Monster Escape Room Re-Employment Chapter 3

Mobilization Meeting

Jiang Lingyi felt a beam of light hit his eyelids. Subconsciously, he fumbled for his glasses on the bedside table but found nothing. He yawned and climbed out of bed in the bedroom. Morning sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains, and dust motes danced in the beam. He loosened the button at the collar of his shirt and pulled open the door.

Lou Xian was sitting upright and still on the living room sofa, seemingly an illusion projected by the faint morning light.

Jiang Lingyi immediately slammed the door shut and leaned against the back of it, gasping.

He must have woken up too fast; he actually saw his ex-boyfriend appear in his house. He definitely hadn’t put on his glasses and was seeing things.

He searched everywhere in the bedroom, even rummaging under the bed, but couldn’t find his glasses. Thanks to this effort, his previously groggy, sleepy mind gradually cleared.

After preparing himself mentally, he pulled the door open again.

Lou Xian had somehow flashed to the doorway. Jiang Lingyi was face-to-face with his deep gray eyes, their noses mere inches apart. He retreated several steps, his heel hitting the corner of a cabinet. He hissed in pain and tumbled backward onto the bed.

“You, you, you…”

Lou Xian walked straight in. Jiang Lingyi quickly looked around, checking if there was anything in the bedroom that Lou Xian shouldn’t see. Lou Xian stopped in front of the flustered Jiang Lingyi, extended his hand, and opened his palm. Resting safely in his palm were Jiang Lingyi’s silver-rimmed, thin-framed glasses.

“I adjusted your glasses. As long as you wear them, they will suppress your Spiritual Sight and won’t interfere with your normal life.”

“Oh, thank you very much.” Jiang Lingyi took the glasses and put them on. His vision cleared significantly, and even his breathing became smoother.

He recalled everything that happened yesterday, from that chaotic horror escape room, to negotiating with Manager Wu Yunying, boasting about five thousand visitors in a month, and finally seeing a female ghost crawl out of his TV when he got home… wait a minute.

“I have already recruited Chunzi. She won’t appear in your house anymore,” Lou Xian said, adding, “She has no ill intentions; she just likes the model of your TV. It’s very suitable for crawling exercises.”

He even named her so quickly… Jiang Lingyi was speechless.

“You, please step out for a moment.”

Jiang Lingyi pushed Lou Xian’s back, urging him out of the bedroom. He fiercely pinched his thighs twice, confirming that none of this was a dream—Lou Xian was truly in his house, just outside the door. He desperately wanted to jump wildly on the bed, just like the night in college when Lou Xian accepted his confession, and he returned to the dorm and nearly collapsed the bottom bunk.

No, you are no longer the Jiang Lingyi of yesteryear. Lou Xian is here to urge you to start working, not for any romantic reason. He warned himself.

Jiang Lingyi washed up, took the pre-made sandwiches out of the refrigerator, and gave one to himself and one to Lou Xian, along with milk for breakfast. Living alone, he believed in self-sufficiency, often making a week’s worth of meals on the weekend. Besides, there were many things he didn’t understand about the Phantom Immersive Horror Escape Room and Lou Xian.

Jiang Lingyi spoke, “I want to ask you a question. I don’t know if it’s convenient for you to answer…”

“What is it?”

“Manager Wu Yunying said Phantom has always been operating at a loss. How exactly did you manage to sustain it for two years?”

“Selling my bod—”

Jiang Lingyi said mournfully, “Alright, stop. You don’t need to say any more. Don’t force yourself.”

“Selling my physical labor.”

Jiang Lingyi: ?

“Side jobs and odd jobs,” Lou Xian clarified. “McDonald’s Fry Guy, Starbucks barista, moving bricks on construction sites, Taobao model, things like that. Phantom occasionally takes on commercial performances for Halloween events at malls and amusement parks.”

Honestly, Jiang Lingyi found it hard to imagine the ethereal Lou Xian doing such heavy manual labor. Surely there were easier side jobs?

“This involves another layer of reason. It’s easy for me to support myself, but my employees… they followed me willingly, and I cannot abandon them. Given their forms, it’s difficult for them to find other means of survival. Moreover, we don’t belong to this world. To maintain our existence, we must absorb the vital essence of living people. Don’t worry, it’s only the equivalent of a mosquito bite; it won’t cause any harm. So I have to bring the nourishment back from places with high foot traffic and distribute it to them.”

Jiang Lingyi hesitated, “Then me…”

“You have a very tough fate.”

Jiang Lingyi decided not to ask how he came to that conclusion.

“It’s fine. If this mall doesn’t work out, we can switch to the next one.”

Lou Xian shook his head. “That won’t work. The feng shui of that area is an extremely rare Extremely Inauspicious Ground. No store can last more than half a year without closing down. The mall is also very troubled; finding people to perform rituals and chant scriptures hasn’t helped. But it is very suitable for my employees to survive.”

“I see. No wonder that fox-like manager was willing to leave you alone for two years. So there’s this dark history.”

“Foot traffic directly relates to our life and death. That is no exaggeration.”

“Alright, then let’s go conduct an on-site inspection of the store’s current situation today.” Jiang Lingyi scratched his hair, realizing the situation was more serious than he had imagined.

Lou Xian showed a slight expression of relief. Jiang Lingyi emphasized, “I am an intern.”

“You’re still sticking to that persona, huh?” He was being teased.

While waiting for the train on the subway platform, Jiang Lingyi tried pulling his glasses down to his nose bridge, looking up to observe his surroundings. He saw a black-haired, white-robed female ghost clinging to the head of a passerby on the opposite platform. She was slightly bowed, seemingly looking at the phone with him, her hair hanging down, almost enveloping the passerby’s upper body.

Jiang Lingyi pushed up his glasses. Looking through the lenses, the female ghost’s figure was completely invisible.

He pulled them down again, and her figure reappeared clearly. This time, she struck a pose like a rock singer, constantly headbanging and dancing enthusiastically next to the passerby. Her long black hair spun like a large windmill—truly soul-filled underworld punk.

He nervously tugged at Lou Xian’s sleeve. “Didn’t you say Chunzi wouldn’t appear anymore?”

Lou Xian replied calmly, “She just won’t appear in your house. She didn’t say she wouldn’t appear elsewhere.”

Jiang Lingyi couldn’t argue with that.

…

Today, the Phantom Immersive Horror Escape Room was as deserted as yesterday. Lou Xian put away the pull-up banner and hung up the “Closed” sign. The front desk attendant wasn’t there either, allegedly having taken leave because he was too upset about dropping a rank in Honor of Kings yesterday. Jiang Lingyi immediately wanted to fire him, but considering the difficulty of hiring new staff afterward, he abandoned the idea.

Lou Xian led him through the staff passage. At the end were the lounge and office, with doors connecting to the various escape rooms and a fire exit on either side.

“All the demonic employees are here today.”

Jiang Lingyi stood nervously at the lounge door, hearing a clamor inside.

“Is Lord Lou Xian really going to let a human manage us?”

“Is Phantom really going under? Is today the meeting to announce the breakup, boohoo…”

“We can’t go back anyway. When we followed Lord Lou Xian here, we didn’t prepare a retreat.”

“We could always become cosplayers at some convention, I guess. You look like a monster from Silent Hill anyway.”

“Say that again! I am myself, not some character from a game!!”

“Everyone stop, quiet down!”

The moment Lou Xian pushed the door open, everyone stopped and looked in their direction.

Jiang Lingyi was somewhat grateful for his nearsightedness; if he saw too clearly, his sanity might collapse first. He put on a facade of composure, striding confidently under their gaze, following Lou Xian onto a raised platform, standing in the spotlighted center.

A slight sweat beaded on his forehead. He quickly scanned the audience. Besides the Wandering Spirit, Midnight Clown, River God, and Ripper Woman he had seen yesterday, there seemed to be a mysterious giant octopus, a red-veiled bride without feet, a headless nurse, a strange person covered in bandages, the burly Cleaver Butcher, a Qing Dynasty Zombie… quite a variety of styles and types. There was a dense crowd, roughly estimated at twenty to thirty individuals.

“Ahem!” Jiang Lingyi took the microphone Lou Xian handed him and cleared his throat. “Starting today, I am the (acting) manager of this store! Our goal is to reach five thousand visitors this month, and I will do my best to work hard alongside all of you!”

“Tch.” Bandage Guy spat. “I don’t want a human telling me what to do!”

“Exactly!”

“Why should we listen?”

“Get lost! We don’t need you here!”

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the employees responded in agreement.

Jiang Lingyi sneered, “Heh, it seems you still don’t understand your situation.” He pointed to Lou Xian beside him. “If you weren’t so incompetent that you couldn’t even attract customers, how would Lou Xian have been reduced to working odd jobs just to replenish your energy! You are the ones dragging him down, and you have the nerve to complain here!”

Someone retorted, “We initially thought we could make a living in this different world, that’s why we followed Lord Lou Xian! Who knew…”

Jiang Lingyi interrupted, “Did he force you? This was your own choice. Don’t push the responsibility onto others!”

The crowd’s emotions clearly flared up, stirring gusts of chilling wind. Jiang Lingyi stood firm, facing the wind and delivering his output.

“Look at you, sighing and looking like a pack of stray dogs. You’re about to lose your only sanctuary, and your very existence is about to dissipate, yet you still do nothing, blaming this person and shifting the blame to that one! It’s all up to Lou Xian to find help and negotiate with the manager! My assessment yesterday was absolutely correct: the employees are low-grade trash, the boss is mentally deficient, and only fools would come here to play. This store deserves to close down!!”

Jiang Lingyi threw down the microphone and slammed his hand on the table. “I’ll reintroduce myself: I am the (acting) manager, Jiang Lingyi. Get that straight! Whatever dissatisfaction you have, bottle it up, and we’ll settle the score in a month! The more you hate me, the better. Anyway, you’ll eventually fade away and won’t be able to take revenge. Before that, I’m going to go all out and make sure you’re managed every day by the human you hate the most, and I’ll even date your boss! Go ahead and continue being losers in this world too! Five thousand people? That’s something I can achieve easily. You think you’re so amazing? Then prove me wrong and show me!!”

The chilling wind had transformed into blades of killing intent, assaulting Jiang Lingyi. He stood fearlessly on the platform, looking down at the monsters and ghosts, bearing everyone’s hatred and hostility.

But no one spoke up to refute him again.

Lou Xian watched Jiang Lingyi’s stern profile, confirming that his decision to appoint him as manager was correct.