Thriller Tour Group

Ch3 - The tour guide is actually me!

[00:05:00]

Another countdown timer had emerged, this time just beneath the [Yes/No]. Within five minutes, Wei Xun had to decide whether or not to accept the role of III-9.

“Who are you?”

Wei Xun was not in a hurry to make a decision. He was a little intrigued by this male voice, “What happened to Creepy? Are you also my exclusive customer service crew?” 

[You can choose to understand it this way]

The male voice appeared to be chuckling. He seemed to be easy to talk to. This prompted Wei Xun to continue probing him, asking, “What would happen if I refuse?”

“It was due to the fault of your Travel Services that something went wrong in the tour, right?”

[Yes, if you choose to refuse, International Thriller Travel Services will express our apologies for this mishap and will send you directly to the final destination.]

Wei Xun’s interest piqued, “Allow me to directly reach the final destination?”

[It is impossible for novice tourists to complete a dangerous level tour. You will die when the tour concludes. The Travel Services will recompense you with a service that will allow you to die painlessly and quickly.]

Wei Xun laughed, “Who knows, maybe I’d survive.”

But the other party chuckled and did not respond. Obviously, if Wei Xun refused, this would be the only option. 

Wei Xun’s interests no longer allowed him to squander his time here. After all, time was precious.

“I’m a novice. If you ask me to replace III-9, you should also improve my strength accordingly.”

Wei Xun said helplessly, “It’s a dangerous level tour. I have no prior experience leading a group. If I’m going to die anyway, I might as well choose a painless and quick death.”

After some thought, he continued, “It makes no difference whether I die soon. The tourists, on the other hand, would not have a tour guide. What should you do if something goes wrong?” 

Wei Xun remembered receiving an alert informing him that [The Travel Services did not permit the absence of the Tour Guide III-9]. Tour Guide III-9 was indispensable on this tour.

What would happen to a tour without a tour guide?

Wei Xun was testing the regulations set by the Travel Services.

[Every tourist is an important asset for the hotel. The tour guide must be extremely strong if they are to protect the tourists during a dangerous level of tour.] 

[You will temporarily obtain the title of “III-9,” which will only take effect on this journey.]

[Please, be sure to protect the tourists]

This sentence seems to hold profound meaning. Wei Xun wanted to open his mouth to ask again, but he found that he couldn’t open his mouth again. Only the [Yes/No] option stood before him now.

Since everything was set in stone, Wei Xun would go along the route he had set out to take, and it was his decision. 

Asking him to replace a mad tour guide?

It’s a real shame——

That it’s too exhilarating.

It’s just a pity that he didn’t know the name of this “little customer service crew”. 

Before the countdown reaches zero, Wei Xun chose “Yes”.

.

In the bus, except for Lin Xi’s cry, there was only the sound of rain. The atmosphere was so tense that everyone and everything appeared stagnant. The tourists were like a group of chickens that had their necks shrunk. They didn’t utter any noise. In fact, they all stood up to listen to the sounds of movement in front of them.

“Sniff, sniff, sniff, please forgive me. Please forgive me, sniff, sniff, sniff…” 

Lin Xi sobbed so hard that he almost passed out. He said this statement over and over again. Wei Xun’s silence made the despair in his eyes grow deeper.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Cii bo j revvfc, Olc Wl mifcmtfv tlr affat. Llr fsfr rtbkfv tlr gfrbiealbc, jcv la kjrc’a mifjg ktfgf tf vgfk bea j Vklrr jgws xclof. Ktf rtjgq yijvf atja kjr bcmf jlwfv abkjgvr Qfl Wec kjr jlwfv abkjgvr Olc Wl tlwrfio!

Olc Wl tjv jmafv delmxis jcv nlmlberis. Pcrafjv bo ojxlcu rajyylcu tlwrfio, tf kjr qgfqjgfv ab rfnfg tlr tjcv ab yfu obgulnfcfrr! Ycis atf oja wjc qjerfv jcv wegwegfv j tfrlajca rlut. Ktf batfgr kfgf flatfg lcvloofgfca bg agfwyilcu, jcv cb bcf wbnfv.

But just as the blade was about to cut his skin, someone stepped on his wrist. 

They were a pair of light black soft-soled shoes. They took a gentle step on his wrist, not exerting much force. Lin Xi, on the other hand, felt as if his wrist were crushed by the hard-bottomed army boots. When Lin Xi’s hand relaxed, he loosened his grip on the blade. He curled up even more, shrinking by a few inches as he slid further into the floor, his eyes brimming with ecstasy!

The enigmatic young man at the front eventually walked to the bottom and stood there. Instead of sunglasses and a mask, a bronze ghost mask covered the top part of his face, showing just a tiny portion of his pale and narrow chin and nearly colorless lips. He wore a brooch with five diamond and silver butterfly wings on his chest, making him seem mysterious and sumptuous.

The entire bus was silent, and all the tourists’ eyes were focused on him.

“Hello, tourists. I’m the tour guide of this tour, III-9.” 

Under the gaze of many people, the man’s lips were slightly crooked, as if he was slightly smiling.

“In the next six days and five nights tour, I’ll be here to accompany everyone.”

After he opened his mouth, the lights on the bus suddenly turned on. The interior of the bus lit up brightly. The sound of rain outside becomes less audible. The light returned, and the night sky outside reverted to an overcast sky. The traces of bloody hands on the window glass disappeared, and there was no sound of foreign objects hitting the roof.

The heavy, thrilling atmosphere that enveloped the bus dissipated. Under the warm yellow light, the old but clean bus carried a tinge of warmth. 

Wei Xun had a panoramic view of the faces of all the tourists. Their eyes still carried fear or dread, but most tourists were leaning forward as if they wanted to get closer to Wei Xun.

The tourists were afraid of the tour guides, but they relied on them as well. This was even though they knew that III-9 was a “lunatic” that could massacre the whole tour group.

The tour guide played a bigger role in the tour than he imagined.

Wei Xun gazed at his left wrist. His necklace had vanished. Instead, he had a tiny half-bluish purple butterfly tattooed on his pale wrist. 

He remembered seeing a bluish-purple light on his deathbed. It was the shards of Maria’s Butterfly, items left behind by his family. What was this got to do with International Thriller Travel Services?

Was the Travel Services behind his family’s disappearance?

The bus started moving. There was no driver in the driver’s seat, and only the steering wheel was turning. It was heading for the first scenic spot of the tour.

Only by finishing the tour and entering the Travel Services would he be able to discover the truth. 

“I’ll start roll calling now.”

Wei Xun was holding a piece of silver paper in his hand. It was the tourist list that was automatically generated for him after he became a tour guide. Other than that, a thin book, <<Rules For Temporary Tour Guides>>, appeared in Wei Xun’s mind.

“Family number one, Zhao Hongtu, Hou Feihu.”

The two tourists sitting in the middle row immediately answered “here,” not daring to dawdle at all. Although they knew each other, they were not family members. Instead, they were just members of the same group on this tour. 

Wei Xun could record the tourist’s information at a glance. He was also multitasking, quickly flipping through the <<Rules For The Temporary Tour Guide>>.

Wei Xun’s 10 points for finishing the task had been traded for an extension of the countdown to death. His countdown to death was now [24:01:35].

He only had 24 hours. However, this was insufficient for the entire tour. He needed more points.

Wei Xun was looking for a way for tour guides to obtain more points. 

“Family number two, Shi Tao, Miao Fangfei.”

“Here!”

[Rules For Temporary Tour Guide]

[1. The tour guide accepts the entrustment of Travel Services to lead the tourists to visit all the scenic spots on the itinerary and provide the tourists with guidance, explanation, and related tourism services. At the end of the tour, the Travel Services will pay the tour guide the corresponding salary according to the level of the tour.] 

[2. The tour guide is not allowed to kill tourists on their own initiative. 10000 points will be deducted if the tour guide kills a tourist on his own initiative!]

[3. The Travel Services and tour guides are not liable for unintentional deaths caused by tourists’ actions.]

There were only three guiding rules.

[You will learn more details after you officially become a tour guide] 

Wei Xun felt that even without more details, he could always dig out more information.

“Family number three, Lin Xi.”

“Here!”

Lin Xi was still kneeling on the ground with tears and snot all over his face, but now he wiped his face clean and sat back in his seat. He had a pair of sparkling eyes as he looked at Wei Xun, and he answered quickly and obediently, like a big dog wagging his tail. 

Wei Xun looked at Lin Xi, who immediately sat up straighter. His eyes were glimmering, as if he was a primary school student, always looking forward to the teacher’s roll call.

[Name: Lin Xi]

[Rank: Medium-rank Three-stars]

[Title achieved: 

[Eyes That Can Discover Beauty (Green Title): As an idol surrounded by handsome men and beautiful women, you have a pair of picky eyes, and you can see other people’s beauty scores with just a glance!]

This title allowed Wei Xun to speculate about why Lin Xi became hostile to him as soon as he boarded the bus.

It was probably because Wei Xun’s beauty score was higher, causing Lin Xi to experience a sense of crisis.

It couldn’t be helped. He was just so handsome! 

Every tourist on board the bus had a title, and most had more than one title. They were all veteran tourists. Just from their titles, Wei Xun could obtain lots of helpful information.

“Family number four, Wang Pengpai.”

“Here!”

The fat man was full of enthusiasm. His big round face had an exaggerated smile adorned on it, and he appeared as flattering as a dog that was about to lick him. He had two titles. 

[Name: Wang Pengpai]

[Rank: Medium-rank Four-stars]

[Title achieved:

[Young Driver (Green Title): As a young driver, beep, beep beep, a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. Even if you drive on the most treacherous mountain roads, you will not be afraid—of course, before you become an experienced driver, you are likely to have a car accident as severe as your bravery.] 

[Xiangxi, Return Tourist (Blue Title): This is your esteemed self’s second tour with our Travel Services to Xiangxi. You will get an incomplete travel map at the beginning of your tour due to your understanding of Xiangxi]

Although Lin Xi and Wang Pengpai seemed loyal to the tour guide, Wei Xun still listed them in his heart as the key targets to watch out for.

The title, Analgesic, was considered to be exceedingly rare. Otherwise, they would not have misidentified Wei Xun as III-9. The two were aware that III-9 was an analgesic and had a thorough knowledge of the tour guide, III-9.

Some of them might even experience a tour led by Tour Guide III-9. 

Wei Xun requires the tiger skin of the insane III-9, but even if he calls himself III-9, he knows he couldn’t act exactly like III-9.

But on this tour, he didn’t have to worry about exposing his identity.

[III-9 (Temporary Title): When you put on this title, you will obtain the rank and part of III-9’s titles. In everybody’s eyes, you are III-9 himself]

Now, Wei Xun’s personal information was as follows: 

[Tour Guide Personal Information]

[Code name: III-9 (only in this tour)]

[Rank: Silver-rank Five-stars (III-9’s rank)]

[Countdown to death——23:55:23] 

[Points: 0]

[Tour salary [Salary for this tour (Dangerous Level): 1500 points (a temporary tour guide’s salary is halved, and it will be sent to you at the end of the tour)]

[Title achieved (these titles belonged to III-9 and will only take effect on this tour)]

[III-9 (Temporary Title): When you put on this title, you will obtain the rank and part of III-9’s titles. In everybody’s eyes, you are III-9 himself] 

[Cold-bloodedness (Purple Title): You are truly a cold-blooded person. You will not feel pain or be affected by any negative emotions. But your blood is so cold that you always feel your surroundings aren’t warm enough for you!]

[Distributing Pornographic Content (Blue Title): You seem to like distributing pornographic content, but it’s not allowed! When your porno value is higher than 10, your livestream will be temporarily blocked!]

[Current porno value: 0]

Wei Xun’s eyes subtly fall on the last title. 

Porno value? Livestream?

It was as if Wei Xun had triggered a keyword, and a piece of information appeared in his mind.

[The purpose of the livestream is to supervise the tour guide. If the tour guide breaks any of the rules during the tour, he will be disciplined by the Travel Services.]

[The livestream also serves as a reward for tour guides. For every 100 people in the livestream room, 1 point will be converted to you, and the tour guide will receive all the points awarded by the audience.] 

[The tour will only start broadcasting from the first scenic spot. Only the tour guide who reaches the Gold-rank can choose to turn off the livestream (with the exception of influence caused by some titles and props)]

So far, Wei Xun has discovered two methods for tour guides to earn points: salary and livestreaming.

It was only that he wouldn’t be paid until the trip was over. Not only that, but a tour guide would have a lot of obligations just on this trip. For example, Wei Xun did not receive a reward after conducting a serious roll call because that’s what a tour guide should do and was included in the final compensation.

Similarly, if Wei Xun took the tourists to the scenic spots, he would not get extra points. 

Could he get points through the livestream?

Wei Xun didn’t believe it was reliable either. These “spectators” were either tourists or tour guides. There was no guarantee he’d be rewarded with life-saving points. According to the regulations, Wei Xun could only receive one point for every 100 spectators in his room.

Previously, it was welfare towards the newcomer that he was allowed to use 10 points to exchange for a countdown extension. Now he needed 100 points to exchange for a day.

For a six-day journey, he had to earn at least 500 more points. That was to say, the peak number of people on Wei Xun’s livestream must hit 50000. 

50000 was not a small number. How many people were there in the entire International Thriller Travel Services? 1000? 10000? 100000? Or more?

Wei Xun’s points were still zero, so he needed to strategize.

What else could he do to rapidly gain some points?

Suddenly, the bus stopped. 

“We have arrived at Wuluo Mountain stop.”

The front and back doors all opened with a grunt and a bang, and a chilly and damp mist poured in from the outside, giving everybody a little shiver. Then, all of a sudden, a raspy and harsh sound prompt emerged from the bus’s interior.

[Itinerary announcement]

[Tour Guide III-9 is required to lead the tourists to Little Dragon Farmstead, which was located on the hillside of the southern foot of Wuluo mountain before 6 p.m. Remember not to be late.] 

[This is a dangerous level tour. Please follow the tour guide closely to avoid unnecessary danger.]

The disposable raincoat appeared on the hand of every tourist, which was the “welfare” provided by the tour. Wei Xun also had it, but his attention was drawn by a new prompt.

[Please check and read through the supplementary regulations for dangerous level tours]

[During tours of dangerous level and above, the tour guide will get 300 points for every tourist that died accidentally] 

[Remark: Heavens, a tourist died unexpectedly! It seems that the difficulty of this tour was beyond imagination. The benevolent master of the Travel Services would disseminate some points as compensation. Please use the points to improve yourself and better protect the safety of the remaining tourists!]

Wei Xun’s gaze shot to the insides of the bus. The tourists were wearing colorful disposable raincoats. Some people looked out of the window warily, while others looked at Wei Xun carefully. Their eyes were full of worry and fear.

A tour guide who took the initiative to kill a tourist would have 10000 points deducted from their accounts.

A tour guide gets 300 points when a tourist dies in an accident. 

Wei Xun found it interesting.

Was this supplementary regulation really a protection mechanism for tourists?

The author has something to say:

Randomly sending out 100 small red packets, mucaks mucaks!