Caleb pressed the play button on the video camera player.
A blonde man with a scarred face appeared on the small screen. "Caleb, do you still remember who I am?" The man spoke in a low, hoarse voice: "I guess you probably don't have any impression, after all, that incident happened 4 years ago."
'Is that Andrew himself? His appearance has really changed a lot.' The opening video clip ended the moment Andrew jumped from the rooftop. Although it didn't show Andrew's death, most people would habitually assume he was dead. As the plot developed, without any new characters joining the story, Caleb even suspected that the designer of this death game was Andrew's father. After all, if there wasn't a deep-seated hatred between them, how could such a heavily vengeful death trap be set?
"People are quickly attracted by new topics after consuming one, but the mess they leave behind continues to persecute the parties involved like maggots clinging to bones." The scarred man's emotions became somewhat agitated: "You cannot imagine how much it affected my life and my daily existence. Since then, I have been like a stray dog, wherever I go, people would point fingers behind my back, calling me a violent person. What's more hateful is that they take it for granted that a person with a 'record' doesn't deserve legal protection, and they can do whatever they want to me without any responsibility." Andrew pointed to the ugly scars on his face and shouted in an almost roaring voice: "These are their crimes!"
...
"In my pain and helplessness, I once tried to end my own life. Although I ultimately failed, this act attracted the attention of a special organization." Andrew's agitation subsided a bit as he continued to recount his tragic experiences. "They captured me, confining me in a secret room for a death game. However… my will to die helped me, allowing me to successfully pass the test. They mistakenly believed that I had truly grasped the meaning of life, thinking that I had shed humanity's inherent flaws and become a unique existence transcending life and death. I was thus absorbed into this organization, becoming a Disciple who guards the meaning of life."
As Andrew said this, the camera suddenly switched, and the man in the frame was now wearing a terrifying Pig Head Mask. He pointed at the screen, his tone serious. "But they were wrong. I have never forgotten the cumulative crimes you committed against me. I only lacked an opportunity, and now, that opportunity is right before my eyes…" Andrew raised his voice, shouting almost in a roar: "Redemption? Heh heh, you don't deserve redemption, hell is the suitable destination for you!"
As if echoing Andrew's final cry, when this video finished playing, the jaw ripper on Caleb's head also happened to enter the last few seconds before activation.
Beep, beep, beep, beep… The alert tone became sharp and urgent.
'It seems there's no chance of survival?' Caleb looked around; besides the combination of the lamp and cabinet, there was nothing else beside him.
'No, it seems there's still one thing I can use. Don't forget, only X is the hope of life!'
Caleb had kept the alloy frame he had taken from the bottom of the box with him all along—for ease of movement, he had tucked it into his waist. He pulled out this metal frame, which was about three palms wide, and examined it in his hand.
'I'm starting to understand what this thing is for now.' He brought the frame close to the jaw ripper on his face and compared them. 'Indeed!' The size of the frame was just right to pass through the two rows of reverse-hooked iron teeth of the trap, forming a unique buckle above the teeth.
Just as he buckled the frame onto the top of the iron teeth, the urgent 'beep, beep, beep' alert sound abruptly stopped. At the same time, there was a crisp 'click' sound. The gear sets on both cheeks released their restraint on the trap, and the two rows of iron teeth sprang back sharply. The metal plates pressed against Caleb's upper and lower jaws exerted force together, attempting to tear Caleb's mouth open from the middle.
However, because the metal frame had been added to the iron teeth, the teeth only sprang back a very small amount before getting stuck. The metal plates pressing against the upper and lower jaws only tore two wounds of about two centimeters long at the corners of Caleb's mouth before stopping. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.
The threat of death was averted at this critical moment by a small metal frame.
'The game isn't over yet; it's too early to celebrate.' The threat of the jaw ripper was temporarily controlled, but Caleb was still not out of danger until he escaped from this 'cage.'
He picked up the video camera and continued walking forward through the passage. The terrain ahead became flat but also progressively darker. After walking less than fifty meters, the darkness ahead was so profound that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Caleb recalled that the video camera's item description mentioned a night shooting function.
So he raised the video camera player to his eyes and activated the night shooting button on it. Suddenly, a horizontal, green-glowing display screen appeared before his eyes. When looking at objects within the display screen, they appeared with a rather dim clarity. The night vision effect of this video camera player was not outstanding; he could barely see about five meters ahead. Moreover, affected by the size of the display screen, Caleb's vision was confined within this small square. He could only stare at the display screen, making it almost impossible to pay attention to his surroundings.
'This is the effect of the item's usage at play, indicating… that there will be more obstacles to escape later?' Caleb secretly became vigilant, first switching to Cautious Stance to enhance his sensory sensitivity, then carefully walked into the depths of the darkness.
But just as he continued walking for less than ten meters, suddenly, a chilling laugh came from his front-left direction.
Woo-woo-woo ha-ha-ha ~Woo-woo-woo ha-ha-ha ~
Caleb immediately aimed the night vision lens at the source of the laughter and found it was a bizarre puppet, riding on a red tin children's car. The puppet had a stark white, 'shen'-shaped face, with two red swirling patterns painted on its protruding cheekbones. Its red-sclered eyes stared directly at Caleb, its mouth opening and closing.
This was precisely the puppet that had appeared on the TV at the beginning, introducing the jaw ripper to Caleb.