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Chapter 2

2: The Girl In Shrimp Costume

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Fei looked at the tall woman in horror. The woman was wearing a dress, and the apron she had on had traces of flour. She must have been baking before coming here. She gazed down at her eyes red in anger. In her hand, a metal rolling pin!

"I told you to find her costume! Why are you lazing around?!"

Fei backed away in fear as the woman strode into the room. Fei quickly raised the broom to block her face when the woman used the rolling pin to strike her harshly. The impact was so strong that she almost tumbled down. She didn't have a chance to regain her balance before the woman came at her again. Her movements were harsh and forceful; the broom didn't even stand a chance, but Fei still tried her best.

She's so strong!

Fei cried out in pain when the rolling pin hit her face hard, she fell down onto the pile of costumes. The woman was about to hit her face again when the clock on the wall made a loud 'tick-tock' sound.

She watched the woman with vigilance, even as Kiko's mother relaxed her hand holding the rolling pin she's not ready to be put at ease.

"Oh my, I forgot that I'm making a pie!"

The woman laughed merrily before going out of the room Fei's glare following her out. Before she left, she didn't forget to remind Fei to not 'get lazy'.

Kiko crawled out from under the bed and hurriedly closed the door. The door knob was there again.

"You saw how scary my mother is, right? Now, you should hurry up and find my costume."

"What if I don't find your costume?" She said while searching for a tissue to wipe the blood from her lips.

"You dare, and she'll beat you to death!"

Why did she even ask?

Before Fei started searching for the shrimp costume again, she didn't forget to block the door using the shelf. She then sat down on the floor and pondered for a long time on how to leave this place.

She already used up her first attempt, so she only have two left. If she fail the second attempt again, she'll only have one left -- that's if she didn't end up dying. Her survival will depend on how fast she find the costume. The time in this place is unusually fast, the same for the appearance of Kiko's mother. She appeared when Fei submitted the wrong costume and triggered the minor punishment.

"Then... let me think."

"You're not going to find it? Time is ticking."

Kiko exclaimed while grabbing a stuffed toy to play with. She seemed like a normal 7-year-old kid for a moment, but Fei remembered that she's also part of the game. She glanced at the clock again, and it's still moving at a fast pace. It's now 3:15, but in reality, only 2 minutes passed.

When she entered this room, it was somewhere around 2 pm. It was 2:30 when she submitted the costume, and Kiko's mother left at exactly 3 pm. One hour is equivalent to one day. So, Fei only have 3 hours to survive this game. She can submit the costume at any time, but it lowers the probability of her survival.

If she used up all of her attempts without waiting for the 3 days to end, she may die because Kiko's mother will find it as a reason to regard Fei as being lazy and beat her to death. And the game conditions emphasized that the first two attempts only trigger minor punishment. If Fei fail the last attempt to submit, she's guessing that the punishment could be death itself.

Fei grabbed her head in frustration.

It's almost time for the second day to end, but She didn't even bother finding the costume anymore. What will happen if she didn't submit the costume? Will it count her second attempt as a failure? Maybe. Her conviction was proven right when the mechanical voice rang out again.

"The player failed to submit the right costume. The player triggered a minor punishment."

When the footsteps echoed in the hallway for the second time, Kiko quickly hid herself away. Fei chose to hide in the pile of costumes, holding the useless broom with her trembling hands. At the end of the day, she's just a high school dropout who only play games and doesn't even know how to properly defend herself.

"I already warned you, yet you're never listening! Lazy people need to be beaten hard so they'll know how to follow the rules!"

When Kiko's mother tried opening the door, she discovered that it wouldn't budge. The woman became even angrier and banged on the door with outright madness.

"How dare you block the door!"

If she didn't, she'll ended up being beaten black and blue!

Fei wanted to scream back at Kiko's mother, but her rattling teeth wouldn't let her. She's so scared. After experiencing how painful the woman's strikes are, she don't want to be beaten up again. Fei looked at the clock. There's still 15 minutes left before 4 pm. She hopes the woman soon realize she won't be able to open the door this time and leave instantly.

Her heart almost cried out in joy when the clock made a 'tick-tock' sound, indicating Kiko's mother's appearance and the minor punishment were over. The loud banging stopped, and then Fei heard her chuckled outside.

"Lucky bastard. But next time... will luck still be on your side?" She disappeared back into the kitchen again.

"Are you really not going to find me my Halloween costume?" Kiko asked while peeking at Fei from under the bed. This time, she chose not to go out.

"I already found it before. That's your Halloween costume, right?" She pointed at the shrimp costume; Kiko glanced at it and then said,

"It's missing an eye! That's not the one."

Really? Fei looked closely at the costume, and what Kiko said was right. Then... maybe an identical costume is lying underneath in this pile!

"But I don't think you'll find it before mother arrives. She'll beat you to death -- like what she did to the others."

Others? Maybe they are the people who bought the same game. Fei tried looking for the costume again while glancing at the clock from time to time.

"The player failed to submit the costume. The player triggered a major punishment."

When the clock hits 4:30, Kiko's mother's footsteps echoed in the hallway again. This time, the footsteps didn't sounded so eager, unlike before. The woman's footsteps were slow, as if she was walking leisurely.

Clack, Clack, Clack.

Something heavy was being pulled, creating an unsettling noise. When her footsteps stopped right outside the door, she didn't make any noise. Why? Fei wondered. Just then, the sharpness of an axe greeted her face as Kiko's mother used it to break the door open -- wood chips flying everywhere.

"Another lazy bastard to take care of, what a tough life I have."

With trembling hands, Fei tried to search for the shrimp costume that wasn't missing an eye. She found another identical costume, but it wasn't the same color. She knew that the mechanical said that Fei had failed to submit the costume on her last attempt, but still, she insisted on finding it--her instict tells her so.

"I can see you." Kiko's mother grinned at her, eyes clouded with madness. She was now breaking the shelf full of glee, so Fei had to muster all her strength to move the bed and use it to block the door.

"Hey!" Kiko yelled at her angrily, but Fei didn't pay her attention. She pulled the shrimp costume that was missing an eye and forced Kiko to wear it. Fei didn't have much time to find the right costume. This was her only lifeline now.

"I said it's missing an eye!" Kiko said, refusing to wear it -- but Fei didn't let her. Kiko's mother was now making a hole in the bed frame, laughing merrily from time to time.

"I-I want to submit this costume again!"

A few moments passed, but the other side was silent. Kiko snickered angrily, while her mother's laughter echoed.

"Accepted. The player submitted the costume and successfully cleared the game. The scenario will now end."

Alligator tears fell down on Fei's cheeks when she heard the mechanical voice. Kiko's mother screamed madly, rushing towards her with an axe in hand, ready to chop her head off... but then a white light illuminated both Kiko and her mother's body and then they instantly vanished.

As if they'd never been there in the first place.

"Congratulations! Player 0178930 has successfully cleared the first scenario. The player is hereby rewarded with the following props:

1. Kiko's shrimp costume - it provides invisibility that lasts up to 1 hour. Can only be used once a day.

2. Kiko's mother's metal rolling pin - a very good weapon for beating people up.

3. Kiko's shiny axe - very heavy but deadly.

"The scenario will now close and the player will return outside the game."

When the mechanical voice disappeared, the whole room tore apart into pieces like paper. Then Fei found herself standing on a wet cobblestones in the middle of nowhere.

Did she return back to earth? or She's still inside the game?