Chapter 104: The Bizarre Swing Area

Before them, the swing area contained no swings at all. It was more accurate to call it a bungee jumping zone rather than a swing zone.

The swing frames were towering—about a hundred meters high. The way to swing was to drop from the very top of the frame and then swing back and forth.

So, this was bungee jumping, not swinging!

Xiyan felt powerless to criticize, but recalling what White Bear had said earlier—that this swing area was very dangerous—he felt a surge of irritation.

Since the apocalypse began, he had faced countless dangers without rest, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted.

At that moment, it seemed his long-suppressed emotions suddenly erupted. Xiyan shouted loudly at the swing area ahead, "Let's see what you’re really capable of! Can you keep me alive here or not?"

A Yuan glanced sideways, blinking in confusion at Xiyan. "Brother, what’s wrong?"

Hearing this, Xiyan crouched down, ruffling A Yuan’s hair gently. "Nothing. Like I said, I just want to see how dangerous this swing area really is."

A Yuan nodded somewhat understandingly, though she didn’t fully grasp why Xiyan had suddenly spoken like that. In her heart, she vowed: I will protect my brother; I won’t let him face danger. We will get out of here together.

"Alright then, a den of dragons and tigers is meant to be braved," Lin Shuang said, stepping toward the swing area.

The moment they stepped inside, the sky above the entire area instantly turned pitch black.

This change happened the instant their feet crossed into the swing zone.

Faced with such a transformation, they all tensed, vigilantly observing their surroundings—after all, this was the first time they had seen anything like it.

Although the sky had darkened, the path itself was not shrouded in darkness. There was only one road in the swing area, flanked on both sides by dimly glowing street lamps.

Because there was only one path, the swings were set up in the middle of the road. To pass through, one had to engage with the swings.

They exchanged glances and began walking toward the swings.

Unlike the previous two zones, this swing area had attendants guiding the players.

As soon as an attendant saw players approaching, he immediately stepped forward enthusiastically to introduce the swings.

Dressed entirely in black, the attendant was nearly invisible unless one looked closely. From a distance, he seemed merged with the night itself.

With a smiling face, he said to the group, "This is your first time here, right? Let me explain how this swing works."

He then turned slightly, gesturing toward the swings behind him as he continued, "You only need to play this swing once to earn 5,000 points, with no upper limit."

"Oh? No upper limit, and just one play awards 5,000 points?" Lin Shuang questioned skeptically.

The attendant did not take offense at Lin Shuang’s tone; instead, he patiently elaborated.

"Miss, you’ve got it right. That’s exactly what it means. And our swings are very safe. You could say the 5,000 points are free—like getting a prize for nothing!"

Safe?

Xiyan looked toward the swings behind the attendant. He saw nothing safe about them. Since when did swings resemble bungee jumps?

Moreover, the swings lacked any visible safety measures—less safe even than bungee jumping.

"Ahhh!!"

Suddenly, while they were watching, a man fell from one of the swings.

But when he hit the ground, he didn’t die; instead, he jumped up energetically and waved at the attendant.

"This is so much fun! I’ve already earned 5,000 points. Remember to credit my account," he said.

Then the man returned to the swing and jumped off again.

Seeing this, Xiyan shrugged helplessly and looked at the attendant. "So you’re saying this game doesn’t kill players?"

The attendant smiled and nodded.

Xiyan pressed further, "If we don’t want to play this game, is there any way to get through here?"

The attendant thought carefully, then replied, "Hmm... no, you have to play. Why wouldn’t you want to? You get 5,000 points for free!"

"Alright then, we’ll play. One round and we can pass, right?"

The attendant nodded.

Finally, the three of them reached the swing area.

The attendant stood beside them and explained, telling them to sit on the bench and then jump down.

The swing worked like this: a person sat on the bench, which swung downward from the very top of the swing frame.

There were no restraints on the bench—nothing to hold the person in place. The only outcome of swinging from here was to fall to the ground.

Remembering the man who had fallen and bounced up alive made Xiyan shudder.

Even with 5,000 points at stake, he wasn’t eager to try.

"Alright, who wants to go first?" the attendant urged after explaining the rules.

"I—"

"I’ll go."

Xiyan had intended to try first, but A Yuan beat him to it, already sitting on the bench and ready to start.

"A Yuan, come here. Let me try first. You don’t have to," Xiyan said.

A Yuan turned her head, smiling brightly at him. "It’s okay, brother. Don’t forget who I am."

Her words stunned Xiyan for a moment, and he could only smile helplessly.

A Yuan implied that she was a card, so there was no need to worry about her dying. But Xiyan and Lin Shuang were human—if they died, there was no way to save them.

"Brother, don’t worry. I’m really fine. You don’t always have to try to protect me—I can protect you," A Yuan said with a smile.

Since A Yuan insisted, Xiyan had no choice but to let her go first.

The attendant looked at the three of them, confused. "You don’t have to be so polite! It’s not like only one person can play. All three of you can play together!"

The three glanced at each other, and Lin Shuang rolled her eyes at the attendant. "Why didn’t you say that earlier? Were you enjoying watching us argue?"

The attendant looked aggrieved. "You never asked me..." His voice trailed off so quietly that even he could barely hear it.

Looking at this attendant, Xiyan truly doubted whether what White Bear had said about the ski area was true. Was this swing area really dangerous? Or was this attendant deliberately pretending to be like this?