Congratulations on Your Successful Escape

Chapter 111

Taken aback, Mo Yi’s gaze froze on the area illuminated by the flashlight for several seconds.

The small box was lying quietly on the old mottled iron shelf. It was covered in a layer of dust and was nearly completely camouflaged with the looming piles of folders beside it, except for its silver-white keyhole on the top which was shining with metal lustre under the light.

The smell of dust permeated the cold and gloomy archive room, spreading along from his respiratory tract to his lungs.

Mo Yi moved his injured hand subconsciously.

The dull, shallow pain was directly transmitted to his mind through the feeling of being paralyzed by a thick layer of ice, stimulating his peripheral nerves.

He slipped his eyes shut. His breathing was a little unsteady.

Ever since he had come to this -2F, he had always felt like he had lost his sense of reality.

This feeling gradually deepened as he came into contact with the illusions again and again. Just akin to mud accumulating in the bottom of his heart, it slowly increased and rose, feeling as though it were all about to overflow out from his seven orifices, submerging his five senses and paralysing them.

This was the sensation of panic rising from the bottom of his heart.

It felt as though everything around him was an illusion—this instance, this floor, this corridor, Jiang Yuanrou, and even himself, were all of these real? Or were they all just an illusion?

And the appearance of that candy just now deepened this feeling.

The reason behind its appearance, was it something this instance deliberately fabricated to confuse him? Or was it real?

This instance misled players with illusions, giving them clues which were both true and false, and in turn, gradually deprived the player of their sense of reality.

In light of the tense situation earlier, Mo Yi had forced himself not to think about this disturbing question yet the more he tried to suppress his suspicions, the more it grew in him.

He clenched his hands. There was a continuous sharp pain from the root of his injured finger, breaking through the thick frigid numbness of the nerve. The pain pierced deeply into his muscle like a sharp steel needle, scraping the bone.

The pain curbed the ubiquitous sense of unreality in his heart slightly.

A low, concerned female voice sounded in the dark and spacious room, “…Mo Yi?”

Mo Yi seemed to be startled by Jiang Yuanrou’s sudden voice. He snapped out of his thoughts and concealed his lengthy concerns by curling the corners of his lips up into a reassuring smile. “It’s okay.”

After he finished speaking, he suppressed the chaotic emotions in his heart, then reached out to touch his pocket.

Deep in this pocket was the hard and cold metal key. Mo Yi took it out, observing its appearance under the flashlight: there were traces of solidified blood on its silver-white metal surface and dark blood stains lining its jagged teeth.

Stroking the cold surface of the key, Mo Yi made his way towards the iron box.

He inserted the key into the silver keyhole of the iron box. The slight sound of metal clashing against metal resounded in the dead silence of the room, and then the shape of the lock and key snapped together snugly.

Mo Yi took a deep breath and exerted force with his fingertips. With a soft “click”, the box unlocked.

He lifted the ajar lid of the box, and shone the flashlight at it to examine its contents—

Only to see a card lying at the bottom of the metal box.

Bewildered, Mo Yi reached out to pick up the card. It was an employee magnetic card, which was almost exactly identical to the employee card he found on the upper floor. It seemed to be a bit old, with the picture on it blurred and peeling off.

But it was still possible to recognise from the blurred outline of the photo that the owner of this magnetic card was a woman with long hair.

Mo Yi frowned, his face stained with a little melancholy.

He originally thought that the box would contain information about this instance, and not the magnetic card which they needed to leave this floor.

That being said, this also made sense—after all, Mo Yi obtained the magnetic card to leave the upper floor after he broke the illusion, and Jiang Yuanrou also obtained the key to this box after a similar ordeal, with the difference being that there were more twists and turns in her case.

At the same time… another issue with this instance was presented clearly.

There were too little clues.

Regardless of images or words, there were simply too few clues. The only thing they’ve gotten that might pass off as a clue was the butterfly which they didn’t know the hidden meaning of. Furthermore, even the archive room did not hold any information about this instance. All the papers in the folders were blank and the only item in the iron box was the magnetic card.

The scarcity of clues in this instance was abnormal.

Mo Yi glanced down at his wristwatch—more than one-third of the game time in this instance had passed but he still didn’t know any crucial information..

This was too abnormal.

Mo Yi lowered his arm and studied the magnetic card in his hand.

Before he could take a closer look, he heard a loud bang coming from outside the door. The sound of metal vibrations buzzed and diffused through the air, ringing loud and clear in their eardrums.

Startled, Mo Yi exchanged a glance with Jiang Yuanrou hastily. He stuffed the magnetic card into his pocket, turned and ran out.

The two ran into the corridor and looked in the direction of the sound, only to let out a gasp at the same time.

The woman who had chased them earlier was standing upright in front of the tightly closed iron gate they had entered this part of the corridor from,? with her back to the faint ceiling light..

Then as though she had seen Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou’s gazes, the smile on her side face illuminated by the ceiling light became more and more exaggerated and grotesque, while her palms continued moving, slapping the cold iron railing vigorously.

The groaning from the metal was loud and sharp, cutting through the air extremely easily and piercing into the human brain.

Mo Yi noticed that clouds of dust and soil were falling down from the joint between the metal railing and the wall above, and the falling speed of the debris only became faster and faster as the woman continued slapping more and more violently—

She would definitely break down the gate sooner or later.

Mo Yi clearly comprehended the severity of their situation. Taking a deep breath, he patted Jiang Yuanrou’s shoulder and spoke in a low voice.

“We have to go.”

The two turned and walked towards the darkness at the end of the corridor, then stood still in front of the closed elevator door.

Mo Yi took out the magnetic card from his pocket and swiped it at the groove on the wall, only to hear a soft ‘beep’.

The sound of machinery moving came from the elevator shaft, and the groan of metal against metal echoed in the empty corridor.

The slapping sounds from the gate behind became more and more urgent. Mo Yi turned and glanced at the woman, only to see that her ferocious and stiff face remained unchanged in the darkness, with a pair of almost scarlet eyes staring intently at the two of them.

Large pieces of wall plaster fell down along with the dust. The railings were visibly loosened.

A fine layer of cold sweat broke out on Mo Yi’s back. He took a deep breath and snapped his head back to look at the still tightly closed elevator door, feeling a little anxious in his heart.

Less than half a minute later, there was a small ‘ding’ from the elevator shaft.

The diamond-shaped metal railing creaked open first, followed by the elevator door. Dim yellow light came in through the slowly opening door, illuminating the cold and gloomy end of the corridor.

Mo Yi and Jiang Yuanrou heaved a sigh of relief and quickly walked into the elevator.

The elevator door closed behind them, shutting out the creepy scalp-tingling slapping sounds.

There was only silence inside the closed elevator, accompanied by the humming and whirring of machinery.

This elevator too, similar to his previous one, did not have any buttons or a visible operating mechanism. There was just a vivid -2 displayed on the screen along with a small triangle which was slowly moving up step by step, indicating that the elevator was going upwards automatically.

Mo Yi returned to his thoughts which were interrupted earlier, and pulled out the two magnetic cards from his pocket to carefully compare them under the dim light in the elevator.

The names and photos of the employees were almost unrecognisable, with only the name of the mental asylum below still moderately discernible. Mo Yi leaned in closer and squinted at the blurry words.

“Edwin Mental Asylum”.

Mo Yi pursed his lips. He couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated—it’s been two hours since he entered this instance, and he had just learned the name of this mental asylum, which is too much of a failure.

Though… the name of this mental hospital is a bit weird.

Edwin… This should be a person’s name.

Mo Yi raised his eyebrows slightly, and couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled. Logically, there were not many mental asylums which would use people’s names as part of their official name, let alone using a given name rather than a surname.

Just then, he recalled something and turned to Jiang Yuanrou who was standing by the side.

“When you were entering past the iron gate earlier, were you about to say something?”

Jiang Yuanrou raised her head upon hearing the words. Her face looked a little pale, and she leaned against the cold wall of the elevator, exhaling slowly.

“I just felt… it’s a little unbelievable…”

She lowered her eyes and fixedly stared at a point in the darkness. With her long lashes covering her light brown eyes, her pale lips moved slightly, seemingly deep in thought.

The temperature in the enclosed elevator was slightly higher than that of the corridor, and together with the rhythmic whirring of the machinery from all four walls, as well as the dim yellow light overhead, gave the two of them the chance for a breather.

Mo Yi watched Jiang Yuanrou patiently, waiting quietly.

He saw Jiang Yuanrou taking a deep breath to calm down, then finally s[poke.

“When you mentioned gender separation just now, I was a little surprised because in my last instance with Yuanbai, the players were separated according to gender and the boss of that instance also slaughtered and hunted us down according to gender…”

Mo Yi stared at Jiang Yuanrou thoughtfully. A quick thought suddenly flashed in his mind and he interrupted Jiang Yuanrou without warning.

“That boss, do you know what his name is?”

Jiang Yuanrou was taken aback by Mo Yi’s sudden question and immediately replied subconsciously .

“It’s… Edwin, what’s the matter?”