Players, Please Board the Train

This dungeon’s setting felt a bit capricious.

That was Xu Huo’s first impression after reading the dungeon information.

The amusement park dungeon was clearly quite different from the story dungeons he’d encountered before—there was no background introduction, and while the gameplay rules seemed numerous, the truly important content was actually quite sparse.

First was buying tickets—group tickets meant you could only move together, combined with the second rule about not being able to visit two themed lands in one day, meaning players with group tickets could only choose one land per session. Next was not being allowed to harm staff members, with question segments during gameplay, and finally not being allowed to damage the pink hat.

What exactly the pink hat referred to remained to be determined, but the specific gameplay methods for the game tasks weren’t mentioned at all.

”Maybe we’ll find out once we go inside.” Yan Jiayu raised her hand to point at the floating cards in midair. ”Which one should we choose?”

”Which one do you want to choose?” Xu Huo asked her.

”I like Bunny Bear Fun Land—it sounds really interesting just from the name.” As soon as Yan Jiayu finished speaking, the clown threw down the card. The lightweight card floated to the ground and transformed into a large gate, where the puppet pirate jumped up and slapped the door knocker, causing the double doors to slowly open.

”Welcome to Bunny Bear Fun Land!”

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu walked in side by side. After exiting through a circular portal, they realized the place they’d entered was actually a massive tree with an incredibly thick trunk—the exit was a tree hollow. The moment they stepped out, the tree hollow automatically sealed behind them as if it had never existed.Xu Huo then surveyed their surroundings. It appeared that beyond the gate wasn’t an ordinary amusement park in the conventional sense, but rather a fairytale-style ancient forest, with air filled with the mixed scents of damp soil and decaying plant and animal matter.

”The air here is really good, even better than in the mountains. I never expected there would be such a nice place in the game.” Yan Jiayu took a deep breath, then turned and spotted the signpost beside the tree. ”Bear Snack Stall is this way.”

”Wait a moment.” Xu Huo stopped her, then bent down to pick up a stone and threw it at a tree about twenty meters away.

”Thump!” The stone left a shallow mark on the tree bark. Someone emerged from behind the tree, glanced at the mark, then smiled cheerfully. ”Easy now, easy. I mean no harm.”

The man appeared to be in his forties, but he wore a pink bowler hat that didn’t match his outfit at all.

Do not damage the pink hat—that was the dungeon rule.

”Who are you?” Yan Jiayu pulled out her stone staff.

”Don’t be nervous.” The man quickly waved his hands, slowly approaching them. ”You’re new players who just entered, right? Actually, I’m playing this dungeon too, and I’ve been in here for two days already. I found that clearing this dungeon alone is a bit difficult, so I wanted to find people to team up with... Since there’s only two of you, why don’t we go together?”

Seeing that Xu Huo and the other remained silent, the man took out several thumb-sized hat models. ”To show my sincerity, I can give each of you two small pink hats.”

”This couldn’t be a trap, could it?” Yan Jiayu looked suspiciously at the items in his hand. ”Are the small hats game items?”

”They’re not items,” the man smiled helplessly. ”I really mean no harm. Actually, you get one of these small hats after each Q&A game session, just like collecting stamps. You get small hats at different locations, and you need to collect the full number of small hats to complete this themed land.”

”You just entered and don’t have any hats yet, while I have extra small hats. I just wanted to make friends, that’s all.”

”We can team up, but the small hats aren’t necessary. Games are more fun when you play them yourself.” Xu Huo glanced at the signpost. ”The Bear Snack Stall is ahead, want to go together?”

The man’s expression darkened slightly. ”You’ll have to collect them one by one anyway if you go in. Getting four at once means skipping four locations—isn’t that better?”

”No.” Xu Huo looked him up and down. ”You’re not going to force them on us, are you?”

The man stuffed the small hats back into his pocket, placing his hands behind his back. But contrary to expectations, he didn’t attack—instead, he vanished into the forest.

”What was that about?” Yan Jiayu wondered suspiciously.

”Let’s check ahead.” Xu Huo said.

Following the roadside signs, the two quickly arrived at the Bear Snack Stall.

Behind a pink snack stall, a two-meter-tall plush bear waved at them. As they approached, it enthusiastically recommended, ”Today we have new products from E010—Eyeball Popping Candy and Cloud Puffs, plus specialties from E007—Sweet and Sour Plums and Toe Cheese. Would you like to try some of each?”

”It’s so expensive.” Yan Jiayu looked at the price tags—even the cheapest lollipop cost one hundred White Bills.

”Is this Eyeball Popping Candy made from human eyeballs?” Xu Huo asked.

”Of course not!” The plush bear opened one and tossed it into its mouth, biting down to release a burst of juice as a sweet and sour scent spread through the air. ”Don’t worry, guests—all the food ingredients here at Bear’s stall are green and harmless. Eating more not only doesn’t harm your teeth but can even strengthen your body. Do you want this one, or this one, or all of them?”

The bear’s paw patted each snack on the stall in turn, then it cupped its chin as it stared at the two of them, its reflective beady eyes seeming almost alive. ”We only give out the Travel Guide when you buy snacks.”

Yan Jiayu loved snacks, and despite finding them expensive, she still picked several items. She immediately opened a toe-shaped cheese stick, and after just one bite, her eyes lit up.

Xu Huo pointed at the jarred candies on the shelf behind. ”How much for those?”

”Five thousand White Bills!” The plush bear immediately said. ”Every piece of candy in the Jar Jar Candy comes from famous candy shops’ signature candies—one hundred shops, one hundred candies, each with a different flavor! Plus, after eating them, you can get a 20% discount coupon for one of the candy shops!”

A suspicious slurping sound came from the bear’s mouth. When Xu Huo looked over, it quickly stuffed another piece of popping candy into its mouth.

”Can you give a discount?” Xu Huo said. ”I want to buy quite a few.”

The plush bear excitedly spun in place. ”Jar Jar Candy doesn’t get discounts, but if you buy two jars, other candies can get 10% off!”

Xu Huo nodded readily. The plush bear tapped on the glass jar, and a holographic product window popped up showing jarred candies in two different colored packages.

”Limited edition Jar Jar Candy—each ID limited to two jars only.”

Xu Huo paid for two jars, and the candy immediately appeared in his luggage compartment. He casually took out a pink-packaged jar and opened it, glancing at the constantly hand-rubbing plush bear as he fed himself a piece. ”Tastes good.”

The plush bear angrily beat on its stomach.

Unmoved, Xu Huo bought several thousand White Bills worth of other snacks from the stall, then said to the plush bear that could only watch but not eat, ”Still giving the discount?”

”Yes!” The plush bear cracked open its mouth in a ferocious expression, but still efficiently took the money and packed the bags.

”So pitiful.” Xu Huo gave it a sympathetic look before walking off with the paper bag.

”You really like sweets that much?” Yan Jiayu seemed quite surprised.

”Not really.” Xu Huo took out the Travel Guide from his pocket.