Ch 3: I Run a Food Shop in an Escape Game

The Locked Classroom (3)

Although he had technically wasted an opportunity to receive a proper beginner reward, Yi Han was still fairly satisfied with using it to eliminate a ghost.

Especially after the system immediately displayed:

[Enemy NPC eliminated ×1]

[+10 points will be awarded during stage settlement.]

This further confirmed his theory:

The ghosts inside the stage could be farmed for points.

Which made all the effort of pretending to be oblivious while dragging this fake teammate around entirely worthwhile.

Hopefully the guy would keep up the good work, act a little more proactively, and bring even more ghosts over for Yi Han to farm.

Since they had already maxed out the exploration percentage for this floor, the two silently returned to the locked door in the middle section of the hallway.

“The key I found earlier was hidden inside an opaque fluorescent tube. Judging from that hiding style, the remaining keys are probably hidden in similarly tricky locations,” Yi Han said thoughtfully before suddenly asking the boy beside him,

“What about you? Where was your key hidden?”

On the surface, it sounded like a perfectly ordinary question.

In reality, Yi Han was deliberately causing trouble.

After all, this teammate was fake. There was no way he had ever actually searched for a key.

“In…”
Cold sweat instantly appeared on the boy’s forehead.
After hesitating for a long while, he awkwardly followed Yi Han’s line of reasoning.

“Inside… the gap above the doorframe…?”

“Mhm…” Yi Han mulled over the obviously improvised answer.

But honestly, it was not a bad idea.

There were not many decorations near this door. The available hiding places were extremely limited to begin with.

Standing in front of it, Yi Han took a few steps backward and looked upward.

Above the door was a small pane of glass.

It seemed double-layered, with a frosted translucent texture that made it impossible to tell whether something was hidden inside.

Could it actually be there…?

Yi Han immediately ordered,

“Help me move a chair over.”

The teammate, who had only just finished wiping away his cold sweat, hurried off obediently.

Once the chair was brought over, Yi Han climbed on top and instantly spotted a shadow through the narrow gap at the bottom edge of the glass.

The key really was hidden between the two layers of glass.

Yi Han glanced down at the boy in surprise.

If the guy did not look so stupid all the time, Yi Han would almost suspect he was intentionally leaking answers.

Yi Han raised the chair leg again and smashed it toward the glass.

But the glass did not break.

He struck it harder several more times.

Instead, the chair leg snapped.

Looks like after being used nonstop this whole time, it had finally reached the end of its lifespan.

Still…

Yi Han tossed away the broken chair leg and curled his fingers, lightly tapping the glass.

Although it looked like ordinary frosted glass, it produced a dull metallic sound.

As expected.

This was not normal glass in the conventional sense.

Even if the key was right in front of the players’ eyes, the game would not let them retrieve it so easily.

There was no way the game would create a situation where an item was literally impossible to obtain.

Perhaps according to the system’s intended solution, players were supposed to retrieve the key using another method.

For example, by finding a magnet, attaching it to the key, and sliding it toward an opening in the glass.

After thinking carefully, Yi Han vaguely remembered seeing a magnet in one of the classrooms. Probably in a physics classroom for experiments.

Unfortunately, he could not remember exactly which room it had been in.

Under normal circumstances, going back to search would waste a huge amount of time.

And now that this floor’s exploration percentage was already maxed out, Yi Han had absolutely no patience to retrace his steps.

So after a brief moment of thought, he casually pulled the newly acquired S-rank iron pot out of his inventory.

“You’re supposedly S-rank. Even if you can’t cook, smashing a piece of glass shouldn’t be a problem, right…?”

Thinking this, Yi Han tested the pot’s weight, decided it was manageable, then swung it with full force.

Crash!

The glass shattered instantly.

The teammate below stared in complete shock.

Even Yi Han himself felt that using a giant iron pot as a weapon was a little embarrassing.

Expressionless, he put the pot away, retrieved the key, and jumped down from the chair.

“What?” he asked flatly.

Teammate: “W-Where did that pot come from?”

Yi Han: “…What pot? You saw wrong.”

After confirming that his exploration percentage was already sufficient, Yi Han unlocked the stairwell door with the key.

Inside was complete darkness.

Yi Han instructed,

“Flashlight.”

It was already past 9 PM.

Yi Han had not eaten anything since lunch. Afterward he had fought people, smashed doors, broken glass, all while seriously injured.

He felt increasingly hungry.

Unfortunately, judging by the system’s behavior, it clearly had no intention of allowing him food before clearing the stage.

Touching the wound that had once again split open and started bleeding from the violent movement, Yi Han took the lead and stepped into the stairwell first.

“Be careful, bro.”
His lovely teammate once again delivered another airy little warning.

“Mhm…”

The stairwell light switch was located immediately to the left after entering.

Yi Han reached out.

Instead of the switch, his hand touched an icy cold hand first.

But the moment he heard the teammate say “be careful,” he had already mentally prepared himself.

Without changing expression, Yi Han calmly released the hand and continued feeling around nearby.

Click.

The lights came on.

The cold presence that had already crept close beside him instantly disappeared.

There was nothing strange near the switch now, as though the cold hand from earlier had only been an illusion.

Yi Han said nothing about it to his teammate and merely turned back to call him inside.

After both entered the stairwell, the iron door shut behind them with a click.

Yi Han tested it.

Fortunately, it could still be opened from this side.

The lock only worked externally. From the stairwell side it opened normally, but from the classroom side one would need the key again.

“Bro, should we take the elevator?” the teammate asked.

Yi Han immediately looked at him like he was an idiot.

Teammate: “Uh… right. The elevator already stopped working.”

Yi Han: “…We’re currently on the eighth floor, the highest floor of this teaching building. If nothing unexpected happens, once we reach the first floor and find the key to the main entrance, we’ll clear the stage.”

The problem was that the final key’s hiding range would likely be much larger, making it difficult to predict.

Yi Han had already decided he would search every classroom thoroughly and claim all the bonus exploration points available.

At present, there were less than three hours remaining before the final time limit.

Time was tight.

Teammate: “Should we split up again?”

Yi Han: “You’re staying with me.”

Actually, Yi Han’s original intention in keeping this guy close was to farm more ghosts off him.

But the other party had clearly misunderstood, assuming Yi Han had discovered something, and immediately became nervous.

Under that atmosphere, the two began searching floor after floor.

The boy followed behind Yi Han the entire time, barely needing to do anything, yet somehow felt increasingly miserable. Even the spot on his forehead where Yi Han had smacked him earlier started aching again…

So while Yi Han was not paying attention, he secretly pulled out his phone and reopened the group chat.

Yi Han only needed one casual glance to know the guy was trying to stir up trouble again.

Which was exactly what he wanted.

So he pretended not to notice.

Before long, they reached the third floor.

The moment Yi Han entered one of the classrooms, he noticed something inside the teacher’s desk seemed to be glowing faintly.

He stepped over the doorway.

Immediately behind him, the classroom door slammed shut with a bang.

Outside the room, the teammate started pounding on the door like it was real.

“Bro! What’s going on?! Why did the door lock?!”

Yi Han ignored him completely, staring directly at the podium desk as he casually pulled out the iron pot behind his back.

Then a muffled whining sound came from the cabinet beneath the podium.

The cabinet door had originally been shut.

But now something inside seemed to be slowly pushing it open.

The creaking sound dragged on endlessly, irritating people for no reason at all.

Blood seeped from the crack in the cabinet door, quickly spreading across the platform floor toward Yi Han’s feet.

Yi Han simply stepped aside and avoided it.

Outside the door, the teammate continued banging and shouting, unbelievably noisy.

The ghost inside the cabinet opened the door extremely slowly.

Yi Han could not tell whether it was doing it deliberately or whether it was simply that sluggish.

Watching the ghost painstakingly push the cabinet open, Yi Han suddenly wanted to test something.

So he casually stretched out one leg and kicked the cabinet shut again just as the ghost was about to emerge.

Ghost: …？

Perhaps it was only an illusion, but the muffled whining seemed to pause briefly.

Then it began repeating the exact same process again.

Still just as slow.

This time, Yi Han was certain.

The ghost was not intentionally dragging things out.

It was simply slow by nature.

Once the ghost was about to crawl out again, Yi Han lifted his leg and kicked the cabinet door shut a second time.

Ghost: …………

The ghost appeared to become angry.

Its voice turned resentful and furious.

The force pushing the door grew stronger this time, and Yi Han realized he could no longer overpower it physically.

Covering the wound on his chest, he retreated slightly.

The moment the ghost finally crawled out with long hair hanging messily over its face and a twisted expression, Yi Han gritted his teeth and swung the iron pot viciously.

CLANG!

The iron pot smashed directly into the ghost’s skull.

Just hearing the sound made one’s head hurt.

Because the female ghost’s vision was blocked by her hair, and because her movements were so slow, she had no chance to dodge.

She let out a miserable groan and collapsed instantly.

Even Yi Han himself had not expected all the ghosts in the beginner stage to be this weak.

He stood there blankly for a moment before finally putting away the iron pot.

Then he reached into the podium desk and pulled out the glowing object he had noticed earlier.

It was a page.

The background pattern was identical to the blank recipe book he had obtained earlier, and faint light flowed across its surface.

[Recipe: Braised Pork]

Yi Han took out his blank recipe book from the inventory.

Immediately, the loose page transformed into flowing light and merged into the book.

Then the first page revealed actual content.

[Recipe: Braised Pork (Learned)]

[Description: Restores HP according to deliciousness.]

Yi Han froze.

His hand unconsciously touched the wound on his chest again.

Although this escape game called itself a “game,” it was different from the games he used to play.

Players here did not have visible HP bars.

So what exactly did “restore HP” mean?

Did it restore injuries?

If this braised pork could truly heal him, then the hundred points he had planned to spend on treatment could be saved.

More importantly, if he could eat it right now and recover his strength, would this stage not become completely secure?

The 50% stat reduction honestly affected him quite a bit.

He truly did not want to continue living in a state where swinging a pot made him short of breath…

The problem was…

He had no ingredients.

And to make matters worse, Yi Han honestly was not very good at cooking.

Even though he had lived alone for years, his cooking skills were tragic. At best, his food could be described as “unlikely to kill someone.”

So according to the recipe system’s standards, even if he managed to cook meat, it probably would not restore much HP.

At that moment, the weak voice of the “resentment of the former owner” timidly spoke again:

“Our pot doesn’t require manual cooking… As long as you put the ingredients inside, it can automatically create the most delicious food. Also, since you’ve inherited our restaurant, you now possess owner permissions. Even inside stages, you can directly access the system shop to purchase ingredients.”

Yi Han opened the interface and checked.

Sure enough, it was true.

Normally, the system shop probably only became accessible after clearing a stage and returning to the little waiting room to exchange rewards.

But because he owned a shop now, he could directly buy things during the stage itself.

Although only the ingredient section was available, it was already extremely convenient.

Unfortunately…

He had no points.

“Does the system allow collateral loans? Like mortgaging something in exchange for advance points?” Yi Han asked the system.

The system quickly responded:

[The player’s body and soul already belong to the game company and therefore cannot be mortgaged again. However, all other items acquired within instances may be used as collateral.]

Yi Han looked around the room before finally pointing at the unconscious female ghost on the floor.

“This ghost is currently my captive, so technically she belongs to me, right? If I mortgage her, how many points can I borrow?”

The system visibly fell silent for a moment.

Then the female ghost vanished into thin air.

At the same time, Yi Han’s account gained 10 points.

Honestly a bit cheap…

But it was enough to buy ingredients for braised pork.

Yi Han was starving anyway and did not feel like arguing about the pricing.

Following the recipe instructions, he began purchasing ingredients one by one from the shop.

Vegetables and seasonings were naturally inexpensive.

Exactly 10 points was enough for one serving.

After placing the ingredients into the iron pot in proper proportions, Yi Han endured an agonizing one-minute wait.

Then the braised pork was complete.

The aroma quickly spread through the room.

A single serving only contained two or three pieces of pork, trembling delicately on an elegant plate with chopsticks beside it.

The fragrance was unbelievably rich.

Yi Han had been hungry for so long that his stomach immediately growled.

He picked up the chopsticks and quickly placed a piece into his mouth.

Tender. Soft. Slightly sweet.

The flavor instantly soothed him from his tongue all the way down to his starving stomach.

His entire body relaxed in comfort.

After swallowing the first bite, he lingered for a moment on the aftertaste before reaching for a second piece.

Very quickly, the small plate was completely empty.

Although he still wanted more, at least there was finally food in his stomach, and the overwhelming hunger eased somewhat.

More importantly, after finishing the meal, Yi Han felt a warm current flowing through his body.

His chest wound began heating gently.

The flesh seemed to heal on its own.

Before long, the long shard of glass was forced out of his body entirely.

The wound closed smoothly, leaving not even a scar behind.

Yi Han stared at his healed chest in shock for a long time.

Then he checked his personal information on the phone again.

The “Hungry” and “Severely Injured” statuses had disappeared.

In their place was:

[Weak]

Weak: Recovering from major illness. Stamina, recovery ability, reaction speed, etc. reduced to 80% of healthy condition. Remaining duration: 24 hours. High-quality sleep may shorten the weakened state.

Not fully restored to 100%, but Yi Han was already extremely satisfied.

After all, it had only cost 10 points.

Contentedly, he put away the phone and iron pot.

As for the dishes, they had vanished automatically the moment he finished eating.

Incredibly convenient.

Only then did Yi Han suddenly remember that the fake teammate was still waiting outside.

Opening the classroom door, he found the guy still acting incredibly dedicated, wearing a worried expression while unconsciously glancing toward the podium desk.

“Bro, are you okay? What happened just now?”

Yi Han was in a good mood now, so he smiled at him.

“I’m fine.”

The boy had clearly already seen the pool of blood on the floor but could no longer see his ghost coworker.

He looked extremely uneasy but dared not ask directly.

So he could only say:

“It’s good you’re okay… really good… Wait, what’s that smell?”

He suddenly sniffed the air.

Yi Han replied,

“…Oh. I was too hungry earlier, so I ate something.”

Teammate: ???

“Ate what?”

In this completely empty classroom, where could food possibly come from?

Yi Han followed his gaze back toward the room.

Seeing how worried the boy looked, Yi Han suddenly felt like teasing him again.

So he slowly turned back with an eerie smile.

“What else would I eat?”

“Meat, obviously.”

Teammate: …………？！

---

Teammate: “My coworker got eaten. What do I do? I want to quit…”

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