Chapter 12: Inside the Convenience Store
A warm atmosphere emanated from the convenience store, and the smell of oden could be detected inside.
The shelves were filled with items, with bread at the front, emitting a soft and warm fragrance.
Bai Cha tentatively reached out and placed her hand on a loaf of bread.
She didn’t touch it completely.
But in that brief moment of stopping, she felt like she was being watched by countless people.
She withdrew her hand.
She couldn’t see the “people” who existed, but these “people” did exist.
Just like when she deliberately tested the front desk staff for money, the front desk staff refused to give her money. But at the same time, it also meant that payment was necessary here.
Otherwise, who knew what would happen.
In the normal world, taking someone’s things without paying was considered theft or robbery.
Taking things without paying in a place like this…
But she had already come in, and this was indeed one of her few opportunities to get food.
Bai Cha walked around the convenience store and saw the staff room.
Usually, convenience stores like this have a water dispenser in the staff room, right?
Bai Cha knocked on the door a few times.
“Hello, is anyone there?”
The surrounding noisy voices were still really clear but incomprehensible, and no one answered.
Bai Cha pushed open the door.
Different from what she imagined, the space inside the door was indeed small. But there was only an altar, and on the altar was an incense burner with three unlit incense sticks inserted.
On either side of the incense burner was a red candle, and in front were three plates of offerings: oranges, apples, and tangerines, six of each. Further forward were two bottles of mineral water. It was a very classic arrangement for offering to deities.
The altar was close to the wall, and a portrait was pasted on the wall.
It was a portrait of the same Buddha statue as the one printed on the flyer, and the hand gesture of the Buddha statue was the same tarjani mudra as the one at the front desk.
The guess in Bai Cha’s heart gradually became more complete.
Just as she had initially hypothesized: the hand gesture of the Buddha statue seen in the pre-instance notification when each player entered the game was very likely not exactly the same.
There were two sets of rules. The rules seen in the pre-instance notification were the ones to follow on that flyer. But this didn’t mean that the rules on that flyer were safe.
Because everyone would play word games.
For example, regarding the instruction not to panic when encountering danger in the bathroom, she really liked excitement. Therefore, she would only be excited after encountering it.
But if someone else became panicked in that situation, would they get hurt? Would they still be able to leave the bathroom?
These were all unknown.
Secondly, there was the relationship between the guest-house and the front desk.
The front desk, as the employed party, clearly formed two separate paths from the guest-house.
Bai Cha hadn’t called the guest-house yet, so she didn’t know the situation there. But based on the name she got after using her skill, she could make a bold assumption.
Deities like Buddha statues, as objects of faith, all have their own devotees.
Regardless of what the Buddha statue in front of her was.
The front desk staff was very likely a believer in the Buddha statue with the tarjani mudra. But he was controlled by the guest-house, which believed in the teaching mudra, and could only act as a front desk staff.
But this didn’t mean that the front desk had no power. He might be able to gain some kind of ability by helping guests solve problems.
This ability might allow him to break free from his imprisoned status, or something else.
But Bai Cha had an eighty percent certainty about one thing. Whether it was the front desk or the guest-house, although they seemed to be helping guests solve problems, they might very well be deliberately creating problems and then using the act of helping guests solve them to obtain some kind of medium with the guests.
Or to describe it with cause and effect.
Because they helped the guests, what should the guests pay in return?
This was also why she had parasitized the front desk staff with the seed.
There should be a competitive relationship between the two, though not necessarily a mortal feud. But they probably wouldn’t be friendly either; they were all vying for guests under mutually agreed-upon rules.
Then the guests were very important.
After snatching the guests, what was the real purpose behind this rule-based horror game?
Bai Cha suddenly felt a strong sense of being watched, that locked-on feeling almost the same as before she entered the game.
She looked at the portrait pasted on the wall.
The eyes of the portrait seemed to move slightly.
Bai Cha’s heart rate accelerated. She had a premonition that if the portrait continued to move, there might be bad consequences.
She first glanced around with the corner of her eye, only then noticing that there seemed to be vague black humanoid figures gathering around.
It was also at this moment that she realized the surrounding noisy voices had disappeared.
Bai Cha’s adrenaline was surging, even causing her to break out in a sweat, making her much more awake.
She suddenly quickly walked to the altar and tore off the portrait on it.
In that instant, a sharp sound pierced her mind.
Bai Cha only felt dizzy and nauseous, her face pale.
She could barely maintain her balance and flipped the portrait in her hand.
There were indeed words on the back.
But new rules.
[Supplement to the Rules of the Horror guest-house 2.0]
