Underworld Player

The inside of the pawnshop had a certain 1940s flair about it, which gave off the feeling of being well-worn and antiquated.

Behind the counter sat a paper doll. Its face was painted on in a vibrant red that contrasted sharply with the stark white background, and it stared across the counter, with a fixed smile that didn't really feel like a smile at all, at the party of three that had just walked in.

As soon as Bai Zhi took a seat in front of the counter, the paper doll came to life with jerky motions, like a marionette being puppeteered by invisible strings.

"Welcometo my shhhop, dear cusstomerss. Are you looking for anything?" it said in a strange, rustling voice.

Bai Zhi hummed as he thought to himself for a moment, then tapped the counter with his finger. "Do you sell... fishball noodles here?" He looked expectantly at the paper doll.

"Sssure, ssir. There'ss nothing you can't redeem in here... for the right priccce..."

With a snicker, the strange doll placed a sheet of paper before Bai Zhi.

"One bowl of fisshball noodles iss one Hell Dollar. Which body part would you like to pawn?"

On the paper was listed a long list of items and what they could be pawned for.

[ Head: 30 Hell Dollars ]

[ Heart: 20 Hell Dollars ]

[ Both hands: 10 Hell Dollars ]

[ Torso: 50 Hell Dollars ]

[ Eyes: 10 Hell Dollars ]

The list went on, and seemed to cover every possible organ in the human body.

Lin He read through the list, grimacing as he went, then asked, "How much is a ticket for the bus, then?"

"Three hundred Hell Dollars, ssir," said the paper doll unhurriedly, then turned to Bai Zhi, cackling.

"Dear cusstomer, withthe qualityofyourssoul, shhould you be willingto pawnthat, sir... I couldoffer you one thousand Hell Dollarsfor it."

"Can I only pawn parts of myself? Say I found you a body from somewhere, would you take it?" asked Bai Zhi, ignoring the sinister undertones in the paper doll's suggestion.

"You musst be kidding, sir. We're running a legitimatebusssinesshere."

The paper doll took a seat behind the counter and continued, "There are many places to make moneyin this village, but few where it's thiseassy. If you're willingto pawn your ssoul... I might even part with two thousand Hell Dollarsfor it."

Bai Zhi raised and eyebrow and tilted his head at Xu Feng. "How much would you give for his soul?"

"Him?" The doll glanced at the delinquent."Not much. The mosst I'd give for itis a hundred, and not a cccent more."

The paper doll looked back at Bai Zhi and shook its head. "Please make your deccision soon, ssir. This is hardly apeaccefulvillage, and once the ssun goes down, 'those' thingsss will come back again."

Bai Zhi turned to look at Lin He and Xu Feng behind him. "So, you two wanna pawn anything?"

"Nope, this all seems way too suspicious. I don't want to end up a cripple," said Lin He, shaking his head.

Xu Feng, however, gritted his teeth and looked at the paper doll behind the counter. "Earlier, you said we could redeem anything here, right? How about the resurrection of a dead person?"

This time, the paper doll contemplated Xu Feng for a whole thirty seconds before turning aside.

"Yess, of course... but you can't afford the priccce... Poor little guy."

As the shopkeeper of the pawnshop, the paper doll clearly knew a thing or two about the village, but it refused to answer any questions that were not about business. After a round of fruitless questioning, Bai Zhi and the other two members of the party left the pawnshop.

Lin He was spoke up almost as soon as they were out. "We have an hour and forty minutes left to visit nine more shops, so we should split up to make the most of it. There must be many more ways to earn Hell Dollars in this village. If we visited each shop together, it would be a grossly inefficient use of our time and energy, don't you agree?"

"Sure," said Bai Zhi flatly, tapping the cushiony ground with his foot.

Xu Feng merely offered a silent nod.

The run-down village was small enough that, even from the entrance, it was possible to see clear to the other end of town. Lining either side of the main road were about ten shops of varying sizes.

The pawnshop that Bai Zhi and his party had visited earlier was just the first one.

As Lin He and Xu Feng headed their separate ways toward another shop each, Bai Zhi muttered, "Feels like someone's twisted idea of a puzzle game..." Then, he strode toward the shop next door.

This shop was decorated completely differently to the last one, not to mention the fact that it was about ten times the size. It was manned by an elaborately dressed, cheeky-looking clown.

"A survival game?" Bai Zhi raised an eyebrow when he noticed the two doors—one black, one white—behind the clown.

"Hee-hee! That's right, play a game with me, and when it's over, I'll give you that thing you want!"

The clown put two fingers to the corners of its mouth and pushed upward, forcing a wide smile.

"Behind those doors is a biiig maze! The black one is the entrance, and the white one is the exit. Just go in through the black door, and try to make your way to the white!

"While you're in the maze, I'll be looking for you too, so try not to get caught! You have a one-minute head start before I follow you into the maze!

"…Well? The rules couldn't be simpler, don't you think?"

"Are you sure those are all the rules?" said Bai Zhi skeptically, but his eyes flashed with interest as he checked the time with his phone.

"How much money will I get for completing the maze?"

"If you walk out of the white door in one piece, I will give you one hundred Hell Dollars!"

The clown raised one finger as the smile on its face widened and took on a malevolent look.

"By the way, you are the 304th person to step into my funhouse. Before you, 102 guests have chosen to play this game, yet the total number of people who have walked out of that white door… two!"

Bai Zhi placed his phone back into his Inventory and said impatiently, "What are you waiting for, then? Let's begin. Time is ticking, and I'm quite confident I know how to handle a maze."

"Dear guest, I do hope you hold on to this calm bravado when you're inside."

The clown giggled at Bai Zhi's remarks.

"Well, please enter and begin running for your life. I will come to hunt you soon enough. Do your best to hide, and don't let me find you!"

Gleaming metal claws began to extend from the clown's fingertips as its expression became twisted and manic.

"If you fail, I will carve every bit of meat from your bones! Screaming—ohoho! Blood—HA HA, and despair, HEE HEE HEE..."

"Fuckin' hell, are you done? Can we begin or not?" Bai Zhi rolled his eyes and interrupted the clown with no hesitation.

"Hmhmhm... Of course. This way, dear customer." The clown bowed with a flourish. "The game... is afoot."