Just before New Year's Eve, Zhao Mudi, a 21-year-old college student, and five classmates experienced 'time travel' in the renovated basement of a Beijing furniture retailer.
跨年夜前，21岁的大学生赵穆迪和他的五个同学一起在北京一家家具零售店改造来的地下室里经历了一场时间旅行。
They found themselves playing passengers in period costumes on a train traveling to 1865 United States, just after the Civil War.
在这场时间旅行中，他们穿越到1865年的美国，那里刚刚结束内战。身着同时代的衣服，他们摇身一变成了列车乘客。
密逃《绝逗野马镇》 图源：王敬/中国日报
Then, an explosion. The train veers out of control, and the shocked passengers find themselves in a small town in the middle of nowhere.
随后，一场爆炸发生了。列车失去控制，受到惊吓的乘客们发现自己身处一个偏僻的小镇......
This is Wild Story of a Wilder Town, one of the most popular escape room games in the Chinese capital. Zhao and classmates had 145 minutes to escape－and the clock was ticking.
以上是北京最受喜爱的密室逃脱主题之一《绝逗野马镇》的情节。赵穆迪和他的同学们只有145分钟的时间逃脱，时间正在一点点流逝。
密逃《绝逗野马镇》 图源：王敬/中国日报
In China, escape rooms became popular more than 10 years ago, and initially centered on horror themes. They evolved from players solving a series of puzzles in a predetermined timeframe, to action-driven storylines with complex characters.
在中国，密室逃脱游戏已经流行十多年了。最开始，密室逃脱的主题多为恐怖题材。最初，玩家只需在规定时间内解开一系列谜题，现在，密逃已经进阶成多个复杂角色共同演绎故事情节的游戏。
Both thriller and comedy, the game plays out against the backdrop of the US Civil War, with the non-player characters, or NPCs, leading the main participants in experiencing fun and excitement, including a gun duel, target shooting and using a lasso.
《绝逗野马镇》主题密逃以美国内战为背景，兼具惊悚和喜剧色彩。枪战、打靶、套索，玩家们在非玩家角色（NPC）的一步步引导下，体验着游戏的乐趣和刺激。
密逃《绝逗野马镇》 图源：王敬/中国日报
Zhao said: 'NPCs are crucial for escape rooms. Their acting skills bring us a sense of reality, allowing us to better experience the game.'
赵穆迪说：“密室逃脱里的NPC们很关键。他们的演技给我们一种真实感，让我们能更好地体验游戏。”
This relatively new form of entertainment is a key leisure activity among young people. Escape rooms also offer job opportunities for professional actors, musicians and scriptwriters.
这种全新的娱乐方式是年轻人中流行的休闲活动。密室逃脱也为专业演员、音乐家和编剧们创造了工作机会。
Trained actor, Zhang Penghui, 23, decided to apply for a NPC job.
23岁的专业演员张鹏辉决定要找一份NPC的工作。
He trained for his job for several months, learning from senior NPCs before starting to act in a game.
正式上岗之前，张鹏辉接受了数月培训，跟着有经验的NPC们学习。
'I now realize that the work of a NPC is even harder than acting in movies, TV dramas and the theater. In addition to solid acting skills, NPCs need to know about how to improvise, as the main players in a game are not professional actors and actresses. I need to engage in conversation with these total strangers and help them with their roles,' Zhang said.
张鹏辉说：“我现在觉得NPC这个工作甚至比在电影、电视剧、话剧里表演还难。除了演技得过硬，NPC还需要知道怎么即兴表演，因为密室逃脱里的玩家们都不是专业演员。我需要和这些我完全不认识的玩家交谈，帮助他们更好地进入到角色中。”
图源：暴风岛多结局沉浸式密室微信公众号
Wang Weizheng, 27, is a professional musician and classically trained pianist. As a newcomer to such activities he followed senior NPCs and received training in reading storylines.
27岁的王伟正是一名职业音乐人，也是一名古典钢琴演奏者。刚刚接触密室逃脱，王伟正就跟着有经验的NPC们，学习解读游戏故事线。
'I always love trying new things,' said Wang, whose first role as an NPC was playing a priest.
王伟正扮演的第一个NPC角色是一名牧师，他说：“我一直喜欢尝试新鲜事物。”
'Some players return to the same escape room as many as 20 times. They immerse themselves in the stories and their roles. They take their acting very seriously and experience different lives before returning to reality. For me, that's the most rewarding part of being a NPC,' he said.
他还表示：“有些玩家一个密室重复玩了能有20次，完全沉浸在故事和角色里。在回到现实世界之前，玩家们很认真地对待自己的演绎，去体验不同的生活。对我来说，这是做NPC最有成就感的事。”
More than 100 NPCs work in Island Storm escape rooms－50 percent of them professionally trained actors.
暴风岛密室有100多位NPC，这些人中有一半都是经过专业训练的演员。
密逃《绝逗野马镇》 图源：王敬/中国日报
The recent comedy reality show Super Sketch Show, broadcast by the iQiyi streaming platform, brought NPCs into the spotlight, with actor Jiang Long, 25, making his breakthrough and gaining a large fan base with his comedic play The Last Class where he plays a jobless actor who works at an escape room to make a living.
最近在爱奇艺播放的喜剧真人秀《一年一度喜剧大赛》将NPC这一职业带到聚光灯下。25岁的演员蒋龙凭借剧目《最后一课》实现自我突破，收获了大量粉丝。在剧中，蒋龙饰演一名没有戏拍的演员，在密室逃脱里扮演丧尸维持生活。
'It's a true story. I went to an escape room, where I met a friend, who is an actor. He is a good performer and relishes his role of scaring people. He chose not to give up acting, although he had to figure out a way to make a regular income,' Jiang said.
蒋龙表示：“作品是真实故事改编的。有一次，我去玩密室逃脱，碰见了我的朋友，他是一名演员。他真的是一个很好的演员，全身心投入地去'吓人’。虽然不得已要找条出路维持生活，但他依旧没有放弃表演。”
One fan of the reality show said, 'I've had great experiences in escape rooms thanks to the professional NPCs, whose acting skills are very convincing.' After seeing the play, another fan posted, 'They (NPCs) make these rooms their stages.'
节目的一位粉丝说：“专业NPC的演技很令人信服，正是因为有他们，我在密逃里获得过很棒的体验。”还有一位粉丝看完《最后一课》后表示：“NPC们把密室当作了自己的舞台。”
蒋龙表演《最后一课》截图 图源：爱奇艺
In 2016, He Hanxia had her first escape room experience with a group of friends. In a darkened venue with narrow hallways, she solved clues, found hidden objects, completed puzzles, and unlocked the room, which left her excited and fulfilled.
2016年，何函夏和朋友们第一次玩起了密室逃脱。在逼仄黑暗的空间里，何函夏解开一个个线索、找到隐藏的物体、完成解谜、然后打开房间逃脱。整个过程让她很兴奋、很有满足感。
'It was an unforgettable experience. I thought I could create my own adventure－a story－and then invite people to be part of it,' she said.
何函夏说：“那次经历很难忘。我就想我也能创造自己的冒险故事，邀请其他人参与到我的故事中。”
Once she had this idea, she paused her career of providing overseas training services－jointly founding Island Storm in 2017 with her friend Zhao Pengchong.
有了这个想法后，何函夏就先暂停了她的海外培训事业。2017年，她和朋友赵鹏翀一起创办了暴风岛。
赵鹏翀接受央视采访
Their first store opened in 2017 near the National Stadium in Beijing, and the business proved a success in just one month. Their second store opened in 2018, also in the capital. Now, Island Storm is one of the largest franchises of its kind in the country, operating 11 escape rooms nationwide.
2017年，他们的第一家门店在北京国家体育场（鸟巢）附近正式开张，开业仅一个月，就大获成功。2018年，暴风岛的第二家店面也在北京正式开业。目前，暴风岛已经成为中国密室逃脱行业的最大连锁店之一，在全国共开有11家密逃店。
'Younger consumers are looking for something new, rather than merely being scared in these games. Ultimately, they gain the most satisfaction from doing these things with a group of their pals. It's not about competition, but collaboration.' she said.
何函夏表示：“年轻的消费者们一直想在密室里寻求新鲜事物，而非仅仅是惊吓和刺激。从根本上讲，和同伴一起玩密室可以让他们获得最大程度的满足感。密室玩的不是竞争，而是合作。”
图源：暴风岛多结局沉浸式密室微信公众号
The increased popularity of escape rooms has opened the door for set designers, NPC coaches and writers.
密室逃脱越来越受欢迎，为布景师、NPC培训师和作家这些职业提供了发展可能。
'It's all about the seamless integration of characters, story and puzzles as well as the lighting, sounds and multimedia technology.'
“密室不仅涉及到灯光、声音和多媒体技术的无缝衔接，也涉及到角色、故事、谜题的完美融合。”
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编辑：李金昳 周婵
记者：陈楠
录音：Stephanie Stone
实习生：申乐 程程 舒好
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