SITS CH63

Chapter 63: Rest Assured

The five of them stood around the edge of the well.

Although sealing away the lovers was technically what they were supposed to do as villagers according to the story’s logic, everyone felt a bit uneasy. Zhao Rui couldn’t help muttering aloud that the couple seemed like the real victims, and sealing them up again felt somewhat heartless.

“Can’t be helped, that’s just how the game script goes,” Luo Zhile said. “Didn’t we just ask the NPC if we could skip sealing them?”

They had indeed asked, and the NPC had been firm: they had to be sealed; otherwise, the rain would never stop, the village would flood, and even more people would die.

With things put like that, they had no choice but to walk up to the well holding the locks.

Shen Man stood directly facing Xu Zhouye, wearing a meaningful, enigmatic smile.

Xu Zhouye knitted his brows. He suddenly felt as though he had overlooked a crucial clue. 矢 (Arrow), 艹 (Grass), 氵 (Water), 禾 (Grain), and 光 (Light): these were the characters engraved on the locks. Connecting them to Shen Man’s earlier exchange with the NPC (“Can I take his place?” “That should be fine, right?”), Shen Man hadn’t asked whether it was possible, he had said “should be fine.” That phrasing clearly meant he had deduced something.

Frowning deeper, Xu Zhouye’s mind raced as he lifted his eyes to look at the five people standing around the well.

Luo Zhile, Zhao Rui, Shen Man, Zhou Yao, and Qin Yixing.

Arrow, Grass, Water, Light, and Grain.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

Matching them up one by one, Xu Zhouye realized in a flash what Shen Man was hiding from him. These five locks clearly signified something ominous.

“Can I take his place?”

“That should be fine, right?”

Xu Zhouye’s name contained the character 舟 (boat), carrying an association with water, allowing him to serve as Shen Man’s stand-in. The problem was that Shen Man had figured it out one step ahead of him.

“Shen Man!” Connecting all the dots, Xu Zhouye erupted in fury. “Get back here!!”

It was already too late. All five snapped their locks onto the chains simultaneously. In an instant, the floor vibrated, a mournful suona horn wailed through the air, and the platform beneath the five players began slowly sinking. At the exact same time, a figure rose gradually from the mouth of the well.

Dressed in crimson robes and holding an oil-paper umbrella, she was the very Rain Maiden Shen Man had seen earlier.

Looking at the umbrella in her hand, Shen Man suddenly realized why it had looked so familiar. The pattern painted across her umbrella matched the design on the male NPC’s umbrella; put together, they formed a single, complete illustration.

Xu Zhouye turned his glare toward the man.

The man smiled, even more brightly than before. Noticing Xu Zhouye staring at him, he offered a polite apology with a chuckle.

Hanging at his sides, Xu Zhouye’s fists slowly clenched tight. Bro, he thought, count your lucky stars we’re filming an escape room right now, otherwise my fist would already be planted in your face.

Astonishingly, the man seemed to read the exact message in Xu Zhouye’s eyes, continuing to smile: “You are people of this village. Sacrificing your lives for the sake of the village fulfills your rightful duty.” Speaking, he extended a hand toward the woman.

Holding her umbrella, the woman glided slowly up to the man and embraced him tenderly.

The moment they embraced, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the room plunged into pitch darkness.

The voices of the man and woman echoed alternately, as if conversing across time and space.

“A-Yue, they’re going to turn you into the Rain Maiden. Let me run away with you; we’ll run far, far away.”

“A-Qing, if I leave, what will happen to the village? Without me, there will only be another…”

“A-Yue, it’s raining. It’s raining.”

“A-Yue, I miss you so much.”

“A-Yue, why won’t this rain ever stop?”

“A-Qing, I can’t control myself. I… I have no choice…”

“A-Yue, A-Yue, I overheard them, I heard everything! They’re going to turn you into a Fair-Weather Maiden, a Fair-Weather Maiden!”

“A-Yue, where are you…”

“A-Yue… A-Yue…! My A-Yue!!!”

“AAAAAAHHHH!!”

Following the heart-wrenching shriek, dead silence fell over the room.

The relentless rain abruptly ceased.

The man’s final words echoed softly: “It’s alright, A-Yue. No matter where you go, I will find you and take you away from here…”

Overhead lights flared on inside the escape room like a brilliant sun, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.

Unlike when they had entered, however, Xu Zhouye now stood completely alone. With a sharp creak, the iron gate behind him swung open, signaling that it was time for him to exit.

The spot where the well had stood was now completely flat; vanished alongside the well were his five companions.

The rain had stopped, and everything was over.

Walking out the exit, Xu Zhouye was greeted by smiling production staff waiting outside. He asked immediately, “Where is Shen Man?”

A staff member replied, “Just a moment, they’ll be coming out right away.”

Sure enough, they emerged seconds later.

The five walked out from a separate exit. Shen Man was in a noticeably pleasant mood, forming a stark contrast with Xu Zhouye’s face, which looked as dark as the bottom of a soot-covered pot. Unfortunately, surrounded by crew members, Xu Zhouye couldn’t flare up openly.

Meanwhile, resident gossip prince Zhao Rui sensed a strange undercurrent between them, darting his eyes back and forth thoughtfully.

“Thank you all for your hard work,” a staff member announced. “Please come rest over here. We’ve prepared hot tea and dry towels, and there’s a short interview segment afterward.”

Everyone nodded.

Feeling genuinely tired, Shen Man stood in the lounge unbuttoning his raincoat one snap at a time. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Xu Zhouye, who sat expressionlessly nearby radiating a strangers keep out aura so intense that the crew members who had been chatting and laughing with him earlier didn’t dare approach. As noted before, Xu Zhouye smiling and Xu Zhouye unsmiling looked like two entirely different people. With sharp, rugged features and a tall frame, sitting there with a stony expression intimidated anyone who looked his way, bearing a striking resemblance to Shen Man himself.

Slipping off his raincoat, Shen Man grabbed a dry towel, walked over to Xu Zhouye, and held it out to him.

Without lifting his head, Xu Zhouye merely raised his eyelids to glare up at Shen Man.

Shen Man asked softly, “Still upset?”

Of course he was upset. Xu Zhouye neither spoke nor reached out.

“Give me a little face, won’t you?” Suppressing a smile, Shen Man deliberately knitted his brows into a troubled look, murmuring in a low voice, “I was only worried about you.”

Catching the amusement hidden in Shen Man’s eyes, Xu Zhouye wanted to curse aloud. Outsiders might not know, but he understood crystal clear what Shen Man was thinking; this guy was deliberately provoking him.

Shen Man had figured out the locks’ true purpose and knew exactly what was going to happen, yet kept his mouth shut, innocently taking Xu Zhouye’s lock and leaving him standing on the sidelines watching Shen Man walk straight to his “death.”

And once the sacrifice was over, Shen Man sauntered up acting like the neglected victim, putting on a sweet, innocent act asking him to save his pride.

With everyone in the lounge watching their interaction, Xu Zhouye ground his back molars together tightly. Utterly helpless against Shen Man, he finally reached out to take the towel. The second his fingers closed around it, Shen Man’s fingertip brushed lightly across his palm; it was completely deliberate.

Roughly towel-drying his hair, Xu Zhouye glared at Shen Man, lowering his voice to a volume only the two of them could hear: “My dear ancestor, what did I even do to offend you?”

Shen Man had been in a sour mood ever since entering the escape room, and Xu Zhouye still had no idea why. Now Shen Man had finally gotten his payback. God knew how furious Xu Zhouye had felt standing there watching Shen Man drop through the floor with the others, especially knowing that the spot Shen Man stood on was supposed to have been his.

Shen Man replied innocently, “Nothing at all. I’m quite happy.”

Xu Zhouye: “?”

Shen Man: “At least I’m very happy right now.”

Xu Zhouye: “…”

Shen Man said, “Let’s go.”

He really was happy, practically walking with a spring in his step, leaving Xu Zhouye torn between exasperation and amusement. Exasperated because Shen Man had deliberately riled him up, and amused because seeing Shen Man act childish like this was unbearably adorable. He rarely got to see such a lively, expressive side of Shen Man.

The interviews began with solo segments, followed by a group session.

During his solo interview, Shen Man fielded plenty of questions, including his scariest moment, best teammate, and biggest liability. Shen Man replied that nothing had particularly scared him; as for best teammate, since he had stuck with Luo Zhile the entire time, he hadn’t seen how the others performed; and for biggest liabilities, forced to pick two, neither Zhao Rui nor Qin Yixing escaped nomination.

“We saw you take Xu Zhouye’s lock at the very end to sacrifice yourself in his place. Could we ask what was going through your mind, Man-shen?” The interviewer was a pretty young woman whose eyes lit up visibly as she asked the question, staring intently at Shen Man. Her gaze wasn’t the simple admiration of a regular fan; it carried a familiar spark that reminded Shen Man of the two CP-shipping girls he had encountered abroad after the World Finals. Sure enough, crafting a script where both characters had “water” in their names so they could save each other meant someone had clearly infiltrated the production team.

Understanding instantly, Shen Man never held back once he decided to shock people: “I like Xu Zhouye a lot. Couldn’t bear to see him die, so I wanted to go in his place.”

Hearing such an unabashedly candid answer, the young woman nearly gasped for air in excitement, her voice trembling slightly: “Do Man-shen and FEST have a really good relationship?”

“Very good,” Shen Man said. “Whenever we travel for tournaments, I always share a room with him.”

Whenever we travel for tournaments, I always share a room with him. Had she not been on the clock, the young woman would have leaped out of her chair screaming: AAAAAAHHHH is this something I’m actually allowed to hear?! My ship is canon, it’s real!!

Her remaining shred of professional self-control held her back. Pinching her own thigh hard, she smoothed over the moment with calm professionalism: “It seems the players on ACE share a wonderful bond.”

Shen Man smiled faintly: “It really is quite good.”

Once solo interviews wrapped up, everyone gathered for the group interview.

Looking across the six players, the interviewer asked: “If you had to vote for one MVP today, who would you vote for, and why?”

Everyone pondered for a moment. In the end, Xu Zhouye won with three votes from Zhao Rui, Zhou Yao, and Shen Man. Xu Zhouye and Luo Zhile both voted for Shen Man, while Qin Yixing shamelessly voted for himself.

As for their reasons…

Zhou Yao: “He pedaled the stationary bike pretty fast.”

Zhao Rui: “His vocabulary when scolding me was relatively polite, making me feel the warmth of home.”

Shen Man: “Xu Zhouye is a good person.”

Hearing Shen Man’s reason, veins practically bulged on Xu Zhouye’s forehead.

Luo Zhile gave a much more earnest answer: “I did tasks alongside Shen Man the whole time. He’s super smart and reacts fast, which let us clear the stages smoothly.”

Xu Zhouye squeezed a line out through gritted teeth: “Giving up his chance to live for me; I’ve never met someone this considerate in my entire life.”

Curving his hand into a fist, Shen Man let out a cough to hide the smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Qin Yixing: “I’m casting this vote for my own courage!”

Everyone simultaneously shot him looks of pure disdain.

Qin Yixing: “? Why are you all looking at me like that? You guys were free to vote for yourselves too.”

Everyone silently thought: We aren’t nearly as shameless as you.

In the end, as the sole survivor, Xu Zhouye was crowned MVP of the episode, winning a massive “noob dog” plushie as his prize. Walking away from the filming set clutching the giant stuffed dog, Xu Zhouye felt like he had become the noob dog himself.

Having filmed all afternoon, everyone was tired, and dinner time had arrived right on cue.

Qin Yixing suggested grabbing dinner nearby before heading back: “Sounds good, I know a great hotpot place right around here.”

After getting soaked in the rain all day, hotpot was ideal for warming up.

With nobody objecting, Xu Zhouye trailed behind the group with his hands shoved in his pockets and a sour scowl on his face, still hugging the giant plushie under one arm.

Zhao Rui asked, “Xu Zhouye, are you in a bad mood? Why aren’t you smiling?”

Xu Zhouye deadpanned: “I’m naturally not someone who likes to smile.”

Zhao Rui: “?” Could you please learn something good from Shen Man for once?

Lowering his voice, Xu Zhouye asked casually, “Back in the day, were Shen Man and Qin Yixing really close?” He knew Zhao Rui had been with Shen Man the longest; even though Zhao Rui had joined after Qin Yixing left, he definitely knew the most history.

Baffled, Zhao Rui blinked: “Close? What close? They don’t even have each other added on WeChat.”

Xu Zhouye murmured: “Mm…”

Staring closely at Xu Zhouye, a horrifying suspicion dawned on Zhao Rui: “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of Qin Yixing?!”

Saying nothing, Xu Zhouye cast a sideways glance at Zhao Rui.

“Holy shit, you aren’t actually into Shen Man, are you…” Zhao Rui looked genuinely terrified. “If Shen Man finds out, you’re completely finished.”

Xu Zhouye thought to himself: Finished? What finished? I’ve already eaten him clean down to the bone, not a scrap left. Nowhere near finished. Keeping that to himself, he merely smiled at Zhao Rui: “Surely I wouldn’t be completely finished.”

“You really would be,” Zhao Rui insisted. “Shen Man is ruthless as hell. If he ever catches wind that you have ulterior motives toward him, he’ll kick you straight off ACE.”

Xu Zhouye: “…” A mischievous idea suddenly popped into his head.

Zhao Rui asked, “What, scared now?”

Xu Zhouye said, “How about we make a bet?”

Zhao Rui: “Bet on what?”

Xu Zhouye grinned: “Bet on whether I can successfully woo Shen Man.”

Hearing this, Zhao Rui scoffed: “You’re way too overconfident. Maybe he’s been nicer to you lately and gave you the wrong impression, but wooing Shen Man? What kind of horror story is that…”

“Just tell me whether you’re taking the bet or not,” Xu Zhouye pressed.

Zhao Rui: “What are the stakes?”

Thinking for a second, Xu Zhouye proposed: “Tell you what: if you lose, you treat me and Shen Man to a meal at [Redacted] Fang.” [Redacted] Fang was a famous hotpot restaurant notorious for its sky-high prices, a favorite hangout among pro players.

Zhao Rui slapped his hand into Xu Zhouye’s immediately: “Deal!” After agreeing, he didn’t forget to tack on a warning: “If your confession fails and you get kicked off the team, don’t blame me!”

Xu Zhouye smiled smoothly: “Rest assured, it’s in the bag.”