Chapter 92 Happy Amusement Park 3
"This is the first time I've seen a carousel that's not open-air." The girl who spoke was named Gu Tongtong. She had a few freckles on her face, short hair without bangs, and wore a loose shirt and overalls. She looked like a tomboy.
"Me too."
"That's right. We have to go inside to see what it looks like."
Players started talking one after another. For younger players, their first impression of carousels is often the kind of carousels with lights on that slowly turned in small parks or amusement parks not far from home during their childhood.
This project in Happy Amusement Park is called "Carousel Man", which sounds very scary.
"Alright, since there aren't many people here, hurry in. I'll be waiting for you at the exit."
"You can bring bags to this project, and you can even bring a backpack. If you don't want to carry a backpack, you can temporarily store your belongings with me, or put them directly in the locker. The first 30 minutes of storage time is free." Luo Qing said.
"Guide, aren't you coming in with us? Your ticket should be good for playing, right?" A male player looked at Luo Qing.
"No, no, I have to keep an eye on the developments of other projects, and I'm already tired of these projects." Luo Qing shook his head.
Different activities have different rules. For example, for activities involving rotation, you have to take off your glasses, masks and hats. Some activities cannot even carry anything on your body. It is very troublesome, but tourists have to accept it in order to enjoy the fun, but she, as a tour guide, does not have to go through all that trouble.
I'm really tired of the activities in Happy Amusement Park.
God knows when this place was first built and tested, my husband and I had so much fun as testers that we almost vomited.
Seeing that the tour guide didn't go in, the players looked at each other and realized that they could only rely on themselves and their teammates.
"Then guide, I'll leave my bag with you."
"Mine too. I wonder if there's a queue inside."
The players cleverly decided to leave their backpacks to Luo Qing, so that if she didn't wait for anyone, she would definitely go to the project to look for them.
Luo Qing stared blankly at her team members. No, do they have to leave the bags of more than a dozen people to her?
"Stop, stop, stop!" She quickly made a pause gesture.
"I can't take so much by myself."
Luo Qing didn't expect that her group members were so rude to her. Even if she used all her hands and feet together, she couldn't carry twelve bags.
"Check your bags, check your bags, everyone." She pointed directly at the bag storage area. "After you check in, the entrance is right next to it, and you can go directly into the project."
The beautiful fantasy was shattered, and the players did not dare to sigh and could only go to deposit their bags honestly.
Fortunately, there are no rules at the baggage storage area, and you just need to scan the code with your mobile phone.
After depositing his bag, the half-bald uncle Wang Changhong waited for his companions.
"When we were outside just now, the locations of the exit gift shop, the amusement entrance, and now the baggage storage area were very obvious."
"From the outside facing perspective, the entrance is in the center, the exit gift shop is on the left side of the entrance, and the luggage storage is on the right side of the entrance. When we come out, we should just turn around." said female player Liang Shuang.
"I don't think it's that simple. You see, this passage at the baggage storage area leads directly to the entrance of the facility. This is a movement route. When we come out, we should first go to the baggage storage area to get our bags, and then come out from the exit." Zhou Keqin, a male player with curly hair, spoke.
"Alright, let's stop talking about this for now. These are all irresponsible speculations until we finish this project. Let's first find the visitor instructions for the Carousel Man. That's the priority right now."
An older sister with short hair and dark red-framed glasses, who looked a bit like a principal, spoke. Her tone was sharp, and her eyes swept over the players present. After making sure that everyone had stored their bags, she strode forward with everyone.
Murphy pushed Ge Huiru and Li Gaoyuan into the middle of the players, and he himself walked to the end of the team.
Because I was helping them store their bags, I was a little slower than the other players and naturally fell behind.
He did not miss the speculations of other players, especially the issue of the route of play in the amusement park facilities area, Murphy agreed with it.
Walking directly from the baggage storage area to the adjacent entrance passage, players can already see the [Carousel Visitor Guidelines] and immediately take out their phones to take pictures.
【Carousel Visitor Guide】
1. The carousel is a child-friendly amusement facility. Children under 120cm in height must ride the carousel accompanied by their parents.
2. The carousel ride features small, medium, and large horses in different colors, as well as three carriages. One carriage is a pumpkin carriage. Please prioritize riding the horses with different colors and leave the carriages for children.
3. After riding the carousel, please be sure to fasten your seat belt and do not let it go. During the ride, please do not shout, make noise, or behave in a manner that may affect other guests.
4. During the Merry-Go-Round ride, you'll be accompanied by cheerful nursery rhymes. When the music ends, the experience ends. Please remember that all of Happy Amusement Park's rides are accompanied by excellent, cheerful nursery rhymes. If you hear dark nursery rhymes, they are likely hallucinations caused by the spinning. Please ignore them.
5. If you experience shaking, dizziness, swaying, or hallucinations while on the carousel, don't be alarmed. This is a normal experience for visitors during the rotation of the attraction.
6. After the ride is complete, please wait for the ride to come to a complete stop. After the announcement prompts you to dismount, you may remove your seatbelt and follow the exit signs.
7. All staff members of this project are wearing black park uniforms. If you need any help, you can ask them for help.
The game instructions were posted directly on the wall with a large sign, and players took out their mobile phones to take pictures and quickly memorize them.
"The first, third, and sixth seem to be universal rules. Let's leave the seventh aside for now. The remaining three reveal something."
"The fourth rule is obviously self-contradictory. The key to the problem is how we distinguish between happy nursery rhymes and dark nursery rhymes. The happy nursery rhymes here may also sound dark to us."
"Yeah, that's a problem."
Murphy pondered quietly. Judging from the rules, the most dangerous part of the carousel is the wooden horse. The second rule requires that the "carriage" be given to parents with children. Does this mean that the carriage will be safer?
As for the fourth rule, how to define happy nursery rhymes and dark nursery rhymes, the natives of the ghost city may know, but the players are not clear.
If they heard the dark nursery rhyme, the danger would definitely increase greatly.
The fifth rule should be read in conjunction with the third rule. The physical sensations such as "dizziness and shaking" or even hallucinations brought about by the items described in the fifth rule are very likely to induce players to shout.
Well, that would violate the third rule!
Even if there are confusing items among all the rules, all the rules must be closely related.
Murphy patted the two young men on the shoulders.
"Brother, these rules...are there any wrong options, the kind that mislead us? Can we trust all of them?"
Murphy said, "From my personal experience, in rule-based dungeons, incorrect rules are always very obvious, so you can see them at a glance, and it's hard to tell the real from the fake. On the other hand, most rules look very real, but they actually contain hidden secrets."
"I called you two because this is your first time in the dungeon. What you see after entering the project may cause your body's instincts to prompt you to do something irrational."
"I personally suggest that you two seal your mouths in advance." Murphy took out a roll of tape from the backpack space.
Ge Huiru and Li Gaoyuan were stunned. This tape looked just like the ones kidnappers put on hostages' mouths in TV dramas.
The two of them really didn't know what they might see in a moment, so they honestly accepted Murphy's tape.
[Emergency Tape]: This tape is a real emergency tape that can be used in critical moments. It can stick to anything you want and is guaranteed to seal tightly. It is also a good choice to use as a bandage! The limited usage time is: 30 seconds.
This is a special prop of Murphy's, not an ordinary tape. When he got this thing, Murphy himself spent a lot of strange coins and ordinary props.
It turns out that this emergency tape is really useful. It does not have a limit on the number of uses. As long as one roll is not used up, you can continue to use it.
Unfortunately, each emergency response only lasts half a minute, and it is still unknown how long this carousel man project will last.
The key point is to cover their mouths before getting on the carousel and not make any noise during the entire ride.
There weren't many tourists queuing for the [Carousel Man] ride. While the players were talking quickly and trying to figure out the rules, they kept walking through the winding grilles used to isolate tourists and soon arrived at the real entrance to the ride.
They finally saw the "carousel man". Although they were indoors, the environment was very dark. The carousel was flashing colorful lights, creating a dreamy feeling in the middle of the night.
"It looks like an ordinary carousel." Gu Tongtong said.
"There's only one floor yet." Liang Shuang continued.
"There are quite a lot of positions. We should be able to use them all in this wave." Wang Changhong checked the number of carousels.
"How many carriages are there? Are there three? The pumpkin one seems to be there." Lu Yuan stared sharply at the carriage mentioned in the rules.
They arrived in good time, and the carousel was still spinning, with a sparse number of tourists and children of different ages sitting on it. However, the background music had no lyrics, and it just sounded very cheerful.
From the players' perspective, the carousel gradually slowed down and the accompanying background music also came to an end.
"Dear visitors, the carousel has stopped. Children, please leave the facility slowly accompanied by your parents. Be careful where you step and stay safe." Murphy followed the voice of the broadcast and saw the staff in black uniforms.
Only about half of the previous wave of carousel riders took the ride and quickly left. In front of the twelve riders, the staff member in charge of counting also pulled the chain and said, "Come in, and fasten your seat belts after you get on the horse."
Although they saw that the previous wave of indigenous tourists were unharmed, the players knew that they would definitely be treated differently.
These horses look like carousel horses with different paint jobs, and have stirrups for tourists to mount.
Murphy quickly selected a carousel, with Li Gaoyuan and Ge Huiru on his left and right. At this time, both of them had sealed their mouths with tape and put on masks, which were also sponsored by other players.
After he sat firmly, he fastened the carousel's safety belt. While buckling the safety buckle, he thought, generally speaking, carousels don't seem to have safety belts, right?
This thing seems to be fixing people firmly on this carousel.
The staff in black uniform came over with a smile on their faces and checked the buckles of the wooden horses one by one to see if they were functioning properly.
"The carousel ride is about to begin. Please hold on to the handrails and do not release the safety buckles."
"Ring——" After a long ring, Murphy held the armrests with both hands. It had been many years since he had sat on this thing. His childhood memories were actually experienced in a weird copy.
The carousel started moving, slowly moving forward.
The music accompaniment started, but at present, there was still no melody with lyrics.
None of the twelve players dared to relax, and each of them kept repeating the tourist instructions for the project in their minds.
After all, this is just the beginning.
Ge Huiru was sitting on a carousel, her mouth was sealed with tape and a mask was tightly hung on her. The mask was not a prop, but just to cover the tape on her mouth.
If this was a carousel in reality, Ge Huiru would not be so nervous at this moment. Instead, she should dress up beautifully with her friends, choose the most beautiful little skirts, and take Polaroid cameras and mobile phones to take pictures while the carousel goes up and down and the lights flash, just to get the best pictures!
But now... she could only control herself from thinking about all sorts of messy things, such as whether she could get out alive, whether she and Gao Yuan could go to college after getting out, and what would happen in the future?
The more afraid she was, the more her mind wandered. Ge Huiru looked at Brother Mo Fei, who had shown kindness to them during this instance.
Now all the players are on the wooden horses and are fastened with safety belts. I am afraid that if something really happens, it will be too late to rescue them.
Be calm and composed. Ge Huiru, you will never become a copy boss like this, she said to herself in her heart.
Ge Huiru looked at Mo Fei, then looked at Li Gaoyuan through him. Both of them noticed her gaze and nodded at her.
Ge Huiru felt a little relieved. She retracted her gaze and immediately felt that the wooden horse under her suddenly accelerated. Not only did it speed up, it also rose up!
Her eyes focused, and she gripped the handrails tightly with both hands. She felt that the wooden horse was moving up and down very quickly. Not only her, but other players were doing the same!
Go up, go up.
Ge Huiru rode on the wooden horse, spinning as she rose to the top of the facility!
The feeling of weightlessness brought by the sudden rise made her feel indescribable fear and panic.
In the entire carousel area, except for the carriage area fixed to the ground, all other wooden horses are either touching the ceiling when rising or descending to the bottom of the ground!
Ge Huiru looked up, she was stunned and held the only handrail tightly.
So, what is that?
The ceiling of the carousel is silver, like a mirror, and you can see the reflected scene when you look up.
In the reflected image, it was not her who was riding on the wooden horse, but the wooden horse that was riding on her.
Ge Hui subconsciously wanted to breathe through her mouth, but her mouth was sealed.
The moment she saw clearly, the carousel under her suddenly and rapidly went down.
Ge Huiru couldn't help but look down at the ground. The silver ground clearly reflected the scene of her falling from a height with a wooden horse hanging on her back.
Ge Huiru swallowed her saliva and felt her throat dry and burning, with anxiety bursting out all over her body.
She knew she shouldn't look, but her eyes couldn't help but glance at the mirror on the ground and then look up.
She raised her head again, and her face, which was covered with a mask, just met hers.
She seemed to...become a Centaur.
My body feels so heavy, so deep. I really want to breathe. Nose, let me breathe through my nose, but it’s not enough, I can’t breathe. Mouth, let me breathe through my mouth too.
One of Ge Huiru's hands had already reached into the mask. When she touched the tape on her lips, she shuddered.
No, the tape, can't be torn, can't be torn.
She used all her strength to breathe through her nose, and a slight breathing sound came from her nostrils.
At the same time, Murphy tried hard to close his five senses, but the accompaniment music of the carousel seemed to be able to penetrate into his ears through every gap.
The accompanying music is still the same melody as the original, but now there is a lyrics version.
"Little wooden horse, grow up quickly."
"Grow up, grow up quickly, and be as big as me."
"The majestic and handsome horse is my horse!"
"I'll ride you, you'll ride me, let's grow up!"
Murphy watched as the lyrics appeared one by one, and the ground and ceiling here showed a mirror reflection, and the wooden horse under him gradually turned into a terrifying and strange horse on a human body.
He realized something was wrong and immediately closed his ears, but it was too late.
This song was the lyric-less accompaniment at the beginning. Since I didn't close my ears when I started, it was already too late.
Fortunately, Murphy was able to control his emotions. He watched as the wooden horse moved up and down, rotated and swayed as the children's singing appeared, and at the same time, even more terrifying scenes were displayed under the two mirrors.
Not only that, Murphy raised his head and looked straight ahead.
He saw that some players had become things under the Trojan Horse.
His heart felt peaceful, like an illusion, Murphy said to himself.
He controlled the muscles of his face and turned to look at Ge Huiru and Li Gaoyuan on both sides of him.
The two young men were still wearing masks, but with only the upper half of their faces exposed, it looked as if both of them were in a bad condition.
Hang in there, kids! Murphy could only cheer them on in his heart.
Am I...am I still human?
As the carousel beneath him rose again, Li Gaoyuan could clearly see his reflection in the mirror.
He turned into a horse, yes, a horse.
He was tied with a saddle, which was a strange tool to restrain himself while riding on it.
There was a bridle on his mouth, making it difficult for him to open his mouth and even breathe.
His hooves were tied and fastened to a wooden stake. No, they had to be untied.
Feeling the heavy burden on his body, Li Gaoyuan wanted to stick out his tongue and gasped for breath.
So tired and heavy.
He drooped his eyelids, not wanting to continue like this.
Li Gaoyuan reached out and tore off the mask on his face.
Bridle, take off the bridle.
I am not a horse, I am not a horse.
Do not wear a bridle.
I am not a horse. I want to break free. I don't want a saddle. He reached out to unbuckle the safety buckle on his body.
Ge Huiru stared at him with wide eyes, but she could do nothing at the moment.
Murphy also looked at Li Gaoyuan, and he had already cursed countless times in his heart.
Fuck fuck fuck!
He gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and despite the risk of violating the rules, a string of wind chimes appeared in his hand and began to shake.
"Ding-ling-ling-ling-ling—"
[Wave Wind Chime]: This wind chime requires manual shaking without wind, but its sound can be heard long afterward, like waves. The user can use the wind chime to forcibly control the target's consciousness for 5 seconds. (Usable times: 0/3)
"Li Gaoyuan, wake up and look at what you are doing!"
Why is this damn carousel taking so long and it still hasn’t ended!
The moment Li Gaoyuan was controlled by the prop wind chime, Mo Fei forcibly turned Li Gaoyuan's eyes to the direction where he could see Ge Huiru, and put his hand back on the handle, telling him not to touch the safety buckle again!
These two children are the most familiar people in the copy. If they still can't wake up, Murphy will have no choice.
This was the last time the Wave Wind Chime was used. He didn't expect that this thing was not used on Weird, but on a new player.
If this child still doesn't wake up, I've done my best, Murphy said to himself.
Murphy suddenly noticed that the carousel under him seemed to slow down.
The background music only had melody left, no more singing, and seemed to be coming to an end.
"Ring——" the long ringing sound rang again.
Murphy watched as the strange phenomenon that seemed to appear on the back of every player disappeared, and the carousel turned into a normal carousel again. After rotating up and down and stopping, his entire upper body still felt dizzy, but he could clearly see the indigenous tourists waiting in line outside.
"The carousel has stopped. Please unfasten your safety buckles, take your personal belongings with you, hold on to the handrails and dismount carefully. Leave through the exit as soon as possible." The staff in black uniforms announced again.
Phew, this round is over. Murphy slowly unbuckled his safety buckle and slowly stood on the ground. After making sure that the dizziness was bearable, he immediately rushed towards Li Gaoyuan.
"Xiao Li, Xiao Li, are you okay?"
Li Gaoyuan was holding on to the handrail tightly at this moment, and the tape on his mouth was still sealed.
Ge Huiru came down twenty seconds later than Mo Fei. With the help of the two, Li Gaoyuan, with a frightened face, finally got off the horse, and the tape on his mouth was also removed by Mo Fei.
"Brother, brother, thank you, thank you." He was breathing heavily, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
"Let's go, let's talk outside." Murphy shook his head and looked at the other players.
Li Gaoyuan and Ge Huiru both had weak legs, one of them even walked unsteadily while the other limped. Mo Fei sighed inwardly and sandwiched himself between the two, holding onto them on both sides and moving forward quickly.
Walking out of the carousel fence, the next wave of visitors had already arrived. Players gathered in the open space next to it and continued walking.
"One person is missing?" Murphy's eyes quickly scanned the players on his team.
"Why are there only eleven? Who are they?"
The other players' expressions were also very grim. "It's that little girl named Lu Yuan."
Murphy recalled the twelve people. Lu Yuan was the younger face in his memory, probably in her twenties. Because he was paying attention to the two college entrance examination candidates, he did not pay much attention to or communicate with the other players.
"What happened? Did she unbuckle her safety buckle?" Tang Suxia asked.
"No. She didn't ride a horse, she went in a carriage. We don't know whether she unbuckled the safety buckle or not." Female player Huo Min said.
"Carriage, doesn't the rule say that carriages should be given to children? No matter how stupid she is, she shouldn't get on the carriage." Mediterranean uncle Xin Guirong said.
"It's not a carriage. She went to look at the carriages before. When we were waiting in line, Lu Yuan was looking at the carriages. She seemed to think that it would be safer for children to sit in the carriages, so she went to the horse in front of the carriage." Liang Shuang said.
"After we all chose the wooden horses, Lu Yuan walked around before coming back. The last carriage she went to was almost in front of the horses we chose. I saw her clothes." Little Curly-haired Zhou Keqin said.
Several players who were almost on the wooden horse behind Lu Yuan spoke up to add to the information they had seen.
"In other words, no one saw when Lu Yuan disappeared?" Murphy asked.
"She should have been there at the beginning, but then we kept going up and down, and the lights dimmed and there were only colorful lights. At that time, I was only paying attention to myself and the people around me. Her carriage basically blocked our figures, and I couldn't see at all." Gu Tongtong shook her head.
"That's not right." Liang Shuang suddenly shouted.
"The carriage can't go up and down like we can. But when I reached a high place and looked down, it seemed that I didn't see Lu Yuan." She shuddered all over.
The other players whose wooden horses were close to the carriage also racked their brains to recall, thinking as they walked.
"Yes, when we were going up and down, I could see that everyone was carrying a horse. I was so scared that I didn't dare to look or think about it anymore, so I just closed my eyes. I didn't pay any attention to the situation of the carriage." Zhou Keqin said in a cold tone.
"I should have been looking down from a high place, but at that time I seemed to have seen a carriage, not anyone in front." Huo Min recalled it carefully and felt a chill all over his body.
Murphy and Tang Suxia spoke at the same time:
"She disappeared from the beginning?"
"In other words, Lu Yuan has been gone since the project started."
Everyone's faces looked very ugly. When the event started, the music sounded, and the players riding on the wooden horses were "spun" up and down. But at that time, Lu Yuan, who was supposed to be sitting on the horse in front of the carriage, disappeared.
In other words, she broke the rules from the very beginning!
"But Lu Yuan was sitting well before the project started. Although the rules say that people should ride the wooden horse first, she was sitting on the horse of the carriage and didn't get into the carriage." Gu Tongtong thought for a while.
"No." Aunt Tang Suxia pushed her glasses.
"According to Article 2 of the tour guidelines, please prioritize riding the colored wooden horses and leave the carriages to children. As we've personally experienced, the carriages don't move up or down, but are safety features specifically for children. The wooden horses in front may also fall under this rule. Lu Yuan likely tried to take advantage of this loophole, but ended up being harmed."
"Besides this, there is another possibility." She spoke slowly and looked at everyone.
Murphy silently said the same answer in his heart as Tang Suxia.
"What Lu Yuan was sitting on wasn't a horse at all."
"That's not a horse-drawn carriage, but a donkey cart, a mule cart, or a horse, mule, and donkey snail cart. In reality, people may be able to distinguish between donkeys and horses, but these are toys with childlike shapes. Who can be sure that they can recognize them?" Tang Suxia swept his sharp eyes over the crowd.
"No matter which of the two possibilities is true, Lu Yuan chose the wrong path from the very beginning," Murphy concluded.
After all, the project is called "Merry-Go-Round Man."
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