So that's it. This ghost girl's power, while incredibly strong, is still bound by the story's rules!
The fat man felt like he'd been given a second chance, nodding frantically. "No problem, no problem, we'll help you find your mom right away. A cute little girl like you shouldn't be wandering around alone—let me tell you, there are tons of bad people out there..."
Before the fat man could finish, Chen Mo and Li Yan both jumped in shock, quickly clamping his mouth shut. This ghost girl was clearly still under the story's restrictions, and if the fat man's runaway mouth triggered the ghost's killing intent, they'd die for nothing.
But the ghost girl didn't seem to care, grinning eerily. "I'll give you ten minutes. If you don't find my mom by midnight, I'll still kill you."
Only ten minutes?
The three of them froze, then quickly realized...
That was exactly the time limit for the task!
From the very start, this story had set a completion time—before midnight. No matter how they played out the plot, everything had to be done within the story's allotted time.
And now, there were indeed less than ten minutes until midnight.
"Alright... we'll definitely help you find your mom..."
"Not like tadpoles looking for their mother, damn it. Ten minutes—where the hell are we supposed to find a mom for that ghost!"
As soon as they were out of the ghost girl's sight, the fat man exploded. "Within these ten minutes, the little girl should follow the rules and not attack us. Since the task is done, why don't we just run?"
"Probably not," Li Yan shook his head. "The ghost girl won't attack us only because of a temporary contract. As long as we stay in the amusement park, it's assumed we're fulfilling the promise to find her mom. But if we show any intention of escaping, we'd be unilaterally breaking the contract with the ghost, and the story would stop protecting us. That ghost's teleportation ability might be a special setup to prevent us from fleeing. We'd likely be killed the instant before we escape."
"Damn, where's the basic logic here? Didn't we already complete the first task?"
The fat man grumbled angrily as he trudged along, running. Soon, the familiar management room appeared ahead. He slammed the door open with a bang, his eyes scanning the room.
According to Li Yan's analysis, when the story gave its prompt, there should be leftover plot items here. Whether this analysis was correct, Li Yan wasn't sure, but it was the only clue they had.
If they couldn't find any hints to help complete the task, they'd have to gamble and try to force their way out of the amusement park under the ghost girl's attack.
Scanning the room, they found something new this time.
This management room wasn't just a storage space; it also served as a prop room. On a long rack in the corner hung many colorful costumes, and among them, a white dress was glowing faintly—clearly a hint from the story for the participants.
"This is it!"
"But how does this help us complete the task?"
"It does, it definitely does!"
Li Yan's eyes lit up. "Think about it—what did the story give us earlier?"
"A necklace, high heels, a white dress. What do these items combined suggest?"
"Isn't it the stuff on that woman in the memory we saw?"
"This ghost girl's mom might have been killed by her, but the ghost's memory is sealed, so she's forgotten that part. Not only is that woman likely not in the amusement park, even if her soul were here, with hundreds of vengeful spirits in this huge theme park, how could we find her in ten minutes? The hints the park gave us aren't meant for us to actually find her mom."
"After turning into a vengeful spirit, this little girl's mind is twisted. Memories are just floating fragments in the void to her. So we don't need to find her real mom—we just need something she can believe is her mom..."
At this point, Li Yan gave the fat man a meaningful look.
"I'm not entirely sure, but for this, you might have to make a sacrifice."
The fat man's heart skipped a beat, and he stepped back. "Li Yan, what the hell are you planning! Don't mess with me, or I won't be nice! Chen Mo... what are you laughing at!"
"Nothing. Li Yan and I have done our part; now it's your turn. Whether we finish this story depends on your performance."
"What do you mean? My performance?" The fat man hesitated, suspicious.
"Time's running out, so I'll explain quickly. If our guess is right, the final task of this story isn't to actually find the ghost girl's mom, but to use the plot items to let a participant disguise as that woman, lead the ghost girl out of the amusement park, fulfill her wish to go home, and lift the curse on the whole theme park—achieving the perfect ending for this horror story!"
The fat man gasped, his face turning green.
"So... you're turning me into a cross-dresser?"
"Can that really fool that little ghost?"
"At least eighty percent sure."
The fat man looked at Li Yan, who nodded back at him, then gritted his teeth. "Fine, I'll go all out. But no one talks about the cross-dressing after the mission, or I'll flip out."
"Let's focus on surviving first." Li Yan checked his watch. "I feel like that ghost is coming soon."
Taking a deep breath, he reached for the rack. Suddenly, the fat man's expression shifted, because at the same time, a prompt rang in his mind.
"All plot items collected. Use immediately?"
Of course, use immediately!
In an instant, the fat man's body was enveloped in a faint white glow. Within the light, a blurry white figure floated above his head, also emitting a soft white radiance.
It was the woman Chen Mo and Li Yan had seen in the illusion.
The ghost girl's mom.