The slight dizziness dissipated, and Natsuki opened his eyes to see a pale green light entering his vision.
"It's actually a computer?"
Natsuki raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He was sitting in front of a computer, but it was clearly a rather old desktop computer, its fan huffing and puffing as if it was about to die at any second.
Natsuki subtly looked around and found himself sitting in a space similar to a Net Cafe.
Dim.
Eerie.
Crowded.
The air was stuffy and nauseating.
Natsuki quietly looked around and found himself sitting in the middle, with rows of pale green computers in front, behind, to his left, and to his right.
Some people were in suits and ties, wearing glasses. Some were in shirts and slippers, unkempt. And some looked young, as if they were still in school, students who hadn't yet stepped into society.
These individuals varied in age and attire, with more males than females, but all of them had pale faces, sunken eyes, and dull gazes, clearly not human—the older brother sitting to Natsuki's right looked like a recent college graduate, but a section of his head was noticeably caved in, clearly indicating he couldn't still be alive.
A quick glance revealed at least several hundred 'netizens' in the large, dark room. Due to the angle, Natsuki couldn't see if Kaguya and the others were also in the room.
But what was strange was that there were also many creatures resembling security guards in the room. These guys were all tall, nearly two meters in height, carrying blood-stained axes or iron whips covered in shredded flesh, constantly patrolling and moving around the room.
"Are everyone else not around...?"
Natsuki withdrew his gaze and subtly wiggled his pinky finger, tugging on the red string.
It is worth mentioning that ever since Moeha suddenly had a high fever that night and Natsuki took the opportunity to take advantage of Chika, the red string actually unlocked a hidden function—
The previous function only allowed one party to instantly sense it when the other party fiddled with the red string. Now, with the hidden attribute unlocked, after Natsuki fiddles with the red string, he can also sense Chika's location and emotions.
For example, secretary Chika's emotions at this moment are balanced and calm, clearly indicating that she is not in danger.
Of course, there is always a buffer period upon entering a dungeon; it's impossible to be attacked by evil spirits as soon as one enters.
After Chika responded with the red string, Natsuki relaxed and opened his task panel.
[Current Dungeon: Sin Park]
[Identity substitution successful. You are an ordinary person with mediocre academics and a mundane life, dreaming of getting rich overnight. So you packed your bags, left home, hoping to achieve success, return home in glory, and reach the pinnacle of life, and then... you crashed headfirst into the park.]
[Main Quest: Survive in the park for seven days]
[Side Quest: Escape to Heaven. You successfully escaped the confines of the park, by any means necessary.]
[Side Quest: The Demise of Sin. The park is destroyed, by any means necessary.]
[Side Quest: Daydreamer. You successfully achieved your initial dream of getting rich overnight, with daily sin coins income exceeding one thousand.]
[Side Quest: I Want to Be the boss. That year, at eighteen, you stood in the park like a nobody, but a person cannot be without dreams. You want to climb step by step, through hard work, to become the Manager, Vice Manager, or Supervisor of the park.]
[Side Quest: My Hands Are Stained with Sin. You obtained over one hundred sin coins through fraudulent, coercive, kidnapping, extortion, and other sinful methods.]
[Side Quest: This Place is Joyful, I Forget Sayu. You individually enjoyed ten video chat services.]
[Side Quest: Legend of the God of Gamblers. In the park's Casino, you cumulatively won one thousand sin coins.]
[Other side quests, please explore on your own.]
[Please note, the main quest must be completed. There is no mandatory requirement to complete side quests. For each side quest completed, you will receive additional rewards.]
Natsuki carefully read all the content before realizing.
This place seemed like a Net Cafe, but it wasn't at all.
His identity was also not some internet addict, but rather...
"Is it the legendary shill?" Natsuki couldn't help but complain to himself.
The profession of a shill has existed since ancient times and is actually very common in real life. For example, many newly opened milk tea shops have dozens or even hundreds of people queuing in front, most of whom are shills.
Adding the word 'dog' in front naturally implies contempt and hatred, and the so-called park is probably the legendary fraud park.
No wonder the security guards were all fierce and evil, each holding chilling weapons... because they weren't security guards at all, but thugs.
Natsuki exhaled lightly, his gaze falling on the old computer in front of him.
On the dim, eerie, sickly green screen, many chat windows were open, filled with various scam messages.
"Hello, part-time order-brushing group, would you like to know more? Order-brushing cashback, earn a thousand yuan a day without leaving home."
"Get lost!"
"I am a financial professional from Koukou Online Shopping Platform. The system has detected that you have activated a million-dollar protection fund. If you do not close it, fees will continue to be deducted..."
"What is a million-dollar protection fund?"
"Hello, I am a staff member from Koukou Bank. Your account is involved in financial fraud..."
"..."
"There are so many new types of scams, I'm learning a lot."
Natsuki clicked his tongue lightly, then directly closed the messy chat boxes on the desktop.
Scamming people?
Of course, he couldn't scam people.
He came to the park to do quests, not to be a shill!
Natsuki felt that with his eloquence, if he followed the content of the chat windows, he might actually be able to scam some people, but there was no need, and he disdained to do so.
One of the most important conditions for success is to find the right target.
Compared to the poor people behind the screen who might or might not have money, where are the truly rich people?
The answer is, right beside him.
Natsuki turned his head to look at the older man beside him, whose eye sockets were deeply sunken, his face pale, and blood was still dripping from his forehead.
After staring for a few seconds, a prompt quietly appeared before his eyes:
[You are extorting under the nose of the guard. You were stopped by the guard and severely beaten.]
"Does this prompt mean that overt violent robbery is prohibited?" Natsuki pondered, "It's not allowed under the guard's nose, so it should be fine secretly, right?"
Natsuki pondered for a moment, temporarily extinguishing the idea of causing a ruckus. He was indeed very strong now. Even though those ghostly thugs were all two meters tall, with fierce eyes and holding dangerous weapons, if it came to a fight, Natsuki could take on ten of them alone.
But being able to fight ten doesn't mean he can fight a hundred. Who knows what exactly is inside the park.
Before the situation was clear, it was natural to act cautiously.
"Direct extortion isn't allowed, but I can 'borrow money,' right?"
Natsuki quickly thought of a solution, took out a momotaro rice ball, and handed it over.
The imitation of a momotaro rice ball has a strong attraction to evil spirits and monsters. Once eaten, it can forcibly increase the other party's favorability.
No one would likely lend money to a stranger, but with a relationship, borrowing money becomes much easier.
Smelling the scent of the momotaro rice ball, the young man who was originally staring at the screen, typing away, suddenly turned his head to look at the momotaro rice ball in Natsuki's hand. A flicker of desire and fierceness flashed in his dull, cloudy eyes, clearly wanting to snatch it, but he chose to endure due to fear of the guards.
"Here you go."
Natsuki smiled slightly, and while the guard wasn't paying attention, he generously handed over the momotaro rice ball.
I'm not afraid of you snatching it, I'm only afraid of you not eating it.
Seeing Natsuki actively hand over the momotaro rice ball, the older man could no longer restrain himself. He snatched it, then devoured it ravenously.
Natsuki quietly waited for the older man to finish eating, then began to inquire about information.
"Brother, what's your name?"
"I..." The older man with blood dripping from his forehead looked blankly. Hearing the question, he shook his head, his voice low, "I... don't remember."
This older man had high cheekbones, deeply sunken eyes, and spoke weakly, clearly showing signs of fatigue from overindulgence. For now, let's call him Deficient Man.
"It's okay, I don't remember my name either." Natsuki wasn't really concerned about the other person's name. He continued to inquire, "What are sin coins?"
After eating Natsuki's momotaro rice ball and increasing his favorability, the Deficient Man was clearly less indifferent and greedy than before. He replied in a low voice:
"It's... these."
The Deficient Man opened a black box beside him.
Natsuki looked inside and saw more than a dozen unfamiliar coins, faintly tinged with a dark red, as if they had been soaked in blood.
Coins obtained through fraudulent means, it's no exaggeration to say they are stained with blood.
As for the so-called 'it's not that we are evil, but that those people are greedy, people have two hearts, one greedy heart, and one unwilling heart,' it's all just utter nonsense, stinking like dog farts.
Greed is one thing, but deceiving others to the point of their families being scattered and ruined is another.
Even if there is a causal relationship, it cannot hide the fact of sin.
Natsuki withdrew his gaze and opened the black box in front of him, immediately clicking his tongue.
Well, well.
He actually didn't have a single sin coin. He really was a good-for-nothing.
Natsuki said in a low voice:
"Brother, how can I earn sin coins?"
The Deficient Man slowly said:
"Complete... performance..."
As he spoke, Natsuki suddenly heard a prize-winning sound similar to a pachinko machine nearby. He turned his head and saw that a monster's mouth, full of fangs, suddenly grew out of the camera position of an old computer, then spat out several sin coins out of thin air.
So that's how it is.
No wonder it's online fraud, yet there are physical coins. It's truly eerie.
Seeing Natsuki's box empty, the Deficient Man kindly reminded him:
"It's almost... off-duty in half an hour. If you don't complete today's performance, you'll be punished..."
Hey, hey, they're already evil spirits, yet they can still get off work and rest. The capitalists in the park are too kind!
Natsuki said calmly:
"I'm new... What kind of punishment will I receive?"
The Deficient Man's voice was intermittent, gasping for breath with every few words. After listening for a while, Natsuki finally understood.
First, the park has performance requirements. Everyone must complete one sin coin's 'performance' every day. If they don't, they will be whipped.
If they have no income for seven consecutive days, they will be deemed useless and directly disposed of.
Secondly, the park does not operate twenty-four hours a day. It is divided into working hours and resting hours. After getting off work, they can go to the cafeteria, but it is not free. To eat, they must use sin coins. Without them, they can only go hungry—as evil spirits, they won't starve to death without eating, but the feeling of hunger will drive them mad, just like the hungry ghost realm in hell. The food provided by the cafeteria can eliminate the evil spirits' hunger.
Next, when you become a performance achiever, besides the one sin coin submitted daily, other income can be split fifty-fifty.
You can use sin coins to spend in the park, such as the cafeteria, the gambling area, or the video chat area. As long as you have sin coins, all services can be enjoyed.
At the same time, all employees are not allowed to leave the park, otherwise, they will be at their own risk.
And once you accumulate ten thousand sin coins, you can find the Manager of the park, purchase a pass, and then leave the park.
Natsuki finally made a simple summary:
"Earn money in the park, spend it in the park. Don't even think about taking a single cent home."
After getting the information he wanted, Natsuki decisively extended his right hand and said in a low voice:
"Brother, lend me two bits."
The Deficient Man immediately covered his black box and then quickly shook his head, clearly unwilling to lend money.
Natsuki didn't mind. He took out another momotaro rice ball and said:
"Three sin coins, and the momotaro rice ball is yours."
The Deficient Man licked his lips, a clear trace of greed on his face, and even tried to haggle:
"Three... that's too much... two would be fine..."
Natsuki smiled as he handed over the momotaro rice ball, then said:
"Deal."
Deficient Man: "..."
Because of the previous favorability as a foundation, the Deficient Man did not refuse. He carefully took out two sin coins, handed them to Natsuki, then quickly took the momotaro rice ball and began to devour it.
Natsuki no longer paid attention to him. He put the two coins into his pocket, then stood up and left his workstation.
"What are you going to do?"
A thug, two meters tall with scarlet eyes, blocked his way.
Natsuki said without changing his expression:
"I need to go to the restroom."
The thug slowly moved aside, his voice cold:
"You must return within half an hour and submit your daily performance, otherwise, you will be at your own risk."
"..."
Natsuki was not at all intimidated. He waved his hand and walked out of the studio.
The stuffy, murky air was slightly fresher but still unpleasant. There were still many thugs patrolling the hallway, giving no chance to escape.
Natsuki stepped up to a thug and said directly:
"Excuse me, where is the Casino?"
The thug was stunned for two seconds before raising his right hand and pointing the way for Natsuki.
In the park, performance is the most important thing; as long as you can complete your performance, it doesn't matter if you wander around during work hours.
"Thank you."
Natsuki thanked him, walking through the hallway, and even saw the so-called fruit chat area, a chaotic scene that was hard to describe.
A moment later.
Under the gaze of several thugs, Natsuki walked into the Casino area of 'Beautiful Dealers, Online Dealing'.
"...Beautiful Dealers, your God of Gamblers is back!"