"Mission failed, punishment is about to begin."
As soon as the announcement came over the loudspeakers, complaints erupted from all around.
"Who is it this time?"
"…We’ve already had zombies twice before, this time as long as it’s not zombies."
"Please, please, don’t let it be zombies. I just ran myself to death in twenty minutes."
Only half of the players currently remain in the amusement park; most of those eliminated were actors, as their stamina couldn’t match that of the children. They couldn’t outrun them, and before the clown even had a chance to act, the zombies had already taken them out.
Inside the park, NPCs began to cry out in surprise, but the players, now accustomed to such events, merely sighed and got up to find a hiding spot.
Gao Xiayu and Chi Qiao were together, both holding elimination tools for players, and the tense atmosphere that had been building up was immediately broken.
"Hold on, hold on, the final battle will have to wait. Let’s find a place to hide first," Gao Xiayu said, raising his hand to signal. He didn’t even wait for Chi Qiao to respond before grabbing him and starting to run.
The cries of surprise were close by, and with the speed at which the zombies spread, they would soon be upon them. So, they had to run before that happened.
Chi Qiao also heard the cries and ran even faster than Gao Xiayu. "Ugh, ugh, ugh! This is way too intense!"
Such scenarios were only seen in movies, and although he had fantasized about what he would do if he encountered zombies, it certainly wasn’t like this at the start.
While running, Gao Xiayu noticed that there was no countdown timer in the upper right corner. He was momentarily confused but quickly realized, "Oh no, this time it’s permanent."
He had initially thought the punishment would just be extended, but he didn’t expect that after three instances of the same punishment, the permanent mode would be activated.
This meant that until they escaped, this would be their limited-time apocalypse.
The carousel area was still peaceful, with parents waiting for their children, and a line of kids waiting to ride the carousel. With so many people around, the two of them had to navigate through the crowd, and in the process, they accidentally knocked over a child.
When they bumped into someone, there was no physical sensation of impact, but their glasses vibrated, signaling that a physical contact had occurred.
Gao Xiayu quickly stopped, helped the child up, and apologized to the parents.
The actual footage included many more details, such as the live broadcast only showing the perspective of the artists, and even if there were third-party views, they were still player-focused. But in the actual footage, the real scenes from the amusement park were shown.
Xia Simiao was being chased by zombies. She held a tool she had just found in the toy store, a baseball bat marked with the remaining number of uses. Seeing that she had run to a less populated area, she quickly slammed on the brakes, turned around, and swung the bat at the zombie’s body.
She had thought there would be real actors in the scene, so she held back, fearing she might hurt someone. But in reality, there was no one around her.
Xia Simiao noticed this after her first swing, and the second time she swung the bat, she aimed for the zombie’s head with full force. The bat vibrated with resistance as it hit, and the zombie she struck fell to the ground.
"Finally, someone who actually fights back against the zombies. My chest feels so much better."
"Isn’t that a real person? How can she hit so hard?"
"No wonder they made us verify our ID before watching! I love it!"
To prevent misunderstandings, the production team also released on-site videos. Xia Simiao, wearing glasses, stood in an empty plaza, swinging her bat like a madman.
"It’s making me itch to try it myself. Can’t they just authorize us to play too?"
"I love fourth-wall-breaking themes. Can’t they do a survival-type next time?"
"Next year’s group variety show, I vote for unlimited flow!!!"
While some, like Xia Simiao, used brute force, others like Yao Shuo used their brains.
The staff rest area was empty, as everyone had gone out to maintain order. Yao Shuo had originally planned to take a break and let the others handle the situation, only stepping in when it came down to the final moments. But now, with the situation changed, the zombies could show up at any moment, and he needed to find clues quickly to escape.
Otherwise, his heart wouldn’t be able to take it.
"Kill it to get out… kill it to get out…" Yao Shuo closed the dormitory door and sat on the bunk bed, analyzing the clue card.
In this cramped space, with no one else around, he could only talk to himself, laying out the conditions and analyzing them one by one.
Yao Shuo took a pen and started drawing lines on his notebook, thinking out loud, "Let’s think from another angle… killing this person ends the game, but in the game, eliminations are random. What if Zhen Ya is that person? If Zhen Ya is eliminated, the game should end, but it doesn’t."
"Since the production team dared to set it up this way, that means this person isn’t among the players."
"Yao Shuo from their group variety show is the one with the sharpest mind!"
"Damn, I was still analyzing what identity cards the others had, but the BOSS isn’t among them."
"Among the NPCs! There are so many NPCs, how long will it take to find them?"
This is the staff rest area, maybe there’s an employee manual here.
The audience, with their god’s-eye view, knew more than the players in the show. The chat was already narrowing down the scope of the big BOSS to the amusement park’s staff.
"What if the big BOSS turned into a zombie? Would that count as him being dead or alive?"
"What a quick mind, just one piece of information and he can deduce so much."
"Pei Luming is such a stark contrast to him."
"Can the chat stop dragging Pei Luming down? He’s just good at eating and playing."
When the zombie outbreak happened, Pei Luming had just boarded the Ferris wheel, hoping to spot any glowing game tickets from above. But as soon as he rose a bit, he saw the chaos below.
At that moment, he closed his eyes and thought, "It’s over…"
By the time he finished the ride and got down, it would be like walking into a lion’s den.
In another area, Han Lemi had no idea what the punishment was. She hadn’t felt any changes in the environment around her, nor had she heard any sounds. The flower parade was about to begin, and she wanted to see if there were any clues on the floats, so she stopped by the roadside.
The cheerful melody played, and Han Lemi enthusiastically joined in, dancing along with the warm-up staff in front of her.
The chat was filled with anxious viewers urging her to run.
"The zombies are here! Lemi! Run!"
"Ahhh, they’re right at the flower parade entrance! Run!"
"I can’t take it, my heart hurts!"
Han Lemi also heard the screams and cheers ahead, and she stood on tiptoe to look, thinking the parade was about to start.
But as she looked, she realized something was wrong. Tourists were scattering in all directions.
"Why do I feel…" Before she could finish her sentence, Han Lemi saw a zombie pounce on a little girl, pinning her to the ground.
Without hesitation, she turned and ran, her legs moving so fast they were like a duck’s paddling underwater.
While the outside world was in chaos, Jiang Juyou was leisurely in her vehicle, feeling like she was fermenting from boredom. The players were all busy hiding and hadn’t come to her to exchange clues.
When the zombie outbreak occurred, there were originally a few zombies near her, but they were all lured away by Pei Zhiping. It was unclear why she was so attractive to zombies; they all chased after her.
As Pei Zhiping ran past Jiang Juyou's RV again, she shouted to Jiang Juyou, who was leaning on the counter watching the commotion, "Jiang...," but before she could finish, she was already running away.
Jiang Juyou lifted her head to look at the roadside, but before she could even see Pei Zhiping’s figure, she had disappeared.
The chat, watching Pei Zhiping run back again, was filled with "hahaha" messages.
"Next up is Pei Zhiping from Class 2, Grade 3――"
"Others walk their dogs, Pei Zhiping walks zombies."
"Hahaha, this is the third lap already, my heart aches for her."
"Jiang! Can I come up and hide?" Pei Zhiping shouted toward Jiang Juyou's direction.
Jiang Juyou shouted back, "You can’t come up without a game ticket!" and quickly closed the window to prevent zombies from climbing in.
Pei Zhiping quickly shouted, "I have one!"
"Go ahead!" Jiang Juyou went to the door of the RV and opened it.
Exhausted from running, Pei Zhiping took a big step and climbed in, collapsing onto the floor as soon as she entered. Jiang Juyou didn’t have time to close the door properly, and a few arms got caught in the doorway.
"Move further inside." Jiang Juyou held the door handle, preventing the zombies outside from prying it open.
After Pei Zhiping crawled a bit further in, Jiang Juyou pushed the door, shoving the zombies away from the entrance. She even kicked one that was trying to climb in, successfully closing the door.
Lying on the ground, almost exhausted, Pei Zhiping weakly said, "Thank you... thank you, Director Jiang."
This punishment had no set end time. The players had already expended a lot of energy during the previous zombie punishment periods. This time was no different, and within just half an hour, only a dozen players remained.
Han Lemi, who was running for her life, had turned into a dirty little beggar. Despite her image of being a food lover who liked to lounge around, she was surprisingly nimble when it came to moving.
Han Lemi propped herself up on a chair and flipped over a long bench. Her legs almost gave out when she landed, but she didn't stop, continuing to run. The zombies weren't very fast, but their numbers were overwhelming, with them coming from every direction. To avoid them, the players had to move quickly.
Too busy escaping, Han Lemi forgot about the need to find clues.
"Oh no, I can't... I'm really out of breath..." Han Lemi panted, still muttering, "I just ran 800 meters last week, and I haven't recovered yet."
"I can't do this, I need to find clues... if this doesn't end soon, I'm going to die."
Han Lemi resigned herself and turned around, running towards the parade float, nearly colliding with several zombies head-on.
Up ahead, there were both attacking zombies and fleeing tourists, creating a chaotic scene. Han Lemi used all the evasive techniques she had learned from boxing to finally reach the parade float.
Instead of going directly to the float, she climbed up a nearby popcorn stand by the lamppost.
Once she was up, she didn't even have time to open her eyes properly. She just collapsed and took several deep breaths to catch her breath.
The path where the parade float had passed was filled with zombies. She didn't dare move too much, afraid of making noise and drawing attention. The float itself had only revealed its front, the rest still hidden behind a door. She carefully examined the front of the float, which only had the name of the amusement park written on it, with no other information.
"Do I have to go inside to find out...?" Han Lemi muttered softly.
The punishment had already lasted thirty minutes, and everyone was exhausted from running. They had all found a place to hide and catch their breath.
With the outside quieting down, the zombies also stopped their frenzy and began moving slowly on the streets.
The others had all hidden indoors. Pei Luming had spent the past half hour inside the Ferris wheel. Each time the wheel reached the bottom, he would pull the door handle tight to prevent it from opening.
The zombies below, looking up expectantly, accidentally boarded other cabins, resulting in Pei Luming and the zombies engaging in a sort of romantic dance.
Pei Luming glanced down and thought, "I can't stay here forever."
There were only a few zombies left at the platform, the rest either high up in the air or having fallen to their deaths.
He struggled with his thoughts for a moment, then took off one of his shoes, "I need to lure them away before I can get out."
"Once I'm down, there's a fence behind me... I can move along the fence."
"But where should I go? I don't have any clues!"
"Punishment has lasted thirty minutes—public communication channel is now open. Please test your microphones."
After the announcement, a five-minute countdown appeared in the upper right corner.
The microphone would only be open for five minutes.
"...Hello?"
"Finally, I hear a human voice."
"Shh, shh, keep it down!"
"Who's still alive?"
"Where are you? Someone, please save me."
"Who are you?"
Everyone had forgotten that this was an individual battle. In this moment, they leaned on each other in the communication channel, seeking psychological comfort.
Gao Xiayu spoke up, "Is everyone from Timetrain still alive?"
"Yes, yes, we're alive."
"Yao Shuo is online."
"Ye Xing is still here."
"Hey, where's Chi Qiao?"
"Chi Qiao is with me."
They all started looking for their teammates. A few actors were still alive, but since they weren't very familiar, they didn't speak much, just listened quietly.
As everyone vented their grievances, Yao Shuo suddenly spoke into the microphone, "I found a way out."
"What?"
"Please, please, end this." Even Jiang Wangran, the physical powerhouse, was exhausted.
Sang Mo asked him, "What's the plan?"
The program crew hadn't given Yao Shuo any camera time earlier, focusing instead on how the actor group was stockpiling supplies and finding clues. Little did they know, Yao Shuo had already found a clue.
The screen switched back to Yao Shuo, and as his vision shifted, the once empty dormitory now had Han Lemi in it.
The program crew then started rewinding the footage—
After resting on top of the popcorn stand, Han Lemi took off her shoes and, covering her mouth, threw one with all her might towards the distance. The previously calm zombies, hearing the sound, immediately ran towards it, attracting all the zombies in front of her.
Han Lemi took the opportunity to quickly slide down the lamppost. Before leaving, she picked up a few stones from the ground as a precaution.
"…Thank you, Teacher Chen Sisi from Hengqing First High School, for teaching us shot put so diligently. I wouldn't have been able to throw this far without you." Han Lemi couldn't resist making a joke before leaving, trying to earn some screen time for herself.
She held the stones and her other shoe, carefully running towards the parade float. She went up the small staircase beside it and planned to walk inside the float.
"How clever! So our little bread isn't just a ditzy type!"
"Why go up the float? Isn't that making yourself a bigger target?"
"There won't be any zombies on the float. Most of the people were already on the ground, so it's safer and easier to hide up there."
"Our girl has clearly watched a lot of zombie movies."
Han Lemi dodged and weaved her way through the float, entering the parking lot, and then moving further into the staff rest area. She wasn't sure if there were zombies inside, so she was even more cautious.
The corridor in the resting area was empty, but that silence only made Han Lemi feel more danger.
She climbed up the pillar again, this time throwing a stone down the long corridor.
The stone rolled and rolled, making a crisp sound as it went.
Han Lemi waited on top, but didn't hear any zombies coming out, which at least proved that the open parts of this area were zombie-free.
Relieved, Han Lemi put the remaining stones away and slid down, putting on her only remaining shoe.
"Behind you!!!"
"Save her, behind you!!!"
"Someone, open the microphone, I'm so nervous I feel like I'm going to pee!"
That zombie had emerged from behind the building, its incomplete limbs making it move very slowly. It made no sound as it slowly approached Han Lemi.
The audience in the live chat were on edge for her, even though they knew she would probably escape this situation, they still couldn't let go of the anxiety.
Just as Han Lemi was about to land, a crisp sound rang out. Han Lemi quickly turned around, only to see a zombie less than three meters away from her.
Her heart almost stopped from the fright. She covered her mouth and quickly ran into the building.
On the second floor was Yao Shuo. The sound earlier had come from the toy gun in his hand. It wasn't a prop; he had picked it up from the toy area earlier.
He had seen Han Lemi from the window, but since speaking might attract more zombies, he directly used the toy gun to warn her, but she hadn't noticed him.
"..."
Wasting a bullet.
Inside the staff lounge, Han Lemi, while hiding, couldn't help but whisper, "There's someone upstairs... but I didn't get a good look at who it was."
"He might need my help... but not yet, I need to find clues first." Han Lemi said as she pushed open a door, only to lock eyes with a zombie inside. She quickly closed the door and swiftly hid in a nearby office.
The door was immediately pounded on, and because of the noise, all the zombies in the building woke up, letting out eerie screams.
Yao Shuo on the second floor pinched the bridge of his nose, speaking with a headache: "Another one is gone."
Han Lemi wasn't afraid at all. Outside, the zombies were screaming, while inside, Han Lemi took the opportunity to rummage through the office, looking for any useful information.
Here, it was obvious that someone had already searched through this place. She lowered her head and said, "The people upstairs must have already looked here."
There were only a few documents on the table, all detailing the upcoming festival activities at the amusement park. The only useful information was the signature on them—
"There's a signature here!" Han Lemi picked it up and took a look, but soon she fell silent, "...I can't read it."
The signature was not only written in a hurried, connected style but also simplified, making it impossible to discern the strokes.
She carefully folded the paper and tucked it into her pocket. "But this is important information. We need to keep it. The production team wouldn't waste time writing such a document and leaving a signature unless it's the final boss."
"Who among us has a surname that starts with 'two dots of water'?" Han Lemi muttered to herself as she picked up another document to study the signature. The signature had two dots of water at the top, a number "7" below, a horizontal line in the middle, a telephone coil connected to it, and finally a cluster of strokes with a long vertical line.
Han Lemi confidently said, "This must be someone's artistic signature... I should have paid more attention during the award ceremonies."
Meanwhile, Pei Zhiping, having rested, said goodbye to Jiang Juyou and prepared to go out and continue searching for clues. Otherwise, staying here would mean not getting enough screen time.
As soon as Pei Zhiping left, Jiang Juyou received a task: to start the RV and drive it around the park following a given route.
Jiang Juyou nodded as she spoke, "That's why you had me get a C1 license a while back. I only had an automatic license before, but when the production team approached me, they said the NPC needed a C1 license, so I went and got one."
Back in the office, Han Lemi rested for a while. After the outside quieted down, she opened the door and left the office. She crouched low as she headed upstairs, whispering to herself, "Now I'm going upstairs to rescue the trapped person... If it's a girl, we'll team up; if it's a guy, I'll just close the door again."
"If the apocalypse really comes, everyone must be careful with strangers and not easily believe what others say." The off-screen voice from the production team chimed in, "Yes, yes, she's absolutely right!"
When she reached the upstairs, the trapped person turned out to be a guy.
Han Lemi stood at the door, looking at the person inside, and fell silent for a few seconds. Her inner turmoil was intense.
Entering might get her scolded by fans, but not entering would make her seem overly cautious.
"Come in," Yao Shuo gestured for her to enter, and Han Lemi had no choice but to step inside.
As soon as she entered, Yao Shuo asked, "What's your identity?"
Han Lemi remained cautious. "What's your identity?"
"At this point, does it even matter what our identities are? The most important thing now is to get out of here," Yao Shuo honestly replied. "I'm a human, and here's the clue I found."
Hearing this, Han Lemi's eyes lit up. "I'm also a human, but I haven't found a clue card yet."
She concealed the fact that she had already found a clue card.
Yao Shuo didn't care about that. He handed her his analysis, "Look, this is my clue. It says we can only get out by killing it."
"But you see, so many people have been eliminated, and the game hasn't ended. That means this person isn't among us. There's a high chance it's an NPC."
"My guess is that this person is the amusement park's director."
Han Lemi had been trying to figure out who among them could be the culprit, but Yao Shuo's theory left her completely stunned.
She had worked hard to find the clue with the game tickets, but Yao Shuo had already deduced it with his analysis.
"Han Lemi's blank expression is killing me."
"First time seeing someone's face actually show what 'blank mind' means."
"Thanks, this is a great meme."
"The answer is already out there; it's the hangover cure. I wonder if they dare to think that way."
"NPC, big boss, and the hangover cure also loses health. It has to be her."
"Woohoo, this is exciting!"
At this moment, Han Lemi pulled out the signed document from her pocket, acting as if she had come to the same conclusion, and said, "Yes, that's what I thought too. Look, this is the document I found, with a signature on it. Could this be the director's signature?"
"But I can't make out whose name it is, no matter how hard I try." Han Lemi threw the question to Yao Shuo.
"Where did you find this?"
"In the office downstairs."
"You're amazing. I didn't find anything there."
"Hehe, I just happened to glance through it."
"What's going on? This is kind of cute."
"Fans, don't be mad. We're just shipping them lightly for the sake of the show."
"Of course, fox and rabbit are forever a great pairing."
Outside, everything was calm, and everyone had hidden themselves. Only Jiang Juyou was driving around in the RV.
At this moment, the broadcast announced that the microphone would soon be activated—
"What's the plan? Did you find the big boss?" Jiang Wangran asked.
Yao Shuo explained to everyone the analysis he and Han Lemi had come up with, sharing the clues directly. But a new problem arose.
"It's not necessarily an NPC," Jiang Wangran said.
Yao Shuo thought he hadn't understood, so he was about to explain again, but Jiang Wangran interrupted him, "No, there's someone among the players with an unknown identity."
"There's a 'wolf' among us!"
"Oh, wow."
"Another twist."
"This is too fun; my brain is overheating."
"Wait, wasn't it just humans and clowns? How did a wolf come into play?"
"Sister, the wolf is just a metaphor."
"Damn! My brain is on fire!"
"What does that mean?"
"Hmm?"
"Did this suddenly turn into Werewolf?"
Jiang Wangran's hiding spot wasn't ideal, so he had to lower his voice to explain, "Ugh, not really. How do I put this..."
"Has anyone seen the moment a player was eliminated?" he urgently explained. "Our names are displayed above our heads, but when someone is eliminated, their identity is shown. I was next to Zhen Ya when she was eliminated, and her identity was 'unknown.'"
This revelation shook everyone, completely overturning Yao Shuo and Han Lemi's previous reasoning.
Both of them were left stunned.
At this point, the communication channel closed, leaving Han Lemi and Yao Shuo staring at each other.
They hadn't even asked who the unknown identity was.
After analyzing for so long, everything had returned to square one.
But at least the others now knew the clues, and Gao Xiayu and Chi Qiao decided to go out and look for more clues themselves. They couldn't leave all the responsibility to Yao Shuo and Han Lemi; they needed to contribute as well.
At this moment, the production team gave a shot to an actor, showing the moment when they had initially drawn their identity. The actor had drawn the "unknown identity," which read: "You need to seize others' identities to gain their rights."
This identity was the most cheat-like one. Gaining a tourist identity would allow them to blend in with other park visitors, while a staff identity would grant access to staff areas. After killing a zombie, they could even become a zombie, immune to elimination. And if they killed the boss, they could become the boss, waiting for the other players to fail and win the game.
"Wow..."
"Who wrote this script? It's genius."
"No wonder Jiang Juyou has a health bar as an NPC."
"This is crazy; this is the most mind-blowing variety show I've seen this year."
"Unknown identity?" Han Lemi was left with a big question mark on her head.
They had no idea what this unknown identity represented or what rights it granted.
Yao Shuo sighed, "We just don't have enough clues."
They had all entered the game unprepared, spending the entire night running around and not finding many clues.
By now, the outside world had already turned bright, but the game's setting was even darker, as if it were the park's closing time at night.
"Gao Xiayu—Eliminated"
"Chi Qiao—Eliminated"
After two elimination announcements, the park's lights were turned off, plunging the entire area into darkness.
This moment perfectly marked the end of the seventh episode, and the eager viewers quickly moved on to the eighth episode. As the show progressed, related topics also began trending on social media.
I had originally planned to finish writing the group variety show today, but I couldn't complete it. I'll finish the rest tomorrow.
