Chapter 108

Chapter 108

Not far from the Crawler Joy Hall was the Fish Fun House.

As the name suggests, it had something to do with fish—either catching or eating them. It wouldn't be anything other than these two options. Perhaps even a combination of both, catching and eating fresh fish.

When Ji Xinghai rode his bike over, there were already people queuing up ahead. He dismounted and asked, "How does the game work?"

"Isn't that... Ji Xinghai?"

The black guy at the front of the queue, who had been impatient, turned around in surprise. "Hey, buddy, you're here too? The game isn't hard; it's just fishing."

However, he immediately remembered Ji Xinghai's notorious cheating skills when it came to fishing, and his expression became peculiar.

"I'll explain."

Ji Xinghai was quite famous among the students, so before the black guy could finish, the brown-skinned lad in front of him enthusiastically started explaining.

Indeed, the game at the Fish Fun House was fishing. Each player had one rod and a pool of piranhas, but no bait was provided.

Students were given thirty minutes to catch a fish to pass, otherwise, they wouldn't get a stamp. As for the game tokens, each fish counted as one.

"We discovered by chance that human flesh and blood are highly attractive to the fish in the pool. A drop of blood would attract many fish, but to actually catch one, you need a piece of flesh."

"Who's cutting flesh?" Ji Xinghai was surprised. Was everyone willing to go to such lengths to catch a fish?

"Not really," the brown-skinned lad scratched his head. "The first player who fished could steel her body. She learned from you and went down to 'hang fish,' then dissected the fish and smeared some blood on the meat to make it look like human flesh."

The student who caught the fish didn't dare eat it, so she left all the fish for the next person. This continued, so they never lacked the fish meat to disguise as human flesh. They only needed to provide their own blood.

But even this small amount of blood, they were willing to give.

However, even this small amount of blood, Ji Xinghai didn’t want to give. When it was his turn, he took out the "Universal Fishing Gear," rumored to increase the chances of catching fish by 200%, and said, "I'll lend you the gear in exchange for blood."

Before the student could respond, the fathead fish behind the counter, its eyes gleaming with gold, jumped up and hopped over, looking at Ji Xinghai with one round eye.

"You took it away!"

The students still felt a bit intimidated by these abnormal creatures. Seeing the fathead fish approach, they backed away several meters, admiring Ji Xinghai, who remained unperturbed.

"It is indeed you." The fathead fish’s eyes glowed, and its fins rubbed together. "I saved up energy for so long, finally able to exchange it, but it was gone from the storage. I haven't even used it once. I knew one of you students must have taken it. You don't fish every day, why do you need it?"

To keep it and use it however he wanted, none of their business.

Ji Xinghai thought this way but spoke differently:

"Storage? Oh, the prize pool. How come your internal staff doesn't get priority benefits? Even without priority, knowing how much you love it, they should have kept it for you. Hungry Academy is not doing well; they don't treat you as their own, just as expendable materials?"

He poured a bucket of mud on Hungry Academy and feigned concern: "If you love it so much, giving a treasure to a hero is appropriate. But I'm a bit stubborn; I won't give my things away, even if they break. Like this."

As he spoke, he picked up the fishing gear, pretending to break it, making the fathead fish jump and slap its belly in distress.

"Just kidding. It's my turn now, move aside." Ji Xinghai wasn't foolish; he spent money on it and wouldn't break it casually. He just wanted to show his stance.

"You!" The fathead fish was about to get angry but suddenly recognized Ji Xinghai's young face and shuddered.

Wasn't this the person they had been talking about in their group?

Its fins gently clasped, and the fathead fish's expression turned joyful, bowing slightly. "You kind student, I can see you know how to fish. Why bother? Ten game tokens, and I'll stamp it. Will you lend me the gear?"

"I can fish just fine. Do you think I'd trade my life-earned gear for this? You're trying to rip me off." Ji Xinghai smiled sardonically.

The gear earned through life-threatening games, the points generated from those games, and the gear exchanged for those points—all earned through risking his life. No fault there.

In short:

Too little money.

The fathead fish didn't expect to get the gear easily. It was a matter of asking high and settling low.

"Ten game tokens is the limit, but I have other good stuff." The fathead fish turned and brought out a bag of ancient ghosts, their faces gray and featureless. "Here, I only ask for blood and flesh, but higher up, souls are weighed and sold. I happen to have some. Look..."

Its big eyes stared at the gear, conveying its meaning clearly.

Turns out, souls were required later.

Although Ji Xinghai had ways to solve this, why work hard when there was an easy option?

Of course, trading was out of the question, but lending was negotiable. "In addition to the ten game tokens, three fragmented souls for a day's loan, six days total. Eighteen makes twenty, right?" Seeing the fathead fish about to speak, Ji Xinghai put away the gear. "Deal or no deal."

"Deal, deal!" Seeing his attitude, the naive fathead fish agreed immediately.

Satisfied, Ji Xinghai added, "Let's sign a contract. If not for your genuine love, I wouldn't do this business; it's tiring."

They quickly signed the contract. Ji Xinghai left with the stamped booklet and ten game tokens, while the fathead fish eagerly practiced with the borrowed fishing rod. The students watched, stunned.

"Look, aren't we..." One student greedily eyed the counter, having seen the game tokens come from there.

"Are you also Ji Xinghai?" Another student asked him, seeing his silence, scoffed, and sat down with the fishing rod, hooking a piece of bloodied fish meat.

Didn't they want the same thing?

They saw clearly that the fathead fish initially had murderous intent but changed its demeanor upon recognizing Ji Xinghai.

The same rules applied differently to the fathead fish and Ji Xinghai, protecting the fathead fish. Applied to the fathead fish and them, it protected them.

This student focused on fishing, and within thirty minutes, he caught two fish. Turning around, he found the student who had spoken to him earlier was gone.

"The person who talked to me has left?"

The trainees in the back row trembled and pointed at the counter. "He just walked behind the counter, and it suddenly turned into a giant fish mouth, swallowing him whole."

"I saw the counter turn into an anglerfish's mouth," another person added.

An anglerfish is a type of fish that can fish. It has a lure that resembles a fishing rod extending from its head, which even glows to attract light-seeking fish, then swallows them when they get close.

The trainee stiffly turned his head to look at the fat-headed fish on the other side of the pond. The fat-headed fish gave him a slight smile, revealing uneven sharp teeth.

At this moment, Ji Xinghai had already come out of the third game hall, the Aromatherapy Hall. Apart from having a newly blended perfume in his hand, there were no other changes.

The stamp was given, but not the game coins.

But Ji Xinghai had no complaints; he didn't need those coins anyway.

The Aromatherapy Hall, related to fragrances, had relatively low-risk games, but few dared to aim for high scores. After all, stripping naked, removing all hair, coating oneself with fat, and wrapping oneself in linen shrouds for thirty minutes before extracting 'body fragrance' from the scraped-off fat—it wasn't something everyone wanted to try.

The hall master would score based on the quality and quantity of the extracted perfume and give game coins accordingly.

Most trainees passed without incident, and those who looked good could earn a few points. However, one trainee's perfume displeased the hall master so much that they were killed.

It was clear that the hall master was quite appearance-conscious.

This setup seemed familiar, perhaps inspired by some terrifying work. In any case, the hall master 'Wig' particularly liked perfumes made by pretty girls and was generous with game coins.

Ji Xinghai, a beautiful young boy, was also favored, and the hall master wanted to provide full-body service, but was rejected.

"Everyone wants flesh and blood, but you don't?"

The tall and plump hall master, whose wig was stuffed with who knows what, giggled while fanning itself. With each laugh, powder fell from the wig: "Who wants those smelly things? There's nothing better than perfume made from human body fragrance, especially from someone as innocent as you. The scent is so pure, hahaha."

"..."

In the end, Ji Xinghai only provided one arm, producing a single drop of perfume.

It was almost eleven in the morning.

Although he had only visited three game halls in the morning, Ji Xinghai understood that this instance was indeed entertainment-oriented. The NPCs had strong autonomy and no performance requirements, except for fixed rules, allowing them to do anything according to their preferences.

For example, the Aromatherapy Hall had little danger, and game coins were easy to obtain (as long as one looked good). In previous instances, this would have been unthinkable.

So, if trainees could gather enough harmless game halls, completing twenty-four halls wouldn't be too difficult.

Did the Hungry Academy make no other arrangements this time?

Ji Xinghai looked up at the colorful amusement park under the sun and smiled lightly: Only by continuing to play will we know.

The bicycle wheels spun rapidly, heading for the next destination, the 5D theater.

The task here was simple: watch a five-minute 5D movie quietly and answer a few questions. Passing just one question would suffice for clearance.

If none could be answered, either ten years of life or a limb had to be given to the hall master.

"Six seats left, one more needed, hurry up, or we'll have to wait for the next show." The square speaker at the entrance urged. But Ji Xinghai still slowly lifted the curtain and entered.

Inside was dimly lit, and he could vaguely see five figures sitting silently. Ji Xinghai walked over and sat down.

"Please remain quiet during the viewing." The speaker reminded.

In the darkness, he heard the mechanism beneath the seat start moving. He moved forward through thick fog, cold and damp, while eerie lights illuminated around him.

"Huff—huff—"

When the lights came on, he saw the faces of the people beside him. Their eyes were a murky gray, the greenish-blue faces of long-dead corpses, leering as they twisted ninety degrees to blow air at him.

Ji Xinghai: ...

"Bang!"

No need for legs anymore.