Chapter 6: The Coffin Shop

June 16th, 2023

After taking a shower and coming out, Lin Xuan carried her dirty clothes to the laundry room. When she opened the dormitory door, she saw Li Menglin standing at the doorway, holding a laptop.

“What are you doing?” Lin Xuan was startled.

“My laptop really fell just now.” Li Menglin pointed to a mark on the corner of the laptop as if to prove it. “Look, this is where it bumped.”

“Oh,” Lin Xuan replied apathetically, bypassing Li Menglin and continuing towards the laundry room. She had already warned her, but Li Menglin didn’t take it seriously. It wasn’t her fault.

Li Menglin followed behind, limping.

Lin Xuan glanced at her in surprise.

“I accidentally hit my foot,” Li Menglin explained.

Lin Xuan nodded again without saying anything, entered the laundry room, and threw her accumulated dirty clothes into the washing machine. She inserted coins and started the machine.

“How did you know my laptop would fall?” Li Menglin caught up with Lin Xuan and asked.

“I saw it,” Lin Xuan replied.

“How could you see it? When you reminded me, I looked at the laptop, and it was perfectly fine on the desk. There was no problem at all. It fell because I accidentally nudged it with my arm when I stood up. And you had already returned to your dorm room at that time, so you couldn’t have witnessed it. Unless… you can see the future,” Li Menglin stared intently at Lin Xuan.

Lin Xuan looked at Li Menglin in astonishment. “Why would you think that?”

Most people would think it’s just a coincidence.

“That’s how it’s portrayed in anime. When the protagonist survives a big crisis, they gain superpowers,” Li Menglin spoke with conviction, and her gaze carried some expectations.

“You’re right. I did gain a special ability.” In order to avoid Li Menglin’s endless entanglement, considering her deep knowledge of anime and her current chuunibyou phase, Lin Xuan admitted it frankly.

“Really! I guessed it right! You gained the power to foresee the future?” Li Menglin’s excited expression turned red, and she trembled all over.

“NO, NO, NO…” Lin Xuan raised a finger and shook it slowly. “The power I gained is the ability to curse.”

Li Menglin’s excited expression instantly turned into shock.

“Think about it. I just said your laptop would fall, and then it fell. That’s a curse. Stay away from me in the future, and be careful of my curses,” Lin Xuan revealed a “sinister” smile.

Li Menglin’s face turned pale, and without saying another word, she turned around, held her notebook, and walked away at an incredibly fast pace.

“Do you believe it?” Lin Xuan stuck out her tongue and returned to the dormitory in a rather good mood.

After hanging the clothes to dry, Lin Xuan went to the cafeteria for lunch and happened to run into her counselor, Teacher Qi. When Teacher Qi saw Lin Xuan’s surprised expression, he said, “You’ve been discharged? I was planning to visit you this afternoon.”

“The doctor said I was fine, so I was discharged,” Lin Xuan thanked him. “I heard from the nurse that you came on the day of the accident. Thank you for your trouble.”

“That’s what I should do. The most important thing is that you’re safe. By the way, have they found the driver responsible?” Teacher Qi asked.

“I don’t know. The police station didn’t contact me, so probably not,” Lin Xuan shook her head.

“People like that driver should be caught and put in prison for a lifetime,” Teacher Qi said fiercely. Then he asked another question, “By the way, have you found a job?”

“Not yet.” As the only person in the class who hadn’t found a job yet, Lin Xuan felt a bit guilty.

“Ah? I see. It’s okay, take your time, you’ll definitely find one. Well, I have something to do, so I’ll go first,” Teacher Qi turned and left, his hasty figure revealing his embarrassment.

After lunch, Lin Xuan went out for her part-time job, which was still at the cake shop from last time. Due to the previous accident, Lin Xuan now had a psychological shadow when crossing the road. Even if the light was green, she would look back several times before daring to cross.

The place where Lin Xuan worked part-time was called Panda Cake Shop. The store manager was a handsome man in his thirties. When he saw Lin Xuan, he first expressed concern about her health and then assigned her some easy tasks, allowing her to only handle the cash register in the store and not deliver orders.

Lin Xuan worked at the cake shop until 5 o’clock and finished her part-time job there. When she was about to leave, the store manager gave her a few small cakes, saying, “We made too many of these today, they probably won’t sell out. Take them and enjoy.”

“Thank you, Manager,” Lin Xuan happily accepted them. She liked working here because she could have some of the fresh cakes that the store couldn’t sell.

“Xiaoyuan, have you found a job?” The store manager was aware that Lin Xuan had been struggling to find a job.

Lin Xuan shook her head.

“Would you like to work here with me?” The store manager asked with a smile.

“Isn’t the staff here already enough?” Lin Xuan worked part-time, three days a week, for four hours each time, only coming in during busy periods.

“Mina is going back home to get married and will leave next month. If you come, I won’t hire anyone else,” the store manager said. “Don’t worry about the salary. Although this is a small shop, the business is good, and the wages are not lower than what you would get as an accountant.”

Lin Xuan thought for a moment and declined, shaking her head. “Thank you for your kind offer, but I still want to pursue a job related to my field of study.”

Lin Xuan studied financial management, but she wasn’t particularly fond of this profession. When she filled out her college application after the college entrance examination, no one gave her any guidance, and she didn’t know anything either, so she randomly picked a major that looked pleasing to her among the options. It was only after entering university that she realized what she was actually studying.

Although she didn’t particularly enjoy being an accountant, the salary for entry-level accounting jobs wouldn’t be too high, and even in the future, it wouldn’t be very high. However, at least there would be some room for development. If she became a store employee at the cake shop, she would only be a store employee.

“That’s okay. I wish you success in finding a job soon,” the store manager didn’t insist.

“Okay,” Lin Xuan was full of confidence. She felt that her career luck was turning around. After all, she hadn’t even received any interview calls before, and now she could even reject job offers.

After leaving the cake shop, Lin Xuan didn’t go back to school. Instead, she took a bus to another part-time job location. Since there were no classes in this semester and Lin Xuan hadn’t found a job, she took on multiple part-time jobs.

The place she was heading to now was a very popular escape room on the other side of the school. Lin Xuan worked as an NPC inside, which was a fresh and popular job in the part-time industry. Many college students were willing to work as NPCs inside, even without pay, just for the thrill. Lin Xuan wouldn’t do it without getting paid, so she didn’t have many opportunities to work here. The store manager would only call her when they were really short-staffed.

This was also a sign of her improved career prospects, Lin Xuan thought to herself.

“Lin Xuan, you’re here,” said the store manager, a young man in his early twenties named Tang Mingxu, who was only a few years older than Lin Xuan. He was a nice person but somewhat effeminate. Tang Mingxu waved at Lin Xuan.

“Boss, what theme are we doing this time?” Lin Xuan walked over quickly.

“Oh, you dyed your hair?” Tang Mingxu noticed the blue hairpiece on Lin Xuan’s head.

“No, it’s a hairpiece,” Lin Xuan instinctively touched the bandage on her head, afraid that the store manager would notice her bald spot.

“It looks good. This time we’re doing a coffin-themed room. We still need someone lying in the coffin. You know the storyline, right? After the players solve the puzzles, they open the coffin, and you stand up to scare them. It’s relatively simple,” Tang Mingxu briefly explained.

“Isn’t that Xiang-ge’s job?” This part belonged to an important horror scene in the coffin-themed room, usually assigned to full-time employees.

“Xiang-ge got too dedicated in the previous session, so he can’t receive customers now,” Tang Mingxu evaded the question.

“Did he get beaten up?” Lin Xuan understood instantly. When players were in a dark and terrifying environment, their nerves were at their peak. If you suddenly popped out of the coffin to scare them, it wouldn’t be surprising for them to react impulsively. Besides, Xiang-ge was mischievous and sometimes deliberately got in the players’ faces to increase the horror factor.

“Yeah,” Tang Mingxu looked helpless.

“Is he badly injured?” Lin Xuan asked.

“It’s not that serious. He’s mainly emotionally traumatized.”

“Then what if the same thing happens to me?” Lin Xuan asked.

“You’re a girl, so players will go easier on you. When the players open the coffin and see a female ghost…” Tang Mingxu paused, feeling like something was off.

“It’ll be even scarier,” Lin Xuan affirmed.

“Don’t just think about the negatives. Think about the positive aspects. Being an NPC here is very profitable, and you know the rules we have,” Tang Mingxu casually pulled out a copy of the Escape Room Commitment from the front desk and pointed to a clause, reading it aloud, “Assaulting an NPC: 200 yuan for a punch, 500 yuan for a kick. Just now, Xiang-ge earned a whopping 3,000 yuan.”

“Is he still alive?” Lin Xuan couldn’t help but ask.

“Look at what you’re saying. Can players really go all out?” Tang Mingxu gave Lin Xuan a glance. “Didn’t you just post on your Moments that your phone broke? I’m taking care of you. I only let you come because you’re lucky. You can earn back the money from one session.”

“How much do you wish for me to get beaten up?” Lin Xuan looked at him with a sideways glance.

“Don’t worry about safety. I’ll be keeping an eye on things here,” Tang Mingxu assured, pointing to the surveillance cameras at the front desk.

“Okay.” In the end, Lin Xuan couldn’t resist the temptation of money. It wasn’t that she wanted to earn a new phone by getting beaten up; it was because the salary for this NPC role was high. With just this one scene, lasting at most half an hour, she could easily earn 100 yuan.

As for getting hit, she wasn’t too worried. Xiang-ge had been working here for six months and hadn’t been hit more than a few times. She couldn’t be that unlucky, right?

Wait, luck? Lin Xuan thought about her luck value of -99.

“Then go in quickly. There’s an expert player in this group, and they solve puzzles very quickly. They’ll reach your stage soon,” Tang Mingxu urged Lin Xuan, pushing her inside and urging the makeup artist to change her clothes.

The makeup artist held a white dress in one hand and a red padded coat in the other. “Xiao Xuan, do you prefer a white ghost or a red ghost?”

“I… I don’t like either.” Lin Xuan was starting to regret it.

“Since your complexion is so pale, let’s go with red.” The makeup artist made the decision, quickly changed Lin Xuan’s clothes, and pushed her into the escape room.

They opened the coffin, and Lin Xuan lay inside. They locked the coffin tightly with several chains and waited for the players to come and unlock it.

Even when she was lying in the coffin, Lin Xuan still hadn’t fully processed what was happening.

“Sys… System?” Lin Xuan trembled as she called out.

“I’m here,” the system replied.

“Will I be beaten up later?” She wanted to predict it in advance to prepare herself mentally.

“I don’t know. The system cannot predict the host’s fate,” the system answered.

Couldn’t predict? Just like how a doctor can’t treat themselves, a fortune-teller can’t predict their own fate?

But… there was no need to calculate. With her luck value of -99, could there be any chance of luck?

Lin Xuan immediately decided that when they opened the coffin, she would surrender before they could lay a hand on her.