Chapter 24 Dark Paradise (2) - Strange Paper Dolls

After Ning Shu returned, she said to them, "We won't get the guide map until tomorrow. Have you found anything?"

Wu Yi: "This place is so big, and there are so many people."

Ning Shu: "..." I know that without you saying it, I have eyes!

Cheng Chuan: "It seems that besides the staff being NPCs, some of the guests here are also NPCs."

Wu Yi: "How did you figure that out?"

Ning Shu continued Cheng Chuan's words: "Look at those guests who are chatting and laughing, they must all be NPCs. Only they are so carefree."

"Look at us again. We came in and immediately started exploring the map. Isn't the difference between us and NPCs obvious?"

Ning Shu looked around but didn't find anyone special. "I wonder where the other players are."

Cheng Chuan: "We'll know when we see it. Since there's no map, let's explore the park first and see what attractions it has."

The three of them walked together and decided to visit the exhibits clockwise so they wouldn't miss anything.

Ning Shu discovered that the garden was quite green, and with the cover of night, some areas were practically perfect for murder and robbery, commonly known as the "grove."

Of course, this "grove" is not the same concept as that one.

The park is indeed very large. It took us a while to see the first attraction, with a huge name standing right in front of us – “Staircase Slide”.

Ning Shu thought she was seeing things. How could the stairs and the slide be combined like this? But then she thought, if "colorful black" could be achieved, this shouldn't be too difficult.

Just as Ning Shu was about to ask them if they wanted to go in and take a look, she noticed that Cheng Chuan and Wu Yi were also staring blankly at those four words. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who couldn't accept it at first.

"Let's go in and take a look." Even if we don't play, we can at least take a look first.

Instead of going to the queue, they stood outside and looked at the ride, only then realizing what the so-called "step slide" really was.

It is actually made of water. Looking around, it is all water with a fixed shape. The water retains its shape while also flowing.

These are all the same fixed shape; they all look like stairs.

Imagine you see a staircase, but instead of wooden planks or cement, it's made of water, and the water flows from top to bottom in a continuous cycle.

This staircase is very steep, but the steps are very short. If you were to roll down it, it could indeed be considered a kind of "slide".

If the shape of this water could cause harm, sliding down it would be quite disabling, and one round would leave one's buttocks in danger.

The entire project features various sliding passages and curves on all sides, making the overall design resemble a 3D version of a certain overpass, with a bizarre and complex shape.

How do you play this? Are you really going to "roll" down from there?

It looks like it's four or five stories high, and it's so steep. If someone rolled down it, they'd be crippled or killed.

Is she really going to play with this... thing? Ning Shu felt that she might not be up to the task.

But perhaps there's a way to beat the game? She decided to observe how others played it first.

After waiting for ages, no one showed up? No one's making samples for them, so are they supposed to test it themselves?

"They're here!" Wu Yi, tall and with great eyesight, pointed to something on the slide and said, "They're probably tourists playing with it."

The three men were overjoyed, their long wait was worthwhile. But as the so-called thing got closer and closer to them, their smiles froze.

Wu Yi asked incredulously, "Am I... seeing things?"

Ning Shu stared blankly for a while before finally speaking: "Perhaps I'm seeing things too."

Cheng Chuan: "...Maybe we're not seeing things."

Seriously? What kind of crap are they seeing?!

That paper-thin humanoid thing just "slid" down the water steps, one by one.

Ning Shu still harbored a glimmer of hope: "Maybe this is some kind of promotional poster that was accidentally blown into this pool by the wind."

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw several more "posters" like this slide down from above.

Wu Yi: "Are all the posters here so fragile that they can't withstand a good breeze?"

They soon witnessed an even more unbelievable scene: after the "posters" came down, they gathered together and actually started talking.

"This project is still the most fun."

"I hope to take the other route; it's more exciting over there."

"No problem, we can play again!"

They started talking and then turned back. How do we know it was "them"?

Because the voices sound like girls, even though they've been turned into paper cutouts, you can still tell what clothes they're wearing.

These pieces of paper... are people?! Ning Shu was a little unable to accept it.

Judging from their tone, they seem to be really into it?

From this perspective, the project doesn't seem dangerous. But wait, is this situation... normal?

Ning Shu almost lost her train of thought. She turned to look at Wu Yi and Cheng Chuan and found that their expressions were also quite... indescribable.

Judging from the NPCs' reactions, it seems that only they think these tourists are abnormal, while everyone else seems to take it all for granted.

To others... this is actually normal? The world has finally become something she can't understand.

Wu Yi pondered, resting his chin on his hand: "Do you think they really look like this? We can't expect them to slice us into pieces just to play a game, can we? Like slicing potatoes."

This guess was a bit alarming, and Ning Shu and Cheng Chuan immediately looked at him.

Wu Yi felt a little embarrassed by being stared at. "No, they all look like this when they play. We can't be different when we play, can we?"

Holy crap! This is a huge problem!

If the reason these tourists didn't encounter danger is because of their appearance...

So what should those who are different from them do? Should they really slice themselves into pieces? No, clearing the level is the priority. Ning Shu thinks it's better to see how this project works first.

They observed for a while but couldn't find any key information, so she decided to ask the tourists.

But when she greeted the tourists on the outside, they ignored her, seemingly only interested in having fun.

Ning Shu: "They ignore everyone."

Cheng Chuan: "It's probably a game protection mechanism that prevents players from easily obtaining clues."

Ning Shu was thinking that since the NPC tourists couldn't get through, could she ask the staff? Just as she had this thought, she heard a scream.

The three of them looked towards the slide at the same time, and the first thing they saw was blood-red water!

The color spread from top to bottom, changing from bright red to pink.

They all looked up at the same time, and there was a person there, a normal person, not a paper doll.

The man lay on the water-filled steps, sliding down while bleeding and screaming in agony.

The person's body appeared to be corroded; the water looked similar to sulfuric acid.