Thriller Paradise

Even though Conquering the Castle with One Blade's title sounded and looked unimpressive, no matter the title, the power that it granted the player would, generally speaking, have its practical uses. For example, Xiao Tan's Panicked Hidden Assailant appeared even weaker than One Blade and One Sword's title, but the skill given by that title, Fleeing Strike, still provided immense uses to the player in battle.

No matter how strange, weak sounding, or salacious the player's title was, the value inherent in the skill provided by the title was undeniable. Even the weakest title would come with a skill that befitted the player's play-style and served some kind of purpose to the player. In other words, there would never be a wasted skill if it was one attached to the player's title. Of course, the concept of 'useful' was still distinct from the concept of 'powerful', and naturally, the more powerful sounding the title was, the more powerful the skill it would provide.

Such was the case with the skill Decapitating Slash.

———

Skill Name: Decapitating Slash

Skill Type: Active

Effect: Allow the player to teleport behind the target and attack with a slash at the target's neck with a force that is five times the maximum strength of the player. Cooldown: 2 hours. It can only be used on humanoid targets, and the target must be within three meters of the player for skill activation.

Remark: This skill was invented by famed blade master Guan Xiaoyi. When Master Guan was eighteen, his face was already covered with a beard and mustache, and that added to the man's inapproachability. After studying under his master for three years, he was given the post of palatial executioner. At the time, political strife was the zeitgeist, and the cunning won a higher ground than the loyal. In the few years that Guan Xiaoyi spent at his post, he decapitated countless loyal servants to the king, and that cultivated the guilt in his heart. When he was twenty-three, Guan Xiaoyi abandoned his post and decided to enter the martial world. The morality from his career aside, it provided him with the experience to come up with a blade-wielding technique of his own. He dubbed it 'Blade of Decapitation', and it came known far and wide. Decapitating Slash was the introductory skill.

———

One Blade lunged forward. When he was within three meters of General Zaroff, and thus within the range of activating his skill, a trace of a smile appeared on his lips, it was as if he could already imagine the boss' head landing in his arms. One second later, One Blade disappeared from the group's gaze before appearing like magic behind General Zaroff. The blade aimed squarely at the latter's neck.

Then came a dull thud.

As if knowing the man would appear behind him, Zaroff raised his arm and knocked behind him. Almost at the moment One Blade materialized behind him, Zaroff's elbow managed to hit the man right in his ribs. Before the blade in One Blade's hand had the chance to even touch Zaroff's skin, he was blasted off by the elbow shot from the boss. The man was sent flying until he slammed into the wall. Blood spurted from his lips. One Blade's eyes widened from shock. The intense pain caused him to lose his ability to commit to the next series of actions.

The impact from Zaroff's blow was so tremendous that it shattered One Blade's internal organs. Even though there were no conspicuous wounds on One Blade's physical body, the bones on the left side of his ribcage were practically all cracked, and the bones that shifted from their original position poked into the man's internal organs, causing serious internal bleeding. That was observable from the bleeding status that he had.

One Blade's Life Points instantly plummeted down to five, and they were still dropping. It was impossible for the other players from the group to come to his rescue because Zaroff stood between them, blocking the way. Using a detached and intractable tone, he uttered, "Look at your friend. Such a rude and rash thing he has done."

Without even a glance at One Blade, who was collapsed on the ground, he knew for certain that the player was not going to get up any time soon.

"If he was not so fragile, perhaps I would have saved him, cured his injury, provided him with the best food, sufficient rest and necessary training so that he would have the chance to rejoin the hunt with me in the future, alas…" Zaroff made a sign. Noticing the sign, Ivan walked to stand before One Sword. The large man pulled out his revolver and aimed the barrel right between his target's brows.

"Sav…" It was difficult for One Blade to even speak. He only managed to spit out half a word before his brain splattered on the wall. His body transmuted into a pool of white light and disappeared.

"Group Member: Conquering the Castle with One Blade, dead."

This happened all so quickly. One Blade's rashness made it so that his other group mates were unable to help him even if they wanted to.

Then again, it was not that all of them wanted to. From how Feng Bujue saw it, One Blade's action was no different from suicide. Feng Bujue knew that, since the scenario stated that all action that intended to finish the scenario in simplest, quickest, and most brutish way would not succeed, unless they possessed the plot armor of a main character in the story, any action that planned to take the shortcut would definitely only lead to self-destruction.

Seeing his friend, One Blade, die on the spot, One Sword's face paled instantly. To be fair, he had been harboring the same idea as One Blade earlier; he had also been of the belief that the two bosses before their eyes were not that powerful. Compared to the mystical creatures that they had encountered in previous scenarios, these two characters that looked just like human beings, they believed, could easily be bullied. Of the two, that Ivan appeared scarier, but there was nothing scary about General Zaroff.

However, since One Sword did not have a skill that closed the distance like Decapitating Slash, he did not aim for first blood. His initial plan had been to discuss the problem with One Blade silently and then charge at the target at the same time. Who would have thought One Blade would be so eager to prove himself and have so much confidence in the skill given by his title? He had charged forward too suddenly.

Then again, it was even more surprising that the boss was able to see through this skill. Before the effect of the super high-speed skill activated, he interrupted it with a shot, and that one shot almost managed to kill One Blade on the spot.

Feng Bujue sighed helplessly, but then, an idea appeared in his mind. He planned to make use of One Blade's death to probe for more valuable information.

"You're right, general. My friend was indeed a bit of a reckless character. If I were him…" As he said that, he took out the pistol from his bag. However, he did not aim it at his target but only tested the gun's weight in his hand like a boy playing with a toy. "…I would have made the attempt with a far more advanced weaponry."

He tossed the general a penetrative gaze. "You wouldn't have been able to catch a bullet out of thin air now, would you?"

"Ha ha ha ha…" Zaroff guffawed like this was the greatest joke in the world. "Of course, my friend. How could a human catch a bullet with his bare hands?"

He used his finger to tap against his chest, and a metallic thud came out from underneath his dress shirt. "That is why I am armed with the necessary protective measures underneath my coat.

"But I know you are a professional hunter, so your marksmanship ranks among the best. If you are able to shoot my head off with just one shot, there is nothing else I could do but to welcome my death with open arms."

Then, he glanced at Ivan next to him. "But I would not suggest doing that because Ivan will stop at nothing to take revenge on my behalf. After losing his commander, he will stop being a soldier and turn into the most ferocious beast in the world."

After getting the information that he needed from the general, Feng Bujue put the gun away. He replied with a bright smile on his face, "Thank you for your kind reminder, general. In that case, I believe it is time for us to depart."

"Ha ha… I'll see you later, my friend." Zaroff smiled in return. His kind and polite to a fault attitude with the contrast of the cruelty and madness in his heart cast him in the role of a unique villain. In a way, Feng Bujue found such a character to be quite charming. In any case, the fact that he could carry himself with such ease around the players meant that he was not as weak as he appeared. The knowledge of that caused the group of players to shiver.

Feng Bujue tossed a gaze to his living group mates. His meaning was that it was time for them to leave.

Five minutes later, the four of them regrouped at the bottom of the stone stairs in front of the castle. Along the way, none of them dared breathe too loudly; they did not even dare to run. They had to be cautious of even making too loud a noise.

This was because the boss, General Zaroff, that appeared at the start of the scenario had oppressed them with an impossibly large sense of despair. It suffocated them with the immense pressure. From Feng Bujue's perspective, discounting the boss in the Time Lord's domain, Sam Montier, whom he had only heard the voice of, of all the characters he had seen in his time on Thriller Paradise, only Oink from the previous scenario gave him the similar sense of helplessness. A boss like Professor Ashford's mutant could probably be taken down by General Zaroff armed with nothing but a dagger.

In the end, it was Feng Bujue who used a conclusive tone to speak, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group. "Obviously, General Zaroff's human appearance does not mean anything. From the angle of the game, he is a monster, a monster whose physical prowess, caution, and experience are ten times greater than ours. He is, in every meaning of the word, the perfect hunter. And we are his target… or more precisely, his prey."

"Of course, we know that; we're not blind," One Sword grumbled.

"I'm not sure whether you noticed that during my conversation with Zaroff or after One Blade crumbled with a shot to his chest. In any case, I'm certain that Brother One Blade noticed it much later than he should've," Feng Bujue replied. "Thankfully, we still have time to rearrange our thoughts. For now, we should come up with a plan…"

"Wait a minute," One Sword interrupted Feng Bujue. "I've been meaning to ask this for a long time. Initially, I thought that you were the kind of player who treats themselves too seriously in a game, and that was why you were wasting so much time, conversing with the boss, but now I realize that you seemed to know what this Zaroff was up to from the very beginning. How is that possible?"

"Hmm… Actually, explaining the question will only be a waste of time, but I realize that if I don't clarify this question, you will not listen to what I have to say next…" When Feng Bujue said that sentence, combining it with the expression on his face, the people around him could easily read it as… "Since you have asked, then I shall reward you with the answer."

"Quit stroking your own ego and get on with it," Passing Rain added coldly from behind him.

After Feng Bujue was exposed, he chuckled and said, "Fine, the plot of this scenario should have been taken from a short story called 'The Most Dangerous Game'. The story itself is not long. It mainly describes the main character, who is a hunter and got shipwrecked and eventually landed on this island designed by Zaroff. Then, he was forced into the role of prey, and a hunt that lasted three days occurred on the island.

"Using his immense knowledge of survival and hunting, the main character came up with traps and other techniques to deal with the general. He managed to survive through the time limit of three days, and on the third day, he sneaked back to the castle and emerged the final victor."

At this point, he paused for a moment. "But from the content of the short story, actually, on the first day, Zaroff had the chance to kill the main character, but for the sake of lengthening the joy of the hunt so that he could continue the sport the next day, he graciously let the main character go.

"In the next few encounters, even though Zaroff lost quite a few of his hunting hounds to the main character's trap, Zaroff would be able to escape from the trap at the last minute. At most, he would suffer from some light wound. As long as he had the opportunity, he would temporarily let the main character go and stop the hunt. He would return to the castle to recuperate before returning from the hunt."

"Is this because he wanted the hunt to be as fair as possible on both sides?" Passing Rain asked.

"From the difference in their power level, that's an overly idealistic assessment of the situation." Feng Bujue smiled bitterly. "The general merely did not want his entertainment to end so soon.

"But this Zaroff is undeniably a gentleman. Even though what he has done is no different from a serial killing, he will not lie to us or go back on his word after he has failed. The warning that he gave regarding the death swamp is sincere as well. It appears like he sincerely wishes for us to be as difficult a challenge for him as possible, or else his hunting game will become incredibly boring.

"Hmm… Now, let's discuss some practical matters."

Feng Bujue wandered away from the stone steps, and the rest of the group followed him to the edge of the forest. Earlier, the location had been open enough for them to rely on the moonlight for lighting but once they neared the trees, other than Feng Bujue, the remaining three all took out their lighting devices. Passing Rain used her lamp while One Sword and Not a Scaredy Cat used flashlights, although the models were a bit different.

Feng Bujue picked up a random tree branch from the ground and started drawing in the mud. "Inside the study, I stood quite in front and saw that there was a map on Zaroff's study table. When he was showing us the island's ship trap, the light from the lighthouse cast the shoreline in a bright glow. After comparing it with the map on his table, the island on the map is this island that we're currently on."

As he spoke, he carved out an irregular shape on the ground; it looked suspiciously similar to the shape of an olive. "The island is about this shape. The castle is placed right in the middle and built on an elevation so that one can look at the whole face of the island from this vantage point."

He suddenly raised his head. "Can anyone of you help me tell the direction of north?"

"Hmm…" One Sword titled his head to look at the sky. It appeared like he was ready to guess a random direction. In the end, it was Not a Scaredy Cat who pointed at one part of the night sky. "That is the Northern Star, right?"

"Very good," Feng Bujue praised. He used the branch to point out places of interest on his map and continued his explanation. "This is north, so this is south. This is where the swamp will be…"

He pointed at one edge of the olive and said, "Before confirming our escape route, I need to bring up the few points of difference between this scenario and the short story."

Whenever Feng Bujue was analyzing and plotting, he appeared so trustworthy and reliable. One could not find the casualness and flippantness that would normally characterize the man. In fact, when he spoke, there was a unique attraction about him.

"First, the main character of the short story, if I'm not mistaken, is called Sanger Rainsford. The game he played on the island lasted three days, but we only need to survive for five hours. It might sound like the game is easier for us, but that might not be so. As I mentioned earlier, General Zaroff purposely let Rainsford off several times because he did not want the hunt to have a premature end. However, I don't think he'll be equally kind with us. Once Zaroff finds us, he will kill us.

"Other than that, there is no mention of other wildlife on the island in the short story, but when I was conversing with Zaroff in the study, he stated very clearly that there are snakes, wolves, and tigers on the island. Even the mountain boars are extremely aggressive, so other than avoiding the pursuit of the general, we must be cautious of the threats posed by these animals hiding in the dark.

"Secondly, you've seen for yourself how impossibly powerful the boss is. Even though he was described as a powerful character in the short story, but that was ultimately a horror story based on real life; it was not a story with sci-fi or supernatural elements. However, this General Zaroff that we will face managed to murder a person in cold blood with just his elbow. He is the type of boss that we should not face head on if possible. Furthermore, from the objective given to us by the main quest, the sole objective of this scenario is to successfully escape the general's capture."

At this point, One Sword chimed in. "But when you took out the gun earlier, didn't Zaroff admit that he will die if we manage to get a headshot on him? If I was carrying the gun, I would have shot at the man at such a short distance. After all, with the target standing so close to me, the accuracy would have been high."

"If you had done that, we all would have died." Feng Bujue shook his head. "At the time, I took out the gun to test Zaroff's reaction. I hoped to get some useful information from his lips."

He raised his head and continued with a firm expression. "Based on my knowledge, the prototype anti-bullet vest only appeared in the middle of 20th century, and the author of the short story Richard Connell passed away in 1949.

"But even so Zaroff managed to calmly express that he was wearing some protective armor against firearms, and he did not act so cautious around the pistol that I was holding. Therefore, there can only be one explanation. The few sentences that he said were a hint given to us by the system through the mouth of this boss."

"Attempts to kill Zaroff with pistol-like weapons will not work?" Passing Rain, who was the sharpest of the lot, responded first.

Feng Bujue snapped his fingers. "Bingo!"

His eyes scanned One Sword and Not a Scaredy Cat's faces. "The system forms the scenarios based on the participating player's status and conditions. I believe, among the four of us, and even including One Blade, who has already welcomed a Game Over, none of us specialize in marksmanship."

Naturally, he was correct. Of the four of them present, he was the only one armed with a gun, and it was a gun that only had four bullets inside. At the same time, his marksmanship mastery was the highest of them all.

"Actually, from Zaroff's last few sentences, the understanding from the gaming point of view was… if we have to deal with him using a pistol, hitting the body won't work; one has to aim at his head.

"Normally, there will only be two situations where we can manage something like that. One, like what you said, launch an ambush from a distance that was as close as before. Two, during the hunt, use the darkness as a disguise and, armed with a low marksmanship, release a shot praying that the bullet will somehow travel through the highly-alerted Cassock's skull.

"Obviously, the first scenario was more reliable, but even if you had succeeded, it would have been pointless because of what would happen next. Like the general said, the mute known as Ivan would go berserk.

"I suspect that he would instantly replace Zaroff's role in the scenario and initiate a rampage upon us. Then, the scenario might not be as based on 'real life' as it is now. After that Ivan goes on rampage, I would not be surprised if he turns into the Hulk. If that happens, our chance of survival will plummet to zero. I doubt we would have been able to even leave the castle."

Feng Bujue gave out a very long sigh. "In conclusion, theme of this whole scenario can be concluded with one word—run."

"Then what are we walking for? We need to hurry…"

Before One Sword could finish, Feng Bujue raised his hand to stop him and said, "I haven't even told you how to run yet."

"What do you mean?" One Sword asked.

"We need to split up and run," Feng Bujue answered.

"Why?" Not a Scaredy Cat sounded more worried.

Before Feng Bujue could answer, something happened in the next second that threw his whole plan into disarray.

Passing Rain's body suddenly morphed into white light and disappeared before the system audio announced, "Group Member, Passing Rain, disconnected."