Thriller Paradise

Passing Rain sat up inside the gaming hub. She looked at the middle-aged woman wearing an apron before her, and she let out a long sigh. "Mom… it's one thing for you to enter my room again, but why did you have to disconnect the power switch?"

"You wouldn't respond when I knocked on the door," Passing Rain's mother said with a smile.

"I heard you, but I was busy…"

"Since you've disconnected from the game, come and help your mother with dinner."

"Huh…" Passing Rain dragged her complaint out. "Mom… couldn't you have asked dad to help you with that?"

"Your dad has found a gaming helmet and hidden himself in the garage to play."

"Since you know where he's hiding, then…"

"It's natural for men to want to play. If it doesn't cross the line, we women should just pretend not to notice. If I go drag him out of the garage, tomorrow, he'll go hiding in the basement, and perhaps the day after that, he'll drain the pool and hide inside there to play the game."

"What kind of argument is that? Fine, I'll come help you." Passing Rain could not say no to her mother, so she climbed out of the gaming hub and followed her mother to the kitchen.

…

At the same time, back in Thriller Paradise, Feng Bujue was standing in front of a tree, holding it with both of his hands and knocking his head against it like a woodpecker. He groaned, "This can't be truth! I refuse to accept this!"

Of course, he was only making a show of his misery. He would not really knock himself out from it.

Passing Rain's irresponsibility had completely disrupted Feng Bujue's plan. Based on his prediction, the time that the player needed to move from the castle, through the thick forest, to the edge of the island would be at least three hours. General Zaroff, who was impossibly strong, knew the island like the back of his hand. With the same distance, even though he would not be able to fly over the geography, it would only take him two hours to complete the same journey at most.

Feng Bujue's original plan had been to split them into two groups, two players each. They would run to opposite ends of the island. Then, at least the chance of survival for one of the groups would drastically increase. No matter which group the boss decided to follow and decimate, the distance introduced between them and the other team should be long enough to help them survive the five-hour time limit to clear the scenario.

This was a simple tactic to exchange space for time. If done correctly, the chance of clearing the scenario was close to one hundred percent. Even though this meant that each player had a fifty percent chance of dying, it was a worthwhile trade overall. As long as the scenario was cleared, the group that died would receive the reward as well. For the players who were pursued, objectively speaking, they would have contributed plenty to the survival of the other team, so the system would not have skimped on the reward when the scenario was cleared.

It was a complete coin toss as to which group would be unluckier. Who the boss decided to pursue was not the player's decision. There was no one to complain to but yourself for how unlucky you were. From this perspective, the chance of One Sword and Not a Scaredy Cat agreeing to this plan was high.

In the plan, naturally, Feng Bujue planned to group himself with Passing Rain because he was worried about that Not a Scaredy Cat. From the title and the way that she carried herself, the skill of her title was most likely something to do with going invisible or transferring the hostility on her to another player. If there was no imminent danger, spending time with her was fine, but if things changed, he would have to be prepared to become a scapegoat.

In any case, his analysis had no actual evidence to support it. Even if he shared it, the girl could deny it easily. Furthermore, that might be her preferred play style. Since there was a willing victim, why should he ruin her plan? That was why, when Feng Bujue saw One Blade and One Sword stepped forth to protect the girl, he did not say anything. At the end of the day, he only needed to confirm that he was not the dumb one and remind his friend to be cautious as well.

But here was the problem. Passing Rain had disconnected due to some unknown reason. If his initial plan was to be followed, Feng Bujue would have to move alone… and that introduced too many unknown variables.

Feng Bujue had decided to split the group into twos because it was too dangerous to travel alone. Before Zaroff caught on, the lone player probably would have died from a beast or some other unknown factor when they moved through the jungle. So, if they moved individually, the biggest possibility was that the players would die one by one on the road. Even if the last one managed to arrive at the other end of the island, when the boss arrived, all the effort would be for nothing.

"Hmm… A five-member scenario, and we're already down to three before the quest has officially started," Feng Bujue grumbled to himself. "Moving in a group of three will be pointless. The boss will definitely catch up to us, so moving in one group will lead to a group wipe. Thus, the dual escape plan cannot be changed…"

After he figured it out, he returned to the remaining two members and said, "Alright… I'll tell you what to do regarding the escape plan."

"Wait a minute," One Sword complained with dissatisfaction. "How come you're the leader? You're the one with the lowest level here, right? Furthermore, based on what you said earlier, what happens next has nothing to do with the short story anymore, right? So technically, the information you have is no different from ours, right?"

"Then, I'll hand the leadership to you. What shall we do next?" Feng Bujue very easily tossed the responsibility back to the man.

"Er…" One Sword was startled. He swallowed some saliva and raised his voice to compensate for the lack of confidence. "We shall run toward the northwestern corner, cutting through the forest, until we reach the beach. We need to move away from this castle forward.

"Zaroff has the hunting hounds, so removing our footsteps will barely delay anything. Therefore, I say we ignore the issue of footprints and instead plant more traps along the way to slow down his speed. When he reaches the beach, perhaps it'll already be morning."

"Great idea, you're a genius!" Feng Bujue said with his eyes glowing with admiration.

"You think so? You're too kind. Ha ha." One Sword could barely detect the sarcasm in Feng Bujue's voice.

Not a Scaredy Cat looked at him with a strange gaze. It seemed like she had something to say, but to maintain her appearance of a weak character, she clamped on her mouth shut and said nothing.

"But I don't think there is a need for us to set up traps," Feng Bujue added.

"Hmm? Why?" One Sword asked.

"Are you familiar with forest traps? How many types do you know how to make?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Er…" Only then One Sword realized that his understanding of traps stopped at digging a big hole and covering it with leaves. He did not even know how to make the simple trap that would yank the target up into the air by lassoing a rope around the target's ankle.

"Basically, forest traps can be separated into two types, hunting traps and tactical traps," Feng Bujue explained. "Their main function is respectively to capture and to kill. Other than that, some traps require the trapper to be close to manually operate the trap. Personally, I think the movies First Blood and Predator's interpretations of traps are closest to realistic, albeit still a little bit too idealistic. In reality, most traps aren't that reliable and take too long to set up."

He titled his head to the side to scratch his hair. "Even though we have time to familiarize ourselves with the setting up of simple traps… don't forget, there are many other animals in this forest. Even if we put down the trap, there is no way to guarantee that it will be Zaroff and his hunting hounds who are the first to trigger the trap. So… that would only be a waste of time."

One Sword's face dropped. Being told his plan was a waste of time and having holes poked through it would make any man get angry from shame.

"Of course, that is just a small flaw." Feng Bujue changed his tone. "Other than that, your plan is practically perfect."

"You… really think so?" This time, One Sword did not hurry to accept the praise after the lesson that he had just learned.

"Of course, you two should head in the northwestern direction. Be careful. This is where we shall part." Feng Bujue waved his hands and turned to head back up the stone stairs.

"Hey! What are you doing?" One Sword gasped. "Why are you going back?"

Feng Bujue did not answer this question but said, "If we move together, once we're caught by Zaroff, then it'll definitely be a group wipe. If we split up, with you guys going northwest and me going southeast, at least one party will survive."

"But what does that have to do with you going back to the castle?" Not a Scaredy Cat asked.

"Oh. That's because I don't have a lamp. I'll go ask for something like a torch from the general," Feng Bujue answered and turned up to walk back into the castle where the boss resided.

"Huh… This man must be mad…" One Sword laughed drily. "No wonder his name is Feng Bujue."

Not a Scaredy Cat looked at Feng Bujue's back with a calculative gaze.

"Let's forget about him and get moving," One Sword said.

Not a Scaredy Cat turned and reverted to her usual innocent self. "Hmm, okay. Brother One Sword, I'll rely on you to protect me…."

"Ha ha… Leave it to me." One Sword patted his chest. With full confidence, he took out his sword, raised the flashlight, and led the girl into the jungle.

…

On the northwestern side of the island, deep inside the dark jungle, there was a quiet, slithering sound. A shadow was circling, wiggling on the ground. It moved up the tree trunk and slithered amid the rocks.

An anaconda, the most lethal predator on the island, one who sat atop the food chain comfortably.

It was over ten meters long with a flat head covered in creases. It was a large creature, cold-blooded and sinful. Its back was black and lined with white stripes going horizontally, while its underside was dark brown.

It was a natural killer; the split tongue was like a radar, and the large body could crush any animal into shattered pieces. It did not possess any toxins because it did not to rely on that. It could unhinge its jaws to swallow a whole living human and take weeks to slow digest the body. After a single hunt, it could go into hibernation for months.

Other than General Zaroff, this anaconda was not afraid of anything else because, other than the general, nothing could harm it. Normally, it curled its giant body inside its lair where other beasts knew to avoid.

But that night, it was the night the creature left its lair for the hunt after several months of quiet hibernation.