Chapter 5: Plants

After a minute of silence, Robin replied:

【Huh?】

This dismissive response, as if she were shrugging her shoulders, made Shi Rang realize that he would have to take on the role of "Game Master" this time—he was responsible for guiding the story, and naturally, for participating in it as well.

He was indeed a newcomer to this "online community" at the Bureau Headquarters, but he was no novice when it came to tabletop role-playing games.

"I need more information. Do you know where you are in Facility 031? Are you above ground or below? Is there a room number or a specific location?"

【This isn't funny at all! You’re right on the other side of the camera, aren't you? Want to watch me get locked in the server room and lose my mind in terror? This isn't funny, !!1 Open the door, or I’m going to report you!】

Robin’s agitation was palpable; not only had her typing speed increased, but she was so flustered that her punctuation had become chaotic.

What a brilliant performance!

Shi Rang couldn't help but admire the other player's commitment to the role.

In his mind, Robin was no longer just a stranger on the other side of the screen; she had become an unfortunate engineer trapped in a server room—panicked, furious, and unwilling to believe that such a disaster could befall her. Her character had instantly become three-dimensional.

It was almost as if it were real!

For any Game Master, encountering such a player was a stroke of luck.

He had to bring his best to the table.

Something had changed at the Headquarters; a red box had appeared in the upper-left corner of the main page. He had been too focused on the friends list before to notice it.

【! Containment Breach at Facility 031!】

He guessed this was likely some sort of "site-wide event."

Following the link embedded in the box, Shi Rang easily found the relevant settings for this facility, covering everything from the floor plan to various details. This was the best source material a Game Master could have—a "module"!

However, he couldn't easily act as an omniscient entity and directly command "Robin" on what to do.

If both parties bypassed their "characters" to reach a consensus from a higher-dimensional perspective, it would violate the logic of the story—a common pitfall known as "metagaming."

As an "unknown outside contact," he first had to earn Robin's trust.

A qualified Game Master drives the story forward logically, role-playing secondary characters within the narrative. Even if a player knows the Game Master holds the absolute correct clues and answers, they should still act according to their character's perspective—doubting, judging, deciding, and searching for the truth.

That was the joy of role-playing.

"I'm not joking, Robin. Every word I say to you is true. It’s a miracle you were able to contact me, so I hope you will answer my questions seriously from now on. Your life depends on it." Shi Rang carefully typed out this message. Just as his finger hovered over the Enter key, Robin sent the next line.

【The alarm stopped. Did you do that?】

【Or was it just a drill?】

【The door seems to have unlocked; I didn't even notice. Did you help with that?】

【I apologize, I overreacted just now. It really scared me; I’m not familiar with this place of yours yet.】

【I'm going to go out and take a look.】

Perhaps she felt he was typing too slowly. Robin had started to take the initiative in driving the story forward.

Shi Rang copied the long paragraph he had been drafting into another window for later use and urged, "Stay safe."

He had to take this chance to look through the module content.

【I have a wrench.】

***

"Talking about the facility initiating automated extermination... that's as absurd as going out for a slice of pizza, only to be told a meteor is currently tracking down everyone who eats pizza..."

With the heavy wrench in her grip, Robin felt much calmer.

At the very least, this time it wasn't someone locking her in the server room just to scare her.

The armed security guard who had brought her down earlier had said he would come by every two hours to let people out to use the restroom and such. It was about time, so opening the door to peek out and ask about the alarm probably wouldn't be a big deal... right?

The server room door had been locked, but now the access light had turned green. Robin’s [E-10917] employee ID, hanging around her neck, would be enough to swipe it open.

As the two iron doors slid into the walls with a hiss, an empty corridor came into view.

The alarm had stopped. The guard wasn't standing post outside, and no one else was in the hallway. Aside from that, it looked just as it had when Robin first took off her hood—a long corridor, pale lighting, and endless rows of doors on both sides.

*Thump, thump, thump...*

Rapid footsteps approached. A figure rushed around the corner, running toward Robin from a distance, waving their arms and seemingly shouting something. However, the distance was too great, and the voice was severely distorted.

Recognizing the black tactical armor, Robin finally felt a sense of familiarity and leaned out from the server room.

"Excuse me, what was that alarm about? I..."

She noticed a dark mass surging from behind the corner where the guard had appeared. It was some kind of substance spreading along the floor and walls. It moved quickly, looking like liquid, but...

At that moment, the guard finally ran closer.

The terror on his face and his shouting finally reached Robin.

"Run! Get to the shelter—!"

The ceiling suddenly collapsed. Countless rocks and debris crashed down, and the entire corridor was instantly plunged into darkness.

A few seconds later, the emergency lights flickered back on, bathing the concrete blocks and the guard trapped beneath them in an unsettling, bloody red glow.

Robin stood frozen, her mouth filled with dust. Her mind felt shattered; one part was screaming, another wanted to help, and a third part was shouting to run, run, and hide.

In the chaos, Robin took a step forward. Her glasses slid down her nose, but she didn't bother to fix them. She just reflexively reached out, as if she could reach the guard from this distance and offer aid.

Something was faster than she was.

A dense curtain of long hair dangled from the hole in the ceiling, descending at a visible speed until it touched the guard's skin. The poor man, pinned under the rubble, twitched. He seemed to muster his last bit of strength to lift his head toward Robin, his throat convulsing, his mouth opening—

A root sprouted from the guard's mouth.

They weren't hair; they were plants.

The guard’s body withered; his skin shrank, collapsed, and finally lost its luster, turning into a mummified corpse in seconds.

The root fell from the dead man's mouth to the floor, rapidly swelling and growing into a vine as thick as a finger, winding its way toward Robin, drawing closer and closer to the foot she had stepped out with such courage...

Robin regained control of her body.

In sheer terror, the unlucky electrical engineer turned to run, but her legs were stiff with fear, causing her to sprawl onto the ground.

The vines gave chase, spreading and creeping across the floor and walls, swallowing everything.

Robin crawled into the brightly lit server room, bracing herself against the wall, reaching out to touch the access switch.

*Hurry!*

Her hand slapped the area below the switch, but she was still an inch short.

The vine crawled over the threshold, growing rapidly in all directions, searching for moisture and biomass.

*Hurry!*

Robin scrambled upward again, but her legs wouldn't obey. No matter how she clawed, she could only reach the edge of the panel.

A vine sensed the vibration on the ground and slithered toward the foot the engineer was dragging behind her.

Just as she reached out to touch the switch again, the wrench came into her field of vision.

*The wrench, I'm still holding the wrench!*

The wrench slammed into the switch.

The server room doors clamped together with terrifying force and speed, like a pair of guillotine blades snapping shut, severing the vine's roots and cutting it off from the main body.

The plant, full of vigorous vitality, twitched on the floor before finally going still.

Robin, still shaken, stared fixedly at the door, not daring to blink, as she slowly retreated into the depths of the room, terrified that more hair-like roots might snake through the door gap at any second.

Then, she felt a tug on her foot.

The engineer’s gaze followed the roots, which had spread out like an unfolding hand, all the way down to her own foot.

At some point, the terrifying plant had grabbed her shoe and coiled around it. Deprived of the nutrients from its roots, the vine twitched one last time, tightening its grip, before going limp.

Robin kicked her feet wildly to break free, then scrambled to the back of the room with the fastest speed of her life, curling into a ball while clutching the wrench.

After a long while, she finally found the strength to scream.