By then, the two men were already on the floors, convulsing. Looking at them on the floor, Matias felt like crying out. He knew he didn't have much time, so he walked towards the part of the room that the figures disappeared from.
Even walking amidst the flames was torturous. He could handle it when he was standing but walking only made the flames touch his body the more, increasing the pain the more.
When he approached the corner, he saw the compartment. However, it appeared locked when he tried to open it. He was running out of time. His outer skin had burned away, leaving the inner part, which was slowly sizzling away.
The pain Matias felt was unbearable for anyone to ever experience, but all the years of honing his mental fortitude weren't a waste at all. He grabbed his gun and fired at the lock, but his gun wasn't responding. It must have melted from the inside. Furthermore, the gun got too hot for him to hold.
He dropped the rifle and took out a shotgun he placed by his waist. He quickly shot five rounds on the compartment lock before the gun melted through. Thankfully, one of the bullets hit the lock, and the door automatically dropped down.
Matias immediately entered the compartment and closed the door. Immediately he left the fire, the air coming from the windows blew his skin, and all the pain he was suppressing surfaced, and Matias screamed in pain. He didn't even look like a human anymore. All of his hairs and his dull-yellow skin had burned through. He dropped to the floor and shriveled in pain. "Bo... boss, I hope you are still alive", Matias prayed in his mind.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Alec kept following Mateo as he led the way towards the parlor. After taking more than eight corners, they finally approached the door that appeared to be from the sixties. It was massive.
Mateo glanced at Alec with his peripheral vision and appeared conflicted. "Are you ready, boss?" Mateo looked at Alec. "Why do you ask that, and what makes you think he is inside?" Alec stared back at Mateo, who lowered his eyes and shook his head negatively.
"No... no, I don't, but I thought that maybe if it was anywhere in this mansion he would normally stay, it would be inside this parlor. That's what I thought", Mateo said quickly. He approached the door and ran his finger across the door.
"You know how to open it, do you?" Alec asked without moving. "I'm not sure, but I've seen this kind of door before. The locks are not too complicated. If you look here, there's a handle you can pull down...", Mateo explained and dragged down the small handle on the door, causing the lock to creak softly.
"... then you press this upwards, which would release the grip of this handle that would finally open this door". Alec watched intently as Mateo fiddled with the lock like an expert. Moments later, there was a loud click, and the door slowly gave way.
As the door slowly opened, Mateo looked at Alec and turned solemn. He shook off the thoughts in his mind and mumbled to himself, "I hope you are ready for what's about to happen". Alec heard what he said, but he pretended to be ignorant as he walked into the very large 60s-themed parlor.
"The life of a mafia boss". Alec looked around in awe. This parlor alone could contain forty of his hostel rooms. There were various kinds of expensive decorations of all sorts, from heads of animals to swords and guns, to paintings--all hung up on the walls. The parlor was very beautiful.
"There's no one here, let's go", Alec ordered Mateo. "No boss, let's wait a little bit. I'm sure he'll show up. Besides, we are in the middle of the mansion, so he is more likely to come here than any other place", Mateo quickly said. Alec noticed he appeared hesitant like he was waiting for him.
How did he know the mafia boss was coming here? Alec didn't ponder on the question though. He walked over to some decorations and admired them.
In this life, there are very few things that genuinely surprised him. It wasn't his fault though. After his mom died, his feelings dulled significantly to the point that nothing could excite him. Once his uncle took him to Rome for a vacation. hey arrived at the Coliseum, the ancient stadium didn't seem to interest him though. He felt it was just any other building in the country.
The same applies to the opposite sex.
There was a pretty girl that approached Alec once upon a time. She appeared to be interested in Alec, as she asked if Alec could help her with some of her assignments. Alec agreed on doing the assignment, without realizing the girl's intention.
He assisted her in finishing the assignment and immediately left the cafeteria, leaving the girl stunned. Alec sincerely had no idea that the reason the girl even wanted him to do her assignment was that she had an interest in him. Ever since, no one approached him, be it, males or females. The only person he would consider a friend was Ji Hoon.
Alec could not blame anyone though. He simply was born not to be social. Ever since that incident, he didn't appear to be interested in anything. That was until now.
The game he found himself in marveled him a lot. The question as to the entity that created this game surfaced in his mind again. Although he was curious, he had to wait until he comes back to reality.
Just as Alec approached Mateo and was about to order him to go back, he heard a slow clap from the other side of the parlor. It turned out there was more than one door to this parlor.
An old man appeared on the far end of another entrance, holding a cigar with his mouth. When he saw Alec and Mateo, he grinned widely, showing off his almost rotting teeth. "Good to see you, Mr. Santiago. It's a wonderful pleasure in setting my eyes on you", the man spoke as he removed the cigar from his mouth.
"Unfortunately, that can't be said for me", Alec said in disdain and raised his rifle at him. "Come on Santiago, we just met. No one has to be pointing guns at each other, come on", the old man said, curiously sizing Alec up.
"Sure, you are right. But I came here to kill you", Alec simply said and aimed at the old man's head. "Well, that's rude", the old man's face suddenly changed. He snapped his fingers, and his gunmen suddenly filled up the parlor, completely blocking any possible escape routes.
"Hmm, so you were prepared for this. How did you know we were coming?", Alec asked calmly, but inside of him, he was desperately searching for ways to escape. The gunmen had outnumbered him.
"Let's talk like mature adults, can we do that?" The old man asked as he took a long breath on his cigar. Alec didn't say anything.
The game mode was to "kill the mafia boss", so Alec was contemplating as to whether killing him would end the game immediately, or not. He wasn't sure, but he's not willing to test that.
Seeing that Alec wasn't responding, he glared at him coldly, "Speak", he ordered Alec, but Alec simply held the gun to his face and gently held the trigger.
"I don't have time for this, Mateo", the old man spoke and walked out of the parlour. Before Alec could react, Mateo approached Alec and hit him on the head with the butt of his rifle, causing Alec to blackout.