Chinai seemed to somewhat understand.
This girl in front of her... looks like she might have a sense of direction problem?
"Well... could you help me figure out the directions on this thing?" The girl awkwardly pointed at the map on the sign behind her, "I can't really tell which way is east or west or anything, I can't quite understand..."
Chinai followed her slender fingers towards the map on the sign, blinked a couple of times, then shook her head expressionlessly, "I can't understand it either."
The girl: "..."
How did that saying go?
It seems that directionally-challenged people attract each other.
"What's going on?" Youyu came over, "Is there a problem?"
"This girl says she wants to go to the central venue but can't find the way." Chinai explained.
"?" Youyu couldn't understand, "But isn't that a map right behind you? It's not possible even the map is..."
"I can't understand it either." Chinai was expressionless.
Youyu swallowed back the second half of his sentence.
At this point, he realized he might have taken things for granted; the world of the directionally-challenged was something he didn't quite understand...
So Youyu patiently explained the directions on the map to the passerby girl, using the most noticeable landmarks in the park as references.
For example, see that Blue-Eyes White Dragon lying over there? That direction is east.
And see the Abyss Eye Ferris Wheel over there? That's west.
As Youyu spoke, he found that at some point, the girl's head had lowered, her face turning red, like an ostrich with its head buried in the ground.
Youyu: "?"
What's going on? Did I say something to provoke such a big reaction?
"Is there anything else you don't understand?" After roughly explaining the route from here to the central venue, Youyu confirmed one last time.
"No... thanks."
The girl didn't say much else, just slightly bowed to express gratitude and walked away with her head down.
Youyu watched her disappear into the crowd, pondering briefly.
This girl... Have I seen her somewhere before?
Unable to recall, Youyu didn't dwell on it further.
Maybe it was just a figment of his imagination.
...
"Hey."
Chinai tugged at Youyu's sleeve, pointing to the side.
Youyu turned his head, looked in the direction she pointed, and saw a... haunted house?
"You want to try that one?"
"...Hmm." Chinai had a serious look on her little face.
Youyu was slightly surprised.
Never saw this coming. In his impression, Chinai was the type of girl with a bold but cautious nature, always avoiding scary movies and the like as much as possible, and now she's interested in this kind of thing?
Unexpectedly, little Judai seemed intrigued too, "Oh, it looks like fun! I want to go, I want to go!"
Chinai patted little Judai's jellyfish-like hair with a look of admiration, her gaze seemed to say —
——After all, sister dotes on you often for a reason!
"Alright then, since it's still early, and we don't have any other plans for now." Youyu thought about it and had no objections.
Chinai immediately lit up with excitement. But before she could fully express her joy, Youyu leaned against the railings beside them.
"Then you two can go have fun, I'll wait here for you."
Chinai: "..."
A few minutes later, Youyu stood at the haunted house entrance with the same group of visitors, with an excitedly hopping little Judai on his left, and Chinai holding tightly to his arm before even entering.
The girl's small hand clutched tightly around Youyu's arm, as if afraid he'd sneak away the moment she let go.
Youyu: "...So why must I go too?"
"I'm scared." Chinai whispered, head down.
"If you're scared, then don't go in..."
Chinai said nothing, just lowered her head.
Youyu felt the grip on his arm tighten a bit more.
...
In line with President Haima's principle that "if you're gonna do it, do it the best", even the haunted house had to be top-notch.
The haunted house was modeled after an abandoned school building, with the story backdrop being the cliché campus legend of "a student tragically died" or something.
The scale of the haunted house was massive, with a high degree of exploration freedom, and even staff familiar with all the tricks and routes would take at least half an hour to get out.
Even just a few minutes in, Youyu was already impressed by the President's grandiose effort. He had to admit, the props and set were indeed pretty well-made.
Visitors walked along broken stairs and dust-covered corridors, the old wooden floorboards groaned with a mournful "creak", and the moisture-corroded painted walls replicated detail impressively.
In the abandoned classroom, desks and chairs were piled in a heap, an old-style ceiling lamp had cobwebs clinging to it.
Youyu noticed that apart from them, the other group of visitors seemed to be composed of young couples.
The guys tried to appear big and strong in front of their girls, enjoying the atmosphere of being relied upon, so haunted houses naturally became their first choice.
Except the guys who came in this time seemed barely passing or less in performance. Especially one muscular guy, looking like an American football quarterback, who didn't even see a ghost in the first ten minutes before becoming freaked out and slumped on his petite girlfriend, barely alive...
The atmosphere created in this facility was indeed quite frightening, the designer must have been a psychology expert. Although there was some discomfort, Youyu didn't really feel much.
Because even if there were truly vengeful ghosts, what can they do?
Wouldn't they just have to play cards obediently with me...
Meanwhile, he felt that Chinai clutching his arm all the way along seemed a bit warm, and a bit numb, and she just kept hugging tighter as they walked.
He wanted to remind her, but when he turned to look, her face was pale, lips bitten without a sound, seemingly quite startled. Seeing her state, Youyu couldn't bring himself to say a word...
"Ahhh!!!"
A sharp cry startled everyone inside the haunted house, the two in front frantically scrambled back, blurting something out like "It's here" or "It's coming".
Others soon realized what they were referring to.
There was a very burly shadow. It had strong and broad shoulders, a mask so pale it made people's hearts shiver, complete with a sinister grin, half splattered with striking and horrifying blood patterns, starkly contrasting the white mask.
They took slow, heavy steps, each step echoed lowly on the staircase. Over their shoulder, carried something that looked like an axe. Outside the windows beside the stairway diffused an eerie green glow, its excellent lighting effects amplifying the terrifying atmosphere.
The visitors started screaming already. Someone immediately reacted to try and run away, only to find the door they came through was mysteriously locked.
They were driven back into a corner, with nowhere to escape.
The shadow halted just a few strides before them, the green glow reflected off the tough white mask, freezing everyone with fear.
The shadow slowly lowered the "axe" on their shoulder, sinisterly raising it overhead...
...then equipped it on their hand.
The "axe" lit an ominous red indicator light, and several grids popped out neatly from below, "ka-ka".
So that thing wasn't an axe.
It was a Duel Disc.
Youyu felt the urge to comment heavily, stuck in his throat.
He could, this was indeed quite Haima.
True to the President's nature—having the haunted house ghost engage tourists in a card duel...
...
But there was something that even Youyu didn't notice.
Within this "abandoned school building", the part of the haunted house they were in, opposite in the corridor, appeared two flickering light spots on the empty classroom glass.
It was a pair of eyes.
Twinkling like traffic lights about to switch from red to green, unhindered through the vacant classroom, clearly reflecting Youyu's position.