Now, the six of them had finally "successfully" entered the abandoned amusement park. To avoid causing panic, Chen Mo didn't tell the others what he had seen at the security checkpoint.
After walking a short distance, they heard voices up ahead. "What's that?"
Though it was already dark, with the faint light of the sky, everyone spotted a somewhat dilapidated cabin perched on a slope not far from the entrance. It looked like a storage shed or perhaps the park's management office.
Soon, Wei Ran and Gao Jie noticed that the cabin's door was half-open and unlocked.
Perhaps because they had "encountered almost no danger" at the entrance, this time the two didn't wait for the others to catch up before barging into the cabin. In contrast, Chen Mo, who arrived later, stood at the door and observed once more.
Only he knew just how terrifying the dangers lurking in this seemingly quiet amusement park were.
The cabin's exterior showed some damage, and the windows were thick with dust, giving it the look of a place untouched for years. As he approached the open door, a musty smell wafted out.
The first thing that caught Chen Mo's eye was a row of tools directly opposite the door. By the window, a wire-framed bed stood against the wall, and on a cabinet beside it sat an old television, both thickly coated in dust.
Right next to the door was a large white iron box, with red paint reading "Danger: Electric Shock."
Just then, a girl named Bai Yin noticed the iron box by the door. Its door was open, revealing something like a switch inside, seemingly pushable.
"Let me try."
Motioning Bai Yin to step back two paces, he pushed the switch upward with force. Instantly, a mechanical roar filled the air.
With that roar, the cabin's lights flickered on. Not only that, but the dark amusement park in the distance suddenly lit up with colorful lights, as if the entire theme park had awakened, becoming vibrant and dazzling.
As Chen Mo had guessed, this distribution box was connected to a backup generator, restoring partial power to the park's circuits. Several massive beams of light shot into the sky.
At the same time, Bai Yin and Chen Mo noticed that on the ticket stubs for the amusement park, four attraction names gradually appeared.
They were: Carousel, Ferris Wheel, Mirror Maze, and Drop Tower.
These massive beams of light seemed to correspond to the four attractions on the ticket stubs—the tasks the participants had to complete in this story.
"Did you notice..." At that moment, Li Yan's voice suddenly sounded eerily from behind.
"The Ferris Wheel is one of the attractions in the story's background where an accident occurred, causing a visitor's death."
"In other words, it's very likely that the four attractions the story has arranged for us to play are all cursed rides where incidents happened one after another!"
"To hell with the story...!" Wei Ran's face changed instantly as he cursed viciously. As his words faded, a crackling sound—*shasha, shasha*—suddenly came from behind everyone.
Turning around, they saw the old television screen flicker to life on its own, showing static. The static jumped a few times, then a blurry image appeared.
This sudden image startled everyone, but Chen Mo quickly calmed down. Clearly, this was another hint from the story.
In the blurry image, colorful posters and a bustling crowd appeared, likely footage of the amusement park during the day. Soon, the camera focused on the back of a little girl holding a balloon. Her face wasn't shown, but her slightly curly hair and clothing matched the missing girl from the notice.
The little girl entered the frame from below, one hand holding a red balloon, the other holding a pale, seemingly feminine right hand. However, the owner of that other hand didn't appear in the image.
*Shasha sha*—the image suddenly cut off, turning into static.
"What does this mean?"
This blurry footage left everyone puzzled.
"At the start of the story, the hints are vague, but there are still some clues."
"This little girl should be the key figure in this story."
Frowning in thought for a moment, even Li Yan seemed unable to deduce more at this point.
"Let's go... let's complete the tasks first."
It seemed there were no more clues in this cabin. But just as Li Yan stepped out of the management office door, he jolted, let out a gasp, and stumbled back, nearly falling.
His expression was filled with shock, as if he had seen something utterly unbelievable.
"This... this is... how can this be..."
Seeing the usually calm Li Yan suddenly react this way, Wei Ran, Gao Jie, and the others were also startled. Following his gaze, they too let out cries of alarm, their faces turning deathly pale.
With the power restored, the colorful lights illuminated... countless ghostly figures floating in mid-air!
In this abandoned, deserted amusement park at midnight, so many terrifying spirits were drifting about. Without these strange lights, the participants would have been completely unaware of them.
The dazzling, colorful lights intertwined with the drifting ghosts, creating a bizarre and horrifying scene like something out of a dream!
"I understand..."
Just then, Li Yan, recovering from his shock, suddenly spoke. "No wonder the back of the ticket had a note saying to keep it safe and not lose it."
"While holding the ticket, these wandering ghosts in the park, bound by the story's rules, should see us as fellow 'visitors' and ignore us. But if we deliberately damage or accidentally lose our tickets, our identities will be immediately exposed to these spirits, and we'll be attacked. Not only are we banned from using any items in this task, but even if we had items to repel ghosts, we couldn't handle this many!"
"In other words, the tickets provided by this story's task are themselves crucial items to protect us from the vengeful spirits' attacks."