Ch 4: I Run a Food Shop in an Escape Game

The Locked Classroom (4)

Ever since leaving that classroom, Yi Han’s wonderful teammate had become deeply confused.

After witnessing “Coworker A, who mysteriously vanished in the restroom” and “Coworker B, who was brutally eaten in the classroom,” he seemed to be starting to question his entire ghostly existence.

Yi Han could not help wondering if he had scared him too badly.

He had only farmed two ghosts and earned 20 points so far…

This guy better not quit on him now.

So Yi Han vaguely comforted him, “…Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

Unfortunately, judging by the other party’s face, he did not seem comforted at all.

Yi Han said no more and instead turned his thoughts to something else that had been bothering him.

Before the game began, the system had clearly stated that there were two players.

Now that this silly kid beside him was confirmed not to be a real player, where was the actual player?

Yi Han had considered this before and once guessed that maybe they had already been eliminated.

But after encountering several ghost NPCs, his view changed.

This beginner stage, or perhaps even the entire escape game, seemed relatively mild so far.

It felt more like a true game stage.

“Humans” and “ghosts” belonged to different camps, each with different objectives.

For example, Yi Han, as a “human,” had to find the keys and escape the teaching building.

Meanwhile, the ghosts, including the fake teammate beside him, probably had the task of “creating obstacles along the player’s escape route.”

They lurked beside him, hid in dark places he would pass through, and did their absolute best to build a terrifying atmosphere and scare him away.

But none of them had seriously tried to kill him.

When he encountered the female ghost under the teacher’s desk earlier, it was already past 10 PM, and the game time was more than halfway over. If the ghosts had any killing moves, it should have been time to reveal them.

Yet when Yi Han opened the classroom door and saw the fake teammate still waiting outside, foolishly asking whether he was okay, Yi Han had a feeling.

Even if he had not knocked that female ghost unconscious, she probably would not have killed anyone.

So the other real player was likely still alive.

They probably would not obsessively grind exploration percentage like Yi Han, so they might already have reached the first floor.

However, the system had not announced their successful escape, which meant they had not found the final key either.

And so Yi Han and his wilted NPC teammate continued onward, each lost in their own thoughts, saying nothing as they searched all the way down to the first floor.

The door from the stairwell to the first-floor lobby was unlocked. Yi Han did not know whether the other player had opened it.

In any case, only one locked door remained now:

The main entrance of the entire teaching building.

This game was nearing its end.

Yi Han’s exploration percentage had also reached 86%. After searching the first floor, it would hit 100%.

The two rounded the corner at the stairwell entrance and stepped into the lobby, only to stop at the same time.

Beside the entrance hall near the teaching building’s front doors stood a woman with her back facing them.

Long hair. Black clothes. Long pants.

There were some text slogans hanging on the walls to either side of the lobby, and several potted plants and small sculptures sat against the wall.

The woman was currently feeling around them.

Yi Han: …What perfect timing.

The fake teammate beside him, however, did not look so great.

Yi Han turned his head and somehow saw a whole series of complicated emotions on his face at once:

surprise, embarrassment, unwillingness, conflict, and sulking anger.

Wasn’t he just about to be exposed?

Was all that really necessary?

The woman heard the sound too and immediately turned around.

Then she also froze.

“You two…”

Her gaze moved back and forth between them.

Unexpectedly, the NPC teammate actually copied the question Yi Han had asked him at the start and struck first.

“Are you human or ghost?!”

The woman: “…I’m a player.”

Boy: “No, you’re not. We two are the players. You’re the fake!”

Woman: “…???”

Yi Han almost laughed out loud.

But at a time like this, as someone who was supposedly still unaware that the teammate he had traveled with for two hours was a fake, he could not laugh.

So he could only put on a guarded expression, looking from one to the other while keeping distance from both.

Boy: “Bro, trust me. I showed you my app. I’m a player too. This woman definitely isn’t.”

Woman: “…I have the app too. What does that prove?”

She raised her phone screen and openly showed it to Yi Han.

Yi Han had long known that ghosts also had the app, so it could not prove identity at all.

He gave no clear response.

“All three of us have the app. Anything else?”

The boy choked.

The woman also fell silent.

Honestly, Yi Han himself could not think of anything to say at this moment that would prove he was human.

But he was not worried at all.

After all, neither of these two could beat him.

After a long pause, the woman suddenly gritted her teeth.

“I can prove my identity. I found the key.”

She slipped one hand into her sleeve, pinched two fingers together, and pulled out a bright, gleaming key from her cuff.

It should have been the one she had found on the sculpture just as Yi Han and the boy appeared.

“This is the final key. Whichever one of you can prove your identity gets to leave the building with me.”

She only flashed the key briefly before quickly putting it away again, speaking warily.

Now the situation was very clear.

Yi Han looked disappointedly at the male NPC beside him and said,

“…I trusted you so much, and you actually lied to me.”

Boy: …

Actually, the logic was very strange.

Why would the person who found the key automatically be the real player?

But Yi Han already knew who was fake, so he was too lazy to nitpick the details.

And the other party seemed stunned by his acting skills. His face filled with embarrassment, and he even stammered as though trying to explain, completely forgetting he could still accuse Yi Han back.

So after Yi Han performed a few more dramatic lines like “Forget it, don’t say anything” and “I’m so disappointed in you,” the boy left in shame.

Yi Han successfully took his place.

Seeing the boy looking genuinely guilty, like he really had wronged someone terribly, Yi Han almost felt bad for him.

…This kid’s combat ability was no good, and his mental resilience was no good either.

He still needed training.

And just like that, only he and the woman remained.

The woman had watched the entire melodramatic soap opera unfold and was speechless for a moment before finally saying,

“…Let’s go. We should leave.”

But Yi Han remained where he stood, eyes bright.

“Wait a moment first.”

The woman frowned. “What?”

“Nothing much. There are just a few things I still want to understand.” Yi Han smiled casually. “Can you tell me which floor your first room was on after entering the game?”

“…The fourth floor. Why?” she answered.

“And on your way down, you never encountered any ghosts?” Yi Han asked again.

“…”
This time the woman understood.

“You suspect me?”

“No. Just asking casually.” Yi Han smiled again.

“…I already found the key. I’m leaving now. If you want to clear the stage, follow me. If not, stay here yourself.”

Her expression turned cold as she acted displeased and turned to leave.

Then suddenly:

CLANG!

The exact same deafening sound as when Yi Han had smashed the female ghost’s skull earlier echoed through the lobby.

The woman’s eyes rolled shut, and she collapsed onto the floor unconscious.

Yi Han calmly put away the iron pot and searched her body, retrieving the key.

“The hiding place of the final key…” he said quietly, “was the ‘teammate’ himself.”

“You people really are crafty.”

The system did not respond to his comment.

Instead, another notification appeared.

[Congratulations. You have obtained all keys. Opening the door will end the game.]

[You must now make a choice: Leave alone, or leave together with the other player.]

[Please note: If the player you choose is not a real player, the stage will be judged as failed. You will receive neither base points nor bonus points. Please choose carefully.]

Yi Han carefully read the message once before putting away his phone.

There was still time.

He was not in a hurry.

After helping the unconscious woman sit against the wall, Yi Han returned to thoroughly search every classroom on the first floor.

The exploration percentage rose bit by bit.

Until finally, after finishing everything, it stopped at 99%.

He already knew where the missing 1% was.

The elevator inside the stairwell.

But the elevator in this teaching building was broken and could not be opened at all.

In this stage, 99% was probably the maximum exploration percentage players could achieve.

Yi Han was confident nobody could score higher than him.

The only regret was that he had not earned more points from defeating ghosts.

Then Yi Han thought about the NPC teammate who had followed him through several floors…

If only he had not driven him away earlier.

Knocking him out would probably have earned another 10 points.

“…Are you still here?”

Unwilling to give up those points, Yi Han stood in the first-floor lobby and called out loudly.

But the surroundings remained silent.

After waiting a long while, nobody responded.

…He was an NPC. Until the player cleared the stage, he should not be able to leave first.

So why was he hiding?

Could it be he had actually believed Yi Han’s nonsense earlier and was too ashamed to show his face?

After weighing things carefully, points ultimately defeated conscience.

Yi Han looked calmly around the room and said,

“Actually, I knew your identity from the very beginning. Everything I said along the way, including earlier, was all a lie.”

At that moment, hidden in some corner, the newbie ghost NPC who had been feeling guilty for deceiving a “pure and upright player”:

…………！

So you were not angry?!

I was genuinely feeling guilty over here and you were watching for entertainment?!

“…Bastard! Eat my knife!!!”

The moment Yi Han finished speaking, the boy burst charging out from the corner holding his completely useless fruit knife, shouting furiously.

His originally pale face had flushed red from anger.

Then:

CLANG!

Another resounding iron-pot-against-skull impact echoed through the lobby.

The boy collapsed unconscious onto the floor, his fruit knife flying away dramatically.

Another 10 points acquired.

Yi Han felt deeply satisfied.

Dragging the boy over beside the unconscious woman against the wall, Yi Han finally took out the key and opened the main entrance of the teaching building.

He walked out alone.

The system sent one final confirmation message, asking whether he truly wished to clear the stage without bringing anyone else.

“Confirmed,” Yi Han replied.

He had entered every room on the fourth floor.

He had also searched every pocket on the woman.

Yet he had never found the other two keys that should logically exist under the condition that there were supposedly “2 players.”

This stage had only ever contained one human player from beginning to end.

The woman had also been fake.

She existed only to hold the final key and serve as the last trap meant to make him fail at the very end.

That was Yi Han’s answer to the final question.

[Congratulations! Stage: The Locked Classroom (Beginner Level) successfully cleared!]

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Because some readers said they did not understand, the author moved a reply comment here to explain:

1. How did he determine the female teammate was fake?

If the woman were a real player, then after escaping her first locked classroom, she should have possessed a classroom key.

And according to her own story, she later entered the stairwell from the fourth floor and descended from there, meaning she also should have possessed the fourth-floor stairwell key.

But she had no keys at all.

Meanwhile, the protagonist had searched every classroom on the fourth floor and inspected the hallway near the fourth-floor stairwell without finding those two keys that should logically exist.

Therefore, those two keys never existed in the first place.

Which meant the woman was lying.

Which meant she was not a human player.

2. Why did the system release misleading information?

It was not false information.

It was a special setting~

There will be an explanation later in the story.

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