Chapter 59 Searching for the 'Jigsaw Puzzle'

"Legend has it that there is another you inside the mirror. It watches your every word and deed through the glass at all times, mimicking your various reactions to the outside world. Once you let your guard down, it will step out of the mirror and replace you."

"A murder occurred inside the mirror maze. A young woman was killed by her companion inside, and her body was dismembered. The body parts are currently missing."

"The purpose of you four coming here is to gather all the woman's body parts and successfully escape the mirror maze safely."

The employee introduced the background story with a trembling voice, then handed them a slip of paper with shaking hands and said:

"This, this is the location of the first body part. Once you find it, you will get the clue to the location of the second body part."

Seeing how frightened the employee was, Lily didn't hesitate to mock her bluntly:

"Big sis clerk, are you alright? Maybe you should have a guy do this instead, we can't even hear what you're saying."

"Who can't hear clearly? Are you deaf or something?"

Beibei rolled her eyes.

Huan Xiao unfolded the white paper, on which a riddle was written.

"The answer is bookshelf. I've seen this question online before."

Chu Huimin, who had squeezed in from the side, cleverly blurted out the answer.

Huan Xiao didn't care much about what the answer on the paper was; she was more concerned about why the clerk was so terrified.

It was just a horror-themed escape room. The clerk didn't even have to go in with them—she just needed to say a few words at the entrance, explain the precautions, and she could leave. There was no need to be this scared.

"Are you okay? There are so many of us here, you don't need to be afraid."

Beibei patted the clerk's shoulder in a familiar manner, intending to comfort her.

Unexpectedly, the clerk jumped as if she had been pricked by a needle.

"What are you doing? You scared me!"

Lily complained with dissatisfaction.

Seeing this, Beibei retorted:

"Weren't you acting all brave? I can't believe you're actually getting scared. So all that tough persona you put on earlier was just an act."

"Bei Beibei!" Lily shouted angrily.

"What, don't you recognize me?" Beibei stared back, refusing to back down.

However, they didn't end up arguing after all.

Realizing she had lost control of her emotions, the clerk hesitated for a long time before whispering a warning:

"...The four of you should really rethink whether you want to play. The story of this mirror maze is actually, actually true. Our boss even installed one of the mirrors from the crime scene in the shop, claiming it was to heighten the horror atmosphere."

She continued in a soft voice:

"The people who came to play at our shop before haven't been quite right after coming out. I'm worried..."

Hearing her words, the two people who had been silently confronting each other extinguished their anger.

"What? No way."

Lily's eyes widened. Using items from a real crime scene—wasn't that going to harm people?

At this moment, her friend Chu Huimin had a flash of inspiration and asked:

"Is it that famous local hidden-body case where a woman was dismembered by her boyfriend? I heard the body still hasn't been found, and the hiding spots provided by the murderer boyfriend were all fake."

Huan Xiao had also caught wind of that case and said:

"I heard a month has passed and the body still hasn't been found, and the murderer who turned himself in died mysteriously the next day. The case was closed as a suicide due to the criminal's remaining conscience."

At this point, Beibei could no longer care about personal grudges and joined the others in asking:

"Is this true?"

"This..."

Before the employee could say anything else, someone came in from outside and pulled her away.

"Of course this is just a background story. Our shop is a legitimate business and does not do anything illegal."

The newcomer was an older woman with a sharp gaze. She pulled the previous employee away with a warning look, and then said to the four of them:

"What my employee just said was added privately just to increase your sense of immersion. She's always liked to show off and has done plenty of things on her own accord. Please don't mind it, guests."

"I wish you all a pleasant time. If you encounter any difficult puzzles you can't solve, you can contact us via the walkie-talkie. We have dedicated staff to guide you."

With that, she led the flustered employee outside.

The four of them were plunged into darkness once more, with only the mirrors emitting a faint, eerie glow.

Reflected in the mirror surfaces, it felt as though countless people were standing right beside them.

"So that's it, it really was fake after all. I thought this escape room might actually be a bit more interesting."

Lily, who had been panicking just moments ago, had already regained her composure.

Chu Huimin chimed in with a complaint:

"New shops really will do anything for traffic these days, even lying. Good thing we figured it out."

"Beibei, are we still playing?"

Huan Xiao asked.

"Play! Ghosts and spirits are all feudal superstitions. As youths of the new era, we must firmly uphold materialism."

Since Lily wasn't backing down, how could Beibei possibly chicken out? She had to make Lily apologize today!

"Let's go, let's find the body parts."

Chu Huimin was the most enthusiastic of the four. She grabbed Lily and pulled her toward the bookshelf first.

Before leaving, Lily gave Beibei a provocative, upturned look of her own.

Even though the lighting was dim, Beibei still caught it.

Upon seeing this, she immediately felt unsettled and grew a sense of crisis, saying to Huan Xiao:

"Quick, we have to find it before them. We can't lose to them."

"Let's look together. There are a lot of mirrors here, watch your head."

Huan Xiao couldn't refuse her. She was already so grown up, yet she still acted like an elementary schooler playing a "whoever loses must apologize" game.

If Beibei really wanted an apology from Lily, she could just show the surveillance footage she had, and Lily would definitely apologize. Why go through all this trouble?

She couldn't tell whether this was kindness or just cluelessness.

Inside the secret room, every wall was made of mirrors, with only the floor being ordinary cement.

The rough ground felt completely out of place with the smooth mirrors, creating a sense of fragmentation.

Beibei wasn't scared at first, but after looking at the mirrors for too long, she genuinely felt that the person inside the mirror wasn't her, but someone else wearing her face.

She said with a hint of fear:

"Damn, this escape room actually has quite a strong horror vibe. Xiaoxiao, do you think an NPC is going to suddenly jump out and scare us?"

"We've only just started, and we haven't even found a single body part yet. The NPCs won't show up that fast."

Huan Xiao tapped the mirror; it should have been made of special materials, nearly as hard as a normal wall.

"Xiaoxiao! Stop saying body parts, will you? It sounds super creepy... Let's use 'that thing' to refer to them instead."

Beibei wasn't very brave, which was why she liked going to horror escape rooms whenever she was unhappy—playing them always helped fade away her unpleasant moods.