"Everyone, the tickets are bought. Let's head in."
Su and Huck walked over from the ticket booth, holding one adult ticket and seven child tickets.
Although Zofia could have taken everyone through the employee entrance, that would have ruined the sense of ceremony, wouldn't it?
When you're out to have fun, the most important thing is the sense of ceremony.
Besides, even though buying tickets cost money, it was basically just moving it from one hand to the other. The money was still technically theirs.
Due to privacy protections, ticketing in this world no longer required ID cards, nor did it use facial recognition. At the entrance, machines simply estimated age during ticket inspection.
Bronya and Pardo were ten. Kirsch and Hua were fourteen. Vill-V was sixteen. Zofia and Su were seventeen.
Huck clutched the single adult ticket tightly, his heart heavy... not because of the half-price tickets.
The entrance to Homu Park was a gigantic cherry blossom tree swing. Many children, accompanied by their parents, were happily swinging back and forth.
The cherry blossom tree was authentic, planted there at Lele's insistence as the "iconic landmark" of the amusement park.
It was her grandfather's family heirloom, and one of the reasons she had refused to bulldoze the park and turn it into a golf course.
Beneath the cherry tree stood a massive bronze statue of Hero Homu. Though it wore a fierce, snarling expression, it somehow conveyed extraordinary resolve.
Next to it was a stone tablet inscribed with the words: "Homu will definitely defeat Honkai Homu!"
"Homu will definitely defeat Honkai Homu!"
Bronya read it softly, her eyes seemingly sparkling.
Pardo eagerly grabbed Bronya's small hand. "Adventurer Bronya, equip your gear and let's set off! We're going on an expedition. See you later, everyone."
"May your journey be smooth," Vill-V said with a smile, waving as she watched the two disappear into the Mist Forest attraction.
Huck looked at the scene, then glanced at the "Please play under adult supervision" signs scattered throughout the park. Anxiety gnawed at him like a worried mother hen.
"They're only ten. Is it really okay for them to wander around without an adult?"
Su, fully aware that the issue was far from minor, maintained a composed facade to avoid exposing his identity. "Mm, it shouldn't be a big problem. I trust my companions."
Uh... was that really something that could be covered with just a sentence like that?
Huck couldn't help but lower his evaluation of [Mr. Mad Hatter] by a few percentage points.
"Boss Mad Hatter, I've always wanted to ask—why does our organization recruit so many girls? It's hard for them to survive on the battlefield, isn't it? Just like Ido..."
"That shouldn't be your concern."
Surrounded by so many young and beautiful girls, this hardly looked like a resistance organization preparing for the apocalypse. It looked more like a galgame—one with a rather questionable aesthetic preference at that.
Naturally, Huck couldn't help but grow suspicious of the hot-blooded, handsome young man standing before him.
Su himself wanted to know what was going on.
But as [Mr. Mad Hatter], he certainly couldn't say that.
"This is all part of the plan."
Su answered with the line Vill-V had prepared for him.
According to Vill-V, whenever he encountered a question he couldn't answer, using that sentence would always work. At worst, people would think he was a clown... but as long as no one understood him, he would be invincible.
Mm, since it's Mr. Mad Hatter's arrangement, it must be guided by his extraordinary wisdom. He certainly wouldn't be someone obsessed with beauty, dreaming day and night about pretty girls.
Huck said somewhat ashamedly, "Alright. As expected of Mr. Mad Hatter. My brain just can't keep up."
Watching other families happily playing together, Huck lowered his voice and said to Su, "But I know this amusement park event you organized... it's to leave these girls with some beautiful memories before the apocalypse truly arrives, right?"
"Thank you. You're not only striving to save our lives, but also our hearts. You're our hero."
"..."
Su listened to Huck's words in silence.
Sorry... none of this was my doing. I don't even know what I'm doing... I'm still searching for what I should be doing.
Homu Park had many attractions: Homu Spicy Teacups, the Homu Fantasy Game Experience Hall, the Homu Beauty Roller Coaster, the Hero Homu Maze, and the VR Immersion Pavilion.
The closest to them was the Homu Fantasy Game Experience Hall. It had been built by the HoMu Company to promote their newly released mobile game, Homu Fantasy 3rd, with the slogan: Ignite the Soul.
"Wow, Hua, you're amazing!" [Id] Vill-V clapped her hands in praise.
The arcade ranking board had just been overtaken by Hua's nickname—4999 points, only one point short of the theoretical limit of 5000. A perfect score could only be achieved if every single step followed the optimal programmed route.
Huck glanced at his own score of 4113, then at "Mr. Mad Hatter" Su's 872. Cold sweat trickled down his back. Were high school girls these days really this terrifying? No wonder Mr. Mad Hatter recruited girls.
The scores displayed by the machine weren't just for show. They could be exchanged for Homu Supply Vouchers to draw prizes.
"Hua, try this—[Homu Doll Supply]! The grand prize is the ultra-powerful five-star character—Homu Bro King figure!"
[Id] Vill-V pulled Hua to the massive golden supply box-shaped Homu Doll Supply station and showed her how to operate the lottery slot machine.
"Let's see how lucky Hua is."
Hua pulled down the lever.
"N-card, Salted Fish Tachi Pendant." "N-card, Salted Fish Tachi Ring." "N-card, Salted Fish—"
So-called N-cards were the lowest tier—so low they didn't even qualify for a star rating.
The baskets on the floor gradually filled with various useless trinkets...
"Huh, strange... I clearly raised the drop rate a bit so Hua could feel like a lucky star..." [Id] Vill-V muttered, carrying the baskets to the counter to exchange them back into supply vouchers.
Just as Hua began to grow irritated—on the verge of delivering a Ki Impact to the slot machine—[Id] Vill-V quickly diverted her attention.
"Ahaha... speaking of which, the newly built Homu Manga Café Illusion Realm is pretty good. Hua, let's go check that out."
Inside the Homu Manga Café Illusion Realm, each person sat in an open flat cart. Once seated, it automatically activated, slowly carrying them into thick clouds of dry ice mist.
Within the mist were dynamic sculptures and narrative monologues designed around the first three chapters of the Homu Project comic. It told the story of the working-class Homu encountering Honkai for the first time, evil Honkai cultists capturing Homu Beauty to sacrifice to the Honkai God. Homu rescued Homu Beauty, while the cultists were devoured by the Honkai God.
With advanced pixel projection and stereoscopic imaging technology, combined with well-timed lighting effects, the entire scene made visitors feel as though they were truly inside a Homu comic.
When the flat cart finally emerged from the white mist into sunlight again, the entrance statue of Homu Park appeared before them once more—the bronze statue shouting, "Homu will definitely defeat Honkai Homu!" It was unexpectedly moving.
Though the attractions seemed simple, Homu Theme Park was not a massive all-inclusive complex like Happy Valley. Trying to have everything often led to unclear audience positioning, which was why the park had previously struggled.
Take roller coasters, for example. With modern technology, they were far more thrilling than before. But age restrictions barred children under twelve and seniors over fifty. In truth, most age groups didn't actively seek thrills. Only office workers between twenty and forty particularly favored such rides.
Although that age group had strong spending power, the workload of the Previous Era was no joke. Amusement parks were lively only during holidays.
It wasn't impossible to succeed—most parks simply failed to grasp that demographic.
Vill-V wasn't some amusement park tycoon, nor did she intend to challenge high-difficulty operations.
So now, Homu Theme Park was positioned as a youth-oriented parent-child park, adding a large number of low-threshold attractions.
This perfectly aligned with Homu's image. Vill-V intended to use Homu Theme Park to deeply engrain Homu's approachable brand into the minds of parents and children alike.
That way, parents would be less resistant when their children pursued Homu-themed merchandise.
A win-win.