Welcome to the Nightmare Live

Chapter 123: Fantasy Amusement Park Director’s Rules

The long and narrow staircase extended into the darkness, carrying with it a slightly musty scent in the cold, shadowy air.

The footsteps from outside the tightly closed door grew closer.

There was no time to delay.

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, steadied himself, and then walked towards the staircase. The empty mirror frame behind him clicked shut, emitting a soft sound that swallowed the last strand of light.

Inside the narrow stairwell, it was pitch black.

He activated the flashlight on his phone, using the faint white light to silently ascend the stairs.

With each step, Wen Jianyan had to pause to catch his breath.

His current size was too small, and his legs were too short; climbing the stairs was a disadvantage. Added to that, his knees were wrapped in thick bandages, further hindering his movement.

The stairs were narrow and steep, winding upward. He lost track of time, but a faint light appeared in the darkness ahead.

Finally, the staircase reached its end.

Upon leaving the stairwell, before him stretched a long, pitch-black corridor. Closed doors lined both sides; this was likely the “office area” mentioned in the rules of the amusement park.

The entire corridor was silent, without a sound.

Wen Jianyan walked towards one of the doors, carefully tiptoeing and peering through the window.

The room was pitch-black. The dim light revealed that the walls, floor, and ceiling were all covered in a thick layer of mucus. Something inside seemed to be wriggling, emitting eerie, wet sounds.

Wen Jianyan was startled and immediately stepped back.

It seemed he should keep his distance from these rooms.

Wen Jianyan subtly slowed his breath. His body was slender and small, like a cat landing on the ground, moving soundlessly as he quickly proceeded down the corridor.

His gaze brushed over door after closed door until it settled at the end of the corridor.

Three characters were engraved on a metal plate on the wall: [Director’s Office].

…This was the place.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[I’m so nervous, ahhh!]

[I’ve never seen an anchor find this place before!!]

[Yeah, me neither! The Pirate Ship was difficult enough to locate, and just getting into it is rare among anchors. But being able to follow the trail and find this place, there really is no one else but this anchor!!]

]Ah, the Director’s Office of the Fantasy Amusement Park, ahhh! You can tell it’s a super crucial location just from the name! I’m too anxious to look at it!]

[Speaking of which, could the boss’s soul fragment from earlier be here too?]

[I don’t know! It feels like what’s going to happen next is completely unknown. I’m so excited now!]

“…”

Wen Jianyan took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus, then slowly raised his hand and tentatively pushed open the Director’s Office door.

To his surprise, the door wasn’t locked.

The metal-clad door slid silently inward, revealing a room that appeared unusually normal.

It was spacious, furnished with a desk, an office chair, and bookshelves—everything one would expect in a regular office.

The room lacked windows, and the lighting was dim. A thick layer of dust covered the desk and bookshelves.

The door clicked shut behind Wen Jianyan.

He skillfully searched the room, looking for any thread of evidence that could be considered a clue.

“Creak—”

The drawer of the desk slid open, revealing a thin piece of paper stuck tightly to the bottom of the drawer in front of Wen Jianyan.

He blinked in slight surprise.

Under the flashlight’s illumination, the words “Fantasy Amusement Park Director’s Rules” stood out prominently.

As he looked at those words, Wen Jianyan’s heart raced.

[Congratulations on your employment at Fantasy Amusement Park and becoming our director! To ensure the park’s normal operation and your personal safety, please adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Please remain within the park at all times. Unless under special circumstances, do not leave without authorization.

2. Provide top-tier benefits for daytime park staff and purchase the highest level of personal safety insurance for them. This guarantees that in the event of a staff member’s disappearance, their families will be protected and receive substantial compensation.

3. If a daytime staff member is not missing from their post but their family reports them missing, follow the procedure outlined in Rule [2].

4. Your work begins after midnight. ■■■■ Night Staff ■■■■ Ensure ■■■■■■. If you hear “chewing sounds” and “laughter”, it’s normal. If you hear “crying” and “anger”, it’s not normal. Contact the cleaning staff immediately to check if routine tasks have been completed.

5. If tasks aren’t completed, ■■■■ Night Staff and cleaning staff to ensure ■■.

6. Do not bring any form of ■■ into your office. Your office is the most core location within the entire park, a ■■■■■■■ passage. It is the power source that maintains the park’s order and daily operation. Every effort must be made to prevent ■■ from approaching.

The contents of these rules were too obscure to be fully deciphered, containing nearly all the most secretive rules. Most of it was inscrutable.

However…

Wen Jianyan’s gaze settled on the final rule.

This rule might have been difficult for others to grasp, but for Wen Jianyan, the answer was as plain as day.

Remember, he was the sole bishop of a certain god and had received the order to “find soul fragments.”

He knew Wu Zhu’s abilities better than anyone.

This entity was nearly omnipresent with mirrors. Yet, he required Wen Jianyan, this bishop, to complete the mission in his stead. That could only mean one thing—he was unable to reach this place.

Connecting this with the empty mirror frame below… the last rule became clear.

[Do not bring any form of mirror into your office. Every effort must be made to prevent it from approaching.]

And then that line…

[The power source that maintains the park’s order and daily operation?]

In other words, was Wu Zhu’s soul fragment actually regarded as an internal combustion engine for this Fantasy Amusement Park?

Although it was not fair, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help feeling a bit of schadenfreude.

Hahaha, even you have your comeuppance!

If that’s truly the case, many previous occurrences could be explained.

After all, in this instance, “trust” and “observation” were pivotal keywords.

Perhaps it was because of this that the rules of the Leisure Zone mentioned that the “Mirror Maze” did not exist. This was likely to prevent visitors from observing the existence of the mirror maze, thereby preventing Wu Zhu’s intrusion into Fantasy Amusement Park.

Therefore, as the “bishop,” Wen Jianyan would be the first to observe the existence of the Mirror Maze.

Simultaneously, the significance of this instance to him grew even greater—

If Granny Wen in Antai Community was only “suppressing” and “sealing” malevolent spirits, this instance had become about “utilization” and “control.” In other words, if the item he sought was truly within this instance, it could potentially overturn the power balance completely between him and Wu Zhu.

Wen Jianyan’s eyes sparkled, and a slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[What the heck, why does the anchor suddenly look so sinister?!]

[Hahahaha, that’s true! It feels like every time he wears this expression, someone is about to get fooled.]

[A dog liar with mischief all over him, but still so adorable, aww!]

[….?! Another victim ensnared by beauty, pull him down, there’s no saving him.]

Gazing at the Director’s Rules before him, Wen Jianyan suddenly thought of something.

If his guess was correct, then…

He swiftly opened the Nightmare app on his phone and accessed his backpack—the special item, “Mr. Mirror,” he was bound to have somehow jumped into the first slot of his backpack, with a small red dot in the upper right corner.

【Detecting conditions met. Would you like to spend points to activate the ‘Mr. Mirror’ item?】

“…”

The psychological shadow left by activating Mr. Mirror last time hadn’t completely dissipated. Wen Jianyan stared at the small red dot, falling into a prolonged silence.

Spending 20,000 points for a near-death experience, this kind of moronic deal was something no sane person would agree to.

He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and reluctantly said:

“…Activate.”

【50000 points will be deducted from your account.】

Wen Jianyan: “…”

Wait a moment?

How much???

How much?

Fifty thousand?

Why not just rob him???

How could this thing still have price fluctuations???

What’s more, this instance was different from the previous one. In this instance, there were no tasks to earn points. There was only a mainline task that needed to be completed to clear the instance. In other words, apart from audience tips, there were no point gains in Wen Jianyan’s account.

Fifty thousand points… that was eighty percent of his account balance!

Indeed, anything related to mirrors was never a good thing!

Though the thought made Wen Jianyan feel as though he was bleeding, once he had agreed, it was too late to regret it. He could only watch helplessly as his account balance plummeted.

The mirror fragment, shimmering with faint ripples, appeared in Wen Jianyan’s palm.

The moment the mirror appeared, a long-lost system prompt sounded in his ears—

【Ding!】

【Plot Deviation: 50% Reward Points: 30000】

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Huh?]

[???]

[I’m not mistaken, right? Plot deviation? Does this Fantasy Amusement Park instance really have something like plot deviation?]

[Damn, I’m shocked too! What’s going on?! I’ve watched the Fantasy Amusement Park instance no less than ten times, and I’ve never seen this situation even once!]

[Exactly me too! I thought this instance didn’t have the concept of plot deviation! Previously, I’d never even seen 1% of it, let alone 50%!]

[So now he’s jumping halfway through?]

[Damn, what’s happening!]

Hearing the prompt in his ears, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

He suddenly realized something.

No matter how outrageous his actions were before, how difficult the maps were, or how deeply hidden the clues were, they had never generated even a sliver of plot deviation.

As the instance progressed, the plot deviation he created always remained at 0%.

Plot deviation—the instance’s trajectory deviating from “normal.”

It was as if a puppeteer found an opportunity to escape their strings or an actor discovered a flaw in the script, enough to cause the intricately constructed instance to crumble into disarray.

Wen Jianyan’s gaze settled on the mirror fragment in his palm. He took a deep breath, raised his finger, and lightly touched the mirror’s cold surface.

[Your office is the most core location within the entire park, a ■■■■■■■ passage.]

The next second, a powerful attraction pulled him in abruptly!

Wen Jianyan tightly closed his eyes.

Just let me see where this passage leads!

***

Dizzy and disoriented, everything flipped upside down.

It felt as if he had been tossed into a washing machine. Wen Jianyan’s head spun, and his vision was filled with swirling colors and fragmented light spots… Although he had experienced this situation before, no matter how many times it happened, he could never get used to the dizziness.

With a pale face, he stumbled and managed to steady himself.

Before he could open his eyes, an extremely pungent odor rushed into his nostrils—

Damp, sticky, and fishy, like a blend of the smell of water and the stench of blood. It was so overpowering that it seemed to occupy everything in the air, causing Wen Jianyan’s stomach to twitch involuntarily.

He composed himself and slowly opened his eyes.

To his surprise, he wasn’t indoors.

He was outdoors.

In front of him was a vast square, completely devoid of people. The sky was a rich blood-red color, with deep red streaks stretching across the sky like chaotic wounds.

Not far away, there was a massive iron gate. Both its height and design were identical to the gate outside the Fantasy Amusement Park.

More precisely, the layout here was exactly the same as the North Square outside the Fantasy Amusement Park, almost like a mirror image. Except for one thing—

Above the gate, instead of the words “Fantasy Amusement Park,” there was a different name:

[Frog Food Processing Factory]