The Scent of Keys

Xiao Mu stilled.

She was not expecting that reaction from Xiao Mei.

She stared at the girl for a moment and looked at the others around her.

Fairy was giving her a curious look but the others had a blank expression. They mostly did not care about the internal conflict about the people around them if it did not affect their lives, or deaths in this case.

Xiao Mu coughed and put on a bright smile. "As I asked, what will happen if we don't take a card?"

Fairy's reaction to Xiao Mu's words was disdain. "Why don't you try to see what will happen?"

The girl with the earings glared at her. "I was just asking. No need to be so rude."

Fairy rolled her eyes.

Dr Ching cleared his throat.

Everyone turned to him. "If you don't have a card, you will be the first person that the Ghosts target because you don't have an identity in the Instance and that makes you an outsider. Outsiders will be the first to be prosecuted."

"So complicated," Xiao Mu muttered. "So, if we take the card, meaning everyone has a card, who will be the first to die?"

"The first to break the rule of the Instance."

"What are the rules of the Instance?" Xiao Mei asked in a timid voice.

Fairy glared at her. "If I knew that would I still be here? I would have cleared the Instance a long time ago!"

Xiao Mei backed away from her in fright and stepped behind Xiao Mu.

"Was there a need to shout?" Dr Ching asked with an exasperated look in his eyes. His face was taut with tension. This was his 5th game and it was important to him! He could not let these people pull him back.

Wei Lan frowned as he realised that the group was already at a hostile state even before the events had started.

He stepped forwards and took a card from the file.

Shocked, everyone turned towards him.

"What?" he asked them.

"You-" Xiao Mu wanted to scold him but Xiao Mei tugged her cuff, cutting her off.

Fairy rolled her eyes. "Finally, a newcomer with some kind of decency. Thank god."

Wei Lan gave her a pleasant smile, not caring about the fact that he looked like a boot licker right now, and then looked towards the card in his hand.

The texture of the card against his hand was soft and there was warmth against his skin. It felt less like a card and more like he was touching human skin.

Wei Lan felt a shiver run down his spine.

He wanted to throw the thing away all of a sudden but…his eyes went to Xiao Mu. That girl would definitely mock him if he did that! He had to endure!

With that thought in mind, Wei Lan suppressed the fear in his heart and observed the card in detail.

It was like those Character Prompt Cards that he was familiar with in Acting Classes!

There was only some basic information in it.

Name: LanLan

Age: 18

Character Trait: Obsessed with Books! Enthusiastic about pretty girls and Hates babies.

Job: Dayshift/Photocopy specialist!

Wei Lan blinked. He looked at the veterans in confusion. What the hell was a Photocopy specialist?

The card was easy to understand. The name was a given explanation. The age…at 18…somebody who has left the age of adoloscense and have just took the first steps into the real world. It explains why he was an intern here. The character traits might be what the character should behave like!

He should be curious about books? Or obsessed with them…maybe he should find a book or two to carry around with him in that case.

LanLan was also enthusiastic about pretty girls. Did that mean that he was supposed to have a dazed look every time he sees a pretty girl? What if the Ghost was pretty? Was he supposed to just stand there and let it come to him? Wei Lan marked that as something to be explored at a later date.

He then looked at the last character traits. ? hates babies?

But he liked them!

Wei Lan was a bit unhappy about that until he realised something. These character triats would not be given unless they should come into play later on.

Were there baby ghosts here?!

Wei Lan hesitated and looked at Fairy and Dr Ching. Tiger was relegated as someone who did not know much by him subconsciously. "These information…how do they provide us immunity?"

"You know," Xiao Mu said, interrupting Dr Ching, who was about to answer him, as she looked at Wei Lan, "now that I look at you a little closer, your face is very familiar. Right, A'Mei?*"

Xiao Mei ducked her head, not daring to look at Wei Lan. Regardless of familiarity, Wei Lan's current state looks like he was one of the ghosts, ah! Familiar as a Ghost in a horror movie more like!

"Right!" Xiao Mu exclaimed, "what was your name?"

Wei Lan stared at her for a moment and then looked at the card in his hand. "Lan Er."

"Anyway, yes the information is important," Dr Ching said as he motioned for the girls to move. "It is the turn of both of you. You need to get the card as well."

Xiao Mu looked hesitant to follow those instructions. She was one of the people who always did the opposite of what she was said to do and this time was no different. She was not willing to obey the rules.

Before she could create more scenes a pale white hand too the card in the file.

Xiao Mu was shocked and looked over in surprise.

"Xiao Mei!" the girl called. "Why would you do that? Did you not think for a moment that maybe the reason that we have to play this game would be because we had to pick those cards?!"

Xiao Mei ducked her head in shame. She hadn't. All she had thought of was to stop Xiao Mu from making enemies with the clearly experts of the game.

But now, she had upset Xiao Mu.

"I-I-I-"

Seeing the struggling Xiao Mei, Xiao Mu wilted. "Forget it."

The star earing wearing girl grabbed a card as well. She frowned. "Hey. Do you think there is something weird with this card? It feels like-"

"Don't say it," Xiao Mei said in a trembling voice, her knuckles white as she held onto her card in a death grip.

Wei Lan felt pity for the little girl.

"Better not to think about it," Wei Lan said to them. "If we ignore it, it is not so scary."

Xiao Mu raised an eyebrow at him. She did not look the least bit frightened. "What are you mumbling about? Do I look frightened to you? And if I am, it is from looking at your horror scene face that looks like you were just given birth to."

Wei Lan shivered at the mental image that the girl's words created. Was it necessary to antagonize him? And hurt his pride while she was at it?

This girl's ability to gain aggro was too powerful.

Tyger sighed as he looked at the scene in front of him. "Right then, let us discuss the roles that we are playing here, then. Better to get a move on."

Xiao Mu and Xiao Mei had also taken their cards then.

Xiao Mu snorted. "What does it mean I am a timid girl who hates darkness and loves songs? I agree with that Bloody Person there. How in the world will these things help us?"

Wei Lan knew that she was talking about him when she said 'bloody person.' It was not his fault, ah! His dead body was cleaned up already! It was the Original Host who died so miserably.

Also, she remembered his question. He was impressed. He did not have long term memory in those kinds of things and it always put him in awe that there were people who could remember about anything long term.

"Mine says-" Xiao Mei began when a cough interrupted them.

Everyone looked towards Fairy.

The woman pointed towards the left. "The Receptionist uncle is back."

And the old man really was.

And he was moving towards them with a bunch of keys in his hand.

Wei Lan's eyes had just fallen to those keys when a very pleasant and mouth watering scent wafted towards him.

His eyes that stared at the key sets began to show a hungry look that even he was not aware of.

The keys started to jingle, almost like they were shivering fright at the Predator in front of them.

The man holding the keys looked down, and seemed to weigh something as he staired at the Players.

He showed a pleasant smile. "I think that you all should wear a proper dress so I will assign you your rooms so that you can change into your clothes."

"We will get our own keys?" Wei Lan could not help but ask.

The man nodded.

The keys started to rattle.

The players shivered in fright. These keys must be possessed! They were so eager to get at them!

The keys would have screamed if they could. They did not want to be the one in the hold of that monster, ah!

***

*In certain places of China, the usage of A' in front of a person's name is term of endearment. Another form is Er that is added to a person's name's end. Xiao Mei will become A'Mei, or Mei Er and Wei Lan would be A'Lan, or Lan Er.

Also, Er in Chinese means Two. So Lan Er could also mean, Lan the Second, or Lan number 2.

***

Question to my dear readers:

Do you want it to be Tiger or Tyger?

Also, thank you for joining me on this journey!