Cement Box

Yin Meng, Xiang Tingfeng, and Kang Maixiu separated from them and walked down their own passageway. Ye Delun, Shen Lin, Yang Lan, and Li Yusheng were left to themselves.

Li Yusheng already looked like he didn't want to be here. Which was confirmed by the system.

[The character 'Li Yusheng' regrets going along with this foolishness and wants to convince 'Yang Lan' to leave with him!]

He stood still next to her, the same glum look on his young face. Discreetly, he moved his hand and let it brush up against hers. She turned back to look up at him and give him a questioning glance.

Li Yusheng stared at her face for a moment. The way her eyebrows curved and the lashes that draped over her beautiful brown eyes. Uncharacteristically of him, he felt his ears burn. Instead of talking to her, he stubbornly turned his head away.

"Okie Dokey, Yin Meng's group went to the right, so we're going to the left." Shen Lin, the supposed caretaker of the group, seemed extremely relaxed. She tightened her backpack straps and treated this search like some primary school adventure.

[The character 'Shen Lin' is remembering the good times where her childhood friends would debunk urban legends in their hometown!]

That was something Ye Delun could relate to. Except that he wasn't trying to debunk them, but instead trying to use himself as bait to lead the monster out.

Too bad none of them were real. That, or they didn't like how his middle-school self wouldn't leave their territory and would continuously call out for them.

The four of them traveled down the dark hallway. Shen Lin pulled a pair of flashlights out of one of her many backpack pockets. She tested them both before tossing one to Li Yusheng.

Ye Delun watched the walls as they walked. The dark wallpaper looked different, that's what he first noticed. The immense amount of cobwebs made it difficult to tell, but the designs that were used to decorate the wallpaper were gone. Instead, they were replaced with a dark, blank sheet.

The maze of corridors was gone as well. Instead, it was a hallway similar to the one in the dream. Long, with doors aligned with the wall. Normally, it would make someone curious why, but he didn't feel the need to search for an explanation. It already seemed too self-explanatory.

Although it seemed he was the only one thinking that way.

He wondered what Yang Lan was thinking. She was a real person like him, and he knew that. But she doesn't know about him being a real person. Based on Huang Song's reaction from when he first met her, it wasn't natural but also wasn't unbelievable that a man would be here. Although he considered explaining it to Yang Lan, the overall work to go into explaining made him reconsider.

He doesn't think that any harm would come if she doesn't know, so he just wouldn't tell her.

"Do you think we could find any of our rooms here?" Shen Lin asked. "The structure is completely different from what I'm used to."

Yang Lan gave an uneasy chuckle, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Usually, I would be lost and aimlessly wandering around by now."

Shen Lin moved up to one of the doors, they looked surprisingly sturdy compared to the rest of the house. "Locked, not exactly what I thought, but close enough. Do any of you want to knock it down like the big guy from before?" She turned to look at the silent Ye Delun and Li Yusheng. Both of them didn't look all too happy with the thought.

Li Yusheng probably wouldn't want to because either his clothing would get dirty, or because of his prestigious background. And although Ye Delun dreamed of being tough enough to break down a door, he was in no way ready. He could already feel the bruises forming.

She sighed at their reaction but didn't linger on them. Instead, she turned towards the door and promptly kicked off the doorknob.

"..."

"..."

[The character 'Li Yusheng' feels threatened by the character 'Shen Lin'!]

Ye Delun also felt a little intimidated. But he was mostly impressed by her show of skills. Yang Lan as well. She stared at Shen Lin with her jaw slack, perhaps she had never seen someone commit such a feat. Not that Ye Delun had either.

"Wow," She brushed back her stray hairs and looked impressed with her work. "It's been a while since I've done something like that. Good thing I wore thick boots and not my sneakers, or else we'd be in a pickle."

She pushed the door to take a look inside.

"It's...empty."

No windows, no furniture, no carpet, no bed, no picture. It was just a grey room with cement walls. Shen Lin moved to the next door and did the same to look inside. Only to see that it was the same there as well.

"There's nothing here." It disturbed her slightly. Her thin brows furrowed as different possibilities passed through her head. She didn't know exactly what she was expecting to be in the rooms, maybe for it to look more like how their rooms were. But a complete square of cement, although it was normal on its own, it sent a shiver of alarm down her spine. Her gut was telling her to leave.

Yang Lan went to comfort her, "It's alright. I mean, when you think about it, we've never really seen any other room besides our own, right? Maybe it's always like this."

Shen Lin visible tried to relax at her words but still gave the empty room a dubious glance. "Right... let's continue moving."

And so they left the two broken doors behind and continued down the corridor.

On Ye Delun's side, he wasn't at all disturbed. He couldn't exactly blame the house's lack of a nerve-wracking setup, but more of the system ruining the mood.

[You feel dispirited at the sight of your broken decorative doors. The doors weren't meant to be opened and were just there for aesthetic. And the rooms were plain because you don't have visitors that need a guest room. But if you did, you would gladly set up a room for them to stay.]

[You internally cry tears for your broken furniture.]

"..."

'Aren't I supposed to be the villain? Why am I so lame?'