Chapter 218: They Are Laughing Happily!

"One-sou."
"Nine-man."
"Kan!"
"Reach!"
Amidst the noise and heat, over a dozen useless zombies, their bodies emitting a foul stench, were killing time by surrounding a mahjong table, smoking cigarettes, and drinking beer. It was noisy, chaotic, and by the looks of it, filled with social misfits.
Seeing Huaishi enter, one of them turned around and said,
"Oh, the new squad leader?"
"He looks young. This means today's performance will definitely be a failure."
"We don't get paid anyway, so what does performance matter?"
"Hey, you just stole my tile, didn't you?"
"Is this tile yours? Where's the proof?"
"I'm going to beat some sense into this guy!"
"You bastard, bring it on!"
Before the introductions were even finished, several zombies started a brawl. One ripped off an opponent's head, while another stomped on someone's waist until it snapped. In the blink of an eye, severed limbs were rolling everywhere, and Huaishi thought his eyeballs were going to pop out.
What a spectacular technique!
Are these guys pros at brawling? Even in this state, no one has died...
Fortunately, these people seemed to follow the rules; after the fight, they greeted Huaishi one by one, explained their job duties, and expressed their attitude that they would follow his instructions.
In the corner, two zombies were chatting while looking at an erotic magazine.
"I heard a new pachinko parlor opened at the Sanzu River recently. Want to go after work?"
"Can't. Ayako has been feeling sick since yesterday, and I need to bring home a kilogram of fresh meat."
"Is she pregnant again?"
"Yeah, the third one."
"Congratulations, that's great..."
Huaishi listened and began to doubt the meaning of life. Pregnant? You're a zombie, aren't you?!
The two continued their lively chat.
"Is Taro four years old this year?"
"That's right."
The fat zombie turned and looked at Huaishi.
"Squad leader, want to see our family photo?"
Saying that, he took a photo out of his pocket and showed it to Huaishi.
"I'm fat now, but I used to be this thin. Ah, they're laughing so happily."
Huaishi squinted to look. The photo showed a couple holding two children who were as black as charcoal.
"..."
It's over. These colleagues are completely unreliable...
Huaishi felt like his head was going to explode from the headache.
How am I supposed to fight with comrades like these!
According to the rules he read on the way, the Haunted Castle can accommodate four guests at a time. Thirty minutes until opening... Once the amusement park opens, Huaishi must immediately become the boss of the side story.
Even if they were weak sublimators, dealing with four at once might lead to a mistake if he wasn't careful.
Huaishi sighed and asked seriously,
"How do you guys usually... ahem, do your jobs?"
The zombie at the front raised his hand and answered.
"We stay at our posts, wait for people to come, and when they do, we bite them. We try our best not to let them escape."
It seems their work ethic isn't bad. Huaishi nodded and asked again.
"What if they escape?"
Another zombie raised his hand.
"We go back and wait again."
I see. Everyone is a 'wait-for-instructions' zombie...
"Let's think of a method."
Huaishi scratched his head and paced back and forth in the old castle while working his brain.
The mood is okay, the traps are a bit old-fashioned but usable. The side paths and fake doors are decent enough; it could be called a labyrinth.
But they can't capture anyone...
Huaishi finished a lap and returned, looking at the zombies idling in the break room, and suddenly asked,
"Do zombies get sick?"
"Huh?"
The zombies looked at each other in surprise and shook their heads in unison.
"No way... we're already dead, we haven't even caught a cold in a long time."
"That's good."
Huaishi's eyes lit up. The dozen or so useless zombies smoking and playing mahjong here now looked like a dozen nutrient-rich petri dishes.
After thinking for a moment, Huaishi created an iron cup. It was about the size of a beer mug. Then he took out a blade, cut his hand, and watched the blood flow out. He could just apply a bandage with silver-blood medicine when he was done.
He had been getting too much nutrition from the tree on the way here anyway, so he could just think of it as donating blood.
Huaishi carefully twisted out two handfuls of 'Ash of Calamity' and put them inside. The liquid in the demonic energy turned black in an instant.
To finish, he brought out the Spear of Compassion and poured in a few dozen grams of 'Dragon Blood'.
Sizzle!
The liquid in the container shook, bubbling as if it were boiling.
"Try drinking this. It's homemade 'Pleasure Water'."
Huaishi placed the container in front of them and smiled.
"Come on, hurry up. One sip each. You'll feel happy after drinking it."
Urged by Huaishi, the zombies put the drink, which didn't look very appetizing, into their stomachs. And in an instant, they became happy.
"Ohhh! Power is surging through me!!!"
"This is fun... is this growth..."
"I... I'm rotting even more!"
"I grew another head..."
Due to the effects of the alchemical poison-like virus, the zombies turned green in an instant.
Inside their damp, rotting bodies, the viruses grew comfortably, multiplying like dandelions in an instant, turning all the zombies into demonic virus zombies.
According to Huaishi's observation, the type of poison varied by individual; those with blood type A had 'Source-Quality Smallpox', those with type B had 'Hell Influenza', and type O was bizarrely, like farmers, growing mushrooms on their heads one after another. One zombie even had a sunflower growing on its head...
Even during the short evolution, time flew by.
Soon, the sound of alarms could be heard outside, and in a few minutes, the 'guests' would enter, and the game would begin...
"Alright. Let's get energized. It's time to work!"
Huaishi tried to cheer the zombies up and send them off to work.
"What are your respective posts?"
"I'm in the library."
"I'm in the kitchen."
"I'm in the hall."
"I'll just wander around..."
The zombies walked sluggishly into the depths of the castle. However, a gaunt, old zombie was still sitting in a chair in the break room.
Among the zombies, his state of decay was the worst; the flesh had completely fallen off, and he was more of a skeleton than a zombie—he looked like he would fall apart if poked...
To come to work in this state, what a dedicated worker, old man!
Huaishi looked at him with awe and respect, and asked,
"What is your job?"
The old zombie scratched his head with a rasping sound, gave an awkward, fawning smile, and lifted an eighty-year-old newspaper.
"Reading... the newspaper..."
I see.
Huaishi's eyelid twitched. Is there workplace harassment even among zombies? Dark-hearted capitalists are terrifying...
Still, why is he at the workplace when he's this old? Doesn't he have any work! It must be boring to just read the newspaper here every day!
He sighed and pointed to the desk.
"Then, please stay here."
"What should I do... if someone... comes?"
Huaishi stared at him. He looked terrifying, but he didn't look very strong. If he attacked someone, he would probably be shattered by a single kick.
If that happened, the live broadcast would say the participating player abused an old man. It would be a tragedy... he wouldn't be able to show his face.
"Then, why don't you... play mahjong with whoever comes in?"
Huaishi thought for a moment and brought over some mahjong tiles. It didn't matter if they were used or not. He would use them as a tactic to deceive the enemy for now.
To set the mood, he placed an old humidifier in the room under his seat, sprinkled some Ash of Calamity, and flipped the switch. Black mist slowly rose from the old zombie's mouth, making it look like he was ascending.
It was eerie and terrifying, radiating the aura of a formidable enemy!
"That's it!"
Huaishi clapped his hands. Hearing the even more urgent alarms outside the castle, he waved his hand and turned off the lights in the break room. In an instant, darkness swallowed everything.
The main gate of the castle opened heavily.
Amidst the groans of the zombies, the Haunted Castle began its operations.
The next moment, countless figures appeared from nowhere.
※
※
'Resurrection Mission—Clear Kitten Paradise within eight hours.'
'Clear Bonus: Restoration of participation qualifications. Let's look for other bonuses too!'
In an instant, thousands of people who had been sinking into nightmares woke up screaming, realizing they were standing in a plaza.
The participants who had been eliminated on the first day became guests of Kitten Paradise, the venue for the losers' revival match.
Except for those who blindly rushed in and lost their lives in vain, the others stayed put and began reading the thick guidebook at a glance. To choose the hurdles they needed to overcome.
In the guidebook, all the 'attractions' of Kitten Paradise were briefly introduced.
The difficulty varied by location, and the conditions required to clear them were also different. High-difficulty locations cleared the mission in one go, while low-difficulty locations often required four or five people to conquer them and accumulate the points needed to clear.
Guests with both ability and courage used the three fast passes they were given to bypass the challengers waiting in line and challenge the highest-difficulty attractions like Crash Mountain, 20,000 Leagues Under the Earth, Dying Spirits, etc. This was to reduce danger and clear them in one shot.
You only have one life. The judgment was that it was better to clear them quickly than to face staff with the home-field advantage in lower-difficulty items and risk failure.
And some read the line written in small print at the end of the guidebook, and their eyes instantly lit up.
—If you kill a staff member, not only will your participation qualifications be restored, but you can also inherit the staff member's clear progress and all their equipment?
Immediately, amidst various calculations and deep thoughts, some confident and some full of anxiety, the challengers proceeded down the paths they had chosen.
As the boiling flow of people headed in all directions, Kitten Paradise began to move like a meat grinder being switched on, and began to drift with the smell of blood.
Amidst the constant screams, under the dark gray sky, this place suddenly turned into a den of demons.
Huaishi heard the sound of the door opening.

Translator's note:
As you may have noticed, the model for "Kitten Paradise" is Disneyland. It was fun translating the names of the attractions ヾ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ