WTNL Chapter 92

Fantasy Amusement Park
Chapter 92: Extortion

“…!”

Under the gaze of those calm, smiling eyes, Scarface couldn’t help but freeze. For no reason, an intense chill slowly crept up his spine.

Wh-what’s going on?

Why did he suddenly feel such a strong sense of crisis?!

Beneath his palm, the other party’s throat was warm and soft. Through the thin layer of skin, he could feel the exceptionally clear and steady pulse, as if completely unaffected.

…It didn’t feel at all like the steady heartbeat of someone whose throat was gripped in an enemy’s hand.

Wasn’t this guy just a streamer on the Beauty Leaderboard? Why was he so calm?

Something’s wrong.

This isn’t right!

A strong sense of unease fermented and spread from the bottom of his heart. A voice shrieked in his mind, urging him to do something.

However, before he had time to act, the scene before his eyes abruptly changed.

Darkness descended.

A deep, silent corridor extended before his eyes. The floor was cold and smooth, and the doors of the departments on both sides were tightly shut, like pitch-black eyes staring silently into the distance.

Wh-where is this?

It looks like…

A hospital?

Scarface felt a shiver slowly creep up his spine.

“Wh-where is this place?” The alarmed and uncertain voices of his teammates came from behind him.

Scarface turned to glance behind him, only to see that the rest of his teammates had all appeared here as well. Each of them looked exceptionally shocked and confused, fear brewing in the depths of their eyes.

“Weren’t we inside the Fantasy Amusement Park?”

Suddenly, one of them widened his eyes violently: “Sc-Scarface, you-you-you, in your hand—”

Scarface froze.

Only then did he realize that the neck in his palm had become extremely cold and extremely thin at some unknown point, completely unlike what a normal human should possess.

He slowly, bit by bit, lowered his head.

A massive, livid head was tilted halfway up, its eyes devoid of whites staring dead at him. Its skin was covered in a dense network of tiny blood vessels, and a “giggle” laugh escaped its mouth.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh—!”

Scarface let out a terrified scream, abruptly letting go of his hand and stumbling backward.

An innocent child’s voice rang in his ears:

“Mommy said I can play with you.”

Scarface felt every hair on his body stand on end. He jumped back violently, but more cold, scratching sensations came from his back and shoulders.

His pupils shrank, and he slowly turned his head.

Massive livid heads crawled out from behind, every face bearing an identical, wide smile. The cheerful giggles of children echoed in the cold corridor.

“Ahhhhhhhhhh—”

Miserable screams came from behind.

Countless livid ghost babies crawled from all directions. Tiny hands reached out, their giggles overlapping and echoing.

Damn it!

Scarface instantly realized.

This streamer’s talent was an extremely rare hallucinogenic talent among charm-types! It could create large-scale group hallucinations and was extremely troublesome in team fights.

Fuck, this streamer squad was also fucking tough to deal with!

“Calm down, calm down!!”

Scarface yelled hoarsely: “It’s a hallucination! It’s the talent of that streamer over there! Calm down, these images only exist in our minds; they aren’t real! And they can last for a minute at most, as long as—”

“Are you sure?”

A teenager’s hoarse, smiling voice rang out from not far away.

“??!!”

Scarface widened his eyes and whipped his head towards the source of the voice.

Wen Jianyan stood not far away, several identical livid ghost babies clinging to him. Their arms hung from the crook of his elbows and his shoulders. A pair of smiling amber eyes looked over from the darkness:

“Everything is a hallucination?”

Scarface’s pupils shrank suddenly.

Seeming to realize something, he slowly lowered his head and looked at his own body.

He saw a livid ghost baby clinging to his chest. His belly was rapidly expanding as if inflated, the skin stretched thin to transparency, as if a single poke would cause it to burst open from the inside out.

“Ahhhhh… ahhhhhhh!”

A fierce scream erupted from his throat.

Too real, all the physical sensations… were all too real!

Is this really a hallucinogenic talent?

Moreover… even if it were, the time limit should have passed by now! A large-scale illusion like this lasting for a minute was already very rare, but…

Why, why hasn’t it disappeared yet?!

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Fuck fuck fuck, what principle is this? What principle is this!!]

[Oh my god, is this what you call mental pollution!]

[I remember there’s an item that seems to be able to recreate memories, right? But this scene doesn’t look like the streamer’s memory… it looks more like a fabricated scene… Fuck, truly mental pollution; my scalp is tingling.]

Scarface hardened his heart and redeemed a bottle of Mental Tranquilizer.

Once this bottle was downed, no matter how strong the opposing streamer’s talent was, all hallucinations would disappear!

But unexpectedly, the other party not only didn’t stop him, but calmly stood not far away, a smile in his eyes, watching leisurely.

…What’s going on?

Why does he look completely unconcerned?

Streamers with hallucinogenic talents are most afraid of this kind of item, aren’t they?

A strong sense of unease welled up in Scarface’s heart.

However, he had no time to think it through. He unscrewed the cap of the Mental Tranquilizer and chugged it down without spilling a drop.

A few short seconds later, a bottle of Mental Tranquilizer was downed in the blink of an eye. The bottle fell to the ground and shattered to pieces.

But…

Scarface widened his eyes in terror, looking at the livid ghost babies climbing on his body, gradually covering him. He almost couldn’t believe his eyes.

How is it possible…

How could this be!!

Wen Jianyan looked down at the streamer rolling on the ground in front of him, a faint trace of a smile flitting across his lips.

Because his talent had never been creating illusions.

He was merely subtly guiding the other party, making them believe his talent could create illusions.

Since their entire squad had used their talents right from the start, the other party naturally assumed out of habit that what he was using now was also a talent.

Therefore, after their preconceptions were shattered, they would fall into an even more fragile mental state, reflexively believing they had fallen into an even worse situation, thereby infinitely magnifying the opponent’s advantage in their minds.

Of course, the Mental Tranquilizer was useless.

What he deceived was never the opponent’s mind or brain, but their five senses.

The reason he dared to go to the gift shop and boldly buy souvenirs right at the start of the instance was naturally because he had prepared a backup plan long ago.

Wen Jianyan had a lot of self-awareness.

Since he entered this Nightmare live broadcast room, he had formed truly too many grudges. It was fine when he was in the system space, after all, he had his appearance alteration to block it. But after entering an instance, it was different. He currently didn’t have enough points saved up to bring his appearance alteration into an instance and play recklessly. He hadn’t encountered anyone seeking revenge inside an instance yet simply because he had good luck, so items to guard against pursuers were an absolute must-carry.

Before entering the instance, Wen Jianyan specifically went to the Free Trade Zone to make some purchases.

None of the items he bought were meant for clearing instances; they were all meant for surviving pursuits.

What he used was not a talent.

But a talent disguised by items.

This method couldn’t be used right at the start.

After all, before a team fight began, streamers would habitually cover themselves with a dulling film. But after the other members of the squad had exhausted the duration of the films, there were no longer any restrictions on using it.

This current scene was accomplished using several different items.

Polaroid, a D-rank item that could recreate and construct a scene from memory, but it was a single, unchangeable frame. Although its usage time wasn’t short, it could be easily broken just by moving.

However, under the effect of Wen Ya’s talent, the opponent’s mobility was greatly reduced.

A hidden item found in the Free Trade Zone, the Fear Mushroom.

Grinding it into a powder and smearing it on the whip, allowing it to seep into the skin and blood during combat. Although it wouldn’t cause hallucinations, it would plunge the streamer into an inescapable state of intense fear, effectively lowering the other party’s psychological defenses.

The most important among them was the legendary item Wen Jianyan obtained from the Fukang Private General Hospital, the [Remains of the Holy Infant].

Before entering this instance, Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth and spent a large sum of points to upgrade this item by one level.

He originally thought upgrading it would extend the time for obtaining an identity, but unfortunately, things went contrary to his wishes. The duration didn’t change at all, but a second optional form was added—

Summon Ghost Baby.

Unfortunately, both the duration and the number for this summoning form were extremely limited. With the item’s current level, he could summon a pitiful single ghost baby at most, and it had to be activated at extremely close range.

When facing a team fight, its usefulness could almost be said to be negligible.

So, this required the final item.

Modeling Clay, a D-rank dummy item. Although it could move according to the streamer’s will, it required sufficient details to be established.

Because the conditions for its activation were very demanding, and the dummies it created were mostly deformed and easily seen through, plus dummy items had lower-level, cheaper alternatives in the E-rank shop that consumed fewer points, most streamers chose not to buy it.

But Wen Jianyan was different.

He didn’t need these “dummies” to be very realistic; he only needed enough of them to create a massive psychological shadow on people, and that was enough.

Overwhelming, densely packed, guaranteed to give someone nightmares with just one glance.

If, under the premise that he was alone, the success rate of this plan was only fifty percent, then with the help of his teammates, the success rate skyrocketed directly to seventy or eighty percent.

Even the most crucial “close combat” step was actively completed by the other party themselves.

How could he possibly lose!

Wen Jianyan walked forward unhurriedly and squatted down in front of Scarface.

Under the other party’s terrified gaze, he raised his hand, lightly placing his palm on the other’s round, bulging belly, rubbing it gently, feeling the wriggling and protrusions beneath the thin skin.

Of course, the most, most important thing was.

The one on Scarface wasn’t Modeling Clay.

The genuine ghost baby he could summon was currently right inside the other party’s belly. As long as he willed it, it could instantly rip the other party open and crawl out of his body.

The teenager’s eyes carried a smile:

“So, for my unborn baby, how many prize tickets are you willing to pay?”

No, impossible; it’s impossible for them to lose!

This is a hallucination; it must be a hallucination! As long as he killed the other party, everything would end!

A flash of madness appeared in the depths of Scarface’s eyes. A blade materialized in his palm, and he violently lunged forward—

But the next second, the ghost baby inside his belly began struggling maliciously.

Under its mother’s signal, it began to hatch.

That feeling of something growing bit by bit inside his body was so clear and terrifying, making him tremble all over in extreme panic.

The blade stopped right in front of the teenager’s fine, pale neck. Scarface’s face instantly turned deathly pale, and intermittent screams spilled from his throat.

“Ahhhhh—”

Extreme terror flashed in his pupils.

Experiencing the phenomena progressing layer by layer, his preconceptions shattered time and again, Scarface finally dared to be certain now.

The other party’s talent was far more terrifying than he had imagined. This couldn’t be a hallucination; this was, this was directly creating an entire ghost domain completely under his control, containing hundreds, thousands of ghost babies!

He couldn’t beat it.

It was impossible to beat.

This was an unsolvable… an almost overwhelmingly crushing overpowered talent!

So many ghost babies; even if he had a chance to deal with one, the others would climb onto his body again. There was completely no way—

Scarface’s pupils dilated in terror.

“S-sorry! It was my failure to recognize a great person…”

With a “clang”, the knife in his hand slipped and fell to the ground, producing a crisp sound. The tall, sturdy man’s body trembled slightly, his eyes completely devoid of fighting spirit. His lips trembled as he stuttered and shivered:

“I was wrong, I was wrong! D-don’t let it move, I beg you! I-I’ll pay, I’ll pay—”

“Ten tickets per person, sixty tickets—”

“Now that’s being smart.”

Wen Jianyan said with a beaming smile.

“However…” He frowned, somewhat troubled: “That was the price from just now.”

With a smile on his lips, he leaned down again. His amber eyes sparkled with a child’s mischievousness. His face was so pretty and harmless, as captivating as a beauty streamer, but right now, in the other party’s eyes, this innocent and exquisite face was as chilling as a demon’s.

“Sixty tickets aren’t enough now.”

The teenager’s slightly hoarse voice was soft and sweet, like a lover’s whisper:

“I gave you a chance just now, you know.”

The author has something to say:

Dog scammer returning to his old profession: Thank you, that felt good.