Even so, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They were all C-level Players, and most had trained their bodies in the main city.
After all, intelligence was hard to improve, but physical training had real, visible results.
Now, the challenge was something they were relatively good at—at least, they had some training. That was better than a brain-teaser stage.
The only girl in the group added, “Oh, and the fourth rule is correct. Laughing inside helps calm the horses a bit. You can try it when you go in—I think the happier you laugh, the calmer the horses get.”
It was nice to have someone test things first—they’d pointed out both the danger and the way to clear the stage. Everyone quickly thanked them for sharing the information so generously.
“Sorry, but can I ask—how did you end up like this?” One of the players in line asked cautiously, referring to the person missing an arm. @Unlimited Good Stories, all at Jinjiang Literature City
Even if you’d fallen from a great height, you wouldn’t have such a wound—it was clearly cut off. The girl was worried they were hiding something, so she asked in front of everyone.
The one-armed player was in a foul mood and sneered, “Trying to get it for free? Not a chance! If you’re curious, go try for yourself!”
Although any injuries sustained in the instance would be restored once they left, starting off this battered made it nearly impossible to clear the instance. How could he possibly be in a good mood?
If he could get some benefits before being eliminated, that’d be best. If not, he’d just enjoy being the boss for a bit.
His teammates hesitated but ultimately said nothing. With the man’s injury, they couldn’t keep teaming up anyway. There was no need to provoke him now—who knew what he’d do if he was pushed too far?
Everyone else thought the same—better to let things be. After all, it wasn’t them who’d be eliminated.
But, as always, someone would be reckless. A blond player scoffed, “So desperate for money? Didn’t your teammates just tell us all about the Carousel? Why are you the only one being so difficult?”
The one-armed man grinned viciously. He’d been feeling frustrated, but now someone had come along to vent his anger on.
As the fight broke out, [Cheng Yu (Modern)] watched in amazement and whispered to his teammate, “What a hero—does he want to die, or just not live?”
What kind of sane person would provoke someone on the brink of elimination? Especially when the other still had the ability to act—those with nothing to lose could do anything.
The one-armed man was already guaranteed to be out, so he had nothing to fear. But did this blond guy not plan to continue in the instance either?
What’s going on—
“Idiots show up every year,” [Heart of Durian] shook her head, glancing at the NPCs who were now shouting in alarm because of the fight. “Look at them—acting just like real people.”
From what they’d said earlier, it was clear these NPCs weren’t to be trifled with. If she guessed right, the one-armed man’s injury was caused by an NPC.
Which made things interesting. The NPCs who came off the Carousel acted like nothing had happened—you couldn’t tell what they’d been through or what they’d done.
Getting back to business, [Cheng Yu (Modern)] grew serious as well. “It’s definitely weird—they seem to have no memory of what happened inside.”
But it didn’t really matter—maybe it was just a special setting to keep the instance running smoothly. The two didn’t dwell on it, and continued to discuss the difficulty of the instance.
“From what they said, the Carousel doesn’t seem too hard. How’s your physical ability? Need help?”
[Cheng Yu (Modern)] asked considerately. As teammates, this was something he could help with.
But [Heart of Durian] was equally confident in herself. “No need. If something happens, we can help each other out. I just hope it’s really as simple as they say.”
***
Elsewhere, Su Shisan and Fu Mingxu, who was playing the Amusement Park Director, were chatting in the director’s office.
“No wonder my Builder thinks so highly of you—this instance’s setup really makes people let their guard down.” Watching the surveillance, Fu Mingxu couldn’t help but praise her.
On the monitor, many of the players who’d tried an attraction looked relaxed. Although a few of the twenty-four players had been injured, most handled things well.
If the instance’s difficulty stayed like this, lots of people would clear it.
But that was just on the surface. Su Shisan smiled slightly. This instance reused the setup from her previous ones: if your San Value dropped to zero, you would be polluted.
That was the Death Rule. So the greatest danger lay in the “happiness” each attraction brought.
Of course, if you physically died while experiencing an attraction, you’d still die—that wasn’t part of the Death Rule, but rather the universal Physical Rules for all instances.
As for the instance’s other Death Rule, Su Shisan had set it so that anyone who failed to leave the Thirteen Joy District on the company bus would be considered abandoned by the company, with predictable consequences.
“If you get bored here, feel free to play any NPC and wander around.” Su Shisan, not planning to stay, gave Fu Mingxu a little break before leaving.
His role was the Park Director, who players would almost never find early on. Even if they did find his office, it wouldn’t matter—it’s perfectly normal for the director not to be in.
Since there was nothing to do early on, he might as well explore. Su Shisan figured that was one reason he’d come to help.
An A-level Builder had sent his expensive B-Rank NPC to be an NPC in her C-rank instance—even for her as a D-level Builder, that would be nerve-wracking if she had no clue why.
But it wasn’t hard to guess. She had no power, no connections—what else could people value but her talent?
That might sound overconfident, but it was the truth. Even if Su Shisan didn’t know much about Builders, she could tell from Director Liu and Sparta’s reactions that she really did have a knack for it.
Builders could see the player forum, and threads about Su Shisan’s instances had gotten a little popular before. He must have noticed and grown interested, so it made sense that he accepted her invitation.
After guessing, she’d tested Fu Mingxu a bit during NPC training. He clearly respected her ability, so he must have seen her previous instances. That confirmed her suspicions.
Getting a B-Rank NPC for just 500 points was a win for her, so Su Shisan decided to return the favor by letting him experience her instance firsthand.
She wasn’t worried about Fu Mingxu figuring out her whole instance.
The director’s job was to oppose the players, so she hadn’t told him too much about the inner workings or details—how much he could see was up to him.
NPCs, Builders, and players were all people, just with different perspectives.
Most players couldn’t see what was really going on, so Su Shisan wasn’t worried that a change of perspective would make it easy to unravel.
And she wasn’t worried about him copying her. An A-level Builder aiming for S-rank would have their own worldview—they wouldn’t suddenly change course.
“Great, thanks! I’ll head out then.” As expected, after hearing he could go, Fu Mingxu’s eyes lit up and he agreed immediately.
After letting Fu Mingxu go, Su Shisan changed into a new outfit and headed outside. She was dressed in a clumsy-looking Clown mascot suit, holding a bunch of balloons.
The ticket rules stated not to accept balloons from the Clown—that was a correct rule, but not the whole truth.
Taking anything related to the Clown would make the Clown hunt you down—be it a balloon or a Clown mascot.
If you brought them to the hotel, the Clown could even break into that safe zone and chase players inside.
But the advantage was that if players took them outside at night, they could find the Ghost House.
Of course, that wasn’t the only way to find the Ghost House, but if you timed it right—getting a Clown item just before dusk and heading straight there—this was the safest option.
As she walked, Su Shisan shook her head. “If no one takes a balloon, they’re in for trouble.”
***
“The tasks seem pretty simple so far. I don’t think we need to rush,” [Cheng Yu (Modern)] said easily, hands behind his head after finishing the Carousel.
He was very satisfied with his teammate—they’d both come through unscathed. If the other stages were this easy, they’d have no trouble clearing the instance.
Their two other teammates, though, had both gotten hurt—one had a cut on his face, and the other had nearly been slashed at an artery. Still, both had managed to pass with only minor scares.
You had to admit, the Original Inhabitants were truly fierce.
Once they sensed danger, each one steadied themselves while pulling out sharp items like metal keys, nail clippers, fruit knives—whatever they had on hand.
If anyone got close to them, or if they needed to approach someone else, these items became weapons, giving them plenty of ways to attack.
It was worth noting that four or five NPCs had fallen off, too—from a height of over ten meters, with no hope of survival.
One had even been killed by a player, but after coming out, that player wasn’t met with any hostility from the NPCs.
The reason he wasn’t targeted was that, after leaving the Carousel, the NPCs seemed to have completely forgotten what happened inside—not even realizing one of their companions was missing.
She didn’t just forget what happened on the Carousel—she didn’t even remember the person who died inside!
[Cheng Yu (Modern)] had even specifically asked that NPC, inquiring about a friend with a mole on her chin who liked to wear blue dresses.
Such a distinct feature—if the NPC remembered her friend, she would have recalled her.
But the NPC denied it—she didn’t remember having such a friend. Clearly, the dead had been erased entirely.
But this had nothing to do with the difficulty of the stage—it hadn’t affected their easy clearance at all.
[Heart of Durian] also felt the stage was a bit too easy, and her cautious nature made her feel something was off.
She voiced her thoughts: “I think we could try the Roller Coaster. If it’s about the same difficulty, then let’s go gather info on the Ghost House.”
Hearing this, [Cheng Yu (Modern)] thought for a moment and quickly understood her reasoning.
Obviously, his teammate thought the real challenge of this instance lay in the Ghost House, so with time on their side, she wanted to figure out the biggest threat first.
He thought it made perfect sense. The Roller Coaster might be tough, but it was a mandatory stage—sooner or later, they’d have to do it.
Besides, they already had experience with the Carousel, so it wasn’t like they were going in blind.
“Alright, let’s go line up now.”
As a classic game, the Roller Coaster was hugely popular among the NPCs. The winding, twisting line looked like it would take at least an hour to get through.
Luckily, not every attraction had such a long wait—the Carousel had only taken ten minutes.
While waiting in line, [Heart of Durian] took out the Game Tokens she’d earned from the Carousel—ten in total, her entire income so far.
It just felt a little too little. [Heart of Durian] couldn’t help but frown.
If every attraction only gave this many Game Tokens, she wouldn’t even be able to research the expensive Humanoid Figures, let alone afford a map or meals.
Seeing her action, [Cheng Yu (Modern)] sighed as well. “The prices in this amusement park are really high. Let’s hope the Roller Coaster gives more.”
Otherwise………………
He didn’t finish his sentence, just gave a knowing look. There was no way they’d try extra attractions—just completing the ones required by their tickets would be their limit.
Given that, the only way to get more Game Tokens was to fight for them.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.