Touhou: Dragged Into A Death Game, I Summoned Kaguya! — Chapter 205

Chapter 205: Does a Way Out Still Exist?

The Grand Performance Area stretched out like a cavernous maw, its massive canvas dome swallowing the dim overhead lights. Despite the sheer scale of the venue, the audience was pitifully sparse. Counting Haruto’s trio and the eight nervous players they had encountered at the entrance, a mere eleven people sat scattered across the curved bleachers.

Yet, the performers on the brightly lit stage poured a disturbing amount of effort into their routine. The Animal Tamer cracked a heavy leather whip, the sharp snap echoing through the empty tent. A lion, its movements stiff and entirely wooden, launched itself through a blazing hoop of fire. Nearby, a monkey tumbled off a rusted unicycle, hitting the dirt with a heavy thud. Time and time again, it dragged itself up, its face entirely devoid of expression, only to mount the wheel and fall once more.

There was no doubt about it. These animals were all former players who had completely lost their sanity.

Kaguya covered her mouth, letting out a long, exaggerated yawn. The crude entertainment held absolutely no appeal to her. She shifted her weight, turning her dark eyes toward the youth beside her.

“Ryuko, how exactly did you know that spouting that random sentence would get us past the gate without tickets?”

“It was total nonsense, obviously.”

Haruto leaned back, crossing his arms as if cheating a supernatural death game was simply a matter of course. Beside him, the high-ponytail woman, Lin Que, felt a violent twitch in her eyelid.

Not only had the terrifying Troupe Leader personally escorted them to the best seats in the house, but they hadn’t even paid the admission fee? Could this situation be any more absurd?

Sighing, Lin Que handed three pieces of brightly colored paper over to Haruto and Kaguya.

“I just grabbed three extra for you.”

“Thanks.”

Haruto took the crisp sheets. Printed across the very top in bold, jagged letters were the words: Tourist Rules.

“Tourist rules again?”

“I’ve already tested them,” Lin Que whispered, glancing around nervously. “They are genuine blood words rules.”

[Dream Circus Tourist Rules]

[1. Performance time is from 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM. Please try to stay in the Residential Area after the park closes.]

[2. Applaud, applaud, remember to applaud.]

[3. Feeding animal performers is prohibited.]

[4. Only accept gifts from Clowns in private; it is strictly forbidden to accept any Clown items in public settings (especially Red Balloons).]

[5. When the merry-go-round rotates silently on its own, it is impossible for children to be sitting on it. Do not make eye contact, and immediately purchase snacks. If no abnormalities occur within ten minutes, the snacks may be consumed at your discretion, provided no other rules are violated.]

[6. The Circus has no Animal Zone and no keepers.]

[7. If you encounter difficulties (such as getting lost), you can trust staff in Blue Uniforms; never follow those in Red Uniforms.]

[8. If your body shows signs of animalization, remember that it is a hallucination. You are human. Immediately find a staff member in a Red Uniform; our staff will take you to the Animal Zone.]

[9. Some performances are dangerous. If an actor invites you on stage, please agree. Do not refuse or leave halfway.]

[10. Watch two full performances.]

[11. Please enjoy the journey. Except when required for the performance, maintain a smile and do not cry. Your happiness is this troupe’s only pursuit.]

There were eleven rules in total.

It aligned closely with what Haruto had anticipated, though some clauses had been heavily modified and three entirely new ones had been added to the list.

The tenth rule had indeed been changed. His initial suspicion that Mao Yifan was setting a deliberate trap had been spot on, only now a specific condition of “except when necessary for the performance” had been tacked on.

That meant there would definitely be segments requiring the audience to imitate the actors.

As for the clear condition to escape this instance, it was most likely hidden within the tenth rule—finish watching two performances. An exit passage should theoretically appear at that point, but the absolute prerequisite was that a player must maintain their most basic human sanity.

If someone failed to do so, they would smoothly transition into a staff member here, mindlessly waiting to process the next batch of unfortunate tourists.

The stage performance was purely for the audience’s viewing pleasure. As for the Blue-uniformed and Red-uniformed staff members wandering the grounds, they likely had entirely different, far more sinister tasks.

Haruto folded the colored paper, slipping it into his pocket, and directed his attention back to the stage.

The performance was incredibly ordinary. Actually, ‘ordinary’ wasn’t quite the right word; rather, it was no different from a mundane, real-world circus. There were no distorted visual hallucinations, no sudden jump scares, and none of the visceral horror characteristic of a high-level instance.

An hour and a half bled away in the blink of an eye.

There were no interactive segments, nor did any bizarre anomalies trigger. It played out exactly as Haruto had calculated. The difficulty of the first night was insultingly low—so low it was practically non-existent. Which meant the next two performances would inevitably skyrocket in lethality.

Leaving the Grand Performance Area, Haruto’s trio and the other two surviving teams handled the dark paths back to the Residential Area. The moment they stepped into the camp, they were swarmed by desperate players. Clearly, the others had deduced from the subtle clues Haruto had dropped earlier that the Grand Performance Area would be open tonight.

Haruto had zero patience for small talk. He dumped the tedious task of explaining the mechanics onto Lin Que, smoothly slipping away with Kaguya and Youmu to their designated tent.

Inside, Youmu’s phantom half had been squished into a makeshift, marshmallow-soft mattress. Haruto sank into the ghostly cushion, crossing his legs as he fell into deep thought. After a quiet moment, Kaguya broke the silence.

“Ryuko, how do you think we should actually clear this instance?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” Haruto shook his head, staring at the canvas ceiling. “Since you’re asking that, you’re probably thinking the exact same thing as me. I just don’t know if the clues we have are true or false.”

Ghost Granny had explicitly stated: ‘No one can get out, it’s been a long, long time since anyone left,”No one has been able to escape for nearly two years,’ and’The outside of the gate is covered in thorny vines.’

Analyzing those words suggested that a legitimate way out had originally existed, but had been deliberately blocked off by some external force.

Kaguya nodded, her expression turning serious. “I don’t find it strange that the ghosts in the instance can see the blood words rules. Just like in the ancient castle instance, after becoming half-human and half-ghost, one can see the blood words by eating players or forcing them to read it aloud… but to claim they possess the authority to modify the rules, obscure the way out, or even completely block the exit?”

In short, Kaguya didn’t buy a single word of it.

Haruto felt the exact same skepticism. According to the bloodstained logbook they found in the Animal Zone, there should have been players successfully escaping quite recently. Either Ghost Granny was spinning a web of lies, or the logbook’s contents were entirely fabricated to give false hope.

As for Ghost Granny’s other cryptic riddles, there were simply too many branching possibilities to figure out right now.

Deciding it wasn’t worth the headache, the three of them dropped the subject and went to sleep. They could easily verify if the exit still existed tomorrow anyway.

The next afternoon.

Haruto and the girls pushed past the tent flaps, stepping out into the pale daylight. A grotesque sight greeted them. Several players wandering the camp were showing varying degrees of severe animalistic mutations. One man had sprouted coarse pig ears, while another dragged a heavily mutated, fur-covered limb. Yet, terrifyingly, they seemed completely unaware of their own anomalies, their expressions remaining perfectly normal as they chatted.

No one was queuing up at the large tents used for the carnival games anymore. The news that clearing games for stamps was a fatal lie had thoroughly spread among the surviving players.

The trio strolled over to the canteen area.

The original location of the Kiosk was now completely empty, leaving behind nothing but a barren patch of dead wasteland.

Haruto didn’t head back to the tents directly. Instead, he stepped into the bustling canteen and easily spotted Chen Qin sitting alone. The four of them gathered around a stained plastic table, sharing a casual, surprisingly peaceful meal amidst the creeping horror of the circus.

After eating and drinking their fill, Haruto finally led Kaguya and Youmu back to the Residential Area. Dropping back onto the soft Half-Spirit, Kaguya tilted her head in confusion.

“Shouldn’t we have secretly followed her back? We’re still missing the specific rules for the Blue Staff Member.”

“No need for such tedious trouble.”

Haruto raised a hand, casually swiping his fingers through the air. The fabric of space unzipped with a sinister, eye-filled tear, revealing a Gap. “I left a spatial mark on her.”

Inside the void-like window, the perspective shifted to the Grand Performance Area. Chen Qin walked into the Blue Staff Member’s private breakroom. She stopped in the center of the room, crossing her hands to grab the bottom hem of her uniform…

Haruto immediately snapped his gaze toward the tent ceiling, maintaining a perfectly stoic expression. ‘I am a yokai of high moral standing.’

Kaguya, however, didn’t possess a single shred of shame. She leaned right into the Gap, manipulating the spatial tear to pan the perspective around the room, eager to see what else was hidden inside.

“Ryuko, look quickly!”

“No. I have integrity.”

“What kind of dirty thoughts are in your head?!” Kaguya grabbed Haruto’s hair, forcefully yanking his head back down toward the Gap. “It’s the rules! Grab them quickly!”

Through the tear in reality, a piece of colored paper sat innocently on the wooden table right next to where Chen Qin was standing. It was covered in densely packed, blood-red writing.

[Blue Staff Member Rules]

[1. You represent order and assistance. Your primary duty is to serve tourists, assist official Circus members with performances, and maintain the basic operation of the park.]

[2. Working hours are from 9:00 AM to 11:00 PM daily. You may return to the Residential Area to rest if needed. It is strictly forbidden to go to other areas during non-working hours, especially the Animal Zone.]

[3. When a tourist asks for help, please provide assistance. If a tourist violates the rules—such as crying, refusing a performance invitation, or attempting to go to the Animal Zone—please stop them immediately. If the attempt to stop them fails, cease assistance and stay away from that tourist.]

[4. Be wary of Red Staff Members.]

[5. When the merry-go-round rotates silently on its own, it is impossible for children to be sitting on it. Do not make eye contact, and immediately purchase snacks. If no anomalies occur within ten minutes, the snacks may be consumed by yourself, provided no other rules are violated.]

[7. Safely escort eight tourists out.]

[8. Do not reveal your true name.]

[9. The above content is forbidden to be disclosed to tourists.]