Filed to story: A Second Chance with My Billionaire Love
Halston glared at Xavier and said coldly, “You all go ahead and look for clues. I’ll bring up the rear.” Although it was a childish game, he would always take note of his surroundings. If all of them went into the hospital, they might be doomed if there was a trap inside the hospital or if there were other clues that were not in the lobby.
“What clues should we be looking for?” Jeffrey asked naively, “Should we be looking for a key or treasure? I don’t see any treasure here.”
“We’re here to find treasure. Look around and see if you can find any gold or jewelry!” Flossie patted Jeffrey’s head and tried to comfort him the way she would with Adie and Abby. She did see Jeffrey as her older son in some aspects since she grew up with him. Knowing he was scared, she made the game into a treasure hunt for him.
“Yeah, I love finding treasure!” Jeffrey’s eyes lit up, and he said eagerly, “Don’t worry, Flossie-I’m an expert in finding treasure. You know I’ve loved looking for treasure in the sea since I was a child. If it’s easy for me in such a big ocean, this hospital with just a few floors is nothing.”
“Wow, that’s great. Go ahead!” Flossie smiled and gave Jeffrey a thumbs-up, and off he went in search of treasure.
“Now I know this guy isn’t a brat-he’s an idiot!” Justin muttered in disbelief, his hostility towards Jeffrey decreasing. There was no way this naive and pure kid could be a rival in love. Halston, however, was his biggest threat.
“But what clues should we be looking for?” Leia asked, slowly getting used to the surroundings. She stood in the middle of the lobby and looked around.
‘Let’s read the background of the story,” Flossie suggested.
“That makes sense! Listen up, guys. I’ll start reading.” Leia took out her handbook and flipped through it. Under the dim light of the chandelier, she cleared her throat and said, “Hello, welcome to my world. My name is Jayla. I was a patient in this hospital twenty years ago.”
“I got a strange disease, and the doctors and nurses had no idea what it was. Eventually, I died in the hospital, but my family insisted that I didn’t die because of the disease. They claimed that the hospital staff had harmed and killed me, so they refused to take my body away from the hospital, insistent on finding out the truth… However, something happened, and my soul became trapped in the hospital. Now, I wander the hospital every night. Please help me find the murderer and take me away. Please help my soul rest in peace.” Leia finished reading the background story, and she took a deep breath, her heart pounding. “Did this place make all that up, or did it really happen? It’s so creepy!”
*Find the murderer and help the soul rest in peace,” Justin summarized and snapped his fingers. ‘That’s our objective. Let’s get going!” As a programming genius, his critical thinking skills were top-notch. He loved mysteries and solving puzzles, so he was looking forward to this.
They stood in the lobby and started looking for clues. Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed by.
“Ah, it’s a ghost!” Leia was the first to notice the dark shadow, and she screamed, clinging tightly to Xavier. “Did you see that shadow on the wall? It’s a ghost! It had long hair and a long tongue! Oh, I want to stop playing this game… It’s so scary! I want to leave,” Leia babbled anxiously. Although she knew that the game hadn’t even started and others would laugh at her for a year if she left, she still didn’t want to stay. She couldn’t help it-she felt that staying alive was more important than adventure.
*Calm down. This place is doing these things on purpose to make the atmosphere scarier. If you leave now, you’ll only be giving them free business, Xavier tried to comfort Leia, who was pale with fear. Truth be told, he was scared too. The dark shadow really did look like a ghost watching them in the corner.
‘Guys, come here. What’s this?” Flossie had been looking for clues, and had finally found a rusty iron hook in a corner of the wall. Everyone went over to see the iron hook in Flossie’s hand, except for Halston who was standing at the door.
“What is this hook for?” Justin took it and studied it curiously. “Is the black stain on it rust, or…”
“Blood?” Flossie chimed in. She had sniffed the iron hook when she held it just now, and it smelled like blood. “If it is blood, does it have something to do with Jayla’s death?”
Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and a huge net fell onto them.
“Ah, we’re going to die!” Leia howled, struggling wildly in the net.
‘Calm down, it’s just a net. We won’t die. We’ll figure a way out. Xavier hugged Leia, patiently trying to comfort her.
It was a blessing in disguise. Xavier rarely had the chance to play the protective boyfriend back then, so he was overjoyed that he could now.
“Flossie, I… I’m feeling scared!” Jeffrey leaned against Flossie, looking helpless. “I used to be afraid of nets. We used them to fish, but now… we’re trapped in one! I’m sure we’ll be chopped into little pieces like those fish!”
“Of course that won’t happen. You’re so cute!” Flossie wasn’t scared, she just found the net uncomfortable. She tried to pat Jeffrey’s hand through the net. “Jeffrey, you’re a son of the sea. You’ve been through a lot and survived it, so don’t be scared!”
“A son of the sea? Is that like the king of the sea? Does that mean he’s a playboy who has plenty of fish in his sea?” Justin growled. He was also squeezed in with Jeffrey, and he couldn’t take the way he always begged for Flossie’s protection. It made Flossie protective of him, and then Justin couldn’t be protective of Flossie…
“The king of the sea?” Jeffrey looked happy with the nickname, and tried to turn to Justin with a naive grin. “I like the sound of that, Justin! It fits me since I grew up on the beach, and the sea is like my home. I would like to become the king of the sea!”
“Ugh…” Defeated, Justin cleared his throat. “Since you like it so much, I’ll call you that from now on. It suits you well.”
“Can the two of you stop talking nonsense and at least try to appreciate this escape room?” Flossie grumbled. The center put so much thought into this, so hurry up and think of a way to escape. King of the sea… Do you think you’re a fish?”
“Well, I’m a fish in your sea, right?” Justin muttered.
“What did you say?” Flossie asked curiously.
‘Nothing. Let’s get out of here!” Justin sighed and started tugging the net, studying it carefully to figure out how to escape.
Suddenly, the rumbling sound of a chainsaw echoed in the empty lobby. It grew louder, accompanied by heavy footsteps.
“W-What is that?” Leia shuddered in despair. She felt like she had just spent money to get tortured.
“My friends, you finally came… The sound of the chainsaw lingered in the lobby as a dark figure stood there. He laughed at them. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Did you come for Jayla?”
“Yeah, you… Did you kill Jayla?” Leia asked tremulously, holding Xavier’s arm tightly. Even though she was scared, a small part of her was enjoying the game.
‘No, I’m Jayla’s guardian!” The dark figure boomed, the chainsaw roaring in his hands. It felt like the god of death was approaching them. ‘Everyone who enters this hospital wants to harm Jayla. All of you should be punished!” “Ah!” Everyone squeezed together anxiously, trying to get away from the intruder.
Even Xavier was terrified at this point. “What should we do? We’re trapped! If we wait any longer, he’s going to cut us up!”
‘There has to be a way to resolve this,” Flossie mumbled thoughtfully. She and Flossie were both calm as they examined the net, trying to find a way to escape.
“Do we need to use the iron hook to cut the net open?” Flossie stared at the iron hook, feeling like there had to be a use for it.
“I don’t think so. The net is too thick, so the iron hook won’t be able to cut it open,” Justin disagreed.
“Not necessarily.” Flossie kept studying the net and said carefully, “The net is symmetrical, and the iron hook is sharp and thin. If we cut the net according to the lines, we might be able to cut a hole in it and escape.”
“Stop overthinking-that has to be it!” Terrified, Leia grabbed the hook from Flossie and cut the net according to the lines.
“Are you ready, my friends? You’re about to die.” The figure walked over to them slowly. He raised the chainsaw, smiling bitterly. “My Jayla is the purest girl in the world… Why can’t you guys let her go?”
“What do you mean? We don’t know what you’re talking about.” Leia hissed in frustration as she cut the net.
“How could you not know? You villains desired Jayla’s charms and forcefully made her yours. Then, she got pregnant…” The dark figure said gloomily, “You locked Jayla up in the cellar to keep the affair a secret. She couldn’t ask for help, so she could only await her death in the dark.”
‘No, you’re wrong about us! Let us go. We’ll avenge Jayla, okay?” Leia was scared at first, but now she felt like the man was too absorbed in the game. He kept talking and ignoring their words, and the iron hook was too blunt to cut through the net. It looked like they wouldn’t be able to escape. “This guy doesn’t seem to be faking it. Is he a ghost who snuck into this place? Does he want to kill us to offer us as sacrifices to Jayla?”
“How can that be?” Justin scoffed. “Think about it rationally-he should be a middle-aged man if he really is Jayla’s guardian, but he just sounds like a college student…” Even though he said that, Justin still made the sign of the cross and mumbled, “Dear God, please keep us safe.” He was worried that Leia was right and that a real ghost had snuck in.
Flossie, however, was rather calm. She said to the figure, ‘Tell me how Jayla died.’
*All of you harmed her… Sanctimonious people like you harmed and killed her!”
“Let me ask you another question: Does this iron hook belong to her?” Flossie asked quickly.
Leia complained, “Flossie, I get that you’re in love with the iron hook, but we have to get out of here.” Flossie’s attention had been fixed on that iron hook all night.
“Iron hook…” The dark figure stopped, his voice shaky as he mumbled, “My Jayla died miserably. I’ve got to kill you… I’ve got to kill all of you!” Seemingly triggered by the mention of the iron hook, the figure held up the chainsaw and rushed towards them. He roared at them, “Give me the iron hook! Give it to me now, or I’ll cut you with my chainsaw!”
“Why do you need it?” Leia swallowed, about to hand the hook to him.
“No, don’t give it to him!” Flossie snatched it from Leia and hid it behind her. “Since he insists on having this, it must be important. Maybe it’s the key to clearing the levels. We can’t give it to him.”
‘But he’ll kill us if we don’t give it to him!”
‘Let’s think of something. There has to be another way!”
“There’s no other way. If we keep thinking about it and not doing anything, we’ll be cut into pieces. It’ll be game over for us then!” Leia wanted to give up the hook to survive, but Flossie felt that it was too important to give up. The figure looked at Flossie and said, “Since you refuse to give the hook to me, I’ll start with you-“
“What are you going to do?” Flossie calmly faced the clark figure. “Why don’t you keep me here and let them go? I’ll fight you one-on-one. If you can snatch the hook from me, I’ll let you have it. If you can’t, it means you’re weak. What do you think?”
“One-on-one?” The figure thought about it briefly, then nodded. ‘You’re bold. I agree.”