Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

Finally, the last man, the one X Beijin feels like he recalls, interrupts their argument, hey can we stop the childish bickering for a second? I thought we were in a life-or-death chase situation

Just as he said, they are being chased by a man running quickly in black clothes and a black mask with a big machete in his hand.

As for the reason the two Missiontakers were arguing? Its very simple.

The moment they entered this Nightmare, one of themThe one being told off for being selfish, was shocked that someone was suddenly chasing after them with a big machete , and so instinctively pushes the Missiontaker next to him out towards the chaser.

And that person in question is obviously disgusted. While he avoided the knife alright and ran away immediately, he also kept chastising Selfish the whole way. He looks like he would gladly kick him into the path of that man in black clothing.

Selfish is also rebuking everything thrown his way.

The Missiontakers cannot kill each other, sure, but more indirect methods like pushing someone out to their deaths are extremely commonplace.

Even though such scenarios typically result in the entire Nightmare failing.

Never mind a True End. Just a Normal End would be miraculous at that point.

Therefore, that Missiontaker that almost ended up a scapegoat for Selfish retorts thus, you think I want to argue? Were not in some fucking DOTA game here when he set me up. This is a Nightmare for fucks sake!

What Scapegoat said makes that third man go quiet. His expression turns complicated for a second, but he says nothing.

Lin Qin is out of patience already, saying, just escape before doing anything else.

How in the world are they so nonchalantly blabbering when being chased by some shady figure with a machete? Do they think the figure in black is just casually strolling along or what?

Even someone as uncaring as Lin Qin is speechless.

He starts seriously considering how it might be him entering Nightmares too frequently that he keeps meeting these weirdos that would argue in Nightmares. Maybe he could enter less frequently for a while?

For Lin Qin, entering Nightmares is basically just a question of whether he might end up too bored in the Tower.

His pondering doesnt slow him down any, though, as he is already outside of the corridor now.

Light immediately pours in from the outside. There is an open space here, with one road connecting this car park with the wider expressway outside.

There are several cars here, too.

The man that has been pretty unenergetic so far says in shock, a road chase? Seriously?

So thirty seconds later, when the man in black is also outside and enters a vehicle, the rest of the Missiontakers glare at the guy that jinxed it all.

The man quietly murmurs, so whos driving?

You cant?

Ah Im a piece of trash, he sighs, and says, Im not good at driving. The man might catch up to us in a road chase.

Scapegoat cusses a few times before saying, fine, Ill drive.

Selfish taunts him, just admit it, youre a hopeless saint.

Scapegoat is already pulling his sleeves up to brawl when he notices the man in black is turning their way with his car. He stops, and the four Missiontakers all quickly board the nearest car. Lin Qin is in the passengers seat and the two remaining are in the backseats.

They quickly leave this car park on the car, and the unenergetic man then looks outside the car window at the remaining parked cars.

He is murmuring, different cars different specs, it seems. If the Nightmare crumbles later on and the man in black speeds up, we might have to grab the best car in time, or maybe we should split up? One car each No, anyone dying would restart. How about splitting up by driving skill

What are you blabbering about? Scapegoat is asking with an irritated tone while driving, that man is ridiculously slow too. Im only at 60 kph and hes already gone.

Yet the man that was murmuring replies, hes slow now, but not necessarily so in the future.

Everyone else, besides the expressionless Lin Qin, all turn silent.

Never mind, never mind; Im just a piece of trash, so you dont have to listen to me The man sighs and scratches his head, then says, dont take anything I say seriously. I just blabber a lot.

He says, but what he said was all reasonable.

Scapegoat furrows his brows, perplexed.

At the same time, X Beijin is also knitting his brows in confusion watching the stream.

He already recalls who this slightly familiar-looking man is.

His name, is Mu Jiashi.

A very, very long time ago, he once interacted with Mu Jiashi. It was when a lot of Missiontakers were curious about X Beijins Nightmare, so a lot of them began buggering X Beijin incessantly, including Mu Jiashi.

Though because X Beijin would never let a word out regarding his own Nightmare, once, a frustrated Mu Jiashi just ends up leaving a drink he once had with X Beijin, who, feeling awkward, decided to gift him with a clue about a Nightmare he knew, which Mu Jiashi used to secure a True End.

In fact, before this happened, Mu Jiashi was already famous in the bottom floor, for his carrying businessOr, bringing customers up to higher floors.

This is a simple enough business, because a True End in a Nightmare means all the Missiontakers present can go up to a higher floor. It is a mutually beneficial thing.

And those carrying the customers are called Carriers, though they are more commonly referred to as the Golddiggers(TL: I dont think an explanation for this nickname is provided even up to the end, but I might just have forgotten).

In the Tower, Golddiggers belong to different organisations. Some are famous, some are small. All in all, because there are no rules or regulations, both screwing with people and getting screwed are common occurrences in their line of work.

After Golddiggers bring their customers up, they will then go through several Bad Ends on purpose to return to the original floor to take new customers. If they feel like theyve brought a lot of customers already or just plain dont want to return anymore, then they can stay at the higher floors.

Though the difficulty of the Nightmares in the higher floors are clearly incomparable to those of the bottom floor. So success rate is also difficult to maintain.

Many Golddiggers end up drifting up and down the floors but fail to maintain a good enough success rate. Many of these businesses fail inevitably.

Not Mu Jiashi, though, a dalao who is a dalao because his success rate is 100%. Even if he only carries people up from the bottom floor, this is still a record to boast.

However, soon after he became known for this record, the dalao chose to leave the Golddiggers Group he founded to go it alone. That was when he received the clue from X Beijin and ended up going to a higher floor, never being seen in the bottom floor again.

Until

Right now, when clearly hes returned to the bottom floor for some reason?

X Beijin is curious.

Why is he back? Did he end up failing the upper floor Nightmares?

He is also calling himself a piece of trash. Did he suffer some trauma, perhaps?

Once, the Mu Jiashi X Beijin met, while not exactly showy or flashy, was definitely confident. Since he did have the 100% success rate under his belt. He was a true dalao.

It is hard to imagine this dispirited, unenergetic man was once that dalao Mu Jiashi.

What happened to him?

X Beijin is mulling over him when suddenly, someone knocks on his counter.

He raises his head in surprise to see there is a young man standing in front of him, greeting him with a smile, hello, nice to meet you. Are you interested in joining our Operation Defeat NE?

X Beijin

Hah?

After he picks his jaw back up from the floor, he shakes his head and responds dryly, Im sorry, I dont.

The young man doesnt seem surprised at the answer. He shrugs and then simply says, I see. Ill ask again when you feel like joining.

Then he leaves.

X Beijin

Did he, perhaps just meet a Lin Qin #2?

No, that cant be right. Lin Qin is way clingier than the young man.

X Beijin begins sighing as his head throbs in pain.

Somehow, starting from the last Nightmare, things seem to be getting out of hand in his life as dull as dishwater.

Then he turns towards the stream, where the comment barrage is already going Bei Bei Bei Bei, what is NE?

Like some yipping chicks eager for tasty worms from mommy hen.

X Beijin adjusts himself before replying, There is a Server that controls this game Escape, which we call NE.

oh

even the game server had a special name too? cool

hey since detective dalao said players could end up npcs, so maybe the server would also?

? That imagination Though someone randomly assigned to the Server would just be invincible, wouldnt they? Their gameplay experience would be dreadful.

hey, wont it be fun getting godlike cheats with god armour and weapons in a game?

compared to that, Im more interested in why they want to defeat NE something fishy behind the scenes?

detective dalao, wanna try analysing?

Theres too little information The only thing I can think of, is that with how much the Server restricts the Actors, they might feel oppressed and so want to rebel?

wouldnt a normal person just complain to the game company lol?

X Beijin maintains his poker face while bitterly smiling inside.

Yes, players Players.

Theyareplayers. Players who cannot leave their game. The only object they could feasibly resist is the Server.

Really, Operation Defeat NEs main objective isnt even NE, but those Actors that have succumbed, that have mentally fused with the roles they are playing as.

Therefore, some Actors are trying to prop up a pretty hope that could be a beacon of light for the Actors nearing the hopeless precipice, to at least maintain their reason and sanity for as long as possible.

What next?

Nobody knows what the future would be like.

Whether they might actually escape, or die for good, or succumb to a Collapsed Nightmare.

The viewers might take it as the players finding their own fun in-game, but they can never imagine, that this is just the ridiculous, desperate way humanity has came up with to save themselves, when they are pushed to their absolute limits.

The young man whose attitude was laid-back at best, perhaps, is just trying to rescue him? Even when he has no idea whether it might succeed.

He might already see X Beijin as hopeless now.

Meanwhile, another comment flows across the screen.

speaking of which, NE huh?

X Beijin

His facial expression finally changes. He looks like he has a lot to say.

Though he does hold it in in the end.

Sure, huh.

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM