Thriller Paradise

After storing the superhero ID card, Feng Bujue returned to the elevator. He came to the touch screen and pulled out the mode selection screen again.

"Hmmm… what mode should I queue for next…" Brother Jue hummed as he looked at the screen. The Free Exploration Mode overall was quite relaxing but had relatively little reward. Therefore… Brother Jue was now finding trouble for himself again.

"Hmph… Well, might as well go for the hardest to snap myself awake." Feng Bujue mumbled and chose the mode that he had not cleared before.

Feng Bujue, Level 43

"Please select the game mode that your team wants to join.

"You have selected the Team Survival Mode (Nightmare), please confirm.

"Confirming, the team size has been randomized: A team of 5

"Your team has joined the team queue. Currently searching for other readied players or teams.

"Search completed. Team full.

"Adjusting nervous connectivity, generating the scenario…

"Please wait for a moment. Downloading."

"Welcome to Thriller Paradise." A sweet female voice said. Then, Feng Bujue was thrown into a dark environment and he lost sense of his body.

"Download completed, you are currently playing Team Survival Mode (Nightmare). Scenario introduction is provided in this mode and there is a chance for the trigger of side or hidden mission and special worldview.

"Reward for clearing the scenario: Puzzle Card x3

"Playing the scenario introduction soon. The game will start right after."

The next second, the intro CG cut in and a faded purple fog rolled into his eyes.

"This is the end of the world, the edge of hell." As the beginning rolled, the fog started to fade…

In the night sky, there was a blood moon; and beneath it was a quiet and dark sea. Brother Jue who was watching this from the first person perspective was like a bird flying above the sea, looking down at this rather majestic view.

"This is a place of exile."

At that moment, a shadow appeared down the horizon.

"The creatures that were exiled here were once so high on the pedestal. They worked under the flag of light and justice, received much respect and adoration. But they had fallen. Innate sin was the universe's choice; and to fall… is one's own choice. This was something the deities who believed in regulation and rules could not stand. Therefore, these fallen spirits suffers from the worst punishment…"

As the narration continued, the image moved forward and the shadow at the distance slowly became clearer and clearer… it was a very large island. If not for the fact that the CG started from a far away zoom, those watching the CG now might thought they were looking at a continent and not a piece of stranded island.

"Island of Devil's Maw, a place filled with pain and absurdity, hatred and madness."

"Wait… the name of this island is quite familiar…" When Feng Bujue heard that, he was feeling not well already. "If I am not mistaken, this is where Sam Montier is exiled…"

"There are only two ways to leave this place and they are…"

Suddenly the intro stopped and a familiar voice cut in to say, "Feng Bujue! I said… one day you will pay and the day has… finally come!"

"Ah?" Brother Jue was startled. "Hey… I am already targeted before the game even starts? And it cuts off at the most crucial clues? What are the ways to leave this place?" Even though he desperately wanted to know the answer, the system would not respond anymore…

Actually, the interruption was merely a dramatic effect created by the system… The narration was supposed to end there. The actual two methods to leave the island, the players had to find out themselves.

"Aiz… looks like the chance of clearing this level is even lower than before." Feng Bujue sighed.

Suddenly, the scene around him changed and he regained control of his body.

"Ah!"

"Ah?"

"Ah~"

"Ah…"

Four different voices, screaming the same 'Ah' but from the tone… there were shock, confusion, annoyance and regret…

By the beach, the five players stood in a circle and looked at each other. Other than Feng Bujue, the other four shouted 'Ah' after seeing the other players' faces. Feng Bujue's eyes scanned his four teammates and instantly a bad feeling rose in his heart… because the members for this scenario was, Feng Bujue, Ambitionist, Pegasus, Uncle Worthless and Atobe-sama.

[Hmm… Jin Fugui aside, this line up is quite powerful…] Brother Jue calmed himself and thought. [With this line up… it is not impossible to kill Sam Montier.]

"Ha ha… well, this is not good." Uncle Worthless was the first to laugh. He took out a pack of cigarette from his chest and lit one for himself. "based on the system… the difficulty of a scenario is generated based on the players' ability. I'm sure you all know what it represents when the system pairs all of us together?"

Feng Bujue nodded. "Indeed… If this was a normal difficulty mode, then it'll be fine but this is a team survival nightmare mode. This is undeniably currently the hardest mode there is in the game. Meeting you guys here, it can only mean that the difficulty of this scenario… is about the same level as NetHack." (NetHack was a single player RPG released in 1987. It had simple graphic and UI and no music; the enemy is completely random and there is perma death. Once dead, you will have to start again. And the death might not be caused by the enemy, there are many surprise ways to die, like you could drink from an unknown potion and die; you could die from wearing a cursed equipment; you ran into a cute cat and died… many times, there was no reason to your death, and that was why it was a cult classic.)

"I'll just disconnect now and just assume that you have not seen me…" After Atobe saw the line up, he said half-jokingly. His words were completely ignored by the rest.

Ambitionist turned to Brother Jue and said, "Brother Feng, can you please explain… what was with the intro narration earlier?"

"Oh? You guys heard it as well?" Feng Bujue asked. "I thought I was the only one who heard it." He scratched his chin and said contemplatively, "Hmm… so everyone's intro narration was interrupted… In other words, no one knows the way to leave…"

"Hey, stop changing the subject!" Ambitionist roared at him like Brother Jue had owed him money. But 2 seconds later, he rapidly calmed down. He pushed on his glasses and said, "Hmph… never mind, without your answer, I can pretty much guess that… you have somehow angered the boss of this scenario somewhere else didn't you…" He sighed. "Aiz… why am I not surprised by that… Then again, you are the man who is pursued by the Court of Truth… If possible, I wish to hand you over to the boss to get my reward… wouldn't that be much easier?"

"Hah… In just a few days, someone's sarcasm level sure has increased." Feng Bujue commented with a smile.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Suddenly a happy and joyful laughter broke up the conservation. Pegasus was still as pumped as ever. He looked at the gathered crowd and said, "Everyone looks so spirited! I am sure we will have a good time clearing this scenario!"

"How in the world did you get spirited from my reaction…" Atobe commented with a twitch of his lips.

Ambitionist shook his head. "I almost forgot… there is this hyper active child with us."

"Oh! Ishida you are here as well!" Pegasus turned to Ambitionist, "I almost didn't recognize you."

"Just how slow is your reflex?!" Ambitionist roared. "And I look pretty much the same from the Tournament for the Best! Why is there a reason for you to not recognize me?"

"Ha ha ha…" Uncle Worthless chuckled. "We already know each other, this is not bad."

[Hey hey… uncle, I really do not know any of you…] Atobe cried internally. [I thought to play this nightmare mode because I was bored but I was too scared to do it alone so I queued up for team mode just for fun… If I knew I would be assigned into a group with you people, I would have queued alone!]

"Yo! Jin Fugui! You've improved a lot I see. You're already level 40 now and have the courage to queue for Team Survival Nightmare Mode." Brother Jue saw the expression on Atobe's face and he felt pity for the guy so he said this to console him.

"Oh… Of course, you should expect nothing less from me!" Atobe tried to make himself sound as confident as possible. "At the very least, I am the boss of Hyotei!"

"Oh, you're the leader of Hyotei?" Uncle Worthless removed his sunglasses and looked over. "I've heard much about you." He thought. [To be able to have Qu Ming Nan work under him, he is no simple character… Even though he appears weak and did not advance in the Tournament for the best, but that does not mean anything… even Feng Bujue has volunteered to greet him, that has pointed to many things.]

Just as the five were chatting, the system hint came…

"Main quest triggered." Following that, the five opened their menu and turned to the quest tab. The quest detail appeared before them. "Explore Island of Devil's Maw and enter the 'Shrine of Faith' within 3 hours. Players who fail to do so within the designated time will be slaughtered."

Then, about 10 seconds later, another horrible hint came. This time the announcement came with the words, it went to show how important this notification as.

"Important notification: On the Island of Devil's Maw, many common feeling of discomfiture will be highly re-simulated, like hunger, thirst, fatigue and pain… Players have to figure out to deal with them on your own. Ignoring the influence from these feelings might cause the rapid decrease of various Points."