Thriller Paradise

"Wang Tanzhi, Level 33

"Please select the game mode you wish to join. You have chosen Tournament for the Best: Battle of the Bug. Please confirm.

"Choice confirmed. Generating scenario…

"Loading… Please wait."

This opening for the Battle of the Bug was recited by an excited male voice.

"Who said a mantis couldn't move a cart? Look at the glow of the fireflies blocking out the moon."

It sounded inspiring.

"Download complete. Currently, you are playing Tournament for the Best: Battle of the Bug."

"This mode does not have introductory cinematic and has no hidden/side quests, and no special world building to unlock."

"Winning reward: Victory +1"

"Your current tournament score is: 0 battles 0 victory 0 loss"

"Main quest triggered. Defeat your opponent."

After midnight, Xiao Tan logged on to the game in sleeping mode. This was the first scenario he queued up for after he went online, and it was his first battle for the tournament. He was not as nervous as you might think. After all, the boy was a doctor, yes. I have not mentioned that for a long time, but he was a doctor—and a good one at that. He would be easily frightened when he encountered something supernatural and which science couldn't explain. That was just part of his nature.

When he faced torture and torment from Gu Xiaoling, he did not resist because he had given his consent.

But when he was serious, one shouldn't overlook our Mr. Wang Tanzhi. In this past week, he had dueled many times with Laughing Soul to train, and now, for Xiao Tan, PK couldn't be more common. In fact, his performance had far exceeded Laughing Soul's expectation. During their training, Laughing Soul had noticed Xiao Tan's talent. She realized that Xiao Tan actually had very good fighting talents. However, he seemed to consciously or subconsciously suppress that part of his nature. He would only be forced to show that side of his nature when pressed, and for most of the time, Xiao Tan would appear like he was afraid of harming his opponent.

Regardless, even under such conditions, Xiao Tan, who had gotten used to the rhythm of fighting other players, could be considered an expert already. He was not yet as good as other professional players, but he could now easily defeat a casual player. After all, Xiao Tan had a natural advantage—the man was loaded. The night before the tournament, with the combination of both Skill Points and Game Coins (from RMB), he purchased a new set of equipment for himself. He now had two weapons for close-quarter combat. Other than the energy-storing Sanleng thorns given to him by Brother Jue, he also bought another claw from Thriller Box.

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Name: Meow Meow Claw

Item Type: Weapon

Quality: Excellent

Offense Point: Medium

Element: Ice

Special Effect: Causes 150% damage and freezing effect against humanoid creatures and physicists who are wearing glasses and suits

Equip Requirement: Fighting C

Remark: Sharp four-bladed claw, made from unknown material. There was this sentence carved in the claws' blood groove: Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow Meow (Erwin Schrodinger is a b*stard)

———

Just from attack and element, this was a good weapon, because 'ice' was a rare weapon element in-game. Once triggered, the slowing and frostbite effect that it caused would be very valuable in battle. Even though the weapon's special effect only worked on specific characters, it didn't matter. After all, who said our friend wouldn't run into someone who might fit that description?

Xiao Tan armed his right hand with this claw and had a hidden blade in his right sleeve. He could switch between them freely; he held the thorns in his right hand and the back of his left hand was armed with a pocket that contained five throwing stars or shurikens that could be shot out with a fling of his wrist. When he first purchased the outfit, he made a great choice by buying the assassin creed's outfit. After all, it was suited for a professional killer from the cold steel age, and it possessed more than enough pockets to store hidden weapons. Every weapon was within reach, and this outfit was light and could show off a player's agility perfectly.

In terms of other equipment, other than the stuff bought at the official shops, Xiao Tan also purchased armor from the Auction House.

———

Name: Scorched Vest

Item Type: Armor

Quality: Excellent

Defense Points: Quite Strong

Element: None

Special Effect: Will receive double damage from fire element attacks

Equip Requirement: Level 30, soulbound

Remark: A long time ago, the hunters from the Demonic River Town had researched how to build this kind of armor. They tore off the bark from the bodies of the dead treants and combined them with the vines soaked in the demonic river to create this extremely lightweight but sturdy piece of armor. The only weakness is its fear of fire.

———

The equipment's weakness was clear, or else it wouldn't have been sold at the Auction House. The player who found this armor probably already had a better armor. After weighing the two, the player might have decided to put this Scorched Vest on sale. Actually, if the opponent had no idea about this item's weakness, it was a good armor. It's high Defense Points and lightweight nature was everything Xiao Tan needed.

Now we shall look at his skill. His title, Nightmarish Gales, hadn't changed, and he still had the skill that he possessed during the War of the Toys, so we shall not get into those. We will focus on the new skill. When drawing one of the reward from one of the scenarios, Xiao Tan was lucky to draw quite a powerful skill card. It was different from a common active skill. Like 'Reverse Spinning Slash,' this was the ultimate skill.

———

Name: Shadow Soul Impel

Skill Card Property: Active, Permanent

Skill Type: Fighting

Effect: A scary skill using dark speed. Transmuting dark speed into energy and focusing it at one point to destroy the enemy (can be activated when using close combat weapon and when moving)

Consumption: 50% of maximum Stamina Points

Learning Requirement: Fighting C, Sleuthing C

Remark: The ultimate skill favored by the legendary demonic assassin "Dark Flash." Its unique dark speed energy has ended many heroes' lives in unexpected ways. The damage of the skill is dependent on the player's moving speed and the weapon's driving force when the skill is activated. The damage will not be lower than the weapon's normal offense points.

———

Theoretically speaking, if the player used a certain method to increase their speed to a certain level, such as going beyond the regular speed of sound, it would not be impossible to end a duel with a scenario boss in one shot.

In conclusion, the week before the tournament started, Xiao Tan improved tremendously both in status and equipment. He was now confident that he could cut his way through the Battle of the Bug and enter the Top 3,000.

But who would have thought his first opponent would be…

The figure standing about one hundred meters away from him was the third best-known character from Blade Edge, the 16th player on the combat stat ranking—Seven Kills.