"It's my honor, Ms. Everheart." Stefan was expressionless as he shook Renee's hand, equally formal.Everyone was speechless. It was so obvious they were pretending to be unaffected. Justin's heart clenched when he saw them holding hands, but he forced a wide smile onto his face. He walked over and held Renee's shoulders as he said to her soothingly, "Relax, it's just a game. I'll protect you later."Renee seemed to realize something and immediately let go of Stefan's hand. She looked up at Justin and smiled sweetly, saying in an unusually coy voice. "You promise? I'll hide behind you later, okay?"Justin patted his chest. "Of course!""Hmph!" Stefan snorted in disdain, making the atmosphere even more awkward. Leia and Xavier looked at each other and subconsciously took a step back. It really was a battlefield!Jeffrey was the only one who didn't understand what was going on. He stood in the middle of the three of them eagerly and said, "Renee, it's my first time doing an escape
The attendant brought them to an abandoned building. It looked like a hospital with six floors."Players, you'll start your adventure here. I'll give each of you a walkie-talkie and handbook, and you can clear the levels based on the clues you find." The attendant passed them the items, then continued, "The handbooks include the background of the story and the things you need to pay attention to. Enjoy yourselves!" The attendant waved and left. "It's living up to its name as the top escape room in Beach City. This building seems so real and gloomy. I feel like someone must have died here!" Leia looked up at the tall and decaying hospital as she swallowed nervously, goosebumps prickling her skin. "It's said that the shop owner purposely bought an abandoned hospital to create this theme. This hospital was built one thousand years ago. In the past, many people came here for treatment, but all of them would die a mysterious death. This place is said to be haunted!" Justin flipped thro
When the others saw that, they walked into the hospital one by one. Stefan, however, stood at the door, observing his surroundings vigilantly."Stefan, why are you still standing there? You're the last to go in." Xavier waved at Stefan and said teasingly, "You scolded me just now, but how come you're so timid now? Don't be scared. Look at how brave Renee is—she was the first to go in. You just need to hide behind her and let her protect you."Stefan glared at Xavier and said coldly, "You all go ahead and look for clues. I'll bring up the rear." Although it was a childish game, he would always take note of his surroundings. If all of them went into the hospital, they might be doomed if there was a trap inside the hospital or if there were other clues that were not in the lobby."What clues should we be looking for?" Jeffrey asked naively, "Should we be looking for a key or treasure? I don't see any treasure here." "We're here to find treasure. Look around and see if you can find an
"I got a strange disease, and the doctors and nurses had no idea what it was. Eventually, I died in the hospital, but my family insisted that I didn't die because of the disease. They claimed that the hospital staff had harmed and killed me, so they refused to take my body away from the hospital, insistent on finding out the truth… However, something happened, and my soul became trapped in the hospital. Now, I wander the hospital every night. Please help me find the murderer and take me away. Please help my soul rest in peace." Leia finished reading the background story, and she took a deep breath, her heart pounding. "Did this place make all that up, or did it really happen? It's so creepy!""Find the murderer and help the soul rest in peace," Justin summarized and snapped his fingers. "That's our objective. Let's get going!" As a programming genius, his critical thinking skills were top-notch. He loved mysteries and solving puzzles, so he was looking forward to this. They stood in
It was a blessing in disguise. Xavier rarely had the chance to play the protective boyfriend back then, so he was overjoyed that he could now."Renee, I... I'm feeling scared!" Jeffrey leaned against Renee, looking helpless. "I used to be afraid of nets. We used them to fish, but now... we're trapped in one! I'm sure we'll be chopped into little pieces like those fish!""Of course that won't happen. You're so cute!" Renee wasn't scared, she just found the net uncomfortable. She tried to pat Jeffrey's hand through the net. "Jeffrey, you're a son of the sea. You've been through a lot and survived it, so don't be scared!""A son of the sea? Is that like the king of the sea? Does that mean he's a playboy who has plenty of fish in his sea?" Justin growled. He was also squeezed in with Jeffrey, and he couldn't take the way he always begged for Renee's protection. It made Renee protective of him, and then Justin couldn't be protective of Renee..."The king of the sea?" Jeffrey looked happ
"No, I'm Jayla's guardian!" The dark figure boomed, the chainsaw roaring in his hands. It felt like the god of death was approaching them. "Everyone who enters this hospital wants to harm Jayla. All of you should be punished!""Ah!" Everyone squeezed together anxiously, trying to get away from the intruder.Even Xavier was terrified at this point. "What should we do? We're trapped! If we wait any longer, he's going to cut us up!""There has to be a way to resolve this," Renee mumbled thoughtfully. She and Renee were both calm as they examined the net, trying to find a way to escape."Do we need to use the iron hook to cut the net open?" Renee stared at the iron hook, feeling like there had to be a use for it."I don't think so. The net is too thick, so the iron hook won't be able to cut it open," Justin disagreed."Not necessarily." Renee kept studying the net and said carefully, "The net is symmetrical, and the iron hook is sharp and thin. If we cut the net according to the line
Leia complained, "Ren, I get that you're in love with the iron hook, but we have to get out of here." Renee's attention had been fixed on that iron hook all night."Iron hook..." The dark figure stopped, his voice shaky as he mumbled, "My Jayla died miserably. I've got to kill you... I've got to kill all of you!" Seemingly triggered by the mention of the iron hook, the figure held up the chainsaw and rushed towards them. He roared at them, "Give me the iron hook! Give it to me now, or I'll cut you with my chainsaw!""Why do you need it?" Leia swallowed, about to hand the hook to him."No, don't give it to him!" Renee snatched it from Leia and hid it behind her. "Since he insists on having this, it must be important. Maybe it's the key to clearing the levels. We can't give it to him." "But he'll kill us if we don't give it to him!" "Let's think of something. There has to be another way!""There's no other way. If we keep thinking about it and not doing anything, we'll be cut int
"Let's go!" Xavier yanked Leia and said seriously, "The probability of us beating this is higher if we separate. Once we've gotten enough clues, we can regroup and figure it out.""You're right." Leia agreed after thinking about it. All of them quickly ran off, with Xavier and Leia going upstairs while Justin and Jeffrey went downstairs. Renee was left in the registration lobby with the dark figure. The figure chuckled maliciously. "What a pathetic display of human nature! All your friends just left you and ran away.""What's pathetic about it? We're just working in different groups for now. Each of us has our own strengths." Renee tried to figure out how to escape, but the figure was always watching her and blocking her path. She figured the escape room management was paying him well. "You're too naive. I'll teach you the cruelty of this world today…" The dark figure continued, "You have two choices—complete my task and leave, or give the iron hook to me and leave. Pick one.""
"Hurry up and explain to her, then!" Amber said hurriedly. "Matt, you're close to her. You know Ms. Everheart and Ms. Osborne would never do that on purpose. Try to persuade her to let this go, and then you can immediately set them free.""I don't have a say in this." Mateo shook his head, pretending to be helpless. "You know how much Luneth dotes on her son. Ms. Everheart pinned him to the ground and beat him up. His head got injured and started bleeding. I heard it's a large cut with a lot of stitches. We can't let it go just like that.""But you can't—" Amber wanted to say more, but Liam interrupted her. He looked at Mateo, his eyes cold and fierce. "I know you set them up. Just be frank. Why did you do that?" "See?" Mateo sighed. He pretended to be aggrieved as he looked at Amber. "The guy you like is sinister. I kindly helped him, but he didn't thank me. He even accused me of setting this up… He always sees the worst in people. He criticized me in front of you and sowed di
Liam immediately noticed something wrong. He asked Mateo fiercely, "What do you mean?""Calm down." Mateo put away his gun and placed it back around his waist. "They broke the rules and barged into the orchard. Plus, they hurt Luneth's child. So, I locked them up for the time being."He appeared calm, as if he was discussing what he had eaten for dinner. He didn't feel that he had been over the line. "Go to hell!" Liam finally failed to hold himself back. He rushed over and grabbed Mateo's neck fiercely. "You can harm me, but how dare you harm them!"At the same time, Mateo's subordinates raised their guns and aimed them at Liam. The recently eased atmosphere immediately became tense again."Hey, don't!" Amber, all tensed up, braced herself to try and stop them. Even so, she was mentally exhausted."What? You want to strangle me?" Mateo was fearless. He grinned deviously and teased, "Cool it. I just locked them up, but they didn't suffer. They're fine. If you harm me, though, I
Livid, Mateo pulled the trigger without hesitation. However, he moved the gun less than an inch. The bullet passed by Liam's ear and hit an orange behind him.The fruit immediately blew up, its juices splashing on Liam's face."Aaaah!" Amber, terrified, trembled. Her eyes turned red, and she hurriedly tried to plead with Mateo. "Matt, cool it! Aren't you and Liam friends? You guys drank and chatted together in the past. You were so close to each other. How could you do this to him? Hurry up and put the gun away! If it goes off accidentally, it'll be over!"However, Mateo ignored her. His eyes were red as he glared at Liam. "Did you see the orange behind you? Let go of her now! If not, I'll blow up your head just like I did to that orange!""Is that all you got?" Liam taunted. He refused to let Amber go. He whispered to Amber, "Watch well. If he shoots me today, promise me not to marry such a man. I can use my life to knock some sense into you.""No!" Amber shook her head. Liam
"What bad timing!" Mateo's indifferent voice came from behind Amber.Amber turned around and saw Mateo with a team of armed soldiers. Terrified, she quickly put some distance between her and Liam. She stammered an explanation. "Matt… It's not what you think. Liam and I came here to look for people. Ms. Everheart and Ms. Osborne are gone. Liam couldn't find them and guessed they might be in the orchard. He wasn't familiar with the orchard and asked me to guide him."Mateo looked livid, but still cracked a gentle smile. "Silly, you don't have to be scared. I know you're prudent. He must have forced you to come here. I don't blame you."He extended his hand and beckoned Amber toward him. "Come here. You're my fiancee. You should stand with me.""I…" Amber bit her lip—Mateo was right. She kept her head low, about to walk to him.But in the next second, Liam firmly grabbed her wrist. "You can't go!" Liam held Amber's wrist tightly and shot Mateo a challenging look."When did Amb
Liam could only see through Amber's true thoughts if she showed her true self to him. "No, I do like you. I love you the most, and I want to marry you. But you neither like me nor want to marry me. You love freedom and Ms. Everheart. You love and yearn for the kind of life ordinary people like. So, I could only choose to give you up and let you get what you want. What else do you want me to do?" Amber was generally shy and reserved, but when Liam drove her anxious, she rambled a lot."Whatever I want is my business. You don't need to sacrifice yourself to grant my wish!" Liam held Amber's shoulders, acting like a kind senior. He tried to persuade her in earnest. "Marriage isn't a joke. Think it through. Do you like and know Mateo well? You won't be happy after marrying him, given the savage culture around here. And can you divorce him easily?""Matt will be nice to me. Even if he changes his mind, he'll still be nice to me because…my father is Benjamin," Amber replied.She chose
Being a sensitive woman, Amber immediately noticed Liam's displeasure. She kept her head lower and explained carefully, "I want a chance to choose again… I want to choose another person to fall in love with. You know that Matt and I grew up together. We're childhood friends. He likes me and always protects me without asking for anything back. I feel that it's happier to marry a person who loves me instead of marrying someone far beyond my reach."For the first time, she expressed the exhaustion she felt from her relationship with Liam. She no longer wanted to be the one who kept fawning over him. She wanted to give up and relax by being the one who was loved and adored in a relationship."Tsk!" Liam snorted arrogantly. "You don't know Mateo. He's not a nice guy. He's just good at pretending. Maybe it's just his means to get what he wants, but you assume that he loves and wants to protect you."Liam hadn't made that statement to purposely put Mateo down. After standing against Mate
Liam focused on holding Amber's hand and leading her through the orange grove. At the same time, he carefully scanned the ground and trees to find any related clues left by Renee and Leia."I don't care what others say, because I didn't do anything wrong," he said indifferently. "I hope you'll feel the same. I don't think you need to stop being my friend after choosing to marry Mateo. Am I not the friend you like the most?""That's different," Amber said.She followed Liam passively. At first, she couldn't adapt to it. After walking briefly, she felt better and found it easier to do. "Although I'm not good at my studies, I know men and women should keep a polite distance. You can't take my hand and sound righteous at the same time," she mumbled."Why not?" Liam retorted firmly. "When I was young, I always held my sister's hand wherever we went. I'm holding your hand because this fog is thick and the ground is slippery. I'm afraid of being separated from you. Just walk with me. St
Liam walked ahead of Amber, then turned to glance at her. He faked a smile and asked, "What's the matter? Are you worried that I might take advantage of you?" "No, of course not!" Amber quickly shook her head and pushed her scarf up. It had fallen a little. "I just find it improper," she answered softly.She looked like a typical woman from Southeast Aeos, petite and with a small face. Her skin was tanned, and her facial features weren't very distinct. She was charming and reserved, exuding a girlish pureness. She had put on her country's special traditional clothes. The thick clothes, embroidered with various patterns, wrapped around her petite body and gave her an exotic impression. From afar, she appeared like a colorful oil painting. "Hey, it's not improper. If I wanted to do anything to you, I would've done that long ago. I don't have to wait until now." Liam sounded relaxed and prudent to ease Amber's anxiety."Don't worry. I've always regarded you as my younger siste
Amber hurriedly turned Liam down. "You can't help with my affairs. I can handle it.""Well, tell me why I can't help you," Liam pressed. "I… I want to sew a wedding gown. And there are a lot of details that I need to add." Amber became competitive for no reason, and added stubbornly, "Your words aren't absolute. Yes, your business is important, but so is mine!""Oh, you want to sew a wedding gown. I can help you with that…" Liam said, relaxed. "Maybe I didn't get to tell you that I went to a small country in Southeast Aeos when I traveled around the world. I got to know a great sewing master. The pictures he sewed looked real like paintings! I found them interesting, so I learned from him. My sewing skills are probably better than yours. I can help you with that.""Really? You can sew?" Amber was full of surprise and admiration. Her eyes lit up. "I can't sew well. I want to learn from a great master too! If you can do it, can you teach me?""Of course!" Liam promised. "Can you he