Chapter 196: Red Staff Member Rules
The so-called task had been a lie from the very beginning.
The ultimate reward for collecting all eighteen stamps was nothing more than a dead end. When this truth finally dawned on the woman with the high ponytail and her teammates, a wave of chilling fear washed over them, so potent it left them drenched in cold sweat.
Most players had already squandered their precious initial time, their energy, and even the ghost artifacts they might have possessed, all in pursuit of games that were destined to be futile.
If they hadn't chosen this particular game, if they hadn't happened to cross paths with Haruto's trio, they would have met the same grim fate as the rest.
Just as the woman with the high ponytail turned to express her deep gratitude, she looked up only to find that they were already gone…
On the path leading to the Grand Performance Area, Kaguya surveyed the dense crowds squeezed against the entrance and couldn't help but rub her hands together with a glint of avarice in her eyes.
"How about it? We could make a tidy profit off them with the stamps we have."
"That… that wouldn't be very good, would it?" Youmu murmured weakly from the side.
"They're not going to survive anyway," Kaguya stated, her tone making it sound like the most natural thing in the world. "It's better that they give us their ghost artifacts and let us inherit their legacy."
Haruto shot her a sidelong glance. "Tomorrow, or the day after at the latest, the news that the tourist rules are fake will have spread throughout the entire circus. You can deal with the ensuing trouble yourself when it comes."
Kaguya's lip curled in dissatisfaction.
"You're more than happy to use me when it's convenient, but the moment you don't need me, you just cast me aside. You're a scumbag, a total scumbag!"
The corner of Haruto's mouth twitched violently. He desperately wanted to fire back with a retort, but in the end, he simply swallowed the words, deciding it wasn't worth the effort.
Seeing that Haruto was pointedly ignoring her, Kaguya's cheeks puffed out in a slight pout. She took out her own copy of the tourist rules, held it high above her head towards the sun, and unfurled it with a dramatic snap.
"So, what do you think the modified rules will be?"
"I don't know," Haruto replied casually, "but it's probably not the ninth one."
Kaguya nodded in agreement.
Youmu, however, wore a confused expression. She momentarily withdrew her gaze from her vigilant watch of their surroundings and turned to the two of them.
"Haruto-sama, why wouldn't it be the ninth one? Didn't you and Princess Kaguya say before that if it were you, you'd only change two or three rules, and they would definitely be the kind where violators are guaranteed to die?"
She remembered their conversation clearly. Both of them had agreed that the ninth rule was the core of the entire set.
'If it's the core rule,'she thought,'and with nearly all the players already deceived, wouldn't modifying that one be the most efficient way to ensure the most people lose their lives?'
"The ninth one is indeed a strong possibility," Haruto said with a faint smile. "But someone has already helped us rule out that option."
Seeing that Youmu was still puzzled, he continued his explanation.
"Remember Mao Yifan?"
Youmu nodded.
"You were too focused on scanning our surroundings at the time, so you didn't notice. Don't be fooled by that constant smile of his; in his heart, he was actively plotting how to kill us."
The moment Haruto's words fell, the air around them seemed to drop several degrees. A faint, stinging sensation spread across his skin, as if a razor-sharp blade had been gently grazed over it.
A low, grinding sound came from Youmu's gritted silver teeth, and her small hand clamped down on the hilt of her Roukanken, her knuckles turning white.
"I will go and slay him!" she squeezed the words out, her voice tight with fury. For a guard, allowing such a evident danger to approach her master without her knowledge was a grave dereliction of duty.
Thump, thump…
Haruto tapped her on the head twice with a helpless expression. "No need to be in such a rush."
"But… but…" Youmu's voice trailed off as a hand was placed on her head, gently ruffling her hair.
"Don't be so anxious," Haruto said, spreading his hands. "I actually let him leave on purpose."
"You left a Gap on him?" Kaguya asked, one eyebrow raised in inquiry.
"I did," Haruto confirmed. "What's certain for now is that he's also a player, just not from our group. He's also a Red Staff Member."
Although he didn't know why the man had targeted them or what his ultimate goal was, the fact that he had tried to set them up—and potentially harm them—had crossed a line.
His act of clinging to Haruto's leg and then repeatedly putting on a sad expression was all a deliberate performance. It was designed to convey a single piece of false information: that the ninth rule was the one that had been altered.
Even if one feigned sadness on the surface, as long as the heart wasn't truly sad, it wouldn't count as a violation.
To be honest, the man was clever.
He hadn't stated it directly because he understood a simple truth about players: rules they deduced themselves were far more persuasive than any information given to them verbally.
So, Mao Yifan chose to demonstrate with his actions, leading them to "realize" the false conclusion on their own.
Arriving at the entrance of the Grand Performance Area, they found the entire place surrounded by tall fences. Haruto peered inside, only to find the interior completely empty.
Even if there were no stamp-providing games here, players should have entered by now, if only for the sake of finding clues.
That left only one possibility—
It was currently outside the Grand Performance Area's opening hours.
Or, players had already gone in this morning, but something had happened because they violated the rules, sounding an alarm for everyone else.
After a moment of contemplation, Haruto decided against entering. Instead, he led Kaguya and Youmu further along the perimeter. About fifteen minutes later, they stopped in front of a section of the boundary wall where a small, unassuming door was set.
"The Boundary of Opening and Not Opening—"
As Haruto's words fell softly, the tightly locked door swung open with a silent creak. Beyond it lay a desolate, dusty area, but one where many tents had been pitched in neat rows.
"The Red Staff Member Residential Area?" Kaguya's eyes lit up with a hint of interest. "If they can be staff members, then we probably can, too."
"Should be possible," Haruto nodded.
The three of them split up to explore the makeshift camp.
Haruto searched along the outer edge. As he reached the boundary line of the last row of tents, he finally spotted something on the ground at the entrance of the tent closest to the perimeter: a copy of the Red Staff Member Rules.
"Rules again?"
He took a colored pen from a Gap and tried to scribble on the paper, but the ink wouldn't stick. He then tried to tear it, but the sheet remained perfectly intact.
Confirming it was a genuine rule set, he began to observe it carefully—
[Red Staff Member Rules]
[1. Working hours are from 8:00 PM to 10:00 AM the next day, for a duration of three days. Other times can be arranged freely.]
[2. Applaud. Remember to applaud.]
[3. Remember to feed the animals and take care of the animal actors.]
[4. When the merry-go-round spins silently on its own, it is impossible for children to be sitting on it. Do not make eye contact, and immediately purchase snacks. If there is no abnormality within ten minutes, the snacks can be handled by yourself without violating other rules.]
[5. The Circus has an Animal Zone. Everyone can be a breeder. Breeders can recover a certain amount of sanity.]
[7. Humans can transform into animals, and animals can transform into humans. Do not completely devolve into an animal.]
There were a total of seven rules, with rule number six conspicuously missing. Some of them bore a passing resemblance to the fake tourist rules from before.
Haruto couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the first rule.
'Three days?'he mused.'Is this the time limit for the instance? Or, is it like the Mermaid Instance, where it officially ends on the fourth day, but if we don't do anything, we'll be killed by the plot before we even get there?'
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