Chapter 7: Beware of Poop

June 17th, 2023

Lin Xuan lay in the coffin for about five minutes, and then there was a sound from outside. It was the players who had cracked the previous level’s secret room and entered her level.

“Ah, there’s a coffin!” a scared girl’s voice sounded.

Lin Xuan held her breath and tried not to move. Before the players opened the coffin, they couldn’t know that there was someone inside, otherwise, the level of horror wouldn’t be enough. Of course, some people could still guess that there was something in the coffin, but no one could be sure until the coffin was opened.

“There seems to be a chain on the coffin. Is there a ghost inside?”

“I’ve said it many times, those ghosts are all NPCs pretending.”

“I know, but I’m still scared.”

Lin Xuan was used to hearing such conversations. Many people were more eager to play in secret rooms, and their experience was often better than those who were brave.

“Let’s solve the puzzle first,” a brave boy spoke up. “Pros, do you have any clues?”

“Let’s search around first and see if there are any hints.”

“Okay.” The team immediately started moving, especially those who couldn’t solve puzzles, they were particularly eager and active in searching for clues.

“Knock!”

Someone knocked on the coffin lid, startling Lin Xuan.

Am I scaring others or are they scaring me?

“How’s it going?” the voice of the person who previously suggested searching for clues sounded again, but the tone was slightly different, and the voice was much quieter.

“It’s here.” A new voice came, distorted through the wooden boards, but with a confident tone.

“Let’s unlock the secret room first. With so many chains, this level must involve opening the coffin. We just don’t know if there’s a ghost inside.”

“Okay.”

The two people didn’t say anything else, and Lin Xuan heard footsteps. She thought that these two people were probably also searching for clues. Soon, the players began to find a lot of clues one after another.

“I found a box with a combination lock.”

“I found a piece of paper with a math problem on it. I’ll try to solve it.”

“5769.”

“You solved it with just a glance, like you’ve played it before? So impressive,” the boy said somewhat sourly.

“He’s just good at math. Open the box and see what’s inside,” another girl said, holding the box.

As the “pro” reported the number, the girl with the box had already entered the password, and indeed, the lock opened. The girls exclaimed, “Wow,” and all looked at the boy with admiration, saying, “So amazing.”

The accompanying boy pursed his lips, feeling somewhat dissatisfied. These were supposed to be his moments of glory, but these two guys, relying on their good looks, insisted on joining halfway through. Couldn’t they form their own team if they wanted to show off?

“It’s a piece of paper, with some text on it,” the girl took out the item from the box.

“Let me see.” The boy took the note and quickly said, “It’s the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams of Taoism, used for determining directions. Check if there are buttons on the wall.”

“Is it this one? I noticed it earlier when searching for clues,” a girl pointed to a protrusion on the wall.

“Yes, there should be five of these buttons. Keep looking. If I’m not mistaken, you need to press the buttons in a certain order for the mechanism to unlock,” the boy confidently said, casting a discreet glance at a certain “pro” standing nearby, never intending to show the paper to anyone.

“Chu, look at how your junior is being pushed around.” A stylish young man with a ponytail whispered to his friend.

The black-clad youth glanced at him without saying a word. If it weren’t for the fact that this dungeon required five people to open, he wouldn’t want to interfere with his junior’s attempt to show off. Besides, if it weren’t for someone shamelessly flirting without regard for the occasion, he wouldn’t hold such a grudge against them.

Fortunately, the boy indeed had some skills. After a few attempts, he found the solution.

“Let’s each press a button in order. Pro, you go and open the coffin?” The girls were too timid to approach the coffin and preferred to leave it to the black-clad youth and the ponytailed young man.

“Alright.” The black-clad youth readily agreed. When he first entered, he vaguely sensed energy fluctuations from the coffin and was actually thinking of finding an excuse to open it himself.

Finally, it was time to open the coffin, and Lin Xuan was ecstatic. She had been lying in the coffin for almost twenty minutes and was getting overheated.

No wonder the salary for this NPC is high—it’s hard-earned money indeed.

As the five individuals pressed the buttons in order, the sensing lock above the coffin “click” opened. Then came the sound of the iron chains being pulled, and the coffin shook slightly. Someone was opening the coffin.

As Lin Xuan hesitated whether to beg for mercy before getting up, to appear less frightening, or to get up first and then beg for mercy, to appear more polite, a crack appeared in the coffin lid, and a hand reached in against the backlight.

Wait, they’re reaching in directly?!

Before Lin Xuan could react, that hand, coming in against the backlight, accurately grabbed her neck.

“Oh, spare me, please.” Lin Xuan cried out in alarm, and then she felt the hand around her neck pause and loosen.

“Ah ah ah, there really is someone in the coffin.” Even though Lin Xuan was begging for mercy, it still frightened a few timid girls.

“Don’t be afraid, they’re all people pretending.” Well, why does that statement sound a bit off?

“Regular people? Sorry.”

Brother, they’re not regular people. Did you really think there were ghosts inside? If there were ghosts, would you still be so bold?

“Can you let me out?” She was really getting hot.

“Sorry.” The boy apologized again, his voice sounding pleasant, but the person was still against the light, so Lin Xuan still couldn’t see their appearance clearly. After the boy stood up, he casually moved the coffin lid aside a bit, allowing Lin Xuan to come out.

Lin Xuan supported herself on the edge of the coffin and stood up, her face pale, with two rosy patches of rouge, resembling a paper figure in a paper-stuffed mat. As soon as she revealed her face, the girls who had overcome their fear and were ready to come and see the NPC were scared back again.

“Ah ah ah!”

Hearing the scream, Lin Xuan inexplicably felt somewhat relieved. This was the correct way to open an escape room. Unlike this person, Lin Xuan raised her head to glare at the person who had choked her just now, but found that they had already retreated to the shadows. At least 1.8 meters tall, they had a presence that couldn’t be ignored.

Lin Xuan clung to the edge of the coffin and clumsily crawled out. Her task was completed, and now she could just leave.

“Poof, hahaha…” an untimely burst of laughter suddenly echoed in the room.

Lin Xuan turned her head and saw a young man with a small ponytail and peach blossom eyes, with exceptionally delicate features, pointing at her and laughing heartily.

“I… I’m sorry, it’s my first time seeing a ghost wearing a red padded jacket. Hahaha, it’s too festive, hahaha.”

As he spoke, the others also noticed the NPC’s attire and couldn’t help but stifle their laughter. Suddenly, the entire escape room was filled with laughter and the atmosphere of horror disappeared.

Lin Xuan felt extremely embarrassed and was about to quickly crawl away when, unexpectedly, the corner of her eye caught sight of a huge and eye-catching logo.

About fifteen minutes ago, while these people entered the escape room, the system made a divination: “[Jie Xingyu, 26 years old, his beloved AJ sneakers will step on dog poop].”

Lin Xuan gave up on this divination because there were a total of seven players in this team, and she didn’t know who Jie Xingyu was. Even if she knew, she couldn’t casually talk about it while working.

Perhaps because he laughed too excessively, the black-clothed youth beside him couldn’t stand it and lightly kicked him.

After the ponytailed youth finally managed to suppress his emotions, he suddenly saw the female NPC in the red padded jacket turn around and walk towards him.

Could it be that he laughed too much and angered her? Just as the ponytailed youth was considering whether to apologize again, the female NPC suddenly spoke.

“You will step on dog poop today.”

“Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the divination task and obtaining a point of merit.” The system prompt sounded.

Task completed, Lin Xuan didn’t linger and turned to leave the escape room, leaving the other person bewildered.

After she left, there was a moment of silence in the escape room, and someone suddenly spoke up, “So, the female ghost who came out of the coffin also comes with a curse function, mysteriously intriguing.”

“Yes, I got goosebumps.”

“And this curse is just right, it doesn’t make you feel repulsed.”

“Yeah, it’s like cursing someone for eating instant noodles without the seasoning packet. It doesn’t feel unlucky, but rather a bit funny and quite creative.”

Funny? What’s so funny? I’m wearing a limited edition AJ sneakers that I spent a fortune on today. The ponytailed youth didn’t want to step on dog poop with his precious shoes.

“Chu,” the ponytailed youth turned around and saw that his good friend had already crouched into the coffin. He took two steps forward, bent down, and asked, “How is it?”

“Found it,” Chen Chu didn’t even lift his head. He lightly tapped the bottom of the coffin with his finger and uncovered a piece of emerald-green stone.

“Master, is there something in the coffin?” At this moment, the others also crowded around, seemingly wanting to help.

“Let him search alone here, you guys search other places.” The ponytailed youth smiled and kept everyone outside.

Lin Xuan came out of the escape room, went to the dressing room to change clothes, and drank more than half a bottle of mineral water to calm down. The makeup artist glanced at Lin Xuan’s neck and exclaimed, “What happened to your neck? Did they choke you?”

Lin Xuan turned her head and looked in the mirror, only then did she realize that her neck had turned red.

“It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt.” Lin Xuan had naturally sensitive and fair skin. It would leave a mark even with a light touch, but it would fade quickly. After a good night’s sleep, there would be nothing left.

“This is not okay. We must talk to them about this. Come, let’s find the store manager.” The makeup artist pulled Lin Xuan to find the store manager.

Tang Mingxu was also shocked when he saw it. Although he ran a business, he couldn’t let others bully his employees, especially since Lin Xuan was the one he invited.

“It’s not that serious, but he did lay his hands on you. Store manager, do you think we can ask for some compensation?” Although the other person didn’t use excessive force, he did physically attack an NPC. Lin Xuan felt that it was not unreasonable to ask for a 200 yuan compensation as per the regulations.

“Don’t worry about that. Once they come out, I’ll make sure to get it for you. You wait inside for now,” Tang Mingxu assured her.

Lin Xuan nodded and went to wait in the dressing room for the end of the instance. About ten minutes later, Lin Xuan received a transfer of money on her phone, a whole 1,000 yuan.

Lin Xuan was startled and went to ask the store manager, “Why is there so much money?”

“Choking an NPC’s neck, 1,000 yuan as compensation,” Tang Mingxu said.

“He gave it willingly?” If it wasn’t explicitly stated in the terms, most people wouldn’t readily give such a sum.

“Yes, he probably knew he went too far and felt guilty. As soon as I mentioned it, he agreed.” Tang Mingxu had prepared many arguments and strategies, such as pulling Lin Xuan out to let the other person see the marks on her neck.

“So, I can really take it?” Lin Xuan couldn’t believe it.

“Of course. By the way, this 100 yuan is your salary. You can go home and rest for today,” Tang Mingxu took out a 100 yuan bill from a drawer and gave it to her.

“Thank you, boss,” Lin Xuan said.

On the other side, the group of people who had just completed the coffin shop instance came out of the building. Suddenly, Xia Xingyu’s feet gave way as if he had stepped on something.

Everyone looked down and saw a fresh, steaming pile of dog poop.

“Sorry, sorry, I was just about to clean it up, and you stepped on it,” the dog owner looked guilty.

“So, it’s still my fault for hindering you from cleaning?” Xia Xingyu gritted his teeth.

“No, no, it’s my dog’s fault.”

“Woof,” the Labrador Retriever, tethered on a leash, crouched obediently nearby, with innocent and playful eyes.

Feels great after pooping, woof.

Author’s note:

Lin Xuan: Those who like me call it divination, those who mock me call it a curse.

Crab: This is a somewhat mystical story, and the male lead is not an ordinary person.

Chen Chu: I study physics purely out of boredom.