This is exactly the feeling I want.

After everyone chatted for a while with a mix of worry and excitement, the staff member from earlier returned.

She walked back to her seat, sat down, and said with a smile, "Everyone, quiet down. Let me explain how the game works."

"Sure, what should we call you?" Zhang Ziming asked, looking at the girl in front of him.

"Just call me Xixi."

"Alright."

The group nodded in agreement and quieted down to listen carefully.

The girl named Xixi looked at everyone and continued, "The 'Abandoned Village' theme requires a minimum of ten people and can accommodate up to sixteen. Twelve of you is just right."

"In a moment, you'll need to split into pairs to enter the escape room. You can decide the pairs yourselves."

"The entire game is expected to last about four hours. If you haven't finished after four hours, we won't rush you, and there won't be any extra charges, so don't worry about that."

"Next are the game rules. This theme has two main areas, indoor and outdoor, and you'll visit both."

"Essentially, the whole theme is an exciting treasure hunt adventure. Once you're inside, NPCs will guide you, so I won't go into too much detail."

"Anyway, there will be plenty of scary NPCs appearing to interfere with you, but they're all played by our staff, so please, absolutely do not attack the NPCs, okay~"

"Of course we won't~"

"But~"

"But what?" Xixi looked at Liu Bo, who had spoken.

"There won't be one or two real ones mixed in, will there?"

Hearing this, Xixi almost couldn't hold back an eye roll, but she managed to control her expression in time.

She smiled slightly at Liu Bo and said, "Of course not~"

"That's good, that's good."

"Now, here are some props, one for each person." As she spoke, Xixi took twelve small traditional Chinese pouches of various colors from a basket beside her and handed them out.

"Everyone take one. Be careful not to lose it. You'll need it during the mission later. After you go in, an NPC will tell you how to use it. Don't open it for now."

Everyone nodded and reached out to take a pouch.

After distributing the pouches, Xixi continued, "Before entering the escape room, we need to collect everyone's phones. Please understand."

"Understood, understood." As they spoke, the group took out their phones and placed them in the basket on the table.

After collecting the phones, Xixi picked up the basket and stood up. "Alright, one last step: changing clothes. Please follow me."

"Let's go~" The group said, picking up their respective pouches and standing up to follow.

A few minutes later, Xixi led Su Yang and the others to the changing rooms. Everyone received a set of clothes and then separated into the men's and women's changing rooms to change.

They each looked at the clothes in their hands. Liu Bo frowned and said, "These clothes aren't very nice. Do we have to change?"

"Just change. We're already here, let's follow the rules. That's how you get immersed~"

"Fine then."

From the clothes they were given, everyone could tell the theme was set around the 1970s or 80s.

Each person had a simple set of nostalgic clothing: dull colors and old-fashioned styles.

They quickly changed into their outfits. Su Yang wore a thin gray jacket with loose black trousers and a pair of Liberation Shoes. Once he put them on, he felt like he was about to go work in the fields.

Meng Wenzhou had a blue-and-white striped T-shirt, an army-green cap, and a pair of loose army-green trousers.

Liu Bo wore a burgundy round-neck thin sweater paired with black trousers.

The other three guys' clothes were similar, just with slight variations in color.

Once changed, they put their pouches in their pants pockets and walked out of the changing room.

After waiting at the entrance for a bit, the girls came out, looking slightly shy.

Some wore old-fashioned pink blouses, others wore old-fashioned blue work uniforms—they all looked very much like simple village girls from the 70s or 80s.

Ren Lingxi wore a pink shirt with loose khaki trousers and carried an army-green crossbody bag.

"Hahaha, where are you comrades off to?" Liu Bo laughed, looking at the six girls.

"Who are you calling 'comrade'?" Wang Shuyue glared at Liu Bo.

"Don't you know? In that era, almost everyone, men and women, was called 'comrade.'"

"I don't like it."

"You, little comrade, have insufficient political awareness."

While they were chatting idly, Xixi walked over from a nearby corridor. Seeing everyone changed, she smiled and said, "All changed, right?"

"Mm-hmm, all done."

"Good. Then, please follow me."

"Okay." The group agreed and followed Xixi to the second floor.

Soon, they reached the second floor. The atmosphere around them immediately felt different.

That eerie, creepy feeling began to spread again.

But they hadn't arrived yet. Xixi led them further up to the third floor.

"Still going up?"

"Mm-hmm, the escape room is on the fourth floor."

"Alright."

Two minutes later, they arrived at the entrance of the "Abandoned Village" themed escape room on the fourth floor.

Looking at the dilapidated door, a few of the girls gulped.

Xixi stood by the door, pointed at it, and said, "It's 10 PM now. The timer starts once everyone is inside. Each pair enters with a two-minute interval. Which pair wants to go first?"

The group looked around. Liu Bo and Zhang Jie stepped forward first. "We'll go!"

"So brave, Bro Fatty!" Ji Bo gave Liu Bo a thumbs-up.

Liu Bo smiled proudly. "Of course! A little escape room? Watch me handle it easily~"

Xixi pulled open the escape room door with a slight smile. "Please enter."

The others craned their necks to look inside after the door opened, but it was pitch black; they couldn't see anything.

Facing the dark, impenetrable blackness of the room, Liu Bo took a deep breath, gulped, grabbed Zhang Jie's hand, and led the way in.

Once the two entered, Xixi immediately closed the door.

"Please wait two minutes. The next pair can enter then."

Having just seen the utter darkness inside, the girls were already starting to get a bit scared and moved closer to their respective partners.

Ji Bo thought to himself, 'Ah, that's more like it~ This is exactly the feeling we're going for.'

The two minutes passed in a blink. Xixi glanced at her watch and spoke again. "Time's up. Which pair is going second?"

Su Yang looked at Ren Lingxi and smiled. "Lingxi, shall we go?"

Ren Lingxi nodded. "Sure~"

"Let's go then." As they spoke, the two stepped forward.

Seeing this, Xixi opened the door and smiled. "Handsome guy, beautiful lady, please enter~"

Su Yang nodded to Xixi, then walked side-by-side with Ren Lingxi into the pitch-black escape room.

......