as a real Nightmare and are trying to resolve it.

They forgot they are in X Beijins own Nightmare, or what their ultimate goal was.

They may not have succumbed to the Nightmare yet, but theyre definitely not of sound mind by this point.

Fruitlessly, they toil amongst the Collapsed, looping Nightmares, resolving them to no end.

Among the nine Missiontakers, the first one to finally suspect something, is Mu Jiashi.

Right now, Mu Jiashi is inside of a bank.

A teller ended up having an argument with an elderly person who was here to deposit because of the latters attitude; then, the argument spread to the other tellers.

The quarrels escalated until finally, blood is drawn.

When everyone in the bank has died, the scene restarts.

Mu Jiashi got involved in the bloodbath in his daze, but the pain of death has shaken him. He thinks he needs to stop it.

But he kept failing. When he stopped the teller from arguing with the elderly man, another customer barged in to grab the pile of cash; when he stopped both the teller and the elderly man, the elderly man still arrogantly pissed off the rest of the people in the bank;

Then theres now, when he, out of ideas, forced the shutter of the bank down before the elderly man can enter the bank, he finally realised something is wrong.

A locked shutter;

Blood in the bank;

The hot summer street outside through the glass windows; a crossroads; a library on the opposite corner of the intersection;

A lively city centre with not another single soul walking around on the streets.

The scene makes him stand and fall into thought for a very long time. He thinks he has seen this place before.

He didnt pay any attention to the situation outside of the bank in the beginning, because hes distracted enough by the chaos caused by the madmen in the bank.

But this involuntary glance out the bank, made him feel so familiar

Though he cannot remember where he has seen this at all.

His brain is like a mush. Everything feels so muddy and unclear.

He doesnt know why hes here. He is stopping the bloodbath in the bank and his own death, but to what end?

He has locked the old man who started all this out.

But that is when, he wonders, why is he even staying in the bank? He could just leave?

There is practically no solution to the predicament. Certainly, he can stop the old man, but he is still with the clearly unhinged bank staff. Eventually, something else is going to set off their anger and bloodlust.

The bloodbath cannot be stopped. He should give up struggling and just leave.

Mu Jiashi mutters and repeats the thoughts. Some kind of mysterious motivation is driving him, but there also seems to be a force in his mind making him hesitant to stay. He continues to anguish.

He thinks he shouldnt be this indecisive of a person, but something is binding him.

His brain. The intelligent mind he is so proud of.

But wait. Why would he be proud of his mind? What has he been through?

Mu Jiashi is trying to make sense out of chaos.

His instincts tell him he should already leave, because he has explored everywhere in the bank. There is nothing of value to discover except insane people. There is still so much else to explore outside.

He needs to go and see. He must collect information. That is the first priority.

So what is it that is making him hesitate?

A mental hint? Some inexplicable order from on high? He feels an unexpected and extraordinary emotion spreading through his chest.

He blinks, bewildered, looking at the locked door to the bank, staring, thinking. Then, finally, he pulls it right open.

Mu Jiashi thinks he can hear the staff of the bank yelling out from behind him. They hate him. They want him to stay

He has died several times at their hands already, just through these few short loops.

The staff of the bank, seem to be lashing an unknown anger out at him.

Its possible that this is beyond instincts. The fear and pain of death is beyond what he can take, and so even his survival instincts is making him leave.

As he opens the door to the bank, and take a step out, all the noises behind him, the sunlight casting down onto the asphalt road outside, the rather pungent air all around, that carries a certain rotten tinge to it

All the things that make him uncomfortable, disappear into the heavy, grey fog.

Mu Jiashi can see a new door, right in front of him.

He steps inside without hesitation.

Then, he arrives at a brand new, unfamiliar scene.

This is a pretty dilapidated house. Brickwork is exposed, and the dirtiness makes one feel eeriness. It feels like dust is hidden amongst every corner of this.

Through the window, Mu Jiashi sees rolling verdant hills, and several yellowish dirt paths.

These paths lead to a village at the bottom of the hill.

Mu Jiashi can hear nothing around him except for the chirping of insects.

Even though it is near dusk, when usually, these little hamlets in the hills would be scenes to warm smoke rising out of chimneys as everyone starts preparing their meals. Villagers would hurry from their fields back to their homes, leading an aging, mooing cow behind. They would greet their neighbours as they pass by, and giddy children would be waving goodbye to their friends for another day.

But not here. There is not a single lively noise here. It is quiet.

The heavy, suffocating silence threatens to deafen Mu Jiashi straight out, pouring into his ears, stuffing him.

Mu Jiashi stands on the second-floor bedroom of the house, looking at the village outside. He feels nothing but dread.

After a while, he takes a deep breath, and heads downstairs. Maybe his experience in the bank has allowed him to regain his thoughts a little, as he has realised, that in order to leave, he should be looking for a special door in this scene.

Finding the door is the only way out of certain death.

Mu Jiashi cant help but wonder, if this scene is as dangerous as the bank.

If he could decide, then he wishes the two to be as different as possible. At least, he doesnt want to die anymore.

Dying really is very hard to accept.

At the garden outside this small country farmhouse, he sees a woman who looks a little familiarWhen she is nervous, she would bite her lips, he thinks.

Mu Jiashi almost immediately concludes so upon seeing her.

He cant help but wonder, how does his mind know that? Does he know this woman?

This rather paranoid, anxious woman with trembling lips that look like theyre always muttering something

Is she someone he knows?