The Trembling World Chapter 437

Chapter 437 - Swinging Chair
TL: LifeisaJourney
With such a vast Theme Park, it wouldn't be easy searching for a small lost child. According to Liu Gan's guess, Wan'er shouldn't be too far away from her mother. As long as the players did their best to search, they would definitely find the daughter.
Even while they were searching, the players felt nervous. Now that they had to split up into pairs, they felt insecure and vulnerable. One person was responsible for looking around for the Crocodile and the other had to make marks while following the young mother. Both of them were already familiar with the side-stepping technique, but the first requirement was to not get ambushed. If they were ambushed, they couldn't demonstrate what they had practiced.
Aside from that, they also feared that there were other type of monsters that existed in this Theme Park. If so, then all their practice would be in vain. In fact, their training wouldn't even work since attack patterns varied between different monsters.
Only the pair of Liu Gan and Stratos were casually strolling while searching. The other pairs were carefully and nervously watching their surroundings. Once they were sure that the Crocodile wasn't lurking in their surroundings, they would proceed with their search; the groups continuously repeated that cycle every set distance. Certainly they didn't dare to venture into complicated areas that had limited lines of sight. This method of searching was very inefficient.
During the search, Liu Gan realized why Zhan Nan Shan and Qiu Zi Tao had entered the Theme Park with a group of people and left with only the two of them.
The reason for being the last two survivors was because this place was just too strange and dangerous. Zhan Nan Shan and Qiu Zi Tao must have fulfilled the mission requirements to obtain the whereabouts to the exit. If they could escape, then Liu Gan was confident that he could, too.
Even though he had split up the group into four pairs to search for Wan'er, he didn't rely on them. He believed that the only thing he could trust in was himself.
Stratos had been with Liu Gan this whole time, but he couldn't relax at all. He kept up his guard and paid careful attention to his surroundings. He didn't feel that sticking with Liu Gan would mean a higher survival rate. In fact, he might die a young death going with Liu Gan on his adventures.
In terms of speed, the Crocodile had the upper hand. Once it struck, not everyone could survive it. Simply put, whoever acted first would survive. If the person detected the Crocodile first, then they had a chance of avoiding the attack. If the Crocodile surprised the person, then there was no hope for them. Even if Liu Gan was his partner, he couldn't be everywhere at once.
Deep down, Stratos felt that if he was in the another party's group, he could slack off or go hide off in a corner safely. That would guarantee his own safety.
***
Meanwhile with the other pairs…
Ana and Star Yu were traveling in a different location, both of them were very cautious. Every couple of step they walked, they would abruptly pause to see if there were any shadows resembling the shape of the Crocodile. Ana divided up the job evenly; Star Yu was responsible for keeping an eye out for Wan'er and the Crocodile. Ana led the way and scouted ahead, she choosing open-field areas.
Eventually, Ana and Star Yu found themselves walking along a small river, deeper into the theme park. It was such an oddly shaped river, some might even call it an elongated lake. They found themselves in a new district that had thick growth of trees and shrubs along the path, while the avenue was paved with stones. In between some of the trees were a few iron frames that were holding up swinging chairs. There was a worn out sign that indicated that it was ten yuan per hour to enjoy this amenity.
This type of swinging chair fit two, which appealed to couples. They could sit or cuddle on these chairs and flirt; they could even display their affection through kissing. No one would disturb them as they enjoyed their leisure time together.
"This swinging chair is quite sturdy to have survived this environment," Ana rushed over to one of the swinging chair. She sat down and casually swung her legs back and forth. Ana felt pleased to be able to enjoy this pastime activity.
"It still swings smoothly, the feeling is quite nice! Come sit with big sister!" Ana gestured Star Yu to come forth.
"No, Sister Ana you should be careful. This swinging chair might collapse if you sit on it for too long," Star Yu shook his head. He continuously was on the lookout for any suspicious creatures. All it took was just one moment of slacking, and it would cost them their life.
"No need to be so nervous. Our luck isn't that bad!" Ana started laughing loudly. Then she rocked the swinging chair even more ferociously.
『I can think of the most romantic thing』
『Growing old slowly with you』
『Collecting laughter all along the way』
『Resting on the swinging chair to chat with you』
『...』
Sitting on the swinging chair, Ana started singing. She was fixated on reminiscing about her past. Who could she be thinking of sitting next to her on the swinging chair?
This type of swinging chair had rusted down to the core under the extreme weather conditions. The internal integrity of the iron had been compromised, especially at the connecting joints. The frame would be fine if it was just resting on the joint, but violent rocking would break the screws holding it in place. When Ana was swinging back and forth at the maximum range, the joint snapped and sent the chair flying forward with her still on it.
Star Yu only heard Ana's terrified screech. By the time he turned around, he found her sitting on the ground with the broken chair. Embarrassed for her sorry shape, Ana cleaned up her clothes as she stood up.
"Thank goodness, I didn't sit with you," Star Yu rejoiced in Ana's misfortune.
"You dare laugh at your Big Sister? You want to die?" Ana glared at Star Yu. Reactively, Ana smacked Star Yu on the head.
"But, I told you not to sit… You just had to sit on it…" Star Yu protested.
"It was because you jinxed it! It wasn't going to break until you cursed it!" Ana pushed all the blame onto Star Yu. That way she would feel better about what had occurred.
While Star Yu and Ana were arguing, they heard a laugh coming from behind them. Previously when Ana walked by the other previous swinging chair, there wasn't anyone. The sudden laughter caught them off guard and sent a chilling sensation down Ana's spine.
"Sister Ana, there's someone behind you…" Star Yu stuttered while pointing to the area behind Ana.
Ana quickly turned around to look at where Star Yu was pointing. The laughter was coming from another swinging chair. Suddenly a couple appeared there, wrapped in each other's embrace.
Ana calmed down and said to Star Yu, "We really encountered an apparition! If this is an instance domain, then these two must be NPC quest-givers! From them, we can obtain some mission or clues!"
"As a matter of fact, why don't you go and ask?" Star Yu pushed Ana forward.
"Why should I go ask? You can do that too right?" Ana sidestepped to push Star Yu forward instead.