A real killer playing a villain; the guy surnamed Zhen in Detective, run!

"Solo?" Da Yan emphasized the last two words. "Is the production team being polite? You're letting someone go solo right after we finished eating?"

He Rihuo stared at the five envelopes, his expression even worse than when he looked at the gas chamber.

"Single-player missions are the most insidious part of Escape Room," he explained to newcomers. "You think you're looking for clues, but you're actually risking your life."

Shen Yiming flexed his fingers and walked to the information desk.

He wanted to seize the initiative, so he tore open the first envelope: "Third floor abandoned pharmacy, looking for a prescription."

After Shen Yiming finished reading, his Adam's apple bobbed. "The pharmacy is alright."

He Rihuo looked at him and said, "Don't use 'it's okay' to describe any room in Escape Room."

The second smoker took a drag, then said, "Intensive Care Unit, looking for the critical condition notice."

Meng Ying was assigned to the nurses' changing room.

When it was He Rihuo's turn, he took one out and opened it.

"Dean's office, looking for patient files."

"An office is good; it has a desk, cabinets, and most importantly, a door. The door is the boundary of civilization."

On the triage desk, there was only one envelope left. Lu Yuan reached out, picked it up, and tore it open.

On the pale white note were small, blood-red characters: "Go to the morgue on the second basement level to find the master key."

Big Smoke was the first to crack his voice: "The morgue?!"

He Rihuo took a step back, clasped his hands together, and looked at Lu Yuan with the posture one would use to attend a funeral service.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yuan folded the note twice.

He Rihuo swallowed hard: "Escape Room, five seasons, morgue, psychological graveyard for regular guests. It's not scary, it's designed to make people not want to be human anymore."

Lu Yuan stuffed the note into his pocket. "The morgue is better than the intensive care unit. At least things are neatly arranged."

He Rihuo: "Teacher Lu, your understanding of tidiness is somewhat offensive to the deceased."

Lu Yuan didn't reply, but turned and walked towards the rusty iron door on the left side of the hall.

The door was pushed open, revealing a staircase leading down to the wall, with a section of intermittently glowing green line in the corner, resembling a broken snake.

Lu Yuan stepped inside, his figure quickly disappearing into the staircase.

In the triage hall, several people stood still, none of them moving.

Looking at his task of working at the pharmacy on the third floor, Shen Yiming suddenly felt that the pharmacy wasn't so bad after all.

-

Inside the broadcast van.

Xiao Zhao stared at the allocation results on the screen, his throat tightening. "President Yan, for the morgue level... should we remove the NPCs?"

Yan Ji sat at the control panel. "Withdraw?"

Xiao Zhao reminded, "Old Ghost is still receiving an IV drip at the hospital. It's already spread in the NPC group that the three in the morgue might be in unstable condition."

Yan Ji sneered, "Why did Old Ghost fail? Because he was a living person, face to face, wielding an axe. Lu Yuan's physical reaction would categorize him as a threat."

He tapped the morgue floor plan with his pen. "This level is different. The morgue is all about atmosphere. Darkness, freezers, white sheets, sound effects, empty shots, blind spots. The three NPCs are just there to create a sense of anticipation, they don't get close."

Old Fang stood to the side, saying nothing. He felt a chill run down his spine whenever he heard the words "this time is different."

Yan Ji became more and more certain as he spoke.

"No matter how strong you are in combat, can you fight thin air? No matter how good you are at picking locks, can you drive away fear? The fear of the unknown is human nature. The stronger a person's desire for control, the more afraid they are of things they can't see or touch."

Xiao Zhao hesitated: "But he was in the gas chamber just now..."

"That was a safety incident," Yan Ji interrupted. "Don't confuse the two."

He picked up the walkie-talkie, "Morgue team, to your positions. Target downstairs. Remember, no close contact, purely psychological pressure."

Three weak responses came through the earphones.

"……receive."

"receive."

"Director Yan, may I request to wear a helmet?"

Yan Ji's face darkened: "Why are you wearing a helmet when you're dressed as a female ghost?"

The channel is quiet.

-

On the second basement level, in the morgue, white ceramic tiles covered all four walls, yellowed and moldy at the edges. The smell of cold air and formaldehyde mingled together, and a ghastly green emergency light hung above the door, hissing and flickering.

In the center of the room were three stainless steel carts covered with white cloths, the edges of which drooped to the ground, and covered with dark red artificial blood plasma.

Along the wall is a row of freezers, with numbers labeled A01 to A12 on the doors.

Through the earpiece, Yan Ji suppressed his excitement and gave the order:

"Body bag number one is about to start moving."

"The second upside-down female ghost is in position."

"The third dismemberment forensic pathologist appears with the help of flashing lights."

"Remember, create an eerie atmosphere. Don't touch him, don't give him a target to retaliate."

The first NPC lay on the cart, hidden in a body bag, biting his lower lip.

He had just checked the group chat before his phone was confiscated.

There are photos in the group of Old Ghost being carried away. The 1.9-meter-tall King of Horror, his pants were soaked, and he was lying on a stretcher.

The first NPC even posted a "hahahaha" at the time.

He can't laugh now.

The iron gate creaked open outside, and footsteps entered.

Lu Yuan walked into the morgue, stopped at the door and looked around, like a landlord showing a tenant a property inspection.

He walked up to the three carts, looked down at the white cloth, and then glanced at the freezer numbers.

"Number One," Yan Ji urged in the earpiece, "Move."

NPC number one closes his eyes, preparing to convulse according to the script.

According to the original plan, he was to first tremble slightly, then roll violently, and finally emerge from the body bag with a hand covered in lividity.

He tried to shake his leg, but it wouldn't obey him.

My mind is filled with that picture of Lao Gui on a stretcher, looking utterly hopeless.

He strained for a moment, and under the white sheet, the body bag trembled pitifully for a moment before going still.

Lu Yuan looked down at that moment, "A zombie?" He stretched out his left hand, preparing to lift the white cloth.

Swish—the zipper on the body bag opened by itself from the inside.

The first NPC sat up, holding a key with a brass tag in both hands, holding it up very properly.

"Teacher Lu!" A sob escaped from beneath the special effects makeup. "This is your mission key! Here you go! Please, please don't do anything!"

Lu Yuan's hand froze in mid-air.

Inside the broadcast van, Yan Jigang picked up a glass of water, but his hand slipped, and the glass fell onto the control panel, splashing liquid onto the lower edge of screen number four.

The thing in Xiao Zhao's hand fell onto the back of his foot, and he winced in pain, but he didn't dare to cry out.

Old Fang closed his eyes.

He said, "Don't gamble on your employees' professional ethics! Especially don't gamble on their professional ethics when facing Lu Yuan!"

Inside the morgue, NPC number one was still holding up a fake key, his voice trembling.

"Teacher Lu, my procedure is finished. If you need me to lie back down, I can, but please don't touch my neck."

Lu Yuan: "Why would I touch your neck?"

The first NPC was almost in tears: "Old Ghost said you like that place."

Lu Yuan: "..."