Chapter 57: Escape Room (2)
"As the team leader, this is your moment!" Han Jinsong said as he hid behind Zhuo Feng.
No matter what the leader said, he had already decided he wasn't going near that coffin.
It was obvious there would be a scare when they opened it.
"Ahem."
Even Zhuo Feng felt uneasy in this environment. He didn't dare go over either.
Lin Wan lowered her head and stared at her toes without saying a word.
The room suddenly became completely silent.
That only made it more frightening.
In a horror escape room, loud noises were scary, but silence was even worse. It felt like the calm before a storm.
Bang!
Just as expected, a loud noise suddenly came from behind them. The door had been slammed shut by something. The room was instantly swallowed by darkness.
"Holy crap!" Han Jinsong jumped in fright.
Lin Wan hugged Zhuo Feng's arm tightly. She could clearly feel that her best friend's body had shaken too.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Then a heavy banging sound echoed through the room.
It sounded like someone pounding on a door.
But it wasn't coming from the room's door. It was coming from inside the coffin.
Each bang was stronger than the last, hitting their nerves like a hammer.
None of the three dared to move.
After a while, the banging suddenly stopped.
The room fell silent again.
A few seconds passed in complete silence.
Their hearts beat faster and faster, and the tension became even heavier.
When you couldn't see anything, your hearing and sense of touch became much sharper.
And with that, the fear grew even stronger. They could even hear each other's heavy breathing.
"Holy crap!!!"
Han Jinsong suddenly took off running toward the door in the darkness.
"Run! Someone grabbed my leg!"
The moment Lin Wan heard him shout, she felt a hand grab her left ankle too.
"Ah!"
She let out a sharp scream, kicked wildly into the air, and froze for a moment.
Without even thinking, she closed her eyes, grabbed Zhuo Feng's hand, and ran.
"Haaah... Haaah..."
A hoarse growl came from behind them. It sounded like air blowing through a broken bellows.
Hearing that, Lin Wan ran even faster.
She was a few steps behind Han Jinsong. Holding onto Zhuo Feng, she rushed out the door and ran without caring which direction they were going.
By the time she finally stopped to catch her breath, she had no idea where they were.
Only she and Zhuo Feng were left. They sat on the floor with their backs against the wall.
Only then did she realize she had been holding Zhuo Feng's hand the whole time.
Zhuo Feng's heart was beating fast as well.
Looking at Lin Wan, he began to feel a little guilty.
Did I choose an escape room that was a little too scary?
I wanted to use the scary atmosphere as an excuse to get closer to her... but did I overdo it?
Lin Wan lowered her head and tried to calm herself down.
In her mind, she asked, "Spirit."
"I'm here~"
"Do ghosts really exist in this world?"
"Nope~"
"Really?"
"Really~"
Hearing her "cheat ability" say that made her feel much better.
Seeing that Lin Wan stayed quiet for a long time, Zhuo Feng tried to comfort her.
"The banging inside the coffin was probably just there to distract us. Another NPC was hiding under the dressing table so we wouldn't notice them. Then they crawled over and grabbed our legs."
"I... is that what happened?"
"Yeah. They also shut the door so no light could get in. If we had seen the NPC too early, the scare wouldn't have worked. They're all just people. Don't be afraid."
Lin Wan looked up at Zhuo Feng, who was still calmly explaining everything.
"Then... aren't you scared?"
You get terrified just watching horror movies. So why are you so calm now that we're actually inside a horror escape room?
"Ahem." Zhuo Feng froze for a moment. Not wanting to give himself away, he quickly explained,
"I'm just like that. I'm only scared of horror movies. There are real ghosts in movies. Where would you find ghosts in real life?"
"Oh... r-really?"
Lin Wan looked around at the pitch-black darkness. She didn't have the time to think about it carefully and felt that her best friend's explanation actually made sense.
"That's right."
"Where's Old Han?"
When they had rushed out of the wooden door, she hadn't even noticed where Han Jinsong had run.
Zhuo Feng shook his head. "He probably ran in another direction."
He ended up alone?
Just imagining someone being alone in a place like this made Lin Wan shiver.
All she could do was silently pray that Old Han was mentally strong enough to handle it.
"Uh..."
Lin Wan noticed that she was still holding Zhuo Feng's hand and quickly let go.
"What should we do now?"
"Let's go find Old Han. He has the walkie-talkie."
Zhuo Feng looked at his now-empty hand, feeling a little disappointed.
"Okay. I'll follow your lead."
The two of them set off again.
Lin Wan walked half a step behind him, holding onto the corner of his shirt.
After turning through one hallway after another for quite a while, Lin Wan started feeling confused.
Did we really run this far? Is this escape room really this big?
The escape room was very dark, so they walked slowly. Their shoes made soft sounds as they touched the floor.
Shuffle... shuffle...
Suddenly, Zhuo Feng stopped and looked behind them.
Lin Wan looked at him in confusion. "What is it?"
He gently pulled her in front of him. "There's something behind us."
Something behind us?!
Lin Wan carefully turned her head and looked back with only one eye.
All she saw was darkness.
"We're only two people," Zhuo Feng explained quietly, "but I can hear three sets of footsteps."
"Could it be Old Han?"
"If it were Old Han, he would've just come over to us. Why would he keep following us?"
"Then... what do we do?"
"It's okay. Since it hasn't shown itself, it probably isn't going to do anything yet. Let's keep walking."
"Okay."
This time, Lin Wan walked in front. She reached back and grabbed Zhuo Feng's hand again.
Shuffle... shuffle...
She walked even more quietly now.
Sure enough...
She could clearly hear another set of footsteps behind them. She tightened her grip on his hand.
Before long, the footsteps disappeared.
The two of them entered a room that looked like a traditional family hall.
Several large wooden chairs had fallen over across the floor.
The cloth curtains hanging from the pillars had dropped down and spread across the ground, looking like long strands of black hair in the darkness.
On the family altar in the middle of the room were several shriveled apples. The candle holders and incense burner were scattered about. A black-and-white photo of a middle-aged man stood on the altar.
Still holding Zhuo Feng's hand, Lin Wan looked at the photo.
"Is this Master Wan?"
"It should be," Zhuo Feng replied while keeping an eye on the doorway.
"He was probably the first one the ghost killed. Otherwise, no one would've been left to put his photo on the altar."
"There should be some clues here, right? Should we look around?"
"Yeah. Let's search carefully. Be alert. This room doesn't even have a door, so something is probably going to happen. At least it'll make it easier to run."
The two searched the room together.
The teacups and flower vases had all been glued firmly in place. It seemed they had been fixed there on purpose so no one could pick them up.
That only confirmed what Zhuo Feng had just said.
This room definitely wasn't safe.
The staff had probably glued everything down to stop frightened players from grabbing something and throwing it at the NPCs.
After searching everywhere, they both turned their attention to the photo and a painting of a beautiful woman hanging on the wall.
Those were the only two places left.
They walked over.
Lin Wan tried to pick up the photo, but the frame was fixed in place too.
She leaned in to take a closer look.
Master Wan looked kind in the picture, smiling warmly.
But when she remembered what he had done, she wanted to spit on the photo.
He was the perfect example of someone who looked friendly on the outside but was actually cruel inside.
As she looked more carefully, Lin Wan noticed that one corner of the photo seemed to be sticking out slightly.
It looked like something was hidden underneath.
She leaned even closer, trying to see it clearly.
Suddenly…
The picture changed!
The black-and-white photo suddenly glowed with a bright red light.
The kind, smiling face instantly turned into a deathly pale one.
Its grayish-white skin looked lifeless.
Its empty eye sockets had no eyeballs, only thick black liquid flowing out.
Its blood-red lips pulled back into a horrifying grin, showing its teeth.
When someone is completely focused on one thing, and a terrifying face suddenly appears right in front of them, especially in such a dark creepy place, the scare is unbelievably powerful.
"Ahhh!"
Lin Wan's whole body shook.
Without thinking, she threw herself straight into Zhuo Feng's arms.