Thriller Paradise

"The scenario has been completed. Calculating the reward.

"Obtained EXP: 5,000, Game Coins: 50,000.

"Obtained Equipment: None

"Completed/Accepted Quests: 2/2

"Completed Special/Hidden Quests: 0. Unlocked Worldbuilding: None

"Time of Terror Points Increase: 0. Highest Terror Points: 0%. Average Terror Points: 0%.

"Your Terror Rating is: Embodiment of Valor. Extra reward obtained, can be selected later.

"Obtained Skill Points: 317

"Additional Rewards from Good Terror Rating: EXP: 3,170, Game Coins: 31,700

"Scenario Cleared Reward: Skill Card x1

"Calculation complete. Please continue."

Before teleportation, Feng Bujue did not forget to hand the lamp back to Passing Rain so that item was not counted during his rating review. He gained quite a lot during this scenario. It exhausted only two and a half virtual hours, but the EXP gained was almost as much as the EXP obtained during the scenario with the Anomaly.

As his level rose, so would the difficulty of the scenarios. Thankfully, this meant that the EXP obtained would also increase. However, as the difficulty was hiked up, it meant that it would be far easier for Feng Bujue to exhaust the items in his inventory. In a way, it was his attitude toward this game that caused a situation like this. If he was a professional player or someone with OCD, finding items, equipment, and side and hidden quests would be valued above all else. In the earlier scenario, if it was another player, they might not have gone to save their teammate. After all, they would not end up as the responsible party, and during the conversation, it was confirmed that the other player was merely trapped and not yet dead. If they rushed up the education building and searched through all the four floors, there was a high chance that they might have come across some good equipment or side quests.

Feng Bujue had thought of that as well, but for him, there were lines that he would not cross. As mentioned before, he would spend a lot of money on an expensive gaming hub, but at the same time, he would plan to balance that out with a month's worth of soup noodles. He was a contradictory person; he had the mental acuity to go through every aspect before making the most logical decision, but actually, he was prone to making rash and idiotic actions as well.

There were many things in the world that would not have changed no matter how much thought one gave it. For example, if your wife and mother both fell into the river, who would you save first? If there was a correct answer, you would save the one who did not know how to swim, and then both of you could go and save the other.

But then you would be faced with an advanced question. What if neither of them knew how to swim?

Let me tell you the correct answer—get help from strangers so that all of you have a chance to survive.

Then, the question would evolve again. What if you were the only one there?

Then, the answer would be to die alongside the women who would not stop with the ridiculous questions.

At the end of the day, human beings are not machines or programs; we do not always make the 'right' choice because many things are seen in the shades of gray. In life, there are many such choices that will decide our direction in life. There is no need to wonder if we have made the right decision after the decision has been made. Because those split-second decisions are the basis that make up who we are.

"Player, Passing Rain has invited you to join her conference room," the system said. Feng Bujue pressed 'agree' on the window and pressed the 'conference room' button on the elevator panel. This time, the door opened to Passing Rain's conference room.

Even though every conference room looked identical to one another, and there were temporary no items like decorations and furniture on sale at the market, that might change in the future. Passing Rain was seated at the table, and when she saw Feng Bujue walk in, she said, "You can directly send me a team request in public spaces."

"Let me try." Feng Bujue took his seat and uttered at the girl. "…Request team."

Passing Rain burst out laughing. "Use your menu please!"

"Oh!" Feng Bujue laughed awkwardly and finally got that going.

"Thank you for your help in the scenario earlier," Passing Rain said.

"Hmm, actually, I think that you're the one who carried us through the scenario. Without you handling the combat part of the scenario, I would have failed it alone," Feng Bujue replied.

Passing Rain was not one to waste time on the perfunctory, so since Feng Bujue had said that, she decided to just cut into the chase. "I invited you here because I have some questions to ask you."

"I am not a professional player," Feng Bujue clarified instantly.

"That's not what I was going to ask," Passing Rain replied.

"Huh?" Feng Bujue failed in his attempt to impress the girl and could only mumble weakly, "Oh."

"Why would you think I would presume that you're a professional player?" Passing Rain asked.

"Hmm, because I think you might be a professional player, and you've invited me to ask me to join your studio," Feng Bujue answered.

"If I was a professional player, I'd be over level twenty by now." Passing Rain sounded quite arrogant, but honestly, she was right. "Plus, I believe, if you really were a professional player, your level should be higher than what you are now after experiencing the closed beta.

"I merely wanted to ask something about what you said last time. Are you really a novelist in real life?"

"Hmm?" Feng Bujue was taken aback. He did not expect such a question. "That's true. What about it?"

"Mind telling me your penname?" Passing Rain wanted to hear the confirmation from Feng Bujue's lips.

"It's Bujue. Why do you ask?"

Passing Rain suddenly spoke faster. "What is the scariest thing between a man and a woman?"

Feng Bujue was confused. Why would the girl suddenly ask something like that? But he knew the answer perfectly well. "Applying for marriage certificate in anger."

"What is Detective Barcas' favorite advice to others?"

"Do not bend over to pick up the soap in jail."

"What is the name of the novel that you abandoned last year?"

"Erm, I did not abandon Murder on the Interweb."

"In Time Travel to the Past, what was the last thing the female main character whispered into the main…"

Feng Bujue cut her off. "She said, 'I will wait for you in the future. You have to remember me'.

"After a long discussion with my editor, we decided to take this sentence out, but you're the first person who has asked me about it. What other questions do you have?"

At this point, Feng Bujue realized that the girl was trying to verify whether he was the real 'Bujue'. Her questions were all related to his works, and they covered the whole span of his career, including the works that he had written when he was just starting out. These were questions that only a loyal fan would be able to ask.

Passing Rain nodded. "I have no more question. I believe you."

"By the way, Passing Rain…" Feng Bujue smiled.

"What?"

"Actually, I'm no more than a C-list celebrity; no one would have spent the effort to take my identity. You sound like my…"

He wanted to say 'loyal supporter', but before he could say it, Passing Rain interrupted him. "I'm not."

"Then, how did you know about…"

"I have a good memory."

"And the range of knowledge…"

"Reading is my hobby."

"Er…" Feng Bujue chuckled awkwardly. "Fine."

Passing Rain maintained her detached tone and did not show any change in her expression. She vehemently denied that she was his fan, and this caused Feng Bujue to chuckle. Suddenly, he felt the girl was quite cute. Feng Bujue was undeniably happy to have found out that his teammate in-game was his loyal fan, and the conceit common to any self-loving maniac showed on his face.

Passing Rain quickly changed the subject. "By the way, I want to ask you, do you have the interest in forming a guild?"

"I've been quite busy lately, so I haven't even read the game manual for the open beta version," Feng Bujue replied. "Other than adding a guild badge on one's outfit, what other benefits does a guild provide?"

"There will be a shared guild storage, an additional tab for guild members in the social menu, and playing with fellow guild members will provide additional EXP. Furthermore, based on the guild ranking on the ranking board, the system provides all members two buffs, and the buffs refresh every week." Passing Rain did not describe it in as much detail as the manual; she only selected the key points. In any case, generally speaking, having a guild was something with only positive results.

"Hmm, sounds like opening a guild is not a bad idea," Feng Bujue murmured to himself.

"Don't forget to add me as a member when you're done." Passing Rain sounded like she had already made the decision for Feng Bujue.

Feng Bujue thought about it and said, "Honestly, with your ability, why didn't you request to join some larger guilds? They won't reject you."

"Large guilds usually are based in gaming studios or created by free and rich players." Actually, with Passing Rain's family background, she could be considered one of the young 'mistresses', but she did not think that it was relevant to the topic. "The former only recruit players for the sake of numbers, and common members won't have a chance to get close to the core resources. It is nothing more than a trade with the player using their ability to exchange for some benefit. And the latter… the only reason non-professionals would splurge on the game is none other than to hook up with girls. They recruit powerful players to raise their reputation, recruit normal players to keep the group running, but the main point is to recruit female players…"

Listening to her description, Feng Bujue was shocked. This was the first time that he had heard a female use such an honest description to talk about these things, and this was also the first time that he realized that there were indeed female heroes in the world who could talk about hooking up without it appearing out of place.

"To put it simply, I merely want to find a small group of friends to play with in-game," Passing Rain concluded.

Feng Bujue laughed. "This is surprising because we…"

He paused. He wanted to say, have the same rotten taste, but eventually thought the better of it. "Great minds think alike."

"I'm going to collect my rewards and then visit the market," Passing Rain said as she stood up. "If there's no change, we should try to enter Zone 10 of the market. Perhaps we might run into each other."

Feng Bujue also stood up. "Let me go read the game manual and go through my stuff. I'll contact you when I'm done."

The two bade each other farewell. The elevators opened, and they returned to their own log-in lobbies.

The patch notes for the open beta were not long. At least, they were not as long as the manual that was released for closed beta. He only needed ten minutes to finish it. The function of a guild was similar to other such systems in other online games. The conditions for forming one were not too harsh. It only required the player to be over level ten, pay 100,000 Game Coins, and have a minimum of four players. After reading those conditions, Feng Bujue instantly confirmed that Hyotei most likely only had four members in their guild.

The thing that gave Feng Bujue pause was the money. He could afford the payment, but after giving that up, he would have to delay the purchase of apparel. Regarding this, Passing Rain did not give it as much consideration as she should have. For her, 100,000 Game Coins was nothing. In terms of exchange rate, it was merely fifty RMB. Plus, players who were there in the closed beta should have more than that.

Feng Bujue did not hesitate too long. After all, even without the apparel, he could survive just fine. On top of that, he was quite wealthy. He had gained another 80,000 from completing the earlier scenario. If the sale was made at the Auction House, Kenny's Hoodie would provide him with another 140,000 Game Coins.

Currently, Feng Bujue was still level thirteen.

———

Title: The Cold-Blooded Skull Cracker

EXP: 8,700/13,000

Skill Points: 660

Game Coins: 2,452,000

Masteries: General Ability E, Workmanship E, Sleuthing E, Fighting E, Marksmanship D, Medic F, Sorcery F, ???

Inventory 4/10: Mario's Wrench, Eye of Hostility, M191A1 Pistol, Echo Armor

Equipped: Jazz Shoes

Storage 2/10: Puzzle Card-Monkey, Casey Jones' Mask

Skills: Hasty Repair, Brain Concussion, Below-the-belt Shin Kick

———

Feng Bujue read about the last mastery in the patch notes; it was something called Summoning. Summoning skills were very rare. They would not exhausted Stamina Points when used but needed a specific object as a medium, and the type of required object… was totally random. For example, one's summoning skill might be to summon a horse, and the skill would provide the necessary explanation. During summoning, the player might need to provide a spoon, a glass, a bucket of water, or some flower petals—anything was possible. The item that corresponded to the summoned object was randomized, so even by summoning the same thing, different players might need to prepare different things.

Other than this limitation, summoning skills still had many other limitations, like they were only usable once in a scenario, had a long cooldown, and could only be activated under certain circumstance.

After reading the patch notes, Feng Bujue checked his mail and regretfully had not received the notification from the Auction House that his item had been sold. He did not mind it too much; he was confident that the sale would go through eventually. Perhaps for a normal player, the equipment was a bit dangerous, but for professional teams, this kind of equipment with a special effect would be incredibly useful for a tank in the team.

Feng Bujue then headed to the storage to grab his reward. Considering the equip requirement for Casey Jones' Mask, he chose the EXP. Feng Bujue gained 5,200 EXP because that was forty percent of his current maximum EXP. The system announced that he had reached level fourteen. His Stamina Points rose to 14,000, and his EXP changed to 900/14,000. If he could grab sixty percent of his maximum EXP in the next scenario, which was 8,400/14000, then he only needed to grab another additional reward to reach level fifteen.

With the first reward collected, Feng Bujue sauntered to the other glass tube to draw the Skill Card. He hoped for a skill card for the school of Sorcery, and the second best would be a fighting skill. This was because he was lacking in terms of fighting capability. As savage as the man was, there was no technicality to his actions at all. The only active skill that he had was the shin kick. Even though it was unclear which unlucky b*stards would be the victims of his remaining two shots, with just this skill and his blunt weapons, it was definitely not enough to handle actual fights.

"God have mercy." Feng Bujue closed his eyes in prayer. He stood before the glass tube, staring at the forming Skill Card, mumbling, "Mr. Woody, you have to bless me to win a good Skill Card. It'd be best if it's something like Earth-Shattering Fist. I have nothing else to ask for in life. If you have nothing worthwhile, at least give me something useful…"

It was unclear whether Woody heard the pleas of this atheist or not, but even if he did, it was useless because devils never gave charity; they only did trades.

Feng Bujue recited the words half-jokingly before picking up the card to inspect it.

———

Item Name: Body Enhancement Spell

Skill Type: Sorcery

Effect: After activation, the player's physical ability will drastically increase, at least twice the original strength and speed, in exchange for a slow depletion of Life Points. When the Life Points reach the lowest threshold, the skill will automatically be shut off but can be ended manually beforehand. Cooldown: 30 seconds. It's unusable when the player's Life Points are below 10.

Consumption: Two Life Points every five seconds.

Learning Requirement: Sorcery F

Remark: Basic spell from the Psalm of Demonic Suppression from Seven Psalms of Gui Guzi. The philosophy of Gui Guzi deviates from the practice of moral and internal training like most Profound Schools, but it based itself on a different route, similar to that of the unrighteousness, focusing on quick hands and quicker wit. Even though this is just a basic skill, it can drastically improve the practitioner's ability.