Chapter 4: Trickster Game

NOVEMBER 26, 2022 ~ M1ZUSHI

“The game lasts for 20 minutes. Correspondingly, if you are not caught at the end of the game, you will be regarded as a winner.”

Andre licked his lips and looked a little excited. “There is no reward for winning, but if you lose, you will be punished.”

——Punishment.

They didn’t want to know the punishment at all.

From the very beginning, when Skirt heard the name “Hiding Ghost Game”, her eyebrows slightly popped out, and she thought that the game was not fun.

She took a deep breath and bargained with Andre: “Before the game starts, can we go to the second floor first… Er, know the way?”

Andre smiled and refused. “No,” he said

Skirt sighed at the bottom of her heart when she failed to break through the hole.

This game can be summed up as a “hide and seek” game at first.

The villa covers a large area, and its interior looks like it was rebuilt from an ancient castle. The building structure is complex. Even if the hiding place is limited to the second floor, there are still many secret and safe spaces available. If you search innumerable guest rooms one by one, you may find only a dozen rooms after the game.

So under normal circumstances, finding two people in 20 minutes is really the limit.

Sounds like a big win.

Including Andre’s words “hide in three minutes,” “the more hidden, the better”, which will give people a sense of urgency. We must hide ourselves in three minutes, so that the searchers can not find themselves. In addition to the instinct of human nature to prefer a safe environment and avoid facing danger directly, most people will choose the customs clearance mode of “hiding”.

But this is in the world of copies. The people who track them are not people, but ghosts.

The name “dog” already has some hints. Does its keen sense of smell mean that it has the ability to capture and track clues of living players?

If you stay in one place, there is only one result:

Catching turtles in a jar, it is a dead end.

This is the first idea that skirt heard the rules of the game.

What they want to play is not hide and seek but wandering.

The point of the rule is never to hide, but… not to be caught.

However, it is much more difficult to run away and hide than to hide in a fixed place. Who knows if you were to be unlucky to run into a ghost and directly hit the Bad End. In contrast, the familiarity with the environment is extremely important, which is directly related to the difficulty of escape.

Unfortunately, in order to avoid triggering the death mechanism, the players did not dare explore the villa environment at the beginning and stayed in the hall. When faced with this situation, it is simply awkward.

Three minutes, time is too short to investigate the terrain.

The more she analyzed, the paler Skirt looked like. She couldn’t help taking a deep breath, didn’t want to bring negative emotions to affect her teammates, tried to make a relaxed expression and talked with Yuan Yuxue.

She was afraid that Yuan Yuxue would fall into Andrea’s speech trap, and she also explained in a low voice why they could not hide directly – and then found out that Yuan Yuxue never seemed to have considered hiding.

He gave a light “Hmm”, and his dark, fine feather-like eyelashes hung down, half covering his beautiful eyes, as if he was thinking about something.

Skirt thought bitterly that she would let the newcomer choose the travel route later. She was so unlucky that she might choose a way only to send them to the ghosts.

Then Skirt heard Yuan Yuxue calmly summarize: “The first game is really simpler.”

Skirt: “……”

Their voices were clearly very low, but Andre heard them.

Everyone saw that Andre’s smile stopped suddenly. He stared at Yuan Yuxue and sneered loudly for a long time.

Skirt: “……” It’s over. I suddenly think they may have offended boss.

Without concealing anything, Andre urged them to play games quickly in a bad voice.

Yuan Yuxue got up and prepared to go to the location on the second floor specified by Andre. When passing by Curly, he (C) suddenly grabbed the corner of his (YYX) coat.

Curly’s hand was strong and tightly clenched. Yuan Yuxue was confiscated. Fortunately, the cloth was of good quality, so it was not torn by Curly.

Yuan Yuxue: “?”

Curly rubbed his eyebrows, and the expression on his face was a bit inexplicably complicated. Yuan Yuxue’s surprised eyes fell on him for a long time before he took out a prop from his personal storage space and buckled it on Yuan Yuxue’s wrist.

A slight “click”.

It was a pure white watch with no pointer on the surface, just a flat glass screen.

“Nightmare Watch.” Curly said its name awkwardly. Other players looked up after hearing the name, obviously knowing the rarity of this special prop.

But looking at the newcomer’s confused eyes, Curly knew that he certainly did not know the function of this item, and reluctantly explained: “This item is used to determine the existence of ‘that’, after starting, the closer it is to the ‘that’, the more red the surface will be – just a useless item, which can be used at this time.”

— He said, with no scruples at all about Andrei’s presence.

The others: “……” Are you sure the NIghtmare watch is a useless prop?

Yuan Yuxue’s face did not show any feedback. Curly’s face became uglier. He continued to say angrily: “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m just afraid you will die too soon, which will make it difficult for me to observe. When you’re finished, remember to return it to me.”

Don’t really die there.

Yuan Xuxue thought for a moment, “Thank you, but I don’t need it.”

Curly felt as if he had been stabbed in some pain point, and complained to him strangely: “Do you still want to refuse me? You have refused me twice!”

Rabbit nearby couldn’t help laughing for a short time, which caused Curly’s discontented stare. She quickly stopped smiling and looked kindly at the young man: “You can take it first. At this time, players should help each other. Come on.”

The captain agreed with a “Hmm”, and by the way, put two bottles of red medicine in Yuan Yuxue’s hand, and said, “First, cure the wound.”

Rabbit thought, you make me think it’s out of place that I don’t give anything away.

But while she was roasting, Andre, who was grinning his teeth, had already stood up and personally supervised the two players he selected to go upstairs.

It seems that if these players waited a little longer, they could release the “dogs” in the next second and kill them at the door.

After reaching the second floor through the spiral staircase, Andre stopped at the stairway.

He hugged his arms and looked at Yuan Yuxue. The dim corridor light fell on his face, adding an unspeakable irony to the profound facial features.

Andre’s expression seemed to change a little suddenly and subtly. There was pure coldness and a little killing in his pupils. He looked down gracefully at his pocket watch and warned, “The game has begun.”

“Three minutes, one, two…”

When Andre said that, her first reaction was to run first.

Run far away. Even if ghosts come directly to them, it will take more time.

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Of course, Skirt also did not forget to remind Yuan Yuxue. It turns out that although the little newcomer looks emaciated and weak, but with his waist and long legs, his running speed is not slow, even she cannot catch up.

The countdown of three minutes seemed to be pressing in her ear. While Skirt was silently calculating, she forgot about the idea at first. When she saw a more remote corridor, she wanted to drill into it – and was pulled by Yuan Yuxue.

The other side was very polite, but gently shook her wrist through her sleeve as a reminder.

But Skirt seemed to feel the coolness of Yuanyu’s fingertips.

The anxious mood that was oppressed by timing just now suddenly sank a little.

Yuan Yuxue said, “Here.”

The division area of the second floor of the villa was very complex. They were now in the guest room area where guests could stay. In front of them was an invisible door. If it were not for the different landscapes decorated on the walls, it would almost give rise to the strange idea that they kept turning around in the same place.

Yuan Yuxue also pointed to a guest room. After he stopped, he went forward and turned the door handle.

The door was unlocked.

As the door was pushed away with a sound of “squeak”, the light fell in, and the tiny dust aroused by the action of pushing the door could be seen flying. There was some choking smell in the door that had not seen the sun for a long time.

Skirt was slightly stunned. She subconsciously said, “It’s not safe to hide here…”

“Don’t hide.” Yuan Yuxue said, “Let’s go from here.”

He has scanned the general terrain of the villa before and has just spent some energy to re-explore the topographic map of the second floor. He has just planned several road maps with multiple transfer exits that can be flexibly moved.

Obviously, it’s time to race against the clock, but Skirt is still as bewitched as it is, and subconsciously followed Yuan Yuxue.

There were lights in the room, but neither of them is stupid enough to turn them on. After the door of the room was closed, Skirt, which used to barely identify the layout of the room with a light source in the corridor, became more confused. Only vaguely saw Yuan Yuxue walking to the edge of the painting beside the bed. It seemed that he gently touched the painting, but still changed its position. Suddenly, the wall moved and turned over into a narrow tunnel that barely allowed one person to pass.

Skirt: “!”

F*ck.

If not for the image, Skirt might have cried out.

She didn’t think too much about the existence of the secret passage, but she was pressed for time. It was too difficult to observe the entrance of the secret passage and make use of it in a few minutes. She didn’t expect that it would appear so easily in the hands of newcomers.

While she was still stunned, Yuan Yuxue had already stepped into the secret path.

The height of the secret passage was acceptable. Yuan Yuxue doesn’t need to bow his head, but it was narrow, and only one person can enter at a time. The inner wall was inlaid with fluorescents. Although the light source was weak, when the blue light fell on Yuan Yuxue, it appeared as if his exposed neck was extremely white.

It seemed strange that Skirt didn’t follow. Yuan Yuxue looked back at her.

“Come on.”

Almost without hesitation, Skirt followed, even though there was still some confusion in her mind.

The dark environment easily made people feel trance in time. Skirt thought they had walked for a long time, but in fact, less than a minute later, the narrow secret passage came to an end——

Yuan Yuxue pressed the mechanism in front of him. When they came out, they had left the reception area and came to the kitchen where food was stored.

It was quiet here. There’s nobody here. In the corner, there were some vegetables and fruits that weren’t fresh, withered and yellow, as well as some meat that has been slaughtered and bled.

Skirt frowned uncomfortably when she saw fresh viscera soaked in water and some obvious hand and foot shapes.

Yuan Yuxue did not stop. He pushed the door open and went out. He even went to the next place purposefully.

Three minutes have passed, and the “dog” should have been released to track them.

The nightmare watches have not given any response since they were started, proving that they were still in a very safe area.

Watching Yuan Yuxue skillfully lead the way, he shuttled in the dark room of the secret passage and came to various strange areas. The doubts in Skirt’s mind became more and more intense. Even though she knew it was not the time to ask questions, she could not help saying, “That…… Yuan Yuxue.”

Yuan Yuxue leans slightly, proving that he was listening.

“Why are you so familiar with this place?” From her own point of view, “Did you see the topographic map of the villa before?”

Even if it is a survey, the villa is too big, and it is impossible to know this degree in one day.

Look at the map?

Is it the topographic map projected in my mind?

Yuan Yuxue hesitated, “Hmm.”

I see.

Skirt was easily persuaded, and she was not happy to come when she thought that she had found that the newcomer had left the team without permission. Now it seems that this new man has more foresight and courage than them.

“You saw it when you left the team?”

It is indeed the topographic map scanned at that time.

Yuan Yuxue nodded.

Skirt remembered that Yuan Yuxue had not been away for a long time at that time, which means that even if he was lucky enough to investigate the map, he did not have much time to remember it. Besides, Yuan Yuxue at that time did not know that the next task would be used.

It’s amazing to remember these areas and secret passages so clearly, and to flexibly use them to calculate routes when hiding from ghosts.

Skirt couldn’t help saying a few thanks again, with a little heartache in awe: “How long did it take you to remember so much? It must be very hard.”

Yuan Yuxue, who was walking in front of her, paused. Even though he could not see his face, he could also perceive that the young voice was a little confused: “Does it take time to remember this?”

Skirt was more stunned, and subconsciously said, “No?”

Yuan Yuxue: “…”

His silence obviously expressed something, and Skirt was silent for a moment.

Damn, is this the difference between a smart person and an ordinary person?

At this moment, the world of humans and robots was not connected. (tl note: they were on different pages)

In silence, the Nightmare watch on Yuan Yuxue’s wrist suddenly turned on, emitting a faint red light.

The light made Skirt wake up, and it was still in danger.

Yuan Yuxue said, “It’s coming.”

Those secret passages were very secret, and the areas they cross were complex. It was impossible to find them so quickly under normal circumstances. The “Dog” really has the ability to track players!

The next second, Yuan Yuxue’s words made Skirt’s eyebrows jump.

“He’s accelerating.”

Yuan Yuxue said quietly in a cold voice.

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