The amusement park was filled with a happy upbeat tune which was unfamiliar to Lin Sanjiu. Every now and then, there was the sound of chiming bells. The sweet scent of fried ice-cream and cotton candy filled the air. Under the bright sun, the whole place had a lively, cheerful atmosphere like a carnival. Balloons of different colors bobbed in mid-air. They didn't fly away but hovered around the height of people's shoulder level. Occasionally, some of them would get caught in a tree and a few gray pigeons would burst them with noisy popping sounds.
If it weren't for the unsettling lack of human voices, this would seem like a good amusement park.
Well, it wasn't exactly as though there were no humans voices around at all. When the three other posthumans followed behind her, Lin Sanjiu heard the welcome message at the entrance coming from the speakers, "Welcome to Starry Carnival Amusement Park…"
The sound wasn't loud but it seemed to come from every direction. Lin Sanjiu looked up and noticed two announcement speakers attached to the cartoon light fixture at both sides of the entrance.
The half-naked man in their group had downward sloping eyebrows which made him look worried all the time. After looking around, the half-naked man ran up to a large puppet—taller than the size of a human—which provided directions within the amusement park. He took off the black bear's vest it was wearing and quickly wore it.
The brunette, who was new to the Twelve Worlds Centrum, frowned and ignored the other posthumans. Without saying a word, she chose the "Psyduck Route" without asking anyone and continued down that path.
"Well, let's split up here and try our best to let her get caught by Puppeteer. Otherwise, this thing will never end and we'll always be on tenterhooks," the man in the black bear's vest said to the young man in their group. He acted as if Lin Sanjiu wasn't even there with them.
Lin Sanjiu gave them a cold glare before she turned and walked away. She chose a path with a green frog symbol. There was a field of green grass on one side of the route. As the sun baked the green field, a smell of green grass and soil rose to the air. There was even an ice-cream van right in the middle of the field and Lin Sanjiu could hear the tinkling sounds from the vehicle. The atmosphere around her was light-hearted and carefree. This really made it very hard for her to imagine that she was in a pocket dimension.
However, Lin Sanjiu was bothered by the ice-cream van right now. After just taking a few steps, she slowed down. There was a brown noticeboard, half the height of a human, right in the middle of the frog path. It was difficult to ignore this particular obstruction.
"Starry Carnival Amusement Park's Rules and Notice."
These large and bold words were the title of the noticeboard. It immediately drew Lin Sanjiu's attention and she quickly walked closer.
"We extend a warm welcome to our dear No.56 and No.58 player. We are honored to have you visit our amusement park today. To ensure that all players can safely enjoy all sorts of entertainment and rides our amusement park provides with fun and laughter, we had created these rules. Please remember and abide by our rules so that we can create a wonderful experience at Starry Carnival Amusement Park together."
The noticeboard was not digital. It was just a printed notice behind a sheet of glass. On top of that, Lin Sanjiu had just entered the amusement park ten minutes ago. However, the notice seemed to be tailored specifically for two people. They had even listed their names at the bottom of the notice. There was a photo of Lin Sanjiu under the words Player No. 56 and a photo of Soulsqn under the words Player No. 58. Considering the angle of the photos, they were probably taken when they just entered the amusement park.
"How did I become a player?" Soulsqn felt a little displeased as she made some sort of hissing sound from her throat. "Our collaboration only involves us taking care of Puppeteer for you and then you bringing us to your friend. Going through this strange pocket dimension with you isn't within our agreement."
"Since I have no choice but to be here, you will just have to follow. There is nothing more to discuss." Lin Sanjiu replied casually as she turned her gaze back at the noticeboard. No matter how aggrieved or unhappy Soulsqn felt about the situation, she really couldn't bring herself to let go out the opportunity that Lin Sanjiu offered. In terms of combat, the Souls' specialty was also useless against Lin Sanjiu. Since Lin Sanjiu held an advantage over the Souls in all aspects, she naturally wasn't afraid that Soulsqn would try to create any trouble for her.
As expected, Soulsqn stared at the noticeboard moodily and stepped closer to the notice as if she finally relented. Lin Sanjiu was currently still reading the notice. When she sensed Soulsqn moving closer to the noticeboard, her lips curled slightly. She swept her gaze across the words on the notice.
"Our amusement park has already been operating for 5 months. We had adopted a new 'Stamina Point' system to make your experience more enriching and interesting. Many of our players gave us rave reviews. For the rules regarding how you can use your Stamina Points, please read below."
Even though Lin Sanjiu didn't know what those "Stamina Points" were, but from the amusement park's emphasis on safety, this pocket dimension might not be too—
Lin Sanjiu suddenly killed that thought halfway.
"The most important function of these Stamina Points is they can help you stay alive. Every player in our amusement park would automatically get 15 points when they first enter. Each day you spend in the amusement park (the area starts from beyond the castle door) would cost you 10 points. If the player does not have at least 10 points, the amusement park staff would take away a body part from the player to make up for the difference. If a player reaches 0 points, the player's entire body—which equates to the player's life, would be taken as the 10 points."
Even though there were many differences, Lin Sanjiu couldn't help remembering about the pocket dimension in the previous world which involved the number of lives the player had. Uncontrollably, her expression grew grim.
"However, the main aim of our amusement park is to bring fun and joy to our customers. Dead customers are certainly not going to be very happy… Therefore, if a player leaves the amusement park before their Stamina Points get depleted, there will be no consequences. If the player chooses to enter the amusement park again, the player's Stamina Points would return to the original 15 Stamina Points, regardless the number of points the player retained in his or her previous play.
"For example, Player A might only have 8 points left at the end of the day (12 am is the beginning of a new day). If he/she chooses to stay for a second day to challenge any of the rides, he/she would definitely lose an arm. The exact loss would be determined by the staff depending on the situation. If player A chooses not to lose his/her arm and exits the amusement park, he/she can enter the next day with 15 Stamina Points."
"The door of the amusement park is only opened from 10 am to 3 pm every day. Players who aim to exit the amusement park before the end of the day should take note of this time."
"If this is the case, wouldn't those Stamina Points be quite useless? A person can quickly exit the park once their Stamina Point falls below 10 points—" Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
"However, players who re-enter the amusement have to start from the first attraction on their route irrespective of the door or route they choose. A player can only proceed to the next attraction on his/her route have he/she has successfully completed a particular attraction. If a player attempts to bypass any of the attractions, a staff member would mete out an appropriate punishment."
"From the looks of things, the 'fun factor' of each attraction must be the main point of the attractions…" Lin Sanjiu thought to herself and continued reading.
"Aside from that, Stamina Points are extremely useful. If a player wishes to play any of the attractions, the player would have to pay an entrance fee (this typically costs 5 Stamina Point). Additionally, players can use their Stamina Points to buy cotton candies, popcorn, hot dogs, sodas, souvenirs… This includes all sort of small useful supplies."
"If you enter an attraction but don't feel like continuing, what should you do? A player can forcefully exit from the attraction and pay the penalty of 80 Stamina Points. To take care of the entire family, from the elderly to the young ones, players can also transfer their Stamina Points. You can make your inquiries about Stamina Points and the trading system at the touchscreen in front of each attraction."
"How can you earn Stamina Points? Please try out all our attractions proactively! Each time you win a round, you can earn 5 Stamina Points. If you complete a particular attraction, you will get an additional 20 Stamina Points! However, if you lose, you will not get prizes. After all, it would be best if you visit a doctor after that."
"After reading this little introduction, I guess Players No. 56 and 58 should be more familiar with how Stamina Points work, right? If that is the case, please embark on your happy and delightful Starry Carnival Amusement Park journey! After you complete all the attractions along a single route, you would enter the final pitstop. Players who can survive the final attraction would get a mysterious gift from Starry God! Deducting the Stamina Points for today, each of you has exactly 5 points! On the behalf of all the staff, we are all very eager to see how many more points you can earn from that!"
That was the end of the general explanation about the amusement park and the Stamina Points system.
There was a simplified map of the amusement park at the bottom of the explanations. When Lin Sanjiu looked at it, she knew she didn't have to bother remembering the map.
There were a total of four entrances. Each entrance led to a sector of the amusement park. Every sector had four routes. There were a total of 16 different routes. The routes were demarcated from each other with a dark black line to show that a player cannot cross between the routes. The 16 independent routes all lead to the final pitstop which was a building at the center of the amusement park.
"The term 'remote' isn't even good enough to describe how secluded this location is. Unless someone specifically looked for this place, that person would never accidentally stumble across this place. If so many people spent so much effort to get here, it must probably be because of the final prize at the last pitstop?" Lin Sanjiu straightened her back and thought about the 5 Stamina Points she had right now. She walked away from the noticeboard and looked at the 'Frog Route' she was on.
Lin Sanjiu saw the entrance of an arena with a large gray awning a few hundred meters ahead. Lin Sanjiu wished that the arena was the last pitstop even though she knew it definitely wasn't.
The words "Bumper Karts" graced the top of the entrance.