Words: 3413

(Edited)

Li Yan was teleported to a room. The room was like an empty dormitory, not too big but also not too small. Practically everything was white, and there were little to no decorations. Before he had time to do any in-depth searching, Li Yan was given more holograms in front of his face.

[901: Hello, I am System 901 and I will be your assistant and guide throughout Nora’s IER (Infinite Escape Room). This is your dormitory where you can stay when you’re not participating in the escape rooms, or you could hang out in the hub and other various facilities. A map is pre-downloaded onto the app interface, all you have to do to open it is tap the circle on your neck. In the interface you can also see how many coins, hints, stats, stars, and items you have. In order to not overwhelm the player, a guide will come to you in the hub soon. Nora welcomes you.]

Nora? Obviously, Li Yan has accepted and knows that the place he is in now is currently not his own, but presumably it is this place called Nora that was mentioned. The place also said he would meet a guide later in the hub, so he kept that in mind as he explored.

[901: What would you like information on?

1. Livestreams

2. Interface

3. IER

Please Select one.]

He chose the first option, ‘Livestream.’

[901: Livestreams are automatically started when a player enters an escape room, but it can be manually turned off for a certain amount of time depending on the player’s coins. Each player gets a free 5 minute turn off before the system will automatically charge you or continue the live. Players can earn stars from livestreams to which 100 stars equals 1 coin.]

He then chose the third option, ‘IER.’

[901: In IER, there are 3 difficulties: Easy, Medium, and Hard. Choosing an easy room will give you a 3 day break, medium is a week, and hard is a month. A countdown will automatically be installed into your interface to keep track. Because you just finished the trial room, you will only get a day break. The harder difficulties will also be locked until certain requirements are met.]

While it seemed generous, Li Yan still felt odd. Wouldn’t this mean there would be people who would stay in this place forever? He suddenly worried over the amount of space and rooms at IER. Though Nora seemed a bit different from his own world, they still had bills to pay right? From what he had seen in the hub, many people were living in this world. Though, he could not tell exactly how big Nora was.

Li Yan decided to ignore option three, ‘interface’ and just explore the interface himself. He didn’t know what they meant by the circle on his neck, so he looked around and found a mirror placed on the wall. After looking through the mirror, he saw that on his neck there was now a big dark red circle surrounding his adam's apple. It was certainly not in a secretive place. He didn’t really think much about it before, but it appeared that in his memory the people in the hub had similar markings on their neck. It should be to identify themselves as players. He tried to swipe his fingers over the markings to see if it would rub off but it did not budge. As expected of a high tech world. He sort of wished to see if Nora had high tech gear for playing games too. Maybe it would be similar to how the IER works?

While in his world, he risked his inventory and progress, this world would cost his life. Such a violent way to play games. He clicked his tongue before taping on his neck like the system had said. Surprisingly, when he had rubbed on it before the interface didn’t activate whatsoever, but as soon as he lightly tapped the circle the interface popped up. The abilities of the system were minimal at the moment, a lot of options being grayed out for him. But, for the options available there were: Shop, Map, Livestream, and Help. The other options were: Messages, Friends, Teams, and Forums. When he tried tapping on the non available options, a prompt message appeared that stated, “Please clear at least one Easy room to unlock.”

He tapped on the map first to see the layout of IER, and he found it to be huge. The only weird thing he could point out was the fact that there seemed to be no dormitories? Almost as if they were in a separate space. Similar to the dorms, the escape rooms themselves were also not shown, probably meaning they were also in separate spaces. He figured that some sort of teleportation magic would be used, similar to how he jumped through an abyss when escaping the trial room.

After glancing around at the map, he looked through the shop to see that he had 0 coins, 0 stars, and 0 hints. Next to his balances, there was a stats button that he pressed on which opened a small menu.

[Name: Li Yan

Birthday: 02/08

Age: 24

Power: 24

Mental: 60

Strategy: 65]

Since he didn’t really know what the average was nor the max, he could not tell if those results were necessarily good or bad. Fortunately, he does not care at the moment. He figures because of the shop and stats, similar to a video game, he would probably be able to increase them at a later time. After glancing at those, he looked more into the main interface of the shop to discover that it was full of many random looking items. But these random items should be useful. Another fortunate thing was that he was currently poor, so those items were also ignored by him.

He got tired of looking through all of the beginner material thrown at him, so he decided that it would be best to go tour around the Hub and meet the guide. Afterall, he only had one day left before he would be sent to another room. Li Yan decided the best place to go would be back to the central hub. Though there were many options, sometimes having too many was not a benefit.

After he found the place he wanted, he hit the icon on the map and confirmed his travels. Then, he was automatically teleported out of his empty dorm. He also made a mental note to decorate the dorm later on his way out.

Not too much time had passed since he went into his room, so there were still many whispers over the new record breaker. Although Li Yan did like to be more of a wallflower, he also felt very embarrassed on how he cleared the trial room so he didn’t really want to acknowledge such an impossible seeming feat.

Although he came here, he really did not know where to start looking for his guide. Luckily, someone came up to him first.

“Hello!” A girl with brown hair with dyed blue tips greeted as she walked up to Li Yan. He saw clearly that she also had a matching red circle on her neck in the same area as he did. “Are you new here? I am your guide.” She gave a warm and welcoming smile, but Li Yan didn’t dare to be too friendly. He gave a simple nod, but the girl didn’t seem to mind that much.

“My name is Lily. I'm a Two.”

“A Two?” Li Yan asked.

“Oh shoot, yeah sorry. I forgot you said you’re new here.”

“….” Li Yan speechlessly glanced at Lily. Are all guides so unprofessional?

“We usually greet each other by numbers because all players are grouped up in three groups! You can be a One, Two, or Three. Each one is different, but it all corresponds to the last number in your system's name. From a player’s number you can usually tell what kind of player they will be. Of course some people lie, but most don’t since there really is no point.”

Seeing that Li Yan was hesitant to tell her, Lily grabbed a male who was walking past her and asked for his number. After confirming that Lily wasn’t trying to scam him, he thought about System 901 and said that he was a One.

“A One? Really?? You don’t look like it at all!”

“What are they supposed to look like?” Li Yan tilted his head.

“Usually buff with no brains! Not to be mean, I’m just saying what my brother once said! One usually means the player relies on brute strength or rough methods to clear the escape rooms. Two means that the player relies on their brain while Three means that they rely on strategy more. Two and Three are kind of similar, but usually Threes are more into digging into the rules and loopholes than trying to solve the puzzle normally. Of course, these are just stereotypes. It’s normal for people to not fully stick to those guidelines.”

Li Yan finally understood what she had meant earlier by the number determining his character, but he was also as confused as she was. How was he a One? He was definitely a Two or Three? He thought back to the trial room and was a bit dazed.

“How does someone get their number determined?”

“There are three main leaders in IER. Each specializes in different areas corresponding to each number. Think of it like three big classes of kids. It just kind of organizes them into categories based on their playstyle for when they go into rooms it won’t be too uneven.”

“Will other players join the rooms at the same time?”

“Yes, only the trial will be by yourself. All other escape rooms will be with a random amount of people, but if you form a team later on you can enter the room as a group. The max number of players allowed on a team is four.”

“Thank you for telling me.” Li Yan gave her a small smile.

“You’re welcome!” Lily always loved to help pretty people and Li Yan was very beautiful. Most of the people in the hub around him kept giving him second glances, but Li Yan himself did not seem to notice. She sighed regretfully.

“Do you have a sister?”

“No?” Li Yan was a bit confused by her question but just marked it down to some small talk. After talking to Lily for a bit more, he learned that she was quite naïve but trustworthy, so he relaxed his guard a bit. He didn’t learn much more major information from her, just some small talk and casual personal information was shared.

“Would you like me to show you around the hub?” Lily finally asked what she meant to ask earlier before getting distracted. Suddenly, her job as a guide was remembered.

“Yes, that would be fine.” Li Yan figured that she must know the best places to go in this huge place.

Lily nodded and began to motion Li Yan to follow her around. She showed off the main hub area which is where they were currently at. The main hub area would announce a variety of things such as new records time, which Li Yan previously experienced, or team applications. To say that Nora was generous was an understatement. The technology, decoration, and care of the area for the players were all top-notch and well taken care of.

“This is where new people come after finishing their escape rooms. Others will go back to their dorm once their room is finished. The only people who linger in this place are new people and people like me.”

“People like you?”

“Yes, I am a guide, remember? Once you finish more than 3 rooms you can also apply to become a guide for new players. It helps you earn some coins. Along with being a guide, there are also some other small jobs that players can accept to earn coins outside of the rooms, but the easiest way to earn coins is through the rooms.” Lily explained as they walked around.

Li Yan noticed a variety of people, obviously from all over the world. Looking at Lily, she seemed to have western features which were different from his own. The IER was obviously not limited to one geographical location, but what he did not know was if the people in IER were all from the same world. Either way, he seemed to understand everything that was said, no matter who the person was. Almost as if all the languages in the world merged into one.

“Is everyone in IER from Earth?” Li Yan decided to give in and ask. “I don’t hear any foreign languages either.”

“Yes, every player is pulled from Earth when they are about to die to Nora. The exact reason why we are pulled here isn’t known though. Maybe some of the higher level players may know, but I doubt it.” Lily smiled. She was a very carefree person, which is what Li Yan concluded from spending time with her. “As for the languages, the IER makes it to where no matter where you come from we can all communicate.”

“That makes sense.” Li Yan nodded.

After introducing the hub, Lily showed some restaurants, recreational rooms, and some indoor garden areas.

“We don’t need to eat or fulfill our normal needs unless in special circumstances, IER also repaired any prior issues with our bodies. In case you haven’t noticed, once you entered the trial room all your scars or any injuries you may have had were gone, right?” Li Yan nodded at Lily.

“IER does that to make it fair to the players. Even if you were missing a limb, it would be fixed. Similar to how the communication barriers are fixed, so are the physical ones.”

“You seem to like IER a lot?” Li Yan asked curiously.

“Yes, I believe that it is a gift. I was always quite sick when I was alive and I worried over my family a lot, but now I have a chance at reviving. Though the rooms are scary and life-threatening it is still a chance.”

“Can we go back?” Li Yan thought about the prompt he got when he first was taken to IER, it did say that he had to pass the trials to live, but it did not mention coming back to Earth. “Would time still be the same?”

“Yes, if you check in your store interface you’ll see it. As for the time, it is said that you’ll be brought back to before you died.”

Li Yan opened his store interface and, sure enough, it said “Return to Earth” but the price under it was appalling. “One million coins?” He asked Lily.

“It seems like a lot, but it really isn’t much when compared with lengthening your life, am I right? It’s not only reviving you, but it also will alter what caused you to die.” Lily smiled. “A lot of people here think of the rooms as a trap or some kind of evil force, but it really is just giving us a chance.” She sighed.

Li Yan thought Lily sounded a bit brainwashed, but he could also see where she was coming from. It was indeed a gift, but is this gift really going to be what it says it is?

“Have you ever heard of someone going back?”

“I have not.” Lily still held her normal smile on her face. “Most people who leave probably won’t tell others, and naturally someone who is gone can’t stay to tell the tale. But that won’t stop me from believing in it, right? Afterall, that is all I can do.”

He felt a bit of admiration at Lily’s optimism, but also a bit of pity. Strong belief is good, but it is equally as harmful when it is broken.

After they finished touring the most vital parts of IER, they stopped at a restaurant to eat something. Since Li Yan had no coins, Lily was the one paying to which he thanked her for.

“Is there a way to get out of IER? To the Nora area I mean.” Li Yan asked Lily. He was curious if IER was a part of Nora, or Nora itself.

“No, as players we are not a part of Nora. Naturally, we can not leave IER and mix in with Nora citizens.” Lily replied, hinting that Nora was a separate nation outside of the rooms.

“How do you know that Nora has citizens then? What if Nora is just IER and the rooms?”

“You know the livestreams right? Naturally, we have to have viewers. That’s where the citizens of Nora come in.” Lily said.

“So people are just watching us risk our lives for fun?” Li Yan frowned.

“Well, yes.” Lily seemed a bit stifled after that. “But, the rooms do give us free breaks. I suppose not everything comes for free.”

It was odd. Nora wishes to “help” players with the creation of IER, but it also livestreams all the pain and failures of its players. It gave off the feeling of being a caged animal that Li Yan did not quite enjoy.

They finished their meal in a bit of awkward silence after that, but when they left Lily seemed to be revitalized. “Ok, well that’s pretty much the main area of IER. Do you have any more questions?”

“Can you explain the rooms more?”

“Of course.” Lily gave her signature smile. “The rooms are different spaces, or if you would like to think of it as this, they are different worlds. The difficulties of the rooms usually mean the death rate increases along with the difficulty. It’s pretty self-explanatory in that aspect. There are also access cards that you can buy if you want to go into a certain room, but these access cards are usually only available when everyone who was in that room failed. Those rooms are very dangerous, so not a lot of people do them unless they are a veteran. Other than that exception, rooms are normally all random with no repeats, so there are no guides for particular rooms. The only ones that are repeated are the trial rooms, and those are the only rooms with records of the amount of time spent in them.”

“It got a new record recently, right?” Li Yan tilted his head at Lily.

“Oh yes it did! It was my first time seeing a record refresh.” Lily got distracted from his question and rambled a bit. Seeing that she wouldn’t stop, Li Yan interrupted. “So how do I get to the rooms?”

“There are two ways, the first is to let your time run out and you will be teleported to a random room automatically. This way is kind of bad since you can’t choose your difficulty, it will just teleport you randomly among what difficulties you have unlocked. The second way is to go to the hub before your timer runs out and go through one of the doors.”

“The doors?”

“Yes, here let me show you.” Lily dragged Li Yan back to the hub and to the large cylinder in the middle of it. There sat a few elevators that they had passed earlier in the tour lined up on the walls of the cylinder. “You go in any one of these elevators and then select one of the difficulties and it will take you there.”

Li Yan nodded. “Thank you for helping me.”

“It’s no issue. You’ve probably been filled with a bunch of newbie information today, right? Here I’ll leave you this so you can be friends with me once you pass your first room.” Lily handed him a white button. “All you need to do is scan it in your friends list once you unlock it.”

Li Yan thanked her again before leaving to go back to his dorm. He went to the small bathroom attached and took a shower. He decided that once he rested for a bit he would finally enter his first room. Settling down in the plain bed, he thought back to all that’s happened to him and felt his hands get sweaty again. Not wanting to overthink and stress himself out, he fell asleep quickly.

~~~

Spider_Lily97

AN: I feel like I did too much world dumping agghhhh. Sorry about that, but there will be more action in the next chapter.