The employee came over and buckled it for him, but [Cheng Yu (Modern)] found he could easily undo it with a bit of force.
But now he couldn’t say anything more. Since the employee had already helped him and clearly couldn’t see the problem, insisting would just make him look like he was making trouble.
Seeing he hadn’t succeeded, [Heart of Durian] didn’t try either. But she noticed something interesting: the NPCs clearly had no expectation that the staff could actually help.
If there had been other players, they’d definitely have watched carefully when a teammate asked the employee for help, hoping the staff could really do something.
But the NPCs didn’t care. They glanced over when [Cheng Yu (Modern)] spoke, but after hearing what he said, they completely lost interest.
It couldn’t be that they didn’t see the problems with the seatbelts and track—during the Carousel, they’d fought back and even attacked proactively, showing they could see the issues.
But now, with no reaction at all, it could only mean these NPCs knew the staff were useless.
If this wasn’t a bug, [Heart of Durian] thought it was a very interesting setup—or rather, a very interesting worldbuilding choice. If there was a sequel, she’d look into it.
But for now, better focus on surviving this round.
She turned to her teammate. “Need some glue?”
Players could bring Props into Copies, but unless you had a special spatial ability, you could only bring up to three Props per Copy.
Unlike other players who liked fancy, flashy Props, [Heart of Durian] preferred ordinary but practical ones.
A camera was one—very useful for storing evidence or in places with lots of rules. Second was glue. The glue she carried was specially made, extremely sticky, and could even be dried into rope after use.
“Yes!” [Cheng Yu (Modern)] had planned to rely on his own strength, but hearing his teammate had a Prop, he was overjoyed.
[Heart of Durian] first applied some glue to her seat to make sure she was firmly stuck in place.
Then she passed the glue over and reminded him, “This glue loses its stickiness quickly when it gets wet, so don’t let your sweat drip on it.”
At first, that sounded like a flaw, but actually, dissolving in water was the glue’s main advantage. If you couldn’t remove it easily, you’d worry about what to do if you got stuck in an emergency.
After a countdown—three, two, one—the Roller Coaster started up. Like all Roller Coasters, it began slowly, then accelerated, racing down the track.
They soon reached the first gap. Surprisingly, thanks to inertia, the Roller Coaster cleared the gap easily—no one fell.
But all the seatbelts snapped from the jostling, and [Heart of Durian] heard a loud metallic clang. She had no doubt that this rickety Roller Coaster was about to fall apart.
Creak—
Suddenly, a harsh screech of metal made their ears ring. An iron rod connecting one seat to the row ahead snapped completely, the seat tilting dangerously.
If it weren’t a single-row unit, that seat would have fallen off by now.
The girl sitting there screamed in terror and tried to climb up. The seat was tilted so steeply that even holding on, she couldn’t last long—especially with a faulty seatbelt.
To survive the first big loop, she had to switch seats.
But would anyone let her? The Original Inhabitant next to her suddenly pulled out an awl. “Don’t come over, or don’t blame me for what happens.”
“These NPCs are really… so well-armed…” [Cheng Yu (Modern)] couldn’t help but comment. “Why does everyone have a weapon? And they attack without hesitation—is this normal?”
[Heart of Durian] was intrigued too. “Feels like, even though they forget what happens on the rides, they already know they’ll face danger in the park.”
As they talked, the girl and her seatmate started fighting, and the Roller Coaster kept moving.
At the first big turn, the half-seated girl lost her grip and fell, but her seatmate didn’t fare much better—his hand was covered in blood, and their seat had nearly broken off from the struggle.
The two players, meanwhile, sat rock solid thanks to the glue, showing no sign of falling. [Cheng Yu (Modern)], who’d been worried, finally relaxed.
After another gap, the Roller Coaster changed again. Suddenly, a bunch of bloody, mangled people appeared on the track, crawling toward the cars.
They didn’t attack the riders, only tried to damage the Roller Coaster—wrecking the cars, the connections, the seatbelts…
Because the cars were so shoddy, even these ordinary people could do real damage.
The Original Inhabitants all looked mentally prepared. Even as screams echoed, they fought back fiercely, attacking the creatures’ heads with their weapons.
The two players copied them, attacking the monsters as best they could to knock them off before they could further damage the ride.
The Roller Coaster was already falling apart—if it broke completely, even being glued down wouldn’t save them.
***
After an entire row of seats broke off and three people fell, the monsters were finally all thrown off the ride.
Buffeted by the rushing wind, [Heart of Durian] called out worriedly, “What about the next turn’s gap?”
It was the highest point of the track, and the biggest gap—three whole meters, and the Roller Coaster would be moving slowly and upside-down. Even with inertia, it might not make it.
Since the Roller Coaster was obviously the hardest stage, no players had cleared it before, so there was no experience to draw from.
Sure, some Original Inhabitants always managed to survive, but who knew how they did it?
What if the Roller Coaster was just impossible to clear that gap, and they used some other method? Doing nothing could mean being caught off guard.
“Don’t worry, watch me!” [Cheng Yu (Modern)] flashed a confident smile and flicked his hand.
Suddenly, a segment of track appeared out of thin air at the gap, fitting perfectly so the Roller Coaster could pass safely.
“That’s my Talent Skill—I can turn fantasy into reality.” After getting off the Roller Coaster, facing his temporary teammate’s curious gaze, [Cheng Yu (Modern)] introduced himself generously.
But [Heart of Durian] didn’t believe him completely. She was sure he was hiding something—after all, a Fantasy to Reality skill was way too overpowered.
Still, it didn’t matter if he lied. They were only temporary teammates, and just needed a general idea of each other’s skills.
She’d used her Prop, he’d used his skill—it was fair.
Without pursuing the topic, she pulled out her newly acquired Game Tokens. “Thirty Game Tokens—not bad. We can go buy a map.”
The Roller Coaster’s difficulty and reward both put them at ease. The stage wasn’t top-tier, but it fit a typical C-level Copy.
The number of Game Tokens was just right—enough to buy a map, and not have to worry about lunch or dinner. As for the human doll, they’d have to work hard and clear most rides to afford it.
“I’ll give you my share of the money—you go buy it. I’ll ask around outside with the Original Inhabitants about the Ghost House.” [Cheng Yu (Modern)] took out 25 Game Tokens from his bag.
He wasn’t worried his temporary teammate would run off with the money—just 25 Game Tokens wasn’t enough for anyone to betray a reliable teammate.
Besides, [Heart of Durian] had helped him even when he hadn’t contributed much, and now that he’d done his part and shared his Talent Skill, she had no reason to run.
And sure enough, [Heart of Durian] had no intention of running. Arriving at the shop, she first observed the inside as usual, then just as she was about to step in, her foot froze in midair.
She seemed to see a Clown doll on the shelf?
The doll was hidden behind a bunch of others, but its red-and-white decorations were so eye-catching that even with only its head showing, [Heart of Durian] noticed it.
She was always meticulous, so she immediately glanced warily at the Store Clerk and slowly backed away.
The Store Clerk was puzzled. “Hello, is there something you need? Why not come in?”
Before [Heart of Durian] could reply, two men walked in. At a glance, you could tell they were players—players and Original Inhabitants had very different auras.
Though Original Inhabitants varied from Copy to Copy, players always had a certain edge from seeing blood, and their fit bodies set them apart.
These two were obvious examples.
They entered so quickly that [Heart of Durian], who had been watching the Store Clerk, didn’t have time to warn them and could only watch as they went in.
But since they were already inside, she had no desire to warn them. Maybe leaving now could save them, but maybe it wouldn’t matter, and she might even get blamed as an interfering bystander.
Better to stay silent and see what happens when someone breaks the rule.
Unlike her, those two were there to buy lunch. It was still early—just ten o’clock—but since lunch was just bread, it didn’t matter when they bought it.
After they bought their bread, the Store Clerk suddenly said, “Congratulations! You two are the thirteenth and fourteenth customers today.”
“Thirteen is just right for our amusement park’s name, so we have a special gift for you. Would you like it? If so, I’ll bring it out now.”
Hearing this, the two men were clearly excited. They hadn’t expected to get a gift! But they quickly regained their caution—this was a Copy, after all, and nothing comes free.
After a brief discussion, they decided to see the gift first.
The Store Clerk walked to the toy shelf and pulled out the Clown doll hidden at the back. “This is our gift. Isn’t it cute?”
At this point, [Heart of Durian] thought for sure they would refuse. The Clown doll was clearly marked as dangerous in the rules.
Maybe it was fine if you hadn’t seen it before, but now that you had, you should get out fast, right?
But to her surprise, the two men seemed entranced by the doll, staring at it with obsessed eyes. “So cute…”
One of them, apparently with stronger willpower, looked away first and walked to the shelf to check the price tag, then exclaimed in delight, “This doll costs 200 Game Tokens! It’s the most expensive thing here—nothing else on the shelf is pricier.”
Hearing that, the other man immediately snatched the doll from the Store Clerk. “We’ll take it!”
Then the two of them, as if they’d scored a huge bargain, hugged and stroked the doll affectionately as they happily left the Happy Energy Station.