Chapter Thirty-Three: Escape from the Locked Room

“Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?” Zhao Fang stared at the completely unfamiliar place before him, falling into a deep contemplative daze.

Earlier, Dolong Mesia had found an ancient-looking ring and, delighted, handed it to Zhao Fang. But the moment Zhao Fang took it, he was instantly teleported, appearing in this strange room.

It was a room thick with dust, resembling a bedroom. Zhao Fang could see a bed and a wardrobe, and it seemed to belong to a woman, as there was a dressing table in the center.

“This design is rather eccentric,” Zhao Fang murmured, stroking his chin and glancing at the ring in his hand.

The ring was still there, but no matter how he gripped it, it wouldn’t respond. Zhao Fang was at a loss. If he could speak to the ring, he’d say, “If you had the power to bring me in, why don’t you send me out?” Yet, after trying to bite and force it apart, he gave up. He didn’t know why the ring was a one-way passage, but he had no other solution, so he had to rely on his own strength.

Zhao Fang didn’t rush to leave the room. Instead, he patiently studied it, feeling as if he were playing an escape room game, searching for clues to advance.

The room was coated in dust, clearly unused for ages. Suppressing his urge to sneeze, Zhao Fang searched through it and found only three possibly useful items.

A cracked mirror, a pink notebook, and a strange component that seemed to be part of a doll’s body—soft to the touch, though Zhao Fang could find neither head nor limbs.

Oddly, none of these triggered his golden finger.

“A notebook? Could it be a diary? Who even keeps a diary these days?” Zhao Fang wiped the cover with a tissue, the dust making Dolong Mesia sneeze.

He opened the notebook, and was shocked.

“I wish my parents would die, die, die, die!” The entire first page was filled with those words, the handwriting shifting from delicate to frenzied. The script alone painted the portrait of someone in the grip of hysteria.

Besides the repeated curse, enormous letters spelling out “curse” and “resentment” were scrawled across the page. Zhao Fang instinctively patted Dolong Mesia’s head. If not for his Pokémon’s reassuring presence, he’d suspect he had crossed into a world of vengeful spirits, and any moment a blood-covered Kayako would crawl down from upstairs, hiccupping endlessly.

Frowning, Zhao Fang turned to the next page—blank. The rest of the notebook was empty, except he noticed all the pages before the first had been torn out.

“This really is starting to feel like an escape room game,” Zhao Fang muttered, pocketing the notebook and gathering up the mirror and doll part as well.

He didn’t know their purpose, but perhaps they’d prove useful later. Maybe he’d need to collect the doll’s head and body, summon a doll, and win instantly?

With this in mind, Zhao Fang pushed open the sealed door and stepped out. At once, he confirmed he was still in the world of Pokémon, for he saw a photograph hanging on the wall ahead—a little girl beaming as she hugged a Marill.

“Very artistic,” Zhao Fang remarked, admiring the graffiti on Marill’s face. The red paint looked so realistic, one might think the Marill was afflicted with some strange illness, bleeding from every orifice.

He surveyed his surroundings. He was in a corridor, strikingly clean compared to the room he’d just left. The corridor’s layout was interesting; at the far end were two rooms.

Zhao Fang was about to head toward the room on the left when Dolong Mesia suddenly leapt from his neck, dark energy flickering in its claws. In the next instant, it slashed at the air ahead.

A chilling cry rang out, and a Gastly materialized from thin air.

“Gastly?” Zhao Fang was surprised, but then recalled his original goal—the haunted mansion. Could this be…

Before he could think further, Gastly lunged at Dolong Mesia, purple-black rings swirling around its hands.

“Dolong Mesia, dodge its Shadow Punch!” Zhao Fang recognized the move and quickly issued his command.

Now wasn’t the time for contemplation; Zhao Fang needed to deal with the Gastly before him.

Gastly, as the evolved form of its kind, was fairly powerful. Still, Zhao Fang thought he could hold his own. If a Gengar stood before him, he’d grab Dolong Mesia and bolt, pressing the emergency button on his Pokédex.

Yes, the Pokédex had a rescue button. As long as you weren’t in some bizarre location, nearby trainers would rush to your aid. That was why Zhao Fang wasn’t panicking.

“Dolong!” Dolong Mesia, true to its reputation as a speedy Pokémon, twisted away just as Gastly’s attack was about to land.

“Take this chance, use Sucker Punch again!” Zhao Fang’s eyes lit up as he issued another command.

Dolong Mesia’s claws glowed black, poised to strike, but Gastly suddenly accelerated, dodging the attack and spinning around. Its eyes shone, body swelling, and the next moment, Dolong Mesia let out a cry of pain.

Watching Dolong Mesia collapse from its injuries, Zhao Fang wasted no words. He quickly recalled it into its Poké Ball and sent out Magikarp.

He knew that, as a Water-type, Magikarp’s current moves couldn’t harm Gastly, but he needed time to think of a way out.

Gastly cackled, its gaze mocking as it watched the flopping Magikarp.

Wait… dust?

A thought struck Zhao Fang.