The players holding their tickets for this round’s task wore expressions of panic.
“We have to find all nine ghosts to clear the game?”
“Does this mean that each time we vote for a ghost, the result won’t be announced? We won’t even know if we guessed right until the final round?”
“We have to be correct all nine times to clear the game! How is that even possible? Why is this level so hard?! We’re doomed… there’s no way we’re getting out of here…”
“Playing those rides will definitely be fatal! I don’t even dare ride roller coasters in real life. What do I do… wahhh—”
The instance had just begun, but the atmosphere among the crowd was already growing tense.
He Yuan, who stood beside Pei Hongyu, impatiently shouted, “Enough! What are you crying for? With Brother Yu here, do you really think you’ll die?”
That’s right! There were two pros here in this round!
The system didn’t say we couldn’t share clues, so as long as we follow the pros when voting each round, we should be fine, right? If even the pros get it wrong, then failing this instance is just fate.
Thinking this through, the group perked up a little, their eyes filled with hope as they looked towards Li Zhi and Pei Hongyu.
Pei Hongyu ignored them. After scanning his surroundings, he stepped toward the center of the plaza, where an unlit certification booth stood. The booth, shaped like a tomb, was pitch-black inside, with no windows, and only a tightly shut black door.
Pei Hongyu tried to push the door, but the tomb-like entrance didn’t budge. It would only open when the certification process began.
Tang Nanshan walked over as well, “Twelve hours, nine major amusement rides, with each ghost-voting interval likely to be between one to one and a half hours. Let’s start by trying out one of the rides; there should be some rules we can discover during the gameplay.”
Pei Hongyu didn’t respond but nodded.
Tang Nanshan whispered, “To get MVP in this instance, it’ll probably depend on who finds the most ghosts.”
Time was tight. They had to find more clues than Li Zhi.
She had just subtly reminded Ah Yu, but it seemed like Ah Yu wasn’t concerned about Li Zhi at all. His pride was well-known, but Tang Nanshan didn’t dare underestimate Li Zhi. She had watched all of Li Zhi’s instances and knew she was a formidable opponent.
Pei Hongyu understood her meaning and smirked, “Let’s go.”
Tang Nanshan called for He Yuan, and when he came running over, the two of them headed toward a misty path glowing red on the right. The players behind exchanged glances before four of them hesitantly followed. After walking for a while and realizing that the two ahead weren’t going to chase them off, they quickened their pace, relieved.
Li Zhi put away her ticket and said to Chi Yi, “Let’s go.”
Just then, Qi Yongyi approached her with a bright, innocent smile, his white teeth gleaming, “Boss, can I team up with you? I love watching your live streams.”
Li Zhi smiled, “Sure.”
A petite girl nearby quickly chimed in, “Boss Zhi, me too! I want to team up with you! I’m a huge fan!”
Li Zhi didn’t refuse, “Of course.”
The petite girl beamed, her eyes curving with joy, “Sister Zhi, my name is You Jingmeng, but you can just call me Xiao Meng!”
Li Zhi nodded with a smile, then looked toward the other players still lingering around. In a gentle tone, she asked, “Does anyone else want to join our team?”
The remaining players exchanged glances before two men stepped forward. One was named Zheng Qi, and the other, Owen Dong. Li Zhi and Chi Yi hadn’t heard of them, so they were likely players who had joined the game voluntarily after the global broadcast of [Ghost] began.
Now, with a team of six, only five people remained, including Jia’ou Tiancheng. Chen Tianran gave a slight smile to the other two players, “Why don’t we explore together first?”
The others nodded in agreement.
Teaming up with a pro has both advantages and disadvantages. The good part is that it’s easier to stay alive; the downside is that most of the popularity points tend to tilt towards the pro.
Take Pei Hongyu’s partner, Tang Nanshan, for instance. She’s quite capable on her own, but she hasn’t even cracked the top 100 on the popularity leaderboard. That’s because whenever she teams up with Pei Hongyu, he takes all the spotlight. Her brilliance gets overshadowed.
But since she’s Pei Hongyu’s fixed partner, as long as Pei gets a big reward, she gets something out of it too. Even with low popularity, she won’t face elimination—Pei Hongyu’s fans naturally vote her up.
For smaller, more obscure players, it’s different. Unless they stand out with a spectacular performance, if their spotlight gets stolen by a pro, they might survive the game, but they’ll still face the risk of elimination.
Zheng Qi and Owen Dong, who teamed up with Li Zhi, didn’t plan to stick with her long-term. They were just hoping to ride along for one round to figure out the rules before acting independently.
Since Pei Hongyu’s group headed right, Li Zhi chose to go left.
This amusement park seemed vast, not much different from a real-world one. When the countdown ended, NPCs began to emerge from the darkness.
Some wore mascot costumes, waving and dancing at the players, while others held colorful balloons. A few even performed circus tricks like juggling oranges while riding unicycles on the paths. If not for the instance setting, the place might’ve seemed quite fun.
However, as they left the plaza near the entrance, the light-hearted, childlike atmosphere disappeared. The trees lining the park’s paths were adorned with props fitting for the eerie spirit of the Ghost Festival. Mist hung low, and intermittent green and red lights cast an ominous glow over the entire park, making it feel otherworldly.
Chi Yi moved closer to Li Zhi, shivering as she clung to her arm. “This atmosphere is way too creepy!”
Li Zhi glanced at her, “Weren’t you saying you’d show me how much you’ve grown?”
Chi Yi replied defensively, “My skills have improved, but I’m still easily scared! It’s not a contradiction!”
Qi Yongyi couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.
Chi Yi scowled at him, “What are you laughing at?”
You Jingmeng timidly added from the side, “I once went to an amusement park for Halloween, and it looked just like this. NPCs dressed as ghosts would jump out from corners to—Aah!!”
Before she could finish her sentence, a ghost in a white dress with long black hair jumped out from behind a tree draped in gauze. Its black hair hung down to its feet, obscuring its face. With its head lowered and arms swaying bonelessly, it lunged straight at You Jingmeng.
Startled, You Jingmeng let out a terrified scream and darted behind Li Zhi.
The “ghost” that had successfully frightened her let out a creepy laugh before slinking back behind the tree, ready to scare the next person.
You Jingmeng was nearly in tears. “Is that an NPC or a real ghost?”
Li Zhi shook her head, “No idea.”
During the Ghost Festival, the gates of the underworld open, allowing all manner of spirits to roam. Among these NPCs disguised as ghosts, real ones had slipped in. Until they found the right clues, no one could tell which were real ghosts and which were just NPCs.
Owen Dong asked, “What ride should we try first?”
Li Zhi listened to the clanking sounds coming from up ahead. “How about the roller coaster?”
Owen Dong hesitated, “Isn’t starting with something that intense a bit too dangerous?”
Zheng Qi, on the other hand, agreed, “We’re at an amusement park; we can’t skip the roller coaster. The more thrilling the ride, the more likely it is that we’ll find obvious clues. We’ll have to play it sooner or later anyway.”
He reasoned that if they had to ride it, it’d be safer to do so with the pro now rather than later on their own.
Hearing this, Owen Dong stopped objecting, and no one else had any complaints. The group headed towards the roller coaster, encountering several more ghosts jumping out to scare them along the way. Whether they were NPCs or actual ghosts remained a mystery.
Li Zhi mentally noted down all the ghosts they encountered.
Before long, the six of them arrived at the roller coaster’s entrance.
At the gate stood a staff member dressed in blue overalls, his expression unnervingly fixed. His smile and gaze were exactly the same as the ticket-checker at the park’s entrance, as if he had been copied and pasted.
“Welcome to the Sky Dragon Roller Coaster,” the staff member smiled as he spoke. “This ride requires a minimum of four participants. Please show your tickets and line up for entry.”
A minimum number of riders was required—less than four, and the ride wouldn’t start.
Since they had six people now, Li Zhi turned to ask the group, “We can ride with four people. Should we all go or leave two behind?”
Chi Yi thought for a moment, then asked the staff member, “If we send only four people, will we get just one clue, or does each person get a clue?”
The staff member in blue smiled, “All rides in the park are single-round experiences.”
So, regardless of how many people rode, only one clue would be obtained per round.
Li Zhi recalled the system’s earlier broadcast, which stated that each ride could provide up to two clues. However, replaying the same ride would increase the level of danger. Essentially, they could ride the roller coaster twice at most, but the second time would be riskier.
The death conditions for this instance seemed hidden within these attractions, with each round likely presenting a different danger. The second round would undoubtedly be more perilous than the first.
However, Li Zhi pondered: if she, Chi Yi, Qi Yongyi, and You Jingmeng rode the first round, and she, Chi Yi, Zheng Qi, and Owen Dong rode the second, with different players participating each time, how would the danger level be determined?
Hearing her question, the staff member’s smile stiffened slightly, becoming colder. He replied, displeased, “As long as one player from the first round participates in the second round, it will be counted as a repeat experience.”
So, there was no loophole to exploit.
Li Zhi quickly understood the rules and explained to her teammates, “At least four people need to ride, and we’ll get one clue per round. For the second round, if anyone from the first round joins, it’ll count as a repeat, increasing the danger level. With just the six of us here, unless two more people show up, we’ll need to face increasing danger if we want to get both clues from the roller coaster.”
Owen Dong hesitated again, “Why don’t we wait for others? If we have different players for both rounds, we can avoid the increased danger and still get two clues.”
Chi Yi disagreed, “The park is huge. Who knows where the others went? If we wait and the first ghost voting round comes without getting a second clue, what if we vote wrong?”
“And even if the players are different in each round, that doesn’t guarantee the clues will be different,” Qi Yongyi added. “If the clues are given out randomly, and we get the same one they did in the first round, we’ll still have to ride again to get a second, different clue.”
Li Zhi asked, “Let’s try one round first. Are we all going, or are two staying behind?”
With so many viewers watching, staying behind wouldn’t give anyone a chance to shine or gain popularity.
The group decided to all go.
They lined up, with Li Zhi at the front. After handing her ticket to the staff member, he took out a small stamp and pressed a roller coaster-shaped mark on the back of her ticket.
Once everyone had their tickets stamped and scanned, the wooden platform in front of them began to shift, and a roller coaster slowly rolled up along the track.
It stopped in front of the gate. There were ten rows of seats, with two seats per row. As the group approached, the gates in front of rows 2, 4, and 6 opened with a click, signaling them to take their seats.
Chi Yi and Li Zhi took the second row, Qi Yongyi and You Jingmeng sat in the fourth row, and Owen Dong and Zheng Qi sat in the sixth row.
The safety bars came down automatically, and everyone tensed up. The empty seats added to the eerie feeling. Chi Yi rubbed her arms and whispered to Li Zhi, “Zhi Zhi, don’t you feel like it’s getting colder?”
It really did feel chilling once they boarded the ride.
A bell rang ahead, interrupting Chi Yi. Over the speaker, the staff member’s cheerful voice echoed, “The Sky Dragon Roller Coaster is about to depart. We wish you a pleasant journey. Please enjoy the scenic views along the way.”
The car jolted, clanking as it began to move.
From the moment they boarded, Li Zhi had been scanning the surroundings for any clues but found nothing.
The system wouldn’t leave them without any hints.
It was at this moment that the words from the broadcast hit her: “Please enjoy the scenic views along the way.”
Enjoy the views.
The roller coaster left the platform, clanking as it began to climb.
“Don’t close your eyes!” She turned her head and shouted to the four teammates behind her, “The death condition is closing your eyes!”