FPE Chapter 7

The Amusement Park Opens 

Chi Yizhen didn’t dare boast about anything else, but when it came to aesthetics, he felt he had plenty to say. Sal’s appearance in the game’s initial modeling could only be described as run-of-the-mill, but after his meticulous adjustments, he had to brag to everyone that this was his best-looking creation. Sure enough, as soon as this handsome guy hit the streets, he attracted a crowd—all men.

The girls who should have been attracted merely took a few extra glances, but maintained their reserve and kept their distance. The scene he’d imagined of a pile of girls rushing up to grab flyers never materialized. What happened to opposites attract?

Looking at the several male students surrounding him, occasionally pinching him and asking about his fitness methods, then looking at this body’s robust muscles, Chi Yizhen belatedly seemed to understand something.

Sal’s stern exterior didn’t deter these male students’ enthusiasm in the slightest. They took the flyers, but didn’t even look at them, only asking, “Handsome, could you be my personal trainer?”

Oh, so they thought he was out promoting a gym. Sal could only say with a cold face, “This is an amusement park, opening tonight at seven, with an adventure mystery theme.”

Only then did these people focus on the flyers in their hands, discovering it really was an amusement park. They thought to themselves that amusement parks nowadays really spared no expense, actually able to hire such a handsome guy to hand out flyers.

Jin’an was a small southern city where both men and women were generally petite. At 1.88 meters tall, Sal stood out as exceptionally large. This was Chi Yizhen’s first time experiencing the feeling of looking out and seeing nothing but the tops of heads everywhere, thinking how great it would be if this were his real height.

“Seven o’clock tonight, everyone’s welcome to come.”

The male students said “definitely, definitely” with laughter, but Chi Yizhen knew that at most half of these people would actually come. This wasn’t because he lacked confidence in Sal’s good looks, but because those male students were clearly from nearby high schools, and most kids that age didn’t even have personal freedom. There weren’t many day students who could go out at night either. However, he wasn’t handing them flyers expecting them all to come, but rather hoping they would take the flyers home, spreading the word family by family.

Sigh, who told him he was too poor now to afford advertising? He could only let everyone know the amusement park was opening through this method.

He wandered around the main street for a bit, then had a sudden inspiration and went to the only gay bar in town, relying on selling Sal’s sex appeal to score some customers.

As for the question of integrity—this was all Sal’s personal behavior, what did it have to do with me, Chi Yizhen?

After delivering all the dozens of flyers in his hands to target customers, Chi Yizhen flew back to the park to start setting up. Why open at seven in the evening? Of course it was because when it got dark and the lighting was dim, customers couldn’t see how run-down the park was!

In the blink of an eye, the sun set and the lights at the park entrance came on.

Cao Xiaoliang pulled his classmate along, following the address on the flyer to find the park entrance.

He looked up and saw a brand-new gate ahead, with a very conspicuous large red banner above it: Welcome to Fantasy Amusement Park, giving you the most realistic monster-fighting experience!!!

Those three exclamation marks seemed to be trying their hardest to show how shocking this experience could be. However, after staring at it for a long time, Cao Xiaoliang could only detect an air of poverty.

Ah, well…

He carefully checked the opening date on the flyer: July 17, 2022, which was today. Looking again at the empty park entrance, he was quite certain this newly opened park was indeed very deserted. Not only were there no firecrackers or lion dances at the entrance, there wasn’t even a flower basket.

His classmate Zhang He was also puzzled, “Are you sure we didn’t find the wrong place?”

Cao Xiaoliang was confused too, “We didn’t find the wrong place!” It’s just that the flyer said it was an adventure mystery themed park, but the sign hanging at the park entrance said “Fantasy Monster-Fighting.”

How to put it? It was like Di Renjie investigating a case and tracking down a criminal, only to end up at Ultraman’s monster-fighting scene. The whole thing exuded an absurd yet comical atmosphere.

(TL: 狄仁杰 (Dí Rénjié) refers to a famous historical figure in China. Known for his intelligence, sense of justice, and legendary detective-like skills. In Chinese popular culture, he’s often portrayed as a detective solving complex cases (sometimes compared to Sherlock Holmes in style) 

The two were hesitating about whether to go forward when the park’s gate suddenly opened. A young man wearing glasses walked out, and as soon as he saw them, his eyes lit up. “You two students, are you here to visit the park? Please come in quickly. The park is opening today, and with a flyer you can get a half-price ticket! Only ten yuan for the experience!”

The two had originally been hesitating about whether to leave, but when they heard the half-price ticket was only ten yuan, their feet stopped at once. These days even a cup of bubble tea outside cost twenty yuan. Not experiencing it for ten yuan would somehow feel like a loss!

Cao Xiaoliang and Zhang He immediately said they wanted to buy tickets for the experience, and each of them received a pair of plastic glasses worth a few yuan, looking exactly like the 3D glasses from movie theaters. The ticket seller specifically reminded them that these were important props that would allow them to experience holographic monster-fighting, that they absolutely must not lose them, and had to return them after the experience ended.

The two: …..

Just as the two had a bellyful of complaints and didn’t know where to direct them, several beams of light came from the distance. The two looked up and saw two cars stop one after another not far away. Then the car doors opened, and several men dressed in incredibly flashy outfits got out. The oldest looked to be in his thirties, the youngest in his twenties. As soon as they came over, they looked around furtively, asking in roundabout ways about the handsome guy who’d handed out flyers today.

Faced with this scene, the ticket seller didn’t panic at all. He calmly said, “Oh, you mean Sal? He works the day shift, I work the night shift.”

Several gay men eagerly asked, “Then should we come tomorrow?”

The ticket seller said calmly, “Tomorrow the park is closed for a day of reorganization.”

Everyone was greatly disappointed. Cao Xiaoliang also thought it strange—what kind of place closes for reorganization on the second day after opening!

“However…” the ticket seller suddenly said, “If everyone has fun after going in and promotes it extensively on their social media, you can get the WeChat contact of our marketing manager, which is Sal.”

The gay men were overjoyed at this news, but someone asked doubtfully, “Can you make that decision?”

The ticket seller, who was Chi Yizhen, smiled and said, “I’m the owner.”

With this statement, everyone had no more doubts and bought tickets before entering the park one after another. Cao Xiaoliang and Zhang He had been the first to arrive, but now found themselves at the back of the line. As the two muttered to each other, Cao Xiaoliang suddenly felt some regret, “This park couldn’t be a male escort service disguised as an amusement park, could it?”

Zhang He scoffed, “Would a male escort service have a high-class handsome guy like Sal?”

Cao Xiaoliang thought about it and agreed. With Sal’s level of looks, he’d have more than enough to debut as a celebrity, or at worst become an internet celebrity and make a fortune. Why would he end up working as a male escort in this place? He must be a college student working part-time, then pulled out by an unscrupulous boss to be the promotional face. All that about working day shifts, about the handsome guy not being there tomorrow during reorganization—it was definitely an excuse!

But grumbling aside, this didn’t stop Cao Xiaoliang from entering the park to look around. After all, he’d already paid.

“The scenery is really well done!”

“They put their heart into it!”

Cao Xiaoliang looked up and saw ahead a carousel facility that had collapsed halfway. The poles threading through the horses had peeling paint, revealing the rusted iron underneath. Walking forward two more steps, there was even a carousel horse lying on the ground, with weeds growing almost as tall as a person beside it. Under the dim green lighting, it showed a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

On the flyer they’d received, today’s adventure mystery game was set in a dilapidated amusement park.

“We walk past the collapsed carousel, push aside the obstructive waist-high weeds, and see a plaster sheep that clearly bears the marks of time. Two black eyes on the sheep’s head seem to be staring at us…” Zhang He read out the game script and made a wow sound. “It really is exactly the same as the script! And look at these marks on the plaster—you can’t tell at all that they’re artificially aged!”

Of course they didn’t know the script was written based on the run-down park. They only thought this place had really been specially made for this adventure mystery theme, and praised the park’s attention to detail. Even those gay men who had originally only come pursuing Sal couldn’t help but focus their attention on the game.

They found the plaster sheep and felt around for a while. Someone accidentally bumped the plaster sheep, and it fell to the ground with a bang, revealing a smooth wooden stick underneath with a note attached that read: Congratulations, you have obtained a weapon.

This group had a total of eleven people. Following the script’s guidance, everyone wound through the park in twists and turns, and each person found a weapon. The wooden stick was the most normal one; others found things like an iron pot with holes, a conveniently shaped rock, a flashlight…

By this time, half an hour had already passed. Things that would normally be boring, once turned into a game and experienced in such an old and eerie place, seemed to have a bit of fun to them.

But from the start of the game until now, there had been no guide NPC and no other exciting attractions—just following the script to find things. Once everyone’s novelty wore off, they felt very bored. Just as Cao Xiaoliang was thinking that he’d made a bad deal with his ten yuan and considering whether to go home, Zhang He beside him suddenly shouted, “Holy crap, everyone look what’s that!”

Cao Xiaoliang, along with the people nearby, all looked in the direction Zhang He was pointing, but only felt a gust of cold wind blowing past. They didn’t see anything else.

Zhang He urgently said, “The glasses, the glasses, put them on!”

Cao Xiaoliang hurriedly put on his glasses, and the next moment he also shouted “holy crap.” He saw a monster that vaguely resembled a combination of a wolf and an eagle, wrapped in a mass of black fog, charging toward them.

Everyone’s first reaction was shock. When that thing charged over with a foul stench, everyone forgot about the weapons in their hands. After a round of wailing and screaming, they all turned and ran toward the exit!