"Why are you all looking at me? I swear I didn't mess around this time!" the bald guy protested.
Nidi knew he was telling the truth. His earlier glance was just a reflex, but of the six of them, he was definitely the most likely to screw things up.
Then Ashley had a thought. "What if the dark web saw us coming and manually triggered the trap?"
It was a possibility.
In the last round on the beach, Nidi had cleverly exploited the game's rules, making the challenge much easier. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of ghouls, the group would've breezed through again.
Using the rules to their advantage was fair, but it wasn't hard to imagine the dark web getting annoyed and cranking up the difficulty to mess with them.
There was another, worse possibility: new, unexpected players had entered the game and triggered the trap.
That would be the worst-case scenario.
Sure enough, the next second, two hideous ghouls crawled out from a corner, their eyes glinting with greed as they eyed the group.
Luckily, these two seemed intent on keeping the six humans to themselves and didn't call for backup.
Nidi quickly drew her pistol to intimidate the ghouls. They seemed to recognize the weapon that had injured their kind before, so they slowed their advance.
In reality, Nidi's pistol was running low on ammo—she'd already fired several shots, and the clip likely had only a few left. Claire, who had previously sealed Nidi's gun with her ability, forgot to seal the clip, which made things awkward.
Fortunately, the ghouls didn't know this and remained wary of the gun in Nidi's hand.
Fifteen seconds had already passed. The round-faced woman urgently called out, "Nidi, give me the gun! You look for clues; I'll keep these monsters at bay!"
It was a solid plan. If Nidi was stuck holding the gun, she couldn't solve puzzles, and the round-faced woman, a retired soldier, was far more skilled with firearms.
Nidi whispered, "There's probably only three or four bullets left. Be careful!"
The round-faced woman nodded, took the gun, and aimed it at the ghouls, who didn't dare approach.
"Hurry! Find some weapons! More ghouls might show up!" she shouted.
The group scattered to search for clues.
In front of them was a convenience store blocked by a shutter. It seemed spacious inside, but opening the shutter required unlocking a large padlock.
"We need a key for this!" someone said.
Then the journalist spotted a phone booth with a ringing phone inside, but it was chained shut. "Look, the phone booth has a lock too! We might need more than one key!"
The bald guy was getting frantic, spinning around aimlessly. "Fuck! Why does everything need a key?"
But running around like a headless chicken wasn't going to help.
Nidi was still thinking about the number 0526. On the store's shutter was a spray-painted image resembling the mother-daughter picture from the beach round, except the mother figure now had angel-like wings behind her, hinting at something.
Below the image was a line of text: "I'll always be watching you, May 26?"
Nidi noticed the numbers 0526 again. This wasn't the first time she'd seen them in the game.
A minute and a half had passed, and they still hadn't found anything useful.
If there were no clues on the ground, could they be above?
Ashley looked up at the store's roof. "Ashley, what are you looking at?" the priest asked, noticing her gaze.
"I think I see a set of keys hanging on that balcony up there!"
The priest spotted them too, along with a retractable ladder to reach the roof. He quickly pulled it down.
But Nidi glanced at the timer—it was down to less than 30 seconds. "Damn it! We're not gonna make it!"
Thirty seconds wasn't enough to climb to the second floor and grab the keys.
The bald guy thumped his chest. "Thirty seconds is plenty. Watch me!"
Like a monkey, he scrambled up the ladder in seconds, then untied the keys from the railing with dizzying speed, dropping them to the ground.
The whole thing took less than ten seconds!
The group was stunned by his single-for-nearly-thirty-years hand speed, but they didn't stand around gawking. Nidi grabbed the keys and unlocked the shutter.
They worked together to lift it, only to find the store's inner door was still locked, requiring another key.
"What the fuck!" the journalist cursed. Less than 15 seconds remained.
Worse, the two ghouls, after observing for a while, seemed to realize the group was bluffing and started to advance.
Ghouls were nearly as intelligent as humans, especially since many were transformed from humans. They were usually driven by instinct, but when instinct failed, they'd use their rusty brains to think.
The round-faced woman fired two shots, hitting the ghouls, but they blocked with their arms, avoiding vital spots.
"Back off, you beasts! Are you guys done yet?" she shouted.
The bald guy jumped down from the roof and suggested, "If we can't find the key, should I try picking the lock?"
The priest looked at him, shocked. "You know how to do that?"
The bald guy shrugged, about to respond, but Nidi cut them off. "Less than ten seconds! If you're picking the lock, do it now!"
He pulled out his lockpicking tools, but his expression quickly changed. "Damn it! This lock's been modified. I can't open it with a wire!"
As expected, the dark web knew the players' backgrounds and wouldn't let them cheat.
The ghouls charged again.
"They're coming!" the round-faced woman yelled, firing her last two bullets. They didn't stop the ghouls, who now knew the group was out of ammo.
The priest grabbed a nearby bicycle to use as a weapon, and Nidi prepared to unleash her true power against the ghouls.
But then the timer hit zero.
Sprinklers in the ceiling activated, spraying liquid. A canopy popped up above Nidi's group, shielding them.
"Watch out!" Ashley yanked the round-faced woman under the canopy, but some of the liquid hit her, leaving burn-like wounds.
The round-faced woman didn't flinch. As she'd said, she couldn't feel pain, which was why she was chosen for this game.
"You're hurt!" Nidi said, placing a hand on her back to heal her, but the round-faced woman stopped her.
"Nidi, there are cameras here. If your powers are exposed, it'll be dangerous! These are just minor injuries; I don't need healing yet."
Nidi reluctantly pulled her hand back.
The acid rain corroded holes in the canopy, leaving small burns on everyone.
The ghouls outside, unprotected, were dissolved in seconds, letting out piercing screams.
The screams made the group uneasy. "That's not gonna attract more monsters, is it?" someone asked.
The answer came quickly.
Ten seconds later, the sprinklers stopped, but they heard more crawling sounds—clearly, a swarm of ghouls was approaching.
Worse, the timer reset to just one and a half minutes, half the previous safe time.
"Fuck! The dark web never intended to let us live!" the round-faced woman cursed. Even the usually calm journalist looked despairing.
Only Nidi stayed focused on the game. She feared death but feared losing even more.
Then a TV inside the store flicked on, and a host began a news broadcast: "Recently, due to environmentalists' influence, a chain reaction has occurred in the city. With rising water levels, many residents have started collecting rainwater…"
Nidi's eyes lit up. "Chain reaction… collecting rainwater… I get it! We need to find a container to collect the acid rain and use it to melt the chain on the phone booth so we can answer the phone!"
The group searched for a container and found a small red bottle.
Nidi checked the bottom. "PMP—polymethylpentene. This material can hold strong acids!"
As she prepared to place the bottle on the ground, several ghouls ran past. She instinctively stepped back, but they didn't attack—they seemed to be fleeing something terrifying, some even whimpering like scared dogs.
Everyone was baffled. "What's going on?" the priest asked.
Ashley had a guess. "It's gotta be Roy!"
The round-faced woman turned to her. "I think I heard you mention that name before. Who's Roy?"
More ghouls sprinted past, their eyes filled with pure fear, ignoring the group entirely.
Then a handsome man appeared, holding a dead ghoul in one hand. "Where do you think you're going? Stop running!"
He tossed the ghoul like it was nothing, though it was the size of an adult. Unlike throwing a rock, he launched it with the force of a cannonball.
Boom!
The ghoul smashed into a group of others, knocking them down.
"Roy!" Nidi and Ashley shouted, running to him excitedly. The other players realized the two girls had a special connection with him.
"Hey, there you are!" Roy said, hugging them both.
Thanks to her bloodline fusion ritual, Nidi had grown taller, but she was still just over 1.7 meters. Ashley was even shorter—her official height was 1.6 meters, though probably less in reality. Compared to Roy, who was nearly 1.95 meters, they looked petite.
The journalist hated to interrupt their reunion, but the timer was ticking. "Uh, Mr. Roy, I don't want to break up the moment, but in about twenty seconds, the ceiling's gonna spray acid rain again!"
Roy glanced at the sprinklers and understood. "Nidi, Ashley, hugs later. Let's deal with the acid rain first."
He pushed them aside and strode to the store, looking ready to break in.
The bald guy and the priest exchanged glances. They'd tried smashing the door earlier, but it was too sturdy, leaving their arms sore.
Roy, however, punched the glass door, shattering it, then ripped it open like a soda can, making it look effortless.
The four second-round players stared, dumbfounded, forgetting the timer was nearly up.
"What are you standing there for? Get inside!" Roy shouted.
Nidi walked into the store, a bit sulky. She rarely threw tantrums, but Roy could tell why she was upset.
Patting her head, he coaxed, "Come on, be good. The game's over!"
"But it's rare for me to play such an interesting game!" she pouted.
To the second-round players, this was a life-or-death ordeal, but to Nidi, it was just "interesting."
"How about I play a game with you to make up for it?" Roy offered.
Nidi's eyes lit up. No escape room, no matter how thrilling, could compare to playing a game with the person she loved. "You said it! No take-backs!"
"Of course! Pick a game when we get back, and we'll play together."
Soothed, Nidi smiled. Roy didn't forget Ashley. "Ashley, I'll make time in a few days to help you complete the ritual, okay?"
Ashley beamed. This meant Roy had fully accepted her as the fifth person to undergo the bloodline fusion ritual.
As they talked, the acid rain stopped. Roy punched through the room's set, leading them up a maintenance shaft.
They encountered more ghouls along the way, but the creatures fled in terror at the sight of Roy. He was probably becoming a legend among ghouls.
After climbing for about half an hour, they reached the surface—not a street, but a factory belonging to Minos Corporation.
It turned out Minos was a front for the dark web, hiding the network of escape rooms below.
Roy pulled out a satellite phone to call Saltana, ordering her to shut down Minos. But her response shocked him.
"Thank God, Roy, you finally picked up!"
Attached is a childhood photo of Claire, the mastermind, for comparison with the earlier one.