I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

"Tianyin, you've finally arrived... Have you already seen me?"

Upon hearing Fukuyama Shisho's question, Amane nodded slightly.

"You are the third Shisho Fukuyama I have met."

"A third one? The number has increased again, which means... there are two more imposters of mine? It seems that something evil has really infiltrated the haunted house..."

Du Fushan Shichang muttered to himself as he stood up from behind the cashier and went straight to Tianyin.

"So what do you want from me here?"

"We want to get out."

Tenon's simple and straightforward words made Fukuyama Shisho laugh.

"I really don't know who said such a thing to you, Tianyin. Let me tell you the truth: if I knew how to get out, you wouldn't still be here to see me. There are only two ways to get out: one is to keep going, and the other is to take the special passage."

Fukuyama pointed to a wall with marks of being hit by a heavy object, indicating that someone had tried to break through the wall but failed.

Amane remembered that location, and it was exactly the same location where Shimizu had left. This meant that the previous Fukuyama Shisho hadn't lied to her, and Shimizu was most likely not acting either...

Just then, Tianyin suddenly realized a possibility that she had been ignoring.

What if these people are really fulfilling the duties of NPCs? In general haunted houses or escape rooms, there are always people who play NPCs to prank or intimidate the participants in order to create fear.

However, in addition to scaring customers, the NPCs in escape room themed rooms are often responsible for guiding customers to obtain clues to solve the puzzle and help them escape successfully.

What if Shimizu's escape was actually preparation for an even more spectacular performance next time, or perhaps he was telling Amane how to escape from here?

If it's the former, then Shimizu's escape route from the haunted house was to prove to Amane that the route did indeed exist, thereby increasing Amane's trust in Fukuyama Shishō. But if it's the latter... does that mean that to clear the game, one must return to the previous Fukuyama Shishō and use that route to escape?

That's right!

That must be it.

Tenon suddenly realized that she was different from the other trapped people: she had met Fukuyama Shisho three times, while the others had only met him twice. But if she wanted to pass the level, she had to meet him three times.

That means the others didn't have a different experience than Tianyin; rather, they missed Fukuyama Shisho, who could have cleared the game ahead of time.

As for why they were missed, Amane judged that Arisu must have used visual illusions to lead these people to a side road, and then let them take different paths before finally converging here.

This is not just a simple haunted house, but an escape room themed around a haunted house, using a maze as its framework!

So, where should we go if we keep walking?

After careful consideration, Tenon was certain that besides the passage through the second Fukuyama Shisho, there must be another passage.

This aligns with what Shisho Fukuyama said.

"It's very simple, just leave through behind this wooden door."

Fukuyama Shisho pointed to another intact wooden door not far away. This wooden door was not much different from the one that Tianyin had seen last time. In fact, every ticket office that Tianyin had entered had two wooden doors, one in front and one behind, with no difference whatsoever.

But the wooden door in front of Tianyin gave her a completely different feeling; it was too complete.

If one wooden door is damaged, how can the other one remain intact? This clearly defies common sense.

Before Amane could even ask, Hasebe, who had clearly noticed the situation, preemptively asked the question.

"Since one of the ways to pass through is right in front of you, Fukuyama, why don't you leave from here?"

This incisive question caused Shisho Fukuyama to fall into a brief silence.

After hesitating for a moment, Fukuyama Shisho finally spoke again to answer Hasebe's question.

"I want to leave too... but have you ever considered what might happen if I bumped into another version of myself behind this door...? What terrible things could happen?"

It must be said that although Fukuyama Shisho had many flaws at this point, the scene she imagined based on her speech was indeed terrifying enough that Hasebe nodded with an understanding look on his face.

"Then I'll take Haruka here."

"Tianyin, are you really sure? What if you encounter a fourth me later?"

"Then I'll give her a good punch in the face. I want to see who dares to play tricks on me."

Tenon glanced indifferently at Fukuyama Shisho.

Fukuyama Shisho was clearly frightened by Amane's extremely intimidating gaze, and his face turned slightly terrified.

It was this performance that convinced Amane that she was not Fukuyama Shisho.

Despite her seemingly delicate and gentle demeanor, like a kind and caring older sister, Fukuyama Shishou possesses an incredibly resolute heart. Even when facing Amane, she shows no sign of backing down, a quality essential for anyone who is also a 'strong person'.

In contrast, Shinobu Fukuyama, the younger sister of Shinobu Fukuyama, although she inherited her sister's excellent talents and was also exceptionally skilled in martial arts, has never been able to cross that threshold.

That's why Tenon was able to tell at a glance that Fukuyama Shisho in front of her was a fake.

Without Fukuyama Shisho's persuasion, Amane took Hasebe's hand and opened the wooden door in front of her. Just as she was about to continue searching for her way, a sudden burst of brightness almost blinded her.

Once Tianyin's eyes had adjusted to the light, she was suddenly shocked to realize that the exit was right behind the door!

"Oh no, I didn't expect Ayumu to be here at this last step!"

Tianyin clutched her head in regret.

Although walking out of the escape room without solving the puzzle is considered a victory, it is still a genuine loss in the game.

Chapter 293: Liking

When Arisu saw Amane holding her head and looking utterly hopeless on the computer screen connected to the surveillance camera, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Congratulations, Sakayanagi-san! This time, we've finally defeated Miyako with our strength!"

"To be honest, this is the first time I've seen Miyako look dejected. I never thought your plan would actually work, Sakayanagi-san. It's unbelievable. But I don't quite understand why you would fall for Fukuyama-san's trick when you were so sure that Miyako could figure out how to get through the haunted house?"

A girl asked, puzzled.

“Yeah, I don’t understand either. If what Sakayanagi said is true, and Miyako-san can see through our plan, then she has even less reason to risk choosing a path that may lead to unknown dangers.”

Seeing how curious everyone was about this, Arisu, in a great mood, didn't mind sharing her knowledge of Amane with them.

“What you said is actually correct. According to normal people’s thinking, when faced with various uncertain dangers and inexplicable bizarre situations, most people’s first reaction would be to think about escaping the haunted house.”

As Arisu finished speaking, she reached out and snapped her fingers lightly.

"But Tianyin is Tianyin. She has absolute confidence in her strength and the courage not to be afraid or back down when faced with danger."

A person with both strength and courage might be a remarkable warrior, but he could also be a reckless fool. However, Tianyin can use wisdom that is in no way inferior to strength and courage to drive these two powerful forces. This is an important reason why Tianyin can win with an overwhelming advantage when competing with other equally powerful people.

However, the smarter a person is, the more obvious their flaws tend to be, such as being suspicious or having a thirst for knowledge.

A wise person should learn how to avoid risks; this is the principle behind the wise person not standing under a crumbling wall.

Arisu glanced at the group of people who were all listening attentively, and a satisfied smile appeared on her lips.

Arisu really enjoys these moments when everyone listens attentively to her talk about how excellent her own Amane is.

It's a pity there were too few people this time. Should we talk about it again in class next time?

"But Tianyin is not afraid of any danger, because she has the strength to solve all troubles, so trying to trick or deceive Tianyin is the worst thing you can do."

Because once Tianyin discovers a problem, she will decisively eliminate the source that may cause the problem. Only by putting everything out in the open and deliberately showing her what seems to be the most difficult trap, will Tianyin, even if she knows it is a trap, still want to see what kind of trap it is.

So I disguised one of the options for passing the level as a trap. That way, the moment Tianyin opened the door out of curiosity, the haunted house adventure game was already over.

This is the simplest way I can think of to trick Tianyin into falling into their trap.

……

"Arisu? Amane, are you talking about Sakayanagi-san? Did we fall for her trick? But... didn't we already come out?"

Hasebe looked at Amane, who was holding her head and looking dejected, with a puzzled expression.

Hasebe thought that Amane had already led her to escape from the haunted house, which should have been a happy thing. So why did Amane say that she had been tricked by Arisu as soon as she came out?

Just as Tianyin was about to explain what kind of trick she had been tricked, a figure emerged from the door. This person was none other than 'Fukuyama Shisho' whom she had just met.

However, Fukuyama Shisho was no longer in a state of utter despair. Instead, he looked triumphantly at Amane, who had lost the adventure.

"Hmph~ I knew Tianyin would be fooled by me, but my sister didn't believe me. Even a smart girl like Tianyin is outmatched by me, right? Hahahaha."

Fukuyama Shisho stood there with his hands on his hips and laughed loudly.

With a dark expression, Tianyin walked to the opposite side of 'Fukuyama Shisho' and stared at her fiercely.

"Oh, Ren! You've actually teamed up with Shichang to lie to me now! And I trusted you so much..."

"Hehehe~ Who told you, Tianyin, to be so focused on staring at my chest? You were careless now, weren't you?"

"Damn it! That's slander! I wasn't even looking at you last time!!"

When Amane heard that Fukuyama Shinobu was still slandering her in front of Hasebe, she immediately spoke up to refute him and try to prove her innocence. Although Amane did stare at him for a while, it was to determine whether the Fukuyama Shinobu she met at the end was the real person. Amane had no mind to think about such things in that situation.

"Huh? Oh! I get it, I need to make a good impression on my new girlfriend, I know, I know~"

Fukuyama Shinobu winked at Amane with a suggestive look, a gesture that infuriated Amane so much that she wanted to go in right now and teach Fukuyama Shinobu a lesson.

"Aren't you afraid I'll go in and teach you a lesson on behalf of Shichang?"

"Hehe, if you were still in the haunted house, I wouldn't dare talk to you like this, but Tianyin, you're out now~ Coming back in would be against the rules, so Tianyin, you can't... bully me... Ah? Tianyin, how did you get in?"

Fukuyama Shinobu was so startled by Amane's quick step into the room that he instinctively took a few steps back.

She never expected that Tianyin would even disregard the rules of the haunted house just to bully her.

Wait a minute! Fukuyama Shinobu suddenly realized that Shimizu, who had gone out earlier, should be nearby and responsible for stopping people who wanted to break the rules and enter. How come Amane has already returned to the haunted house, but there's no movement from Shimizu's side?

At this moment, Shimizu, who was hiding around the corner, witnessed Tenon's behavior of rushing back into the haunted house. Although Shimizu wanted to stop Tenon, the thought of him stopping Tenon made his scalp tingle. Asking him to stop Tenon's illegal behavior without any benefit to him... was giving him too much credit.

After much hesitation, Shimizu chose to ignore it.

Anyway, Amane and Fukuyama have a good relationship, so even if they have a little scuffle, it shouldn't cause any serious problems, right?

"Haruka, please wait for me outside for a moment. I'll be done soon."

Amane turned around, smiled, said something to Hasebe, and then closed the wooden door again.

Just as Hasebe was about to persuade Amane not to bully Fukuyama Shinobu, he heard a rather unserious voice coming from inside.

Hasebe immediately blushed and left the room. Several minutes later, Amane came out looking like she hadn't had enough. Fukuyama Shinobu, on the other hand, was holding onto the door frame with one hand and covering his backside with the other, shouting loudly at Amane's back.

"I will have my sister avenge me!"

"Shichang? Tell her to come and get revenge on me. I also have something I'd like to have a good talk with her about."

"Alright, my business is settled, Haruka, let's go."

"Huh? Is this okay?"

Hasebe hesitated as he faced Amane's outstretched hand.

"Hmm? Haruka, did you forget something in the haunted house? Should I ask Shinobu to help you look for it?"

When Amane saw that Hasebe didn't seem inclined to leave with her, she assumed he had left something behind in the haunted house.

"Sigh... Tianyin, didn't you put your phone in the locker?"

Seeing that Amane still hadn't reacted, Hasebe first sighed and then asked about the cell phone. As soon as the cell phone was mentioned, Amane suddenly slapped her forehead.

"If Haruka hadn't reminded me, I would have almost forgotten about this! My phone is still inside! Come on, let's go back and get it."

After saying that, Amane grabbed Hasebe's hand and hurriedly walked towards the haunted house.

Fukuyama Shinobu, who was muttering to Amane at the door, saw Amane return and assumed she had overheard him talking badly about her. Startled, he quickly closed the door, but the mere wooden door was no match for Amane, who wanted to retrieve her phone.

Despite his best efforts, Fukuyama Shinobu failed to hold the wooden door. After Amane entered the room, she didn't even wait for Fukuyama Shinobu to beg for mercy before hitting him on the buttocks several times.

Seeing that Amane was actually punishing Fukuyama Shinobu by spanking, Hasebe was so frightened that he instinctively wanted to protect his own buttocks.

Fukuyama Shinobu, who was beaten and had tears in her eyes, obediently led the way for Amane while clamoring for Fukuyama Shishō to avenge her.

With Fukuyama Shinobu leading the way, Amane quickly found Fukuyama Shisho, who was touching up her makeup, at the very beginning of the ticket booth.

The moment Fukuyama Shishou saw Amane, she immediately realized that Arisu's haunted house plan had been seen through, and a look of relief appeared on her face. The reason why Fukuyama Shishou felt relieved was that she had been afraid that she had really scared Amane. If Amane was traumatized by seeing 'Fukuyama Shishou' several times in the haunted house and then ignored her, she would really be devastated.

"Sister! Tianyin bullied me again!"

Upon seeing Fukuyama Shisho, Fukuyama Shinobu ran straight into her arms and poured out his troubles.

Fukuyama Shisho was also a bit confused by this turn of events, so he could only try to appease Fukuyama Shinobu.

"It's okay. You've been bullied plenty of times before anyway. This time it was you who deliberately scared Tianyin. Just listen to your sister and apologize to Tianyin, and it will all be over."

"..."

Fukuyama Shinobu was stunned for a moment, then picked at his ear.

Then, looking up at Fukuyama Shisho with an incredulous expression.