Even VIPs Have to Ride the Beheading Roller Coaster!

"Is it too late to cancel my membership now?"

Joker beamed.

"No, you can't."

Shen Niannian: "..."

(￣ー￣)

She knew it.

There was no such thing as a free VIP membership.

Especially not in an S-rank instance.

At the entrance to the Beheading Roller Coaster, a tall, thin staff member in a red-and-yellow uniform slowly raised its head.

It had no head.

But a bright red smiley-face badge was pinned to the stump of its neck.

A regular employee.

Han Feng glanced at it.

"Let's check the ride rules first."

Beside the ticket gate,

a blood-red sign slowly lit up.

[Beheading Roller Coaster rider instructions]

[1. Please take the seat corresponding to the number displayed on your visitor wristband. Do not switch seats.]

[2. Once the safety bar has lowered, please remain seated at all times. Do not release the safety restraints yourself.]

[3. After entering the black tunnel, please keep facing forward. Do not look back.]

[4. After the train returns to the platform, please wait for the green indicator light to come on before releasing the safety restraints.]

[5. Everything that happens during the ride is part of the normal experience.]

When they saw the fifth rule,

everyone's expressions turned a little grim.

What did it mean-

everything was part of the normal experience?

Did that include getting beheaded?

The staff member raised its hand.

It pointed to the two trains beside it.

Each had twelve seats.

"A maximum of twelve visitors may ride at a time."

"First group, please board."

Han Feng didn't hesitate.

"I'll go first."

In an instance like this,

the longer they delayed after learning the rules, the more likely other problems were to arise.

Shen Niannian also headed for the VIP entrance, hugging her popcorn.

After two steps,

she stopped.

She looked down at the bucket in her arms,

then at the roller coaster.

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

"Can I take my popcorn on the ride?"

The smiley-face badge on the headless staff member's chest flashed.

"No."

Shen Niannian was a little disappointed.

She had no choice but to leave the popcorn in a VIP locker.

The livestream chat immediately burst into laughter.

"She really came to the amusement park for a vacation, didn't she?"

"Everyone else is figuring out how to keep their heads, and she's wondering if she can bring popcorn."

"Stop laughing. That's an S-rank Beheading Roller Coaster. The death rate is really high!"

The twelve people for the first round were quickly chosen.

Shen Niannian.

Han Feng.

And ten players.

The remaining five would wait for the second round.

The regular visitors' wristbands automatically displayed their seat numbers.

But a prompt appeared on Shen Niannian's black-and-gold wristband.

[VIP visitors may choose from the available seats in this round before other visitors.]

Her eyes lit up.

"There's a perk like that?"

The staff member answered respectfully, "Yes."

"Which seat is the safest?"

Staff member: "..."

Han Feng and the others all turned to look.

You could ask that?!

The staff member was silent for two seconds.

"The ride's core rules prohibit me from giving visitors answers that would allow them to directly avoid the ride's risks."

Shen Niannian was a little disappointed.

"Then which seat has the best view?"

"The front row."

"Then I'll sit in the third row."

Staff member: "?"

Shen Niannian was perfectly serious.

The best view

usually also meant seeing most clearly how you died.

She didn't need that.

(￣▽￣)

In the end,

Shen Niannian sat in 3A.

Han Feng happened to be in 3B.

Click!

The black safety bar slowly lowered,

securing them in their seats.

The other ten players were all seated as well.

Joker had appeared beside the control console at some point.

He held a microphone,

and the exaggerated grin spread across his face again.

"Dear visitors!"

"The Beheading Roller Coaster is about to start!"

"Please put your hands up!"

Nobody moved.

Joker: "..."

"What a bunch of guests with no sense of fun."

He slammed the button.

Boom!

The train shot forward!

"Holy shit!"

The tremendous force pressed everyone straight back into their seats.

Shen Niannian's long silver-white hair whipped wildly in the wind.

(ΩДΩ)

Fast!

Too fast!

This thing was nothing like a normal roller coaster!

The track climbed almost vertically.

Tens of seconds later,

the train shot straight up to the highest point in the amusement park.

Below,

the entire Death Amusement Park lay in full view.

Blood-red lights.

Rotting tents.

A corpse Ferris wheel turning slowly in the distance.

But nobody was in the mood to admire the view.

Because up ahead-

there was no track.

It was broken.

"There's no track ahead!"

Someone's face went instantly pale.

The next second,

the train shot off the broken track!

Airborne!

Everyone's hearts leaped into their throats almost at the same time.

But a few seconds later,

boom!

The wheels somehow slammed back down onto another stretch of track suspended in midair.

And kept racing forward!

Shen Niannian's face had gone pale.

(╥﹏╥)

Rule five had been right.

This counted as a normal experience too.

Just then,

a pitch-black tunnel appeared ahead.

[Approaching the Beheading Tunnel.]

Han Feng immediately raised his voice.

"Everyone, remember rule three. Face forward, and don't look back no matter who calls you!"

Whoosh!

Darkness swallowed the train in an instant.

There wasn't a speck of light.

There was only the frantic grinding of wheels against the track.

Creak-

Suddenly,

a woman's sobbing came from behind Shen Niannian.

"Niannian..."

"Turn around and look at Mommy..."

Shen Niannian: "..."

(・_・;)

She didn't recognize her.

She didn't even know who this body's mother was.

Who was that supposed to fool?

But the other players weren't having such an easy time.

A man in the second row visibly jolted.

"Dad?"

Behind him.

The elderly voice rang out again.

"Son, I'm right behind you. Look at me."

The man's eyes reddened instantly.

But he gripped the restraint bar tightly.

He forced himself not to turn around.

Han Feng's voice came from beside him.

"It's fake."

The man closed his eyes.

"I know."

Good.

No one had fallen for it.

But just as everyone thought the black tunnel used only voices to lure them-

Click.

A strange sound suddenly came from the front row.

A player named Zhang Wei's expression changed dramatically.

"My restraint bar came open!"

The black restraint bar across his chest

really was slowly rising!

The tremendous inertia from their high-speed ride

sent his body bouncing upward in an instant.

"Help me!"

Lin Chao, beside him, reacted swiftly.

The two clearly knew each other.

Lin Chao didn't release his own restraint bar.

Instead, he stayed seated, leaned sharply to the side, and reached out to press down Zhang Wei's safety bar.

"Don't move, I'll push it back down for you!"

It was a perfectly normal choice.

In fact, strictly speaking,

he hadn't released his own safety restraint.

Nor had he left his seat.

But the instant he leaned more than halfway out-

Slash!

A barely audible cutting sound rang out.

Lin Chao froze.

The next second,

his head slid straight off his neck.

Blood sprayed out!

The head fell into Zhang Wei's arms.

Its eyes were still open.

Zhang Wei was completely stunned.

"Lin Chao?!"

The headless corpse remained secured in place by the restraint bar.

And Zhang Wei's safety bar, which had just sprung up,

clicked.

It dropped back down on its own.

And locked.

As if there had never been a malfunction.

[Player Lin Chao has died.]

[Players currently alive: 16]

The livestream chat exploded!

"The restraint bar was fake?!"

"Lin Chao didn't break the second rule!"

"He was just helping his teammate press down the safety bar!"

"Is this what the fifth rule means by 'everything is a normal part of the experience'?"

Shen Niannian's expression changed as well.

That cut just now-

there was no telling where it had come from.

She immediately used [Identity Archive] on the seat beneath her.

[Target: Beheading Roller Coaster visitor seat]

[Category: attraction facility]

[Current status: operating]

Additional information slowly appeared.

[The seat's protection range covers only its corresponding visitor's designated seating area.]

[When a visitor's body noticeably leaves the safety range of their own seat, the beheading line will no longer be blocked.]

Shen Niannian understood at once!

It wasn't the restraint bar that killed him.

Nor had helping someone itself broken the rules.

The real problem was-

Lin Chao had moved his body outside the protection range of his own seat to help Zhang Wei!

"Don't lean to the side!"

She immediately shouted, "Each seat has its own safety zone. Even if you see someone else in trouble, don't stick your body out!"

Han Feng immediately caught on.

"That restraint bar malfunction was bait!"

Zhang Wei's face turned deathly pale.

Because his own restraint bar was perfectly fine now.

In other words,

if Lin Chao hadn't saved him just now-

nothing would have happened.

This roller coaster

would even exploit the trust and instinct to help between players!

Han Feng gritted his teeth.

"That's what an S-rank dungeon is like."

"It doesn't necessarily force you to break the rules outright."

"It gives you a situation where someone looks like they have to be saved, then makes you step outside the rules' protection yourself."

A chill ran through every remaining player.

The livestream chat was flooded with comments.

"Now that's nasty!"

"It's not that Lin Chao was stupid. He saw his teammate was really about to be thrown out, so of course his first instinct was to help!"

"And he didn't release his own restraint bar. He even thought he was still following the rules!"

"If it weren't for Shen Niannian, who would know that the real condition for getting killed was leaving the seat's range?!"

Just then,

a glimmer of red light finally appeared at the tunnel exit.

Everyone had just breathed a sigh of relief

when something cold suddenly landed on Shen Niannian's shoulder.

Smack.

It was a hand.

Deathly pale.

Rotten.

Its five fingers gently gripped her shoulder.

A man's laughter sounded right behind her, close at hand.

"Miss Shen."

"The bow on your head fell off."

"Would you like to turn around and look?"

Shen Niannian: "..."

(￣ー￣)

The trick had gotten more sophisticated.

Unfortunately,

her bow was clearly still on her head.

The [Crimson Curtain Substitute Knot] was even growing slightly warm.

She looked straight ahead, expressionless.

"No."

The thing behind her fell silent for a moment.

It seemed not to have expected her to answer.

The next second,

the hand slid off her shoulder.

The tunnel ended!

Boom!

The light reappeared.

Everyone still alive gasped for breath at once.

However,

the man in the second row who had nearly been fooled by his father's voice just now

suddenly turned pale.

"What is that?!"

A rotten head was rolling toward him from behind.

Smack.

It struck the back of his head.

Then it slid down his shoulder and onto his chest.

That face-

was his father's.

"Son."

The corpse's head opened its eyes.

"Look at Dad."

The man jolted violently.

Almost instinctively, he wanted to turn around and check whether there was anything else behind him.

Han Feng shouted sharply:

"We're out of the tunnel, but don't turn around yet!"

The man forced himself to stop.

Because the third rule said-

[After entering the black tunnel, please keep facing forward and do not turn around.]

It didn't say "return to normal immediately after leaving the tunnel."

Who knew when the rule would stop applying?

A few seconds later,

the announcement finally sounded.

[You have left the Beheading Tunnel.]

The rotten head on his chest

instantly turned into a puddle of black water.

The man slumped in his seat.

Cold sweat soaked his clothes.

"Too close..."

This time.

He had survived.

Shen Niannian nodded inwardly.

These players really were experienced.

They didn't have to die to learn about every danger.

As long as someone could hold back at the last moment.

They deserved to live.

A few minutes later.

The train finally rolled back into the station.

Creak-

It came to a complete stop.

Someone started to lift the restraint bar.

Han Feng immediately said, "Wait for the green light."

Everyone stayed seated.

Three seconds.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

The red light overhead remained on.

But the headless attendant on the platform had already begun waving to them.

"The ride is over."

"You may all get off now."

Nobody moved.

Because rule four was perfectly clear.

[Wait for the green indicator light to turn on.]

The headless attendant continued waving.

He even reached out to lift the restraint bar for a player in the front row.

The player held it down firmly.

"No need."

The next second.

The attendant stopped moving.

The red light overhead.

Click.

Turned green.

[This round of the ride has officially ended.]

Click!

All the restraint bars sprang open automatically.

Only then did everyone get off.

The moment Shen Niannian's foot touched the ground.

Her black-and-gold wristband lit up.

[Congratulations to the VIP visitor for completing the Beheading Roller Coaster!]

[Smiley-face stamps obtained: 1/4]

She let out a long breath.

(╥﹏╥)

Finally.

The first one!

But immediately afterward.

Five players had already boarded for the second round.

A few minutes later.

The roller coaster charged into the black tunnel again.

Screams came from the distance.

Immediately afterward.

[Player Zhou Kai has died.]

[Players currently alive: 15]

On the entrance railing.

A fresh human head slowly appeared.

Its eyes were still moving.

But its mouth had already stretched into a smile.

Joker stood beside it, clapping in satisfaction.

"Very good!"

"Looks like everyone's having a wonderful time!"

Shen Niannian looked at the head.

Then glanced at the first smiley face on her wristband.

She couldn't feel happy at all.

Because on the map.

The second attraction had already begun flashing.

[Next recommended attraction-the Corpse Puppet Carousel.]