Game: Midnight Mall Monster Party
[Main Mission: Escape the mall successfully before 5:00 AM]
[Friendly Reminder: Monster party, no humans allowed]
[Main Quest: Not yet unlocked. Please trigger it yourself.]
[Note: Manage your time wisely and enjoy a healthy gaming experience.]
'Staying up all night playing games... isn't this a guaranteed way to die suddenly?'
Amamiya rolled his eyes and muttered a complaint under his breath.
Opening the game panel, he noticed the main mission had refreshed.
"Great."
He read through the brief objective word by word before blinking and closing the task panel.
"A mission this short means it should be easy... yeah, I doubt that."
With five full hours to complete it, Amamiya knew the game wouldn't be as straightforward as it seemed.
Letting out a quiet sigh, he walked over to the railing and peered down below.
The entrance hall, which had been lively and grand during the day, was now completely deserted. Shadows lurked in the dim light, and an eerie silence filled the air.
"One, two, three, four…"
Amamiya silently counted the floors he was on.
This mall had five levels above ground and one underground. Spanning tens of thousands of square meters, it was a massive, comprehensive shopping center—much larger than the Ghost Ship from the previous game.
Amamiya turned and looked at the dark shop behind him.
Though the store had long since closed and was pitch black inside, dim emergency lights along the corridor made the store sign easy to read.
"LACOS… Lacoste." Amamiya then glanced around the game lobby. "I came here with Miko once to buy clothes. If I remember correctly, the store on the left is Levi's… It's Levi's!"
"Yeah, the layout is exactly the same."
Two possibilities came to mind.
First, the game might be replicating the mall in a one-to-one scale.
Second, the mall could be real, and somehow the game had transported them to the actual location.
It was already midnight, and all the stores were shut. A shopping mall that bustled with crowds during the day now felt lonely and deserted in the dead of night.
Amamiya looked up.
The mall's dome ceiling was made of transparent glass, allowing a crescent moon to hang high above, casting a cold, silvery light, as soft as water.
It wasn't clear how many players had been drawn into the game. However, considering the mall's daily foot traffic of nearly 100,000 people, a dozen or so players wouldn't stand out much.
The first priority was to locate the others.
Before entering the game, they had all discussed the possibility of being scattered upon arrival. Amamiya didn't yet know where the others were, but finding one particular airhaid would be easy enough…
He glanced down at his pinky finger.
In the next moment, his little finger twitched on its own.
Of course, it was Chika.
"One, two, three…"
After the pinky moved three times, it stopped.
"The second floor."
Amamiya had successfully determined which floor Chika was on.
The red strings tied around their fingers hadn't been untied yet. They had originally worn them as a joke, something to pass the time playing with during class. Kaguya had even suggested they learn Morse code to send messages with it.
They hadn't gotten around to learning Morse code, but for transmitting simple messages, it was more than enough.
Two hours before the game began, Amamiya had already arranged a 'secret signal' with Chika. Once inside the game, they agreed to wiggle their fingers as a way to signal their location.
Counting up from the underground level, the little finger had twitched three times. It was clear that Chika was on the second floor.
"Got it."
Amamiya lightly wiggled his finger in response.
Moments later, his little finger trembled again.
"One, two, three, four…"
Amamiya silently counted in his mind.
According to their pre-arranged signal, the second round of communication after entering the game was meant to convey direction. There was a mascot sculpture in the center of the mall's first-floor lobby. The entrance facing the sculpture was designated as 'front,' with the other directions rotating clockwise: front, back, left, and right corresponding to one, two, three, and four.
"So, directly opposite on the second floor?"
Amamiya looked across to the second-floor section but could see nothing through the darkness.
"Understood."
He gently twitched his pinky twice to confirm that he received the message.
"Before I head out, I'd better make a pit stop."
Silently, Amamiya moved forward, keeping to the shadows of the corner.
It wasn't long before a public restroom came into view.
"To the left, men's… to the right, women's…"
After spotting the little figure on the wall, Amamiya walked into the women's restroom without hesitation.
Normally, the women's restroom would be packed with a line that seemed to stretch forever. But now, it was eerily empty and silent.
Stepping inside, Amamiya took a quick glance around and immediately understood why women always ended up in those long queues.
The layout and size of the women's restroom were practically identical to the men's, with six toilet stalls. But the issue was, there were no urinals. That instantly reduced the efficiency!
And, of course, everyone knew that women often took their time fixing their makeup while in the bathroom.
Given that touching up one's makeup takes time, it made sense for the line to keep growing longer and longer.
To this day, the problem of long queues outside women's restrooms remained an unsolved mystery across the globe.
But Amamiya wasn't interested in using the stalls. Instead, he moved to the corner, crouched down, and reached for a rather inconspicuous blue and white cleaning supply box.
Having a cleaning tool box in the bathroom was common. It was nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it was so typical that no one would bother giving it a second glance even if it sat there untouched for days, maybe weeks.
Opening the box, Amamiya found a grimy gray rag sitting on top. Even if someone had opened the box out of curiosity and saw the dirty cloth, they'd lose interest immediately.
Staying calm, Amamiya lifted the rag to reveal white Styrofoam underneath.
He removed the Styrofoam and uncovered several items.
A tracking bracelet.
A phone.
And a portable tablet.
"The stuff we prepared beforehand actually made it into the game?" Amamiya raised an eyebrow. "So, this mall really is a real location, and the game has somehow transported the players here..."
These were tools Kaguya had arranged in advance. The tracking bracelet allowed them to share their real-time location. The phone was for communication. And the tablet—well, that was a game-changer.
Apparently, special hackers had been hired to hack into the mall's surveillance system. Once the tablet was powered on, they'd be able to access all the cameras in the building, which was undoubtedly more effective than night vision goggles.
These tools had been prepared just in case, but Amamiya hadn't really expected to find them. In fact, similar toolboxes had been hidden in various women's restrooms across each floor of the mall to ensure they'd always be within reach.
The perks of being the eldest daughter of a wealthy family—Kaguya certainly spared no expense.
"Perfect. I'm fully equipped now." Amamiya slipped on the tracking bracelet and grabbed the phone. "I feel safer already."
In this game, players were restricted from carrying anything other than their clothes. That applied to their phones too. Now that he had his own, Amamiya's sense of security skyrocketed.