Monster Escape Room Re-Employment Chapter 8

Severed Ties (1)

“I’ve always heard this place is super immersive, even the staff in the front hall cosplay. It’s actually true.”

A group of young people stood chatting and laughing in front of the door to the Mountain Village Wedding Feast themed escape room, waiting for the staff’s brief explanation before entering.

One girl nestled into her boyfriend’s arms, whining, “What should I do? I’ve never played a horror scenario like this before. I’m so scared~~”

The boyfriend comforted her, “Don’t be scared, baby. It’s all fake.”

“Here they go with the PDA again,” their companions teased, the atmosphere light and friendly.

“Please wear your walkie-talkies. Once the game officially begins, each player will be assigned team or individual tasks. You can also contact us via walkie-talkie if you need help or assistance.” Black Impermanence gave the routine introduction with a blank expression. Her long bangs covered half her face, revealing only her bright red lips opening and closing as she spoke. She was dressed in the same ancient Warring States period black robe, and just standing there was enough to make people nervous—if you ignored the pink My Melody plushie she was clutching.

She remembered White Impermanence warning her to be kind and approachable to guests, as the customer is the King of Hell. So, she forced a strange smile. “Baifeng Village is an ancient, secluded mountain village with its own unique culture and customs. You have been invited by a friend to attend her wedding feast here. We wish you good luck.”

“Honey~ I kind of don’t want to play anymore~~”

“Oh come on, everyone finally managed to clear their schedules. Just bear with it, it’ll be over soon. You have this big group of people with you.”

A short-haired girl nearby was clearly also scared, unconsciously biting her lower lip, but she said nothing. She joined the others in persuading the whining girl to try it out, saying they could always quit midway if it got too much.

Black Impermanence recalled the time the (Acting) Manager and Lou Xian played the newly revamped version after Ripper Woman’s adjustments. She had wanted to show the script to Jiang Lingyi, but he refused, citing that spoilers would ruin the experience and prevent him from giving an impartial review from a customer’s perspective. He even put on his glasses specifically for the test run.

The logistics team employees in the control room all participated in Bandage Guy’s bet on how long Jiang Lingyi would last. About ten minutes in, the arrogant (Acting) Manager let out a miserable shriek. The control room erupted in laughter. Bandage Guy was initially the happiest one watching the monitor, but as time passed, the silence grew longer, and Jiang Lingyi’s acting became increasingly exaggerated.

That guy was just pretending to be scared so he could take advantage of Lou Xian!

Although Bandage Guy won the bet, he felt like he had lost.

“Hmph, a powerhouse like Lou Xian looks down on weaklings,” Bandage Guy sneered. He relayed instructions through the walkie-talkie and ordered the employees controlling the mechanisms to increase the difficulty. “Bring out your best tricks and turn this place into hell! Scare him so badly he wets his pants!” He had completely forgotten his duties as the logistics team leader, focused only on settling a personal score.

A thunderous roar of acknowledgment came through the walkie-talkie. Bandage Guy was unaware that he, too, had become part of a bet; half the employees were privately wagering on whether he could successfully deflate the (Acting) Manager’s arrogance.

It was from that moment on that Jiang Lingyi’s expression became extremely serious. He moved through the remaining process at a slightly slower pace, occasionally inspecting the details of props and set pieces. He muttered under his breath, and when the volume was amplified, they heard him repeatedly chanting, “Not good, unacceptable, too much is as bad as too little.” His eyes were more sinister than the ghosts chasing him. Those eight characters sounded like a devil’s whisper, causing an inexplicable shiver in everyone’s hearts, a premonition that something more ominous was about to descend upon this Extremely Inauspicious Ground.

Sure enough, the entire logistics team had their wages docked. Bandage Guy bore the brunt, being called into the manager’s office alone. No one knew what was said, but when he emerged, he looked like a mummy.

Black Impermanence shook her head, pulling her thoughts back from the distance, and opened the door for the current group of guests. They would have to feel their way along the wall through a pitch-black tunnel before reaching the main scene, just like the (Acting) Manager did on his first day. Wandering Spirits would follow them, occasionally tugging at someone’s clothes or blowing air into their ear.

“Holy crap, did we actually travel through time? This is an indoor escape room?” The young people were stunned by the sight before them after emerging from the tunnel.

With the enhancement of Lou Xian’s Spatial Illusion Technique, the set design of Phantom Immersive Horror Escape Room was incomparable to the indoor sets of typical establishments. It could essentially be understood as briefly entering a small alternate world where those inside completely lost their normal perception of space.

Ancient, withered trees were intertwined with gnarled roots, the muddy ground was difficult to traverse, rain and mist permeated the air, and a blood-red full moon hung high in the night sky. A dirt road led into the depths of the village, where clusters of buildings could vaguely be seen amidst the towering mountains. A faded signpost bore the scrawled words “Baifeng Village.” Below it lay two skeletons, only the upper halves remaining. A flashlight was wedged between the ribs of one, and a dilapidated red sedan chair was parked nearby.

The walkie-talkie flashed with a frequency adjustment electronic sound, beeping a few times like an incoming call notification. A clear female voice emerged, playfully complaining, “Why are you so late~ The Ritual is about to start, hurry up! My house is halfway up the mountain, you can recognize it easily by the red lanterns and the ‘囍’ character pasted on the door. Oh, right, here we can’t—otherwise you will—die—” The last sentence became intermittent, the static growing louder until the call abruptly ended, leaving only silence.

“W-w-what did she say? What Ritual? Can’t do what? What die?” one boy stammered, trembling.

“It must be a hint about our mission objective,” the short-haired girl said, trying to stay calm. She pointed toward the depths of the village. “It looks like we need to go to her house.”

The couple had already become conjoined twins. The girl was clinging to her boyfriend like a koala, their hands glued together, making others wonder if the escape room and their teammates were just part of their personal play.

…

Twenty minutes later.

“Aaaahhhhhh!”

In the narrow corridor of the ancient house, several people were pushing and shoving, panicking. Behind them, a figure in a scorched Red Wedding Dress, covered by a large red veil bearing the ‘囍’ character, was slowly moving toward them, her arms outstretched, revealing sharp, claw-like fingernails.

Most bizarrely, beneath her skirt were not shoes, nor was it empty space, but octopus-like tentacles that extended and writhed, making a sticky, wet, slapping sound on the floor. The sucking discs on the tentacles pulsed and gaped, causing a visceral sense of revulsion. Somewhere, the sound of gongs, drums, and suona music drifted in.

It was essentially a fusion of a giant octopus and a ghost bride. The zombie-faced young man who came up with this combination was undeniably a genius.

“Run, she’s coming!”

“Why are you blocking the way!”

“I’m not blocking it, he won’t let me pass!”

The panicked young people’s language function modules were damaged, and they began babbling incoherently.

“That way, there’s a door over there!”

Someone shouted. The boyfriend in the couple roughly shoved his teammates aside, grabbed the short-haired girl’s hand, and sprinted away, slamming the door shut behind them, leaving everyone else outside to face the ghost bride’s pursuit. His abandoned girlfriend stared blankly. More than the NPC, she was shocked that her boyfriend had run off holding another girl’s hand?! And locked her out?

A teammate angrily pounded on the door, roaring, “Open up, Da Zhang! We’re supposed to be brothers!” Seeing the ghost bride getting closer, her tentacles nearly reaching him, he gave up on knocking and stumbled away with the remaining teammates, running deeper into the corridor.

“There, you owe me two years of cultivation,” Bandage Guy reached out to the Tibetan Fox Immortal next to him, demanding payment. “I told you this guy would abandon his wife and child.”

The Tibetan Fox Immortal argued stubbornly, “Look, didn’t he grab that short-haired girl? Maybe he meant to grab his girlfriend but grabbed the wrong person in his panic!”

“How is that possible? The two girls were one on his left and one on his right. Can’t he tell left from right? I think he did it on purpose. Just watch, humans are the most disloyal creatures,” Bandage Guy scoffed.

“Xiao Jia, Da Zhang definitely wanted to grab you, but he was too panicked and grabbed Bingbing instead.” On the monitor, the few people who hadn’t made it into the room had temporarily escaped the ghost bride and stopped to comfort the crying girl.

“Hmph… It better be that way!” Xiao Jia rubbed her red eyes, staring ahead resentfully.

They contacted each other via walkie-talkie and successfully regrouped by an ancient well in the village.

“Baby, I’m sorry, I was really panicked just now.” The boyfriend and the short-haired girl appeared together, and he immediately begged his girlfriend for forgiveness. “We’ll hold hands now and never separate again!”

“I’m sorry, Xiao Jia. I’m sure Da Zhang cares about you the most.”

“Who knows,” Xiao Jia grumbled, but she honestly took the hand Da Zhang offered. “What do we do next?”

“Wait.” The Tibetan Fox Immortal suddenly sat up straight. “There’s a fluctuation in the Great Array!”

Bandage Guy quickly shed his gossiping demeanor. The Great Array, the Yin-Yang Separation and Union Array set up by Lou Xian, was the most crucial formation covering the entire establishment. Lou Xian had accidentally discovered records of it in the library while cultivating at the place called ‘University.’ This array could integrate Extremely Inauspicious Ground feng shui for their own use, catalyzing it with human vital energy and converting it into the nourishment the ghosts relied on for survival—the lifeblood of all the staff.

Everyone else also sensed the unusual fluctuation. The control room fell into a panic. It was daytime, and Jiang Lingyi was absent. If he came over tonight and saw some disaster had occurred in the store… No one dared to think further. Bandage Guy roared, “What are you panicking for!” He turned to the Tibetan Fox Immortal. “Quickly find the fluctuation epicenter!” He systematically instructed the others: “You go find Lou Xian, you notify the other teams, you explain the situation on the staff channel…”

“Team Leader, the epicenter is found!” The Tibetan Fox Immortal pointed a trembling finger at the monitor. The ancient well next to the group of young people was beginning to show obvious spatial distortion. “S-something is about to come out of it!”