The blue-uniformed staff member wasn’t someone without a temper, and soon the two of them were locked in a heated argument.

    Their words came rapid and chaotic, a jumble of noise. Su Qingya could only see their lips moving furiously, their eyes darting, but she couldn’t make out what they were actually arguing about.

    Xu Nian, however, paid no attention to the commotion. Her gaze remained fixed on the giant swing ride.

    Something about the speed of the pendulum felt off—an inexplicable gut feeling.

    Meanwhile, Su Qingya, after watching the quarrel for a while, stepped in to mediate.

    “Ladies, calm down, please. Let’s try to understand each other. Auntie, arguing with her won’t help—she’s just an employee. She doesn’t have the authority to shut this down. This is the amusement park’s facility, under the manager’s control. Why make things difficult for her? If you have a complaint, why not take it up with the park manager? That’s the way to get results.”

    The middle-aged woman considered this and, realizing the point, stopped pressing the issue. With a disdainful huff, she walked away.

    “Some people are just unbearable.”

    “What kind of person even is she?” The staff member exhaled sharply, as if releasing pent-up frustration.

    “Thank you, miss.”

    She was genuinely grateful to Su Qingya for defusing the situation.

    Sigh. If that woman hadn’t been in the way, I probably would’ve hit my quota by now.

    “Wait—the speed really is wrong.”

    Xu Nian spoke up again, her voice urgent.

    “No way.”

    Hearing this, the staff member turned back to look. After a moment, her expression changed.

    Too fast.

    Visibly, unnaturally fast.

    The pendulum was spinning wildly, its arc nearly a full circle.

    The riders screamed in terror, their shrill cries piercing enough to make one’s head throb.

    Yet they didn’t realize anything was truly wrong—they thought this was all part of the ride.

    “This can’t be happening.”

    The staff member rushed to the control panel, Xu Nian close behind.

    Seeing this, Su Qingya had no choice but to follow.

    Only then did Xu Nian get a proper look at the control panel.

    To her surprise, the amusement ride’s controls were shockingly simple—just a small platform with a screen and a few buttons, completely exposed to the elements.

    If it rains, wouldn’t this thing get ruined?

    Even more surprising was the presence of a token slot on the panel.

    Why?

    Su Qingya noticed it too, her gaze locked onto the controls as she tightened her grip on Xu Nian’s sleeve.

    “Excuse me—do you have any tokens? As visitors, you should have some, right?” The staff member’s voice was frantic, her panic unmistakable.

    “We haven’t ridden anything yet,” Su Qingya admitted apologetically.

    After discovering the park’s unsettling nature, they’d been extra cautious about which attractions to try.

    “Damn it, this is bad. What kind of stupid design is this? Why do you need tokens just to use the controls?”

    The staff member fumbled with the panel for a moment before giving up, muttering complaints under her breath.

    Su Qingya, however, was even more puzzled now.

    “You don’t have any tokens? Then how are you supposed to distribute them later?”

    To her, this made no sense.

    “I’m not allowed to touch those tokens.”

    But after a brief hesitation, the staff member made up her mind and hurried off to retrieve a few from storage.

    Inserting them into the slot, she pressed a series of buttons as instructed. Soon, the pendulum’s speed returned to normal.

    She let out a relieved sigh.

    That had been far too close.

    If the speed had exceeded the ride’s safety threshold… she didn’t even want to think about the consequences.

    Xu Nian scanned the surroundings, confirming that all anomalies had indeed vanished, and finally relaxed.

    So this is why you’re supposed to alert staff if the speed is off?

    Because certain creatures would prioritize emotional energy over the riders’ lives.

    “Actually, I’ve been wondering—why does this park only assign one staff member per attraction? Smaller rides are one thing, but for bigger ones like this, how can a single person handle everything?”

    Whether it was the bumper cars or this giant swing, there was always just one worker.

    Isn’t that pushing labor exploitation a bit too far?

    “I don’t know either. Assignments come from the manager—I just go where I’m told.” The staff member sounded embarrassed, her expression equally confused.

    “I’m new here. Just graduated, and it took forever to land this job. The job market’s brutal—every interviewer just told me to ‘wait for notice.’ At least this place pays decently, no probation period, and they cover social insurance right away.”

    “Though, well… this park is new, so most of my coworkers are new hires too.”

    She rambled on, her cheeks faintly flushed, as if relieved to have someone to vent to.

    Suddenly, she clutched her stomach, her face contorting in pain.

    “I’m sorry—my stomach’s killing me. I need to run to the restroom. Could you two watch the booth for me?”

    “Us?”

    Xu Nian pointed at herself, incredulous.

    “We’re just visitors.”

    “Please—I’ll be quick! You’re the only ones I can ask. When the ride stops, just press that button to hand out five tokens per person. It’s really simple!”

    With that, she dashed off, still hunched over in discomfort.

    “Hey—!”

    Left with no choice, Xu Nian and Su Qingya stayed behind.

    But then Xu Nian’s sharp eyes caught something—a white sheet of paper lying on a nearby bench.

    She hurried over, picked it up, and examined it closely.

    [Employee Guidelines]

    1. Do not leave your post during work hours (8:50–11:30, 13:30–18:00). Unauthorized absence is strictly prohibited. 2. Uniforms are blue. Ensure yours is blue at all times. 3. Do not engage with colleagues wearing uniforms of a different color. If they approach you, pretend not to see them. 4. Distribute tokens to visitors after each ride, but do not use them yourself. 5. Refuse requests for repeat rides unless the visitor provides tokens. If your oversight allows unauthorized repeats, forget the oversight occurred. 6. Verify your assigned post via the manager’s text notifications. Confirm accuracy before fulfilling daily quotas. 7. If stationed at rotating rides (e.g., carousel) and visitors report abnormal speeds, accept tokens from them. Otherwise, ignore. 8. No animals exist in this park. All ticket-holding visitors are entitled to ride. Do not panic. 9. Deny assistance to visitors without tickets. 10. This park employs no clown-costumed staff. If seen, disregard. 11. If asked about ride-specific precautions, answer truthfully based on observation. 12. Everything here is normal. Adhere to scientific principles. Ignore and forget any counterintuitive phenomena—they are normal.

    Twelve concise rules were listed on the page.

    Xu Nian called Su Qingya over and handed her the guidelines.

    Su Qingya studied them carefully. Though the rules seemed straightforward, an unsettling undercurrent ran through each line.

    “Nian, she…”

    That staff member had just broken multiple rules.

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