"The number of tokens you obtain will determine your game results, dear travelers~ Alright, everyone can now start enjoying the amusement facilities!~" The tour guide smiled and made a "please" gesture.
"Wait a second!" a male player suddenly asked, "Can battles happen inside the amusement park? What happens to players who get eliminated?"
"Of course battles can happen inside the amusement park, but you must not disturb other visitors~ As for eliminated travelers…" the tour guide's smile grew even brighter, "Their tokens will, of course, be reset to zero! Visitors with zero tokens will have to re-experience the attractions~ However, they won't be able to earn tokens again from the ones they've already tried."
"…Then how do we identify other people's identity cards? And how do we find our teammates?"
"That's your problem." The tour guide's expression changed instantly, glaring coldly at the player, "So many damn questions just to play a game. Play if you want, don't if you don't!"
Player: ???
Was this even something they could choose? It's not like they wanted to play—they'd die! This game's tour guide was just joking with them a moment ago, how could he flip faces so suddenly?
"Can we destroy the amusement facilities?" Mu Anqi asked.
The tour guide looked coldly at Mu Anqi, but then suddenly seemed to sense something. That cold and vicious gaze froze for a moment, followed by a trace of disbelief, and then he forced out a smile and replied in an extremely gentle voice, "Well… even if something is destroyed, it's not a big deal. Our amusement park has dedicated maintenance staff who can restore any damaged facilities in one second~ It's just that… a small service fee will be charged~"
Mu Anqi: Uh… is this some kind of ghostly power or a corporate slave player recruited by the BOSS?
Her skill was [I've got plenty of money] not [I'm a walking ATM]. After learning that destroying facilities didn't require compensation, Mu Anqi let out a sigh of relief.
As for the tour guide's sudden attitude change… uh, clearly, this All Things Amusement Park must be located within the Taiyin Territory on the Fragmented Mirror Continent.
"Then is the service fee paid by whoever caused the damage? If it was damaged during a fight between players, would both parties share the cost?"
"Uh…" The tour guide clearly hadn't thought about this before. After all, none of the players who entered the amusement park in the past had asked about it, and when it came to service fees, they usually just charged both parties together. But this one… was a bit different. So he seriously thought it over, then nodded, "Yes, our amusement park will also assess the responsibility of both players and determine a fair and just proportion of the service fee to be paid!" He emphasized the words "fair and just," and even winked at Mu Anqi. Though, making that expression with such a stiff face looked quite painful.
Mu Anqi: Ah, so this is what it feels like to have connections up top?!
"If all players cooperate and form an alliance without eliminating anyone, what would happen?" Another player, seeing Mu Anqi finish her question, couldn't help but voice his own doubt.
Immediately after, he once again witnessed a classic "Sichuan opera face change" performance—the tour guide shot him a fierce glare and snapped, "Are you an idiot? I just said, every traveler who enters the amusement park has an identity card!"
All players: ??!
"Are you going in or not? The amusement park closes at nightfall. Any traveler without nine tokens will remain inside. If you want to experience the night version of the park, then go ahead and keep wasting time." The tour guide raised his right hand and glanced at a completely nonexistent watch on his wrist, nodded thoughtfully, and said, "Looks like it's time for me to clock out! Explanation's over. Enjoy your visit~"
With that, he coolly stuck his hands in his pockets and walked off.
Mu Anqi carefully observed the players' expressions and reasonably suspected that the tour guide's performance was just a ploy to squeeze more emotional value from them.
"Wait, everyone! Let's form groups now. The ghosts in the park all have identity cards—that puts us at a serious disadvantage! Right now, we should prioritize cooperation!"
That may be true for now, but it's only because the game has just begun. If the difficulty increases later… and the ghosts become stronger, then players who are just one step away from clearing the game might start thinking about backstabbing their teammates instead of eliminating the ghosts for tokens.
At this point, the team-up cards began to show their value. On average, there should be one player who ended up as a plant card. Although they didn't know who that unknown teammate was… Mu Anqi and Zhao Guogu had naturally teamed up, skipping the whole teammate selection process and able to cooperate from the start.
Mu Anqi nudged Zhao Guogu with her elbow and praised, "Lucky Queen."
Zhao Guogu paused for a moment, then replied softly, "Rich lady."
The two exchanged a smile.
The player's suggestion didn't gain much support, because another player insisted he show his identity card first. Once inside the amusement park, anyone on his team would go to meet him. Of course, the player refused! He said they might as well all reveal their identity cards here, otherwise once they're inside and act together, others would find out anyway. But in the end, no one wanted to be the first to expose themselves.
Mu Anqi and her group didn't waste any more time there and headed straight into the amusement park.
As soon as they left, the other players didn't linger either. After all, no one wanted to stay behind and experience the "night session" of the amusement park. Who knew what strange and twisted activities the ghosts might come up with at night? These ghosts, in order to divide up player energy and squeeze out every drop of emotion, would truly stop at nothing!
"Bumper cars count as a competitive elimination game. Let's wait until we have five tokens before going there." Mu Anqi wasn't in a hurry to try out any attractions and instead stopped with Zhao Guogu in front of the park's map at the entrance. "Did you bring paper and pen?"
"Nope." Zhao Guogu patted her backpack. "Most of my points went into drawing skills. The rest went to food or the training grounds."
Oh, right—not everyone had her kind of double rewards. Mu Anqi looked at the map and stopped worrying about it; memorizing it directly would work just as well. "Let's start with something gentle, like the carousel. Hmm… Ferris wheel? The Ferris wheel's too high. If something goes wrong, it'll be hard to deal with."
"The rock climbing challenge should be okay too." Zhao Guogu pointed at the map. "If we're talking about things that aren't too intense, the pirate ship and crazy octopus shouldn't be that bad, right?"
"Roller coaster… swinging chairs, drop tower, spinning coaster… whoa, there are so many rides…" Zhao Guogu's eyes sparkled.
Mu Anqi quickly skimmed past all the thrill rides and then said, "Go-karts? That one should be gentle enough, right?"
"Crazy pendulum swing isn't bad either." Zhao Guogu looked at all the attractions in the amusement park and couldn't help sighing, "If this weren't a survival game, I'd honestly love to try every one of these thrilling rides—they're just so cool. No lines and totally free!"
Hearing this strange comment, Mu Anqi gave Zhao Guogu a look—her whole expression changed! Good grief, no wonder she kept bringing up those spine-chilling, leg-weakening rides—so she was actually here for the thrill?
"…" Zhao Guogu belatedly sensed Mu Anqi's intense emotions and gave an awkward laugh. "I was just saying. I mean, it is a survival game. No worries, let's head to the carousel first."
Mu Anqi felt that Zhao Guogu was completely fearless thanks to her [Turn bad luck into good] passive! So unfair, she wanted that kind of overpowered ability too!
The All Things Amusement Park was filled with visitors—elderly folks, middle-aged people, the young, and even children. Some of those kids looked to be around seven or eight and were even playing alone. Mu Anqi thought of Xia Fenghua, and wondered just how many hundreds of years these ghost-like children had been living on the Fragmented Mirror Continent…
When they reached the queue for the carousel and saw the long line, they were just about to join when a ghost wearing a red armband came over, waved a hand, and directed them to go straight to the front—no need to wait. The ghosts in front of them turned to look as well, showing "friendly" smiles and making way one after another.
Ah… so this is the VIP treatment for the living?
Mu Anqi and Zhao Guogu exchanged a glance. "Aren't we cutting the line?"
"How is this cutting?" a male ghost said excitedly. "This is clearly a bonus performance!" But right after he spoke, a female ghost next to him tugged at him. The male ghost quickly caught on and let out an awkward laugh, "You're VIPs, VIPs…"
Mu Anqi was speechless. This treatment was exactly the same as the so-called VIP experience back at the circus.
The carousel was a pink-and-white double-decker luxury version. Mu Anqi hesitated for a moment, then chose to sit on a white unicorn. She patted it—there was no warmth. Cold, smooth… clearly not a living creature.
Zhao Guogu sat on the black horse beside her and hugged its neck with both arms, grumbling, "Why doesn't this even have a handle?"
Mu Anqi: "…This is a survival world."
"Oh. Right." Zhao Guogu shut her mouth.
The carousel didn't start right away—it seemed to be waiting to see if any other players would join. About two minutes later, a female player entered and sat on a small white horse.
Mu Anqi glanced at the female player wearing a black hoodie and sweatpants. Back at the entrance, this player had seemed quite aloof—standing alone quietly, not saying a word.
"What are you looking at?" Zhao Guogu followed Mu Anqi's gaze and clicked her tongue. "Another ice-cold beauty. Just like Wu Sansheng. Sigh, I still prefer cuter girls."
"Cute ones?" Images of Mu Xiaobai and Xia Fenghua popped into Mu Anqi's mind. She fell into a strange silence for a moment before saying, "Mm, I'll introduce you sometime."
Zhao Guogu: ?
Before Zhao Guogu could ask further, a "whoosh" sound erupted as the carousel slowly started to move…
They stopped chatting, instantly growing tense, gripping their horses tightly and bracing for the carousel to rise, lower, and spin faster and faster.
But then—a horse's shrill neigh shattered everything they thought they knew about carousels.
Mu Anqi clung to the unicorn, eyes wide, as its color-sprayed mane began to flutter. The unicorn tossed its head with flair, and the iron pole that had fixed it in place seemed to soften. The rotating platform below spread open with black holes, and the unicorn under her lifted its hooves high and began running mid-air, galloping in circles around the center of the carousel…