Did Joker Forget to Check the Almanac Today?

"Happy birthday to you-"

The cheerful nursery rhyme echoed throughout the Death Amusement Park.

All fourteen players closed their eyes at once.

None of them dared to be even half a second slow.

The fourth visitor rule was perfectly clear.

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

Darkness fell before Shen Niannian's eyes.

But her surroundings were anything but quiet.

Tap.

Tap.

Light footsteps drew closer and closer.

They didn't sound like an adult's.

More like a child's.

Then.

Something ran past her.

A strong, bloody stench swept over her.

"Big sister..."

A childish voice sounded right beside her ear.

"Will you celebrate my birthday with me?"

Shen Niannian's eyelids didn't so much as twitch.

No.

Thanks.

(￣ー￣)

No matter who asked her to celebrate a birthday with them now, it wouldn't work.

The footsteps kept moving.

Soon, they reached another player.

"Uncle, why won't you look at me?"

The man's breathing noticeably faltered.

No one spoke.

"Uncle."

"I have cake in my hands."

"Open your eyes, and I'll give you a piece."

Still, no one moved.

After making it through two attractions, there were hardly any fools left among the players still alive.

But the next second.

The girl's voice suddenly changed.

"Daddy..."

A player in his thirties shuddered violently.

"Daddy, it's me, Lele."

The man's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Although Shen Niannian had her eyes closed, she could hear his breathing grow heavier and heavier.

"Daddy, didn't you say you'd definitely come back and spend my birthday with me?"

"I waited for you for so long."

The man's lips began to tremble.

Han Feng's deep voice immediately rang out.

"Don't open your eyes."

"The voice is fake."

The man clenched his teeth.

"I know."

But the girl took another step forward.

"Daddy."

"Look at me."

A small, icy hand.

Gently touched the man's face.

The man's body trembled harder and harder.

But he never opened his eyes.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

The music continued.

The hand suddenly pulled away.

The man looked as though he'd been pulled out of the water, his back completely drenched.

The livestream chat was already on edge.

"Damn it, this is the most torturous kind!"

"They know it's fake, but the voice it's using has to be real!"

"The ones who've survived this long aren't ordinary players."

Just then.

Crunch.

The sound of chewing suddenly came from nearby.

Shen Niannian: "?"

Wait.

Why doesn't that sound like a ghost?

Crunch.

Crunch.

It grew clearer and clearer.

Like someone gnawing on a bone.

Then.

A boy's muffled voice rang out.

"Lady Sister, can I eat the things here?"

Another soft, sweet female voice immediately answered:

"Don't eat things at random. What if that ugly uncle Joker is trying to fob Luoluo off with expired ingredients again?"

Shen Niannian: "..."

(・_・;)

Wait.

Why does this conversation sound even more abnormal than the ghost?

Not far away.

Joker's shrill laughter suddenly caught in his throat.

"How did you two get here?!"

"Ugly uncle, what's with that attitude? Does Luoluo need to make an appointment to visit her own subsidiary business?"

Joker: "..."

"Happy Birthday" was still playing over the broadcast.

Shen Niannian could only keep her eyes closed.

But she could clearly sense it.

The "little girl" who had been circling the players just now.

Had gone quiet.

Even her footsteps were gone.

A few seconds later.

Jiang Xiaobai spoke up in confusion:

"Lady Sister, this kid in a red dress on the ground keeps staring at me."

"Then don't look at her."

"But she asked me if I wanted birthday cake."

"Oh?"

Jiang Luo's voice grew noticeably more serious.

"Where's the cake?"

"She said it was in her belly."

A brief silence.

Then-

"Deal with it however you see fit."

The next second.

A girl's terrified, distorted scream suddenly rang out!

"Don't come near me!"

"Ahhh!"

Crunch!

Gulp.

The world fell silent.

The fourteen players: "..."

Shen Niannian: "..."

(ΩДΩ)

That thing that just forced everyone to close their eyes, the one even S-rank dungeon players didn't dare look at...

Did it get eaten?

Finally.

The last line of the birthday song played.

"Happy birthday to you-"

The music stopped completely.

[Birthday Parade over.]

All the players opened their eyes almost simultaneously.

Then.

They froze.

A little girl with white hair and red eyes stood not far away.

She wore a black-and-red Gothic dress.

A battered cloth bear missing its eyes was clutched in her arms.

A strawberry lollipop was in her mouth.

Beside her crouched a little boy in worn-out overalls.

He was holding the lower leg of the girl in the red dress, gnawing on it with loud crunches.

Shen Niannian: "..."

Jiang Luo, across from her: "..."

Two pairs of red eyes.

From more than ten meters apart.

Met.

Jiang Luo tilted her head.

(・◇・)?

Shen Niannian tilted hers too.

(・◇・)?

The livestream chat fell silent for half a second.

Then it exploded.

"Another white-haired, red-eyed loli?!"

"Who is she?!"

"Wait! Did the kid next to her just eat the Birthday Parade ghost?!"

"Why did Joker's face turn dark again?!"

Shen Niannian immediately activated [Identity Archive].

[Target: Jiang Luo]

[Race: Abyssal anomaly]

[Identity: Lord of Crimson Moon Castle]

[Danger level: Cannot be accurately determined]

[Insufficient access to some information]

Shen Niannian's eyelid twitched.

She looked at Jiang Xiaobai again.

[Target: Jiang Xiaobai]

[Race: Glutton]

[Danger level: S-rank]

[Current status: Not full]

[Danger warning: Do not leave any part of your body near the target's mouth for an extended period.]

Shen Niannian:

"..."

(°ー°〃)

A very straightforward danger warning.

And Joker was already struggling to keep it together.

He had just seen off the roller coaster.

Just dealt with the carousel.

Shen Niannian, that ancestor who had come back for some reason, still hadn't left.

And now his actual superior had shown up too!

With a glutton who really ate people following beside her!

The greasepaint on Joker's face twitched for a long while.

Finally, he forced out a smile.

"My lord, what brings you here today?"

Jiang Luo crunched the candy in her mouth.

"To collect."

Two words.

Joker's expression instantly collapsed.

Jiang Luo continued, "Death Amusement Park's share for this month is short by three hundred and seventy-two players. Luoluo counted it three times back at the castle. Ugly uncle, you don't think Luoluo can't count, do you?"

Joker: "..."

Shen Niannian's eyes slowly lit up.

(✧ω✧)

So she was the boss!

Just then.

Jiang Xiaobai finally finished gnawing on the thing in his hand.

He licked his fingers.

His nose suddenly twitched.

Then.

His bright green eyes settled on Shen Niannian.

One step.

Two steps.

He slowly drew closer.

Han Feng instantly tightened his grip on his weapon.

Shen Niannian also instinctively took half a step back.

The [Crimson Curtain Substitute Knot] grew slightly warm.

Jiang Xiaobai walked to within two meters of her.

He stopped.

He sniffed hard twice.

"How strange."

Shen Niannian watched him warily.

"What's strange?"

Jiang Xiaobai swallowed.

He sniffed carefully again.

Then, for the first time, his expression grew a little conflicted.

"Big sister."

"This silver-haired sister..."

Jiang Luo turned her head.

"What is it?"

Jiang Xiaobai stared at Shen Niannian.

For several whole seconds.

Finally, he said seriously:

"Can't eat her."

Shen Niannian: "?"

Jiang Luo: "Why?"

Jiang Xiaobai shook his head.

"I don't know either."

He took another step back.

Then added with complete honesty:

"I just feel like if I ate her..."

"Someone would beat Xiaobai to death."

The air.

Instantly fell silent.

The expression on Shen Niannian's face.

Also stiffened bit by bit.

(・_・;)

Wait.

This "someone"...

It couldn't be her mysterious father again, could it?