Chapter 14: The Joyful Castle

In the next half-day, Zhou Yuan spent all his time at home testing his physical functions.

Strength, resilience, endurance, vision, hearing, concentration, learning ability, reaction speed, body coordination...

He tested all the possible aspects and, unsurprisingly, the results showed that his physical capabilities far exceeded the world-class athlete standard. If he were to compete in the Olympics, he could easily break a bunch of world records.

The feeling of gaining power made Zhou Yuan both excited and thrilled, but alongside the joy, the anxiety within his heart grew more severe.

The Child of Stardust Player System was undoubtedly a treasure trove, possessing the power to change the entire world.

If Nangong Yi truly were the creator of the player system, knowing how defiant this divine artifact was, he certainly would not give up easily. He would definitely go to great lengths to seek out the whereabouts of the player system.

And those extraordinary people in red who attacked the Stars Network that night, since they dared to make a move, must certainly know something, and they too would not easily give up on pursuing the player system.

Moreover, as the news spread, more greedy eyes would inevitably turn toward Xinhu, hoping to get a share of the pie.

In such a situation, if someone discovered that the player system was in his hands, the outcome would undoubtedly be horrific.

At that time, he might have no choice but to turn to a reliable official supernatural power organization for protection.

But even then, he could not guarantee his safety, as those who coveted the player system would never easily let him go.

"Why would that raven give such a precious player system to me?"

A series of thoughts made Zhou Yuan recall the mysterious red-eyed raven, which had handed him the player system, saving his life while simultaneously dragging him into this deadly whirlpool.

All the extraordinary beings present at the Stars Network that night undoubtedly came for the player system, and the red-eyed raven was no exception.

But if it had already obtained the player system, why didn't it take it away itself, rather than handing it to him?

There were no such things as pies falling from the sky, no one would do him a favor for no reason.

Zhou Yuan instinctively felt that there was some unspeakable purpose behind this.

Maybe...

Maybe the raven couldn't take the player system away that night, so it temporarily left it with him to trick others and would come to retrieve it when the time was right.

At that time, it might take his life along with it.

"The more I think about it, the more stressed I get."

Zhou Yuan sighed wistfully.

He felt like he was participating in a deathrace werewolf game, surrounded by wolves driving modified armored cars, while he was the only civilian, starting with not even a bicycle.

And he had to build an armored car or even a tank within a limited time to have a chance at survival when his identity was revealed.

This was simply hell-level difficulty.

The only good news was that although he didn't have a bicycle, he had cheats.

Zhou Yuan comforted himself, and then suddenly a system prompt sounded in his ear.

[Mission Delivered]

[Mission Name: "Happy Castle"]

[Mission Objective: Survive for three days in the ["Happy Castle"] amusement park]

[Mission Reward 1: Experience Points * 1000]

[Mission Reward 2: Star Coins * 4000]

[Mission Reward 3: Fine Quality Item Pack * 1]

[Accept/Reject]

"Straight to the tough stuff, huh."

Zhou Yuan raised an eyebrow, the rewards for this mission were unprecedentedly generous, indicating a high difficulty level.

The mission was assigned based on the player's overall qualities by the system. The increased difficulty this time was obviously related to his enhanced body from the serum injection.

"Accept."

[Mission Start Countdown — 9:59]

Zhou Yuan rushed to the refrigerator and stuffed all the stored food into the player backpack.

He had foreseen the possibility of encountering long-term instance missions in the future, so he had hoarded a lot of survival supplies. Even the takeout he ordered while completing "Yellow Flash" and "Blue Flash" were compressed biscuits and mineral water, types of food resources.

After a rough count, these food resources were enough for one person to last for more than half a month, and if rationed, they could last up to a month.

"Hmm... there's one more thing."

Zhou Yuan suddenly thought that since all the fire survivors were being watched, would those people and forces pursuing the player system secretly infiltrate each survivor's home to install surveillance, monitoring every move?

Currently, there was no problem at home, but if someone sneaked in to install surveillance during the three days he was on the mission, that would be troublesome.

If he were spotted by the surveillance upon his return, there would be people knocking at his door to take his life that very night.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan immediately went downstairs.

In this building, several units had rented out their apartments, and the basements were all idle. He could use one of them to teleport.

Reaching the basement level, he ensured no one was around and then activated the Ghost Walker skill effect to pass through the wall, entering a dusty room full of clutter.

Then, he spent his remaining 100 Star Coins to buy a [One-time Transformation Card], and clicked to use it.

Everything was ready.

"Teleport."

·

·

Zhou Yuan opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a European classical castle in the distance.

The castle had pink as its main color, matched with dreamy blue spires, brimming with European romanticism, like a magical castle from a fairy tale.

It immediately elevated the class of the amusement park.

Zhou Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked around, his face gradually turning grim.

The night was deep, and the amusement park was brightly lit, with splendid neon lights and shadows intertwining to create a dreamlike color.

Holographic projections of pegasi and white doves flew through the fireworks and rainbows across the night sky, scattering fragments of golden light like confetti, decorating the whole amusement park into a beautiful fairy tale world, brimming with joyous atmosphere.

However, eerily, the seemingly bustling amusement park was, in fact, deserted.

Places that should have been filled with laughter were now left with only mechanical music and light and shadow performances.

This stark contrast between bustle and loneliness shrouded the entire amusement park in an indescribable eerie atmosphere.

Zhou Yuan turned his head and saw that behind him was the amusement park entrance, but outside was shrouded in thick fog, cutting off everything.

[This amusement park is overwhelmed with resentment from daily work, depressed to the point of self-isolation. To solve this abnormal phenomenon, you might try your luck at the park manager's office.

But to enter the office, you'll have to play through the entire amusement park.]

"Depression?????"

Zhou Yuan felt a sudden headache. How could an amusement park suffer from depression? And why couldn't the hint be a bit more straightforward?

Muttering to himself, he began to observe his surroundings. The priority was to figure out what had happened here, so he started to walk further in.