On the other side, Su Shisan estimated that it was about time, and opened the Copy panel to check the current situation: “There are only ten players left?”
More than half the people had been eliminated in a single morning. That progress was pretty decent; it seemed there were a lot of people skipping lunch.
Every time a player completed an amusement facility, their San Value would decrease.
In this Copy, the reduction in San Value manifested as increased adrenaline—players wouldn’t feel hunger or fatigue, and excitement and joy would flood their minds.
Of course, there was a way to restore San Value, and it was actually quite simple: just eat. The food and water sold in the “Joy Energy Station” all helped restore San Value, and the prices weren’t high.
The reason for this setting was naturally to balance the Copy’s difficulty. If San Value recovery items were too expensive, then she could forget about the Ghost House later.
But the Ghost House was a crucial element in this Copy. For the previous amusement facilities, there would always be some C-level Players who could pass, no matter how difficult she made them.
So in the end, it still depended on puzzles—especially those that required group thinking.
But obviously, no one was thinking anymore. Su Shisan glanced at the Original Inhabitant death count in the Copy panel, a faint smile appearing on her face.
Because San Value kept dropping, and hardly any players realized that food was the key to recovery, even those who ate lunch didn’t have very high San Value.
In other words, everyone was in an Excitement State.
In the Excitement State, players would act more impulsively and be more hot-tempered.
Competing with other players was one thing, but if they encountered resistance from an Original Inhabitant they looked down on, it would definitely ignite their anger.
That was also why so many Original Inhabitants had died.
A C-level Copy could hold up to 5,000 Original Inhabitants. She had placed 3,000 based on the Copy’s area.
Now, there were fewer than 1,500 left; it was obvious how many had died. And it was only halfway through the allotted time!
She didn’t know how many people would make it to the Ghost House, but given the current number of dead Original Inhabitants, there was absolutely no way anyone could survive and clear the Ghost House.
Suddenly, Su Shisan received a new message from Fu Mingxu:
“That player who turned into an employee has become a Red-Clothed Employee. But it looks like he did it on purpose. He’s heading to the Ghost House now. What should I do?”
She hadn’t expected that after all this trouble, he still hadn’t managed to trouble Jun Qian. S-Rank NPCs really were something else.
Su Shisan wasn’t too surprised: “His goal is to protect a player. Use the surveillance to monitor everyone he interacts with. If you find any clues, let me know.”
Fu Mingxu was very surprised at her words: “You mean, he’s teamed up with another player? But isn’t team formation forbidden in this Copy?”
Actually, Su Shisan didn’t know how Jun Qian had entered, but it definitely wasn’t as a player: “He’s not a player. He’s an NPC, just like you. Don’t worry about how he did it—just keep an eye on him.”
“Understood.” Fu Mingxu suppressed his surprise and answered seriously.
After arranging for this unexpected guest, Su Shisan continued with her original tasks. She had no intention of checking out the Ghost House.
She didn’t know what kind of tricks would be played today, but as the Copy’s Builder, there was no way she would let her plans be disrupted because of one person.
Or rather, if this Copy really could be thrown into chaos by a single person, then there must be something wrong with her design, not with the person.
So, for the sake of Continuous Teamwipe, it was enough to target the player Jun Qian wanted to protect; she didn’t think she needed to do much else.
After handing out two more balloons, Su Shisan felt it was enough. Five Clowns would be more than enough to throw the hotel into chaos—there was no need to keep sending out tickets to the Ghost House.
She was still counting on the balloons to block some players, or even have them turn on each other. In this state, five was the limit.
If the remaining players wanted more, they’d have to get them from the Clowns in doll costumes.
The balloons handed out by her and those handed out by the Clowns were different. For the latter, as soon as a player received one, they would immediately enter the Clown’s Hunting Range.
For the former, the Clown would only start hunting them once they returned to the hotel.
It was worth mentioning that in this Copy, the Clown’s stats had already been set very high by Su Shisan—strong, fast, and armed with chainsaws.
Not only that, but she had also deliberately equipped the Clown group with both the “Continuous Annihilation[2]” Badge and the “Newcomer Meat Grinder” Badge.
This was one of the uses of Achievement Badges—they could be worn not only by individuals, but also by identical groups. Although this would limit the group’s size (no more than 1% of the Copy’s total population), it was more than enough.
That was why Achievement Badges were so valuable. Or rather, NPCs with Achievement Badges were extremely precious.
That’s right—even if a Builder became an NPC, any Achievement Badges they had previously obtained would still belong to them.
Although these Badges couldn’t be given to others inside the Copy at that point, it was enough to make an ordinary person far surpass others and become a higher-level NPC.
In fact, if Su Shisan became an NPC now, she would definitely be B-Rank.
As mentioned before, NPCs with the Deterrence trait were rare—not only useful in normal situations, but also capable of producing miraculous effects at critical moments.
Most importantly, abilities gained from Achievement Badges could not be blocked by any player items. Things like Fireball Technique, mental control, or Face-Changing—players usually had ways to counter them.
Against Fireball Technique, you could stack magic resistance or simply ban magic. Against mental control, increase mental strength or even reverse-control by contesting strength.
Against Face-Changing and other illusions, you could use the Eye of Truth…
But if the ability came from an Achievement Badge, like Deterrence (which sounded related to mental strength), then simply raising your mental strength wouldn’t be enough to fully resist it.
Even if a player’s mental strength was ten times higher than the NPC’s, as long as it was a trait from an Achievement Badge, they’d still be affected.
With the “Newcomer Meat Grinder” Badge supporting them, plus their already creepy appearance, the Clown group was terrifying at a glance.
What’s more, the rules clearly stated there was something wrong with the Clowns, so hardly any players dared approach them.
They weren’t wrong to avoid them—the Clown’s balloons were a kill marker. If you took one, you’d be hunted.
But without a balloon, you couldn’t reach the Ghost House on your own. So, dangerous as it was, players still had to go get one.
Of course, the Copy wouldn’t force players to face unavoidable danger. Su Shisan had set up another way to reach the Ghost House: bribing a Red Uniform NPC.
If you found one and gave them 100 Game Tokens per person, they’d guide you there and give you a ticket at the Ghost House entrance.
This method avoided freeloading by followers. If you wanted to go to the Ghost House, you either risked being hunted by Clowns, or obediently handed over 100 Game Tokens.
And as long as they paid that 100 Game Tokens, they would absolutely not have enough left to buy a Human Doll.
The expensive dolls in the shop were, of course, useful—immediately so.
Animal Dolls could protect you from ghost attacks in the Ghost House for five minutes and clear negative statuses. Human Dolls gave you fifteen minutes.
The ghosts’ attacks were mainly mental. Normally, C-level Players had tough minds, so it wouldn’t be too bad. But with their current low San Value, they were very vulnerable.
And even under normal circumstances, so many ghosts would still deal considerable damage. The more ghosts there were, the higher the overall damage in the Ghost House.
At the same time, Clowns and Red-Clothed Employees would also hunt players in the Ghost House, combining with mental attacks. Without items, Su Shisan was certain the players wouldn’t survive.
Even if they had immunity to mental attacks, the Clowns and Red-Clothed Employees weren’t just for show—they’d focus their hunt on such players.
At 3 p.m., when only five players remained, Fu Mingxu contacted Su Shisan with a tone full of grievance: “Is this right? I can’t do anything at all in this Copy!”
As the Amusement Park Director, his job was to delay players when they found him, activate traps to lock them in his office, and if they tried to attack, instantly switch to Clown form to fight.
In this Copy, the Park Director was on the eerie faction. He was responsible for sacrificing tourists to increase Its power. So, if players dared to seek him out, something would definitely happen.