Chapter 162
Chapter 162
Rule-Based Strange Tale: Happy Death Day to My Family
Cui Jiutang
That night.
After Jiang Li fell asleep, both her consciousness and her body arrived in a Chaos Zone.
Within the Chaos Zone, there was only one thing before Jiang Li: a long, silent corridor stretching into deep blackness.
With five creaking sounds-“creak, creak”-the five iron doors behind Jiang Li slowly opened.
Behind those five iron doors were the five Instances Jiang Li had cleared.
And now, Jiang Li stood before the sixth iron door, which remained tightly shut.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Li reached out, ready to push the door open and enter.
Just then, a voice called out to her.
“Mommy! Wait for me!”
A childish voice rang out from the darkness at the end of the corridor.
In two or three flickering steps, Red Infant appeared and returned to Jiang Li’s shoulder, lying across it.
There was a hint of excitement in Red Infant’s voice. “Mommy, my little brother said he found Daddy!”
“That’s good news. Congratulations.” Jiang Li smiled.
“Green Infant told me his daddy is a bald head who rides a motorcycle.” Red Infant tried hard to recall his conversation with Green Infant.
A trace of surprise crossed Jiang Li’s face.
Then she continued reaching out with her right hand and pushed the iron door open.
The moment the iron door opened, the strange red light outside made Jiang Li narrow her eyes slightly.
This time, Jiang Li arrived in an open-air plaza.
The place was noisy and bustling, filled with a roar of human voices.
She looked up and saw a blood-red sun hanging at the edge of the sky.
The entire sky looked as though it had been soaked in blood.
Jiang Li surveyed her surroundings.
A hundred meters straight ahead, a Ferris wheel was slowly turning.
To the front-left, a crowd of men and women screamed in terror from the drop tower.
To the front-right, a long line had formed in front of the carousel as visitors took their seats one after another.
The place Jiang Li had arrived at this time was the open-air plaza of an amusement park.
Just as Jiang Li was observing the area, a tourist Little Boy bounced over to a spot four or five meters in front of her and picked up a brand-new pair of 3D Glasses from the ground, still sealed in plastic wrap.
“Daddy! Do I look cool?” The Little Boy put on the glasses and turned back to show off to his father and mother, who were walking behind him.
But no one knew what the Little Boy saw.
He suddenly plopped down onto the ground, his small body trembling uncontrollably.
Then he burst into loud sobs.
[The latest Instance is about to begin-]
[Instance Name] Hell’s Paradise Amusement Park.
[Instance Introduction] Hell’s Paradise Amusement Park is a large-scale amusement facility invested in and built by the Ghost Face Organization. Here, you can experience all kinds of attractions, such as thrilling drop towers, gloomy and terrifying man-made haunted houses, romantic and innocent carousels, and more. However, according to recorded data, not a single visitor sent here has ever made it out alive…
[Clearance Conditions]
1. SSS Rank: Successfully clear four attractions and leave this place alive.
2. S Rank: Go to the beverage area, receive a Colorful Ice Cream, and die painlessly amid sweetness.
3. A Rank: Find the Red-Nosed Clown in the amusement park and have him take you to the HR department to apply for a position as a park employee.
[Your family member bound to this Instance is: Dai Chunli.]
[We wish you… a pleasant game!]
After Jiang Li finished listening to the System recite the Instance rules, her brows drew together slightly.
Of these three clearance conditions, only SSS Rank posed any real difficulty. The other two could be accomplished with ease.
S Rank was mainly there to tempt Jiang Li into exchanging her own death for a smooth clearance of this Hell’s Paradise Amusement Park Instance.
As long as Jiang Li took the initiative to kill herself, Huaguo would be spared from this Strange Tale’s descent.
By forcing the label of “righteous sacrifice for the family and nation” onto her and pressuring Jiang Li to kill herself, they could eliminate her without lifting a finger.
As for A Rank, it required leading Jiang Li to betray her country.
If Jiang Li chose the A Rank clearance method, not only would she survive, she would also be recognized as having “successfully cleared” the instance, preventing this Strange Tale from descending upon Huaguo.
Whether it was S Rank or A Rank, both outcomes were extremely advantageous for the Ghost Face Organization.
Either kill Jiang Li, or turn Jiang Li to their side.
If Jiang Li wanted to oppose them, then she had no choice but to choose the most difficult SSS Rank clearance method!
And yet-
Jiang Li lifted her eyes and looked at the various attractions scattered throughout the amusement park.
Every person playing here wore a smile. They screamed, cheered, and jumped for joy.
Were these attractions really that much fun?
Perhaps for Jiang Li, every single one of them hid a deadly trap.
As she was thinking, a staff member in a little bumblebee mascot costume appeared fifty meters diagonally ahead of her, holding a stack of flyers as he walked straight toward Jiang Li.
The staff member in the little bumblebee costume pulled the top flyer from the stack and handed it to Jiang Li.
“Hello. Would you like a map?”
Jiang Li reached out and took it. “Thank you.”
She unfolded the colorful flyer in her hand.
The front of the flyer showed a route map of the amusement park.
The entire park was laid out along an S-shaped route, with a total of twenty entertainment stations.
Among these twenty stations, Jiang Li could freely choose any four facilities to participate in.
The note beside the map stated that after a visitor completed a game, the attraction staff would stamp the map with a steel seal.
Once a visitor collected four stamps, they could use them as proof to leave the park.
After looking over the map, Jiang Li flipped the flyer over.
On the back were the relevant rules of the amusement park.
[Hell’s Paradise Visitor Rules]
[1. The Red-Nosed Clown will always keep a smiling face. Remember, there are no sad-faced clowns in the park. If you are unfortunate enough to run into a sad-faced clown, please move away immediately.]
[2. All patrol personnel in this park wear long white uniforms. There are no patrol personnel wearing uniforms of any other color.]
[3. There are no staff members in little bumblebee mascot costumes in the park. If you see any such personnel wandering the park, please report them immediately to the nearest patrol officer. He will know how to handle it.]
[4. If you encounter a salesperson promoting Colorful Ice Cream from the beverage area, please do not refuse.]
[5. If, amid the sound of laughter, you hear cries for help or weeping, there is no need to pay attention. It may simply be your hallucination.]
[6. For your safety, please do not allow yourself to be caught in the park’s intermittent Red Rain.]
[7. The “Water Park” has recently been converted into “Ice and Snow Paradise.” Ice and Snow Paradise has fewer visitors and no lines, so you may go there with peace of mind.]
[8. It is not recommended that you purchase the 3D Glasses sold by the old man. The glasses he sells are poor quality, and he usually only does one-time business.]
Jiang Li scanned it once with the Eye of Truth.
Rules one, three, five, and seven were all false.
Therefore, Jiang Li could easily deduce the following four points:
1. There were, in fact, sad-faced clowns in the amusement park.
2. There was no need to report staff members wearing little bumblebee mascot costumes.
3. Amid the laughter, it was possible to hear cries for help. They were not hallucinations.
4. Ice and Snow Paradise, which had fewer visitors, was not safe.
Just as Jiang Li finished analyzing the rules, the red sky above the park suddenly changed.
Beneath the dim crimson canopy, two streaks of white lightning flashed into view.
A few seconds later, accompanied by two muffled rumbles of thunder, a red thunderstorm reeking of blood… came pouring down.