Rediscovering the Paradise of Revelry

The teaching building was not exactly new. Its exterior was completely enclosed, with only a single glass door on the side.

"Buildings A, B, and C are all like this," The Art Student said. "No natural light, just like coffins."

Zhu Yan noticed that the lock and iron chain used to secure the door had been snapped in two, lying pitifully on the steps.

"Having an 8 AM class in there gives you the peaceful feeling of being already dead... Oh, I did that."

The Art Student followed Zhu Yan's gaze, offered a casual explanation, and then yanked Zhu Yan through the door.

"Damn lock, trying to stop college students from attending their 8 AM classes. I killed it!"

The Art Student led Zhu Yan down the dim, long corridor, while Zhu Yan curiously inspected the classrooms on both sides and the natural light filtering in from the end of the hall.

"From now on, whoever does something bad should be punished with immortality, and then forced to attend 8 AM college classes forever..."

Zhu Yan felt that The Art Student had a certain unhinged charm of someone driven mad by 8 AM classes, even though the other guy clearly wasn't a student anymore.

He asked, "Do you go to 8 AM classes too?"

"Sometimes, mostly just to keep up with the times." The Art Student curled his lip. "I don't have a phone, nor do I have much money. Basically, on my own, I can barely take a single step here."

Zhu Yan understood.

No wonder this guy asked others to bring him food; it turned out he couldn't buy it himself.

"I blend in with the students and chat with them. Sigh, but even if we chat, I can't add them on social media. It sucks."

Zhu Yan looked up and down at his outfit and suddenly asked, "Then where did you get your makeup and height-increasing shoes?"

"And what do you usually eat?"

The Art Student shot him a sideways glance and answered truthfully.

"I use the [Witch] face-sculpting clay and body-painting tools; they work great. The elevator shoes were bought with cash from graduating students."

"I take art commissions and help people design their OCs, so I can make a little money."

The long corridor had reached its end. Daylight poured in through the stairwell window, brightening Zhu Yan's field of vision.

"But I can only accept cash. There aren't many students willing to use cash, you know..."

Under the stairs sat two vending machines side by side.

One was pink, selling drinks and bottled water, while the other was dark-colored, dispensing coffee in paper cups.

Their appearance was completely normal; Zhu Yan didn't notice anything special about them.

The Art Student dug into his pocket and showed him a copper coin.

Carved into the coin was a gaping mouth with two rows of fine, sharp teeth that sent chills down one's spine.

"A Bone Copper Coin!" The Art Student said excitedly. "It's about the same size as a one-yuan coin."

He motioned for Zhu Yan to come over and very carefully inserted the coin into the coin slot.

"Everyone uses QR codes to pay nowadays, but we aren't actually trying to buy a drink, so..."

Zhu Yan watched in surprise as the vending machine's buttons lit up in a sequence, before finally turning completely dark in a highly abnormal manner.

"Done," The Art Student said, gesturing for Zhu Yan to step forward.

"At this step, you need to say the password to it. It was on the piece of paper, remember?"

Zhu Yan remembered.

"Forward," he said to the vending machine.

The vending machine beeped, and one of the buttons turned green.

"It's Mirinda Orange Soda," The Art Student sighed. "Press it."

Zhu Yan pressed it.

No drink rolled out, but the vending machine began to creak and, along with the wall behind it, slid open to the right.

A short, lit corridor appeared between the coffee machine and the vending machine, its walls lined with exquisitely framed small paintings.

"Come on," The Art Student said. "Did you memorize the process?"

Zhu Yan followed him onto the carpet, and the opening closed silently behind him.

"I memorized it," he said, curiously taking in the surroundings.

Unlike the usual eerie decorations found in [Carnival Paradise], everything here looked normal and warm.

The leather sofa and coffee table in the corner looked like they had been stolen from a university administrator's office, as did the solid wood desk in the middle.

There were also small storage cabinets, bookshelves, and rolling carts clearly meant for a student dorm, and even a few bed curtains.

On the desk sat an old tablet and a massive printer.

"It's just one living room. Take a seat."

The Art Student pulled off the wig on his head and then carefully peeled a hard shell off his face.

He kicked off his shoes, and only then did Zhu Yan realize that this guy wasn't actually tall, only about 163 or 165 centimeters.

He also looked very young, with naturally curly, middle-parted short hair, and a round face and eyes.

The Art Student struggled to remove his colored contacts, placing them into a box embossed with a broomstick.

Zhu Yan remembered that this was also a product from the [Witch Department Store].

"Much better," The Art Student said, his round, pale golden eyes staring at Zhu Yan.

"Bring the food over. You talk, and I'll eat and listen."

Zhu Yan laid out the specific items the other had requested one by one on the sofa.

He did not dare to let his guard down, so he carefully picked and chose his words, only saying what was absolutely necessary.

When he mentioned fusing [Thrilling Pleasure], The Art Student stopped eating his chicken cutlet.

He turned his face and scrutinized Zhu Yan with furrowed brows.

"So, you've been to the [Recitative Terrace]?"

The Art Student looked extremely alert. Zhu Yan nodded, trying to figure out why the other was reacting this way.

He slowly recounted his experiences in [Carnival Paradise], watching The Art Student's expression shift from a deep frown to a sigh of relief. Finally, those golden eyes widened and sparkled, looking at Zhu Yan with joy.

"Genius! You gained the approval of Vine Cage Girl!"

He said happily, pulling out a pair of round, black-framed glasses and putting them on.

"My god. You are exactly the player [Mount Fangcun] needs! It's incredibly rare that you weren't corrupted by the [Recitative Terrace]!"

Zhu Yan thought of Vine Cage Girl's words and felt even more puzzled.

"What exactly is in the [Recitative Terrace]?" he asked. "What do you mean by rare? [Carnival Paradise] just descended, were there other players before this?"

The Art Student pondered for a moment.

"It didn't just descend," he explained to Zhu Yan. "It has always been here, since ancient times. It's just that its influence wasn't significant before; you could say it was developing stealthily."

"For example, in the 13th century, it descended on a small scale in the European and Asian regions, capturing a very small number of players. At that time, it was the Black Death in the European region, and Buddhism was flourishing in the Asian region, with something called [Joyous Buddha] becoming popular in palaces."

Zhu Yan calculated the timeline; this corresponded to the Yuan Dynasty.

"[Joyous Buddha]?" he asked curiously.

"Yes." The Art Student's face grew serious. "Using the name of religion to engage in carnal acts. Both of these were later fused to become part of [Carnival Paradise]. You've already met Plague Demon and the witches."

"The [Joyous Buddha] was later concentrated in the Tibetan region. The game's difficulty isn't high right now, so it won't appear for the time being."

The Art Student handed Zhu Yan a box of fried chicken.

"Let's eat together. This place is delicious," he said. "You must be hungry."

Zhu Yan was indeed hungry.

But what The Art Student said fascinated him so deeply that he had completely forgotten his hunger just moments ago.

"When you say a very small number, how many do you mean?" he asked curiously. "How many times has [Carnival Paradise] descended like this?"

"Probably a few hundred people," The Art Student said. "A few hundred each time. At its peak, it reached over a thousand. The mechanics were different back then too. If you survived a certain number of instances, you could keep living and gain massive amounts of treasure or immortality."

Zhu Yan looked at The Art Student in astonishment.

"So you were a player before, and you chose immortality?"

The Art Student nodded, then shook his head.

"I chose neither," he said. "That is why I have lived until now."

Zhu Yan was confused again.

He wanted to ask more, but The Art Student simply continued talking about his own experiences.

"I was chosen when I was very young. If you convert it, I was probably fourteen or fifteen."

Zhu Yan really wanted to ask why he used the word convert.

The Art Student looked down at his own body and explained, "Oh... there wasn't much to eat back then. As long as you passed ten instances, you could survive, and that's how I survived."

"The others called it the Trial of Hell. Some people suffered mental breakdowns. Believing themselves to be devout Christians, they chose martyrdom right in the very first instance."

"Of the people who survived back then, as far as I know, there were fifteen."

"Aside from me, some of them chose treasure, and some chose immortality."

Zhu Yan was captivated once again.

"And then what?"