Who Is the Extra "Person" on the Carousel?

[Next recommended attraction: Corpse Puppet Carousel.]

The red dot on the map kept flashing.

Shen Niannian stared at the words.

Then she looked up into the distance.

Colorful lights.

Cheerful music.

A carousel was turning slowly.

Compared to the roller coaster where heads had just been flying everywhere-

It actually looked normal.

Shen Niannian fell silent for two seconds.

"Why do I feel less reassured the more normal it looks?"

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

Han Feng wholeheartedly agreed.

"In an S-rank dungeon, things that look safe usually just haven't shown you how they kill yet."

The remaining players gathered from the roller coaster area one after another.

[Players currently alive: 15]

Eighteen people had entered.

The first attraction was over.

Three were already dead.

No one could bring themselves to smile anymore.

Joker, however, followed behind them in his oversized clown shoes.

He had started juggling those three bloodstained bowling balls again.

"My dear visitors, please don't look so down!"

"What's the most important thing at an amusement park?"

"Having fun!"

No one paid him any attention.

Joker wasn't embarrassed.

Instead, he answered his own question:

"Of course, it's staying alive until the park closes!"

The fifteen players: "..."

Shen Niannian couldn't help looking back.

"That didn't comfort anyone at all."

Joker grinned.

"I wasn't planning to comfort them in the first place."

With that,

He glanced at Shen Niannian.

Then added:

"Except for you, Miss Shen."

The livestream chat:

"???"

"Could you be any more obvious about playing favorites?!"

"He doesn't give a damn whether anyone else lives or dies, but if Shen Niannian's unhappy, he has to cheer her up?"

"This VIP treatment is getting more and more ridiculous!"

A few minutes later,

Everyone arrived at the entrance to the second attraction.

[Corpse Puppet Carousel]

A ring of old carousel horses slowly revolved around a blood-red pillar.

Every horse looked different.

There were unicorns.

Black horses.

White horses.

A few even had human faces growing on them.

And on the central pillar

Hung dozens of ragged cloth dolls.

Smiles were stitched onto every doll's face.

A female staff member in a red vest stood at the entrance.

On her chest

Was a red smiley-face badge.

A regular employee.

Shen Niannian's black-and-gold bracelet glowed faintly.

The staff member immediately lowered her head.

"Honored VIP visitor, would you like me to explain the attraction's public rules?"

Shen Niannian nodded without hesitation.

"Yes."

Han Feng and the others immediately pricked up their ears.

They couldn't get VIP status.

But surely they could listen in on the public rules?

The staff member began:

"The Corpse Puppet Carousel can accommodate up to twelve visitors per round."

"The attraction rules are as follows."

A blood-red sign beside her lit up at the same time.

[Corpse Puppet Carousel riding rules]

[1. Each horse belongs to only one visitor. Do not share a horse with anyone else.]

[2. Before the music stops, do not voluntarily leave your horse.]

[3. If someone asks, "May I ride with you?" please refuse clearly.]

[4. During the ride, please do not count the horses.]

[5. After the music stops, please make sure there is nothing extra on your body before leaving your horse.]

As soon as the fifth rule appeared,

Everyone's gaze sharpened.

Han Feng repeated it.

"Make sure there's nothing extra on your body."

"What counts as something extra?"

The smile on the staff member's face didn't change.

"That is part of the attraction experience. I cannot tell you in advance."

Shen Niannian thought for a moment.

"Then can I ask whether 'someone' in the third rule includes staff members?"

The staff member nodded.

"It includes every being that asks a visitor that question."

That information was important.

Han Feng immediately made a note of it.

Shen Niannian asked again, "The fifth rule says to check before leaving. What if we actually find something extra?"

The staff member paused for two seconds.

"The public rules only require visitors to check."

"They do not require visitors to deal with it themselves."

Shen Niannian's eyes lit up slightly.

(✧ω✧)

There was the information.

They only had to check.

They didn't necessarily have to deal with it themselves!

Han Feng understood at once too.

"Everyone, remember: if you see something unusual, don't take it upon yourself to deal with it. Someone already died that way in the last round. This dungeon really likes luring us into taking extra actions."

Everyone nodded.

The first twelve people soon took their places.

Shen Niannian once again used her VIP priority.

She chose the most ordinary-looking white horse.

Han Feng was right beside her.

The other ten spread out.

Click.

The safety restraints automatically locked around their waists.

A cheerful nursery rhyme began to play.

Ding, ding, dong, dong-

The carousel began to turn.

At first,

Nothing unusual happened.

Shen Niannian even found it a little boring.

Until the third rotation.

A little girl suddenly appeared beside them.

She looked seven or eight.

She wore a red dress.

And held a rabbit doll.

She stood at the edge of the rotating platform.

And somehow kept pace with the carousel.

Then she looked up

And gave Han Feng a sweet smile.

"Mister."

"May I ride with you?"

Han Feng's expression didn't change.

"No."

The little girl's smile stiffened.

The next second,

Her neck bent to one side at an exaggerated angle.

She disappeared.

After another two rotations,

A middle-aged woman with a blood-covered face appeared beside another player.

"Son."

"Mommy's so tired."

"May I ride with you?"

The player's fingers tightened sharply.

But he still gritted his teeth and answered:

"No."

The woman stood where she was.

Tears trickled down her face.

"When you were little, you loved it most when Mommy held you."

The man's face grew paler and paler.

But he still didn't change his answer.

"No!"

Puff!

The woman's entire face suddenly exploded.

She turned into a cloud of black mist and vanished.

The livestream viewers were on edge watching it.

"This attraction targets people's loved ones!"

"It's forcing you to go soft!"

"Good thing this batch of players all know the rules."

But the very next second.

The real trouble arrived.

On the black horse to Shen Niannian's left.

Sat a young man.

His name was Zhao Kai.

He had been through three instances.

He had also made it through the roller coaster just now.

At that moment.

A girl suddenly began crying behind him.

"Brother."

Zhao Kai's body stiffened.

"..."

The voice continued.

"Brother, I'm so cold."

"Will you carry me on your back?"

Zhao Kai stared fixedly ahead.

He didn't turn around.

Nor did he answer.

But soon.

A pair of pale arms.

Slowly wrapped around his neck from behind.

Zhao Kai's expression changed instantly.

"What is that?!"

Han Feng immediately shouted:

"Don't move! Rule three only requires you to refuse when the other party asks to ride with you. It hasn't asked if it can ride with you now!"

Zhao Kai forcibly stopped himself from moving.

The hands tightened around him.

A rotting girl's head slowly came to rest on his shoulder.

Her mouth was pressed against his ear.

"Brother."

"I'm already on."

The veins on Zhao Kai's forehead bulged.

His breathing grew more and more rapid.

But he didn't act on his own.

This time.

He held back.

Shen Niannian was watching too.

The identity archive instantly popped up.

[Target: Hitchhiking Corpse Puppet]

[Danger level: B]

[Current status: Attempting to become a visitor's personal belonging]

A personal belonging?

Shen Niannian's eyes shifted slightly.

Not a "second passenger."

It was turning into a "thing" instead!

This clearly corresponded to rule five!

The music continued.

The carousel spun faster and faster.

One revolution.

Two revolutions.

Three revolutions.

The corpse puppet was now almost entirely pressed against Zhao Kai's back.

Its body shrank bit by bit.

In the end, it actually turned into a palm-sized doll in a red dress.

Hanging from his backpack zipper.

Zhao Kai couldn't see it at all.

But the livestream viewers could see it perfectly clearly.

"Holy shit!"

"It turned into a hanging charm!"

"That's an extra item!"

"He can't just leave when the music stops!"

Finally.

Ding-

The music stopped.

All the carousel horses stopped at once.

The safety buckles sprang open.

No one got off immediately.

Han Feng immediately said, "Everyone, check yourselves first."

Shen Niannian looked down.

Her skirt.

Her shoes.

Her bow.

Nothing unusual.

She also felt around her back.

Clear.

The people nearby were checking one another too.

Soon.

Everyone's eyes fell on Zhao Kai's back.

Zhao Kai instantly realized something.

"Is there something on me?"

Han Feng said gravely, "There's a doll in a red dress hanging from your backpack."

Zhao Kai's face turned deathly pale.

"That thing from before?!"

He instinctively reached out to tear the doll off.

"Don't touch it!"

Shen Niannian shouted almost at the same time.

Zhao Kai's hand stopped in midair.

Cold sweat streamed down his face.

Rule five.

[Please make sure there are no extra items on your person before leaving the carousel horse.]

But the staff member had specifically said earlier-

It only required them to check.

It didn't require visitors to deal with the items themselves!

Shen Niannian immediately looked toward the official staff member at the entrance.

"There's an abnormal item from the attraction on him. Can a visitor ask a staff member to deal with it?"

The woman in the red vest slowly looked at Zhao Kai.

Then nodded.

"Yes."

Just as expected!

Zhao Kai seized on it like a lifeline.

"Please help me get rid of it!"

The staff member walked onto the rotating platform.

Reached out.

And gently removed the doll in the red dress.

The instant the doll was removed.

It suddenly opened its mouth, revealing a full set of sharp teeth.

And frantically bit at the staff member's palm.

But the staff member didn't react at all.

Her fingers tightened.

Crack!

The doll's head was crushed on the spot.

Black blood dripped through her fingers.

"The abnormal item has been cleared."

Zhao Kai was almost completely drained.

"Thank you..."

He then carefully got off the horse.

Safe.

The livestream chat exploded instantly.

"He survived!"

"Good thing he didn't pull it off himself!"

"That's the value of the VIP public Q&A!"

"Shen Niannian can't directly grant immunity from death, but she can ask about the boundaries of the rules in advance!"

The twelve people in the first round began getting off their horses one after another.

Just as everyone thought this round would end with zero casualties.

A man named Sun Yi suddenly frowned.

"Wait."

"Is there something extra on my shoe?"

Everyone looked over.

On the shoelace of his right shoe.

A black hair was tangled.

It was very fine.

There was only one.

It didn't look dangerous at all.

Sun Yi's expression grew somewhat troubled.

"Does this count as extra too?"

Han Feng said gravely, "The rules don't specify a size. Get a staff member to deal with it first."

But Sun Yi hesitated.

"It's just one hair."

"If I get a staff member to deal with it, what if that counts as me actively admitting it's some kind of supernatural object?"

That concern.

Wasn't entirely unreasonable.

In an S-rank instance.

Anything actively triggered could cause trouble.

Sun Yi looked down.

He didn't pull at the hair.

Instead, he took off the shoe.

"I'm not dealing with the hair."

"I'll leave my shoes behind."

With that said.

He stepped down from the carousel horse barefoot.

One step.

Nothing happened.

A second step.

Still nothing.

A trace of relief had just appeared on Sun Yi's face.

His third step landed.

The black hair that had been wrapped around his shoes-

Suddenly appeared on his ankle!

Then it began growing wildly!

"What?!"

The black hair instantly wrapped around his entire body.

Sun Yi was hoisted high into the air.

Beneath his skin.

Countless hairs began burrowing.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Strand after strand of black hair emerged from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth!

His screams lasted only a few seconds.

Then his entire body was wrapped in a massive black cocoon.

Thud.

It fell onto the carousel horse.

[Player Sun Yi has died.]

[Players currently alive: 14]

Everyone's expressions darkened completely.

Han Feng looked at the shoes Sun Yi had left behind.

He said slowly:

"Rule five says to make sure there's nothing extra on your person."

"The key is 'on your person.'"

"Changing shoes, taking off clothes, throwing away equipment-none of it works."

"As long as that thing has already been determined to be attached to a visitor, it has to be truly removed."

Shen Niannian committed that to memory as well.

This was an S-rank dungeon.

Not every choice was necessarily stupid.

But as long as you misunderstood a single word-

You would still die.

Soon.

The second round of the attraction began.

The remaining two players took their turns.

More than ten minutes later.

[Player Du Wen has died.]

In the end.

All fourteen surviving players completed the attraction.

Shen Niannian's black-and-gold bracelet lit up.

[Smiley-face stamps: 2/4]

Two.

She still needed two more.

Just as everyone was preparing to leave the carousel area.

All the lights in the park.

Suddenly turned red at the same time.

Bzzzt-

The loudspeakers came on.

It wasn't Joker's laughter.

But a very familiar melody.

"Happy birthday to you-"

Shen Niannian abruptly stopped in her tracks.

(ΩДΩ)

Visitor rule four!

[When "Happy Birthday" plays over the loudspeakers, all visitors must immediately close their eyes where they stand, until the music has completely ended.]

"Everyone, close your eyes!"

Han Feng roared.

All fourteen people closed their eyes at once.

And the very next second after darkness fell.

A light, brisk set of footsteps.

From deep within the amusement park.

Slowly approached.