Did I break some heavenly law?

Following that line of thought, if Himeko had possessed such tremendous strength from the start, didn't that mean she really wasn't an ordinary person?

The three exchanged glances, and WarGreymon suddenly stood up.

"Hang on a moment, everyone. I've got to take a leak."

Zhang San followed right after him. "I'm thirsty too. I'll get some water."

The two left the commentary booth, leaving Wang Wu alone to continue commentating.

Once the middle-aged man and the young man confirmed they were no longer on the livestream, their expressions turned grave.

"Notify the authorities. Have them pull up everything on Himeko. She seems to be hiding an incredible secret. The authorities need to get to the bottom of this."

"Could the authorities already know? I mean, if things like superpowers really exist in this world, could the authorities possibly not know?"

"That makes it even simpler. This is no time to keep secrets. They need to give us more accurate information so we can provide Himeko with better support in the operations ahead!"

A few minutes later, the official in charge tilted his head in utter confusion.

"What do they mean, send them the information on Himeko the superhuman immediately???"

Himeko had no idea her actions had already sent the three commentators and the authorities into a brainstorming frenzy, making them wonder whether superhumans were hiding among Blue Star's population.

She had passed up the easier route and kicked the gate purely because she wanted to see how much stronger she had become after her Roleplay Progress increased and enhanced her.

She had originally intended to push it open with her hands, but with a suitcase in one hand and a wrench in the other, she could only raise her leg.

After entering the amusement park, Himeko looked around.

The entire amusement park was deserted, but Himeko kept feeling that something was wrong.

She approached a bench provided for visitors to rest on. Looking at the half-finished milk tea on the seat, she reached out and touched the side of the cup.

It was cold, with ice cubes still floating inside, and no condensation had formed on the cup. That was enough to prove it had only been left here a short while ago.

There was a faint lipstick mark on the end of the straw, indicating that the owner of this half-finished milk tea was a woman.

Or perhaps a femboy.

Soon, Himeko realized exactly what was wrong here.

"This place wasn't deserted from the beginning. Rather... everyone suddenly disappeared at some point. That's why it feels so jarring."

"Daddy's daddy is Grandpa~ Mommy's mommy is Grandma~" The Rocking Ride beside Himeko was still playing its noisy song, even getting the family relationships wrong.

It was meant for rather young children, but it wasn't out of place in an amusement park.

Yet Himeko kept feeling as though this cartoon vehicle was watching her.

The Rocking Ride kept rocking back and forth, but its speaker gradually began to stutter.

"Daddy's... Grandpa... Mommy... Mommy..."

Himeko crouched in front of the Rocking Ride and watched it call for Mommy over and over, as though possessed by a Valorant junior.

The Rocking Ride rocked more and more violently, while the cries of "Mommy" from its speaker grew faster and faster. Eventually, its movements could no longer be called rocking. Convulsing would have been a more fitting description.

"Mommy-Mommy-"

The Rocking Ride's cries grew increasingly shrill, the piercing sound seeming ready to puncture Himeko's eardrums.

"Looks like someone needs a little fixing."

It clearly meant trouble, and Himeko naturally wasn't going to take it lying down.

Meanwhile, in Neon's commentary booth...

Several feeds were displayed before Neon's three commentators, the two largest showing Himeko and their own contestant respectively.

Neon's contestant, Inukai, could be seen pushing a small cart along a concrete road.

Ten kilometers passed in an instant aboard the Astral Express, but to contestants who had to travel on foot in the early stages, it counted as a long cross-country trek.

Apart from Himeko, everyone was still on the road. This gave many countries other ideas.

"It seems our citizens don't want to see Huaxia's Himeko leading the world."

"Huaxia is too far ahead of the other countries. We have to slow her progress!"

"Exactly. She happens to have run into some trouble, so why don't we give things a little push-"

Neon's three commentators exchanged knowing looks and used an outside assistance opportunity without hesitation.

Outside assistance couldn't be used on one's own contestant, only to affect other contestants. After harming another contestant, it was even possible to plunder resources from the victim.

Perhaps they could take advantage of Himeko's trouble to finish her off in one stroke and seize the Astral Express!

Quite a few countries shared Neon's thinking. None of them wanted anyone to get too far ahead.

Especially Huaxia, which was already a powerful country. If its contestant gained something else and took Huaxia to even greater heights, their own international standing would fall further.

Some countries whose relations with Huaxia weren't particularly good all made the same decision independently.

Several countries, including Kimchi Country and Amerika, chose to expend an assistance opportunity to cause trouble for Himeko inside the amusement park.

[Why not let the Huaxia person scout ahead while we follow behind and copy her answers?]

[What do you know?! That Huaxia person clearly isn't ordinary. If we don't deal with her early, do you think we'll have an easy time once she's built herself up?]

[Exactly! The Astral Express is too fast. The fastest contestant from any other country has only covered two kilometers, and she's already started exploring!]

[I hope she dies in there soon and clears the traps for our contestants.]

[Kill her! Show those Huaxia people that a good start doesn't mean they can do whatever they want!]

Inside the amusement park, Himeko swung her suitcase and smashed it hard into the convulsing Rocking Ride.

When equipment malfunctioned, a few knocks could always fix something.

Himeko understood this principle well. After that full swing, the Rocking Ride finally stopped calling for Mommy and instead began to make whimpering sobs.

The suitcase had smashed a hole in the Rocking Ride's head, and wisps of black mist emerged from it.

"Come play with me..."

The speaker emitted eerie sobs, while a tempting voice carrying an inexplicable magical power wormed into Himeko's ears, trying to lure her onto the Rocking Ride.

"A toy so full of childhood innocence isn't quite suited to me as I am now."

Himeko chuckled. She could sense that the shadow in front of the Rocking Ride was trying to corrupt her mind this way.

However, with the power of Trailblaze within her, resisting corruption of this level was no problem.

"Come play... Why won't you come-why?!"

Seeing that Himeko remained unmoved, the shadow began to scream, and its aura surged.

For a moment, everything around them seemed to be swallowed by the shadow. Out of the corner of her eye, Himeko saw the bright, pristine amusement park become dilapidated wherever the shadow covered it.

At the same time, information about the shadow appeared before Himeko.

[Paradise Wraith: Level One Danger. The spirit of a child abandoned here, unable to leave even after death. It attacks every adult who passes by.]

[Neon has used "Enemy enhancement" on you. The Paradise Wraith's danger level has increased.]

[Kimchi Country has used "Blindness" on you. Your vision will become blurred for the next five minutes.]

[India has used "Weakness" on you. Your strength will be greatly reduced for the next five minutes.]

[Amerika has used "Enemy enhancement" on you. The Paradise Wraith's danger level has increased.]

[Kangaroo Country has used "Damage over time" on you. You will take damage once every two seconds for thirty seconds.]

[Codfish Country has used "Influenza" on you. You are sick.]

[Hans Country has used...]

The string of notifications left Himeko somewhat dazed. All sorts of countries were involved, nearly twenty in total.

What did I do to get targeted like this? Did I break some heavenly law?

[Achievement unlocked: Public Enemy (Looks like you aren't very popular.)]

Her vision blurred, her limbs ached, she couldn't muster any strength, her head swam, and her movements were somewhat uncoordinated. She was even losing health.

Himeko felt as though she were riddled with every illness imaginable, and might just die of sickness here the next second.

[What's going on?! How did this happen?!]

[Have the other countries got no shame? Why are they throwing every dirty trick they have at our contestant?]

[Huaxia is finished!]

[There's no need to be so pessimistic. What if Himeko can handle it?]

[Handle it how? If she survives this, he's my own mother!]

[Get ready to start over. See you next life.]

[According to the national fate rules, if she fails, we'll only be punished. We won't necessarily die outright. At worst, it'll just be reduced crop yields, technological regression, shortened lifespans, natural and man-made disasters, rampaging monsters, destitution, starvation everywhere, and people exchanging children to eat. Only at the end does everyone die together.]

[You call that "just"?!]

[It's all right. At least it's pretty fair. Rich or poor, everyone dies together.]

"Come... Come play with me-!!!"

The Paradise Wraith, radiating danger, charged at Himeko without hesitation. Himeko clutched her head, and her suitcase fell to the ground.

Nobody wanted to suffer the National Destiny Battlefield's punishment. Everyone prayed for Himeko, hoping she could escape.

"Cough, cough-"

Himeko coughed twice because of the flu. Although her vision was blurred, she could still just barely lock onto the shadow approaching her.

"You certainly went to a great deal of trouble, everyone. But I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed."

Her slightly breathless voice carried confidence.

Those waiting to laugh at Huaxia couldn't understand why Himeko could remain so calm when death was already at her door.

"Himeko... What is she trying to do?"

Wang Wu stared nervously at the screen, not even daring to blink.