Chapter 101: Elevator Peril (2)

Thud! Thud!

The Elevator suddenly ground to a halt. Losing their balance, both men stumbled and bumped their heads against the floor.

Ignoring the pain, Chen Ran and Geng Hao immediately checked their Watches.

'Just now, the Elevator stopped for five minutes before it began to plummet. That means we have exactly five minutes of thinking time...'

'This time, the floor number is two. But if the floor number exceeds thirty-three next time, there is a high probability that the Elevator will crash into the top of the shaft. When that happens, surviving will be nearly impossible.'

'At the same time, if the next drop is to basement level one, we will also have a hard time getting out alive.'

'But that is not the main issue. The real fear is that this building might not even be that tall. It might not even take thirty-three floors for the entire Elevator to shoot right out of the shaft.'

Geng Hao looked at Chen Ran anxiously.

Chen Ran ignored his gaze and stared at the Elevator doors instead. "Don't you find it strange? The Elevator doors... didn't open."

"Since the doors are broken, even if we figure out which floor is the top floor later, we still will not be able to get out, will we?" Chen Ran countered.

Geng Hao frowned at the Elevator doors and asked uncertainly, "Are you saying we have to pry the doors open later?"

Chen Ran did not answer. Instead, he pointed a finger at the display screen next to the buttons.

Seeing the odd look on his face, Geng Hao turned his head stiffly. When he saw the number on the screen, he was nearly scared half to death.

16!

"How can this be? In my earlier deduction, this building only has eleven floors. Why is there a sixteenth floor?"

"Could it be..."

Geng Hao swallowed hard as he trailed off.

'If this building really only has eleven floors, and the Elevator has to ascend to the sixteenth floor...'

'It will crash through the roof!'

'In all kinds of Elevator accidents, whether it drops or crashes into the pit, there is a chance of survival. But crashing through the top...'

'Means almost certain death!'

He looked at Chen Ran again. Chen Ran, who had been mostly ignoring him, suddenly gave him an eerie smile.

Suddenly.

Without any warning, Chen Ran reached out and quickly pressed the number buttons...

[1] [8] [Confirm]

Geng Hao's eyes widened. The very next moment, he felt the Elevator rapidly ascending.

"What are you doing!"

Without another word, ignoring everything else, both he and Chen Ran immediately dropped to their sides on the Elevator floor. They curled their bodies and wrapped their arms around their heads. This was a brace position to prevent trampling, and also the standard maneuver for surviving an Elevator roof crash.

However, lying on his side on the floor, Chen Ran noticed that the screen still displayed...

16.

After about ten seconds, the Elevator finally stopped. Both men let out long sighs of relief, stood up, and hurriedly looked at the screen.

The number on the screen was: 3.

Before Geng Hao could react, Chen Ran's hand struck again.

He pressed [4] and [Confirm].

A sense of weightlessness struck again as the Elevator began to plummet rapidly. Geng Hao was so furious he wanted to curse, shooting a vicious glare at Chen Ran.

The two men once again leaned their backs against the inner walls of the Elevator, gripping the handrails and bending their knees.

During the descent, Chen Ran kept his eyes fixed on the screen and noticed the number remained at 3.

'So that is how it is!'

When the weightless sensation vanished, the Elevator had already stopped on the third floor. The doors remained shut.

And the number on the screen changed to...

17!

This time, even Geng Hao realized what was happening.

'The first descent was to the second floor.'

'The second descent was to the third floor.'

'The first ascent was to the sixteenth floor.'

'The second ascent was to the seventeenth floor.'

'With every ascent or descent, the floor number increases by one.'

'That means, if we cannot determine which floor is the top floor, crashing through the roof is only a matter of time.'

'At the same time, every time the Elevator stops, it pauses for exactly five minutes before ascending or descending again.'

'But when Chen Ran blindly pressed the buttons just now, he triggered a mechanism: immediate ascent or descent.'

Thinking of this, Geng Hao casually shifted his body to block the number buttons and asked, "What did you discover just now?"

"I discovered that we seem to be running out of time. We need to prepare in advance."

Having said that, he completely ignored Geng Hao.

He took out a rope and an iron hook from his backpack, securely tying the rope to the hook.

'Fortunately, Qiu Yinong and I made ample preparations before entering the Instance. Otherwise, this Escape Room Game would have been nearly impossible to survive.'

After securing the rope, Chen Ran took out food and water to replenish his stamina in advance.

Seeing this, Geng Hao grew anxious.

Chen Ran glanced at him. "The reason I am not telling you early is that I am afraid you will sabotage things. I will tell you the escape plan the moment I step out of the Elevator."

"Me, sabotage things? Have you forgotten? In this round of the Escape Room Game, if either of us dies, the survivor will not be able to clear the third Secret Room. We would be trapped in this Instance forever."

Chen Ran replied calmly, "The human heart is a complex thing. No one can predict what will happen next. For example, I have absolutely no idea what is going through your mind right now."

Geng Hao remained silent. "..."

The inside of the Elevator grew dead quiet. Geng Hao was visibly anxious; unable to sit still, he stood up, paced back and forth across the small space, and lit a Cigarette.

The short five minutes dragged on like a long century. Suddenly, the Elevator began its rapid ascent once again.

According to building regulations, any structure with an Elevator exceeding eighteen floors must have two emergency exits installed. Therefore, both men could be absolutely certain that the upcoming seventeenth floor was not the top floor.

Neither of them bothered taking any protective brace positions.

Before long.

The Elevator halted on the seventeenth floor. Chen Ran quickly climbed onto the handrail about half a meter off the floor, the rope and iron hook dangling securely from his waist.

Swinging his fists, he smashed wildly at the Elevator ceiling, quickly shattering its glass layer.

He inspected the damage carefully, locating the latches for the Elevator ceiling hatch. He cautiously pried the latches apart and pushed the hatch open.

Pressing his hands against the edges, he hoisted himself out of the cabin, emerging to stand on the exterior roof of the Elevator.

Just as he was about to move, he glanced down and saw Geng Hao standing right in front of the number buttons inside the cabin, glaring daggers at him. His posture sent a clear threat: if you do not give me the answer, I will send this Elevator plummeting and smash you to death.

Chen Ran thought for a moment before saying, "Staying inside the Elevator is a guaranteed death sentence. The crucial escape points are on the 3A floor and the 17A floor. I chose the 17A floor, leaving the 3A floor for you. Also..."

"Good luck."

With that said, he unhooked the rope from his waist and looked up at the eighteenth floor. He swung the iron hook twice before it finally caught onto the ledge of the eighteenth-floor landing. He gave it a firm tug to ensure it was secure, and only when he felt it was safe did he slowly begin to climb up.

Perhaps driven by his sheer will to survive, or perhaps because he had left his heavy backpack and jacket behind in the Elevator, Chen Ran climbed incredibly fast.

In just about three minutes, his hands managed to grip the ledge of the eighteenth floor.

However, when he got a clear look at the eighteenth floor, his blood ran completely cold.

It was a solid wall!

There was absolutely no space beyond it; the ledge was so narrow that it could only barely accommodate a single person standing.

'This must be an Escape Room Game that demands cooperation. When the Elevator ascends to the nineteenth floor, the person standing on the roof of the cabin has to time it perfectly. They must jump the exact moment the Elevator begins to descend, grabbing the edge of the eighteenth floor with both hands as they fall.'

'Such a highly difficult maneuver requires perfect coordination between the person inside and the person outside...'

'But Geng Hao and I are far from being cooperative partners. Getting off at the seventeenth floor was my only choice.'

Standing on the narrow ledge of the eighteenth floor.

Chen Ran suddenly realized that before the five-minute timer was even up, the Elevator began a rapid descent.

"Does he think I am still climbing the shaft and is trying to show me who is boss?"