“Where is this?” Chen Mo’s eyes snapped open, finding himself on a speeding bus. The bus had few passengers—aside from the driver, only six people. The others, like Chen Mo, wore expressions mixed with unease and fear.
The watch showed the date as May 13th, 7:10 PM. Just like the two previous experiences, it was close to the story’s start time. The surroundings had undergone a bizarre scene shift, with all participants appearing out of thin air on this speeding bus.
Sitting in the middle of the bus was a young man with a clean-cut appearance. Behind him, in the next row, were two college-aged youths with panicked looks.
A few rows further back sat a short-haired girl wearing headphones, seemingly enjoying music—the only female participant in this mission.
In the very last row were two more passengers: a chubby man and a bespectacled, thirty-something scholarly youth.
Five men and one woman—clearly the participants of this supernatural story. A large bus with only six passengers felt eerily empty, giving off an unsettling vibe.
As the scholarly youth slowly scanned his surroundings, several gazes instantly fell on him. The two college students even jumped up with excitement.
“Brother Li…”
“Just call me Li Yan.” The scholarly youth looked around, his expression calm. “It seems the story’s prologue has begun. Let’s start with introductions.”
The clean-cut young man was, of course, Chen Mo. The two college students behind him were named Gao Jie and Wei Ran. They were classmates in real life, having stumbled into this bizarre world while accidentally tuning into a strange horror story during a campus radio broadcast.
“Bai Yin. Looking forward to working together.” With that, the short-haired girl took off her headphones.
“Liu... Liu Bo.” The chubby man wiped cold sweat from his forehead. “Are we really not dreaming?”
“Dream or not, we all heard the story-start prompt just now. From this moment on, it’s a test of our cooperation. Since we’re still in the opening phase, let’s review the clues we’ve gathered.”
After receiving the notification of a new story release, every participant had naturally tried to collect relevant intel. Now, at Li Yan’s question, Gao Jie and Wei Ran immediately launched into a detailed account.
“About this Magic Mountain theme park, we searched online but couldn’t find which city it’s in. However, some incident reports about it popped up. It seems the radio station set this as the story’s backdrop for this mission.”
“Four years ago, a equipment malfunction at the park caused several tourists to fall to their deaths from the Ferris wheel. After that, the amusement park seemed cursed, with multiple accidents in succession, killing more visitors. It became known as the Cursed Amusement Park, was shut down, and has been abandoned ever since.”
“Notably, while we can’t find the real location of Magic Mountain Amusement Park, a similar plot appears in a horror movie called *The Curse of the Amusement Park*. The horror radio station likes to ‘draw from’ reality or ‘rework’ existing stories, so it’s unclear if this tale will connect to that film.”
Hearing Li Yan’s addition, the others showed surprised expressions.
*The Curse of the Amusement Park* wasn’t a well-known horror film. That Li Yan could spot the plot similarities suggested he’d spent considerable time studying various horror stories.
“In short, the dangers we’ll face in this horror journey are likely tied to these so-called accidents.”
With that, Li Yan cleared his throat.
“I want to remind everyone of two things.”
“First, while this mission includes hidden rewards, based on my experience, hidden rewards in stories often come with great danger. Plus, since no items are allowed in this mission, unless we’re absolutely sure, completing the primary task should be our priority.”
“Second, you’ve all noticed that this mission is strictly limited to three hours. Not only do we need to finish the required projects, but we also have to manage our time.”
“As for the rest, we’ll adapt on the fly. I think the story is about to officially begin.”
As Li Yan finished speaking, the bus, which had been crawling slowly along the mountain road, finally stopped.
Outside, the autumn wind rustled fallen leaves across the ground, making a rustling sound. Even inside the bus, a faint chill seeped through.
The bus pulled into a temporary stop on the winding mountain road. Through the thin mist ahead, glimpses of colorful rooftops appeared, about two or three kilometers away, likely the abandoned theme park mentioned in the story. Why it was built in such a desolate place—well, that was up to the damn script.
Standing on the desolate mountain road, a gust of cold wind howled past. Everyone instinctively tightened their clothes. The sharp-eyed chubby man quickly spotted a small path leading to the amusement park through the barren woods. But the path seemed poorly maintained, full of potholes, with thick trees lining it and vines dangling from the branches, swaying in the wind.
Chen Mo gazed into the distance, surveying the forest ahead. In the end, only the bleak trees moaned in the autumn chill.
He pulled out his phone from his pocket. The time read 7:30 PM, meaning there was still an hour and a half before the mission’s required park entry time.
Enter at 9 PM, complete all the horror-themed rides before midnight—that was the story’s main objective.
The wind was too strong, and feeling cold, Chen Mo shoved his hands back into his pockets. Then his expression froze.
There seemed to be something in his pockets.
He pulled the items out one by one, finding ten coins, each worth 10 yuan.
Besides that, there was a yellowed missing person notice, stating that a girl had disappeared in the amusement park, with a black-and-white photo attached. The girl looked about seven or eight, with slightly curly hair and a blurry smile, holding something like a doll in her arms.
In the supernatural world, nothing appeared without meaning. These items were clearly clues from the story.
Meanwhile, the other participants had also discovered similar items on themselves, showing expressions of surprise or confusion.
The group trudged along the path. About an hour later, a gate appeared before them, with rusted large characters faintly visible above: “Magic Mountain Happy Theme Park.”
The sun had long set. As the last glimmer of light faded, the amusement park sank into deep darkness.
It clearly hadn’t been operational for a long time—rust stains were everywhere, and the walls were covered in green moss.
Chen Mo glanced at his watch. The time was 8:45 PM.