The so-called reality may just be a kind of illusion depicted by others, one that we cannot control.

…

【Feng Bujue, Level 15】

【Please select the game mode you wish to join.】

【You have selected Single Player Survival Mode (Nightmare), please confirm.】

【Confirmed. Scenario is generating…】

【Loading begins, please wait.】

"Welcome to Thriller Paradise." A young woman's voice entered his ears.

Because the previous 1v1 mode didn't take much time, Xiao Tan and his team's survival scenario obviously hadn't ended yet, so Feng Bujue queued for a new mode unlocked at level fifteen, the "Nightmare" difficulty Single Player Survival Mode.

【Loading complete. You are currently playing Single Player Survival Mode (Nightmare).】

【This mode provides a scenario introduction and has a chance to spawn side hidden quests and a special worldview.】

【Scenario Completion Reward: Randomly draw two puzzle cards.】

【The scenario introduction will now play, and the game will begin immediately after.】

Before Feng Bujue's eyes, a very ordinary street appeared, with residential walls on both sides. The sky was gloomy, and as far as the eye could see, there were no tall buildings. The taller buildings were only six or seven stories high. It seemed this should be a small town.

It is worth mentioning that the opening CG scene was completely black and white.

The system voice then sounded: 【This is an ordinary evening, and you are walking home.】

【The town you live in was recently hit by a typhoon, and your original residence was severely affected. Almost all of the nearby houses have collapsed.】

【Although you survived unscathed, you must find another place to live.】

【You have been temporarily placed in a vacant house in the town, an old longhouse located in 3-Chome.】

【Legend has it that ghosts often appear there, so no one dares to approach. But after the typhoon, you and two other affected households were forced to move in, living next door to each other.】

The scenario introduction ended there. Feng Bujue was now free to move. Almost at the same second, he heard the system voice prompt 【Main Quest Triggered】.

Opening the game menu, the quest bar displayed the contents of the main quest. This quest was extremely simple, just two words: 【Go Home】.

"Hmm... a haunted scenario..." Feng Bujue muttered, "And there's no time limit. This 'Nightmare' difficulty scenario seems less tense than that Saw one."

He began to check his pockets, trying to find any documents or maps. While searching, Feng Bujue observed the surrounding environment. Strangely, after the CG ended, the world was still black and white. It was as if he had become colorblind. And he faintly heard a subtle sound, a click-clack, very soft. He didn't know where it was coming from. Whenever he tried to focus and listen, the sound would disappear. When he wasn't paying attention, it would sound again.

Dozens of seconds later, Feng Bujue finished searching all his pockets. He only found a set of keys in his right pants pocket, three in total.

【Name: Three Keys】

【Type: Scenario Related】

【Quality: Normal】

【Function: Open locks】

【Can be taken out of this scenario: No】

【Remarks: Find the corresponding lock to use.】

Feng Bujue picked up the keys and examined them closely. Judging only from the appearance, these three keys looked very ordinary. From the serrations and grooves, the corresponding locks didn't seem complex.

"Assuming one of them is the key to my house, what are the other two for..." Feng Bujue pondered, "Looking at the style of the streetlights and trash cans, this should be the twentieth century... back then, car keys shouldn't have been foldable or electronic. They're probably traditional keys like these." He walked to the intersection ahead and glanced to both sides of the road. "It doesn't look like there's a parking lot nearby, so... even if one of them is a car key, the car isn't around here."

He scratched his head. "The hint information seems a bit sparse. Am I playing the game as a player, or am I playing the role of 'me'? If it's the latter, does 'my' identity matter? Will it affect the plot? What will happen after I 'go home'?"

Given the current conditions, these questions were obviously unanswerable. Feng Bujue decided to follow the main quest first. After all, this was Nightmare difficulty. It might seem calm on the surface, but maybe taking one wrong step would lead to his demise. Even without a time limit, wandering around the town rashly would be dangerous.

"Speaking of which... although it told me 'the old longhouse in 3-Chome,' which seems to be the address, where is 3-Chome..." Feng Bujue naturally couldn't know the town's roads, so simply knowing the address was useless.

"Since it's 'walking home,' then... the direction I was originally facing is..." Feng Bujue turned to face that direction, but it was a fork in the road. "Hmm... I should find a map or ask someone." He didn't want to gamble with a fifty-fifty chance for obvious reasons.

Thinking of this, a pedestrian slowly walked over. It was a woman with long black hair, wearing a trench coat and long pants, with a scarf wrapped around her neck and a mask covering the lower half of her face. Feng Bujue had been standing on the street until now, and this was the first passerby he had seen. But since it was a "small town," it was understandable that there were few people on the street in the evening.

"Excuse me, can you tell me..." Feng Bujue went up to her, wanting to ask for directions.

But before he could finish, the woman interrupted him, "Am I pretty?"

"Uh... what?" Feng Bujue immediately felt that something was wrong. His hand instinctively reached into his knapsack.

"Am I pretty?" The woman turned her face and asked again, but half of her face was covered by a mask and scarf, so it wasn't revealed at all.

"Pretty!" Feng Bujue had already reacted at this moment. The person in front of him might be the legendary...

The Slit-Mouthed Woman immediately took off her mask, revealing her entire face. The sides of her cheeks were separated by two slits, torn almost all the way to her ears.

"Am I pretty like this?" she asked again.

Feng Bujue was truly glad that he hadn't completely adopted the clown's look, otherwise, he and this dame could have formed a pair.

Looking at the monster in front of him that could scare a child to tears, Feng Bujue widened his eyes and answered decisively, "Yes! Pretty." The hand holding the pipe wrench was ready to exert force at any time. He thought to himself, *bitch, I've already complimented you twice, if you dare to pull out your sickle, don't blame me for giving you a second plastic surgery.*

After a few seconds, the Slit-Mouthed Woman said again, "What were you going to ask me just now?"

Feng Bujue was now hesitating whether to continue asking her. Who would be willing to reveal their address to a monster? But then he thought about it, he wasn't really living here anyway, so he said, "Can you tell me how to get to 3-Chome?"

"That way, turn left, turn left again at the next street, and keep going straight." The Slit-Mouthed Woman pointed to the fork in the road. After saying that, she put on her mask again, wrapped her scarf tightly, and left.

Feng Bujue didn't intend to chase after her to thank her. He watched her leave his sight, then breathed a long sigh of relief and released his hand holding the pipe wrench. "I'll be damned... I haven't even gotten home yet, and I've already encountered a monster... so going back home will definitely mean bumping into ghosts."

Though he thought so, since he was playing a horror game, he naturally had to knowingly head home, even if it was haunted. Feng Bujue then went in the direction the Slit-Mouthed Woman had indicated.

By now, it was getting darker and darker, and with everything around him in black and white, the atmosphere was extremely eerie. If it were another player, they would probably feel goosebumps just standing on this deserted street.

A gust of cold wind blew past, and Feng Bujue tightened his suit jacket. At this moment, a white streak flashed across the black sky, and a jagged flash of light illuminated the sky. Several seconds after the lightning, thunder sounded. It seemed that not only was the wind picking up, but it was also going to rain.

When Feng Bujue looked up, his gaze happened to catch sight of a strange phenomenon high above.

At the top of a power line, in the blind spot of the streetlight, there was a humanoid black shadow, squatting there in a hunched posture. When the lightning illuminated this black and white world, Feng Bujue saw "it" clearly. The monster looked like an old woman wearing a white kimono, with a round updo in the back of her head and wrinkles all over her face. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets. The skin on her hands was dark and wrinkled, covered with bumps, and her fingers were spread open like ghost claws.

When the lightning ended, the figure disappeared into the darkness again. Feng Bujue couldn't see it clearly no matter what. He also had no interest in getting closer to see what the monster was. As long as it didn't jump down from there, he would just pretend he didn't see it.

Feng Bujue lowered his head and continued forward, increasing his pace again, almost running. He didn't see any more passersby along the way. He only stopped at a 3-Chome street sign.

The rain began to fall at this moment.

A torrential downpour poured down, drenching Feng Bujue. He quickly found his destination. From the street, he could see a row of three simple longhouses connected together in a courtyard. That must be it.

Feng Bujue quickly ran to the eaves, brushed the wet hair from his forehead, and took out the keys.

Based on the scenario's description, three households lived in this row of longhouses. He had two neighbors. Feng Bujue didn't know which door was his, so he had to try them one by one.

Perhaps he was lucky, because at the first door, he succeeded on his first try with the first key. Pushing open the wooden door, the room was pitch black and smelled of damp wood.

Feng Bujue reached out and groped around the door, found the light switch, and flipped it. The light in the room turned on.