A sudden clamor dragged Eric's thoughts back. She turned toward the grand entrance; dusk had indeed fallen, and an increasing number of people hurried inside, flooding into the leftmost portal, while the central gateway to the supernatural quests remained nearly deserted.
Though night had not fully descended, none dared squander another second. Soon, the hall was reduced to just Eric and two others.
Eric discerned that these two were novices like herself.
"Do you also lack points to stay in the hotel?" Eric initiated conversation.
The middle-aged woman's expression was vacant, offering no reply. The crew-cut youth sighed, "Yes, my points were swindled—I have none left for lodging."
"Aren't points non-transferable?" Eric recalled that detail from the information flooding her mind.
"I bought a healing kit, then met an acquaintance who had entered this escape game before me. He said he'd guide me, so I spent my remaining points to buy him one too. But he took the kit and ran off."
Eric understood: "That's dreadful… I've heard it isn't safe outside after dark." She chose her words carefully. "This is the Quest Hall; it should be secure. Why are they so desperate to enter quests?"
The youth blinked in surprise. "Oh? Some kind soul told me no points meant no hotel stay, and directed me here, saying this place is safe."
Eric thanked him and strode toward the ordinary quest entrance, standing at the threshold. "You'd better enter too. Following the veterans is safer."
With that, she stepped inside.
The crew-cut youth wavered. He only wished to limp through the night here, not undertake quests. His first task had been to escape a submerged bus, nearly drowning inside. He lacked the courage to face another so soon.
Yet… something felt off. Why were those people so eager to enter quests? There had been many just moments ago...
As he pondered, the clock's hands converged—hour, minute, and second—all pointing to six. Outside, darkness fell like a shroud, and an indescribable horror gripped his heart. He sensed a malevolent presence watching from beyond the Quest Hall's door.
Terrified, the youth suddenly felt the world spin wildly, and without warning, the environment shifted.
"Tsk, looks like an unprepared novice."
"You must be a newcomer with no points hiding in the Quest Hall. Novice, why haven't you entered a quest before nightfall?"
The youth's voice trembled. "Where is this place?"
A kindly woman regarded him with pity. "This is the supernatural quest 'Pen Fairy.' When night falls, only the hotel is safe; everywhere else is perilous. The danger of the Quest Hall is that it randomly sends players lingering after dark into quests. You've been unlucky to be sent here. We've lost three teammates; you're here to fill the vacancy."
The youth's eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible! How could I be so unlucky?" Spotting Eric, who had entered the ordinary quest seconds earlier, he urgently inquired.
Receiving no calming answer, and to ensure the smooth progression of the quest, the woman explained, "She entered the ordinary quest—you should have gone in with her."
Regret washed over the youth. Feeling the chill in the air, he rubbed his arm. "What am I supposed to do in this game?"
"Come, sit with us. We'll play the Pen Fairy game together."
"Ah? No, I don't want to!"
Meanwhile, after Eric stepped through her portal, she found herself amidst a dense forest of pillars, uncertain which path to take. Hesitating, she suddenly sensed the forest plunged into darkness, accompanied by a disorienting weightlessness. Moments later, the scene brightened before her.
She closed her eyes to steady herself, then opened them to find she was aboard a moving bus!
Yet she had made no choice at all!
Recalling the time displayed on the wall clock as she entered the portal, and estimating the moments it took to walk those few steps, Eric deduced that the darkening of the stone pillars signaled the arrival of night. If she made no choice as night fell, the game would intervene, thrusting her into a quest.
This was merely speculation, but Eric's time for contemplation was scarce. She immediately focused on assessing her surroundings. The bus was nearly full, cruising steadily over a stone bridge, traversing a river. The lush greenery before her evoked a serene landscape—but the tranquility was short-lived.
"Where is this place? How did I end up here?"
"Didn't I die? Is this heaven?"
Novices? Eric turned, about to speak, when a woman's voice rang out: "Everyone, brace yourselves! We're about to crash!"
The bus suddenly accelerated, colliding with the bridge rail and flipping into the water.
Screams erupted as the vehicle shattered the rail, plunging into the river. Eric clung desperately to the handrail, her body flung about violently, colliding with seats and kicked in the stomach by others. Finally, her grip failed, and she gasped for air just before the bus hit the water—
Boom!
Gurgling bubbles surrounded her as Eric released the handrail, swimming toward the window, reaching for the window hammer. It was missing, but she spotted someone already smashing the glass!
Good job, mate! Eric grasped a seat, waiting nearby, but the man glared over his shoulder, elbowing her sharply in the face as he swung the hammer. Pain shot through her, and she inhaled water in her panic.
Eyes wide, Eric suppressed her fury.
Another strike shattered the window, and the man quickly wriggled through. Eric followed closely. Those struggling at the door swam over, their survival instincts overriding their confusion about the situation.
Halfway out, Eric felt someone grab her leg, but the grip vanished before she could react. Someone shoved her, urging her to move faster. She kept swimming.
Stroke after stroke, she finally broke the surface, gasping for air, narrowly escaping suffocation. Out of danger, anger flared as she recalled the man's actions. She hadn't even been close; why had he taken the time to strike her?
Yet she knew better than to dwell on it. The current was too strong; she needed to reach the shore.
Eric swam toward the bank, opting for the gentler slope. Twice, the river pulled her under, but her strong swimming skills brought her back to the surface. Finally, she reached the slippery, muddy bank.
Grasping at weeds that snapped in her hands, she dug her fingers into the soil, nails filling with dirt and throbbing with pain. Struggling to climb, Eric quietly retrieved a fruit knife from her supermarket. She stabbed it into the soil, leveraging herself upward, clawing at the grass and soil until she could haul herself up.
After climbing several meters, she collapsed on the bank, utterly spent.
A distant thud startled her. She sat up, her eyes widening as she saw a cliff ahead. The bus, carried by the current, had plummeted over the edge.
Her face paled. Were there still people inside? Could anyone trapped within survive?
Besides the bus, she spotted two figures bobbing in the water. Perhaps they had left the vehicle too late; the closer they were to the cliff, the swifter the current. Unable to reach the shore, they too were swept over the edge.
Eric clenched her fists, the pain in her fingers jolting her back to reality. Her hands were caked in soil, nails packed with dirt, two on the left torn. She pursed her lips, her gaze dark as she stared at the cliff.
More survivors crawled up the bank. When the quest began, she'd noted the bus was nearly full, but only fifteen remained. She couldn't identify the man who'd elbowed her.
"Damn, good thing I learned how to swim, or I'd be dead!" one man panted, then burst into laughter, exhilarated. "This is my last quest. Four more points, and I'll hit 4,444!"
Veterans admired him; novices envied him; and the clueless newcomers stared in utter bewilderment.
"Where is this place? Can someone tell me? I'm sure I died."
Eric, suppressing her distress, turned to the man with the most ingratiating smile she could muster. "I can't believe I'm in the same quest as a maxed-out master like you! What an honor! You must be incredibly skilled and experienced. Could you enlighten us newcomers about the game?"
The man, in high spirits, gladly shared some insights, but this was no place for a lengthy chat. He motioned for Eric and the others to follow him as he walked and spoke.
"After escaping, always seek the portal. Never think of idling in an ordinary quest to save time. This tourist area seems vast, right? You might consider hunting or foraging to save on meal points, or sleeping here to avoid lodging fees. But all that's forbidden. Beyond the issue of time flow, the game won't let you exploit loopholes. If we linger here intentionally, the game will judge us as slacking, the portal will vanish, and we'll be stuck."
Another player asked, "How do you know this? If players got stuck, how did the news spread?"
The man, Austin, chuckled. "Those players lingered so long that when the quest was reopened, they returned only by tagging along with new entrants. Each stone pillar in the hub represents a portal, but it's not just one quest's entrance—it's an infinite number! Even if two people enter the same pillar, the chance they'll end up in the same quest is nearly zero, got it?"
Eric understood. "So they truly waited forever."
"They said the sun rose and set over nine hundred times there. Eventually, they stopped counting. Three went mad and died; only one survived, so crazed he forgot how to complete the quest. Thankfully, some kind new players found the portal and pulled him in. What a tragedy!"
Austin's tale left the newcomers shuddering.
As they spoke, they returned to the bridge, spotting the portal on the other side.
Following Austin's warning, no one dared linger, eagerly stepping through the portal.
[Player Eric has completed the ordinary quest: Submerged Bus. Rewarded with 4 points.]