Setting aside the creepy atmosphere of the campus, Qinggang High actually had beautiful grounds as a boarding school.
The school was built against the mountainside. It had more than just the usual facilities like classroom buildings, a cafeteria, and dormitories. The landscaping was really something special.
During free time, students could work out on the track field or relax in the sprawling small woods.
Of course, the small woods and the back mountain were separated by a tall iron fence. Security guards patrolled at all times to stop students from wandering into the back mountain, and to stop wild wolves from the back mountain from breaking into campus.
And that was exactly where Luo Yu had gotten lost.
The strange part was that she had been walking in the middle of a large group of students heading back to the dorms. There was no reason she should have drifted so far off course into the woods.
At first, there were definitely other students around her. But somehow, without realizing it, the crowd around her thinned out more and more.
By the time Luo Yu snapped back to awareness, she had already wandered deep into the woods. Completely alone.
"It's like I was lured by something sinister," she muttered under her breath.
This wasn't just Luo Yu's imagination running wild. It was entirely possible.
After all, this wasn't the real world. It was an escape game. To increase the difficulty, the game would naturally have mechanics designed to isolate players and force them to face danger alone.
Luo Yu was sure she had fallen victim to just such a mechanic. Otherwise, she wouldn't have walked all the way into the woods before realizing something was wrong.
Though the small woods were meant to be a place for students to unwind, at night there were no lights and no students strolling through them either.
The forest was pitch black. In every direction she looked, all she could see were tree branches thrashing wildly in the wind under the cold moonlight. They looked like demonic claws, their rustling whispers cutting through the darkness.
Luo Yu shuddered.
She tried hard to make out her surroundings and recall the path she had taken in her mind.
But every time she focused, it was like her brain was wrapped in a layer of gray fog. Her memories were hazy. She couldn't grasp any real details.
"The game definitely played me," she said, shaking her head.
The night woods had to be crawling with danger.
Aside from the wild wolves that might wander down from the back mountain, the forest likely had even more terrifying monsters.
Running around blindly without knowing the way was practically a death sentence.
If conditions allowed, staying put until dawn when she could see the path clearly would be the best course of action.
But...
Listening to the wind grow sharper and more desperate through the trees, a chill crept up Luo Yu's legs.
The temperature was dropping fast. Spending the whole night here, even if she didn't freeze solid, she would definitely catch a cold afterward. And in an escape game, players didn't have the luxury of getting sick.
And even if she could survive the freezing night, she had to consider another factor. The school rules.
Sun Heng had said it. Break the school rules, and you die.
He might not have been right about everything, but in this situation, Luo Yu couldn't afford to take that chance.
She remembered a specific rule. Students must return to their dormitories promptly after evening self-study. Those who fail to return by curfew 23:00 will be considered in violation, with behavior points deducted according to the severity of the offense.
Evening self-study ended at 10:00 PM, leaving only an hour until curfew.
She had already spent about twenty minutes walking earlier, and then roughly ten more minutes lost in the woods.
That meant she had about thirty minutes to get back to the dorm. Or she would be breaking the rules. Even if it didn't mean death, the consequences wouldn't be pretty.
She would have to grit her teeth and find her way out.
Luo Yu sharpened all her senses and began moving carefully through the trees.
Though the forest was dim and nearly impossible to see clearly, she didn't give up. She kept observing the subtle changes around her.
Wandering aimlessly wasn't the answer. There had to be something she had missed in these woods.
Luo Yu believed that every game had a solution.
The game wouldn't put players in a completely dead-end environment. If it did, it wouldn't be called an escape game. It would be called "come here and die."
So she must have overlooked something.
About five more minutes passed before Luo Yu finally spotted something.
"Spotted" wasn't quite accurate, though. The change was so obvious it seemed almost desperate to catch her attention.
Fog was rising in the woods.
White mist billowed up from her right like a ghostly sea. It spread out for a distance before churning and stopping. Waiting.
The choice was in Luo Yu's hands now.
Go or don't go?
Luo Yu stared at that eerie white fog and took a deep breath.
"Go," she said firmly.
Staying here meant certain death anyway. The fog might be dangerous, but it could also hold the key to survival.
She walked toward the white mist, slow but steady.
And then it struck her. Since she was trapped in the woods, at this very moment, were the other players also facing life-or-death trials?
She wondered how many of them she would see alive in the cafeteria tomorrow.
But.
Luo Yu steeled herself.
She was definitely going to be one of the survivors.
Actually, on that point, Luo Yu had it completely wrong.
Sun Heng's earlier words were true. This was the first day of the game. Under normal circumstances, all the players would make it through safely without running into any major crisis.
At that very moment, every single player had made it back to their dorms. Some were gathering intel by chatting up their roommates. Others had gone to bed early, saving their energy for day two.
Only Luo Yu had run into real trouble.
This wasn't because she had accidentally triggered a death condition. It wasn't the game deliberately targeting her either.
Because what happened to her wasn't part of the game's mechanics at all. In other words, she was being hunted by something else entirely.
Something far beyond the game rules. A far more powerful existence.
The God.
Or rather, the Evil God.
The supreme being who presided over this escape game.
Every dungeon world fell under His watch. His avatars existed in each world, disguised as NPCs. Silent observers tracking the game's progress and the players' actions.
Under normal circumstances, He remained separate from the game's main plot. He never intersected with the players.
But there were exceptions.
Some sharp-eyed players would sense something different about Him. They would detect the overwhelming power that dwarfed the game's own rules.
These players would approach Him, foolishly hoping to curry favor, to boost their survival rate, or even to complete the game with an easy shortcut.
Over countless prior encounters, He had confirmed humanity's hypocrisy.
These selfish, sinful, pitiful beings would sing hollow praises as they approached Him. Their hearts empty of true reverence, wanting only to use His power.
The God had originally felt nothing at all. But the more He interacted with players, the more emotions began to take root in Him.
And the first emotion He developed toward human players was disgust.
Today, another clueless human player was trying to get close to Him.
He had spared her earlier, intending to personally strip away her false mask now.
After all.
This was one of His few forms of entertainment.
Summary:
Luo Yu becomes separated from other students and finds herself lost in the dark woods after what she believes is a game mechanic isolating her. With curfew approaching and temperatures dropping, she must decide whether to stay put or venture into an eerie fog that has appeared in the forest. Meanwhile, the narration reveals that her situation is not part of the game's design at all but is instead the work of the Evil God who presides over the escape game and has taken a personal interest in her.
Trivia:
- The school is built against a mountainside, which explains the small woods and back mountain layout.
- There is a one-hour gap between evening self-study ending at 22:00 and curfew at 23:00.
- Luo Yu spent approximately 20 minutes walking and 10 minutes lost, leaving her 30 minutes to return.
- The iron fence and security patrols normally separate the small woods from the back mountain.
- Wild wolves from the back mountain are an established threat that security guards routinely monitor for.
- The Evil God's avatars appear as NPCs in every dungeon world, making Him essentially omnipresent.
- The Evil God is normally separate from the main plot but can be approached by observant players.
- This is Day 1 of the game, and normally all players would survive the first day safely.
- Only Luo Yu is experiencing danger - everyone else has returned to their dorms safely.
- The Evil God's first emotion was disgust toward human players, developed over countless encounters.
- The Evil God views players' praise as hollow and their reverence as false.
- The Evil God finds entertainment in exposing players' hypocrisy.
Notes:
• S - A first-year student at District 13 High School who has taken B from North Middle into his squad.
• T - A first-year student at District 13 High School who has recruited K and N from East Middle into his group.
• Luo Yu - A gentle-voiced woman with waist-length black hair, fine features, and a slender figure. She is a complete newcomer to the Escape Games who unwittingly attracted attention by interacting with an NPC at the dinner counter. Currently struggling through her evening self-study session while being targeted by a monster disguised as her teacher. She is confused, afraid, and beginning to sense that something much larger is watching over her. Female student at Qinggang High. Protagonist who becomes lost in the woods during the escape game. Determined and resourceful, though currently confused by the game's isolating mechanics. Believes she has been targeted by the game system itself. The protagonist and viewpoint character. A student at an abnormal school who has already witnessed a teacher transform into a monster. Currently navigating a fog-shrouded swamp in search of an exit. Practical but prone to romantic distraction when faced with an attractive face. Her desperate hope for survival clashes with her growing suspicion that nothing in this school is what it appears to be.
• A - A student from South Middle School described as an idol who has been recruited into R's high school squad.
• B - A student originally from North Middle School who was added to S's group.
• R - A first-year student at District 13 High School who has successfully built a squad and added multiple girls, including M and A, into his group.
• Sun Heng - Scar-faced veteran player, survivor of three horror Escape Games. Confident, authoritative, unofficial leader. Gave Luo Yu school rules handbook during night self-study. Information source, not active participant. Yang Tian attached to him previously; his interest in Luo Yu fuels her jealousy. Speaks with calculated authority, subtly predatory toward female players. Claims survival hints and rule knowledge; warns rule-breaking = death. Credibility uncertain, but Luo Yu trusts his warning.
• M - A first-year student at District 13 High School and the childhood friend of Anonymous Student 0006, described as an atavistic strong-female who looks plain but possesses significant power.
• N - A student from East Middle with an eccentric personality who entered National High School due to complex family circumstances and used herself as leverage to negotiate a protective agreement for K.