ASPWWD Chapter 61

With one person captured and another having to complete a solo task amidst the chaos, the four remaining members scattered to find the key to the beast cage. The terrain was confusing, and within the fifteen-minute time limit, they also had to avoid the NPCs who were now all on the hunt.

The name of the escape room, “Carnival Night,” probably came from this very scenario.

Given that there were no hints and yet a time limit was imposed, it suggested that the key to the beast cage wouldn’t be particularly difficult to find—it was either in a conspicuous place or had been subtly hinted at in previous stages.

The four of them returned to the locations where they had originally been locked up, searching for clues. After combing through all six starting locations again, each of them found something unusual. Putting these small clues together, they realized that the key was with one of the NPCs—the beast tamer.

It made perfect sense for the beast tamer to have the key to the beast cage.

The three NPCs played by actors were the clown, the dancer, and the beast tamer. The clown was the most active and free-moving NPC, responsible for about sixty percent of the chases throughout the escape room. The other two NPCs had more limited activity zones; the dancer, whom they hadn’t encountered yet, was presumed to be near the central stage, while the beast tamer naturally stuck around the beast cage.

But now it was clear that during the “Carnival Time” when someone was captured, all the NPCs could roam freely, as Xiao Ma had been chased by the beast tamer when he ran back to the dressing room earlier.

“So, we have to steal the key from the beast tamer now?” asked Xiao Ma’s wife after returning from her solo task.

“Right,” Xiao Ma panted. “I didn’t even notice where the key was when we were running away.”

“It’s hanging from his waist,” Lin Fengqi said.

Xiao Ma gave him a thumbs-up. “Nice eye, Lin-ge! It was so dark out there, and you still managed to see that.”

Once they confirmed where the key was, they discussed their strategy. Since they didn’t know the current locations of the NPCs, someone would have to go out and draw their attention, ideally luring all of the NPCs together before attempting to separate the beast tamer from the others so that one person could steal the key.

Now, the tables had turned—they were the ones chasing the ghosts.

“Suddenly, I’m all fired up,” Xiao Ma said. “If this were a horror game and I had a weapon, I’d be mowing down zombies.”

“You think this is Resident Evil?” Wen Xia retorted.

Humans fear what they can’t outgun.

Though they were unarmed, they had the advantage of numbers. Fear or no fear, they had to push through for the sake of teamwork. However, sending all five of them out at once would be too chaotic, so they decided to leave Xiao Ma’s wife in the dressing room—their safe zone—while the remaining four went after the key.

Wen Xia and Lin Fengqi were the ones who finally located the beast tamer. Lin Fengqi took on the task of distracting the NPC, while Wen Xia swooped in, snatched the key from the beast tamer’s waist, and bolted.

The NPC, realizing the key had been stolen, immediately switched targets and chased after Wen Xia. Wen Xia quickly hid in a cabinet in one of the rooms. After the NPC moved on, he hurried to the beast cage and freed the girl trapped inside.

They made it back to the dressing room just in time. As they stepped through the door, the eerie carnival music that had been playing for fifteen minutes abruptly stopped.

The controller’s voice came through their earpieces: “Carnival Time is over. Please keep the beast cage key safe.”

Several more solo tasks followed, during which the group wasn’t always gathered in the dressing room. Sometimes, multiple solo tasks ran concurrently, and the others had to solve puzzles based on the information brought back by their teammates.

After several rounds of tasks, they finally gathered at the central stage—the circus performance area.

This area was extremely dangerous. Firstly, it was semi-open, meaning they could lock the doors to the entrance, but the windows couldn’t be closed, allowing NPCs to climb in. Secondly, this was the dancer’s territory.

Both high school girls had encountered the dancer during their respective solo tasks.

The three NPCs were exceptionally good at embodying their roles. The clown was portrayed as crazy and neurotic, always chasing players with a small knife; the beast tamer was a muscular, imposing figure whose heavy footsteps alone created a sense of dread, and he carried a whip that added to his menacing aura. The dancer, however, didn’t engage in chases. She moved like a ghost, appearing out of nowhere with her eerie, deathly face, scaring players out of their wits. If you reacted quickly enough, you could escape, but if not, you’d be caught and thrown into the cage.

The six of them gathered at the central stage, a roughly circular area with tiered seating that descended like a basin, leading to the center where the circus acts had once been performed.

The seats were old and decrepit, some rotting away. The weak beams of their flashlights revealed a passage connected to the stage, likely leading to the backstage area.

Although the semi-open area couldn’t keep the NPCs out, the setup was somewhat humane, as there were two lockers where they could hide. However, the lockers were small, barely large enough for one person each.

Humane, but not completely so—they still had to experience the chase.

Wen Xia looked at the dark passage connected to the stage and said, “Do you guys remember the clue from that piece of paper I found? It pointed to the backstage.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the controller suddenly issued another task: “As the truth of the circus’s past is about to be revealed, Charles suddenly recalls the piece of paper he found in the circus manager’s notebook. He realizes there was a critical piece of information he missed. So, combining it with previous clues, he asks his companions to stay put for safety while he heads to the backstage alone.”

Great, another solo mission.

Wen Xia was about to head down when the controller added, “…But John was unwilling to let his lover face danger alone, so he decided to go with him, sharing both life and death.”

Wen Xia froze mid-step. “What?”

Lin Fengqi: “…”

The other four also looked puzzled.

Xiao Ma asked, “Charles and John… Did we know about this relationship before?”

Xiao Ma’s wife said, “I don’t think it was mentioned earlier.”

High School Girl 1: “Wasn’t there a double task for Charles and John earlier?”

High School Girl 2: “Yeah, and they were the only ones who had a double task. All our tasks were solo.”

Wen Xia had played the old version of the “Carnival Night” escape room before, and he knew that Charles and John were characters in it. While the storyline and horror elements had been revamped, many of the basic settings remained unchanged, such as the relationships between the characters.

He distinctly remembered that in the old version, Charles and John didn’t have any sort of romantic relationship.

And it didn’t seem like this new relationship added anything to the game.

Wen Xia guessed it was probably Zhou Boyan’s doing.

He was halfway down the stairs when he turned back to look at Lin Fengqi.

Lin Fengqi, however, seemed unperturbed and calmly followed him down. “Let’s go.”

The two of them walked into the dark, narrow passage leading to the backstage, where there was no room for retreat. The weak beam of their flashlight barely reached the end, creating the eerie sensation that a ghost might jump out of the darkness at any moment.

Wen Xia paused, suddenly realizing this was a golden opportunity.

Throughout the game, there hadn’t been many chances for him to pretend to be scared. After all, some of his teammates were more timid, and if he also acted afraid, the group wouldn’t be able to progress through the escape room.

But now, finally, he had a chance to be alone with Lin Fengqi.

However, Lin Fengqi was thinking the same thing.

For some inexplicable reason, a strange sense of mutual understanding led them to move simultaneously.

Wen Xia took a step closer to Lin Fengqi, and at the same moment, Lin Fengqi moved closer to him. Their shoulders and arms brushed against each other.

“This passage is really creeping me out.”

“…Can I hold your hand? It’s pretty dark here.”

Their voices overlapped as they spoke at the same time.

Wen Xia: “?”

Lin Fengqi: “?”

“…”

“…”

In the silence that followed, Lin Fengqi lightly brushed Wen Xia’s hand. Then, without waiting for a response, he quickly grabbed hold of it.

“…I didn’t agree yet,” Wen Xia said.

Lin Fengqi didn’t reply. Instead, he adjusted his grip, changing from holding to fully clasping Wen Xia’s hand. The hold was firmer now.

The warmth of Lin Fengqi’s palm made the flashlight beam flicker slightly. Wen Xia added, “You said before that you weren’t afraid.”

“That was… before.”

And before that?

What happened to not being afraid of the dark or of scary things?

Wen Xia didn’t voice these thoughts aloud because he already had an inkling as to why.

Alright, since this blockhead had gone to such lengths.

Lin Fengqi then asked, “Are you scared?”

“If I said yes, what would you do?” Wen Xia sighed. “If you’re scared, and I’m scared too, this task is going to be tough.”

The grip on his hand tightened slightly.

“…It’s okay,” Lin Fengqi said softly. “If you’re scared, you can come closer to me.”

He wasn’t yet used to saying such straightforward things, but he did it anyway, albeit with a slight, awkward pause. It was the most sincere expression of his feelings.

Wen Xia didn’t reply. Instead, he quietly, gently, returned the pressure of his hand.

As they exited the long, dark passage, they reached the backstage, only to be ambushed by the NPCs waiting for them. The three NPCs attacked from different directions—the clown and the beast tamer each grabbed one of them, while the dancer lifted a trapdoor hidden in the floor.

Before they knew it, Wen Xia and Lin Fengqi were both tossed down into the darkness.

Despite the ample safety measures in place to ensure no harm came to the players, the feeling of free-falling was enough to make anyone break into a cold sweat. The flashlight in Wen Xia’s hand wobbled, and then he felt an arm grab him, pulling him into a protective embrace.

The two of them landed on a soft sponge mat, with Wen Xia cushioned by Lin Fengqi’s body beneath him.

The clown laughed shrilly as he slammed the trapdoor shut and locked it with a resounding “click.”

Wen Xia quickly tried to get up, but the mat was so soft that the more he struggled, the harder it was to stand.

Lin Fengqi suddenly tightened his grip around Wen Xia’s waist and said, “Just stay still for a moment.”

Wen Xia: “…Not again?”

“No,” Lin Fengqi replied, sounding slightly embarrassed at the reminder of past events. “It’s just that your elbow is digging into me, and it hurts a bit.”

Wen Xia had no choice but to stay still, lying in Lin Fengqi’s arms, his face heating up as he tried to calm down. After a moment, he managed to sit up and hurriedly asked, “Are you okay? Really?”

Lin Fengqi pushed himself up on the mat, coughing lightly, but otherwise appeared normal. “I’m fine.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

They hadn’t expected to be suddenly thrown into a small, dark room.

Once they climbed off the soft mat, they realized they were in… a morgue? The circus backstage had a hidden morgue.

Their earpieces were silent—either there was no communication from the controller, or it was directed at the others outside. But it was clear they had to escape from this small, dark room on their own.

The enclosed space reeked of mildew. Zhou Boyan had somehow managed to simulate the stench of decay mixed with the scent of blood. It was unbearably foul.

This might have been the most difficult room in the escape room yet, with scarce and fragmented clues and a lot of misleading information. It took them quite a while to find another exit and solve the puzzle.

When they finally lifted the trapdoor to freedom, the long-lost light poured in. Wen Xia squinted at the brightness, only to hear Xiao Ma’s voice shout, “They’re out, they’re out!”

Zhou Boyan and the female controller were both standing outside, indicating that this was the end of the escape room.

“You made it through,” Zhou Boyan said with a grin, offering them a hand. “Congratulations.”

Afterward, Xiao Ma animatedly recounted what had happened to them after Wen Xia and Lin Fengqi went backstage. Apparently, the remaining four members had been assigned one last task, during which they endured the final “Carnival Time,” barely escaping after being chased by the three NPCs.

Then the controller had said they had to wait for the last two members to escape the room within the time limit for the entire team to succeed.

“It was so thrilling,” Xiao Ma said, still caught up in the excitement. He pulled out his phone, muttering to himself, “Let’s see what other people’s experiences were like…”

As he browsed, he muttered, “Weird, none of these guides mention Charles and John being in a relationship…”

His wife replied, “Maybe it wasn’t an important detail, so they didn’t mention it. Guides usually just focus on the main points.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Hearing this, Wen Xia stood up and said, “I’m going to talk to my friend about something. If you guys are heading out first, don’t wait for me.”

Zhou Boyan grinned and threw an arm around Wen Xia’s shoulder. “So, how was the escape room experience?”

“What’s this about a romantic relationship and character roles? You made that up on the spot, didn’t you?” Wen Xia asked.

“It wasn’t entirely on the spot. I started preparing when you told me you were coming,” Zhou Boyan replied with a mischievous smile. “Pretty considerate of me, huh? I saw you two rolling around together in the cellar on the security cameras… Tsk tsk.”

“Alright, good buddy,” Wen Xia said, “don’t forget the discount you promised.”

“…Seriously?”

Zhou Boyan let go of him, suddenly not feeling so chummy. “I helped you out so much, and all you care about is the discount?”

“By the way, have you been scheming with Lin Fengqi?” Wen Xia asked. “I saw you two chatting pretty enthusiastically at the front desk earlier.”

Zhou Boyan didn’t even try to deny it. “Can you blame me? I’m just looking out for my buddy’s happiness.”

He sighed dramatically, pulling Wen Xia back into a one-armed hug, his voice full of emotion. “Wen Xia, I mean it—if only you had asked me to be your wingman in high school, you wouldn’t have had any trouble getting Lin Fengqi.”

Not far away, Lin Fengqi, who had been approaching, suddenly froze mid-step.

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