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This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 95

“An Escape Room Cafe, huh…”

It was quite an enticing proposal.

Putting everything else aside, just looking at the conditions, it made sense.

After all, it was one of those places I had always wanted to visit at least once.

Especially when I lived my previous life… one of my hobbies back then was diligently watching the escape concept variety show that had become a hit on cable each season.

It was such a grand scale for a variety show that, honestly, while it seemed unrealistic to achieve that size, I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to visit and enjoy a similar escape room cafe at least once.

Even though I would have easily spent that amount of money, I just couldn’t bring myself to put that thought into action because it felt a bit… embarrassing.

Every time I considered going, I found myself thinking, “What am I doing, being this old and wanting to do this?”

On top of that, I didn’t have anyone to go with.

“I could totally eat solo at a buffet, but going solo to an escape room is just… not it.”

If I had even a girlfriend back then, I might have subtly brought it up, but after graduating from college, I had been too busy with work to even think about women.

And once I cut off dating altogether?

I found myself not even doing it anymore.

Even if I could see the end coming, knowing we’d break up anyway, I couldn’t wrap my head around why I should invest my energy in it when, honestly, it led to nothing but awkwardness.

It wasn’t that I could even comfortably ask the few remaining friends I had.

With our relationships matured over the years, they were all “real” guys; would I really ask them for such an embarrassing favor?

If I did, those friends would leech off that for the next ten years!

So what could I do?

All I could do was hold back my regrets.

That’s why I thought I’d never get the chance to do this, yet here I am, actually going.

Should I be happy about this, or should I be perplexed that it happened in such a situation?

Given how ambiguous my situation and Yoonseo’s were, I was honestly a little confused.

“But hey… it’s probably better than karaoke.”

If we had gone to karaoke with this group, we would have been stuck in a tiny room with nothing to stare at but our mobile phones or the karaoke machine’s screen. If we were going to be trapped in a room, wouldn’t an escape room cafe, where we could pretend to deduce things to pass the time, be way better?

In that sense, I was subtly supporting Sangah’s opinion, wanting to go.

But facing a situation that felt more than enough to be called a problem, we finally arrived at the escape room cafe as suggested by Sangah.

“Whoa, I didn’t know there was something like this here!”

“Right?”

“Weren’t there different stores here before? I could’ve sworn it was a… manga cafe or something.”

“It probably just opened not too long ago.”

Maybe because the theme was escape, it was different from other cafes right from the entrance we walked into.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt this way; everyone was chiming in with their own thoughts when someone who obviously looked like an employee of the cafe cautiously approached us.

“Hello! Is this your first visit to our cafe?”

And that conversation ended with us being casually informed about some points to be cautious about and receiving what they called a guidebook.

At first, when they said ‘guidebook’, I thought it would list important notes about the cafe or the rules for the escape game.

Turns out, it was just a menu.

However, given the situation, every item on that menu had a rather unusual name.

“Is this some sort of… course?”

“Looks like it? That sister over there just told us to choose a theme from this and order.”

Surprisingly, it seemed the owner of this cafe was quite serious about escape rooms.

Though it was my first actual visit, I recalled that the escape room cafes I had come across through various media typically had one course set up, spinning guests around, changing themes or games every certain period.

According to the menu I was looking at, there seemed to be at least four courses running simultaneously.

Which meant?

This place was like a lobby in a game, and the actual escape rooms were elsewhere.

“Interesting… So, that’s how they sustain the business?”

Honestly, it didn’t seem easy just looking at the prices.

Was there another revenue stream apart from the game fees?

Or perhaps… was this a hobby for a rich kid?

While I was lost in thought, the others were already getting excited over which of the four themes to choose.

And regardless of everything else, that part seemed to catch even Yoonseo’s interest, or maybe she was just feeling awkward about looking at my face, because she, who had been sulking, eventually joined in on the discussion.

“How about this one? I think it’s the most fun.”

“Wow… it looks like it’s going to be super boring. Are you really that clueless?”

“Well, then what would you choose?”

“For sure, we have to go with this one.”

Sangah raised her finger and pointed at a theme called “Hostage Rescue Operation.”

Just from the name, I could tell how the game would roughly unfold.

Probably, we would be like some kind of hero team, using hints around to rescue a mannequin disguised as a hostage.

Honestly, while it wasn’t the most original choice, it seemed somewhat enjoyable.

In such games, the immersion of the players matters most, and if the inside mechanism was decent enough, I thought we could all immerse ourselves in the game more quickly.

Above all else… if we got into the situation together and faced challenges, maybe the awkward relationships would somehow improve.

“I… don’t think that sounds bad?”

While everyone else was making ambiguous facial expressions, I threw in my support, mostly for that reason.

“Really? You think so?”

“Then I’m on board.”

“Okay, let’s go with this.”

“Well… it might be fun.”

With that last tentative agreement from Yoonseo, Sangah successfully got everyone’s consensus and neatly closed the guidebook she had spread out, standing up from her seat.

“Okay, then I’ll go order this. You all wait here.”

And how long had it been?

When Sangah returned to our table, two people who clearly looked like cafe staff were with her.

One was a man and the other was the female employee who had come to us earlier… as soon as they arrived, they began handing out blindfolds.

So when I put it on and looked around?

The men were lined up by the male staff, and the women were lined by the female staff, following some sort of predetermined order.

And they weren’t just lining us up randomly; they were call each person up one by one to line up, which felt a bit… exhilarating.

Even though I knew this wasn’t really the right moment for that, and I had to be mindful of Yoonseo’s feelings, I couldn’t help it.

With the blindfolds on, it felt like we were getting ready to dive into the game.

Is there anyone who wouldn’t feel a bit fluttery seeing this situation being a man?

Anyway, well… as I cautiously followed their guidance, I somehow found myself tied to a chair.

“Wait a second, this can’t be…”

Was the “hostage” not a mannequin but… me?

No wonder it had been unnaturally quiet around here; I hadn’t been tense; I had just completely zoned out.

“Hold on, does that mean…”

Am I just waiting here until the others come rescue me?

Or is there some separate role exclusively for the hostage?

They asked us to keep silence until the game started, so I couldn’t voice my thoughts and was stuck mulling them over internally.

It was then, likely from the speaker above us, that a crackling noise echoed out, followed by a voice that felt slightly exaggerated, perhaps because my role was the villain.

“Uh… Sangah? Chaedam…? Are you there…?”

It sounded much more cautious than usual, almost like it was told hesitantly.

“You’re really there, right…? Uh…?”

This World is too Cruel to Men

This World is too Cruel to Men

Score 10
Status: Completed Type: Released: 2021
In this world, a man’s fate is one of two things. Either he becomes a cog in the wheel of society that can be replaced at any time… or he becomes a trophy.

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