Yanchuan felt overwhelmed; the events on screen were both disturbing and grotesque. The scene shifted to midnight, focusing on a family in Room 5, where a fierce-looking man burst through the door, wielding a stick and shouting angrily.
The camera zoomed in on a room filled with chaos, showing a sleeping girl and a child, surrounded by food and waste, creating a dirty and disheveled scene.
Next, a barefoot child was seen running, fear in his eyes as he scurried into a corner. However, he was too small and soon fell into the clutches of the snarling man, who grabbed him roughly by the neck and apologized to others, claiming the boy was merely his mischievous son.
The child’s small hands clung desperately to the doorframe, but they were pried away before he was dragged back into the room.
The screen turned a deep red, then cut to a scene of betrayal: the girl was sold off, while her boyfriend counted money with a gleeful expression. Simultaneously, the parents searching for their child encountered this family and confronted them, leading to a violent clash orchestrated by the traffickers.
The loving couple began to argue, revealing that the husband had discovered his wife’s infidelity, which included inviting her lover into their home. Upon being found out, the wife and her lover plotted to kill the husband, even allowing the lover to move into their apartment.
Before long, the successfully installed lover realized that the beautiful wife’s treachery extended beyond just him to other suitors as well.
Then came the moment of reckoning, where vengeful spirits came to reclaim the souls of their tormentors, culminating in a grim tale of vengeance.
The screen faded to black, and the words “Thirteenth Apartment” boldly declared the tale’s conclusion.
Cast members included: Chen Sheng, Zhang Nan, Shan Qi, Tang Zhen, Zhou Wu, Qin Qiang, Yanchuan, An Wen, and Liang Xin.
Liang Xin and Qin Qiang’s names appeared faded, indicating they had suffered fatal accidents during the performance.
From a god-like perspective, Yanchuan silently observed this absurd spectacle.
There were aspects of the escape variety show that remained unknown to him, but after viewing the entire script, everything fell into place.
It was a narrative of revenge and retribution, where one simply repaid enmity with enmity.
“Mr. Yan?”
The nurse called his name again, pulling him back into reality.
Yanchuan looked at his hands, momentarily stunned before asking, “How long have I been sitting here?”
Caught off guard, the nurse pondered for a moment before replying, “About an hour?”
She added, “I checked on the wards before coming back, so it should be a little over an hour.”
An hour.
He had gone through at least seven days in the script, yet only an hour had passed in the real world.
This indicated that many contestants had not been discovered when entering the escape variety show; had the flow of time matched that of the script, it surely would have drawn attention.
Noticing Yanchuan’s clear pause, the nurse became worried and suggested, “Mr. Yan, are you feeling unwell? Would you like to have a check-up?”
“Let’s do that…” Yanchuan replied, placing his fingertips on the wrist of his other hand to feel the pulse, agreeing to the nurse’s suggestion.
Before long, the nurse arranged a full-body examination for him.
The luxurious clinic offered comprehensive medical facilities, conducting a thorough check-up from head to toe.
Yanchuan sat in a treatment gown, waiting on a chair.
“Mr. Yan,” the doctor said, holding the report and reviewing the data carefully. “It seems your health has improved somewhat.”
The doctor’s tone was one of surprise as he repeatedly examined the results, confirming the patient’s recovery.
The patient nodded slightly, sitting across from him.
Although his complexion was still pale, there was a noticeable brightness in his eyes.
This patient had arrived at the clinic two years ago, with a mysterious condition that no medical tests could identify, kept alive only through modern medicine.
But now, inexplicably, he showed signs of recovery… The doctor was bewildered, and as he opened his mouth to ask questions, he heard the patient speak first.
“If I continue at this rate,” Yanchuan said, “can I live a little longer?”
The doctor instinctively nodded. “Possibly, but we can’t determine the cause…”
“It’s fine,” the eerily beautiful but pale patient smiled slightly, the subtle curve of his lips oddly captivating. “I understand.”
Waking up to the sight of the clinic’s ceiling, Yanchuan was unexpectedly disoriented.
After exhaustive checks, the doctor confirmed his recovery.
Although the cause remained a mystery and the doctor was puzzled, Yanchuan simply nodded in acknowledgment.
The improvement in his health was conspicuous. Previously, standing for a brief moment would leave him fatigued, but now he felt fine even after enjoying the fresh air outside.
As his body healed, Yanchuan pondered.
Could it be that if he amassed a hundred thousand points, his body would restore completely?
However, the reward for the “Thirteenth Apartment” was merely three thousand points; combined with live stream donations, it barely reached four thousand. At this rate, he would need to enter at least ten more scenarios to gather the required hundred thousand points for his recovery.
Alternatively, if he wanted to speed up the process, he needed to tackle more challenging scripts.
Yet, with more difficult scenarios came greater risks. Recalling the previous script’s dark theme sent a shiver down his spine.
In that narrative, he was haunted by fear, anxious about breaking character and being exposed by the NPCs, yet there were contestants even more unfortunate than him who had unexpectedly acquired torturous roles.
The randomness of their brutal fate made it challenging to comprehend.
According to the escape variety show’s narrative, they participated in a reality program, but all the staff were spirits ready to exact revenge at any time.
As the difficulty increased, he wondered how he would complete the tasks assigned to him.
Yanchuan fell into contemplation for a moment before suddenly recalling Shan Qi.
He had once mentioned that contestants in the escape variety shows could not reveal information to the outside world—“Mr. Yan?”—but that they had an internal forum.
In that forum, participants shared experiences and learned script rules.
“How did Shan Qi phrase it?” He remembered Shan Qi had left him contact details, offering to provide an invitation to enter that forum.