Everyone was amazed by Huanyu’s haunted house announcement.
It was the first time they had seen a novel spawn such an offline entertainment attraction. Huanyu’s promotional push for this new book was undeniably impressive.
[But thinking about it, since it’s a novel by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, it doesn’t seem that surprising anymore. Our Teacher Fish Soup Noodles totally deserves this! Hehe.]
[Huanyu is ahead of the game again. I have a feeling other novel platforms will start following suit soon.]
[Authors from other platforms must be feeling envious qwq. Even though we’re already keeping up with “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain”, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ new book is just too good!]
In fact, Huanyu’s elaborate marketing campaign for Yu Mian’s original works had, to some extent, intensified competition within the industry.
More and more novel platforms and publishing companies were now looking to Huanyu as a benchmark.
But no one knew yet what kind of novel experience this haunted house would bring.
Many interstellar readers were also intrigued by the term “haunted house”.
[If it’s a trial experience, does that mean it’s like an amusement park attraction? And since it’s a pop-up, does that mean it’s a limited-time event? Now I’m both excited and nervous, do we need to fight for tickets?]
[I think it’s going to be amazing because Huanyu’s official post features a collaboration with Piedmont Amusement Park! The hype is doubling up, so the difficulty of getting tickets is probably at nightmare level.]
Readers soon realized that this offline pop-up event was far from ordinary.
Piedmont Amusement Park was a renowned interstellar theme park, and this was the first time it had collaborated with a novel IP.
Huanyu quickly confirmed that the haunted house’s technical support came from Piedmont, aiming to deliver a thrilling adventure.
The first round of free ticket giveaways was about to begin!
[Alright, I was originally planning to wait for more chapters to stack up before binge-reading, but since you’re doing this, I’ll start now! Praying hard to win a subscriber giveaway ticket, I really want to play!]
[Same! I’m a Piedmont Amusement Park premium annual pass holder, and now they’re collaborating with my favorite author. This is a dream come true! Time to dive in!]
Many steadfast fans who had held back for a long time couldn’t resist Huanyu’s promotional temptation. This led to another surge in popularity for “I Picked Up a Traveling Light Brain”, which was already on the rise.
Even Yu Mian, who considered himself used to big waves, was momentarily surprised by the sudden spike in subscription numbers.
[Fish: Are so many people really curious about the haunted house? O.O]
[Crispy Shark: It’s mainly because this time, the collaboration is with Piedmont Amusement Park. Aside from book fans, many amusement park enthusiasts are also very interested! The number of reservation requests for trial tickets has already exploded. Unfortunately, the event only lasts for half a month, and to ensure the best experience, attendance capacity has to be controlled.]
Shaxs excitedly briefed Yu Mian on the event’s success while swiftly sending him a ticket link.
[Crispy Shark: Make sure you fill this out carefully! It requires strict real-name verification, if your information is incorrect, even you won’t be able to get in. The demand is insane; even Piedmont didn’t expect it to be this popular.]
After thinking for a moment, Yu Mian filled out the form for Aunt Inas and the others, Huo Ting, and himself. Unfortunately, Huo Yan was too young to participate this time.
Huanyu handled ticket distribution for long-time readers and fans.
Soon, Yu Mian received his physical commemorative ticket from Huanyu, a silver chip for each person.
Although you could enter the park with digital verification, Huanyu and Piedmont had specially designed these physical tickets.
The sleek silver chips had a strong futuristic aesthetic. With a string attached, they could be worn as necklaces or bracelets, making them likely to become treasured souvenirs for many fans.
[Fish: Then before the haunted house officially launches, I’ll try to write up to a mini-climax for the first world. =w=]
[Crispy Shark: Wow!! That would be perfect, the hype will definitely double again.]
But as soon as Shaxs said that, he felt something was off.
After all, trial tickets were already in extreme short supply. If the hype kept growing, wouldn’t the limited tens of thousands of tickets end up getting sky-high buying offers…?
“But I really can’t wait to read the next chapter! Please ask Teacher Fish Soup Noodles to update faster!”
“I agree! The daily updates are nowhere near enough!”
When the other editors in the editorial department learned about this, they urged Shaxs to have Fish Soup Noodles deliver faster. No matter what, seeing the next part of the plot was more exciting.
“Our Fish Soup Noodles is already a model worker, okay…”
Shaxs silently muttered to himself.
These people had no idea that Fish Soup Noodles might be developing an offline romance. If he got snatched away and stopped updating, they would be in tears!
Fortunately, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief as Fish Soup Noodles’ recent updates had remained both steady and high-quality.
Sometimes, the word count would even double, making readers in the comment section so happy it felt like they were celebrating the New Year.
Could it be that guy was actually considerate enough not to disturb Fish Soup Noodles while writing? [Shark in deep thought]
Thus, the main text of “I Picked Up a Traveling Light Brain” continued its serialization, riding the wave of the offline haunted house collaboration and surging toward a new thrilling climax.
When Si Yao re-entered the plot loop, this time, he quickly began using the notes in his hands, leveraging his growing understanding of the light brain and its tasks, and attempted various ways to break through and escape from this enormous, isolated prison star.
However, the level of evil and danger in this dungeon far exceeded everyone’s imagination.
No matter how Si Yao tried to avoid all the inevitable death points he had accumulated before, he would always trigger a new life-threatening crisis in each new round of exploration!
Moreover, each round randomly selected 100 players, all with different initial identities and factions. Under the guidance of the light brain’s rules, once they turned on each other, the carnage was gruesome and merciless.
Seeing all this, Si Yao often fell into deep silence.
The complexity of human nature, the desire to survive, and the eerie atmosphere of despair intertwined, making this vast nest devour countless lives and what little remained of rationality, like a furnace.
At times, Si Yao even felt that compared to those who died early, those who survived until the very end were in even greater pain.
Because they had already seen the final hope, yet at the last moment, their souls still dissipated, and the game ended.
What puzzled Si Yao even more was that Experimental Subject 114 no longer showed any signs of being different, as if that moment in the past had been nothing more than an illusion.
But Si Yao was certain that his greatest advantage was his ability to start over repeatedly. As long as he could explore and uncover more details, the ultimate truth would eventually be revealed.
However, as the number of resets increased, Si Yao suddenly realized that his mental state was also beginning to show abnormalities.
And at the very moment the game dungeon reset again, Si Yao let out a muffled groan, clutching his forehead. For the first time, a mysterious green smiling symbol appeared on that pitch-black, old light brain.
[Lucky one, you don’t have many chances left.]
[Smiley face]
The eerie green characters formed a mechanical smiley face, as if watching Si Yao’s repeated futile attempts and failures in the darkness of the long night with a smile on its face.
Until everything was about to reach an irreversible end, it suddenly patted the player on the shoulder and said with a smile:
“How unfortunate. Your chances are running out.”
In fact, when the old light brain in the story suddenly lit up and displayed such a bizarre set of old characters, the interstellar readers who had stayed up late to catch the latest chapter felt their scalps go numb all at once.
[Fuck, help! Who understands the impact of this smiling character? I was so scared I screamed out loud. I think I just developed a cosmic-level phobia of smiley faces!]
[Damn it, it’s like this light brain suddenly grew a face and is grinning at me, and in the middle of the night. This is nightmare fuel! Help!!]
After all, Si Yao had already failed several times in a row. He had even come dangerously close to clearing the dungeon on multiple occasions through brute force, only to be instantly wiped out at the last second by the research institute director who seemed to be in god-mode.
In the last round, Si Yao’s entire arm had been crushed to pieces. The excruciating pain had just reached its peak when everything reset once more.
That night’s update had everyone on the verge of rioting, ready to charge into the book and fight that deranged director.
As a result, just as they were vowing that their Si Yao would take him down in the next round, the old light brain everyone had almost forgotten about suddenly activated, displaying that chilling smiley face and warning that there were only three chances left…
Who wouldn’t be scared to the point of collapse?!
[By the universe above, what kind of mindset did Teacher Fish Soup Noodles have when writing this scene? I’m crying. I don’t even have the courage to switch back to the chapter page now… my heart can no longer bear the illustrations paired with this.]
[Not just that. I swear I’ll never use a text-based smiley face again. Can someone explain why this simple emoticon is getting creepier the more I look at it?!]
While most readers were howling in terror late at night, another group of readers emerged with a completely unique reaction.
It turned out that ever since “I Picked Up a Traveling Light Brain” had been serialized, many interstellar readers had unknowingly developed a peculiar taste for horror.
[I’m done for. I think my brain has already been rewired by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles into an “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” brain. Not only did I feel scared, but I also found it thrilling!?]
[Same! I’ve been following “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain”, and now when I read other novels, they all feel so dull in comparison. This is terrifying, I’ve changed!]
This group of readers even started declaring that if a novel wasn’t scary, thrilling, or scary, they weren’t interested anymore.
[Have we been turned into masochists by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ novel? [Biting nails in terror.jpg]]
To this, Yu Mian only wanted to say that there was no need to worry.
After all, the supernatural horror genre had always had a massive market.
And the biggest trait of this genre’s audience was their extreme loyalty. Once they started chasing the thrill, naturally, milder stories would no longer satisfy them.
[Crispy Shark: But, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, don’t you think the final boss might be a little too overpowered? If the difficulty of Si Yao’s story is set too high, wouldn’t it be easy for the plot to collapse?]
As the popularity and heated discussions surrounding “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” reached the peak due to the reactivation of the light brain, Shaxs, as an editor, couldn’t help but voice some concerns.
