Apocalypse Star House Hoarding-Chapter 266

At the moment the game rules were announced, Yu Xi realized this was absolutely not the normal process expected in the Fairy Tale Amusement Park.
She had been going through various amusement facilities today, trying to find a possible trigger for task hints. But now, thinking back, this was an S-level station, so it was highly likely that various events had already taken place, and the situation had probably escalated to a certain extent.
Human-made?
It was indeed possible, but—could humans really orchestrate something like this?
The amusement park outside the hotel should have been closed, yet it suddenly began operating. The loud bells, eerie childish voice, and flashing lights from the amusement facilities, along with the loud music—this would have woken even the deepest sleepers.
But at that moment, in the rooms on either side of her, the guests were still peacefully asleep, with no sign of waking up.
On other floors of the hotel, a few guests had opened the terrace doors, looking confused at the distant amusement park, listening to the jingling sounds, and bewilderedly staring at their wristbands. “What’s going on? What’s this Nightmare Park? The ‘Queen’s Magic Mirror’? Didn’t we go on this ride during the day? Why does it say we need to go again?”
Yu Xi immediately thought that the guests who had woken up must have been the ones selected to participate, so she…
She quickly tapped her wristband, and sure enough, a 3D screen popped up, with a line of blood-red text: “You have been selected to participate in the Nighttime Amusement Park game. Please open the map for this amusement area.”
Yu Xi followed the instructions and opened the map. On the previously dark gray 3D map, a particular amusement facility was glowing with golden light.
She tapped on the facility, and the small icon immediately enlarged, showing the 3D image and name of the facility: “The Dwarfs’ House.”
**
Outside “The Dwarfs’ House” amusement facility.
“What’s going on? I’ve never heard of a special nighttime event at the Fairy Tale Amusement Park,” a small man adjusted his glasses, furrowing his brow as he examined the lit-up facility in front of him.
“Is it some sort of surprise?” a middle-aged white man responded.
“Does this look like a surprise? What kind of surprise just randomly happens like this? My friend and I are staying in the same room, but I called her several times and got no response!” A woman with red curly hair behind the white man looked visibly upset. “Also, that voice just now said… if we don’t participate in the game, we die? What kind of surprise uses language like that? I think this is more like a prank!”
“That’s possible!” On the other side, a mixed-race woman wearing sexy pajamas brushed her long hair, looking a little irritated. “Could it be an intergalactic live stream? I haven’t even changed my clothes, I’m so tired… I just want to go back to sleep…”
Some were confused, others cautiously skeptical, while some didn’t seem to care at all.
“What should we do? Are we really going in?” a young girl snuggled up to her boyfriend, who had woken up with her. “Who’s playing this prank? Why does this place that seemed so nice during the day feel a little scary now?”
Standing in the crowd, Yu Xi raised an eyebrow.
Indeed, it was the same building, the same whimsical, fairy-tale-like lights and colors, but under the deep blue midnight sky, there was an inexplicable feeling—like a hint of… evil.
She tapped her wristband again, cautiously verifying that the illuminated icon and the game facility in front of her were the same place.
Twenty minutes ago, when she tried to contact her teammates on another planet through the wristband, she found that neither voice calls nor video calls could get through.
She had also tried contacting the hotel customer service, park customer service, and security personnel, but all communications seemed to be cut off by an invisible force.
Now, from the other tourists, she had confirmed that the other non-selected guests couldn’t be woken up.
So, since the midnight bell rang, they, the selected participants of the Nighttime Amusement Park, had already been completely isolated.
She eventually managed to contact the other three teammates through the Endless Train world’s phone, in the team chat.
As soon as she sent the message, the other three replied, revealing that they had also woken up because of the bell and discovered that they had been selected to participate in the Nighttime Amusement Park project.
Today was their first day at the station, and yet all four of them had been chosen to participate in the Nightmare Park at night. The selection rate was shockingly high.
But with the game rules announced, they all agreed that the most important thing was to complete the game first. Any ideas could be discussed later.
She had walked from her hotel to here, passing by several illuminated amusement facilities along the way, noticing that each had about twenty to thirty visitors.
Once the number of participants reached the required standard, the entrance to the facility would automatically open, and the same childish voice they had heard before would announce that the amusement ride would begin in ten minutes, urging all participating guests to enter immediately.
Generally, if one guest entered, others would hesitate but follow.
Of course, there were occasionally one or two who couldn’t make up their minds and stayed outside.
Since she was in a hurry to get to her own illuminated facility, she didn’t linger in other areas, so she wasn’t sure what would happen to those who stayed outside past the time limit…
Five minutes later, a few more people arrived outside “The Dwarfs’ House.” Yu Xi quietly counted; there were now nineteen people.
The entrance to the facility, which had been closed, suddenly opened, and the neon lights inside began to flash. The childish voice came from deep inside the passage, sounding exactly like what she had heard in front of other facilities.
—Hehehe, so happy to see everyone. I’m NPC No. 32. Please enter quickly, the game will start in ten minutes.
—Attention, the amusement facility will close in ten minutes. Visitors who fail to enter in time will be considered to have lost the game.
Yu Xi turned off her wristband and stepped forward into the facility.
**
“The Dwarfs’ House” was an immersive experience amusement facility. Inside the massive venue, a realistic fairy-tale forest and several forest cottages were created.
Each forest cottage had a table set with seven plates and portions of food, with seven identical beds nearby.
Here, visitors could play the roles of Snow White or any of the seven dwarfs, wear medieval costumes, enjoy ancient foods (modernized versions), and make friends…
The characters not chosen by the visitors were played by park staff, who would create and arrange some impromptu events, such as Snow White hiding in the forest cottage, the evil stepmother appearing to give ribbons, combs, and apples, and holding joyful bonfire parties.
The surrounding forest and cottages could change colors and move, including the weather, rainbows, and waterfalls that would change with the scene, making visitors feel as if they had truly traveled through time to the world of the story.
Yu Xi had played the role of a dwarf here during the day, mining gold in the cave, and had also watched other visitors role-play Snow White and even the Queen, so she knew the general process of the game.
At this moment, in the center of the venue’s forest, the tall trees automatically moved aside, revealing a vague red circle and a forest cottage in the middle. The door to the cottage was open, and a tall man stood in the doorway, welcoming visitors with a huge smile.
Yu Xi focused for two seconds, then immediately realized that the man’s enormous smile was actually a face mask that resembled a real human face. The mask was so lifelike and exquisite, with even the eyes complete. There wasn’t even a breathing hole.
How was he breathing, and how could he see through the mask?
Other visitors, unaware of the strangeness, walked in, not realizing the unusual nature of the man. This was the first staff member they encountered after waking up in the middle of the night. While some relaxed, others immediately complained as they walked past, expressing displeasure at this prank disturbing their rest.
“Game will begin soon, please be patient and wait,” the masked staff member spoke, but the childish voice was chilling.
The closest visitor, a woman with red curly hair, stepped back in fear. She hesitated as she looked at the mask’s enormous smile, confused as to why he had changed his voice.
“Hey, don’t go too far!” the middle-aged white man frowned. “We’ve said that we don’t like these pranks, and we don’t want to participate in some nighttime amusement park. Where’s your superior? Let them come out and see me! I want to file a complaint about this ridiculous, frightening, and disrespectful behavior from the park!”
The staff member continued to stand there, once again speaking in the same childish voice: “Game will begin soon, please be patient and wait.”
“Stop scaring people! Why are you still speaking in that voice?” The white man’s irritation grew, and he stepped forward, reaching out to tear off the man’s mask.
“Ah-oh…” the staff member let out an astonished sound, seemingly surprised that his mask was ripped off.
The white man stared at the face behind the mask and staggered back, horrified.
Beneath the humanoid mask was a white face.
No, it couldn’t be called a face. A normal face would have features, but this one only had a black line where the mouth should be. At that moment, the line opened and closed as the childish voice continued speaking: “Are you done looking?”
The figure tilted its head slightly, a seemingly innocent gesture, but combined with the face, it felt utterly terrifying.
A blood-red tongue slipped out from the black gap, gently licking nonexistent lips. “Visitors who disturb the NPCs are bad visitors… Hehehe, it’s time to deal with it—”
Before the last word could fall, the figure removed its hat, and its head suddenly twisted 180 degrees, revealing another face on the back.
This was a cute, joyful face, the same one the staff had worn during the day when they played the dwarf role. But now, it looked as if the mask had come to life. It could open its mouth and reveal a mouth full of sharp teeth.
The figure bit into the white man’s neck, and the artery was ruptured. Blood gushed out instantly.
The white man clutched his neck, gasping in broken bubbles, then collapsed onto the ground, his body stiffening.
The other visitors froze for two seconds before screaming in terror. Some were paralyzed with fear and couldn’t move, some turned and ran toward the exit, and others opened their wristbands to try calling the security.
The figure—or whatever it was—looked up, and the open mouth closed. It still wore a joyful, childlike face, but now it was smeared with sticky blood.
It glanced at the fleeing visitors, unmoved, and stood still.
The entrance and exit to the venue were slowly closing, and as the time ran out, the game was about to begin. Some desperate visitors ran ahead to make it before the doors closed.
But as the doors to the amusement venue shut, the wristbands of those who ran out started flashing red. In the next second, the red light exploded, burning their bodies into black powder, which scattered on the ground.
The remaining visitors, who hadn’t made it in time and were pressing against the glass door, stepped back in shock, their faces as pale as corpses.
Next, some visitors quickly realized what was happening and tried to tear off their wristbands, attempting to free themselves from the dangerous device. But no matter how hard they tried, the wristbands seemed to be fused to their wrists.
Some even tried to use tools to pry them off, but after only a few attempts, the wristband’s screen automatically opened, displaying a blood-red warning: “Those who forcefully remove the wristband will be considered to have lost the game.”
The visitors’ attempts to tear the wristbands off immediately ceased.
NPC No. 32 sighed with regret, muttering about how it was such a waste, before putting on the hat again, turning his head back, and putting the ripped-off mask back on, returning to his original staff appearance: “The game is about to start. Listen to the rules.”
This time, no visitor made a sound.
“Immersive role-playing game: We are all Snow White.”
Rules: The Queen’s soldiers are after you. Within five minutes, choose a place to hide within the red circle. If, within half an hour, the “Snow White” who is not found by the soldiers wins the game.
Note: You are a fragile and helpless “Snow White.” You cannot resist the soldiers. Any act of retaliation will be considered a violation, and violators will lose the game.
After NPC No. 32 read out the game rules, he placed his hands on his chest and bowed to the still-shocked visitors in front of him. “Game—start!”
As soon as the voice finished, a small countdown appeared on Yu Xi’s wristband: 4 minutes 59 seconds.
She looked up, and NPC No. 32, with an unnervingly quick and monkey-like movement, climbed up a nearby large tree. The tree trunk was straight and smooth, and the lower part had no branches—Yu Xi couldn’t understand how the figure had climbed it.
**
As the other visitors frantically ran around searching for hiding places, Yu Xi remained standing still.
This type of game reminded her of infinite-flow novels. Typically, in such games, there wouldn’t be a guaranteed fatal outcome.
The red circle wasn’t that big, containing a single forest cottage, a dense patch of tall grass, a pool of water, a two-meter wide river with a wooden bridge over it, and a few tall trees scattered around.
In the story, Snow White had only arrived in the forest after being freed by a kind-hearted servant, where she discovered the dwarfs’ cottage. There had been no soldiers chasing her. According to the usual storyline, Snow White should hide in the cottage and find a concealed place to hide.
The dwarfs’ cottage was, for Snow White, a sanctuary.
Many visitors had realized this. They rushed into the cottage, some hiding in the cabinets, some under the beds, and others inside the fireplace.
The couple found the cellar entrance and hid in the pitch-black cellar.
If hiding in the cottage was the key to escaping, then the game would be too easy. Since entering this venue, Yu Xi had felt an eerie sense of malevolence. She didn’t think this Nighttime Amusement Park would follow the rules of the story and let participants win easily.
Other visitors shared similar thoughts. So, the small man with glasses ended up hiding in the tall, dense grass, while the red-haired mixed-race woman took a small breathing mask from her wristband’s space and hid in the pool.
The mixed-race beauty in pajamas probably also wanted to hide in the water, but likely due to not having a breathing mask in her space, she ended up bundling her long hair and wading into the water, hanging beneath the bridge with impressive agility.
In Yu Xi’s view, both the water and the underside of the bridge were good hiding spots. They were the soldiers’ likely paths, but sometimes the most dangerous places were also the safest.
However, at this moment, she saw an even safer place in her mind.
Countdown: 2 minutes 13 seconds.
She quickly began running in a certain direction.
**
The five-minute hiding time ended, and the soldiers appeared. They were dressed entirely in black, holding drawn swords, wearing helmets and masks. They moved in perfect unison and flooded into the previously quiet forest. They passed through the tall grass, crossed the bridge and the pool, and headed straight for the forest cottage.
Moments later, as visitors were found, terrified screams filled the air.
“You’re violating the rules! I’ve played this game before! Snow White just has to hide in the cottage to be safe! This is a safe house! You can’t come in—ahh—”
“I’m a guest from Capital Star! I’m an SVIP guest! I have the highest privileges in the park! This is a crime—”
“Please, please don’t kill me—”
…
One after another, the visitors hiding in the cottage were found. The black-clad soldiers dragged them out like animals, bringing them to the clearing outside the cottage, where they were slashed across the throat with swords.
The smell of blood filled the forest, and visitors hiding elsewhere trembled, desperately covering their mouths to avoid making a sound.
All they could think was, survive! They had to survive this half hour!
Some, upon being found, screamed in desperation, shouting that they knew the hiding spots of other visitors, pleading with the soldiers to spare them.
One man had seen the couple hide in the kitchen cellar earlier and immediately pointed to the cellar entrance without hesitation.
Eventually, the couple was found and slain in the clearing, while the man who had betrayed them still couldn’t escape and was stabbed by the soldiers.
This wasn’t a game—it was a massacre.
Some visitors, terrified out of their minds, took out knives from their wristband space just before they were found. Screaming, they ran forward and stabbed one of the black soldiers in the neck. The soldier collapsed, blood pouring from the wound.
But before the visitor could rejoice, their wristband suddenly flashed red. The next second, their body was incinerated by the red light, turning into a pile of black dust…
—Violation of the game rules: death.
Apart from the white man who died at the hands of NPC No. 32 earlier and the three visitors who ran out of the game area, eleven of the remaining fifteen people had already been found and slain.
With only five minutes left, the soldiers searched the entire cottage and began looking in other areas. They started at the cottage perimeter and gradually expanded their search outward.
The three visitors hiding in the tall grass, the pool, and under the bridge felt their hearts pounding. Thankfully, as the soldiers searched again, their hiding spots were in the outermost range of the search.
Finally, when the mixed-race beauty hiding under the bridge heard the footsteps on the bridge, the half-hour countdown ended.
The soldiers quickly retreated, and they survived.
“Congratulations to the five players who have completed the ‘We Are All Snow White’ game! Game rewards have been issued through your wristbands. Please leave the venue in an orderly fashion through the exit. Nightmare Park looks forward to your next visit.” The childish voice echoed from the speakers around them.
The three of them, their steps unsteady, appeared in the clearing, confused as to why the announcer said five players had passed when there were only three of them.
Meanwhile, high atop a large tree, NPC No. 32, still wearing the human face mask, announced the end of the game through a megaphone while tilting his head and staring ominously at a young woman on the other side of the tree crown. He seemed displeased with her for hiding there with him.
Yu Xi hooked her foot onto a branch, firmly anchoring herself in the tree crown. As if deliberately provoking him, she slowly spoke, “During the daytime games, I remember that unchosen roles were played by the park staff. They would also become participants in the game. Since you’re wearing the staff mask, it means that tonight, you’re also a participant in the game. So, the place where you hid must be the safest spot in the whole game.”
Confirming this wasn’t difficult.
The staff member had always emphasized the game rules, but the white man who angered him hadn’t been burned into black dust by the red light from his wristband like other rule-breakers. Instead, he had been attacked and killed by the NPC. Even now, the white man’s body still lay on the ground, untouched by the red light.
This meant the white man had only violated the NPC’s rules (the attack rule), not the overall game rules—this also indicated that the NPC didn’t represent the game itself. It was likely another participant, just like them.
The NPC’s quick climb up the tree after announcing the game had started further confirmed this: after the game began, it was also “Snow White,” and if found by the soldiers, it would fail too.
But this was just a theory, not a certainty. She climbed the same tree because it was tall and straight—ordinary people couldn’t climb it, like other visitors. So, relatively speaking, it was a safe place within the game’s red circle.
The second reason was that she had confidence in her physical strength. As long as she didn’t break the game rules and trigger the deadly red light, even if she angered the NPC, she would know how to handle it.
Hearing the announcement that five players had completed the game, she knew her guess was correct.
Yu Xi glanced at NPC No. 32, who was still watching her ominously. She quickly descended the tree and left the game venue through the exit.
**
On the wristband’s 3D screen, the red text had disappeared, replaced by normal black text: “Congratulations on completing the Nighttime Amusement Park game. Please collect your reward in the wristband space.”
Yu Xi had observed the other three visitors’ game rewards earlier. All three of them received the same reward: a black card called “Exemption from Lottery,” which, after being clicked to collect, turned to dust and disappeared into their bodies.
Yu Xi guessed that this card probably exempted them from being selected for the Nighttime Amusement Park again.
But her reward was different from theirs. She suspected this was because of her “traveler” identity.
Game Reward: Dwarfs’ Bread (After consumption, grants sharp dwarf-like insight at the current station, lasting for 1 hour.)
Yu Xi stared at the bread, about the size of her head, with only one thought in her mind: Ridiculous!
Who could possibly eat such a large chunk of bread all at once? She had enhanced physical fitness, but her stomach hadn’t grown larger…
At 2:00 AM, the childish voice echoed throughout the venue.
—Friendly reminder, there are two hours left before the Nighttime Amusement Park closes. Keep up the good work!
However, by now, some visitors were completely trapped in the game. Some, unfortunate enough to be selected for physical-themed rides, had been flung out of their seats, bloodied and on the verge of death. Even hearing the announcement, they didn’t know how they could escape…
On her way back to the hotel, Yu Xi saw many visitors still searching around the service desk near the plaza, trying to find staff to stop this absurd farce, but they couldn’t find anyone.
There were screams and cries everywhere…
At 4:00 AM, as the announcement came, all the illuminated amusement facilities suddenly went dark. From the hotel floor where Yu Xi was, she could see red lights exploding all over the park.
That was the punishment for game losers and non-participants when the Nighttime Amusement Park closed.
At this moment, with three hours remaining until dawn, it was the darkest time before the dawn.
**
When Yu Xi woke up again, it was already daylight. The faint red sky was dotted with several beautiful planets. The long night had ended, and daylight had arrived. The whole Fairy Tale Amusement Park seemed to have returned to normal order.
Just like when she woke up at midnight, she still didn’t remember how she had fallen asleep.
She walked to the window and looked outside, finding that early risers were already strolling peacefully in the garden, parents with their children, lovers cuddling up together. There were sounds of laughter as they discussed their plans for the day, sharing stories about the amusement park, seemingly unaware of the nightmare that had lasted for the last four hours.
It wasn’t just the visitors who hadn’t been selected. After observing for nearly half an hour, Yu Xi noticed several of the visitors who had participated in the Nighttime Amusement Park game the previous night among the growing crowd.
But now, just like the others, they were smiling, as if they had completely forgotten everything that had happened last night.
So, when regular visitors survived the night-time game, they received the exemption card and forgot all about the Nighttime Amusement Park.
As for why she remembered, it was probably because of her “traveler” identity.
The question now was: Tonight, at midnight, would she be drawn into the Nighttime Amusement Park again?