Chapter 1 The Approaching Danger

The baying of the hounds heralded the approaching danger, and this danger was clearly aimed at Feng Bujue.

He opened the game menu and glanced at the quest log. The time displayed was: [Remaining time until sunrise: 203 minutes]

Thirty-seven minutes had passed since General Zaroff set out. Although Feng Bujue had traveled as quickly as possible for more than an hour, there was still a high probability that the other party would catch up to him at this point.

As the barking of the hounds grew closer, the giant python in the distance actually abandoned its meal, leaving the wild boar behind and fleeing in a panic into the dark forest. It seemed that the animals on this island knew very well what that barking meant; even if they were not afraid of the dogs, they would fear the dogs' master.

Feng Bujue realized that the situation was critical and that he had to take effective action. Even if he was destined to die, he should try to buy more time for his other two teammates and increase their chances of clearing the level.

Hiding was probably out of the question. Feng Bujue had left some footprints along the way, more or less. Given the general's tracking ability, not to mention footprints, even broken branches, trampled weeds, and any other clues would not escape the Cossack's eyes.

What's more, Zaroff had his hounds with him. The scent left on the soil was as obvious as a road sign to animals whose sense of smell was a hundred times stronger than that of humans.

In this situation, the prey was probably extremely nervous. In a dark and complex environment, hearing a powerful Boss gradually approaching, but not knowing when or how this hunter would attack, was a feeling that goes without saying. In most horror or action games, the scene of being chased by something is often a very demanding part of the game, testing the player's psychological quality and operation skills.

If it were any other player here, they would probably have fled in a panic, without even bothering to check the direction, just trying to get away from the barking of the dogs, running wherever they could. But Feng Bujue remained calm as usual. Unable to feel fear, he quietly and quickly put away his knife, used his flashlight to confirm which direction had a relatively gentle terrain, and then ran off.

He wasn't worried that the flashlight's light would reveal his whereabouts, because even if he turned off the flashlight, he wouldn't be able to slow down the other party's approach, but would only make it difficult for him to move in the dark.

After observing for a while, Feng Bujue felt that a small path to the due north was slightly smoother, so he used his flashlight to illuminate the road ahead and fled as fast as he could. The barking of the hounds behind him was still getting closer and closer, but he ignored this auditory pressure and never looked back or got distracted. He focused all his attention on the road ahead to ensure that his speed was not affected.

When running through irregular terrain like this, it is important for the fugitive to avoid looking back at the pursuer every few steps, as doing so is harmful and not beneficial in any way.

In the countless horror films that Feng Bujue had seen, a very common scene was one in which a character (usually a beautiful woman) was being chased by a monster, and the chase often took place in a forest. The beautiful woman ran and screamed, occasionally turning her head back to show the camera a look of horror. The camera followed her from the monster's point of view, constantly shaking and switching. After running like this for a while, the character would almost certainly fall, and then, accompanied by chaotic editing, a screen full of ketchup, and a pig-like scream, the monster would get first blood.

Feng Bujue would not make this kind of mistake. It was impossible to see him trip; he would rather trip the monster.

The chase continued for a while, and the barking of the dogs finally approached to within about fifteen meters behind Feng Bujue. He knew that he must have entered the other party's line of sight. According to common sense analysis, next, Zaroff had two choices: first, to release the hound's collar and let the dog sprint freely to pounce on the target; second, to use his Boss-level shooting skills to shoot him down.

In either case, Feng Bujue would be killed in a matter of seconds. The only difference was whether his throat would be torn to shreds by sharp teeth or the back of his head would be blown off by a bullet.

However, as the saying goes, scars on the back are a swordsman's shame. Hmm... it doesn't seem to have much to do with the situation at hand.

In short, Feng Bujue decided that even if he was going to die, he should put up a last-ditch resistance. Since he was about to be over, the survival points and stamina points that had not yet been consumed would also lose their meaning. With a thought, he activated the Ling Shi Ju Shen Shu (Spirit Consciousness Gathering Technique), suddenly accelerated, stepped on the ground, and leaped sideways, flashing behind a tree.

This was the first time Feng Bujue had used this skill. The feeling after activating it was very wonderful, as if the blood in his body was boiling in an instant, and a faint heat energy was radiating from his whole body. This "heat," however, was different from the stuffy heat brought by the environment. Not only did it not make people feel sticky and uncomfortable, but it also brought a kind of mental excitement. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it ignited fighting spirit.

As a skill that does not require any consumption to activate and purely burns survival value, this is the effect it should have.

"That's not right..." Feng Bujue suddenly felt suspicious behind the tree.

After activating the skill, Feng Bujue's various abilities had been strengthened, and his five senses had naturally been slightly improved. His hearing had become very sensitive, and his reaction speed was also beyond ordinary people. To put it bluntly, it was as if even the flow of time had slowed down... At this moment, he could clearly distinguish and separate the various subtle sounds that entered his ears, so he could discover that under the cover of the barking of the hounds, there were only the sounds of four legs trampling on the ground, but no human footsteps at all.

He immediately poked his head slightly out from behind the tree trunk, and sure enough, he did not see the light of a flashlight or other lighting equipment. It was impossible for General Zaroff to chase after him with a hound in a state of blindness, so... it was basically certain that since just now, only a dog had been chasing him.

Feng Bujue quickly understood that this was the script leaving a way out for the players. He had overestimated the difficulty of the script. He had thought that the general had caught up with the dog after half an hour, but now it seemed that Zaroff had first released the large group of hounds he had shown in the castle before, and then slowly chased after them himself.

Perhaps it was due to Yi Dao's early death and Si Yu's disconnection, or perhaps the difficulty of this script was originally based on what the players could do in the hour before the Boss set off. Anyway, this kind of setting was indeed more in line with the system's consistent watertight style.

Since the players could split into several groups, the monsters could of course also split into several groups, so that one team of players would not clear the level without any difficulty, while another team would quickly fall into a desperate situation. Each team of players would inevitably encounter this kind of advanced test, and correspondingly, the Boss would appear later.