Chapter 712: Wax Museum
The main gate of the Museum City consisted of two giant city doors, each twenty meters high. Having been left in place for years, pushing them open produced a grating, teeth-grinding creak.
The people in front only pushed the doors open to a narrow gap, and those behind filed in one after another.
Directly ahead of the entrance was a wide street, not entirely straight, lined with various shops selling mostly small toys, dolls, and snacks. The former operators seemed to have left in a great hurry, as most shops still retained their open-for-business appearance.
Because the shops on both sides were arranged in parallel but uneven diagonal lines, even standing in the middle of the street left plenty of blind spots on either side.
"So there are also walkways on both sides," the players remarked as they moved forward, observing the fronts and backs of the shops.
Compared to the central street, the spaces in front of and behind the shops were very narrow, only allowing three or four people to walk side by side.
"With this kind of layout, aren't they afraid of bumping into people?" A female player with long curly hair patted a protruding corner extending from the street edge. "Normally, the side facing the main street would be flat, but here they deliberately stuck out a corner."
"The game said the Museum City has been modified into a horror-themed amusement park. It's not surprising they made it this way on purpose," the man beside her adjusted his glasses. "From a psychological perspective, it's meant to increase psychological pressure on the visitors."
The group continued forward.
Although they couldn't see all the scenery on both sides of the street, they could glimpse the buildings further into the Museum City in the distance. Xu Huo casually took a tour map from the wall by the street.
The overall layout of the Museum City was roughly cross-shaped. Most of the themed pavilions were concentrated in the center, while each of the four ends of the cross also had two themed pavilions. The Wax Museum, Human Model Building, Horror Escape Room, and Doll Clothing Store mentioned in the game introduction were located at each of the four ends.
"Styx Ferry, Needle Mountain Therapy, Strange Tales Night Talk, Corpse Hotel, Mad Prison, Beheading Cemetery..." The long-curly-haired female player read out a string of themes. "Is this Museum City really that big?"
A seemingly thinner female player beside her rubbed her arms and said, "Just hearing these names gives me goosebumps. Do we have to go to every themed pavilion?"
"What else can we do?" the glasses-wearing man said. "The clearance requirement is to solve the mystery of the disappearances. At the very least, we need to find the bodies. Without bodies, how the hell do we know how they died?"
The group turned to look at the undulating buildings and realized it was impossible to act together. In seven days, they would have to search not only the themed pavilions but also the shops, first-aid stations, and storage facilities of the Museum City, because the game clearly stated that before the Museum City was shut down, the police had not found any bodies of the missing persons. So they would have to search everything all over again.
"Let's split up," the middle-aged man said. "It's not one o'clock yet. We'll meet at the crossroads before five o'clock to discuss what to do next."
"I plan to go to the Corpse Hotel first," he said.
The other players looked understanding. Compared to other themed pavilions, the Corpse Hotel sounded like a place where things were hidden. The police might not have demolished the building, but the players could.
Immediately, four players indicated they would go with him.
The long-curly-haired female player chose the Beheading Cemetery, and three others joined her.
The remaining players chose the Wax Museum.
The central avenue connected to the entrance cut diagonally through the center of the cross. The Wax Museum and the adjacent Strange Tales Night Talk were on the left side upon entering, while the Human Model Building and Mad Prison were on the right.
Further past the left side were the Horror Escape Room and Beheading Cemetery, and on the remaining end were the Doll Clothing Store and Needle Mountain Therapy.
Divided by direction, the Horror Escape Room was due north, opposite the Human Model Building, while the Wax Museum was due west, opposite the Doll Clothing Store.
It was now one o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was high, and people's shadows were only slightly offset.
The long-curly-haired female player and her group walked together with the middle-aged man and his group heading toward the center of the cross. The remaining five, including Xu Huo, turned into the small alleyways between the shops.
Traveling with him were the seemingly thin female player, the glasses-wearing man, a woman in a red mask, and a male player with a dyed blonde buzz cut.
"Let's all get to know each other," the thin female player said to lighten the mood. "Otherwise, it'll be awkward shouting 'hey, hey, hey' later."
"My name is Xie Ling. Please take care of me, everyone."
The glasses-wearing man adjusted his glasses. "Bai Wenxian. I was a psychologist before entering the game."
The red-masked woman and the blonde buzz-cut man gave him a second look. The former said in a hoarse voice, "Xu Ruosi."
The latter laughed heartily. "Just call me Long Aotian!"
The others all looked at him, but he didn't mind. "A name needs to be bold and imposing. I use a different name for every instance, whatever I feel like."
He paused, then reached out to put his hand on Xu Huo's shoulder. "Brother, what's your name?"
Xu Huo sidestepped him first. "Yu Huo. I don't really like physical contact with people."
Long Aotian chuckled, showing no embarrassment at all, and instead winked. "It's not like you're a young lady."
In the game, not touching others casually and not letting others touch you casually was common sense.
Xu Huo looked at him. "I once met a player who also liked making up different fake names in the game. But later, someone called her by a fake name and she didn't react in time, and she almost lost her life."
Long Aotian's expression darkened, and he grabbed his hair. "No need to curse me like that."
Seeing this, Xie Ling quickly interjected, "Let's hurry up and get to the Wax Museum."
The group fell silent for the rest of the way until they reached the entrance of the Wax Museum.
The Wax Museum was quite large, with its entire front facade at least fifty meters wide. At the center of the main entrance stood a giant wax figure bending over and looking down. As people walked past, the exaggeratedly open mouth of the giant figure suddenly spat out several small wax figures, startling Xie Ling, who was following behind Bai Wenxian, into a scream.
"You're way too timid," Long Aotian said as he reached out to take down the small wax figures. Just then, the lights in the entire venue came on, and two life-sized wax figures slid out stiffly, standing on either side of the entrance and emitting electronic voices: "Wel... welcome..."
The rhythm and tone of their speech were deeply unsettling.
The entrance was a corridor on the left side of the main gate. Xu Huo walked in front, pushed the door aside, and looked up to find himself face-to-face with a wax figure that had been placed right in front of him.
This wax figure was gaunt and yellowed, with sunken cheeks and bulging eyes, appearing to have been modeled after someone who was chronically ill and near death.
"Is this a wax museum or a haunted house? This is how they greet you as soon as you walk in!" Xie Ling's voice trembled, and she involuntarily grabbed onto Xu Ruosi beside her.
Xu Ruosi silently pulled her hand away.
Xie Ling said apologetically, "Sorry, I've been afraid of these things since I was a child. I've never encountered them in previous instances."
"There's nothing to be afraid of." Wearing gloves, Xu Huo pushed the wax figure aside and walked further in. "They're just dummies. If it's really too much, just turn on a few more lights."
(Chapter End)