Chapter 24: The Secretary is In Heat Again?

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After getting off the roller coaster, Luo Ran’s legs trembled uncontrollably, and he immediately had to support himself with the railing.

But his situation was already considered good. Some people directly vomited as soon as they got off, or they couldn’t even stand firmly and fell to the ground, or they had to stagger to a nearby bench to rest.

Luo Ran turned to Lucas, who stood beside him.

He still had his arms crossed across his chest, but now looked at Luo Ran with an expression of intense interest. “It’s a very different side of the secretary than usual.”

“I don’t think it’s boring anymore.” Lucas grinned. “What’s next? The pirate ship? The Turbo Drop?* Let’s try them all.”

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran pursed his lips. “We won’t play these, let’s go to the escape room.”

Where no physical effort was needed.

Luo Ran swiftly turned and left, followed by a smiling Lucas.

The escape room had a supernatural theme. Players entered in teams, and not only did they have to solve puzzles to progress through the rooms, but they also had to endure various ‘scares’.

A team had a minimum of two people and a maximum of five.

Luo Ran and Lucas waited in line for a long time before they could go in, but they didn’t feel impatient at all. Rather, while queuing, they silently pulled out their terminals at the same time to… do paperwork.

When they walked into the dim room, the atmosphere immediately changed.

The candlelight swayed, the wind whistled, and there were strange sounds from time to time.

Luo Ran looked around the first room, which was shabby and dilapidated. The walls were messy and covered in bloodstains, and there were only three pieces of furniture: a bed, a desk with drawers, and a wardrobe. It undoubtedly matched the supernatural theme.

Luo Ran and Lucas first tacitly went to check the exit door, where they found a keyhole. It looked like the goal was to find a key.

Luo Ran: “Then let’s start looking for clues.”

The two began to search.

Luo Ran started with the bed. He pulled open the sheets to reveal a lighter, which should be a prop.

Following this, he crouched down, wanting to see if there was anything under the bed.

* * *

Then he met a pair of eyes rolled back to show their whites.

Luo Ran: “…”

They actually hid an artificial corpse under the bed, and its eyes were so big they could become searchlights.

Thinking quickly, Luo Ran calmly stood up. “Admiral, there’s a prop under the bed that I can’t reach.”

His tone was the same as usual, and his expression also wasn’t any different.

Lucas went and crouched down without thinking.　　

　* * *

Lucas: “…”

He got up. “You’re too bored.”

Luo Ran had some regrets.

He’d found a lighter on the bed, while Lucas found a charcoal grill* in the drawers, which happened to correspond with Luo Ran’s clue.

Logically, the key must be hidden inside something which needed to be melted. Lucas had searched the walls earlier, and the things there only explained the room’s story, so the key should be in the large wardrobe.

Luo Ran stepped up and opened the cabinet door.

He was prepared for something to jump out, yet unexpectedly there was no movement.

The cabinet was completely empty except for a lonely plastic ball in a corner.

Luo Ran reached out for it, but the back panel of the cabinet suddenly disappeared. The wood backing was actually just a piece of fabric that hid a small space behind it, from which a woman with dishevelled hair and a terrifying face leapt out at Luo Ran with a shrill scream.

She’d always wait until the player let down their guard before scaring them.

But Luo Ran wasn’t any ordinary person. He watched the female ghost come at him without any reaction, then calmly grabbed her shoulder.

Female ghost: “…”

This was a bit embarrassing. 

Didn’t most people close the cabinet door…!

And when the female ghost rushed out, her angle was a bit tricky, so she soon lost her balance and began to fall. Luo Ran immediately stretched out his hand to support her other shoulder.

Female ghost: “…”

This was even more embarrassing.

Lucas was using the lighter to make a fire, but when he saw what was happening, he angrily rushed forward. “What are you two doing!”

He saw the physical contact between them and, glaring at the female ghost, uncontrollably let out some pheromone due to an alpha’s strong desire for control.

His fierce gaze and hostility made the female ghost tremble all over. She quickly went back into her hiding spot, and even conscientiously closed the cabinet door herself.

Luo Ran: “…”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “What are you doing, Admiral?”

“I haven’t even asked what you two were doing, pulling at each other,” Lucas sneered.

When she heard this, the female ghost hiding behind the cabinet covered her mouth to muffle her cries while logging on to the forum.

That’s it!

The admiral was so fucking excessive! He was even jealous of a female ghost! It’s too hard to be a ghost these days!

He deserved to be an SSS-grade alpha!

What a wonderful love!

As for the excessive Lucas and Luo Ran, after they collected the props and used fire to melt the plastic ball, they collected the key and moved on to the next room.

Although the design of the escape room was exquisite – the difficulty increased with each room, and there were many things to scare people – the two of them smoothly completed it all without any waves in their hearts.

When they came to the entrance of the last room, Luo Ran paused for a moment.

It looked like they had to crawl through a narrow passage.

Seeing Luo Ran’s hesitation, Lucas asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, let’s go.”

Past the passage was a smaller room, this time with a password-protected door. The walls were covered in countless colourful posters and stickers, among which the password was probably hidden.

This room was very special. It wasn’t so much a room as it was a box, which could barely fit five people standing up.

The sealed box only had a small gap in the corner for ventilation, and was very dark, giving a heavy sense of oppression.

Luo Ran and Lucas didn’t have much room to move around; the two had to match their movements if they wanted any hope of success.

Luo Ran stood in front of a wall, collecting clues, yet Lucas frowned slightly.

In this narrow and quiet space, he could feel Luo Ran’s breathing gradually becoming rapid.

Lucas stepped closer and touched the back of his hand to Luo Ran’s exposed skin.

It was freezing cold.

With a stern tone, he asked, “Luo Ran, you’re uncomfortable?”

“No.” Luo Ran replied quickly but his voice was a little weak.

Lucas directly pressed Luo Ran’s shoulder to make him turn around, then turned on his terminal’s flashlight.

As soon as the light turned on, he saw Luo Ran’s flushed face covered in a cold sweat.

Lucas frowned deeper. “Claustrophobia?”

“…” Luo Ran hesitated, then said, “It doesn’t matter, we can go out after finishing this.”

In fact, the entire escape room complex was automatically monitored by an intelligent system, so they could use their terminal to contact the administrator and immediately stop the game. However, Luo Ran didn’t want to do this.

For a game like this, he didn’t want to and didn’t need to give up here.

Luo Ran gently moved Lucas’ hand away and turned around. “Hurry up and I’ll be fine.”

He clenched his hands into fists, pinched his palm with his fingers, and forced himself to calm down. He did his best to adjust his breathing so that the inexplicable fear wouldn’t affect his rhythm.

The next second, he was enveloped by warmth.

Startled, Luo Ran turned his head and met Lucas’ eyes.

They were so close that the tips of their noses almost touched.

Lucas hugged Luo Ran from behind and pulled at his own jacket to embrace Luo Ran within.

Luo Ran could feel the heat of Lucas’ hand at his waist through the jacket, and his entire person was wrapped in the coat.

It was like being surrounded by tobacco. The sharp, strong scent soon swept through his brain.

Although they were so close together, Lucas thought he was a beta and didn’t see the need to restrain his pheromones, so Luo Ran felt a little weak. Fortunately, with claustrophobia as an excuse, his unsteadiness could be explained away.

Lucas: “Continue.”

The man’s deep voice floated into Luo Ran’s ears. He took a deep breath and nodded.

The alpha pheromone and sudden hug calmed him down.

Beep——

After a while, Luo Ran input the correct password and the two left the room.

This metal box was the last puzzle. The exit door led directly outside, where Luo Ran couldn’t quite react to the glaring sunlight.

“Congratulations on your success. In addition, you guys are the fastest team this month!” The staff member smiled and handed them their ‘escape room report’.

“And because you’re the current record holder, we have a gift for you.”

The staff member pointed to a shelf behind them, which was filled with rag dolls. “You can choose one to take home!”

Lucas had no interest in this, but Luo Ran went over to choose one.

After looking through them all, he picked a little lion.

The young male lion had a thick mane, was covered in fluff, had a cute scowl on its face, and its four paws were amusingly big for its size.

“This is for you.” Luo Ran stuffed the little lion into Lucas’ arms.

Lucas expressed distaste. “I don’t need these.”

“One for each person, take it as a souvenir.” Luo Ran also took back the little sheep he stored behind the counter.

The staff member watched the two big men. One of them was even tall and fierce, but one held a little sheep, while the other held a little lion…

It looked pretty cute.

The staff member couldn’t help but chuckle.

Lucas gritted his teeth.

Were the citizens of the Empire so idle?

They’d shoot targets for dolls, ride roller coasters, play in haunted houses, and do these clearly silly things all day?

Everyone had so much free time.

Afterwards, the two bought drinks and rested in a shaded area. Lucas asked with a frown, “Where did your claustrophobia come from?”

“Ah…” Luo Ran took a sip of juice, then said after a pause, “Born with it?”

“Lying again.” Lucas’ expression turned sullen. “If you keep lying, I’ll pour this water on your head.”

“…”

“What’s your evidence that I’m lying?” Luo Ran asked.

“Intuition.”

“Admiral, your intuition isn’t accurate.”

Lucas sneered. “If my intuition wasn’t accurate, I’d already be dead on a battlefield somewhere.”

So Luo Ran simply said, “Then I don’t want to say.”

“…”

“You sure are bold enough.”

“Yeah.” Luo Ran nodded calmly.

Bang——

The next second, Luo Ran was pressed against the tree trunk behind him.

Luo Ran: “…”

The reason he dared to act like that was because they were outside, so he didn’t think Lucas would do anything.

But… this?

Luo Ran panicked for a moment. “Admiral, people will see…”

“And I’d care?” Lucas raised his eyebrows. “I’ll let go when you say it.”

Lucas supported himself with the tree trunk behind Luo Ran, trapping him there.

Luo Ran quickly calmed down.

Although Lucas had a domineering personality, he wasn’t someone who would act rashly in public.

Luo Ran quickly assessed their surroundings. They were hidden in a corner where few people passed, and even if someone came, Lucas stood at the perfect angle for his tall body to block him from sight.

So, Luo Ran smiled at Lucas. “I’m not saying.”

Lucas: “…”

Lucas was a little angry.

His pheromones became denser.

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran knew Lucas didn’t do it on purpose, but his legs softened once again and his mind buzzed.

Before, it was already deadly for him to be so close to Lucas in the escape room, especially as Lucas was the SSS-grade alpha who gave him his temporary mark, not to mention he was currently going through heat.

It was just that he felt more fear and tension at the time, so nothing much happened.

Now he was already drenched in Lucas’ rich pheromones. With him being teased like this, Luo Ran felt a bit wrong.

“Ad… miral, let go.” Luo Ran grabbed Lucas’ hand and tried to push him away. “I feel a little nauseous. I’m going to the bathroom.”

Lucas frowned. Was he trying to escape?

Luo Ran lowered his head, his breathing somewhat disordered. “…Please.”

Lucas was so shocked that he subconsciously complied. Plus, his face did look very sick.

Lucas watched Luo Ran’s diminishing figure in a daze, not moving an inch.

A beat passed.

Then Lucas reacted and chased after him.

Luo Ran’s pallor was so bad, did something happen?

---

Translator:
Kabedon 2.0!

From next chapter onwards is the start of the VIP chapters. It’s also 2.5x the length of this one, so you can look forward to that. Go support the author on JJWXC if you can!

Footnotes:

1. Turbo Drop: a vertical drop tower that uses compressed air to slowly lift passengers to the top of the tower, hold for several seconds, then launches them down
2. Charcoal grill [炭烤盆]: these are probably small tabletop versions which are different from the usual Western outdoors BBQ grills

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