As soon as they stepped onto Main Street, U.S.A, a scene straight out of a fantasy unfolded before their eyes. The entire street was teeming with classic Disney characters out and about.
The characters in the parade floats had obvious traces of their costumes, but the characters walking around on the street now seemed incredibly real. Their fur texture was realistic, their expressions and features were lively, and their voices were identical to those in the cartoons.
Although Disney's performers are fiercely dedicated, most of the characters do not speak because their voices are significantly different from the characters in the cartoons and it would not be practical to assign a dedicated voice actor to each of them.
However, some of the more talented performers are allowed to speak, like Mickey and Minnie whom Shiller met during the day. Their voices were very similar to those in the cartoons and their tone was also similar. They must have had extremely professional voice acting training.
Even so, their voices still differed from those of the classic Mickey Mouse, and even voices that seem easier to imitate like Donald Duck, were still different from the original.
But now, the classic characters were either hawking or shopping, some were strolling, some were standing still and chatting. Their voices and movements were exactly the same as in the original cartoons, without any difference at all.
This sight was not scary per se because after all, Disney's character designs tend to have all-age appeal. Even some of the more exaggerated characters are still likeable.
Let's put it this way, if a seven or eight-year-old kid were to stumble upon this scene, they would definitely think they had arrived in heaven, because children have very simple minds and to them, seeing these iconic characters from the cartoons in real life would be incredible.
But adults cannot help but ponder the deeper meaning behind this, and this seemingly heartwarming scene might be considered intensely terrifying upon further thought. Where did all these realistic animated characters come from and what are they doing here?
As the saying goes, "When mankind starts thinking, God starts laughing." Humans always tend to worry about untimely things. This disruption of the warm atmosphere from the family-friendly characters gathered altogether made everything start to steer in the direction of eerie.
Because the majority of the characters had gathered around Main Street, U.S.A, Stark realized that they could not take the route they used in the day to get to the other areas. Given the bustling scene on Main Street now, Stark felt that walking among the characters would definitely not end well for him and Shiller. Getting beaten up would be considered getting off lightly.
Luckily, there was a small path at the entrance of Main Street, U.S.A that could take them directly to Adventureland. Cartoon characters had yet to gather there. Seizing the opportunity when all the characters were not looking their way, the two of them escaped into the path quickly.
During the day, the dense foliage of Adventureland provided visitors temporary shelter from the scorching sun, offering them respite from the heat. But when night fell, the trees inevitably seemed a little eerie. The Robinson's treehouse looked like the terrifying little house where an evil witch would live in a fairy tale.
"I never thought Disneyland could be so scary," Stark remarked, looking around at his surroundings. "It's completely different from the day."
Shiller also examined the surroundings. He noticed that the exaggerated and extremely cute signs and statues that seemed perfectly normal during the day now seemed quite horrifying under the dim lights at night, especially with their overly exaggerated features.
Shiller, for his part, wasn't as scared as Stark, who constantly jumped at every slight movement. They had yet to leave Adventureland, but Stark was already sort of shell-shocked.
Shiller was somewhat puzzled. While Stark was not exactly the most fearless, being a superhero should not make him a coward either. Why was he acting so timid now?
"I don't know." Stark said nervously: "I don't know why, but I have an eerie feeling, as if I'm being influenced by something."
Shiller suddenly had an idea and asked, "Influenced, but by what?"
He sounded as if he were asking himself instead of Stark. He'd felt that something was off since the daytime, a shadowy feeling that was not so obvious and hard to pinpoint exactly where the unease was coming from.
Shiller reviewed everything that he had observed and learned in the park during the day in his mind, and after a moment of silence, he uttered a single word: "…Atmosphere."
"What?" Stark asked him.
"The atmosphere in the park has been intensified." Shiller looked around and said: "The park visitors were all really happy, but that wasn't solely because the amusement rides were fun or that the food was delicious."
"Think about it, the sun was blazing hot today and you only had a bit to eat at noon. Later on, you stuffed yourself with ice cream and steak, and then you got tossed around on the track and race cars. Your stomach would naturally feel uncomfortable, but you did not complain at all."
"Stop making me sound like a fragile child." Stark grumbled, then thought for a moment and said: "Actually, since I finished eating, I felt somewhat queasy, but we still went on Buzz Lightyear's spinning game several times. Normally, I would've thrown up by now."
"But I didn't feel that unwell, I just felt giddy. Even after racing a few laps, I still didn't feel tired. That's definitely not normal."
Shiller glanced at Stark. To protect his ego, Shiller chose not to mention that even though Stark had experienced the Afghanistan ordeal, he still had not gotten rid of some of his spoiled habits.
Like how Stark always wore sunglasses. That wasn't for fashion; he genuinely despised being exposed to the sun and sweating.
Stark was very picky about food. Normally, if the food did not suit his taste, he would not take another bite. Even when he was extremely hungry, he could still be extremely fussy.
But the Stark of today was unusually lenient. He ate the salty and greasy fast food without complaining to the chef or walking away after a half-hour critique. He even tried to find some redeeming qualities about the distasteful food.
The overly sweet ice cream and only passable steak somehow allowed him to wolf it down under the pretext of replenishing his bodily energy. Venom wouldn't have been so messed with in the past if he'd been so indulgent as he was today.
"Atmosphere is a subtle thing," Shiller began. "It's omnipresent, always close at hand, it can affect a person's psychological state in various ways."
"For instance, if a person is constantly in a suppressive, gloomy atmosphere that makes them uncomfortable, they will have obvious symptoms of anxiety and depression. We often advise patients with anxiety and depression to change their environment—in other words, to switch to a more comfortable and cheerful atmosphere. This, in fact, is a much better form of therapy than most medication."
"From the moment we entered the park, all we saw were smiles on everyone's faces. We didn't hear a single complaint about something being too expensive or worthless. Sociologically speaking, this is impossible."
Shiller held out a finger, saying, "Even the cheapest, most valuable items are only targeted at a certain consumer class. It's impossible for a single item to meet the needs of all the consumers."
"But in this park, people hardly ever consider the cost-effectiveness of the products. Nor do they consider whether they can afford such consumption. This is quite unscientific."
"The only explanation is that the atmosphere here affects all tourists." Shiller thought. "But we can't yet determine whether they achieve this effect through science or magic."
"So what are we to do next?"
"As per the original plan, we'll head to the Ghost Mansion first."
The Ghost Mansion wasn't far from Adventureland. Lacking cartoon characters, they easily reached the gigantic mansion. However, a fleeting shadow string across the front gave Stark a fright.
Stark clearly saw it this time—it wasn't some strangely proportioned cartoon character, but a person. At this point, Shiller had already recognized the face. He lowered his voice and called, "Stephen! Stephen!"
Strange turned back abruptly to see Stark and Shiller hiding behind the pillar of the giant gate. He looked surprised. Shiller hurried over and asked, "What are you doing here too?!"
"I thought I'd investigate a little."
"You noticed something was off too?"
Strange cut to the chase. "Remember the ghost radio wave theory you guys proposed? Or at least you know something about brain waves."
"Kamar-Taj's research institute conducted an experiment before, which aimed at investigating the influence of abnormal energy on human brain waves. The so-called abnormal energy includes magic energy as well as Earth's magnetic field."
"The result was obvious. Regardless of the type of energy, there's a chance it can interfere with a person's brain waves, causing them to feel sleepy or distracted at the very least, or experience hallucinations at the worst."
"Thereafter, we discovered that some age-old illusion techniques seemed to utilize this principle. They adjusted the frequency of magical energy fields to influence the brain waves of intelligent beings, making them think their hallucinations were real, in order to confuse the opponent."
At this, Shiller immediately shared his previous assumption about the atmosphere. Strange snapped his fingers, saying, "Seems just about right. The array acts on the principle of producing certain abnormal energies that interfere with tourists' brain waves, enhancing their perception of the atmosphere."
"Paired with some psychology techniques that amplify the atmosphere—like music, lighting, and certain narratives—people can effortlessly become happy and briefly forget their troubles."
"So, is this beneficial?" Stark asked.
"You could say it's a win-win." Shiller looks at Stark. "Like you paying me to perform hypnosis on you. You could think of this place as a large group therapy room."
"Hypnosis indeed helps to relieve stress, but it isn't free. Apart from the entrance fee, under these circumstances, people are inclined towards overspending."
Shiller's eyes sparkled as he said somewhat wistfully, "Looks like Walt Disney has done some extensive research in psychology. Combining magic and psychology is a genius idea. Why didn't I think of it first?"
"Don't even think about it!" Stark cut him off.
"As a psychology magician, Walt Disney has demonstrated his superior revenue generating skills with Disneyland," continued Shiller. "In my opinion, this is definitely worth learning…"
"Don't learn it!" Strange interrupted him as well.
But their attitude clearly couldn't change Shiller's infatuation. He was almost fanatical.
Strange and Stark exchanged glances, both realizing at the same time—if the park was able to enhance the atmosphere, was Shiller's greed also being enhanced?
Then they both incredulously thought, was there even any room left for Shiller's greed to be enhanced?