Chapter 33 Because I'm not Jiang Luo today. ...

Jiang Luo was stunned by the question and remained silent for a few seconds.

Gu Shiyue turned to look at him: "Hmm?"

Aside from Gu Shiyue, Jiang Luo had only ever accepted commissions from one male client, so he naturally knew who Gu Shiyue was referring to.

"We only played for a little while..." Jiang Luo said softly, "We didn't play this with him the whole time. And he's not as good as you, you're really good at it..."

Gu Shiyue asked, "What else did you play?"

Jiang Luo was taken aback, then gripped the game controller tightly: "I... I just pick whatever I want to play. Is there anything else you want to play? We can play that too."

Jiang Luo stammered a little, gripping the handle tightly in his hand, looking as if Gu Shiyue was interrogating him.

Gu Shiyue stared at him: "Why are you always so nervous when I talk to you?"

The two looked at each other silently, their pupils reflecting each other's faces.

“I…” Jiang Luo lowered her eyes, her fingertips gently rubbing the remote control. “I don’t know.”

He wanted to say "because it's you," but he couldn't bring himself to say it while wearing the mask of the character.

Gu Shiyue turned to look at the TV screen: "Change to a game you want to play. You don't have to play the ones you've already played."

"It's okay, it's okay. As long as you find it fun, that's fine. I've played most of the games on this platform, so I'm open to playing anything."

The two of them didn't switch games and continued playing. At the end of each level, they had to fight a big monster, which was the most challenging part of the game and required the best teamwork. If one of them wasn't good at the game, it would be very difficult to defeat the monster. Jiang Luo had experienced this situation before; once, he spent half an hour just fighting the big monster.

Fighting monsters with Gu Shiyue was indeed very smooth, and we cleared the game with ease.

The escape room and the video game arcade were in the same shopping mall. They played for about two hours and then moved on to the escape room.

The escape room was located on the basement floor of the mall. It was Saturday, and the store was crowded. As soon as Jiang Luo entered, he attracted a lot of attention. Standing next to him was Gu Shiyue. The two handsome men walked to the front desk together, which was quite eye-catching.

Because Gu Shiyue was a boy, Jiang Luo's cosplay didn't reveal that he was taking on a commission. Two girls approached him and whispered, "Teacher, may I collect stamps with you?"

Jiang Luo politely declined, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm currently handling a client's case."

The two girls paused for a moment, then turned their gazes to Gu Shiyue standing next to Jiang Luo.

"Ah..." one of the girls opened her mouth in surprise, then immediately said, "Excuse me, excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you."

The two girls turned and left, arm in arm, heads leaning together, secretly laughing. They sat back in the lounge area to wait for their friend, drinking milk tea and whispering. The front desk was a small space, and Jiang Luo could still hear them talking when he went to the front desk to redeem his coupon.

"His bag even has a Nyanko-sensei on it, so cute."

"There are actually guys asking for favors... Is this for real?"

"What's there to talk nonsense about? Of course they are. Wow, they're both so handsome."

"Ah, he's really handsome, but are you sure it's a commission and not a couple...?"

Jiang Luo's hand trembled, and she almost dropped her phone.

Jiang Luo had previously played escape room themes that were either not scary or only slightly scary. This time, he asked Gu Shiyue for his opinion and chose a moderately scary one that only required two people to start.

Most people who play escape rooms come in groups, especially those playing horror-themed ones. It's rare to see a team of only two like theirs. Jiang Luo mostly plays pure puzzle-solving escape rooms; he enjoys solving puzzles and completing tasks, much like solving algorithm problems, and he really enjoys the process. Horror-themed escape rooms focus more on creating a sense of terror, so the puzzles are relatively easier. Moreover, Jiang Luo's teammate this time was Gu Shiyue, which was like having an extra advantage—and indeed, they solved the puzzles in the first two rooms very quickly.

The setting of this escape room is an abandoned hospital, and their main mission is to uncover the truth behind the hospital director's tragic death and the hospital's haunting. It was Jiang Luo's first time playing an escape room with a moderate level of fear, and it was impossible for him not to be scared at all. As soon as he entered, the light disappeared, and it was so dark that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. A cold wind was blowing everywhere, accompanied by all sorts of eerie sound effects.

They had only passed two rooms when they encountered three NPCs dressed as ghosts, namely Jiang Luo and Gu Shiyue, who were both timid.

It's quite big; someone with a weaker constitution would have been terrified and would have run away screaming and covering their head.

Jiang Luo and Gu Shiyue only communicated when they were looking for clues and solving problems. Since there were only two of them, the atmosphere became even more eerie and terrifying when no one spoke.

They were walking down a narrow corridor, so they walked one after the other, as it was a bit cramped for two people to walk side by side. There was no light at all, and they couldn't see their surroundings at all. Jiang Luo could hear Gu Shiyue's footsteps, but he couldn't see Gu Shiyue himself.

"Senior?" Jiang Luo spoke up.

"Mmm," Gu Shiyue responded, his voice very close.

Jiang Luo reached out and touched nothing: "Where are you?"

Gu Shiyue stopped, and Jiang Luo touched his back, feeling a little more at ease.

"Walk next to me," Gu Shiyue said.

“Okay.” Jiang Luo walked to his side, and the two of them turned slightly to the side so that it wouldn’t be too crowded.

As they walked, a faint red light suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor. The two stopped in their tracks, and a woman in a red dress with disheveled hair flashed past at the end.

The lights went out, and the corridor was plunged into darkness again.

When the red light came on again, the woman in the red dress was already standing in the middle of the corridor, a few steps away from them, her head bowed, her hair covering her face, her hands hanging at her sides, and blood dripping from her fingertips.

The lights went out again, and with a piercing scream, the woman in red rushed in front of them.

Gu Shiyue quickly pulled Jiang Luo behind him. These real-life NPCs are sometimes not just scary; they might even get physical. The lighting here is too dim, and the corridor is too narrow. If you run around aimlessly, you could easily bump into something and get hurt.

Gu Shiyue stood still, pulling Jiang Luo's wrist and pulling him behind him. The female ghost screamed at his face, her makeup was actually quite creepy, but Gu Shiyue only turned his head slightly.

The female ghost seemed a little embarrassed. According to the usual procedure, the two of them should have been so frightened that they turned around and ran away.

It was a complete disaster in his career.

The female ghost gave a token scare, but Jiang Luo didn't react much. Looking at the scene before him, he even felt like laughing.

Gu Shiyue pulled Jiang Luo around the female ghost, who followed behind them, diligently scaring them the whole way before disappearing halfway through. She wasn't a real ghost, and she couldn't possibly rush up and take their lives; she simply left when she couldn't scare them anymore.

Jiang Luo glanced back and couldn't help but laugh: "I can't take it anymore, this is too funny."

Gu Shiyue glanced at him.

"You're making her feel really awkward," Jiang Luo said with a smile.

"Should I go apologize to her?"

"Hahahahahaha..."

Seeing Jiang Luo laugh like this for the first time, Gu Shiyue couldn't help but chuckle as well: "Is it that funny?"

Jiang Luo nodded: "Yes, it was hilarious. The scene of you two standing face to face just now was really funny."

Gu Shiyue chuckled softly but said nothing.

“You find it funny too, right?” Jiang Luo leaned closer to look at him. “You laughed. I heard you laugh.”

Gu Shiyue looked down at him without saying a word.

Jiang Luo blinked, then awkwardly turned away, changing the subject: "Which way do we go now..."

The third room looked like a laboratory. Inside, there was a hospital bed with a person lying on it, wrapped in blood-stained gauze. It was unclear whether the person was a real NPC or a prop.

Opposite the hospital bed was a row of rusty cabinets, filled with glass jars containing specimens of human organs. The room was dimly lit, with a crooked light bulb hanging from the ceiling, flickering a dim green light that went on and off.

The two searched for clues in the room. The cabinet containing organ specimens was full of various triggers and props, all designed to scare people. As long as you don't get so scared that you lose your composure, it's not difficult to find clues in an escape room. The two of them found them quickly.

Following the clues, Gu Shiyue entered the password to open the door. The password lock was located next to the hospital bed. After Gu Shiyue entered the password, the door lock clicked softly. Just then, the "person" lying on the hospital bed suddenly roared and sat up, stretching out his arms and convulsing as he reached out his hands towards them.

Jiang Luo knew this would happen, but he didn't expect the "person's" head to fall off the moment he sat up. This was completely unexpected, and he screamed in fright, grabbing Gu Shiyue's arm tightly.

Gu Shiyue subconsciously put his arm around Jiang Luo's shoulder and took a few steps back with his arm around him.

The "head" slammed to the ground with a thud, rolled under the bed, and the "headless corpse" on the bed, with its outstretched arm, suddenly stopped, fell silent for a moment, and stiffly fell back onto the bed.

Jiang Luo was genuinely frightened, mainly by the "head" that suddenly fell down. It was so realistic that it landed on the person's neck with a snap, without any warning.

Jiang Luo's heart pounded with fear. She lowered her head and leaned against Gu Shiyue, still not having recovered.

Gu Shiyue looked down at him: "I thought you weren't afraid."

Jiang Luo wasn't really scared along the way. Gu Shiyue thought he was quite brave; nothing could frighten him. He was only focused on solving the problem.

Jiang Luo looked up at him, her voice a little weak: "I was scared, I was terrified..."

"I think you're quite bold."

Jiang Luo is indeed quite brave; at least the traps and NPCs along the way didn't scare him much.

When he came to his senses, he realized that he was almost leaning against Gu Shiyue's chest, his hands tightly gripping Gu Shiyue's arm, enveloped in his scent.

Psychological liking is inevitably accompanied by physiological liking.

Even the slightest physical contact is enough to make people intoxicated and linger.

Jiang Luo felt he might be out of his mind. He wasn't thinking about anything else; he just wanted to stick close to Gu Shiyue. If being afraid would allow him to get close to Gu Shiyue, then he might as well pretend.

"No, I'm not that brave. I was just pretending to be calm; I was really out of options." Jiang Luo released Gu Shiyue's arm, his fingers slowly sliding down his sleeve to the cuff, where he gently grasped it. He lowered his head and asked Gu Shiyue in a low voice, "I'm a little scared... Can I come with you?"

“I mean…” Jiang Luo pursed her lips slightly and tugged at his sleeve, “Just follow me like this.”

Gu Shiyue asked him, "Is this all you need?"

Jiang Luo looked up at him, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Not... yet."

"Can we hold hands?" Jiang Luo asked, her ears turning red.

"Can."

Before Gu Shiyue could even reach out his hand, Jiang Luo released his sleeve, her ears turning red, and took his hand in hers.

Jiang Luo was indeed out of his mind. He completely forgot that he was still dressed as an anime character. However, as soon as he saw the cat teacher on the bag, he instantly remembered and immediately let go of Gu Shiyue's hand.

"Why did you let go?" Gu Shiyue asked him.

Jiang Luo seemed to wake from a dream, lowered her eyes, and said, "Because I'm not Jiang Luo today. The one who wants to hold your hand... is Jiang Luo."