Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Physical Contact

The young man’s eyes were filled with regret, but he still replied obediently.

"Alright then."

Cecilia Croft maintained a polite, distant smile, standing still as she waited for Sebastian Hawthorne.

As the young man walked away, he kept looking back at Cecilia, as if waiting for her to change her mind and call out to him.

Cecilia saw through his intentions and said nothing.

After a few steps, he turned back to Cecilia and said earnestly.

"How about we exchange contact info?"

Cecilia got a strange feeling and rejected him without a second thought. "Sorry, I don’t have my phone on me."

The young man gave a dejected smile. "If you don’t want to add me, just say so. You don’t have to lie about not having your phone." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Cecilia’s expression remained neutral as she said calmly.

"Oh. Well, in that case, I don’t want to add you."

The young man’s face went pale for a second before he finally turned and walked deeper into the corridor.

Cecilia arched an eyebrow. Watching his lonely figure retreat, she thought, ’It seems like spending so much time with Sebastian Hawthorne has made some of his sharp-tongued nature rub off on me.’

Sebastian Hawthorne finished speaking with the manager and strode toward her. Seeing her gazing thoughtfully down the corridor, he asked.

"What are you looking at?"

Cecilia: "A handsome guy?"

Sebastian’s eyes darkened. "Is there something wrong with your eyes again?"

Cecilia clicked her tongue, pulling her gaze back to Sebastian. "I’m serious," she said.

"There really was a handsome guy. He even hit on me and asked to team up with us. But I turned him down, for your sake."

Sebastian gazed down at her, his eyes exceptionally dark and deep.

Cecilia: "It’s true."

Sebastian: "Then I suppose I should thank you for being so considerate."

Cecilia smiled. "There’s no need for such formalities between us."

"Let’s go." Seemingly pleased by her response, the corners of Sebastian’s lips curved into a slight smile as he strode deeper into the corridor.

Cecilia followed him.

As they reached the end of the corridor, all the lights went out, leaving only the faint glow of kerosene lamps on the walls.

The flames on the wicks swayed back and forth. They hadn’t even entered the game proper, yet an unnerving sense of unknown dread was already settling in.

This type of immersive indoor game had become popular in recent years.

’But I’ve always been too busy with work to ever try one.’

’I never thought my first time would be with Sebastian Hawthorne.’

Cecilia looked up at Sebastian, a subtle emotion flickering in her eyes.

Just then, Sebastian turned back. Their eyes met, and he naturally reached out and took her hand in his.

"I chose the most intense experience. If you get scared, stick close to me."

Cecilia felt a steady warmth spread from her hand, held firmly in Sebastian’s palm.

For some reason, her heart began to beat inexplicably faster.

The music in the room began to change. As the environment shifted, it emitted atmospheric sounds, layered with a tense and frightening background score.

After the long hallway, they entered a room, and the environment before them transformed.

The scene was so realistic that it created a sense of dissonance for Cecilia, both visually and psychologically.

She couldn’t help but tighten her grip on Sebastian’s hand.

"Mr. Hawthorne, what theme did you pick?"

Sebastian: "Tomb Raiding."

Cecilia: "That doesn’t mean there will be zombies, does it?"

Sebastian: "I didn’t read the description."

Cecilia: "..."

The set design was so realistic that Cecilia truly felt like she was deep inside a burial chamber.

Suddenly, a spider dropped down in front of her, dangling from a long strand of silk. Its eyes glowed red as it swung before her face.

Cecilia gasped, gripping Sebastian’s hand tightly. Even though she kept telling herself it was fake, the moment she locked eyes with the spider, she was still terrified.

Sebastian turned his head and saw Cecilia frozen in fear. Just as he was about to pull her closer, the spider’s silk suddenly snapped, and it dropped onto her shoe.

Cecilia quickly shook it off, but to her horror, the spider started moving after hitting the floor and began crawling toward her.

Thoroughly frightened, Cecilia instinctively pressed closer to Sebastian.

Sebastian put an arm around her, guiding her back a few steps.

They watched as the spider scurried into a small hole next to where Cecilia had been standing.

Sebastian glanced down at the woman beside him, her face pale with fright, and explained softly.

"It’s just part of the programming. After it drops, it’s designed to find that hole. You just happened to be blocking its path, that’s why it came at you."

Cecilia took a deep breath. ’How embarrassing,’ she thought, ’screaming like that.’

Sebastian watched her compose herself and then asked.

"This is just the beginning. Do you want to continue? If you’re too scared, we can leave right now."

"Let’s continue," Cecilia said at once.

’I was just caught off guard. That’s why that series of jump scares got to me.’

Sebastian nodded and held his hand out to her.

Cecilia placed her hand in his palm without hesitation, her heart still pounding.

This time, she’d learned her lesson and stuck close behind Sebastian as they walked.

But after only a few steps, Cecilia felt a hand grab her ankle.

The moment she glanced down, a dark green hand quickly pulled back.

Sebastian sensed something was wrong and stopped.

"What is it?"

Cecilia asked, "Did something grab your ankle when you walked past here?"

Sebastian: "No."

A flicker of curiosity in her eyes, Cecilia got down on the floor to investigate.

Sure enough, where the hand had retracted, she saw a small, movable panel.

Sebastian bent down beside her.

"What’s going on?"

"A little mechanism," Cecilia replied seriously. "It probably targets players at random."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow.

Cecilia’s eyes filled with excitement. "Let’s keep going. I’m suddenly dying to know what other traps they have up ahead."

Sebastian: "..."

There was no longer any fear in her eyes, only a curiosity to uncover all the mechanisms. She even let go of Sebastian’s hand.

Sebastian glanced down at his empty palm, then continued forward.

Cecilia followed beside him at a leisurely pace, her mind already calculating how to make use of the Croft Group’s abandoned commercial buildings in other cities.

’This might be a very good option.’

’With the decline of brick-and-mortar retail in recent years, some of the commercial buildings the Croft Group built have been left vacant.’

’Business was bad, so they couldn’t be sold, and no tenants were willing to lease them.’

’If they could be redeveloped into an entertainment complex, with more immersive experiences like this, they could definitely be put to use again.’