Come Play Hide-and-Seek

The next morning, seven o'clock, at the Happiness Internet Cafe.

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

Watching the fatty swallow an entire sausage in one bite, Yellow Hair said with a pained expression, "This unit consumes way too much food. Let's kick him out."

The fatty protested, "My God! I haven't had a single filling meal this month. Have a little pity on me!"

Yellow Hair looked puzzled. "Huh? R-really?"

Then he caught on. "You damn fatty, today's the first!"

Just then, Chen Feng suddenly sneezed. "Achoo!"

Yellow Hair said, "Bro Feng, sneezing means someone's thinking about you."

Chen Feng dismissed the idea. "More like someone's cursing me."

Ever since learning in the Dining Hall that visitors who had been given leaked information could no longer earn Game Coins, Chen Feng had felt a little uneasy. With Meng Chengcheng's pride, wouldn't suddenly losing her eligibility for the mission drive her mad?

In fact, Chen Feng had guessed right. Meng Chengcheng, who had not slept all night, was pounding on the door with dark circles under her eyes. "Open up! Xiao Hu, don't hide in there pretending you can't hear me! I know you're inside!"

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

This was the first time Meng Chengcheng had seen Liu Xiaohu behave like this.

In the past, he had always done everything he could to please her. Now, when she asked to speak to him alone, he actually ignored her.

The contrast left Meng Chengcheng deeply annoyed.

Of course Meng Chengcheng knew Liu Xiaohu liked her. But she had seen so many suitors growing up that she had long since stopped finding it remarkable, and had never given him much thought.

She had never imagined that one day she would become interested in this guy.

Meng Chengcheng stared at the door with a complicated expression. Suddenly recalling the domineering CEO dramas she had watched on TV, she mocked herself. "Is this that legendary line? 'Interesting man, you've caught my attention'?"

Just then, the door opened.

Chen Feng teased, "An interesting man? Who, me?"

Meng Chengcheng's expression stiffened, and she frantically began smoothing her hair. "Y-you, you! You deliberately kept the door shut while secretly listening to me in there!"

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

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

"Were you dead? How could you sleep through all that knocking?"

"How did you know I was dead?"

"Stop grinning like an idiot. I haven't settled the score with you over yesterday yet! Do you realize you made me fail this mission?"

"No big deal. The captain will cover for us anyway."

"You leave everything to other people. Xiao Hu, can't you show a little ambition?"

After some arguing, Meng Chengcheng stepped forward and reluctantly said, "Still, thank you. Without your warning, I might... probably... maybe have gotten into trouble."

Wafts of agarwood fragrance reached his nose as he looked at the awkward young woman before him.

Chen Feng had no idea what a simp was supposed to say at a time like this. But being himself, he had to make a smart-ass remark. "Then why don't you hurry up and repay me by marrying me?"

"Get lost!"

A little later.

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

After Chen Feng had gone back to sleep, Captain Wu had not sat idle. He had gone out to gather information.

"First, I went to the prize redemption booth in the center of the park. I confirmed that you can only exchange ten Game Coins you personally earned by clearing attractions for a souvenir. Giving coins to one another won't work."

"Then I investigated how dangerous each attraction was."

Although most attractions were like Goldfish Catching, with no way to quit once you joined, Captain Wu could calculate their survival rates by comparing the number of visitors who entered with the number who came out.

This middle-aged guy knows his stuff.

Chen Feng listened to Captain Wu's findings:

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

Chen Feng felt that Captain Wu's intelligence was not entirely useful. Take the Haunted House, for example. Its completion requirement was to stay in the amusement park and rest, so it was perfectly normal to see no one 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 were Air Rifle, Bumper Cars, and Hide-and-Seek, with clear rates of around one in ten.

Finally, there were the two easiest attractions. Goldfish Catching had an extremely high clear rate: as long as one person discovered the loophole in the rules, everyone could clear it. Then there was Ring Toss. However many visitors entered, that many came out. Its survival rate was one hundred percent, though every visitor who emerged looked grim.

Something was wrong.

Chen Feng was about to speak when Meng Chengcheng offered her analysis. "It can't be that simple. Just as you wouldn't find a sheep mixed into a pack of wolves, there's no reason for an attraction with a one hundred percent clear rate to exist. Ring Toss might actually be the hardest of them all."

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

"Then let's rule out the suspicious Ring Toss and choose Hide-and-Seek and Bumper Cars tonight." Captain Wu was decisive. "Meeting adjourned!"

That evening.

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

"Whenever 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."

"The crafty mice can never escape the cats' eyes."

As the theme song once again rang through the park, the five of them gathered outside the Hide-and-Seek attraction.

It was an English-style castle, with a cylindrical main tower in its center. Its triangular top resembled a crown, and all its windows were fitted with stained glass bearing intricate geometric patterns as abstract as Picasso's work.

"It's beautiful. It's like being in a vampire movie."

Chen Feng said this because the proprietor of Hide-and-Seek had a pale face, sharp fangs, bat wings, and black aristocratic robes—the classic vampire look.

Captain Wu joked, "Pastor, this is your damn specialty."

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

As usual, Hide-and-Seek also 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 kitties begin hunting. They are as intelligent as humans, so little mice, be very careful!!!]

[5. Survive for half an hour while wearing a Mascot Costume to earn one Game Coin.]

After quickly scanning the rules.

Captain Wu turned to the team's strategist. "Chengcheng, any thoughts?"

Meng Chengcheng had already lost her eligibility to complete the mission, so she was even more eager to contribute with her wits:

"The rules are no different from ordinary hide-and-seek. Thirty minutes to hide, thirty minutes to seek. The only difference is that monsters replace the seekers."

"Players can't leave the castle during the game. Does that mean the kitties can leave, and other players can enter to look around?"

"Rule five specifically states that only those wearing Mascot Costumes earn Game Coins, so I suspect the costumes increase the chances of getting caught by the cats."

"If your only goal is to clear the attraction, not wearing a Mascot Costume is also an option."

After hearing Meng Chengcheng's analysis, Lin He felt a surge of irritation.

Damn it!

That simp Liu Xiaohu had Game Coins deducted for leaking information. Since he can no longer complete the mission, he can now quite reasonably choose not to wear a Mascot Costume and reduce his risk.

But in hide-and-seek, someone else reducing their risk means more danger for me.

No, I need to find a way to goad them!

With that thought, Lin He quickly came up with an idea and declared righteously, "Chengcheng, Xiao Hu, since you've already failed the mission, don't wear the Mascot Costumes. Leave the danger to the three of us."

As he spoke, Lin He placed particular emphasis on "failed the mission."

Sure enough, the proud Meng Chengcheng took the bait. "Lin He, what's that supposed to mean? Am I the sort of person who clings to life and fears death?"

Seeing the two about to argue, Captain Wu immediately intervened. "Stop arguing. I'll be the only one wearing a Mascot Costume for this attraction."

The mission only required them to bring back one souvenir. To get all his teammates home safely, Captain Wu decided to shoulder the entire burden himself. "Damn it, whatever nasty things are in there, let them all come at me!"

Pastor, the deputy captain, shook his head repeatedly. "No! At the very least, I have to join you. That way, if something happens to one of us, the mission can still continue."

Only the captain and deputy captain will wear them? That works too.

Lin He had intended to keep fanning the flames, but after giving it some thought, ensuring his own safety mattered more than getting Liu Xiaohu killed. So he chose to keep quiet.

But just then, Chen Feng suddenly spoke. "Are you saying I'm a coward? We're all wearing them! One each!"

You bastard!

Lin He was furious. He had never imagined that a coward like Liu Xiaohu would actually volunteer. Now none of them could get out of it, and those other five random visitors would reap all the benefits!

Let's see how you die!

Lin He shot Chen Feng a vicious glare.

Since Meng Chengcheng, a Junior Medium, could only summon the souls of people who had died recently, the team chose not to join the first round. They would observe the situation first.

Led by the proprietor, the first group of visitors entered the castle and began searching for hiding places.

Thirty minutes later, a meow rang out, and the game officially began.

From a distance, the group could only vaguely make out several enormous black shapes moving through the castle at high speed.

Captain Wu could not help swearing. "Damn it, they're bigger than lions! You call those cats?"

Then screams rang out. Some of the players had apparently been found.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained!"

One visitor gritted his teeth. To gather more information, he decided to put himself at risk and enter the castle.

Since I'm not a player in this round, the cats shouldn't attack me.

That was what he thought, but he was wrong.

He had barely taken a few steps into the castle when a giant black cat rushed up to him and bit off his head.

The bloody sight made every onlooker retreat a couple of steps. Some with weaker nerves vomited on the spot.

One hour later.

Of the ten visitors, only two survivors came running back. Neither was wearing a Mascot Costume. Presumably, they had used Meng Chengcheng's method, surviving ignominiously without earning any Game Coins.

As for the players wearing Mascot Costumes, there was no question: none survived.