52: Chapter 52 Vampire Castle 8

"Where's the problem?" the White-collar Woman asked.

"Heh, you still can't figure it out now?"

The Gloomy Youth's tone carried a hint of inexplicable sarcasm, which, combined with his gloomy temperament, made people feel instinctively uncomfortable.

Before the Tall Fat Man could continue to mock them, the Buzz-cut Man asked first: "How did you figure it out?"

The Gloomy Youth's earlier performance had given him a glimmer of hope for this seemingly unlikable kid; perhaps this youth had the ability to lead them to successfully clear the game.

That youth, exuding an aura of gloom, cast an icy, expressionless glance at the Tall fat man and said in a voice devoid of emotion: "If, as the Short-sleeved Youth said, the keys cannot be related to the Vampires, then these keys can be ruled out."

"If you observe these keys carefully, you can actually see clearly that they all have traces of use. But we all know that the keys we use to open the next floor are actually meant to seal the Vampires."

"In other words, after these keys appeared, the Vampires successively fell into a deep sleep, so it is absolutely impossible for the keys to show any signs of use!"

He handed the three keys he was holding to the other players. "Look, these keys all have varying degrees of wear and tear; they clearly have been used."

The others took the keys, and upon closer inspection, were shocked to discover that there were indeed traces of wear or scratches on them!

"Awesome, brother, your observation skills are too sharp!" the Tall Fat Man couldn't help but praise.

The Buzz-cut Man also said with lingering fear: "We almost released two Vampires."

His gaze turned to the ancient, even somewhat dilapidated wall clock, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

"The most terrifying thing is that it's almost twelve o'clock. By then, if twelve Vampires are chasing us on the same floor, we won't be able to escape alive."

At that point, they could only hope for the Miracle Escape Live Stream Game's safety net feature—the last person alive automatically clears the game.

The Short-sleeved Youth modestly waved his hand. "Although I did eventually figure out these clues, the real expert is the one who is truly strong. Who would believe that she had already sensed something was wrong the moment she saw those nine keys?"

He couldn't help but take a deep look at Luo Yuejian; this person's observation skills were truly terrifying, and even he had only realized something was wrong under Luo Yuejian's hints.

"You pointing at the clock just now was to make me pay attention to the time, right? The Vampires were clearly sealed by the keys, but these keys had been used for quite some time, which is obviously unreasonable."

If it weren't for Luo Yuejian, he might never have realized there was any problem with his analysis, nor would he have carefully looked at those keys.

Thinking of this, he took a deep breath, walked up to Luo Yuejian, and bowed deeply. "Thank you very much for the hint you just gave me. I hope you will continue to guide me in this game; I will definitely not live up to your expectations!"

Luo Yuejian was truly dumbfounded. What hint or guidance did she give? She had just wanted to say they should just blow up the passage between the first and second floors, but before she could say it, this guy went on a wild analysis, leaving her stunned.

Besides, when did she ever have expectations for the Short-sleeved Youth? Her only expectation was to die early and be reincarnated!

She deeply suspected that if this person didn't have a brain problem, he was deliberately setting her up; otherwise, how could every word he spoke push her into the center of public criticism?

"B-but, where... where is the r-real key? We s-still haven't found it..."

The Stuttering Uncle's sudden words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the fire of hope that had just ignited in everyone's hearts. The players, who had been slightly excited because of their discovery, felt their emotions deflate like a punctured balloon, cooling down instantly.

They looked at the wall clock with its slowly moving hands. The sluggish tick-tock, tick-tock sound now sounded particularly jarring, like the footsteps of approaching death. As the second hand ticked away, the tense atmosphere became even heavier.

If they couldn't find the correct key to open the door to survival before midnight, terrifying Vampires would be waiting for them. At the thought of this, everyone couldn't help but gasp, and fine beads of sweat began to appear on their foreheads.

Just as everyone was racking their brains and thinking hard, the Gloomy Youth, who had been silent all along, suddenly seemed to have an epiphany. His eyes flashed with a hint of light, his body suddenly rose from his seat, and he walked straight towards the wall clock without hesitation.

Arriving in front of the wall clock, the youth took a deep breath, and his hands moved quickly and skillfully. His movements were exceptionally agile and precise, like an experienced craftsman. After a slight rattling sound, he had easily dismantled the clock's casing.

Immediately after, accompanied by a crisp "Ding—", a key shimmering with a cold light fell out from the intricate pile of parts.

The Gloomy Youth picked up the key, observed it carefully and seriously, and confirmed that there were indeed no strange patterns on it, nor any signs of use.

He turned back, his eyes, hidden by his long bangs, staring fixedly at Luo Yuejian, his voice low and suppressed: "You knew it all along. How on earth did you do it?"

Seeing this key, the few players finally remembered Luo Yuejian's earlier gesture of pointing at the clock. At the time, they had all thought the White-haired Girl was indicating that time was running out, and hadn't paid much attention.

Later, after the Short-sleeved Youth's detailed explanation and analysis, they realized that the White-haired Girl had wanted to hint that everyone should pay attention to how the key's wear and tear didn't match its creation time and purpose.

However, now they were stunned to realize that the White-haired Girl's casual gesture had actually solved the problem that had been plaguing them all along. It turned out the key had been hidden in the clock all along!

Thinking back to the attitude the White-haired Girl had shown when she first saw the nine keys, everyone looked in shock at the White-haired Girl, who was sitting quietly in her seat, her back silent and straight, appearing completely out of place and overly distant from everything around her. The same question appeared in everyone's minds as the Gloomy Youth—

How exactly did the White-haired Girl do it?

How did she manage to see through the whole truth at first glance, and even accurately deduce that the key was hidden behind the wall clock?

This level of insight was simply too astonishing; it didn't seem like something an ordinary person could do.

They now even deeply suspected, was the Miracle Escape Live Stream Game really a life-or-death adventure for the White-haired Girl? Or was it, for the White-haired Girl, really just a game... a very simple game that could be cleared at will...

At this moment, the livestream room was also boiling—

[I'll just ask, who else? W-who, else?!]

[Too awesome! How did she do that? Goddess Yue only took one look, and she actually understood the whole situation. Is she even human?]

[You're already calling her Goddess Yue (doge).]

[No, I still find it hard to understand. Could it be that when the Short-sleeved Youth asked the White-haired Beauty if his analysis was right, the White-haired Beauty already knew the key was hidden in the clock?]

[How exactly did she discover the key was hidden in the clock? I watched the whole stream, why do I still not understand...]

[It's okay, if everyone doesn't understand, it proves that the problem isn't us; it's clearly that Goddess Yue is too awesome.]

[So, can any expert explain it to me? I really don't understand this episode TAT...]

[Let me explain, let me explain! I finally understood something for once. I have to say, Goddess Yue's observation skills are truly awesome. When we were only observing the First Floor, Goddess Yue was already in the atmosphere.]

[I have some spare money at home in real life, and I love tinkering with these antiques. I used to play with this kind of clock for a while. Listen carefully to the sound of this wall clock; its ticking isn't regular, and there's a faint stutter every so often.]

[A normal wall clock wouldn't be like this, unless something inside is interfering with its operating mechanism. Clearly, it's this key placed inside the clock affecting the movement of its parts, causing the strange sound.]

[Look at that Gloomy Youth, his technique for dismantling the clock is very skillful; you can tell he's done it often. I reckon he also heard that something was wrong with the clock's sound after Goddess Yue's hint.]

After he finished posting this barrage, everyone in the livestream room was a bit surprised.

[Bro, you've got some skills, V me 50 to see your strength.]

[So Goddess Yue heard there was something in the clock right at the beginning of the game, and then after discovering the other keys had signs of use, she determined that the key in the clock was the real one? I feel my IQ being crushed...]

[Me too... I realized reality long ago, just shout Goddess Yue is awesome and that's it!]

[Goddess Yue is awesome!]

[Holy crap, you guys kept saying how awesome the White-haired Beauty was, and I thought you were just bragging. This wave is truly speechless, too awesome, it's really crushing it!]

[I'm a fan now. Does anyone have recordings of Goddess Yue's first two livestreams? I want to go worship.]

[Yes, brother, yes. There's a dedicated post for Goddess Yue on the forum; you can find it if you go look through it.]

[You can tell Goddess Yue is slacking off again this round, otherwise the game might have been over long ago, hahahaha.]

[She's slacking so obviously, feels like the whole castle is full of water (slacking).]

[Fine, fine, fine, is this the strength of an expert? Others are struggling to escape, my Yue is struggling to slack off.]

...

At this moment, Luo Yuejian was not at all as relaxed and comfortable as the livestream viewers thought; her mind was full of question marks.

How did that key appear? How did it suddenly fall out? How did the Gloomy Youth know that the last key was hidden in the wall clock? Damn, why is he looking at me again?

Luo Yuejian's facial muscles tightened, thinking to herself: If you slander me again, I'll take you down with me.

But the Gloomy Youth seemed to have heard her inner voice, averted his gaze, and briefly explained the issue of the clock's sound to the other players.

Before Luo Yuejian could breathe a sigh of relief, she saw that after the Gloomy Youth finished explaining, the others' complex and indescribable gazes turned to her again.

Numb, truly numb.

Luo Yuejian expressionlessly ended everyone's gaze with one sentence: "Five more minutes."

The others then remembered they still had to enter the next floor, and the Buzz-cut Man immediately said decisively: "Let's go, let's head to the stairs."

After saying this, the group of players immediately headed towards the stairs.

Because of the Gloomy Youth's earlier words, they had already decided to wait until the Vampires refreshed at 12 o'clock before entering the next floor, leaving those ten Vampires on the First Floor.

Time was getting closer and closer. The clock had been repaired by the Gloomy Youth and was now ticking away, announcing the time. Everyone was extremely nervous, afraid that once twelve o'clock arrived, they wouldn't be able to enter the next floor in time and would be torn to pieces by the Vampires. Sweat soaked their clothes.

Twelve o'clock.

"Dong... dong... dong..."

The 12 o'clock chimes rang out, and a low, guttural roar suddenly came from within the Vampire Castle, as if some terrifying monster had awakened.

The Buzz-cut Man did not hesitate and immediately inserted the key into the keyhole of the iron gate between the second floors.

There was no awkward situation like in the movies where they couldn't get the key into the lock no matter what; with a crisp "click", the heavy iron gate slowly opened.

However, at this very moment, the roaring sound from behind had reached its peak. The White-collar Woman couldn't help but turn her head to look, and just that one look made her body tremble violently, almost causing her to fall onto the cold ground on her butt.

The Vampires inside this Vampire Castle were simply worlds apart from the handsome and charming Vampire images they had witnessed in those movies and TV shows in the past!

The Vampires before them all had twisted faces and violent expressions, and their skin presented a chilling, pale color; their features appeared extremely hideous and terrifying, and not even a single hair had grown on them.

Most horrifyingly, the two sharp, pointed fangs in their mouths curved slightly outwards, as if ready to devour someone at any moment. They looked both bloody and extremely cruel, making one shudder just imagining the scene of being bitten on the neck by them to have their blood sucked.

The White-collar Woman screamed, her legs going weak, almost unable to move at all. It was the Buzz-cut Man who was quick-witted and fast-handed, grabbing the woman by her hair and dragging her up the stairs.

At the same moment, that group of twisted-faced, fanged, and ferocious Vampires rushed over like a gust of wind! Their cold, shimmering eyes stared fixedly at their prey, and they emitted chilling screeches from their mouths from time to time.

Time seemed to have frozen, and every second felt so long. However, at this critical moment, everyone finally managed to squeeze into the narrow stairs in the very last second.

The Short-sleeved Youth reacted extremely quickly, and with lightning speed, pushed the door hard. With a loud "bang", the iron gate slammed heavily against the door frame, making a dull thud.

The Vampires locked outside were furious, and they crazily slammed their bodies against the iron gate, trying to break through the obstacle. Sharp claws gouged deep marks into the iron gate, accompanied by harsh, screeching sounds of friction.

These Vampires kept roaring, their voices resounding to the skies, filled with unwillingness and anger. They bared their fangs and brandished their claws, roaring as if they wanted to tear everything that blocked their path into shreds.