“Let’s ask around after we finish the Roller Coaster.”
Understanding what he meant, [Heart of Durian] nodded. “Let’s see if the NPCs have any Game Tokens on them.”
If they do, then there’s nothing to discuss—just snatch and be done with it.
Players are only as kind as they need to be to other players; being soft on NPCs is just being too much of a Saintly Father and Mother.
“Hey! Why are you cutting in line?” Suddenly, a commotion erupted at the front of the queue.
The two of them craned their necks to see. A beer-bellied uncle in flip-flops, clearly an Original Inhabitant, was pushing his way in.
When confronted, he retorted self-righteously, cursing, “What do you mean, cutting in line? Watch your mouth! Don’t you see I’m in a hurry?”
Damn!
“You rushing off to reincarnate or something?” The pink-haired girl he’d cut in front of shot back angrily. “If you don’t know manners, I know a thing or two about fists.”
Anyone could tell this uncle was an Original Inhabitant, and she could see it too. With that out-of-shape body, she was sure she could take him down even without a Prop.
But the uncle was clearly oblivious, sneering, “You know a thing or two about fists? With those skinny arms and legs, don’t get knocked out by a single punch from me!”
If that was all, it wouldn’t be so bad, but then he leered nastily, making a crude joke: “But if you’re talking about some ‘fists’ in bed, I wouldn’t mind giving it a try.”
Enough was enough. The pink-haired girl sneered, lifted her leg, and kicked him three meters away.
Then she quickly closed in, fists flying, beating him until he begged for mercy, his screams shrill like a pig being slaughtered.
Just as she was getting into it, a Blue Uniform Employee arrived with two Black Uniform Security in tow.
Seeing these relatively important NPCs in the Copy, the pink-haired girl gave the man a final slap, then stood up, stepping on the middle-aged man as if nothing had happened, and asked, “Hello, is there something we can help you with?”
The Blue Uniform Employee spoke up: “You and this gentleman have violated the rules of ‘Happy District 13 Amusement Park.’ Please come with me.”
The pink-haired girl had indeed broken the rules. Ticket Rule Nine stated, “For the sake of harmony among visitors, please be polite and civilized while queuing. Do not cut in line.”
Both cutting and being rude were violations, so she had to be taken away as well.
She’d thought of this when she started the fight, pursed her lips, and probed, “What will happen to me after I’m taken away? I won’t be… directly kicked out of the amusement park, right?”
If she left the amusement park before completing her mission, it would be equivalent to being eliminated. She was tactfully asking if she was about to be kicked out.
She was ready to take responsibility for her impulsiveness, but if she was really going to be eliminated, she would at least struggle a little before it happened.
“Of course not.” The Blue Uniform Employee shook his head with a smile.
“We just need to give you and this gentleman a little ideological education. But if you insist on resisting, then who knows what might happen.”
Hearing this, the pink-haired girl hesitated for a moment, then decided to obediently follow them. The rules said Blue Uniform Employees and Black Uniform Security could be trusted.
Although she wasn’t sure if this was really true, for now, following the rules seemed safer than resisting.
***
Watching the group leave, [Cheng Yu (Modern)] rubbed his chin. “Something’s a bit odd.”
“What’s odd?” [Heart of Durian] turned and asked curiously.
[Cheng Yu (Modern)] didn’t keep her guessing, explaining directly, “You and I both think the rides in this amusement park are too easy. By that logic, the death rate should be made up for elsewhere.”
“I always thought it would be for failing the mission or breaking the rules. After all, a C-level Copy can have two Death Rules. But now it seems that breaking the rules isn’t fatal?”
“True, I’ve seen Copies where players cut in line and got eaten by NPCs on the spot. This Copy seems way too peaceful.” Now that he mentioned it, [Heart of Durian] realized something was off too.
“Maybe those employees are lying. They take people away just to eliminate them, but say it’s nothing serious to make other players let their guard down.”
She thought for a moment, then changed her angle. “If the employees aren’t lying, then I think the other Death Rule really is in the Ghost House. We’ll ask an NPC about it later, after we find the place.”
“That’s all we can do.” [Cheng Yu (Modern)] nodded. “Let’s not overthink it now. We haven’t even cleared the Roller Coaster yet. Let’s check the rules.”
[Roller Coaster Instructions]
1. The Roller Coaster has a high-altitude throwing segment. Those with high blood pressure, heart disease, or fear of heights should not ride.
2. Players must fasten their seatbelts immediately after sitting down. Do not leave your seat while the Roller Coaster is in motion, or suffer the consequences.
3. Feeling fear and excitement during the ride is normal. Guests may laugh to relieve their fear.
4. If you see someone fall from the Roller Coaster, don’t worry. That is just a hallucination caused by tension at high altitude.
5. If you notice someone approaching you on the Roller Coaster, don’t worry. It’s just a hallucination—no one will leave their seat.
As before, there were five rules. But this time, the fourth and fifth rules seemed especially bizarre.
What kind of situation would make someone fall from the Roller Coaster? Who would approach someone else on a speeding Roller Coaster?
Just from these two rules, you could already glimpse the difficulty of this amusement ride.
Honestly, after sensing the difficulty, the two of them actually felt relieved. If all the stages were that easy, they’d be scared out of their wits.
Everyone knows the unknown is the scariest thing. C-level Copies often vary in difficulty, but they’re generally designed to kill players, making the most of their skills and Props.
A stage where you could survive even without using skills or Props was unheard of, and naturally made them uneasy.
But now, it seemed the difficulty of these rides wasn’t consistent—just like in real life, where the Carousel is the easiest and the Roller Coaster much harder.
“That’s a good thing.” [Cheng Yu (Modern)] nodded firmly. “This one’s a bit tougher, so don’t forget to help each other out.”
[Heart of Durian] nodded too. “Together.”
***
Their guess proved correct. Compared to the Carousel, the Roller Coaster claimed far more lives.
Each round, about ten people entered, but only four or five came out two minutes later—a fifty percent elimination rate, not low at all.
After chatting for a while, the two finally reached the front of the line. There were no other players in their batch, only a group of Original Inhabitants, and they all boarded the Roller Coaster together.
Since they were near the front, they had more choice of seats. Even though they’d agreed to help each other, the two of them didn’t sit in the same row, but rather in the front and back rows.
On this Roller Coaster, each row was a single unit, while the front and back rows were connected by iron bars.
If something went wrong with one seat, chances were high the whole row would be affected, but not necessarily the rows in front or behind.
From outside, the Roller Coaster looked just like a real one. There were two big turns on the track, with smaller slopes elsewhere.
But once they got on, the track changed dramatically. First, the number of big turns increased from two to three.
Then, many parts of the track were broken, and some sections looked like they could collapse at any moment.
The scariest part was a spot at the top of a curve—where everyone would be upside down—where the track was broken for a full three meters! How could the Roller Coaster possibly make that jump?
Aside from the gaps, all the previously intact seatbelts had problems. Some couldn’t be buckled, others were badly worn, looking like they’d snap with a tug.
“Excuse me, could you help fix our seatbelts?” Bravery comes with the first move. [Cheng Yu (Modern)] raised his hand and asked.
The track was obviously beyond repair, but he figured there was still hope for the seatbelts.
A Blue Uniform Employee walked over to check. “There’s nothing wrong. See? It’s perfectly fine.”
[Cheng Yu (Modern)] suspected he was blind, but remembering that these NPCs seemed to have no memory of abnormalities in the park, he just shrugged.
“Then could you help me buckle it? I don’t know how.”
His seatbelt was one of the less damaged ones, but the buckle just wouldn’t latch.