The Trembling World
chapter-427-30041322

TL: Lifeisajourney

“There’s no need to fret, this could be an instance as part of the game. The moment we took a step through the front gate, we essentially stepped through a functioning spatial crack that transferred us into this instance domain. As long as we finish this instance by fulfilling some requirement, mission, or boss, then we can complete this instance and escape,” Liu Gan calmly proposed an explanation.

What Liu Gan had said wasn’t based off of blind confidence. He has evidence to back the statement. When Zhan Nan Shan and Qiu Tao left the nest, they were heavily injured, but alive. All Liu Gan had to do is piece the evidence together with the facts available.

If they could find that escape route, they would be able to leave safely. Liu Gan believed that with his capabilities and intelligence, it wouldn’t be hard to leave safely. However, his agenda wasn’t as simple as leaving the domain, he wanted to get the prize for completing the mission first.

“Ah, this must be an instance domain, like a dungeon!” Other members accepted Liu Gan’s statement as fact and calmed down.

Those who had played online games before would understand the existence of instances in a world filled with abominations and monsters, especially if they carelessly walked through a doorway all lit up, only to find themselves in a different place. However, this front gate didn’t have any telltale signs of being an instance. Now, they were trapped in this instance until they could beat it.

The wall of malice was an effective trap, isolating the entire Moonlight Gulf Theme Park in a domain. It was no different than being trapped in an instance in a game.

“Lord Liu, what do we need to do now?” a player asked Liu Gan.

“Act according to plan, we will head deeper into the theme park to find clues. If we encounter the so-called Evil Dragon, we will have to come up with a plan to deal with it. Maybe that is what we need to do to obtain the reward and leave safely,” Liu Gan instructed the players.

“Well… Vice-leader He and NaNa aren’t here. How can we deal with the Evil Dragon?” a player stuttered hesitantly.

“What about me?” Liu Gan glanced at that player.

“Yeah! With Lord Liu here, what are you afraid of?” Another player started bashing the stuttering player, speaking up on behalf of Liu Gan.

The name of the player who had defended Liu Gan was Cai Zhao Chen. He wanted to use this chance to prove himself to Liu Gan. Using this opportunity to stand out, he could show to Liu Gan that he had his back, and that he could be trusted as a loyal follower.

Liu Gan took a good look at Cai Zhao Chen. Liu Gan didn’t say anything; he didn’t need to. He has his own criteria for measuring a potential member and they were quite simple. So far, Liu Gan had a good impression of this player. First, the player must be willing to listen and obey orders. Second, the player had to have some specialized capability. Needless to say, if the potential player had a specialized ability and obeyed his rules, then Liu Gan would definitely invest his time to cultivate the player’s growth. If even the simple first criteria wasn’t fulfilled, then Liu Gan wouldn’t waste his time on someone who wouldn’t listen.

Cai Hao Chen seemed to have fit the first criteria perfectly. Liu Gan would remember his name and pay attention to this potential player.

“It will get dark soon. If we want to investigate the area, I suggest that we do it tomorrow morning. Investigating in the dark with limited visibility… that’s definitely dangerous,” the squad’s only female player finally spoke up.

“Yes, we should find a place to camp out for the night. We can start first thing in the morning,” Liu Gan agreed with the female player’s suggestion after looking up at the sky.

After everyone agreed on the plan, Liu Gan led them deeper into the theme park. There was a small plaza that had a large fountain. Although the water in the fountain had dried out, there was dark brown dried blood on the concrete. The ground on the plaza was smooth and flat. Near the fountain, there was a single kid-sized roller skate. One can imagine prior to the catastrophe, this plaza must have had a lot of children roller-skating on it.

Walking past the fountain, there was a wide paved road. Along both sides were stores, all lined up. These stores sold items ranging from toys to food and snacks. All the stores were deteriorated, a reminder of the park’s former glory.

At the end of the paved road were the recreational facilities. There were roller coasters, carousels, bumper cars, pirate ships, and haunted houses.

Every attraction was deteriorating, rusting at either the joints or the rides themselves. The few things that hadn’t faded away yet were the maps and warnings for each ride.

This eerie sensation of a forgotten theme park allowed people to understand the cruelty of nature after humans cease to maintain civilization.

“The haunted house is constructed fairly sturdy. Even though it isn’t warm and cozy, it is suitable for us setting up camp here” the female player suggested to the group after examining the structural integrity of the building. The haunted house was built from brick, so it was more sturdy than all the other buildings.

“You want to set up camp in the haunted house? Only you could think of that,” a concerned player voiced his opinion.

“Really? Of all things, you are scared of haunted houses? Cowards!” the female player was shocked by the reply.

The name of the only female player of this group was Ana Lucia. She was a mixed-blood foreigner. There were a total of five players and survivors who volunteered, but Ana Lucia was the only one chosen by the raffle. In Liu Gan’s honest opinion, he didn’t want to bring her. However, that was met with collective protest about Liu Gan being sexist and unjust. In the end, he took her along to quell the fierce protests.

“Using the haunted house would be a great idea. They constructed it to be really sturdy. Even the materials are top-notch. It still hasn’t collapsed yet from neglect. So it is suitable for setting up camp,” Liu Gan used his knuckles as a standard measuring tool of durability.

“I agree that this place is suitable for us. The ground is elevated, and we have a wide range of vision,” Cai Hao Chen agreed with Ana Lucia.

“See, what did I tell you?” Ana Lucia proudly rubbed it into the concerned player from before.

The concerned player’s name was Star Yu. With Liu Gan, Cai Hao Chen, and Ana Lucia in agreement, Star Yu didn’t want to voice his disagreement. Everyone in this expedition group was courageous to a certain degree. Star Yu’s weakness had to do with haunted houses. A real world incident left him traumatized when he was young.

With dusk imminent, light was fleeing while they were talking about entering the haunted house.