His Cute Wife is a Little Crazy

693 MANGLED FLESH

“Please step out of the elevator.” The mechanical voice from the unit said.

There was obvious hesitation from these giants of industries. No one wanted to leave the comfort of the lift when they knew they were deep underground. They might get trapped. However, someone spoke up as soon as the elevator stopped.

“Baby, I don’t want to stay in the elevator anymore. It is so stuffy.” Hu Lei said in a coquettish tone while pulling on Zhong Feng’s arm. “Can we go out?”

The man did not respond in words or with a gesture. However, he walked out of the lift with her still clinging to him like a limpet. The other people were not so confident, and the small space outside looked quite unsafe.

Yagi, Inei and Emi were all thinking of finding a mechanism to operate the lift and return to the upper floors. However, their thoughts were cut short.

“This elevator will release and drop in ten seconds.” The mechanical voice added, and the lift shook. “Ten, nine…”

Shi stepped out immediately and warned. “You should all leave that elevator.”

“There is no way the elevator is going to drop,” Emi said.

Unfortunately, she did not have another moment to protest. Her brother understood Shi was serious, so he dragged her out. Yagi was only waiting to make sure Emi was safe, so he also followed them out. When the countdown ended, the elevator suddenly dropped.

.....

Then, the doors closed.

“Did that just happen?” Emi asked with an open mouth.

Inei wore a serious look on his beautiful face. “It seems like this exhibition will not be simple. You have to be more careful, Emi.”

Emi composed herself and tried to think of a logical explanation. “It was probably just part of the show. If one of us had been inside, it would probably not have dropped so quickly. There is no way they would try to kill us.”

The words seemed like they were meant for the group, but she was mostly trying to comfort herself. Despite her background, she had never had a life-and-death experience before. All her fights during childhood led to injuries but not life-threatening ones.

And when she left Martial Island to study, she was never in danger because she was stronger than almost everyone in the normal world. Most people on the outside were like little dolls she could break. For example, Yagi’s bodyguard…

It was unsettling to imagine being in that lift when it dropped suddenly. Even a short drop and a sudden stop would kill a person. It would be like being thrown against the tough steel walls of a box. Only mangled flesh would remain.

The thought of death in such a cruel way scared Emi. She did not want to die. She wanted to go home. Her mind drifted to the moments she had earlier in the day with Misaki and even Yagi. Regardless of the mishaps, she enjoyed that kind of normalcy.

She did not want to go back to the dog-eat-dog life like on Martial Island.

Her fear and wistfulness made her look to Yagi. It was an involuntary response on her part because neither had acknowledged a relationship since meeting in the group. She was not sure if he even wanted this group of weird people to know they knew each other.

When the elevator closed, a new door opened on the opposite side.

The space revealed was shocking to all, but most of all, to Hu Lei and Zhong Feng. The new room was a laboratory. But it was not just any laboratory. The escape room was familiar, especially to Hu Lei. She understood what Frank meant earlier.

The couple looked at each other subtly.

“I guess we should go in,” Inei spoke this time. He did not want his sister to become the only voice in the ‘team’. He could already see that this entire experience or ‘exhibit’ was a twisted plot by the owner. It would not be easy to get out.

“Do you think this floor is like the elevator?” Emi could not resist putting in her two cents.

When she was a regular girl in Martial Island, she knew the importance of action over words. However, she had become adapted to life as a teacher. So, she tended to speak her thoughts with clarity. It was a useful tool in teaching.

Unfortunately, her constant chatter was a little annoying to these people whose minds were trying to process the situation.

But, Yagi found her curious and open personality charming. He was used to people keeping their cards close to their chests. So, Emi was like a breath of fresh air. He liked her direct way of confronting things and involving people in her thought process.

“I doubt. We have been standing here for a while, and nothing has moved.” Yagi said. “I think this is a transitionary but inert space.”

Emi lit up. “You mean that this space will be open for use but nothing can happen here?”

Yagi smiled involuntarily. He did not want to show his cards before people he did not know if they were foes or friends. However, Emi was irresistible when she was excited about things. She became like the morning sun.

“Exactly. Right now, we can either go into the room ahead of us. I am guessing it is an escape room, just like the one we just watched in the competition. Behind us, we have an elevator shaft. If I am not wrong, we are at least ten floors under the ground.” Yagi explained.

“Thirteen.” Someone spoke up.

Zhong Feng had incredible spatial awareness. To be more accurate, he could calculate anything as long as he understood the variables. For instance, when they stepped into the elevator, he knew the dimensions of the lift and calculated the speed of the descent.

With that information, he could determine the number of floors they had descended into the ground. Of course, he meant thirteen floors from the ground floor where the main casino was located. He was sure he was not wrong.

He had never been wrong. At most, he was misguided by the provided data once in a while.

Yagi did not argue. “Regardless of the number of floors, we do not have other options apart from stepping into this creepy laboratory. It is probably an escape room, so we might need to solve some puzzles to get out.”

“After you, Mr Yakuza Mogul.” Inei was irritated by the obvious attempt to pick up his sister.

Yagi could not resist giving Inei a dirty look, even though the man was close to Emi. For now, he did not know the man would be his brother-in-law if he succeeded in his pursuit. It was clear Inei just wanted to cause trouble for him in an already difficult situation.

“Let’s all just go into the creepy and not-at-all deadly laboratory.” Emi interrupted Yagi’s possible response.

Her sarcastic words proved prophetic.