I set you up on a blind date, and you've managed to overcome all the weirdness?

Lin Yan was kicked out.

He felt a burning sensation in his lungs, as if the water from the lingering thoughts had also poured into his lungs.

The phone was still held above the water, and Chu Chu's emoji face had a mischievous expression.

"Brother, you were crying just now."

"nonsense."

Lin Yan wiped his face, which was covered in water, and it was hard to tell whether it was black water or something else.

"Chu Chu recorded it."

"..."

"Just kidding, it can't be recorded."

Lin Yan ignored him.

The situation in the wave pool was even worse than before.

The giant frog stood in the center of the pool, its arms hanging at its sides, its gaze vacant, as if it were recalling something.

"elder brother!"

The voices of the couple came from behind.

Lin Yan turned around and saw the boy being dragged along by the girl, while he was barely holding on. Both of them could only keep their heads up on the surface of the water.

The green hair on the boy had climbed up to his chin and was spreading all over his body.

He can't hold on much longer.

Lin Yan's thoughts were not yet fully pulled out of his lingering reverie.

He still had the feeling of Chen Shu's last moments lingering in his mind.

Unable to vent their hatred, they only wished for death.

He shook his head, forcing himself back to the present.

"Brother, I... I don't want to become that..."

The boy's voice was intermittent, his lips were twitching, and green hair had already crept up to the corners of his mouth.

"Am I... going to die...?"

"Don't worry, you won't die. I'll make sure your parents take you back."

The boy suddenly froze, as if he were recalling that scene.

The water level finally stopped rising, but at the same time, green fuzz began to fall from the tree in the center of the pool.

They float on the water's surface and erode outwards from the center.

Getting this stuff on you will cause trouble.

Lin Yan thought for a moment, swam a few steps towards the shore, stepped onto a raised step, and after standing firmly, wiped the black water off his face and quickly began to think.

He has now grasped the general outline of this bizarre rule.

The ticket booth tests happiness, the wading pool trains happiness, and the wave pool... is where happiness is harvested.

Those who become frog babies are all forced into happiness.

If you're unhappy, you'll be swallowed by the fluff. But what if you're happy?

"Brother, I feel like I've seen this somewhere before..." Chu Chu suddenly interrupted Lin Yan's thoughts.

"Wait a moment."

Lin Yan thought for a moment, gritted his teeth, as if he had made a difficult decision.

He closed his eyes.

Then he did something that he himself considered outrageous.

He started thinking about Zhao Xue.

Zhao Xue was a junior in his university days.

She studied dance, had an oval face, and two shallow dimples when she smiled.

Lin Yan dated her for about three months, but in the end, because he was also seeing the most beautiful girl in the next department, Zhao Xue found out and slapped him before leaving.

Objectively speaking, Zhao Xue does have a very beautiful smile.

She has a strong foundation in dance.

He thought about Chen Ya again.

Chen Ya was an administrative assistant he met during his internship at his previous company.

She was four years older than him, had long legs, and liked to tilt her head when she spoke.

That relationship lasted about two months, and when they broke up, Chen Ya blocked him.

He still remembered the black dress she wore when she first asked him to go to the movies.

What a bold woman.

He thought about Liu Siyu, the cosplayer he met at the comic convention, and the clerk at the bubble tea shop downstairs from his office who always added extra pearls for him.

Lin Yan mobilized all his skills, recalling the images of his ex-girlfriends frame by frame in his mind.

Those dating moments, those ambiguous instants, those scenes that sent his adrenaline soaring.

He was like a projector, replaying these materials in his mind on a loop.

Then he suddenly grinned.

A genuine smile that leaves a lasting impression.

That smile truly came from the heart.

He genuinely recalled those moments that had truly brought him joy.

The happiness of a man who can maintain eighteen relationships perfectly at the same time is unimaginable to ordinary people.

The angle of his upturned lips was just right, his eyes were slightly narrowed, and his whole person exuded an aura of "I'm really enjoying myself right now".

The green fuzz that had spread in front of him stopped.

They seemed to have lost their purpose, wriggled in place for a few moments, and then suddenly withered and sank into the water.

The area around Lin Yan became a sanctuary, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Look..."

Before he could finish speaking, the entire wave pool suddenly shook.

The giant frog moved.

It raised its head, the frog headgear rotated from left to right, and finally settled in Lin Yan's direction.

Chen Shu's face floated on the top layer of the torn hood.

It looked at Lin Yan and smiled.

"Heh, heh heh heh."

His laughter was dry and hoarse, yet highly infectious, making one feel that he was genuinely happy.

Are you happy?

Chen Shu's voice was very soft, just like when he coaxed other children at work.

"You're so happy..."

Its arm slowly rose, the frog's webbed hand pointing at Lin Yan, black water dripping from its fingers.

"Then stay here with me forever!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Lin Yan was unable to move; he felt as if his entire body was enveloped by something.

The water suddenly lost its fluidity and became as viscous as glue.

Then the layer of water gradually contracted, like a transparent hand clenching into a fist, squeezing him from all sides.

The black water rose up and closed above his head, enveloping him in a semi-circular black water shield.

The water shield was still contracting, and Lin Yan, enraged, punched it, his arm passing right through it. But the outer wall of the water shield immediately closed again, without any flaws.

The inner wall of the water shield was pressing against his body, and he could feel the water film trying to cover his mouth and nose.

Nima!

You're cheating, aren't you!

Unhappiness leads to death, and so does happiness.

So either way, I'm going to die.

"I really will thank you..." Lin Yan gave a wry smile inside the water tank.

"Hey! Tree Bro! Let's talk about this!"

He tried to stall for time, but Chen Shu did not respond.

At this moment, Lin Yan suddenly closed his eyes and fell into deep thought.

He just saw the whole process in Chen Shu's memory.

The internet celebrity named A-Feng, Xiao-Ming's death, and Chen Shu sinking himself to the bottom of the pool.

The underlying logic of this bizarre phenomenon is not to force people to be happy.

It was a father's obsession before he died.

It was twisted and turned into an automatically running machine.

What it wants is eternity, for everyone to stay here happily forever, and for there to be no more harm.

If someone is truly happy, it wants to keep that person here.

Because in this bizarre perception, there is no true happiness in the outside world, only exploitation and traffic.

Its solution is to lock people up, to keep them forever in the world it created.

Lin Yan's water shield had shrunk to fit snugly against his body, and he felt his hands and feet begin to go numb.

The oxygen content in the air is dropping rapidly, and breathing is becoming difficult.

Just as Lin Yan began to feel short of breath, his phone lit up.

For the first time, Lin Yan found this thing to be incredibly cute.