Chapter 175 - 174: Extreme Horror Escape Room: The Soul-Eyed

Chapter 175: Chapter 174: Extreme Horror Escape Room: The Soul-Eyed

She didn’t know if there would be others at the escape room looking to group up. If there weren’t enough people, she wouldn’t even know who to call, since many of her friends were still in Kyoro.

But she didn’t overthink it, turning on the navigation and driving toward their destination.

"That kid Ash Sinclair played pretty well yesterday. Racking up seventy points to enter the winners’ bracket... I didn’t expect him to look that handsome while playing."

After hearing that Ash was playing professionally, Sarah Forrest had secretly looked him up. She hadn’t expected him to rewrite the destined outcome of yesterday’s match, going full beast-mode to secure a spot in the winners’ bracket.

They just happened to hit a red light. Hearing Sarah’s voice, Rian Sinclair chuckled lightly. "You watched it?"

Sarah shook her head. "Reports about Evil are flying all over the internet. He really is a top-tier god hard-carrying three deadweights.

"Did he mention anything about changing teammates or whatever? If he keeps one-versus-nining like this, he’s going to be dead tired." When Sarah was scrolling through her feed, she had seen some netizens’ comments and thought they were joking, but after looking into it, it turned out to be true.

Rian rested one hand on the steering wheel. Hearing her best friend’s words, she replied, "It’s his own choice. He’s as stubborn as a mule, and I have no idea who he takes after."

The moment she finished speaking, Sarah rolled her eyes speechlessly. "You don’t know? This is the pot calling the kettle black. You’re the big stubborn mule criticizing the little one."

Hearing her best friend’s scolding, Rian pretended not to hear it at all. Sarah continued to talk about Ash on her own. It wasn’t long before they arrived at their destination.

Inside the elevator.

Rian looked at the sticker prompt and pressed the button for the 16th floor. The buttons on the panel were all even numbers. Once they arrived, she led her best friend through the main doors, where a female staff member immediately came up to greet them.

"What theme would you two ladies like to play? Do you have other friends coming? Are you looking for something with chasing, heavy horror, or solo routes?"

Beside her, Sarah nodded excitedly. "The Soul-Eyed. It’s just the two of us. Do you have any groups looking for more players here?"

The staff member smiled and invited them to sit on the sofa. By the front desk, they saw the game moderator talking to two people standing very close together; they seemed to be a couple.

Shortly after, the staff member brought them two cups of water. Rian thanked her, took the water, and placed it on the table. The moderator, having likely finished setting up the current session, smiled and said, "Please wait a moment, guys. We don’t have enough people yet, so we can’t start."

Neither of them was in a hurry. Rian was prepared to wait and see if anyone else showed up. If not, she would just get Jason Rivers to call some people over.

It didn’t take long for another group to arrive. Rian looked at the four newcomers: three men and one woman. The staff member went over to greet them with a smile. "Are you here to play The Soul-Eyed? The people over there are also waiting for it. If we group you all together, we’ll have enough people to start right away."

After getting their agreement, the staff member guided them to book their tickets on their phones and read the rules. Rian scanned the QR code and bought two tickets. Seeing this, Sarah dramatically covered her face and cooed, "Oh, having my big sister pay for me makes me feel so embarrassed~"

Rian shot her a speechless look. She was always pulling these kinds of stunts. Rian couldn’t hit or scold this little drama queen. If she hit her, Sarah would say Rian didn’t love her anymore; if she scolded her, Sarah would claim Rian was being mean. She’d even spout nonsense about Rian "having another dog on the side."

Sarah grinned and hooked her arm around Rian’s right arm. Meanwhile, the moderator was introducing the rules, and Rian received her character assignment—Leo Forrest.

She turned her head to look at Sarah’s character card—Leila Elliot. She only knew it was an eight-player game, but she had no idea how high the horror level was. She wasn’t familiar with the characters inside either, so she was a bit curious about what a solo route would entail.

However, judging by the look the staff member gave her when handing over the character card, Rian had a feeling that her role was highly likely... possibly... maybe... going to involve some jump scares?

*(Author’s Note: These next few Chapters will focus heavily on the escape room. If you guys enjoy these, you should try playing one too!)*

"Then, in the school, if you encounter anything ’unclean,’ you must cover your face with both hands," the staff member handing out the IDs explained. "You cannot let the NPC see your clean face, or she will slash it with her box cutter.

"If the team gets slashed three times in total, the final thirty percent of the game will be locked out, and the game will end early at the seventy percent mark. Also, if you hear the school bell, you must return to the classroom immediately. No matter what you are doing, the moment you hear the bell, you must head back.

"Any students wandering the corridors are highly likely to run into the security guard. Students who get caught will be taken out of the game. The duration for The Soul-Eyed is two hours. Anyone who can’t handle it can ask the moderator to leave the game, but the remaining players will have to complete an extra solo mission as a penalty."

Rian stood to the side and listened to the rules. She turned to look at her best friend, only to find her face deathly pale. Sarah was hugging Rian’s arm in a death grip, looking like she was too terrified to play.

"Just say it if you’re scared. Don’t force yourself."

Hearing her best friend’s voice, Sarah feigned a firm resolve. "Scared? The word ’scared’ isn’t in my dictionary. I’ll allow you to hug my arm when you get frightened."

Hearing Sarah’s words, Rian didn’t take her seriously at all. This girl was all bark and no bite—the only tough thing about her was her mouth.

Ignoring her, Rian scanned the room. There were four men and four women in total. At this moment, none of them had any idea about the unknown dangers that lay ahead. Under the staff’s guidance, everyone began changing into the provided blue and white school uniform pants.

Rian looked at her set of clothes: a cheap police shirt that looked like it cost three dollars with free shipping, along with a pair of long pants. She hadn’t worn this kind of clothing in what felt like ages. But she wasn’t picky. Without taking off her own clothes, she simply pulled the costume on over them.

Once their clothes were buttoned up, the staff member led the way, and the eight players followed closely behind.

Sarah’s hands were clinging to Rian’s arm so tightly that Rian felt her right arm might dislocate by the end of this trip. She tried to shake her off a bit, but Sarah only gripped tighter. Giving up, Rian just kept walking after the staff member.

They took the elevator up to the 17th floor and were then asked to put on blindfolds. Guided by the staff, they entered through a large door. Rian immediately felt the temperature inside drop sharply. Her surroundings were pitch-black and felt extremely narrow.

In total darkness, with their eyes completely unable to see, their other senses became incredibly heightened.

Listening to the moderator’s prompts, they navigated through a corridor. Then, they heard a door creak slightly, followed by the staff member’s voice announcing that Leo Forrest was being taken away. This meant that right at the start of the game, Rian was going to be separated from the main group for a solo route.

Sarah hugged Rian, her voice slightly choked. "Ria, let me go with you. You’ll definitely be terrified all by yourself."

Rian rubbed her best friend’s hair, her voice tinged with helplessness. Both of her best friends were cowards who loved to talk big, but given the situation, she decided not to burst Sarah’s bubble. "Just stick with the main group. I’ll be back as soon as I finish the solo mission. If you get scared, just lean against the wall, cover your face, and crouch down."

She was very worried about Sarah. She knew full well how small Sarah’s courage was, but the girl just couldn’t resist wanting to play. Before they put on the blindfolds earlier, Rian had noticed that the person standing in front of Sarah in the line was a guy.

Right now, she could only hope that this guy could keep a slight eye on Sarah. She had mentioned it to him, and only after he replied with a "no problem" did she finally feel relieved. After giving Sarah a few more instructions, Rian followed the staff member away, taken off on her own.