Famine 218: A Grand Opening
by Cristae[Urban Legend – The Invitation That Could Never Be Sent]
Since the fire when she was five years old, she could only lie in her sterile hospital room.
They always said that every additional day she survived was a miracle of modern medicine. But she didn’t really understand what that meant.
Her face had melted beyond recognition, her vocal cords had been destroyed in the flames. The only way she could communicate now was through a mechanical artificial voice.
Every year on her birthday, she did her utmost to fold invitation letters, hoping, as in earlier years, to invite her friends to her birthday party.
She loved to dance. She loved folding paper into pretend food for their games. Above all, she loved dressing up as a clown, thinking of every way possible to make everyone happy.
Just like always: so many cakes, delicious hotdogs, confetti streaming through the air, and happy friends all around.
She loved the bustle, loved to see everyone’s joyful faces.
The first year, everyone came, worry and tears hidden behind forced smiles as they celebrated with her. The second year, only half attended, avoiding looking at her face and carrying out the smaller friends frightened by her appearance. By the third year, only her two closest friends remained, holding a cake outside the sterile chamber and saying things she couldn’t understand. In the fourth year, no friends came at all—only a few nurses stopped by. The fifth year, even the nurses started to make excuses… and by the sixth year…
She lay in the isolation chamber, writing invitation after invitation day after day. The thick stacks of envelopes grew ever higher, while the number of people willing to receive them grew ever fewer.
Until the tenth year, her miracle faded.
Her throat was ruined, breathing weak and threadlike as she lay in the same room she’d occupied for a decade.
The empty hospital room was stacked high with countless unmailed invitations, piled up like a mountain.
Wearing her birthday hat, she stared at the ceiling and set off her final party popper herself.
Pop.
…
Now, she no longer felt any pain, and she finally found herself surrounded by many who didn’t mind her ugliness.
She burrowed underground, hiding herself away, and became the thing people found most delightful. One invitation after another was sent out, waiting eagerly for everyone to arrive.
But, but… even though no one could see her face anymore,
Why was it that people still showed those looks of disgust and disappointment?
…………
……
Once the park was in the bag, the portal connecting it to the farm appeared.
As for the resources he already owned, Si Zhiyan never hesitated to squeeze out every last drop—if the amusement park supplied the monsters at night, surely leaving it empty all day was a waste? It was the perfect time to let their own people come and try things out.
The players had caught wind of the coming opening, their enthusiasm burning high. Every day, someone would be waiting impatiently for the amusement park to open.
Everyone had figured out the pattern by now: whenever the farm unlocked a new world, it meant new foods, and so they were all rubbing their hands in anticipation. Some even ran betting pools on what sort of new food would appear in the amusement park.
It was well worth looking forward to! After all, all the food in Candy Town at present came from players’ own shops—delicious, yes, but not the same as something truly grown from the park itself!
As for Alice—there was no need to mention her.
From the moment Si Zhiyan found the abandoned amusement park, she would show up at his office three hundred times a day, poking her head in through every door, window, and even from under the desk, tirelessly asking:
Hi! Can we go play in the amusement park yet?
Hi! Can we play today?
What? Only two hours have passed? Oops, sorry—so can we go yet?
At last, Si Zhiyan’s patience snapped, and he seized her frilly pink collar and booted her out of the office.
Yu Yao! Come collect your troublesome kid!
The butler would appear in less than thirty seconds, offering profuse apologies to Si Zhiyan, then dragging the little girl with a bumped head away, her voice trailing off: “I want to play in the amusement park, ahhh…”
Si Zhiyan could only sigh in resignation.
Bian Xu glanced outside. “Oh, Mr. Yu Yao, it’s not easy for you, is it?”
He paused, blinked, and with a smile offered, “Need me to go take care of it for you?”
Si Zhiyan shook his head. “No need.”
“In fact, I can probably guess why Alice is in such a hurry. I can understand her feelings.”
Bian Xu tilted his head.
Si Zhiyan continued, “Have you noticed? The people from Hephaestus Castle actually almost never go out.”
It was true.
The farm had Dreamlike Fantasy Town, steaming hot springs, a bustling and brilliant main city… Ordinary players, after their first sight of the farm, moved in with joy, hardly wishing to spend a moment away from it.
But the people in Hephaestus Castle were different.
Ever since the portal was established, they had remained largely closed off, rarely letting outsiders in as guests and almost never venturing out themselves.
No matter whether it was a holiday or a festival,
The castle doors were always shut, without exception.
“So far, the only ones eager to interact with the outside world are these few: Alice, Yu Yao… and maybe the maid Naya who guards the gate.”
“They live in Alice’s castle—a dreamy, beautiful shelter from wind and rain, a paradise at the end of famine.”
“Who knows what terrible disasters the castle may have once protected them from?”
“Perhaps, even though the world outside is better now, they are still reluctant to leave that safe haven.”
So on that day, Alice sat in her castle and said: I want to invite everyone!
——In this way, maybe everyone would be willing to step outside.
“Of course, this is only my guess,” Si Zhiyan said, setting down his coffee cup. “It may not be right.”
Bian Xu frowned slightly, saying nothing.
“What is it?” Si Zhiyan asked.
Bian Xu hesitated, finally speaking: “I just feel… something isn’t quite right.”
“For example?”
“I can’t say,” Bian Xu shook his head, “It’s more of an instinct… I think things may not be as simple as we imagine.”
Maybe some animals simply had unusual instincts. Since Bian Xu couldn’t put it into words, Si Zhiyan only met his gaze for a while, and when Bian Xu finally softened and quietly begged for mercy, he laughed, ruffled his hair, and let it go.
“Never mind—after all, we shouldn’t meddle too much in the affairs of our allies.”
“If we build the amusement park well, we’ll have mastered the technique. Let them have their fun—maybe something will reveal itself.”
…………
……
But, just as the grand opening drew near, a new problem arose.
—Let alone new food, the amusement park itself could hardly function properly.
From afar at night, the park looked beautiful from every angle; but as Si Zhiyan drew closer and studied it, he found something was amiss.
Every ride in the amusement park had strange, inexplicable errors.
The rollercoaster couldn’t start; the carousel seemed bolted to the ground; the log flume’s water was actually beneath the track, and boats sliding down made no splash at all.
Yet, in the system’s status, everything showed as normal.
Si Zhiyan called up [Amusement Park]. On the other end, the mechanical voice hesitated in silence.
Then the truth struck Si Zhiyan.
—The heart of [Amusement Park], the one who sent invitations to everyone, did everything possible to win guest satisfaction, and tried so hard to create happiness for all—
This girl had, in truth, never visited an amusement park in her life.
She didn’t know what an amusement park was supposed to be.
So she’d sold rotting hot dogs. So the rides she created never worked. Whether alive or dead, she remained that little girl clutching her invitations, at a loss before the crowd, playing at being a clown but never quite getting it right, forever hiding her melted face.
“It’s all right—leave it to me.”
Si Zhiyan patted the castle pillar and said,
“I’ll find you an expert for this.”
Half an hour later, Alice was clutching the phone in excitement, her eyes shining.
“Wow! So you’re the Amusement Park? A real one? A bound spirit? No way, that’s amazing! Does that mean we can all play together here?”
[Zzz… I… um…]
“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Alice giggled. “You’ve helped me a lot!”
[Zzz… but… the rides… they’re all wrong… oh… zzz…]
“That’s all right! Just a few glitches, right? I have the unlimited diamond pass to both Disneyland resorts!… Hehe, let me take a look, where’s the problem?”
“Wow, your castle is so pretty! I don’t have a castle. Castles are the best!”
[Zzz…..]
“Hm? Want to link up with me? Not a problem…”
“……”
When young girls gather, there’s always endless chatter. Though [Amusement Park] was not much of a talker, it hardly mattered; someone as extroverted as Alice could always barge into any heart and forge a friendship.
Their voices grew lively, then faded into the distance.
…………
……
While the amusement rides were being repaired, Alice and [Amusement Park] grew close astonishingly fast.
Before long, they didn’t even need Si Zhiyan’s phone. Alice could simply touch a pillar, flick some spray from a fountain, and receive a response from [Amusement Park].
Across the bounds of time, space, and life and death, a long-lonely soul was reaching out again for long-lost warmth.
It was only a few days later that Si Zhiyan received news: “Everything’s ready!”
Though he’d initially adopted a “if you’re so keen, then here, you handle it” attitude… the sheer efficiency left him amused.
At last, the final problem was solved.
Once he confirmed that [Amusement Park] had absolute control over its own domain, Si Zhiyan made a crucial decision—
From now on, the [Amusement Park] absorbed by the farm would not bar monsters from entry.
The park would be open twenty-four hours, five days a week; the remaining two days set aside for cleaning and maintenance.
The whole [Amusement Park] would be an absolute safety zone, strictly prohibiting all private fights.
Monsters would roam at night, the day belonged to the players, the late night to the monsters—and on ordinary nights…
It would be a mixed zone for both players and monsters.
Whether you were human or ghost, you could find your sought-after joy within the amusement park.
The Farmer and the heart of the amusement park both pledged the safety of everyone inside.
And so, the grand opening ceremony would commence at nightfall.
This meant every player hoping to visit on opening day would have to learn to mingle peacefully with the monsters.
The moment the announcement dropped, a huge uproar broke out.
Not only did many players voice confusion, but even monsters let out startled and excited howls.
Yet, thanks to Si Zhiyan’s level of control and prestige in the farm, and [Amusement Park]’s own might, all unreasonable opposition and potential danger was pressed down and suppressed.
The decision was made, and, driven by irresistible momentum, rolled out across the land.
…………
……
Soon, the official opening day of [Amusement Park] arrived.
Festivities, fireworks, security, sanitation, staff—everything was ready.
[She burrowed underground, hiding herself, transforming into something that brought people the most delight, sending out one invitation after another and waiting happily for everyone’s arrival.]
[But, but… even though no one could see her face now,
Why did they still show that expression of dislike and disappointment?]
In his bedroom, Si Zhiyan glanced one final time at the system’s entry, then closed the light screen.
He straightened his collar, took Bian Xu, and pushed open the terrace door of the castle.