Chapter 200: The Three Unlucky People

Charlize's small villa.

In the bedroom.

Just as Martin walked out of the bathroom, Charlize Theron immediately clung to him, almost sticking to his body.

"Wow, Martin, your muscles seem even stronger."

"I've been working on action films recently, so I've been doing some intense training, and I never stopped working out. The human body has a tendency for masochism—the more you torment it, the better the feedback it gives you!"

The latter comment was from Martin's perspective, almost like that of a succubus.

The two quickly got to the point.

In the end, Charlize, lost in total madness, soared to the skies.

...

Night fell.

Charlize lay on Martin's chest, fast asleep.

Meanwhile, outside the pitch-black villa, three shadows swiftly approached.

One of them pulled a metal tool from their pocket and fiddled with the lock. The villa's front door opened immediately.

The three shadows slipped inside.

(PS: This is based on a true event. Charlize Theron's house in Los Angeles was broken into by three thieves in 2001. Many valuable jewelry pieces were stolen, but luckily, she wasn't in LA at the time.)

"Jack, are you sure there's no one in this house?"

"Of course—not sure! But when I scoped it out two days ago, I didn't see anyone in the house, and I came by again today, still no one. But we should still be careful and avoid making too much noise."

"Okay, if you say so, I won't be nervous."

"Barrick, you idiot, put your hood on! Do you want to get us killed?"

"Hey, calm down, Jack. Didn't you say no one's home?"

"But how do you know this place doesn't have cameras, you f***ing idiot?!"

"Oh shit, cameras? I forgot about that! Damn, I'll put it on now!"

"Alright, alright, let's quickly search the first floor. I think the important stuff is probably in the second-floor bedroom."

A moment later, the three shadows climbed the stairs, sneaking up to the second floor.

"Squeak!"

The seventh step of the stairs creaked as Jack stepped on it, making a faint noise.

The three shadows immediately froze.

After a moment, they continued upward.

"Damn, that almost scared me."

"Why are you scared? Jack said no one's home."

"Didn't Jack say he wasn't sure?"

"Shut up, be quiet."

The three thieves hadn't noticed that at the top of the stairs, a shadow, almost entirely blending with the darkness, was standing silently, watching them.

As they continued… the lead thief, Jack, stepped on another loose step, and it creaked again.

"Shit, what kind of crappy stairs are these?!"

Jack muttered, and the three of them stopped again.

After a moment of silence, they continued upward.

Moments later—

"Squeak!"

"Jack, what the hell, can't you be more careful?"

Barrick couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

"Idiot, how could I know which step is broken?!"

"You're the idiot! Can't you step more lightly?"

"Why don't you come and do it?"

"Fine, I'll do it."

Barrick and Jack switched positions.

The three continued climbing.

"Squeak!"

"See? Is this my fault?"

"I just didn't pay attention, I won't do it next time!"

Then—

"Squeak!"

"Damn, what's going on? Does the owner of this house never fix their stairs?!"

At this moment, the third thief, Travis, who had been silent, suddenly spoke in a trembling voice: "D-didn't you guys notice, we've been on these stairs for way too long? This villa is so small, we should have reached the second floor by now, but we're still stuck here?!"

As soon as Travis spoke, Jack and Barrick froze in shock.

Jack silently counted the number of steps he had taken, his scalp tingling as he said, "Hurry, Barrick, climb faster, something's wrong."

They quickened their pace, but the stairs seemed endless, stretching on without end. And every now and then, they made that "squeak" sound.

"I… I feel like we're going in circles. I-I… we've been stepping on the same step over and over... no, no, no, it can't be the same one, right?"

Barrick, at the front, trembled as he spoke.

"Shit, don't scare me like that, Barrick!" Travis, at the back, was shaking like a leaf.

Only Jack, in the middle, remained relatively calm and whispered, "We need to go down, quickly, Travis, turn around and go back!"

But—

The stairs down still seemed endless, with no end in sight.

The "squeak" sound rang out again and again, like a curse, slowly eroding the thieves' sanity.

At first, they tiptoed, then they started walking faster, and soon they were running... but it was useless. They seemed to be trapped on these never-ending stairs.

Now, they no longer cared whether they'd alert anyone. They screamed in panic:

"Help! Help!"

"Is anyone there? Please help us!"

"Oh God, please help us, we'll turn our lives around!"

The three of them didn't know how long they had been running on the stairs. As their stamina wore down, their pace slowed.

Finally, Travis collapsed.

He stopped running and sat on the stairs, crying.

"Ah, it's over! Waaa, we're doomed! Waaa, this is God's punishment for us! Waaa..."

Jack also slumped down, his eyes blankly staring into the darkness below.

"No, no, don't stop, I'm not dying in this damn place! I'm f***ing getting out of here, I can still run, I can still run!"

Barrick screamed and sprinted past Jack and Travis, but suddenly lost his balance and fell on the stairs, tumbling down, rolling toward the dark.

"Barrick!" Jack reached out, trying to grab him, but couldn't reach him. He could only watch as Barrick disappeared into the darkness.

A few seconds later, a sound came from behind. A shadow came rolling down the stairs, shouting, "Save me, Jack! Catch me, Travis!"

Jack's eyes widened in shock!

It was Barrick, damn, he… he came down from the top!!!

Seeing this eerie scene with his own eyes, Jack was filled with terror and jumped up, shouting, "A ghost! We've encountered a ghost, damn it, this house is haunted!"

Before he could finish, Barrick collided with him, knocking him over, and then they crashed into Travis. The three thieves rolled down the stairs, back and forth.

But in reality, what was actually happening?

In reality, the three thieves were standing perfectly still on the stairs, not moving at all.

But their faces were twisted with pain, fear, and regret, drenched in sweat.

That's right, Martin had simply used magic to create a simple illusion for them!

As time passed, their faces grew increasingly pale.

In the distance, the first light of dawn began to break.

The dawn was approaching.

Martin, having had enough fun, casually waved his hand.

The three thieves turned in unison and walked back downstairs. They opened the villa's front door, got into the car parked on the street, started it, and drove away...

But during this process, the three thieves' consciousness remained trapped in the illusion, still desperately tumbling down the stairs.

When they finally woke up, they found themselves back at Jack's house, sitting on the couch, exhausted.

Jack looked around in confusion, "Wait, are we back? Was that just a dream?! Haha, I knew there were no ghosts, no endless stairs, haha!"

Barrick, with a terrified look, said, "A dream? What dream? Wait, you also dreamt of that endless staircase?"

Travis suddenly jumped up, "What? I… I dreamt it too!"

The three thieves exchanged fearful glances, their faces filled with horror.

Jack said, "Could that have really been God's punishment for us?"

Barrick: "Should we confess to the police?"

Travis: "I… I agree!"

[•———•——•———•]

𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧