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Words: 1825
He woke up with a message from Li Bao. She asked him if he wanted to join her in the next room in a temporary team, which basically just meant going into the elevator and picking the same difficulty. There was a small chance you could not get the same room, but most of the time it was certain.
He didn’t have a reason to not agree, so Li Yan planned to meet with Li Bao after laying down and petting Blice for a bit. He suddenly remembered he needed to upgrade his stamina so he quickly looked into that in the shop. It cost 1,000 coins for the first body enhancement upgrade which included strength, stamina, and endurance. After exchanging his coins for that, he could feel his body slightly changing. He felt much lighter than before and decided that he was ready to meet up with Li Bao.
After reaching the hub, he found Li Bao after a few minutes of searching. In an area a bit away from the more crowded elevators and they walked together into the nearest empty one.
“Are we doing easy?” Li Bao asked. She decided she just wanted to follow Li Yan since it had been awhile since they had talked in real life. Although she wasn’t close to her cousin when she was alive, he was definitely someone she wanted to be friends with but never got the chance to.
“Yes.” Li Yan nodded while pressing the button, Li Bao following his lead. “I’ll see you in the room. Hopefully.” She smiled at him before she saw him blink out of existence, herself soon following.
Li Yan was in a brief darkness before he finally was able to see again. He felt himself sitting in some kind of vehicle, and when he looked around he discovered it was a carriage. He heard the neigh of a horse outside of the carriage and the sound of a man shouting at it. He seemed to be with one other person in the carriage, but that person was not Li Bao. They also had a red circle on their neck, showing they were a player.
The person across from him had light colored hair with a short cut, which originally could have made him look very bubbly, but it was paired with two stormy gray eyes. He had a natural slant to his eyebrows, making him look like he was always aggravated. He sat in the car tapping his foot, seeming to be definitely not a newcomer.
Li Yan felt a small drop in his stomach at the thought that Li Bao might have not been put in the same room as him. He quickly disregarded the feeling so he could focus on the task at hand. A prompt had appeared in front of his face and he quickly read it. Unlike the last room, this room was quick in giving the background information of the story.
[You are a part of the group of five other co-workers invited to a dinner. The dinner is at Sir Cole’s mansion, your boss. During the dinner, a murder will occur. You must figure out the killer’s motives and methods before time runs out. For each person killed, there will be more you must solve. You have one chance to call the police at any time, but once you use it you can not use it again. If one person gets the answer right, then they can choose whether or not to aid the other players by letting you share their answer, hence escape. The time limit is a week. Be careful to not let the killer know you’re onto them.]
Although this prompt was much more clear than the last room, it was definitely not easier. It was the type of game to get harder the longer you take to solve it. A room that was especially difficult for people susceptible to impatience and impulsion. He gave a glance to the man across from him who was rhythmically tapping his foot.
“What?” He asked, finally acknowledging Li Yan. He seemed to be checking his strength, but he found nothing of a threat so he relaxed.
Li Yan shook his head and glanced out the window of the carriage. “Nothing. Just felt you looked familiar.”
They proceeded to sit in silence until the carriage finally came to a stop. “We are here.” The coachman said in front.
Before they could open the door, an escort came and opened it for them. Li Yan let the other man step out first before following behind him.
In front of them was a large mansion with a color scheme of white and purple. The walls were white and there was a very luscious garden in front with a bright sun illuminating the area. Beautiful purple roses were growing on the bushes and neatly placed vines made the mansion have a very down to earth feel.
After comparing themselves to the mansion, Li Yan felt they were quite underdressed.
“Please come this way, gentlemen.” The escort gave a bow before leading them towards the mansion. As they followed him, they heard the sounds of more carriages and looked back to see other players also exiting from separate carriages.
“Woah, this place looks so beautiful!” A girl who came out exclaimed. Another got out next to her and also looked very pleased with the area. “Hopefully we can go home after this.” Both of the girls were obviously new to the rooms and had just left the trial room.
“Hey!” Li Bao exited the carriage and quickly ran over to Li Yan once noticing him. “I was on that carriage all alone, I was worried.”
Li Yan nodded at her. “Li Bao?” The boy next to Li Yan turned to look at her. “What are you doing here?”
“Pomegranate? I thought we didn’t need to go in a room for a bit.” He huffed. “I could say the same for you.”
Li Bao saw Li Yan’s curiosity and explained. “Pomegranate is in my team. Him and his sibling joined recently, and it was after I asked you. It’s a shame.”
“Hey, I’m still here?” Pomegranate frowned. “Yeah, yeah.” Li Bao waved him off. “But it’s good that we know more people now.”
“Hello. My name is Lola.” The girl from before approached them. “I’m Elise.” The girl next to her nodded. Li Yan and the others all greeted them and gave them their names before the escort finally got tired of waiting and urged them inside.
They all entered the mansion and similar to the outside the inside was also very illuminated. The mansion had a very grandiose foyer, and the decorations all screamed luxury. The group of five were almost too scared to step foot on the floor in fear it would be sullied.
“Ah, there you are!” A middle-aged man of tall stature with a handsome appearance came up to them. Lola blushed while looking at the man and had to glance away.
“Welcome guest, let me introduce you to my family.” The man, presumably the host Sir Cole, smiled at the group and then moved to the side to show off the five people behind him.
“This here is my wife, Madam Fiona.” A tall and elegant woman nodded towards them. “This is my brother, Felix.” The man was tall and similar to Sir Cole, except he had a few extra scars on his face and hands.
“These are my two kids, Lawrence and Venus.” The man nodded towards two teens who looked very similar. Lawrence had a more devilish feel to him while Venus looked like a beautiful untouchable lotus flower.
“Then, this is Gael.” The boy was also a teenager like the other two kids, but unlike the rest of the family he did not get a defined status. He didn’t seem to be well-liked by the young master Lawrence, but Venus kindly smiled at him.
“Of course, I am Sir Cole, but you all know that already.” The middle-aged man cracked a joke, and everyone gave off a polite laugh, seeming to be afraid of offending him.
BANG
Sir Cole quickly stopped smiling for a few, but quickly managed to recover. “Apologize to the guests, I must continue to prepare for dinner.” He gave a swift bow before darting off towards the back of the mansion.
“I must take my leave too.” Madam Fiona smiled at the guests and followed her husband’s lead. The others of the family also nodded and left to different parts of the mansion, leaving the players alone in the entryway.
Pomegranate gave off an unsightly frown and Li Bao also didn’t look very pleasant. Lola seemed to be in a daze, and Elise was a bit nervous. Seeing that he was the most pleasant looking, she shifted over to Li Yan.
“Um..do you know how we can go back?” She asked him. “Get a million coins.” Li Yan answered truthfully, but she didn’t seem to believe him. “A million?”
“Did your guide not explain it to you?” He asked. Elise kept silent and seemed to be digesting the information, so Li Yan didn’t press further.
“Follow me, I’ll guide the guests to their rooms.” One of the butlers who were standing off to the side smiled and started to walk up one of the grand staircases. They were led to a long hallway with many doors on the sides that looked similar before finally the butler stopped.
“Apologizes but many rooms are dirty, so there are two rooms split between men and women. Please come find me if there are any issues.” The butler nodded and then left.
“Let’s go search then?” Li Bao smiled and walked into her room, the other two girls following. Pomegranate was less talkative and just walked into the room with Li Yan silently following.
“I’ll take this bed.” He said as he went ahead and laid on the bed. “I guess I’ll take this one.” Li Yan looked at the neatly arranged bed that looked straight from a hotel.
He looked around the room for a bit, but found nothing that was of note. Along with two beds there was a walk-in closet and bathroom attached to the room as well. It was truly like a full hotel suite.
After he explored, a few hours had already passed and Pomegranate was taking a nap on his bed. A knock arrived at the door and the butler informed them dinner was done. Li Yan gave a sigh and woke up Pomegranate.
Pomegranate didn’t give much of a glance to Li Yan and straightforwardly walked out into the hall leaving Li Yan alone in the room. As he was alone, Blice quickly escaped from the inventory’s shackles and began to explore their new environment. “Stay here, don’t go too far. Don’t get caught.” Li Yan warned before also walking out.
~~~
