A Guide to Raising Snake Spirits - Chapter 23

The white card looked plain, simply inscribed with: “Equipment Card: Movement Speed +15%.”

At the start of the round, the system randomly assigns a functional card. These cards come in three types: White Cards, which provide buffs, Black Cards, which apply debuffs, and Green Cards, which allow players to probe the identities of others.

As a newcomer, Shiraishi Qing couldn’t tell if this was a top-tier card or just average, so he simply tucked it back into his card pack. Since he was a civilian, his primary goals were to complete tasks, solve mysteries, meet up with other “good” players, and avoid ghosts.

Near the entrance, a map of the park was displayed with various landmarks: Roller Coaster, Carousel, Central Stage, Fantasy World, and more. Shiraishi tried to walk through the main gates, but an invisible wall of air blocked his path. Simultaneously, a system notification popped up:

“Once the countdown ends, all players will be randomly spawned within the amusement park.”

With no other choice, Shiraishi waited for the remaining few dozen seconds to tick down. When only ten seconds remained, the system began the final count.

“The game is about to begin. Players, please prepare yourselves.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

A black loading screen appeared. After just two or three seconds, Shiraishi opened his eyes to find himself standing directly beneath the twisted iron tracks he had seen from the gate.

“…”

He remembered the names and locations from the map, but he didn’t know which specific attraction he was currently standing under. This meant he still didn’t technically know where he was in the park.

Fortunately, the game system provided a mini-map in the upper left corner of his vision. Shiraishi realized he was at the Roller Coaster. His task bar also displayed a new objective: Escape Cards to be Acquired (0/3).

Before the game started, the old man at the gate, an NPC and park employee, had suggested trying out various attractions and interacting with staff. Shiraishi took that as a hint.

Next to the roller coaster was a mobile vending cart manned by an employee wearing the exact same uniform as the old man. Shiraishi hesitated, deciding not to approach the NPC immediately. If these staff members were anything like the old man, they likely weren’t friendly.

The roller coaster departed at intervals. Judging by the rust on the tracks, the ride was at least twenty years old. Every departure was accompanied by a deafening roar and the ominous creaking of a metal frame under too much weight. As the cars flipped upside down, the air filled with the heart-wrenching screams of terrified tourists.

However, when Shiraishi looked closer, he saw that every single car was empty. Where were the screams coming from?

The Sentinel silently looked away and continued observing the vending cart. The NPC appeared normal, though his clothes were tattered. He looked like any ordinary worker, holding up cute animal-ear headbands and calling out to potential customers, occasionally gesturing for nearby people to take a look.

Similar to the roller coaster, there was no one around, yet the NPC spoke with enthusiastic energy. It seemed this NPC was the only available point of entry for the quest.

Shiraishi stepped forward and asked, “Hello, what are you selling here?”

“What am I selling?” The NPC’s movements suddenly froze as if someone had hit a pause button. He blankly repeated Shiraishi’s question, then whipped his head around, revealing a horrific face where half the flesh was gone, leaving only bone. “What am I selling? What am I selling? What am I selling?”

 Unsettled, Shiraishi took a large step back.

“What am I selling?” The NPC lunged forward until they were almost nose-to-nose.

Just as Shiraishi was about to strike back, a familiar voice intervened.

“Yes, we’d like to buy your headbands. Can you tell me how much they cost?”

A figure wearing the same black hooded robe walked over. The game’s footsteps were incredibly realistic, growing louder as the distance closed. The newcomer pulled back his hood, revealing Mizuki Xi’s handsome features. While managing the NPC, he leaned in and whispered to Shiraishi, “Don’t worry, it’s just the usual ‘Ghost Hunter’ style. They love setting up jump-scare NPCs. As long as you aren’t the Hunter, they won’t usually kill you right at the start.”

Shiraishi unclenched his fists and watched him work.

“…No… money,” the NPC stopped repeating himself and began to speak with a painfully slow, mechanical stutter. He pointed toward another attraction. “I want… you to go… there.”

He was pointing toward the interactive booths.

“You want us to win something back for you, is that it?” Mizuki Xi asked.

“Want… this.” The NPC held up a cat-ear headband from his stall. The headband looked normal, aside from some mysterious brown stains. He wore black gloves.

Mizuki Xi nodded. “It looks like our next lead is to find the matching item for these cat ears over there, then come back and trade.”

Shiraishi understood.

“You’re a civilian this round, right? If you were a Hunter or a Ghost, you wouldn’t be probing NPCs for clues right away,” Mizuki Xi said with a smile. “I’m a civilian too.”

“How did you find me?” Shiraishi asked.

“A functional card. It lets me see the location of any player on the same team.” Mizuki Xi pulled a green card from his pack and gave it a quick wave. “I got lucky and pulled a green one at the start.”

Shiraishi nodded. “I see. Shall we go then?”

“Let’s go.”

**

Mizuki Xi and Shiraishi headed toward the interactive booths, encountering no other NPCs along the way. The booths were outdoors, sparsely lit by a few dim, outdated streetlamps. An NPC stood guard at each stall.

After a quick search, they found a small, fluffy white kitten plushie among the prizes at a shooting gallery. Two rifles lay on the counter, both covered in a thick layer of dust.

“Solve the riddle, test your aim, win a doll!”

An NPC with twin tails swayed her head back and forth, repeating the slogan like a broken record. If one ignored the fact that she was missing a leg yet still standing perfectly upright, she would have looked like a cute young girl.

Mizuki Xi and Shiraishi exchanged a look before speaking to her. “Hello, what is the riddle?”

“Do you want to guess, big brothers?” the sweet-looking NPC asked with a giggle.

“Yes. Are there any conditions?” Mizuki Xi asked straightforwardly.

“If you get it right, you get five shots. If you get it wrong…” The AI performed the role of a playful girl perfectly as she pointed down to her empty right side. “You have to give me your leg.”

The game company had worked hard to create a creepy “doll” atmosphere, but they were facing a cold-hearted Sentinel and a Guide who had played this game eight hundred times. Neither was phased.

Mizuki Xi took a moment to explain to Shiraishi, “This punishment doesn’t usually mean they actually remove your leg model. It’s likely a movement debuff, something like -20% movement speed.”

He turned back to the NPC. “Fine, we accept your terms.”

“Ahem, listen closely.” The girl NPC cleared her throat with a small fist to her mouth. “Dogs go woof, cats go meow, and sheep go baa.” She even made a cute “cat paw” gesture with a sweet voice. If not for the eerie, ghostly background music, she would have been genuinely adorable.

Unfortunately, her audience consisted of a Sentinel who only had eyes for his Guide, and a Guide who was a total “try-hard” focused solely on winning.

She chirped playfully, “So, what do chickens do?”

Mizuki Xi: “…”

Shiraishi: “…”

The seasoned Guide spoke first. “First, let’s rule out the normal ‘cluck-cluck’ or ‘cheep-cheep’.”

Even though Shiraishi didn’t know the quirks of game designers, he knew that a riddle like this wouldn’t have a logical answer. “Crowing? Laying eggs?”

Mizuki Xi rubbed his chin, muttering the Chinese phrasing of the question. “Ji… jihui (chicken/opportunity)… what does a jihui do…”

Shiraishi was stumped. This kind of brain teaser was hard to solve without experience. Suddenly, the Guide’s muttering stopped.

“I’ve got it,” Mizuki Xi said, sounding exasperated.

The Sentinel looked confused.

Mizuki Xi turned to the NPC. “Opportunity (Jihui) is reserved for those who are prepared, right?”

The girl NPC looked slightly disappointed, but she quickly forced a bright, infectious smile and made a welcoming gesture. “Bingo! Please, go ahead, big brother.”

As Mizuki Xi picked up the rifle, he heard her muttering under her breath, “Aww, still didn’t get a leg. When will I ever have two legs again? But the manager says guest experience comes first…”

Mizuki Xi: “…”

He had to admit, the developers of Ghost Hunter were always incredibly detailed.

Since Mizuki Xi had solved the riddle, the shots were his. As he inspected the rifle, he asked Shiraishi, “Have you guys had marksmanship classes yet?”

“Yes, but I haven’t practiced much,” Shiraishi replied.

Mizuki Xi pressed the rifle against his shoulder. “Next time, we should play a realistic shooting sim.”

The guns in the game were easy to use, featuring an on-screen crosshair for accessibility. As a Guide trained by the Tower’s military, he easily hit the bullseye on his first shot and claimed the kitten plushie.

As the NPC handed the white cat to Mizuki Xi, a system notification rang in everyone’s ears, and an information bar appeared before them.

System: [Player “Water-Drinking Papa Fish” has been eliminated.]

A bloody red circle icon lit up in a corner of the map, a symbol Shiraishi hadn’t seen before.

“A civilian died,” Mizuki Xi analyzed. “The system won’t reveal the player’s identity directly, but after a Ghost kills someone, their location is marked on the civilian map for ten seconds. Hunters rarely reveal themselves this early. We need to hurry.”

The two turned back to the first NPC at the vending cart and successfully handed over the quest item. The stuttering employee shoved a card into Mizuki Xi’s hand. It read: “Mimi Roller Coaster Priority Pass.”

That terrifying, dilapidated coaster actually had such a cutesy name. Mizuki Xi struggled to spot two points on the coaster cars that might pass for cat ears, a nod to the “Mimi” name.

An old player’s instinct pushed Mizuki Xi to be a bit more daring. As the saying goes, the bold feast while the timid starve.

Mizuki Xi tried his luck. “Can you sell me that cat-ear headband?”

The stall worker shook his head, then reached out and handed him a Black Card instead. Mizuki Xi watched the rotting flesh on the NPC’s face wobble as he shook his head, but he calmly accepted the unexpected gift.

Trap Card: Spend 30 star-seconds to set a trap anywhere. Effect: Traps any target for 1 star-minute. While trapped, the target is immune to all damage and effects.

“Sometimes you just have to be brave and try things,” Mizuki Xi said, setting an example for Shiraishi. He handed the free Black Card to the Sentinel. “You keep it. Skill cards can be traded or stolen, so be careful.”

The two quickly returned to the spot where Shiraishi had first spawned: the Mimi Roller Coaster.

“Ah… hello…” the roller coaster NPC drawled while slowly wiping a railing. “Our Mimi… Roller Coaster…”

Just as Mizuki Xi’s patience was about to run out, the NPC finally finished his script. The gist was that the Mimi Roller Coaster was safe, smooth, and suitable for all ages, especially for couples looking to grow closer. A photo of the pair would be provided at the end of the ride.

Shiraishi, surprisingly patient, listened to the NPC’s rambling as if he were here for a life experience rather than a horror game.

With a sensation of weightlessness and a thunderous roar, the Mimi train surged out of its “cat nest.” In an ideal world, a couple would be screaming, fingers interlaced, leaning on each other for dear life. But one of these two was a Guide who flew starships, and the other was a naturally stoic Sentinel.

“The game shouldn’t be this realistic,” Mizuki Xi said, smoothing back his hair which had been ruined by the wind. “The screaming from the seats next to us was way too loud.”

Shiraishi agreed, thankful his Sentinel hearing hadn’t fully translated into the game.

The NPC handed them a snapshot taken during the ride. Shiraishi looked expressionless, while Mizuki Xi was smiling brightly. A card was taped to the back of the photo. Shiraishi noticed the task progress in the corner change from 0 to 1. The progress for Escape Cards was now (1/3).

The NPC droned on, “Welcome… back… again…”

Before he could finish the first two words, Mizuki Xi grabbed Shiraishi and the photo and started walking away. Just as they reached the exit of the Mimi Roller Coaster, a figure in a black robe, dressed just like them, charged forward.

He drew a massive scythe from the void beneath his cloak.

It was a Ghost player.

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