Although they had largely figured out the origin of the amusement park curse, the three remaining story participants felt no sense of relief. Knowing the source of the curse didn’t mean the incident was resolved. As long as they were still in the park, they still had to face the powerful resentment of the ghost girl! The tasks in the story were absolute; at the very least, they had to complete the last item of Task One before they could choose to escape. It was also the shortest of the four tasks. The drop tower!
As the story concluded, the entire amusement park plunged back into darkness. Chen Mo and the others found themselves outside the mirror maze without knowing when they had left it. The experience in the mirror maze was less terrifying and more oppressive. The grotesque ghost girl, the little red ball, and that blood-red door—who would have thought that amidst the horror design of these stories lay such a warm memory? The scene they had just witnessed was undoubtedly the third story hint hidden in the amusement park.
With each completed ride, the lights behind them went out. Now, before their eyes, only one last massive beam of light remained, shining on a flickering neon sign. The word "highdie," formed by colorful lights, flashed in the pitch-black night sky like a warning of death! When the three participants approached this ride, they gasped, their faces turning grim. In front of the drop tower, there was again a long line of ghosts waiting. But what truly horrified them was that this terrifying drop tower wasn’t a normal amusement ride at all. When a ghost was trapped inside, the tower shot up over a hundred meters into the sky, then plummeted without any deceleration, crushing the vengeful spirit into a bloody pulp! This wasn’t a drop tower—it was a suicide machine!
What made it even more terrifying was that the long line of ghosts seemed utterly indifferent to this outcome, shuffling forward numbly, row after row, being smashed into pulp by this horrific machine. Meanwhile, other wandering ghosts in the park let out spine-chilling laughter, drifting around the drop tower. Seeing this horrifying scene, the fat man’s face turned pale with fear, while Chen Mo and Li Yan were also stunned. A height of over a hundred meters would be enough to shatter a person upon impact, let alone having a massive machine crush them on top of that. Who would have thought the last task of the story would be so simple and brutal? There was no need for traps—it was laid out plainly for the participants: this was a one-way ticket to death!
"How... how are we supposed to complete this..."
For a moment, even someone as experienced as Li Yan was at a loss. The tasks in the story were absolute; if they couldn’t complete them, once midnight struck, the story’s protection would fail, and the surrounding vengeful spirits would kill them. But participating in this drop tower ride was clearly sending them to their deaths! Joining the drop tower meant a gruesome end, but not joining also meant death in the end.
"Damn it! Go if you want, but I’m not doing this ride even if it kills me!"
Terrified to the point of madness, the fat man frantically pulled the ticket from his pocket. He was about to tear it up but lacked the courage. Instead, he threw it on the ground and stomped on it violently. "What kind of ghost radio station! What kind of ghost story! This damn thing leaves us no way out—I’ll fight it to the death!"
Seeing the fat man’s frantic behavior, Chen Mo and Li Yan were startled. Li Yan rushed over in one stride, grabbing the flailing fat man and dragging him away, while Chen Mo immediately picked up the fat man’s ticket from the ground. Fortunately, the ticket, which had been stomped several times, wasn’t damaged. Chen Mo wiped off the dust and stuffed it back into the fat man’s pocket. The fat man, who had just vented his rage and regained his senses, was now ashen-faced, trembling uncontrollably. He had been so terrified and frantic that he had lost all reason. Now, pulled back by Li Yan, his thoughts returned to normal, and recalling his earlier madness, he felt a deep sense of dread. If that ticket had been damaged in the slightest, the wandering spirits around them would have torn him apart long before midnight.
"This is the first time, and I’ll only save you this once. If you still decide to give up, stay far away from us."
Seeing the fat man stop struggling, Li Yan’s cold voice rang out beside him. Though he usually seemed easygoing, he occasionally revealed a ruthless side. This was likely the mark left on him by four horror stories. A blend of principled kindness and rational decision-making coexisted in this man. Without that, he probably wouldn’t have survived so many soul-crushing trials. One official task was enough to push someone to the brink of collapse, yet Li Yan had completed four such horror stories, and it was said that in one of them, he was the only survivor among all participants.
Looking at this young man, whose frame even seemed somewhat lean, Chen Mo decided that if they could safely get through this story, he would definitely seek Li Yan’s advice—not just on cracking story hints, but more on how to maintain composure in the face of ghostly threats.
By now, the fat man had gradually calmed down. He wasn’t truly trying to court death; he was just releasing the immense pressure of fear. But even with his calm restored, he still couldn’t imagine any way to complete this task. Completing the task wasn’t hard—just sit on that terrifying drop tower—but surviving it was an impossible mission! It wasn’t just the fat man; Chen Mo and Li Yan were also desperately racking their brains for a way to finish the last task. Their watches showed less than half an hour until midnight. If they couldn’t figure out how to beat the drop tower in that time, everyone’s experience with the Strange Tales Radio would end here.
Before them stretched a long line of ghosts waiting to "play," and around them, countless greedy eyes watched... These poor souls were like moths drawn to a flame, mindlessly lingering around this horrific machine!