Thriller Paradise

"You guys should have noticed the disappearance of the 'narration' also, right?" Phantom Dawn asked.

"Yes…" Uncle Worthless replied, "But… compared to that, this thing is far more suspicious."

Phantom Dawn corrected, "They are of the same thing, they are anomalies of the system."

"How is that possible?" Zombie Blade Victor argued, "perhaps this is just a unique setting for Tournament of the Best? Like… after the player died, their remains will be left inside the scenario but the person has actually returned to the log-in lobby."

"Hah… that's what I thought initially too, but…" Shiva laughed bitterly. Phantom Dawn finished, "But we realized, we can't even log out from the scenario anymore."

"What?" Uncle Worthless turned around with a shock.

"Hah! You think I will fall for that?" Zombie Blade Victor scoffed. "You think by feeding me these lies, I will voluntarily try to 'leave this scenario'?" He shrugged, "That is such a childish trick. That is not different from people tricking others by telling them Alt+F4 is a cheat that will make you stronger. If I really did that, then I would be tricked by you guys into disqualifying myself."

"In the game menu, after you select to leave the scenario, a window will pop up to ask you to confirm again." Phantom Dawn asked, "You do know that right?"

"Hmm… Indeed, that window did not show up." Uncle Worthless confirmed, looks like he was already testing it.

"Furthermore… if we wish for you to leave this scenario, do you think we need to resort to that?" Shiva said. "Killing you will earn us point, what's the good is going to come out from us tricking you to quit?"

As rude as that statement was, it was equally true. Zombie Blade Victor thought about it and opened the game menu. He tried to leave the scenario and… well, he got no response. The window to ask him to confirm his decision did not pop up.

"The worst thing is that… the option to disconnect the psychological connectivity by force has also been cut off." Phantom Dawn saw the rise in Zombie Blade Victor's Terror Points by assessing his data and he added this to toy with the man.

"Wait… doesn't that mean…" Zombie Blade Victor's face blanched.

"…We are trapped inside this game." Uncle Worthless finished his sentence. Cold sweat slid down the corner of his forehead.

…

Next to the dried up blood lake, a blurry shadow was slowly approaching. The shadow was about 2 metres tall and had a human shape but at the two sides of his temple, there were a goat like horn and curved forward. Its body was sucking in the dark energy around him. With the man as the centre, everything within a 50 metres radius around it was covered in an invisible, chaotic power. Even the moonlight was unable to pass through this barrier and this kept his figure in a shroud of darkness.

At that moment, Lying Drunk, Sashimi and Understanding Death who watched this from afar had a stern expression on their faces like they were facing a powerful enemy. Because they knew the identity of this shadow, he was one of the four pillars of Divinity, the Leader of the Demons. Of course, they had not crossed sword with this monster before, they merely saw an ancient CG that described the battles between the Divinities in one of their scenarios before.

"The giant Blood Zombie earlier was already tough enough but that multi-limbed, half-snake half-human creature was worse than it…" Lying Drunk commented.

"I thought that half snake creature who killed the Blood Zombie in a second was already the scariest monster in this scenario…" Sashimi added, "But the thing chose to flee from the scene."

Understanding Death concluded, "Based on that half snake creature's reaction and the statement of 'blood rain showers announcing the advent of the King of Demon' in the introduction… that shadow over there undoubtedly should be the Leader of the Demons…"

"Hmm…" The trio forced out a long hum in unison.

"If we reassess the rules of the competition now… the last two statements become so hard to understand…" Sashimi repeated contemplatively, "'you will gain one point if you borrow the forces within the world to complete a kill. When it is only the last two players who remain in the scenario, no matter how you kill the other player, you will gain 5 points.'… These two statement appear to provide the players with the basis for a strategic plan."

"Indeed, in the format of a battle royale, aside from people like us who grouped up with their own guild mates, the remaining finalists are in essence 50 competing individuals." Lying Drunk analysed, "Everyone's Life Points and Stamina Points are limited. As they say… a human only has two pair of hands and legs. Even for Phantom Dawn, in such a large map, how many opponents he can find and kill. If one travel around the city, looking for opponents to fight, to be able to nab upwards to 10 points is already the proof of a very good player. By then, even if one is not near dead, the number of available opponents would have dwindled by a lot." He paused. "But… if we can assume the aid from the forces of the four divinity, the situation will be much different. To have the NPC work for us while we hide in the dark in alert. It might appear that we will reap less points but if you think about it, it is more worthwhile in terms of personal safety and exhaustion. Furthermore, even one point that you gain means you will deprive others from gaining 2 points. And… if you successfully survive until the end, you have the shot at grabbing 5 points with just one match."

"So the tactic is to kill with a borrowed knife?" Understanding Death said, "Then… shall we go and negotiate with this deity?"

…

At the northern part of the city, at the roof of a shopping complex. With the Repentant leading the way, Feng Bujue arrived here. At the edge of the roof floated a giant skull. It appeared to be waiting for Brother Jue to arrive. And next to Snared Soul stood (well, as much as a snake can stand anyway) a half human, half snake monster. Naturally this was Blood-crazy Shade who just came back to report.

"Hi, nice to meet both of you." As much as Feng Bujue hated to socialize, when the situation called for it, he could turn into a social butterfly. "The moon sure is pretty tonight and you two gentlemen looked so well. And the wind are wonderful…"

"Feng Bujue, I have heard many rumors about you…" Snared Soul interrupted him. "Some said you are flippant, others said you are cautious, some said you are clever, others said you are mad…" This opening statement already told Feng Bujue that this NPC had a clear mind and he was not going to be easily fooled. "So there is no need to purposely to try to endear yourself to me. And don't waste time trying to anger me so that I'd lose my calm footing." It used a few words to seal up Feng Bujue two most powerful weapons (acting and sarcasm) in his deeds of foreign affairs.

"I hope our conversation can be more honest and open." Snared Soul turned around and looked at Feng Bujue with his hollow eyes. "Tell me directly the purpose that you're here…"