Let's Play Hide-and-Seek

The next morning at seven, at Happiness Internet Cafe.

Chen Feng had finished his morning workout and was eating breakfast with the Trio.

Yellow Hair watched the fat guy polish off sausages one after another and said in distress, "This guy eats way too much. Let's kick him out."

The fat guy protested, "Come on! I haven't had a single meal that filled me up this month. Have a little mercy."

Yellow Hair blinked. "Huh? You haven't?"

Then it hit him. "You damn fatty, today's the first!"

Just then, Chen Feng sneezed. "Achoo!"

Yellow Hair said, "Brother Feng, a sneeze means someone's thinking about you."

"No way," Chen Feng said. "Someone cursing me, maybe."

Ever since Chen Feng had learned in the dining hall that visitors whose information was leaked could no longer earn Game Coins, he had had a bad feeling. With Meng Chengcheng's pride, losing her chance to complete the mission in one stroke was bound to drive her mad.

He was right. Meng Chengcheng, who had been up all night, stood outside his door with dark circles under her eyes, pounding on it. "Open up! Xiao Hu, quit hiding in there and pretending you can't hear me! I know you're inside!"

But no matter how hard she knocked, the door stayed shut.

Meng Chengcheng had never seen Liu Xiaohu act like this before.

He used to bend over backward to please her. Now, when she wanted to talk to him alone, he ignored her.

The change left Meng Chengcheng thoroughly annoyed.

Of course Meng Chengcheng knew Liu Xiaohu liked her. She had seen plenty of admirers growing up, though, and had long since stopped paying them any mind. He was no exception.

She had never expected to find herself interested in him one day.

Meng Chengcheng stared at the door with mixed feelings. Then she remembered the domineering-CEO dramas she had watched on TV and mocked herself. "Is this that legendary line? 'Interesting man, you've caught my attention'?"

At that moment, the door opened.

Chen Feng teased, "Interesting man? Who, me?"

Meng Chengcheng's face tightened. She hurriedly began smoothing her hair. "You—you—you! You kept the door shut on purpose so you could eavesdrop on me?"

People really did pretend to be busy when they were nervous.

Chen Feng smiled. "You've got me wrong. I just woke up."

"Were you dead? How did all that knocking not wake you?"

"How did you know I was dead?"

"Quit fooling around! I haven't settled yesterday's score with you. Do you know you made me fail this mission?"

"It's fine. The captain will take care of it."

"You leave everything to someone else! Xiao Hu, can't you show a little backbone?"

After they argued for a while, Meng Chengcheng stepped forward and said reluctantly, "Still... thank you. If you hadn't warned me, I might... probably... maybe have gotten hurt."

A waft of agarwood reached Chen Feng's nose as he looked at the fidgeting girl before him.

He had no idea what a lovestruck admirer was supposed to say at a moment like this. Left to himself, though, he couldn't resist a wisecrack. "Then shouldn't you hurry up and marry me to repay the favor?"

"Get lost!"

A little while later.

Captain Wu summoned everyone to his room to discuss the next attraction.

After Chen Feng had gone back to sleep, Captain Wu had stayed busy gathering information.

“First, I went to the prize counter at the center of Paradise. I confirmed that only ten Game Coins you earn by clearing attractions yourself can be exchanged for a souvenir. You can't give them to each other.”

"Then I investigated how dangerous each attraction was."

Although most attractions were like Goldfish Catching—once visitors joined, they could not quit—Captain Wu could compare how many went in with how many came out to estimate their survival rates.

The old guy's pretty experienced, Chen Feng thought.

He listened to Captain Wu's findings:

Of Paradise's ten attractions, three were practically death zones: the Haunted House, the Maze, and the Roller Coaster. Their clear rates were almost zero. Anyone who went in died.

Chen Feng doubted that Captain Wu's findings told the whole story. Take the Haunted House: its clear condition was to rest in Paradise. It was perfectly normal that no one had come out during the observation period. That did not necessarily mean its survival rate was zero.

Next came Dancing and Dressing as a Mascot, with clear rates of around one in twenty.

After those came the Air Rifle, Bumper Cars, and Hide-and-Seek, with clear rates of around one in ten.

Last were the two easiest attractions. Goldfish Catching had an extremely high clear rate: as long as one person spotted the loophole in the rules, everyone could clear it. At Ring Toss, every visitor who went in came back out, giving it a hundred-percent survival rate. The visitors who emerged, however, all looked miserable.

Something's off.

Chen Feng was about to speak when Meng Chengcheng offered her analysis. "It can't be that simple. You wouldn't find a sheep mixed in with a pack of wolves. There's no reason one attraction should have a hundred-percent clear rate. Ring Toss might be the hardest of them all."

"Chengcheng's right." In front of everyone, Chen Feng still had to play the devoted admirer.

"Then we'll rule out that suspicious Ring Toss. Tonight, we'll choose Hide-and-Seek and Bumper Cars," Captain Wu said briskly. "Meeting over!"

That night.

"Boys and girls, come play at the Horror Amusement Park."

"When the music starts, you know the party has begun."

"Haunted House, Haunted House, let's brave the Haunted House."

"No matter what happens, never look back."

"Kitty, kitty, let's play Hide-and-Seek."

"No clever mouse can ever hide from a cat's eyes."

As the theme song rang through the park once more, the group of five gathered outside Hide-and-Seek.

An English-Style Castle stood there. Its central tower was cylindrical, with a pointed roof like a crown. Every window held stained glass covered in intricate geometric patterns as abstract as a Picasso painting.

"Beautiful. It's like we're in a vampire movie."

Chen Feng said that because the owner of Hide-and-Seek looked like a classic vampire: pale face, sharp fangs, bat wings, and a black nobleman's robe.

Captain Wu joked, "Pastor, this is right up your damn alley."

The Pastor grew confident too. "Looks like I'm in luck."

As usual, Hide-and-Seek had five rules:

[1. Obtain a Mascot Costume in the Castle's main hall]

[2. Players may not leave the Castle during the game]

[3. The game lasts one hour. Players are safe for the first thirty minutes]

[4. After thirty minutes, the cats begin hunting. They're as smart as people, so be careful, little mice!!!]

[5. Wear a Mascot Costume and survive for half an hour to earn one Game Coin]

After quickly scanning the rules.

Captain Wu looked to the team's strategist. "Chengcheng, what do you think?"

Meng Chengcheng had already lost her chance to complete the mission, so she was all the more eager to contribute her wits:

"The rules are no different from ordinary hide-and-seek. You get thirty minutes to hide and thirty minutes to be found. The only difference is that the seekers are monsters."

"Players can't leave the Castle during the game. Does that mean the cats can leave, and visitors who aren't playing can go inside to look around?"

"Rule five specifically says you only earn a Game Coin if you're wearing a Mascot Costume. I suspect wearing one makes you more likely to get caught by a cat."

"If surviving is all you care about, not wearing a Mascot Costume is an option."

Lin He grew uneasy as he listened to Meng Chengcheng's analysis.

This is bad!

Liu Xiaohu, that lovestruck fool, had lost his Game Coins for leaking information. Since he could no longer complete the mission, he had every reason not to wear a Mascot Costume in this attraction and could lower his risk.

And in Hide-and-Seek, when someone else lowered his risk, Lin He's own danger increased.

No. I need to goad them into wearing one!

An idea struck Lin He, and he immediately declared with an air of noble sacrifice, "Chengcheng, Xiao Hu, you two have already failed the mission anyway. Don't wear Mascot Costumes. Leave the danger to the three of us."

As he spoke, Lin He deliberately stressed the words "failed the mission."

Proud Meng Chengcheng took the bait. "Lin He, what's that supposed to mean? Do you think I'm afraid of dying?"

Seeing the two of them about to argue, Captain Wu quickly stepped in. "Stop it, both of you. I'll be the only one wearing a Mascot Costume this time."

They only needed to bring back one souvenir to complete the mission. To get his teammates home safely, Captain Wu decided to shoulder the burden himself. "Whatever damn monsters are in there can come straight at me."

The Pastor, the deputy captain, shook his head repeatedly. "No! At the very least, I'm wearing one too. If something happens to either of us, the other can still carry on with the mission."

Only the captain and deputy captain are wearing them? That works too.

Lin He had wanted to stir things up further, but on second thought, keeping himself safe mattered more than getting Liu Xiaohu killed. He held his tongue.

But then Chen Feng spoke up. "Are you calling me a coward? We're all wearing them! One each!"

Bastard!

Lin He was furious. He had never imagined that coward Liu Xiaohu would volunteer. Now none of them could avoid it, and the other five visitors would get off easy!

Let's see how you die!

Lin He shot Chen Feng a vicious glare.

Meng Chengcheng, as a Junior Medium, could only summon the spirits of people who had died recently. The team therefore chose not to join the first group, deciding to see what happened first.

The owner led the first group of visitors into the Castle, where they began searching for hiding places.

Thirty minutes later, a cat's cry rang out. The game had officially begun.

From a distance, the group could only make out several huge black shapes racing through the Castle.

Captain Wu couldn't help cursing. "Damn it, they're bigger than lions! You call those cats?"

Then screams rang out. Some of the players must have been found.

"Fortune favors the bold!"

One visitor gritted his teeth. To gather more information, he decided to risk entering the Castle himself.

I'm not playing this round, so the cats shouldn't attack me.

That was what he thought. He was wrong.

He had barely taken a few steps inside the Castle when a giant black cat charged up to him and bit off his head.

The bloody sight sent every onlooker stumbling back. Those with weaker stomachs vomited on the spot.

An hour later.

Of the ten visitors, only two survivors came running back. Neither wore a Mascot Costume. They had presumably followed Meng Chengcheng's suggestion, surviving without earning Game Coins.

As for the players who had worn Mascot Costumes, not one had survived.