Chapter 131: “Children’s Playground”

Page (1/3)

After finally obtaining some information from the supervisor at the first-floor service desk, Qi Chen and Warm Guy both felt that remaining on the first floor would yield them little else.

After a brief discussion, they unanimously decided to take the escalator to the mall’s second floor at once.

Their purpose was not merely to gather more information. In everyone’s heart, a small glimmer of hope still remained—the possibility of saving Little Li.

The service-desk employee watched Qi Chen and the others leave with her unchanging smile. Once their figures had completely vanished up the escalator, her smile abruptly disappeared. Her expression became stiff beyond measure, and her eyes lost every trace of the vitality that belonged to the living.

She lightly pressed a communication button inside the service desk. Then, like a robot devoid of emotion, she spoke into the microphone before her, reporting the locations of the escaped livestock on the first floor that Qi Chen and the others had mentioned.

Only moments later, an eerie oppressive force with which Qi Chen and Warm Guy were both thoroughly familiar once again descended upon the first floor of Minsheng Mall.

As it arrived, screams from animals and the scalp-prickling sounds of chewing rang out in succession from different areas of the floor.

When all the sounds finally fell into an eerie silence, that strange presence slowly faded away.

The female employee at the service desk continued to stand quietly behind the counter, as though waiting for the next group of visitors to arrive.

……

……

“Judging from the mall regulations, the second floor should mainly consist of areas related to children. In particular, we’ll need to be wary of the adults inside the children’s amusement park.” Warm Guy’s memory was not bad; he had retained most of the contents of the mall regulations.

As they neared the second floor, he used the time to explain to everyone what he believed they needed to watch out for.

Qi Chen added, “It’s not just the adults. We absolutely can’t let our guard down around the children, either.”

Thanks to the rule-based horror stories he had read in his previous life, Qi Chen suspected that even the contents of the mall regulations could not be trusted completely.

The rules here were already riddled with contradictions. Until they had thoroughly uncovered the true rules, they had to remain as vigilant as possible toward every written word.

With that, the group reached the second floor on the escalator.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

A scene entirely different from the first floor instantly appeared before them. Just as expected, the stores on the second floor all sold things related to children. As far as the eye could see, there were toy shops everywhere.

Yet the most eye-catching sight was a children’s amusement park occupying an enormous area—nearly one-third of the entire floor.

The sounds of children playing constantly drifted out from within. Gazing at it from a distance, Qi Chen could make out, thanks to his exceptional eyesight, that the amusement park was centered around a huge inflatable playground, the most common kind of children’s entertainment facility found in the malls of his former life.

But compared with the amusement parks he remembered, this one, born from rule-based horror, was positively spine-chilling.

The inflatable slide was covered in sharp spikes. The children, their faces alight with joy, paid no heed to them as they scrambled one after another to the top of the slide before plunging down.

The sharp spikes tore through their skin, yet these children, already covered in wounds, seemed utterly incapable of feeling pain. They repeated the activity over and over with unflagging enthusiasm.

Even more children bounced energetically around the inflatable playground, picking up black plastic balls covered in the same vicious spikes and hurling them at one another. The moment one of those black, spike-covered spheres struck someone, its barbs sank straight into flesh.

“This is a children’s amusement park?” Warm Guy’s expression became indescribably strange, while the special task-force members beside him were left dumbfounded.

Qi Chen, too, felt that his horizons had been forcibly broadened by the sight. He was certain he would never be able to enjoy himself in an amusement park like this.

“I don’t see any adults. There probably shouldn’t be any major problems on this floor for now. Let’s find the service desk quickly and see whether there’s a way to alleviate Little Li’s symptoms first.” Qi Chen redirected everyone’s attention to the matter at hand.

Even after reaching the second floor, Little Li’s gradual transformation into a beast had shown no sign of improving.

By now, his entire body was covered in long fur. His face had almost become that of a dog, his body had shrunk considerably, and his limbs had likewise lost all human characteristics.

“The service desk is over by the elevators. Hurry!” Warm Guy glanced at Little Li and immediately issued a new command.

None of them wanted another comrade to die because of delay, so they moved toward the service desk as quickly as they could.

They crossed nearly half of the second floor along the way. Fortunately, the section they passed through consisted entirely of toy stores, meaning they did not yet have to confront the most bizarre presence on the floor—the children’s amusement park.

Even so, the toy shops themselves made everyone uneasy.

In particular, the various toys behind the glass display cases seemed almost alive, staring fixedly at them the entire time. The sensation left everyone deeply uncomfortable.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

Yet when they turned their eyes toward those toys, they found that nothing seemed wrong with them. At most, there were simply many toys they had never seen before.

Maintaining a high level of vigilance, Qi Chen and the others reached the second-floor service desk, where they saw someone dressed exactly like the mall employee at the first-floor service desk.

“Several valued guests, is there anything I can help you with?”

Even the mall employees’ manner of greeting was exactly the same.

Without wasting a word, they placed Little Li, who was nearly a dog by then, on the service desk. The employee immediately understood what Qi Chen and the others wanted.

However, the condition he proposed made everyone raise their brows, distrust written plainly across their faces.

“I can provide assistance to this guest, but all of you must wait here at the service desk.” The employee wore the standard, professionally trained smile, apparently never considering whether his words would inspire the customers to smile as well.

“That guy… He doesn’t look capable of communicating, either.” Warm Guy covered his mouth with one hand and came over to Qi Chen, speaking in a grave tone.

“Indeed. I keep feeling that these employees don’t possess the mental fluctuations a normal person should have.” Qi Chen agreed with Warm Guy’s assessment. The mall employees on both floors gave him a feeling completely unlike that of real people; they were far closer to robots.

Their actions and mannerisms resembled those of lifelike machines rather than genuine human beings with living souls.

Then again, trying to find actual humans within the domain of a rule-based horror was laughable from the outset.

Exchanging glances, Qi Chen and Warm Guy simultaneously shifted their attention past the mall employee to the space behind the counter.

There should be something unusual inside the service desk…

……

Page (3/3)