Chapter 4: The Mad Roller Coaster

“This attraction is the Mad Roller Coaster. For your safety, please be sure to follow the project rules.

Rules:
1. Do not look back during the ride.
2. Any frogs you encounter during the ride are friendly. Please be kind to animals.
3. The number of participants must be five.

The man’s incessant chatter continued: ‘Oh right, I think I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lin An. What’s yours? Speaking of which, I used to like the name Lin An, but now I don’t. ‘An’ sounds too much like ‘dark’, it’s unlucky. When everything’s back to normal, I’m going to change my name to Lin Ming. What do you think? Anyway, what’s your name? You know, there are only two of us now, we have to wait for three more before we can start the ride, and we…’

‘Shut up.’ Ye Luo couldn’t take it anymore and glared at the man.

Lin An immediately fell silent, looking aggrieved.

After a while, he couldn’t help but ask again, ‘What’s your name, really? Listen, I haven’t spoken to anyone in ten days. I can actually talk to someone here—I could die from excitement, I…’

‘Ye Luo,’ she bit out between clenched teeth. ‘And then you keep your mouth shut.’

‘Ye Luo—wow, your name is Ye Luo.’ Lin An sounded genuinely pleased. ‘Ye Luo, do you think anyone else will show up? Should we form a team and go take a look around first, I…’

‘If you keep talking,’ Ye Luo said, expressionless, ‘I’ll sew your mouth shut.’

Lin An instantly clapped his hands over his mouth. After all, Ye Luo didn’t look like she was joking.

After about five minutes, a couple arrived. Not long after, a middle-aged man showed up.

With that, their group of five was complete.

‘Now that everyone’s here, we can start. There’s no attendant, are we supposed to get on ourselves? I wonder if the safety equipment here is reliable,’ Lin An muttered, glancing around for staff.

As soon as he finished, a thunderous sound erupted—a roller coaster car howled down the track and stopped before them.

‘Looks like we’re supposed to get on by ourselves,’ said the man from the couple, his buzz cut making him look brisk and alert.

‘Honey, I’m a little scared,’ the woman said anxiously, clutching his hand.

‘Don’t be afraid. Remember the rules and nothing will happen,’ the buzz-cut man reassured her.

‘Remember the rules?’ the middle-aged man interjected. ‘But aren’t these rules contradictory? The giant frog said any frog but itself couldn’t be trusted and we should get rid of them. But here, we’re told to protect the frogs.’

‘That’s easy to understand,’ Lin An said eagerly. ‘It proves that one of these two rules must be false.’

A heavy silence fell.

This proved that not only were there hidden rules here—there were even false ones.

The difficulty had just risen sharply.

‘I still think the main rules take precedence,’ the buzz-cut man said. ‘If a frog shows up, better leave it alone.’

‘Did that big frog look trustworthy to you at the start?’ the middle-aged man retorted. ‘What if it was lying?’

The two men stared at each other, bristling with mutual annoyance.

Ye Luo said coldly, ‘If you want to save the frog, save it. If not, don’t. Everyone is responsible for their own life.’

Both men snorted and fell silent.

‘I’m getting on first. The rest of you, hurry up and don’t waste time,’ Ye Luo declared, heading straight for the front seat.

‘I’ll sit with you,’ Lin An hurried after her.

The others boarded as well.

The seats were arranged two per row.

Ye Luo and Lin An in the first row.

The couple in the second.

The middle-aged man sat alone in the last row.

He seemed uneasy about being alone, but said nothing.

Once all five were seated—

Click.

The safety belts fastened automatically.

A mechanical voice sounded: ‘The roller coaster is about to start. Five… four… three… two… one…’

The roller coaster jolted into motion.

Ye Luo watched her surroundings warily.

The ride was smooth at first, until they reached a tunnel. After the tunnel, there was a 360-degree loop—the most dangerous part. After that, the ride would smooth out again.

As soon as the ride began, the ghostly things behind Ye Luo started their mischief. She could even faintly hear the voices of her departed relatives, calling to her from behind.

If she turned around, it would be the end.

Ye Luo ignored them, eyes fixed ahead, pupils narrowing.

The dangerous zone was near.

The tunnel, then a stretch of track, then the 360-degree loop.

Something was sure to happen here.

The roller coaster plunged into the tunnel.

Now, not even moonlight remained—a darkness pure and absolute.

Ye Luo opened her eyes wide but could see nothing.

The tunnel was long and utterly silent.

So quiet, she could hear the monsters behind her swallowing.

Suddenly—

Ribbit, ribbit.

Ye Luo’s pupils shrank.

She thought she heard a frog croaking.

It was right beside her.

If she guessed correctly, the other two rows faced the same choice: save the frog or kill it.

But she heard nothing from behind—they must each be in their own isolated space, unable to hear the others.

If she let the frog be, the 360-degree loop would send it flying without protection.

If she wanted to save it, she’d have to hold it tight, not letting it fall.

What should she do?

The roller coaster burst from darkness into blood-red moonlight.

Ye Luo glanced to her side.

Sure enough, a frog sat there, wearing a tiny crown, speaking in human words.

‘That giant frog is the final boss of this level. With your current abilities, you’ll never defeat it. You need the help of the frog clan. Save me, and I’ll help you fight the evil final boss.’

‘What should we do?’ Lin An looked at Ye Luo nervously.

Ye Luo remained calm from start to finish; she seemed reliable, so he asked instinctively.

She fixed her gaze on the frog. ‘If we don’t save you, we can’t defeat the giant frog?’

‘You need the help of our frog clan,’ the frog replied.

‘I have a question,’ Ye Luo said. ‘Is the light dangerous, or is it safe?’

The frog replied without hesitation, ‘All living things fear the light. The light is the safest place.’

Ye Luo nodded, then picked up the frog and held it in her hand.

‘Are we really going to save it?’ Lin An asked.

‘Congratulations, you’ve made the right choice, I—’ the frog exclaimed excitedly.

Ye Luo, expressionless, threw the frog off the roller coaster.