"The escape room we just played is called 'Reincarnation Doll', it was so fun and scary!"

As they snacked and chatted, Liu Yutong started talking about the escape room they just played, "It's about a sister who killed her younger sister, and the younger sister's spirit possessed a doll belonging to the sister's child, coming back for revenge and revealing the murder story from back then."

"Ghost?" Shen Ying blinked, "Was it scary?"

Liu Yutong nodded seriously, "It was very scary, even just looking at the escape room's cover is terrifying."

Shen Ying leaned closer to Liu Yutong's phone and saw her open the webpage of the store, finding the cover for 'Reincarnation Doll', which featured a creepy-looking doll.

"Yeah." Shen Ying nodded, "It does look quite scary, aren't you guys afraid?"

"Of course, we were! And we spent all the time without finding any clues, in the end, the host had to get us out." Liu Yutong said.

Gu Tingting rubbed her forehead again…

"Speaking of which..."

Shen Ying thought for a moment and said, "I watch videos, but I don't think I've seen anything about escape rooms."

"Escape rooms are similar to detective games, and because they are immersive experiences, you're not allowed to take photos, so you might have seen tour videos, but the specific content won't be there."

Liu Yutong noticed that Shen Ying seemed unfamiliar with escape rooms and explained seriously, "Also, escape rooms get upgraded every once in a while with new scripts and scenes to attract return customers."

With Liu Yutong's explanation, Shen Ying and the other two girls got a general understanding of how escape rooms work.

"How about we find some time to try it? It sounds pretty interesting." Lu Zheng suggested.

Not just the three girls, even Lu Zheng and Lin Wan had never played an escape room; the most trendy entertainment they've done was detective games.

"Sure!" Shen Ying laughed, "It's a great way to see what the ghosts here are like."

Lin Wan, "..."

Lu Zheng, "..."

Liu Qingyan and Si Lingxi naturally had no objections either.

"I recommend you guys try the Grotto Chamber, I heard that the storyline there is mind-bending and scary." Liu Yutong eagerly said.

"Have you been there?"

"No, I'm too scared." Liu Yutong admitted honestly, "But I'm willing to accompany Si Huang!"

Lu Zheng waved his hand, "Si Huang doesn't need you to accompany her."

Si Lingxi wouldn't startle those real NPCs in the escape room anyway.

"That's true, since you have Lu Zheng!"

Liu Yutong misunderstood Lu Zheng's meaning, but soon revealed her true intention, "But if you guys don't have enough people for the escape room, Tingting and I can join the team."

Lu Zheng smiled and shook his head, "You're overthinking; we'll definitely have enough people."

...

After finishing their night snack, Lu Zheng and the group brought Gu Tingting and Liu Yutong back to Hai City Music Academy.

On the way, Gu Tingting quietly asked Si Lingxi some questions about music, while Lin Wan went over to Liu Yutong and showed her something on her phone.

"Do you know him?"

"Duan Haoran?"

"Who is he?"

"He's my ex-boyfriend. How do you have his..."

"He was just following behind you all." Lin Wan said calmly.

"What?" Liu Yutong was dumbfounded, "He was stalking me?"

"What do you think?" Lin Wan raised an eyebrow at her.

"No... that can't be?" Liu Yutong felt like crying.

"I suggest you have a talk with him to understand his intentions." Lin Wan said coolly, "Add him as a friend, and if you sense anything suspicious, don't hesitate to call me before reporting to the police."

Liu Yutong nodded repeatedly, her heart pounding, "You are..."

"I'm a police officer."

...

After dropping the two off at school, the group drove home. That night, Lu Zheng made a solo trip back to Beidu. The next day was still the weekend, so the group had breakfast and then went to the well-known Grotto Chamber escape room in Hai City, choosing a mid-level difficulty Republican-era themed mystery script.

And then...

Without Lu Zheng needing to take action, Lin Wan, Shen Ying, and Liu Qingyan competed to solve the puzzles, taking less than half an hour to escape the haunted mansion of 'Ghost Bride', unraveling all five storylines.

Facing the real NPCs pretending to be ghosts, their expressions didn't change, and Lin Wan even high-fived the zombie-playing NPC, examining their makeup under dim lighting with great interest, nodding approvingly at the end.

The staff, "..."

If they hadn't watched the group solve the puzzles all the way, they wouldn't believe it was their first time playing this story.

If they hadn't seen other people playing this escape room with the screaming, panicking, and early exits, they would have thought their escape room design was a failure.

Do these five people have hearts made of steel?

Simply terrifying!

As the group walked out under the staff's admiring gaze, Shen Ying commented, "Although it's not as real as the illusions I create, the puzzles and story are quite well done, worth the ticket price."

"Tsk tsk..." Lu Zheng clicked his tongue, praising, "To get your compliment means they did a good job."

Liu Qingyan asked in disbelief, "I felt it was very scary, after all, it's made to be scary on purpose. I felt it's even scarier than some real ghostly noises in the Great Jing side."

"Why do people on Blue Star like this kind of atmosphere and stories? Watching horror movies isn't enough; they actually make a scary escape room for an immersive experience."

Si Lingxi shook her head and said coolly, "Because Blue Star doesn't have Netherworld ghosts or man-eating demons."

Lu Zheng gave a thumbs up, as Si Lingxi always hit the nail on the head, "It boils down to seeking thrills under the assumption of safety. I believe if the world really had ghosts, ordinary people wouldn't enjoy experiencing a horror escape room."

Lu Zheng believed that if they made a horror escape room in the Great Jing Dynasty, the owner would lose even their underwear.

The real world already has all kinds of supernatural beings, looking for more thrill in a horror escape room just seems like courting death. Building a haunted house in a world with real ghosts, if there's no ghost in the haunted house, now that's a real ghost situation!

Seeing the group laughing and chatting as they came out, the store manager hurriedly approached, curiously asking, "Are you guys professional escape room players?"

"No." Lin Wan shook her head.

"Then you're amazing. 'Ghost Bride' is a script our store exclusively purchased, and I've never seen anyone unravel all five lines in half an hour on their first try." The store manager praised, "And you were so brave that even we, knowing the story, can't guarantee not being scared when we go in."

"Too kind." Lu Zheng shook his head. Seeing that the girls still wanted more, he said to the manager, "You have two more escape rooms, right? Let's play those too."

"Alright, alright. It's a quiet morning, no need to wait." The manager quickly said.

Before lunchtime, they cleared the Western-style 'Mist Town' and Japan-themed 'Light in the Lantern' escape rooms as well.

The staff, "..."

"What do you think?" the manager couldn't help asking.

"Pretty good." Shen Ying commented, "Except the performance by the two ghosts wasn't convincing enough; when they saw we weren't scared, they seemed a bit puzzled."

The manager licked his lips, as he had just heard the staff complaining that when they saw the blank expressions of these customers, they felt a bit unnerved, and suggested the manager recommend them to see a doctor to check if they have any mental health issues causing the lack of fear.