I went berserk in the game of gods.

Chapter 135 Dark Story House

Upon arriving at the Dark Story House, Cao Yu noticed that the surrounding environment had changed.

The dense jungle to the south was normal at first, but as it approached the area around the story house, the trees grew thicker and wider apart, and each tree had a somewhat strange shape, giving it a fairytale-like and fantastical atmosphere.

On the lush green grass, flowers bloom in abundance, each a different variety, and butterflies flutter about. A winding stream meanders through the landscape, its waters babbling softly, the air exceptionally fresh, and even the sky seems brighter.

The scenery is so fantastical that one hesitates to disturb it.

“Each arena seems to have its own unique style in terms of surrounding environment?” Su Mei admired the surrounding scenery: “If this weren’t a dungeon, it would definitely be very attractive to turn it into a resort.”

"Speaking of which, you could smell a faint gunpowder smell as soon as you got close to the shooting range," Luo Feng recalled.

There are quite a lot of people here.

Cao Yu looked around. In the center of the lush green grass stood a massive building that looked like it was made of building blocks, and noisy sounds were coming from inside.

There were a dozen or so players around the block house. Some were resting, seemingly injured after participating in other competitions. Some were talking, exchanging information. Others were observing the other players, seemingly trying to figure out who had obtained the badges.

Cao Yu's group of six attracted the attention of many players.

Many eyes were drawn to the triplets.

The triplets are stunningly beautiful, with distinct styles of dress and personalities... It has to be said, they are indeed very eye-catching.

"let's start."

Cao Yu reminded the others.

The six people temporarily separated and went off to investigate and spread intelligence on their own.

Cao Yu walked straight to the door of the block house.

Although the arena is called the Dark Story House, the atmosphere is relaxed and peaceful, making people unconsciously relax.

I don't know where the "darkness" is.

Upon entering the block house, Cao Yu witnessed a bustling scene.

What came into his view was a huge stage decorated with all kinds of green plants. The light and shadow on the stage would occasionally distort, showing a dreamlike quality and making people feel very mysterious.

The audience below was filled with all sorts of strange creatures: human knights in armor, elven archers carrying bows and arrows, burly bear-men, winged eagle-men, kobolds... a veritable hodgepodge of fantastical creatures.

They were all listeners… no, more accurately, they were spectators.

Cao Yu discovered that the players standing on the stage were not simply using their voices to describe the story.

The words describing people created a 3D-like illusion on the stage, vividly depicting scenes that captivated the audience.

Cao Yu watched the light and shadow display for a while and found that it was telling a fairly classic adventure story of "the hero defeats the demon king and marries the princess". Although it was old-fashioned, the players on stage were telling the story at a good pace.

At this moment, the scene presents a perfect ending.

And so, the scoring process began.

"Get out! What you're saying is utter bullshit!"

"Old-fashioned, straightforward, and lacking in originality."

"Go find a factory job! Stop embarrassing yourself."

"Oh my god, that's so cheesy, old Jerry really wants to kick your ass with his boots..."

The audience members began to offer sharp criticism, giving the scores very low.

This made the player on stage, who had just finished telling his story, look very unhappy. He cursed, "A bunch of bumpkins who don't understand art," and left the stage with a cold snort, clearly having lost the game.

"..."

Cao Yu felt that the story just now had a pretty good rhythm.

It's clear that the player was very skilled; they probably work in a related profession in real life.

"Don't you think they're too picky?"

A voice came from the side.

Cao Yu turned his head and saw that the person who spoke to him was a short female player wearing glasses.

After the female player and Cao Yu made eye contact, she smiled and held up five fingers:

"Boss, I'm in the intelligence business. For 50 evolution points, you can get information about this competitive sport from me."

“I know of two competition events that can be completed with very low difficulty and are basically safe,” Cao Yu said with a smile. “I can exchange information with you.”

"Are you sure?" the information broker asked.

Cao Yu took out a victor's badge directly from his storage space, tossed it into the air, then caught it again, and said, "Do you believe me now?"

By this time, he had collected all three badges—two of which he had acquired himself, and one of which he had stolen from the slave owner.

In other words, he can clear the instance and leave right now, if he wants.

It can be said that this "Fair Arena" was the easiest dungeon he had ever participated in.

However... since he's already here, simply completing one main quest isn't enough for him.

The dungeon rating is linked to system achievement points; an "A+" rating is equivalent to 5000 achievement points, so he can't easily give it up.

"to make!"

The information broker's smile widened upon seeing the badge. She quickly composed herself, her eyes serious as she warned:
"I can tell you with absolute certainty that none of the players here at the Story House have ever earned a badge. Aren't you afraid someone will steal it by showing it off like that?"

"Oh, I forgot." Upon hearing this, Cao Yu looked frightened and said, "I was so focused on making you believe my story that I didn't think about this."

Information broker: "..."

Is this guy trying to fish?

Out of her instinct to avoid danger, she didn't delve into that point and instead shared her own information:

"I've been here for almost half an hour. From my observation, the audience here likes to hear stories that are sensational, gory, terrifying, and full of plot twists."

Even the most exciting stories will be met with disdain, insults, and low ratings from them after they hear them.

If you want to win, you can't tell a normal story. And…

Her tone became more serious as she reminded him:

"Storytelling, as a competitive sport, is not dangerous at all, but its difficulty is ridiculously high."

She pointed to a figure on the left side of the stage—the figure was dressed in brightly colored, exaggerated costumes, with his face smeared with rapeseed oil, and dressed like a clown.

"That clown is called Story King," the information broker explained. "He has an astonishing number of stories in his head, all of them bizarre and terrifying, and his storytelling skills are also very professional. So far, the story competition has been held almost 20 times, and no player has been able to beat him."

"Curiosity, horror..."

Cao Yu finally understood where the "darkness" of Dark Story House lay.

It turns out that telling a dark story is the only way to have a chance of winning.

However... after nearly 20 matches, no one has won yet. If we want to beat that clown in the story, we probably can't rely on normal methods.

"Did you threaten that storyteller?" Cao Yu asked.

“Someone threatened him, and even tried to kill him twice,” the intelligence broker replied. “Each time he died, he would come back to life… no, I’m not sure if that’s what you call resurrection, it’s like he was respawned. Anyway, threatening him is useless.”

"Ok."

Cao Yu stopped worrying about how Story House would win.

His main purpose in coming here was to gather intelligence.

There are many competitive events in this instance, so there's no need to get bogged down in the story room.

More than the competition itself, he was concerned about something else—both of the competitions he had experienced were dangerous, but the Story House was completely safe from beginning to end… Was it really safe? Or was there danger lurking in the shadows?
Cao Yu didn't delve into the matter further for the time being, and instead inquired about other things:

Do you know where the swimming pool competition area is?

"A swimming pool?" The information broker pondered for a few seconds before saying, "I saw you come here with five other people. Apart from the six of you, I've interacted with all the other players here, and I've never heard of a swimming pool."

After answering, she asked with considerable curiosity:
Is there any information about swimming pools?

"1000 points, I'm telling you." Cao Yu started his business.

"Oh, I have no money," the information broker said with a polite smile.

"Alright," Cao Yu continued, "How much information do you know about Mr. Pingzheng?"

“Like most players, all they know is this name and that he might be a dungeon boss,” the information broker said. “I’ve asked all the players here, and not a single one knows anything more. About Mr. Pingzheng…”

After thinking for a moment, she suggested:

"Instead of asking the players, you should ask the local residents of this instance. Of course, that is, if they are willing to tell you."

"Have you tried it?" Cao Yu asked.

"I only asked, I didn't dare use threats. In short, I didn't get any results." The information broker sighed, "Who knows what would happen if I got physical?"

"Your intelligence business is very unprofessional; you know almost nothing when asked."

Cao Yu lost interest in probing further and ended the conversation directly with an exchange of information:
"The rock-paper-scissors gym and the shooting range are two places where you can get the winner's badge with low difficulty and low risk."

"Thank you for your patronage, boss." The information broker chuckled, "But I must correct one thing: my information is still quite useful. At least... I saved you the trouble of asking other players, didn't I? The information you want to know, other players don't have it."

After saying that, she winked at Cao Yuke and then quickly left the story house.

Cao Yu then looked toward the stage inside the story house.

Perhaps because Luo Feng and the three sisters had already spread the information, no new players were going up on stage to tell their stories.

Everyone gradually headed towards the rock-paper-scissors hall and the shooting range.

The huge stage was empty, but the audience below did not disperse.

Upon seeing this, the clown on stage—the storyteller—began to tell a new story, and the place seemed to transform into a movie theater.

Before long, Luo Feng, Su Mei, and the three sisters approached Cao Yu.

Cao Yu asked, "Did you find anything?"

"No," Luo Feng replied. "I asked around, but no one knows about the swimming pool, nor does anyone know anything about Mr. Pingzheng."

That information broker was actually quite honest... Cao Yu went through the details in his mind and found himself a bit stuck.

“By the way,” Su Mei pointed to the stage, “are we going to tell a story during the competition?”

"Don't go," Cao Yu warned seriously, "It's dangerous."

(End of this chapter)