MJ: Yes, I’m going to play…But no tricky business!! I need to know every detail of the game; every single rule! And how do I know once I WIN this game you will let LuHan go? How do I know you people won’t go back on your word?

??: We follow the loyal, firm, and strict rules of our Sacred Book: the Exoteucus. Exotics were known back then for their loyal words and actions, besides their tactful warriors; we will not break any of these commandments. You have our word; it would be like soiling the good name of Dr. Lee.

MJ: good? More like psycho… Very well then… Now tell me what I need to know so I can start.

??: You don’t know how happy we are to see you take on our challenge. You must be very close to Mister Lu to put your life at risk for his sake… any special feelings?

MJ: That’s none of your business, so just spill the details out before I CHANGE MY ING MIND!

??: (cocky)Uuh-La-La~! I don’t think you’d change your mind that easily…But like you said, it’s none of my business. My business is to tell you how the game works. Pay close attention because I will only explain this once.

The Shadow Games consist of traveling through different places within Exotica; these include entering buildings, going across grasslands, crossing over rivers, even swimming through large lakes; we call them stages. No matter where you are you should always bear in mind the primary rule of the game: you must only walk on shadows. If your feet touch any part of the ground that is not covered in darkness, the new Exotics will storm out from their hideouts and attack you and your allies. If you get knocked out, you’ll be joining your friend in our prison. Notice you can also get killed.

Your allies. As you go through the course you will encounter people: our current prisoners. They cannot talk; if they do, sensors scattered around Exotica will recognize their voice and will activate a chip attached to their bodies, making it inject a deadly dose of Cyanide. It is up to you to decide if you want them to join you in your quest or not, for there are also “fake prisoners”; the latter are a few of our men trying to confuse or slow you down, or can even attack you at any moment when you least expect it. You can have as many allies as you can find. If you win the game, they will be set free. But remember you are their leader, so you must guide them. If we catch you, your allies will once again belong to us.

As we all know, there are no shadows at night, because the night is one big shadow. You are allowed to move freely at nighttime. Once the sun starts to rise, you must be aware of your surroundings. Objects, people, animals, structures, you name it; if it gives out a shadow, use it. There are hours where the Sun does not produce shadows, and you will be stuck for some time, unless you are willing to put everyone’s life in danger and go onwards, just to fulfill your goal. We will attack you, so you must be prepared to defend yourselves. If you scurry back to a shadow, we will stop. When this time of day comes, you are allowed to use our “Safe Points”, which include caverns, houses, bridges, anything that covers you completely from the sun; try to reach these areas before running out of shadows.

On a side note, as you can see, the buildings are all open: they don’t have a roof. But there is only one building that is closed completely: Exo Tower. There is where you’ll face one, if not the hardest, task of the game. No shadows are inside the tower, but you will have to learn a new set of rules. Someone will be controlling the light switches of the building, and the area will be loaded with our men, keeping a close eye on your group. Everytime the lights are off you are free to run around the building; but when the lights go on you must hide under a desk or something similar, otherwise you will be attacked, this time in hand-to-hand combat. There is a trick to the light-span… that is all I’ll say.

Throughout the game there will be opportunities for you to see LuHan and his current state. But, he isn’t going to just appear in the middle of nowhere for you to see. No, you have to look for him more accurately. Just try to think out of the box a little, or just “follow your heart”…

You can sleep whenever you feel like it. There is no time limit, so take as much time as you need. As for food, you must provide yourself with that. There are wide gardens full of fruits, and vast forest with a variety of edible animals. The clothe you start with is the only thing you will wear, unless you find something within the city, then you can change. Same goes for weaponry: you will start with nothing, but can obtain throughout the course of the game. And something very important: no electronic devices, including cellphone, beeper, mp3, laptop, GPS, calculator, and game consoles. And no clocks, of any type.

Any questions?

MJ: I understood everything. But one thing, if I can’t have my clock, how will I know what day and time it is? That’s totally outra—

I suddenly remembered something I had ignored since this whole charade began: my parents… school…the police…

MJ: Wait a minute, how will my parents know where I am? What happens if they call the police because I don’t appear and they come looking for you people? And I’ll be missing school days too… Everything is going to be a mess!

??: To your first statement, you must find another way to know time and day; nature is the best tool you can have. And as for your second problem, yes, that will be happening, but the police won’t find us. No one comes this far away from town. Besides, we have a few of our men surrounding the edge of town posing as policemen; if the real police shows up, they’ll just say they already have the situation under control and are inspecting the area. It’s been working for the last hundred years so, I don’t think this time will be an exception.

MJ: You guys are wasting your talent. With such brilliant minds I would be working for the CIS, FBI…… Men in Black… That one would suite you guys well… Any special reason you guys cover your faces?...Oh yeah, YOUR CRIMINALS!! Oh course you would like to cover your faces!

??: We don’t hide ourselves because we want to, it’s just a way of symbolizing the shadows. We all dress this way, and we all cover our faces. But since you’ve been such a nice girl, I’ll introduce myself.

The man slowly raised a hand and began to pull back the massive black hood that covered his face. In a few seconds I was staring at something I was not ready to witness…

KS: (smiling face) Nice to finally meet you. The name’s Wu Yi Fan, but everyone calls me Kris for some reason.

He… was…. BEATIFUL!! God, how can something so perfect be so evil! He had something similar to Lulu...maybe it was the golden hair… or the big eyes…or that soft-white skin… Obviously, it wasn’t his height, because LuHan was a stump next to this basketball player!

MJ: For a devil you sure have a cute face…You remind me of LuHan… don’t know why… you guys are total opposites…

KS: ( face) True, we are very different…but not completely since I’m Chinese too.

MJ: That must be it then. Well Kris, it was “nice” meeting you. “Thanks” for the info, and I’ll be seeing you…AT THE END OF THE GAME, WHEN I WIN!

KS: (smirks) I don’t want to burst your bubble princess, but this is your Debut and Good-bye stage. So enjoy your last moments of liberty… This is where I head off. As for you, once you’re ready to start just slide down the cliff and upon putting one foot on Exotica’s ground the game will begin. Lucky for you it’s already night, so you can freely move forward. (Puts hood back on) Good luck…you’re gonna need it…

Kris turned around and headed back inside the abandoned museum, leaving me at the edge of the cliff, staring down at the now moon-lit city. It was a beautiful sight, to bad all I felt was fear and tiredness….LuHan would have enjoyed this view... LuHan… I wonder where you are now… I want to know if you’re hurt… or if you’re even alive… alive... I broke down into tears. I hadn’t had the time to even think of the possibility, and now that I did, I could only cry of pain and frustration, knowing that I’ve failed him and that if I don’t succeed in this game, we would die… Or even worse… I’d stay alive and LuHan got killed… That’s a moment when I would contemplate suicide as an alternative… I can’t let these thoughts affect me!! I can’t let LuHan see me like this! I need to be strong! He’s depending on me!...I wipe my tears away and start walking down the cliff…. Lulu, here I come… Just stay safe for a little while more…The cliff became too steep and I stumbled, making me roll down the rest of the way. I felt as rocks stabbed me and dirt covered my face. After a minute I finally arrived at the end of the hill. I moaned to let out my physical pain. I got on my feet, dried some blood lines that had formed in my arms, and swat the dirt off of my uniform; then I realized it… I was in Exotica… The game had already begun…