We asked you to solve cases, and here you are sharing your criminal experiences?

The labyrinth was pitch black on the outside, with only a large, dark red neon sign flashing at the entrance.

Lin Wan and Song Qianxia specially changed their appearance for this mission.

Lin Wan was wearing a fitted black leather jacket and heavy makeup, looking like a hot girl who frequents nightclubs.

Song Qianxia squeezed herself into a pair of baggy work pants and a windbreaker, wore a baseball cap, and carried a bulging backpack, perfectly replicating the image of a hardcore escape room fan.

Gu Tingchen and Zhou Zheng sat in a van disguised as a repair shop across the street, listening to their every move.

"This place looks really eerie." Lin Wan chewed her gum and looked at the all-black exterior of the building.

"Let's go in and see what Night Owl's taste is like."

Song Qianxia pulled down her hat brim and pushed open the heavy black door.

Upon entering, you are immediately greeted by deafening bass speakers and dim red lighting.

The lobby was decorated in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk style, with rusty iron mesh and flashing electronic screens everywhere.

The two walked side by side to the ticket window.

A huge promotional poster, more than two meters high, stands next to the window.

The poster's background is a dark, urban cityscape, with the words "The Legacy of a Legendary Thief - The Thousand Faces Theme Escape Room Now Open!" printed in large, blood-red letters.

Below the text is a silhouette of a person.

Song Qianxia almost fainted on the spot after just one glance.

The poster depicts "Thousand Faces" dressed in a tight-fitting nightsuit, with a red cape fluttering in the wind behind him. He wears a black eye mask covering half his face and is even holding a dart in his hand!

What the hell is this thing that my dad drew?

Song Qianxia clutched her chest, feeling her blood pressure soaring to the top of her head.

Even circus monkeys dress more normally than this! A red cape? Are you trying to be too conspicuous when infiltrating, afraid no one will notice you?

"Who designed this poster?" Song Qianxia couldn't help but blurt out.

The ticket seller poked his head out, a smug look on his face. "Our boss spent a fortune hiring a famous artist to paint this! What do you think? Doesn't it have that mysterious, underworld feel?"

"Mysterious my foot!" Song Qianxia stomped her foot in anger.

"This cloak would definitely trigger an alarm when it's exposed to infrared light, okay? And that blindfold completely blocks your view to the sides. If you were in close combat, you wouldn't even be able to see how someone throws a punch!"

The ticket seller was stunned, staring at her as if she were an idiot.

Lin Wan quickly covered Song Qianxia's mouth and dragged her back two steps.

"Sorry, my sister has a severe case of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome)."

Lin Wan took out her phone to scan the QR code and pay.

Two full-price tickets, 880 yuan.

Song Qianxia looked at the payment success screen and her heart was bleeding. Those bastards, Night Owl, were making dirty money by using her name!

After buying their tickets, the two followed the guide into the preparation area.

The room was dimly lit, and the walls were covered with various replicas of tools used in crimes. The guide asked them to hand over all their personal belongings and cell phones.

Lin Wan obediently handed over her handbag, keeping only the miniature communication earpiece hidden under her collar.

Gu Tingchen's calm voice came through the earphones.

"Lin Wan, Song Qianxia, ​​you have entered the monitored area. Follow the usual player routes and don't arouse suspicion."

"Received," Lin Wan replied softly.

The metal door slammed shut behind them.

The game has officially begun.

The first level is a typical password room.

The room was furnished like an abandoned office. In the center was a huge iron table, on which sat a combination lock box with a nine-square grid of buttons.

A synthesized mechanical voice came from the loudspeaker on the wall.

"Welcome to the world of a thousand faces. Find the hidden number, or the poison gas will be released in ten minutes."

Lin Wan immediately got into the swing of things and started rummaging through drawers and cabinets.

"Quick, look for clues. There must be a code hint in the calendar, the paintings on the wall, or the documents in the drawer."

Song Qianxia yawned and slowly walked to the combination lock box.

The lock cylinder of this combination lock is shockingly simple; it's made from the cheapest microcontroller control board.

She couldn't even be bothered to look for any clues.

Song Qianxia leaned down, her cheek close to the keypad of the briefcase. Using the faint red light overhead, she carefully examined the wear and tear on the keypad surfaces.

There is a faint reflection on the four number keys: 1, 4, 7, and 9.

Those are oily marks left by frequent human touch.

"The password is 7194," Song Qianxia said lazily.

"What?" Lin Wan was holding a newspaper up to the light, her face full of astonishment.

Song Qianxia stretched out her fingers and quickly pressed four keys on the combination lock.

A crisp click.

The combination lock box popped open. Inside was a brass key that led to the next level.

Lin Wan stared in disbelief. "How did you know?"

"These keys are covered in fingerprints. Just follow the most worn edges to figure out the input sequence." Song Qianxia tossed the keys to Lin Wan.

"Hurry up, this level is too boring!"

In the monitoring room.

The NPC in charge of overseeing the first level rubbed his eyes and looked at the countdown on the screen.

Nine minutes and twenty seconds.

These two didn't even use up the ten-minute playtime before they finished the game?

The second challenge is an infrared laser array.

In the narrow corridor, countless red lightning bolts intertwined and overlapped, like a giant red spider web.

There's also a countdown timer on the wall.

"This level requires us to pull down the lever on the other side without touching the laser," Lin Wan analyzed the terrain.

"Captain Gu, this laser array is a bit complicated and may take some time," Lin Wan reported into her hidden earpiece.

Before Gu Tingchen could speak in the earphones, Song Qianxia had already moved.

In Song Qianxia's eyes, this was child's play.

The laser grid of a real bank vault is dynamically frequency-adjusted and interwoven, so tight that not even a fly could get through.

With a light source that is fixed in angle and so rigid that even the intersection point does not change, you could walk around with your eyes closed.

Song Qianxia had her hands in her hoodie pockets, her body as flexible as a boneless cat.

Bend over backwards, roll to the side, slide.

The entire movement was fluid and incredibly fast. She didn't need to stop to calculate angles at all; it was purely muscle memory that guided her body.

Just as Lin Wan was about to find a place to stand on the ground, she saw a gray shadow flash before her eyes.

Song Qianxia was already standing on the opposite side of the corridor when she slapped the lever shut.

"Beep—Alarm canceled."

All infrared light disappeared.

The whole process took less than ten seconds.

Lin Wan stood there, feeling like a useless piece of trash.

"Song Qianxia...did you have any experience in acrobatics?"

"I worked as a stunt double in Hengdian during my university years. Dodging hidden weapons while suspended by wires is a basic skill, okay!" Song Qianxia blurted out.

Gu Tingchen, listening to the audio through his earpiece in the surveillance vehicle, smirked. A stunt double? This girl's ability to make up lies is even better than her fighting skills.

The third challenge is a wall of interlocking gears.

Players are required to assemble a dozen or so irregular gears to form a complete transmission chain.

This was originally designed to stall players and waste their game time, making it the most difficult level.

But Song Qianxia only glanced at the engagement point of the drive shaft before using both hands to work.

Click click click click.

A dazzling series of assembly operations ensued. The wall then rumbled down.

He passed all three challenges in less than five minutes.

The entire Dark Night Maze's backend system immediately popped up a red alert.

At this moment, in the rest area corridor of the experience center.

Two NPCs dressed in black uniforms walked quickly over and blocked the two people who were about to leave.

Song Qianxia's heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that I stood out too much and aroused the other party's suspicion?

One of the NPCs, wearing a professional smile, handed over a black metal card.

"Congratulations to both players! Your completion time has broken our record since the store opened!"

The NPC spoke in a very respectful tone.

"The system has identified both of you as high-potential players. The boss specifically instructed us to invite you to our advanced hidden area for an in-depth experience."

Lin Wan took the card and glanced at Song Qianxia.

Song Qianxia sneered inwardly.

So this is it?

The so-called "high-potential players" selected through these idiotic levels are probably the standard used by Night Owl and his gang to recruit peripheral cannon fodder, right?

"Go ahead, why not?" Song Qianxia snatched the card.

"I'd like to see if your high-level area can give me a challenge."

The NPC gestured for them to proceed and led them into a hidden passage behind a curtain.

As the two entered the dark passage, the curtain behind them was slowly drawn back.

The poster featuring a thousand faces in a red cape stood out starkly in the darkness.