WTNL Chapter 76

Fantasy Amusement Park
Chapter 76: Is this person so brave?!

After seeing the last rule of the amusement park, Wen Jianyan’s breath hitched slightly. He jerked his head up and looked at Guagua not far away.

It looked no different from before, still wearing the cartoonish green plush suit, topping its head with a comical and exaggerated frog headpiece. But for some reason, even just looking at it from a distance made an inexplicable fear rise in one’s heart.

Guagua’s voice had returned to its previous cheerful normality:

“Alright, after confirming all the park rules, everyone can enter through the gate behind me and play normally! I suggest everyone go to the Thrill Zone first; there are quite a few of our park’s smash-hit attractions inside!”

It cupped its face, acting cute: “Of course, everyone is also welcome to buy a piece of merchandise of me and take me home.”

A deathly silence fell over the North Plaza.

All the streamers stared at Guagua in the distance as if facing a formidable enemy. Suspicion and uncertainty flickered in their eyes, and their feet seemed rooted to the ground, completely unmoving.

Guagua seemed completely oblivious to the abnormal behavior of this group of tourists. It skipped and hopped out of the way of the entrance, standing at the open park gate like any ordinary mascot, swaying to the music.

Wen Jianyan lowered his head and once again looked at the park rules on the back of the map in his hand.

[Do not trust the frog.]

That last line of small, printed black text looked exceptionally glaring.

The frog…

What did it refer to?

The NPC wearing the frog suit? Or something else even more bizarre?

Or perhaps, neither could be trusted?

More importantly, this rule happened to be recorded in the rules provided by Guagua, which they were required to follow. This created a terrifying paradox, plunging people directly into confusion, completely unsure of which side to trust.

However, as the instance began, no matter how many doubts the streamers in the plaza had in their hearts, they still started to move.

Some streamers cut straight to the chase and took the lead in entering the park. After all, regardless of what the rules were, the main quest would not change. As long as they completed five attractions, they could leave the instance.

There were also streamers who remained in the North Plaza. Some walked toward the food area and gift shop, while others approached the NPCs in the North Plaza, seemingly preparing to gather more information before taking action.

Wen Jianyan folded the map and tucked it into his pocket. After pondering for a long time, he finally decided to walk toward the gift shop.

The amusement park’s gift shop was bright and clean, with vivid colors. Rows of shelves were filled with all kinds of plush animals. Even the clerk behind the cash register was wearing a plush cat suit, bobbing their head to the music.

A group of streamers had already gathered inside the shop.

Some were pacing between the shelves, while others stood at the door, thoughtfully staring at a piece of paper posted below the cash register.

Wen Jianyan stepped forward. His line of sight passed through the gaps in the crowd and landed on the paper.

[Gift Shop Rules]

1. This shop does not accept currencies other than prize tickets. If any staff member attempts to sell you any goods using any other method, please strictly refuse, and after the other party leaves, call the phone number on the back of the map to report it to us. A staff member will handle it.
2. No merchandise in this shop will bleed, make sounds, walk, or eat people.
3. Guagua dolls are only sold to children under twelve years old. If you need to purchase one, please contact the front desk staff.
4. Merchandise sold cannot be returned or exchanged once taken out of the shop. Please strictly follow the above rules. If violated, you will bear the consequences.

Except for the first rule and the fourth rule of the amusement park, which were repetitive, the rest were new and had not been marked on the map. It seemed this should be a special rule for this area.

Wen Jianyan withdrew his gaze, stepped into the gift shop, and took a brief spin around the store.

Aside from the excessively bizarre rules at the door, everything else in the gift shop was absurdly normal. All plush toys were priced at 5 prize tickets. Most importantly, no matter what kind of plush toy it was, there were no usage instructions underneath. It was exactly like the merchandise in an ordinary toy store.

Most of the streamers were just looking around; not a single one actually took out prize tickets to make a purchase.

After all, without usage instructions, who knew if these things would have any side effects once bought? Even if there were no side effects and it was just an ordinary plush toy, it wasn’t worth spending the precious prize tickets in their hands on them.

“Checkout.”

Just then, the young man’s clear, cold voice rang out in the modestly sized gift shop.

The streamers in the gift shop were all startled and subconsciously turned their heads to look in the direction of the voice.

They saw a slender young man standing in front of the cash register, placing a cat charm and a bobblehead clown doll on the counter.

The clerk nimbly packaged the charm and put it in a bag printed with “Fantasy Amusement Park”:

“That will be 10 prize tickets in total.”

The young man pulled out two prize tickets from his pocket, placed them on the counter, then picked up the bag, turned, and walked out. His side profile was fair and elegant, his expression relaxed, and a faint smile seemed to hover on his lips.

“Ding-a-ling.”

Accompanied by the sound of the bell hanging on the door, the other party pushed open the door. He walked out of the gift shop with a leisurely pace, and soon only his back remained.

“…”

The streamers left in the gift shop were silent, exchanging glances full of shock and uncertainty.

Is this guy that brave? Actually going right up and buying!

And too generous, right! Directly spending 10 prize tickets to buy merchandise with completely unknown uses. This was one-tenth of the prize tickets in their hands!

Or could it be that he knew some information they didn’t, which was why he bought these dolls?

Carrying the packaging bag, Wen Jianyan walked with a light step toward the main entrance of the amusement park.

As a player with negative luck who was frequently screwed over by the instance system, no one knew better than Wen Jianyan: things like prize tickets, no matter how much you saved them, would absolutely not be enough in the later stages.

And based on his understanding of the instance mechanics, the later stages would definitely guide players to fight over prize tickets.

Things like money, you see, couldn’t be saved.

It had to be earned.

So, the reason Wen Jianyan made a high-profile purchase in the gift shop was very simple.

—He was precisely hoping that someone would come and rob him of his tickets.

The young man faced the amusement park and narrowed his eyes, and the vibrant colors reflected deep in his eyes.

I really hope they take the bait soon.

While walking toward the amusement park zone, Wen Jianyan casually opened his live broadcast interface.

There were over a hundred streamers in this instance. Not only were there very few NPCs, but it was also impossible to disguise oneself as an NPC. Thus, an action like his wouldn’t attract others’ attention at all; it could even be considered common.

As the difficulty of instances increased, the proportion of veteran streamers also greatly increased. Everyone attached great importance to viewer stickiness in their live broadcast rooms, and whenever there was a chance, they would take the time to interact with their audience.

After all, in this Nightmare Live Broadcast Room, where the audience was supreme and entertainment was to the death, only by obtaining higher popularity and the love of more viewers could one guarantee a longer survival.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Ahhhhhhhhhhh the streamer turned on the barrage!]

[!!! [Tipped 50 points]]

[Ahhhh so happy!!! New fan bubbling up, hoping to be remembered! [Tipped 100 points]]

Having gone through the previous few live broadcasts, Wen Jianyan had already accumulated a considerable number of regular viewers. Every time he started broadcasting, it was no longer as deserted as the first time. However, the number of online viewers in the broadcast room this time still exceeded Wen Jianyan’s expectations.

There were actually a full 20,000 people!

Although the peak of his broadcast traffic was much higher than this number, it had only been less than half an hour since he started broadcasting.

To think the number of online viewers reached this figure so quickly…

“Ah, hello everyone.”

The young man blinked in slight astonishment. “How did you all find your way in here?”

The barrage set off another heatwave:

[Ten-year old fan coming uninvited! Charge, dog liar!]

[Ahhh me too, I’ve been following since the Fukang Hospital instance. As soon as I saw the broadcast notification, I rushed right in!]

[This appearance fan just clicked in from the front page! The streamer is so good-looking!]

[The streamer must have gotten MVP in the last instance, right? Your broadcast room is hanging on the front page solo leaderboard!]

[Didn’t expect a D-rank streamer to appear in the Fantasy Amusement Park instance. Hehe, camping here to see him perish first.]

[Hurry up, hurry up, after camping this first casualty, I still have to go next door to the high-level streamer I follow. Streamer, hurry up and die.]

The barrage contained both new and old fans. There were passionate confessions, as well as malicious urgings.

So, the two sides quickly started arguing.

[? Do the people above know how to speak? Don’t rely on the newcomer having few fans to curse the streamer to die first, okay?]

[How do you guys dare to be fans of such a new streamer? He probably won’t even survive the first attraction. What’s the damn use of defending him like this? Looks really pathetic.]

[Exactly, which of the viewers guarding this broadcast room right now isn’t waiting to watch a joke? A D-rank streamer directly challenging an A-rank, and entering the Fantasy Amusement Park instance no less… Anyway, I’m already prepared for a good show.]

“In any case, welcome everyone to the ‘Integrity First’ live broadcast room.”

Wen Jianyan, who was at the center of the topic, curved his eyes, seemingly completely unaffected by those maliciously cursing remarks:

“This broadcast room advocates freedom of speech. Everyone can speak freely about whatever they want to say. As long as it’s the truth, I love hearing it.”

[…]

[…Old fans are silent.]

[…Everyone type ‘dog liar is shameless’ on the public screen.]

[I think you’re the one with the most freedom of speech!]

The old and new fans stopped fighting, and the barrage quickly calmed down.

Wen Jianyan started picking a few questions related to the instance to answer.

“Why buy merchandise right at the start? Aren’t you afraid there’s a trap inside?”

“Hmm, I don’t think it’s very likely to be a trap.”

The young man thought for a moment and said:

“This amusement park obviously needs to guide tourists to spend prize tickets. If there was a problem with the dolls sold in the merchandise shop, players wouldn’t take the initiative to buy them. So I guess it’s highly likely to have a positive effect on the streamers’ clearance.”

He curved those amber eyes, fragmented light flickering beneath long eyelashes:

“Furthermore, if they wanted to be a bit more wicked, there are plenty of places to tamper with.”

“For example… selling problem-free dolls in the early stages to lower streamers’ vigilance, and mixing in the man-eating merchandise mentioned in the rules in the later stages. Dolls that only needed 5 prize tickets to buy at the beginning would rise to a higher price once streamers realize their importance, forcing streamers to purchase them at a higher price…”

The young man’s voice was clear and held a smile, using a gentle and calm tone to breezily describe ruthless, backstabbing tricks.

While he was speaking, the barrage fell into a deathly silence, turning blank.

After speaking, Wen Jianyan blinked and added with a smile: “At least, if I were the designer, that’s what I would do.”

[Holy shit…]

[Holy shit!!!]

[God-tier prediction… What kind of god-tier prediction is this! I’m shocked. Does this broadcast room really have an anti-spoiler mechanism? Are these really things a normal streamer can deduce in such a short amount of time! [Tipped 100 points]]

[The streamer is so awesome, won’t the broadcast room really consider hiring him externally!]

[I feel like I kind of understand why this D-rank streamer entered an A-rank instance. He really does have some skills! [Tipped 50 points]]

[The above user’s remarks involve spoilers and will only be open to viewers.]

Seeing the blank barrage area with only a few comments completely unrelated to the plot floating by, a pleasant smile flitted across Wen Jianyan’s lips.

If the accuracy of his previous guess was only 30%, right now, the accuracy of this guess had soared to at least 60%.

This was why he had voiced his guess without any scruples.

It was precisely to use the instance’s [Anti-Spoiler Mechanism] to inversely verify his own guess.

The content was shielded, but the point income in the backend was growing.

Then, even if his guess wasn’t necessarily completely correct, the direction should be right.

“As for why I bought these two types of dolls…”

Wen Jianyan looked at the next barrage comment.

He bought the clown because it was mentioned in the rules on the map, and he bought the cat because the clerk in the gift shop had this exact image. Under the circumstances where Wen Jianyan wasn’t entirely certain about his guess, the probability of stepping on a landmine by buying these two dolls was relatively small.

Wen Jianyan lowered his head and opened the shopping bag in his hand.

The two exquisitely crafted dolls were very cute. Next to them was a seemingly very official receipt, but it was completely empty and blank.

Wen Jianyan looked at it thoughtfully for a moment, then put the receipt back and picked up that tortoiseshell cat doll instead.

It tilted its head with a sly expression, its light-colored eyes completely round. The soft fur felt great to the touch, looking both haughty and cute, yet elusive.

Wen Jianyan half-narrowed his eyes and brought the fluffy doll up to his cheek.

He tilted his head in a feigned manner: “Don’t you think it looks a lot like me?”

[Ahhhhhhhhhhhh cute ahhhhhhh!]

[It does, it does, it really looks like him!]

[Wuwuwuwu can we arrange a catification play? I want to be rubbed by the palm of his hand so badly, damn it!]

[Ahhhhhhhh fuck! Who can withstand the streamer acting cute! My health bar is empty. Are you really not going to consider being an appearance section streamer?]

In just a few minutes of live interaction, the number of online viewers in the “Integrity First” live broadcast room soared by another few thousand, and a massive wave of point tip income flooded directly into the backend.

“Alright, alright, I’m going to go play the amusement park attractions now.”

The utterly shameless dog liar blinked at the live broadcast barrage, his smile sweet and cheerful: “Goodbye, hubbies.”

After saying that, he closed the interface.

The barrage fell silent for a brief second, and then the pot instantly exploded:

[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh help me, help me! [Tipped 100 points]]

[Ahhhhhhhhh wifey called me, called me, called me! *speaking gibberish* [Tipped 100 points]]

[Obviously he was still a little shy when we saw it last time, but this time he just turned the tables and embraced the setting. As expected of you, dog liar! [Tipped 100 points]]

[Damn it, I knew this guy had no bottom line when it came to scamming tips!!! [Tipped 100 points]]

[This smooth-talking romance scammer!!! You’re definitely exploiting our feelings again!… But I’m seriously so easy to scam wuwuwuwuwu, scam me a bit more please [Tipped 100 points]]

Wen Jianyan closed the broadcast interface and stepped into the park zones.

The exterior here looked no different from an ordinary amusement park. In the center was a giant musical fountain. A statue of the Fantasy Amusement Park mascot, Guagua, stood in the middle of the fountain. The splashing sound of water accompanied by melodious music echoed through the park. Lush green trees and winding paths were everywhere.

Different roads led to different zones. Through the dense bushes, one could see all sorts of colorful equipment and fairytale-like castles. NPCs wearing various doll costumes skipped and bounded, professionally trying to amuse every tourist that passed by them.

Wen Jianyan unfolded the map and carefully reviewed the markers on it.

Unlike the others, the zone he wanted to go to the least was actually not the Thrill Zone, but the Leisure Zone.

His gaze landed on the “Mirror Maze” icon, and he involuntarily shivered. Many scenes that had left him with deep psychological trauma and were still fresh in his memory instantly flooded his mind.

—No matter what, he absolutely could not go there.

At least until he figured out how to get rid of the other party, he would absolutely not approach that place on his own initiative.

Wen Jianyan shifted his gaze to look at the other two zones.

From this angle, the Children’s Zone should pose a relatively lower threat, so the number of streamers there must be quite large…

To be precise, after Guagua finished that speech, most of the streamers who had read the amusement park rules would flock to the Leisure Zone and the Children’s Zone.

Wen Jianyan rubbed the edge of the map with his thumb, then folded it back up and shoved it into his pocket.

Rules were terrifying things.

They possessed authority and had the power to make people uncontrollably obey them. Strictly speaking, the entire human society was built upon rules; only by following the rules could one guarantee their own safety. This was something deeply implanted in everyone’s heart.

But, were the rules themselves trustworthy?

If one couldn’t determine this, their sense of security would be in imminent danger.

What should be trusted?

What should not be trusted?

—To deceive a person, the first step is to shake their cognition of basic common sense. That way, the other party would plunge into a terrifying abyss of not daring to rely on anything, not daring to believe anything, and even boundless suspicion.

This was the customary method used when attempting to deceive someone.

Destroy their sense of security; create a cognitive void.

The young man took a step forward, walking toward the Thrill Zone. A faint glimmer reflected in his eyes, and his thin lips curled into a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

So let me see…

Whether this frog can be trusted or not.

__

Author’s Note: 

Q: Let’s interview Mr. Wu Zhu. What is it like to hear your future wife call others “hubby”? 

Wu Zhu: “…” 

Q: M-Mister, please calm down; do not assault the staff! And do not destroy the interview equipment—Security! Where is security?!