Doomsday Wonderland - Chapter 368

Chapter 368: A Series To Ruin Your Childhood

It had already been a few hours since Pumpkin Route had been completely devastated by Puppeteer's and Santa Claus' battle . Granite outcrops and mounds of upturned soil littered the landscape . There were several fissures on the ground . The shops and buildings surrounding them had all slid into these holes following the movements of the ground .

There were still a few damaged shops that were not sucked into these holes . However, none of the pocket dimension beings were around . The products in the shops had also all disappeared much to Lin Sanjiu's disappointment . Her clothes were in a bad shape after the battle so she thought she could sieve through the rubble to get a new outfit . However, this was apparently impossible so she gave up on it .

"Hey, if you were wearing a hoodie, things wouldn't be this hard for me," Lin Sanjiu heard a quiet complaint from atop her piping hot head .

As the cat doctor's feet were too short, it was too difficult for him to navigate through the ruined landscape . Consequently, he had settled on Lin Sanjiu's head . While she leaped across the open fissures in the ground and scaled the various granite outcrop, he shifted precariously while he perched on her head . Sometimes, he even had to grab on to her hair with his claws to maintain his balance .

Meanwhile, AYU, who was visibly larger now, followed behind Lin Sanjiu laboriously . AYU was comparatively untalkative compared to Soulsqn . Other than AYU's occasional vindictive glances, Lin Sanjiu found AYU a companion she didn't have to worry much about .  

As the road had been destroyed beyond recognition, Lin Sanjiu and her companions took about 30 minutes to cover a distance that would usually spend only 10 to 20 minutes . They finally saw the vague outline of the roof of the next arena in a distance .

"I wonder what sort of amusement attraction awaits us?"

Lin Sanjiu sighed . She withdrew her eyes from the distance as she stood on the top of a granite outcrop . She jumped to another outcrop some distance away and held on to the rock with her hands . Following the crevices, she quickly climbed down the granite outcrop and landed on the ground with a soft thud .

As they were already some distance away from the epicenter of the battleground, the path ahead seemed more leveled . There were only several granite pieces strewn messily on the ground which had been blasted away from the epicenter . Lin Sanjiu quickened her pace and headed straight for the arena but just as they were about to reach the next station, they suddenly stopped .

It was late at night . The sky was a deep dark blue . The moon had hidden behind the thick layers of clouds . The only light they could see came from the stars above and the glowing signboard of the arena in a distance .

Under the bright "Cartoon World Experience" font on the signboard of the arena, there was a blurry figure of a human lying motionless on the ground, right in the middle of the entrance .

The cat doctor's night vision was better than any posthumans' . Meowie Hu stood up straight on Lin Sanjiu's head and stretched his neck out to look farther ahead . After that, he hammered his paw on her forehead with urgency, "I think that person on the floor looks familiar . I think he is that guy who has been urging you to return his items just now . " 

"Puppeteer?"

Lin Sanjiu was stunned . She quickly explained things to AYU before rushing toward the man .

After Lin Sanjiu returned the four items to Puppeteer, she requested for the cat doctor to look at his wounds . However, once Puppeteer was no longer affected by Meowie Hu's charm, he didn't want a cat to treat his wounds . After scoffing at Lin Sanjiu's suggestion, he left without saying a word .

Before Puppeteer confronted Lin Sanjiu previously, he had already exited "Cartoon World Experience" once, so it should be easy for him . With that in mind, Lin Sanjiu thought she did not need to worry for him . However, she would never imagine that she would find Puppeteer lying unconscious outside the arena's entrance .

If she didn't notice his chest rising ever so slightly, Lin Sanjiu would have assumed that the pale white Puppeteer was dead .

"Oh… I think his injuries must be very serious . " Lin Sanjiu crouched down beside Puppeteer, feeling slightly cautious but also a little curious . The cat and the Soul with her also came up to look at him . "He's lucky that we found him . If it was anyone else, that person would immediately kill him . "

"Is he really that bad with other people?" the cat doctor asked with sparkling eyes . Among them, he was certainly the happiest when they found Puppeteer . Without the others noticing, the cat had already taken off his little backpack . He laid numerous small equipment on the ground . According to the size of the equipment, they were apparently specifically created to the cat's size . Lin Sanjiu could tell what some of them were but she had no idea what was the uses of most of the other equipment .

Being prudent, Lin Sanjiu quickly stopped the eager cat doctor from immediately testing his tools on Puppeteer . Worried that Puppeteer might be equipped with some sort of defensive item, Lin Sanjiu found a branch nearby and cautiously prodded his body twice . Puppeteer's white and bloodless skin got prodded by the sharp branch but nothing happened . That action did not activate any sort of defensive mechanism . Instead, Puppeteer's breathing got weaker .

"That's great," Lin Sanjiu narrowed her eyes as she observed his face . She realized that the glitter around his eyes had already faded . If she didn't pay specific attention to them, they would look like part of his skin . After thinking for a moment, she patted the cat doctor's head and muttered, "Go ahead . "

The cat coughed once and his claws flashed . He stuck a single claw toward Puppeteer . After seeing the cat sterilizing his claws with some alcohol swabs, Lin Sanjiu still felt a little uneasy so she added, "I don't have any grudge with him now, so you better not kill him with malpractice . "

Feeling insulted, Meowie Hu glared at Lin Sanjiu very unhappily .

"I want you to guard Dr . Hu," Lin Sanjiu stood up and ordered AYU . "If you see any weird strangers, don't hold back . You can find a new human skin for your queen . When I come back, you two better stay this way . I don't want to witness anything that shouldn't happen when I come back . "

AYU rolled her eyes, showing too much of the whites of her eyes, " Where are you going?"

Lin Sanjiu stretched her limbs before turning to look at Cartoon World Experience . "At best, you and Dr . Hu can only survive the first round . If you guys can earn some stamina points from that, I would consider that lucky . " Lin Sanjiu had already decided her strategy on their way here . It would probably be impossible for her to protect two other people while she had to complete the rounds . "I have no choice here . In case things go awry, I need to earn a little more stamina points . "

If it came to their last resort and they needed to escape from the attraction to save their lives, she knew that both Meowie Hu and AYU needed sufficient stamina point . Each player required 60 stamina point to quit a round . For two players, it would take 120 stamina points .

"But even if we exit the game, we can only return to the entrance . We can't move forward," AYU couldn't help pointing out .

"In any case, that's better than dying," Lin Sanjiu replied without turning her head . "Besides, if that happens, that would only mean that both of you should get out of the amusement park as soon as possible .

When she noticed that AYU had immediately fallen silent, Lin Sanjiu turned to look at Meowie Hu once before she headed toward Cartoon World Experience .

The two rooms that seemed like public washrooms seemed exactly the same . Lin Sanjiu did not know which side she should enter the attraction from . After she looked around, she didn't see any sort of ticket seller-like staff . This was only the same reason why Lin Sanjiu was tricked by Puppeteer when he left that puppet with a red hat in front of the attraction .

"Is there anyone there?" Lin Sanjiu shouted into the left room .

The door was ajar so there was a gap . Lin Sanjiu could see that it was dark inside . She waited for a few seconds but no one answered her from inside the room . Lin Sanjiu was cautious . She didn't step into the room immediately . She walked to the other room instead . On closer inspection, Lin Sanjiu realized that the door to the room on the right was tightly shut . She tried to push the door but it didn't budge .

Judging this situation, she could only enter through the left door . When Lin Sanjiu pushed the door lightly, it swung open soundlessly . The door disappeared into the darkness . The room was like a dark abyss that absorbed any light that reached its interior . Lin Sanjiu did not know whether this was because it was dark outside or because the arena was naturally designed that way . After she squinted and tried to look into it a few times, she couldn't make out the outline of the room's interior .

Lin Sanjiu entered her hypersensory state and activated her [Defence Forcefield] . She braced herself and forced herself to walk into the abyss of indiscernible darkness . Once she stepped inside, the door instantly closed behind her . When Lin Sanjiu heard the lock being turned, she was sure that she did not hear a click but a "bwahaha" .

"What sort of goddamn door is this?" Lin Sanjiu couldn't help grumbling . If she had not gone through the "baptism" rite through Kisaragi Station and the three rounds of Haunted House Dare, she would definitely find this place a little creepy . "Isn't this Cartoon World?"

Lin Sanjiu felt as if she was completely blind . She could not see anything in front of her . There was only pure darkness . Even though she was in her hypersensory state, she could not feel anything out of place . The was just dust floating in the still air . She could not sense anyone and anything .

She took one step in the darkness when she suddenly sensed a person . Perhaps, a being was a more appropriate description . It was standing right by the tip of her nose . If she had taken a wider stride, she would have collided with that thing's face .

Incomprehensibly, two dark shadows slowly split from the absolute darkness in front of her . Alarmed, Lin Sanjiu raised her skeletal wings and thrust the sharp bones toward the thing in front of her . A cold sweat rolled down her forehead .

She had reacted on instinct . She actually knew deep inside that the thing in front of her was another character from the pocket dimension . It probably didn't mean her any harm—otherwise, considering the way it could just appear, it could definitely hurt her badly .

As that thing was directly in front of her face, Lin Sanjiu couldn't really make out what it was . After taking two steps back and looking slightly upward, Lin Sanjiu finally saw what was in front of her as the darkness faded slightly .

The two black shadows had now shown their round shapes . As the room slowly brightened, Lin Sanjiu saw the creature's pairs of black shiny eyes . As his cheeks rose, a deep huge grin spread across his faces .

Lin Sanjiu had definitely seen that smile many times before . Yet, when that face grew clearer amidst the darkness, Lin Sanjiu couldn't help shuddering .

Mickey Mouse was staring gleefully at her .

"Welcome!" As it greeted her, Lin Sanjiu saw his flashing white teeth . They were squarish and looked like human's teeth . "Welcome, new player . I hope you like our Cartoon World . "

Lin Sanjiu was convinced that she would not like this place at all .

"The entry fee is 5 stamina points . " Since the mouse was staring straight at Lin Sanjiu, he was at least 1 . 8m tall . His round ears hung over her head and receded into the darkness, "If you see something you like in Cartoon World, or a souvenir you want, you can purchase them with your stamina points . "

Before Lin Sanjiu could question what he meant, she already muttered a "shit" inwardly .

Regardless of what Mickey meant, if he had brought up this matter, it was proof that she needed stamina points for this amusement attraction . Lin Sanjiu didn't have much stamina points left after helping Puppeteer . Furthermore, she wanted to save more stamina points for Meowie Hu .

After she steadied her breathing, Lin Sanjiu calmed herself and asked, "What do other players usually purchase?"

"Oh, a lot," Mickey raised one of the large hands in a white glove . He crooked his head and touched Lin Sanjiu wrist once as if he was touching a treasured object . Lin Sanjiu felt goosebumps all over . The mouse looked up with a frozen smile and continued affectionately, "Some of them buy their three meals here, some of them even get clothes and bedding . . . After all, the items here are all very cute so they are all super desirable . "

"If that is the case, you are definitely not cute," Lin Sanjiu added inwardly . After she looked at Mickey, she naturally couldn't bring herself to make that comment out loud . The large mouse had an expression as if it was pretending to look witty and playful . He blinked at her—unfortunately, when he blinked his eyes, his eyelids did not move downward . They moved sideways toward the center .

Lin Sanjiu was scared by his expression . Since she couldn't get any answers from him, she didn't want to stay there longer so she started walking deeper into the room .

Mickey immediately followed behind her like a lurking shadow . She swung her head around and watched him with bewilderment . Mickey blinked again, in that strange manner, and explained cheerfully, "You are a new player so you don't know this . Your first experience is the house I share with Minnie . Let me lead you there . "