Chapter 311: Finally Out
Chen Mo pressed the button again. No use!
Clearly, under the effect of [Cursed by Misfortune], the door had suffered some unknown malfunction, and the open button was completely unresponsive.
No choice. Chen Mo pulled out his phone from his pocket, ready to call Qian Kun.
But his hand slipped, and the phone dropped toward the floor.
“Damn it!”
Luckily, Chen Mo was quick. With a swift motion like a monkey reaching for the moon, he snatched the phone just before it hit the ground.
“Whew, thank goodness I took plenty of reaction boosters and hand-speed potions, or that could’ve been disastrous.” Chen Mo let out a long breath.
Normally, dropping a phone from this height might just crack the screen protector, nothing serious.
But with his current cursed state, if it had actually hit the floor, the whole phone could’ve shattered into pieces. Chen Mo wasn’t about to take that risk.
Steadying himself, Chen Mo gripped the phone tightly and called Qian Kun.
“Beep... Hello, the number you dialed is busy. Please try again later. Number...”
Chen Mo hung up and tried again.
Three times in a row—all busy.
Chen Mo: “...”
He tried calling others. Either busy or no answer. Even the front desk line was unreachable.
He sent messages one by one. No replies.
“What the hell? Seriously?”
Chen Mo was exasperated. He had five tasks to complete, and the first one was already stuck? How was that supposed to work?
He posted in the company group chat: “Anyone at the experience store? Come rescue me!”
Soon, Su Jinyu replied: “What’s wrong, boss?”
Chen Mo: “...Can you reach anyone else at the store? Come rescue me. My studio door is broken, and I’m locked inside.”
Su Jinyu: “Pfft.”
Chen Mo: “...”
Su Jinyu: “Aren’t Qian Kun and the others still at the store?”
Chen Mo: “Can’t reach them. No idea what they’re up to.”
Su Jinyu: “No worries, boss. Wait a sec, I’ll call and ask.”
Then silence.
Even though Su Jinyu knew, there was nothing she could do. She’d already gone home and couldn’t take the high-speed train back.
Chen Mo shouted at the top of his lungs: “Anyone there! Come save me!”
He yelled several times. No response. He had to admit, his studio’s soundproofing was excellent. With the security door closed, nothing could be heard from outside.
If others were working hard, they’d be even less likely to hear.
Chen Mo was in despair. Clearly, the [Cursed by Misfortune] state had directly blocked the phones of anyone at the store who could rescue him. No calls went through.
With 20 minutes on the clock and 5 already gone, Chen Mo couldn’t sit still.
He made several more calls. Same result—no answer!
Suddenly, an idea struck him. Ah, order takeout! Get the delivery guy to open the door for him!
No time to waste. Chen Mo opened “Eat What,” and ordered a milk tea from the nearest shop.
A minute later, the milk tea shop called.
“Hello, we’re incredibly busy right now. The line’s out the door. This order might be delayed by 20 minutes. Is that okay?”
Chen Mo: “...Never mind, thanks.”
What the hell?
The milk tea shop was too busy, with people lined up out the door? Are you kidding me? First time I’ve heard of a milk tea shop needing 20 minutes just to make a drink!
Wait 20 minutes for delivery, and I’d be dead by then!
This was definitely the cursed misfortune at work!
No doubt, ordering from any other shop would yield the same result!
Just as Chen Mo was on the verge of giving up, Su Jinyu called.
“Hello? Boss, I just called everyone, but it’s really weird—no one answered, not even the front desk. Finally, I called the little convenience store next to the experience store and asked the old man there to come open the door for you.”
Chen Mo was overjoyed: “Great! Goldfish, you’re the best! I’ll give you a raise next year! When will the old man get here?”
Su Jinyu: “No idea. He said he’d go right away, but I don’t know where he is now.”
Chen Mo had a bad feeling: “Uh, I won’t ask how you got the convenience store’s number, but I just want to know—what exactly did you tell the old man?”
Su Jinyu said: “Just asked him to make a trip and open the door for you.”
Chen Mo: “...Give me the convenience store’s number.”
“Okay.” A moment later, Su Jinyu said, “Sent it in a message, boss.”
“Alright, Goldfish, you’ve been a huge help. I’ve got things to do, I’ll hang up now.” Chen Mo quickly ended the call.
Checking the time—only 10 minutes left—Chen Mo dialed the convenience store.
“Hello?” An old man’s voice came through.
Chen Mo thought, just as expected. Even though Su Jinyu had asked the old man to come, under the cursed state, he’d run into new obstacles—like a sudden rush of customers at the store.
Chen Mo said, “Hello, sir. I’m the owner of the game experience store next door. I accidentally got locked in. Could you come help me—”
The old man said, “I’ve got lots of customers here. Can’t leave. Wait another five minutes, okay?”
Chen Mo said, “Sir, come right now, and I’ll give you 500 bucks.”
The old man laughed: “You must be a scammer! Who gets locked in their own place? Stop messing around with me!”
And he hung up.
Chen Mo: “...Damn it!”
With lightning speed, Chen Mo tapped on his phone, searched for the convenience store’s chat account using the number, and sent a friend request.
“Old man, hurry up!” Chen Mo watched the time drop to 7 minutes, feeling a sharp pain in his gut.
The friend request went through. Convenience stores often use chat accounts for QR code payments, so the old man probably saw the request and added him.
Chen Mo immediately transferred 500 bucks and called the old man again.
“Hello?” The old man picked up.
Chen Mo said, “Sir, I’ve transferred you 500. Please come open the door for me! I’m not lying!”
The old man was stunned: “Kid, you actually transferred the money...”
Chen Mo was about to lose it: “Sir, there’s no time! Hurry up! Come to the fourth floor of the experience store right now! This is a life-or-death situation!”
The old man finally said, “Alright, wait a moment.”
After hanging up, Chen Mo was so anxious he wanted to claw the walls.
About three minutes later, the old man finally arrived. Chen Mo shouted through the door, “Sir, over here, over here! This password door, the code is 14890, quick, quick!”
The old man, still spry, came over and entered the code. The door finally opened.
“Thanks, sir!”
Chen Mo didn’t have time to say more. He jogged toward the elevator.