[Ding—Welcome to the Instance: The Asylum]
[Please adhere to the following rules within the time limit, or you will be permanently trapped inside.]
The cold, mechanical voice exploded in Lin Ye's mind, jolting him from a state of utter chaos. He shot his eyes open to find himself on a hard, cold iron bed. The surrounding walls were a mottled, peeling gray, and the air reeked of a strange mixture of disinfectant and rust.
"What the hell..." Lin Ye sat up, rubbing his still-throbbing temples. "Is this the latest immersive RPG? The production value is insane. They even managed to perfectly simulate a hangover headache."
He scanned his surroundings. It was a minimalist room. Besides the bed, there was only a tightly shut iron door and a small digital timer mounted on the wall. Its bright red numbers displayed: 03:00:00.
Three hours.
[Rule 1]: Upon entering a room, you must high-five your reflection in the mirror. Otherwise, you will lose your shadow.
[Rule 2]: You cannot pick up the candy on the floor, but you can give it to the hand on the wall.
[Rule 3]: If you hear someone call your real name, immediately shout at the ceiling: "I AIN'T HERE!"
[Rule 4]: You must find five red rabbits before the countdown ends, but do not touch the sixth one.
[Rule 5]: Remember, the last person to leave must turn off the light.
[Rule 6]: Do not chat with the mouth on the wall. It's a blabbermouth.
Lin Ye mentally reviewed the six rules, the corner of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
"The guy who designed these rules is a real piece of work," he muttered to himself. "This edgy, slightly deranged style... I like it. I just wonder what the hourly pay is. If it's less than fifty bucks an hour, I'm definitely leaving a one-star review."
He got off the bed and tried pushing the iron door. It didn't budge. It seemed the game had already begun.
"Alright, three hours, five rabbits, and I have to interact with a bunch of weird-ass things." Lin Ye stretched his limbs, producing a series of cracking sounds. "Even rush-hour subway crowds aren't this intense."
The room he was in was empty. The only clue seemed to be the locked door. Next to the timer was a red button with the crudely written words "Press Me".
"Usually, nothing good comes from pressing buttons like this," Lin Ye analyzed, stroking his chin. "It either releases a monster or triggers a trap. But if I don't press it, the door definitely won't open. It's a classic trolley problem—press it, and I might die; don't press it, and I'm definitely trapped. I'll take my chances with a quick death. At least it won't hold up the next session."
Without hesitation, he slapped the button.
With a click, the iron door behind him swung open, revealing a dim corridor. The walls were lined with several bizarrely styled oil paintings, the eyes of the figures within seeming to follow his every move.
Lin Ye stepped out, calculating in his head. "Rule one, high-five a reflection upon entering a room. Does this corridor count as a room? To be safe, I need to find a mirror first."
He walked, his eyes scanning the area like a radar. The corridor wasn't long, ending at another slightly ajar wooden door. The door had no handle, only a peephole.
Lin Ye leaned in and peered through. Inside was a more spacious room, and right on the wall opposite the door was a huge, full-length mirror.
"Well, that was easy," Lin Ye grinned, pushing the door open.
It was a strange room, like an abandoned children's playroom. The floor was covered with a faded carpet, littered with building blocks and broken toys. In the center of the room, the massive full-length mirror was polished to a brilliant shine, clearly reflecting Lin Ye's figure.
His reflection wore the exact same clothes, mirroring even the "well, I'm here, might as well play along" expression on his face.
Lin Ye remembered Rule 1. He walked up to the mirror and raised his right hand.
The "Lin Ye" in the mirror simultaneously raised its right hand.
"Hey, buddy," Lin Ye grinned, speaking to his reflection. "Nice to meet you. If any monsters or ghosts show up later, you better help me take some of the heat."
With that, he reached out to slap the mirror's surface.
Just as his palm was about to touch the cold glass, the "Lin Ye" in the mirror suddenly curled its lips into an incredibly eerie grin, revealing a set of stark white teeth.
Lin Ye froze.
He blinked, and his reflection returned to normal, its expression once again identical to his.
"An illusion? Or just a scripted jump scare for this instance?" Lin Ye raised an eyebrow. Far from being scared, he was intrigued. "Getting interesting."
He no longer hesitated and slapped his palm against the mirror.
Smack!
The crisp sound echoed through the empty room. The cold, hard impact he expected never came. Instead, he felt a warm, slightly yielding sensation, as if he had just high-fived another person.
A strange sense of satisfaction flowed from his palm. Lin Ye retracted his hand and glanced down at his feet. His shadow lay peacefully on the floor, its outline sharp and clear.
"Rule one, complete," he said with a snap of his fingers. "Easy."
In high spirits, he began searching the room. The task was to find five red rabbits, which sounded like an Easter egg hunt.
He quickly found a palm-sized red cloth rabbit in a dilapidated toy box. One of its ears was missing, and cotton stuffing peeked out from the hole, making it look rather pathetic.
"First one, acquired." Lin Ye stuffed it into his pocket. "A great start."
Just then, he caught a glimpse of something shiny in the corner of his eye, hidden in the shadow of a pile of building blocks. He walked over and squatted down to find a piece of candy wrapped in colorful paper. It looked very tempting.
Lin Ye reached out to pick it up, but his fingers paused an inch away from the candy.
"Rule 2: You cannot pick up the candy on the floor, but you can give it to the hand on the wall."
He looked up, scanning the walls of the room. Besides the mottled stains and the large mirror, there was nothing.
"Hand on the wall?" Lin Ye scratched his head. "Where is it? Is it a hidden item that requires a specific trigger?"
He stood up, deciding to ignore the candy for now and continue his search for rabbits. The room was large, with a few locked cabinets and a bookshelf in addition to the toy box.
The bookshelf held only a few fairy tale books, their covers tattered and torn. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel…
Lin Ye casually picked up Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. When he opened it, he found it was empty. All the pages had been ripped out, leaving only a red crayon drawing of a hand on the inside back cover. Next to it, a single line was scrawled: "I'm so hungry."
"Oho?" A lightbulb went off in Lin Ye's head. "So the hand is here. Is this a hint to feed it the candy?"
He immediately returned to the candy, carefully picking it up not with his bare hand, but by pinching the edges of the wrapper between two fingers. He had a feeling these rules were full of hidden traps; caution was always the best approach.
He carried the candy back to the bookshelf and placed it on the palm of the drawn hand.
"Here you go, little one. Have some candy," he said in a coddling tone.
A bizarre scene unfolded.
The hand drawn on the paper seemed to come to life. Its five fingers curled slightly, "grasping" the candy. Then, the candy, wrapper and all, began to slowly sink into the paper, eventually disappearing completely.
The color of the hand on the page seemed to have become a little more vibrant.
"Is this... magic or a paranormal event?" Lin Ye clicked his tongue. "Impressive appetite. It even ate the wrapper. Hope it doesn't get indigestion."
As he was studying the strange hand, another change occurred.
Next to the "fed" hand, the image of another red rabbit slowly materialized on the page. When Lin Ye touched it, the rabbit pattern peeled off like a sticker, transforming into a cloth rabbit identical to the one in his pocket.
"Number two! So that's how it works!" Lin Ye's eyes lit up. "Following the rules gets you rewards. This game mechanic is pretty fair."
He put the second rabbit in his pocket, feeling even more relaxed. He thought that while this "Asylum" was creepy, as long as he kept a clear head and strictly followed the rules, clearing the instance wouldn't be too difficult.
Just as he was thinking this, a faint, cold breeze brushed against his back. A soft but clear voice whispered, as if right next to his ear:
"Lin Ye..."
The voice carried a strange, alluring quality, calling his real name.
The hair on Lin Ye's entire body stood on end. This was no joke. He was absolutely certain he had used the alias "A-Qiang" when he signed up for this "RPG." Whoever knew his real name was definitely not the organizer.
His mind raced, and Rule 3 instantly flashed in his thoughts.
[Rule 3]: If you hear someone call your real name, immediately shout at the ceiling: "I AIN'T HERE!"
Without a shred of hesitation, almost in the same second he heard his name, Lin Ye snapped his head up and bellowed at the empty ceiling with all his might:
"I AIN'T HERE!!!"
The shout echoed through the room. "HERE... HERE... HERE..."
After he yelled, a dead silence fell over the room. The chilling sensation vanished, as if the entire incident had been a mere illusion.
Lin Ye took a couple of deep breaths, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. This time, he had truly felt a chill run down his spine. This was already beyond the scope of a normal RPG.
"Damn it," he cursed under his breath. "This place is seriously messed up. If I had been half a second slower, who knows what would have happened."
He composed himself, forcing his mind to calm down. Fear was useless. The most important thing now was to keep looking for rabbits and get out of this place as soon as possible.