Chapter 44: The Cameraman's Long-Cherished Wish

Tiger's smile vanished at Yan Jing's words.

Given the choice, he would rather become a groundhog again than ever cross paths with Yan Jing.

Before leaving, Yan Jing asked about the medical center Zebra had mentioned earlier.

"The medical center is in the old park, but our medical center has never been open to tourists."

Tiger scratched his head and asked, "Mr. Yi Ji, why do you ask...?"

"I'd like to get a physical exam for myself."

Yan Jing smiled.

"I'm a bit worried that the fear plague might be lurking inside me, too."

Tiger believed him instantly.

He honestly felt that Yan Jing's mental state wasn't quite normal sometimes.

At that thought, his eyes darted around and he smiled.

"How about this? Next time I get a checkup, I'll ask if there's a way to test for the fear plague for you, Mr. Yi Ji. If we meet again, I'll let you know."

"That would be wonderful."

Yan Jing shook Tiger's hand. "Then we'll meet again if fate allows, Mr. Tiger."

Only after Yan Jing left did Tiger slowly exhale a breath of relief.

The day had been a little too thrilling; his head was still spinning.

After resting a moment, he bent down, picked up the walkie-talkie from the ground, and prepared to ask Zebra to call the medics to drag the groundhogs away.

But before he could even speak, a sudden chill pierced his neck, making him shudder.

He looked up and saw a woman wearing a baseball cap and an expression as cold as frost, slowly walking toward him.

As she drew closer, a cold wind inexplicably kicked up. The temperature plummeted, and a chilling, deadly aura filled the space around them.

Tiger backed away warily.

When his gaze shifted to the youth beside the woman, his eyes widened in shock.

The youth was carrying a massive pile of fear spirit hearts in his arms. They were stacked almost like a small mountain, causing him to stagger as he walked.

"Boss, do I have to keep carrying all of these?"

The youth wore a miserable expression. "Nobody's going to buy this stuff anyway. The people in this amusement park don't even want them."

"I can't just carry them all the way to the bus to sell to that ticket conductor, can I?"

But the woman didn't answer.

She stepped closer and closer. Just as Tiger began to suspect she was about to attack him, every hair on his body standing on end, she merely bent down to look at the two unconscious groundhogs.

Then, she reached out a finger and lightly dabbed the blood on the ground.

Looking at the smear of crimson on her fingertip, her eyes lowered as she spoke her first words since arriving at the amusement park:

"Second Tier."

She then stood up and walked straight toward the exit leading above ground.

"We're leaving? Where to? Boss, wait for me! I can't walk fast, my hand is still injured!"

The youth stumbled after her, clutching the pile of fear spirit hearts, leaving a dumbfounded Tiger standing there.

Second Tier?

Who was Second Tier?

Was that man named Yi Ji at the Second Tier?!

...

...

"Your stamp verification is complete."

A staff member in a rabbit mascot suit smiled and handed the stamp card back to Yan Jing, saying, "However, I need to confirm one more time: do you really intend to pause your pursuit of the final grand prize? I must remind you that there is only one final prize, and it's first-come, first-served."

"Yes, I'm sure."

Yan Jing took a bite of the ice cream he had just bought.

The refreshing scent of matcha slid down his throat, the icy chill elevating the subtle sweetness.

The ice cream in this amusement park really was delicious; no wonder An Ze ate them one after another.

"Is the orange flavor good?"

He smiled, looking at Mantou beside him.

She had originally wanted an apple flavor, but unfortunately they were out, so she had chosen orange instead.

"It's... it's good! Thank... thank you... Yi Ji... for treating me... to ice cream!"

Mantou nodded vigorously, her expression indescribably happy.

This was her first time eating ice cream.

Even though she had lived in this amusement park for many years, such an expensive treat wasn't something she could afford.

Besides, ice cream was different from other food. Even if someone threw an unfinished cone into the trash, it would melt soon after.

So this was how sweet ice cream was!

Holding the surprise gift box in one hand and the ice cream in the other, Mantou took careful, tiny licks.

[Favorability +1]

The two passed through the back gate of the new park and finally arrived at the old park.

Compared to the new park, the old park appeared much more normal.

Although the rides here were still incredibly massive, at least the attractions looked relatively safe.

A carousel, a log flume, a firework stage, a fantasy castle, a Ferris wheel...

However, most of the rides were abandoned. Mottled with rust and overgrown with moss, everything from the queues to the ride interiors exuded an atmosphere of decay and ruin.

Only that giant Ferris wheel, piercing straight into the clouds, was still running steadfastly.

The house-sized cabins took turns slipping into the clouds high above, vanishing from sight. Yan Jing looked it over; in the entire amusement park, probably only that roller coaster rivaled this Ferris wheel in height.

"Yi Ji... you... come with... me!"

Mantou hadn't forgotten her mission. She led Yan Jing straight toward the place in her memory where the heavy pollution herbs grew.

It was behind a sandbox playground.

There sat a pond surrounded by bushes, pressed right up against the amusement park's outer wall.

Most tourists stopped once they pushed through the bushes and saw the pond, never imagining there was another area on the opposite side.

Mantou had only discovered by accident that walking from the far left of the pond and hugging the wall tightly would let someone circle around to the other side.

When the two arrived at the pond from Mantou's memory, they found that it had completely transformed.

Various algae floated on the pitch-black water, forming a massive film that trapped eerie green bubbles. Insects hopped across the algae, and a pungent odor filled the air.

Yet upon seeing this, the two exchanged a smile.

According to Chen Nian, heavy pollution herbs were more likely to grow in exactly this kind of environment.

Mantou pulled Yan Jing along, carefully circling around to the other side of the pond.

After pushing through the dense bushes again, their field of vision suddenly opened up.

Before them lay a small, circular area of roughly five or six square meters. It was boxed in by the towering wall and thick brush, which blocked out most of the sunlight.

In a spot near the corner, a small puddle of water had accumulated.

In the center of the puddle, five or six plants that resembled wheat ears swayed in the breeze.

Their large, swollen black pustules were heavily laced with blood vessels—unmistakably the heavy pollution herbs Old Liu had drawn.

"Mission accomplished!"

Yan Jing snapped the heavy pollution herbs off at the stems. Following Old Liu's instructions, he wrapped them in the cotton bag he'd brought and stored them next to the fear spirit hearts.

Having retrieved what he wanted in less than a day, Yan Jing felt quite pleased.

Seeing the corners of Yan Jing's mouth lift, Mantou smiled happily too.

"Huh—"

Yan Jing suddenly gave a soft gasp of surprise.

He had inadvertently spotted a hole the size of a bicycle tire in the corner wall.

Pitch-black liquid constantly dripped from this hole, eventually pooling into the small puddle before them.

Curious, he directed his gaze inside the hole.

The hole didn't go straight through the wall; it angled downward from a higher point. Yan Jing crouched halfway down and got a clear look at the interior.

He had expected it to be pitch-black, but surprisingly, a faint light seeped through. At the very top, he could see a bend in the pipe-like hole, where a platform sat—just large enough to hold one person.

It was this single glance that froze him in place.

Blurry memories suddenly surfaced in his mind—or more accurately, from the cameraman's mind.

It was very strange.

Under normal circumstances, any awakened memories in the cameraman's mind should have appeared as photos inside a folder.

But this time, they didn't.

Those messy, hazy memories materialized directly before Yan Jing's eyes, as if veiled behind a blurry filter.

He couldn't make out the contents of the memories, nor recall any further details. All he could do was let the blurred scenes wash over him piece by piece.

When those memories receded like the tide, the only thing he was certain of was that the cameraman had once been on that platform at the bend.

He must have seen what the inside of this pipe looked like, which was why the memories were surfacing now.

But why hadn't these memories manifested as photos?

Yan Jing stood stunned for a long while before an idea popped into his head.

Could it be that the cameraman had deleted these memories himself?

It wasn't impossible.

Yan Jing had considered this issue before. The cameraman's ability made his memory like a file folder, allowing him to edit, delete, or replay it at will.

And after he died, the contents of the folder had been completely wiped clean.

However, it wasn't a total deletion. It was more like the files were sitting in a recycle bin; as long as Yan Jing saw a related scene again, they would reappear.

But this situation was completely different. The only possibility Yan Jing could think of was that these memories hadn't been deleted when the cameraman died.

He had deleted them himself.

So, where did this hole lead?

Showing no outward reaction, Yan Jing called out to Mantou, "Let's go."

"O-okay!"

The two left the area, but Yan Jing memorized the location.

This place wasn't simple. It might just involve the cameraman's unknown past.

In his ear, the text broadcast voice of the Life Role-playing Game grew louder.

[You have noticed the anomaly here. This may be your chance to discover the original owner's long-cherished wish.]

[Only by fulfilling his long-cherished wish can you take over his life 100% and gain everything he owns.]