When Shaira opened her eyes, the first thing she saw is a worn out bed. She hurriedly look around and sigh in relief when she saw Marco beside her, still unconscious.
Where the hell are they?
This thought flew from her mind as soon as she noticed Marco's health points deplenishing. Anxious, she quickly fed him the red potion and watch as his health points go up.
Seeing Marco out of danger for now, she began to observe her surroundings.
They are in a medium-sized room with a dilapidated furniture and as she glanced at the murky walls and dust covered floor; a filthy environment.
What the? Where's Ken and Rey?
They are not here...
She glanced at the party status panel and sigh in relief as she noted their okay. Base on their locators, they're downstairs.
Just as she was about to head outside, a red screen bombarded her vision.
Shit!
Quickly stepping back, Shaira clutch her head as the red screen flashes and a ringing sound echoed in her ears. For what seems like an eternity, the sound and the flashing suddenly stop.
What the hell was that?
"Ping~Pong~"
What now?
A green screen appeared in front of her and the words inside them made her stomach drop.
Oi...oi...they're must be joking...
They wouldn't really design something like this right?
[ Welcome to the Horror Escape Game! ]
Suddenly a bloody atmosphere filled the room.
Why would something like this appear in a Transcenders' instance? She thought these kind of system games are banned from several countries, especially here in Narra country.
Her heart jumped, her mind running fast as she assessed the situation.
Calm down Shaira...there must be a reason...
The red flashing earlier...don't tell me that an error occurred in this challenge instance.
The green screen flickered and a new text appeared.
[ Welcome player XXXXXX ]
Suddenly it glitches and a familiar ring sounded. Her eyes staring at the incoming call in her vision.
She quickly accepted the call and a familiar voice sounded on her ears.
>>"Where are you?"
As soon as she heard Ken's voice, her mind instantly ease as if a huge stone has been lifted from her shoulders.
"You guys! I should be the one asking that! Both of you disappeared so suddenly."
>> "Is Marco with you?"
Shaira glanced at Marco's resting form and nodded.
" Yes, he's with me..."
Shaira as if remembering her now precarious situation, immediately peek at the peephole on the door. She peek outside only to see nothing but darkness.
"We're in a bedroom... I peek outside but I can't see anything."
>> "Just stay where you are and take care of Marco. Rey and I will handle this."
What did he mean by that? Are they having the same issues?
Just as she was about to say something, the green screen appeared again only to fade and was replaced by a blue screen with a big blue hourglass besides it.
[ Notice to Cleaning Frenzy Instance Taker with a subsystem # 0876543-MANDAYA-0032 ]
A 'D-level' negative paranormal energy has been detected within your location.
Commencing Extraction...
>ERROR
Commencing Extraction...
>ERROR
A H-012012 parameters has been detected...
Commencing Extraction...
> Extraction Failed
Commencing Failsafe...
> Failsafe Activated
Connecting to Trcdr-0012
>Connection connected
Scanning signal connection
> Connection Weak
A crackle of static resounded and sounds of running footsteps are heard.
>>" Hey! Can you hear me? Mandaya 0032 can you hear me?
Cold sweat run through her and just as she was about to answer, a muffled panic voice came from the screen.
>> "...not good sir! The connection is being bombarded! "
>> " What?! Hurry and fix it...shit, there's no time. I'll just assume that you can hear me. Ehem...basically a banned game subsystem fragment has been detected and from what we can gather, it has absorbed the negative energy within your location and has now pulled you in and your companion inside its horror instance."
Companion? As in singular...it means Ken and Rey are not here with me. But the locator...
The sound coming from the screen cut her thought as the voice continued on.
>> "We will assist you in our side but anyway, you just have to escape the instance with your own ability...for the meantime we will have your other party members assist you in some way. If worse come to worst...we will make sure to preserve your soul as much as possible..."
Shaira trembled.
Hah...she knew it.
This is really the worst day...
>> "zzzzZZZZzzz...We will provide help as much as we can. We did everything as much as we could in a short time but...zzzzZZZzzz...we have no time to remove the word ban...zzzzZZZZzzz...anyway...good luck"
And with a last static noise, the call got terminated and the blue hourglass beside the blue screen began to rotate.
Shaira glanced at the system clock at the corner of her vision and saw that almost no time has left since she got contacted by the Trancenders' personnel. She looked down and saw that she's still on call with Ken.
Ha...
She tried to tell him what happened but the word got stuck in her throat. Her body paralyzed as cold sweat drip down from her forehead.
It seems they are right about the word ban...
"....ok. Take care yourself. Also...be vigilant. I don't think...things are this simple in this challenge"
Shaira gritted her teeth.
F*ck! this word ban is really tricky. No matter how many times she phrased her words to tell Ken what's happening, the ban won't let her say anything. In the end, that's all that she could get out.
Let's pray that Ken noticed anything...
Shaira waited and after a short pause in Ken's end, his voice sounded.
>>"....mm...Stay safe"
And the call ended.
A wry laugh came out of her and an angry tick appeared on her forehead.
F*ck! Marco's right. Shitty Ken!
She sat on the bed defeatedly as the blue screen appeared in front of her again.
This time it glitches before the screen became blue-green.
[ WELCOME TO THE HORROR ESCAPE GAME MANDAYA 0032 ]
You have entered the GAME. After reaching the clearance conditions and the game has been completed, you will then be able to get out.
>>If you fail, you will be xxxxXXXxxx. << If you fail, a punishment awaits.
The game provides you a chance to resurrect, as long as one of the player is still alive within 10 seconds a death occurs, all players can be resurrected.
[ Special Tips ]
Collecting all the information is crucial for the game clearance.
Repeated deaths can damage your soul
[ Game Tips ]
Do not make any noise
Do not let IT see you
Do not be complacent
-----------------