Chapter 1 The Beginning

Feng Bujue lay in the game pod, still logging into the game in non-sleep mode (non-sleep mode and sleep mode log into different servers, and the two modes cannot be connected).

After arriving in the login space, he clicked to select the game. This time, no prompts popped up. The screen simply displayed the available game menu, such as social options, i.e., friend list and blacklist, and more game introductions. If players hadn't read them on the website, they could also browse them in this space. Considering the time ratio, this actually saved half the time.

Feng Bujue searched for Wang Tanzhi's nickname, added him as a friend, and then sent a team invitation.

After Wang Tanzhi joined the team, a team list popped up on the display screen next to Feng Bujue, showing the nicknames and levels of the two people in the team.

[Feng Bujue, Level 2]

[Wang Tanzhi, Level 1]

[Please select the game mode for the team to join.]

Three options appeared on the screen: Single-player Training Mode, Multiplayer Training Mode, and Single-player Survival Mode (Normal). Because the two of them were in a team, the two single-player modes were greyed out and could not be selected.

"Jue-ge, we can only enter that 'Multiplayer Training', right?" Wang Tanzhi could now talk to Feng Bujue through the display screen. In his login space, he could also see the same information as on this screen, but the right to operate was in the hands of the team leader.

"Yeah... let's go in and see," Feng Bujue replied, clicking on the option.

[You have selected Multiplayer Training Mode. Please confirm.]

[Confirmed. Coordinating neural connection. Generating script...]

[Loading start. Please wait.]

The elevator that Feng Bujue was in started moving again, and it felt like it was going down.

At the same time, a subtitle floated directly in front of his eyes, accompanied by a system prompt: [You are about to enter the same script as other players. Before joining a multiplayer game for the first time, please be sure to understand the following.]

[A. In non-competitive modes, any attack behavior towards "other players" will be restricted by the system, and your intentions will not be translated into the character's actual actions; in modes or scripts where players may be competitive, any attack behavior towards "teammates" will be restricted by the system, and your intentions will not be translated into the character's actual actions.]

[B. Any voice deemed by the system to contain sensitive words will be silenced, such as the names of political figures, swear words, and the names of animals, plants, and objects in specific contexts.]

[C. The act of deliberately using slowed-down lip movements, gestures, text, drawings, or other methods to verbally attack other players will be restricted by the system, and the player's intentions will not be translated into the character's actual actions.]

[D. Regardless of gender, any behavior deemed by the system to be sexual harassment, including attempts to implement it using the methods listed in items B and C for this purpose, will be restricted by the system, and the player's intentions will not be translated into the character's actual actions. Repeated attempts will be forcibly disconnected, and the player's citizen ID will be permanently added to the system blacklist, becoming a high-priority monitoring target.]

[E. Any behavior deemed by the system to be discriminatory will be handled in the same way as item D. Players who violate items D and E several times will have their accounts permanently deleted, and their citizen ID will be banned from using the company's products. In serious cases, the player's behavior in the game will be recorded by the system and transferred to the public security department for handling. For details, please refer to the Network Public Security Law and its derivative regulations.]

It should be noted that Feng Bujue lived in 2055 in a parallel universe. In his world, sexual harassment and various forms of discrimination (disability, race, congenital diseases, etc.) were severely punished. The latter was not punishable by imprisonment, but in serious cases, the citizen ID would be added to the blacklists of various industries and institutions; the former was definitely punishable by imprisonment.

Feng Bujue had played many games before, and he had also used helmets to play nerve-linked games. He had basically seen similar clauses. As optical computers continued to upgrade, the loopholes that players could exploit became fewer and fewer. It could be said that these two types of behavior were nipped in the bud.

[Loading complete. You are currently in Multiplayer Training Mode.]

[In this mode, no script descriptions, tasks, or worldviews are provided.]

[Completing this mode only grants experience points, no skill points or game currency.]

[This mode has no clearance rewards or extra rewards for fear ratings.]

[Game has started.]

After listening to the prompts, the elevator door opened. Almost at the same time, an eerie voice rang in his ears again, this time a man's voice with a sharp tone: "Welcome to Thriller Paradise." After speaking, he let out a terrifying, sinister laugh.

The scene outside the elevator door was another corridor, but this one looked quite spacious. The floor was tiled, and both walls were painted white. One side had three doors, all of which were closed at the moment. The lighting equipment on the ceiling was working normally, and the light was very bright. The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant. Judging by the architectural layout, it looked like a hospital.

Feng Bujue immediately walked out of the elevator. Then, the elevator door behind him closed, and the image of the elevator gradually twisted and disappeared, eventually turning into a wall. Turning his head, he saw another elevator door on his side and slightly behind him, parallel to the one he had just walked out of.

Feng Bujue walked to that door and poked his head inside. He immediately heard a scream: "Ah..."

"Are you sick?" Feng Bujue asked.

Wang Tanzhi gasped for breath: "I just made up my mind to come out, and your head suddenly popped out, scaring me."

"Can I ask, how much did that scare I gave you just now raise your fear value?" Feng Bujue was indeed very curious.

Upon hearing this, Wang Tanzhi went to check the menu. In Feng Bujue's eyes, his gaze was simply unfocused, and then returned to normal after a few seconds.

"I've calmed down now. The fear value is fluctuating around 3%," Wang Tanzhi replied. "But I don't know how high it spiked just now."

"Hmm... it increases instantly according to the degree of fear, and then decreases, huh..." Feng Bujue muttered. "By the way, what color does the fear value show up as in the energy bar?"

"Uh... bright red."

"Oh, I see."

"Jue-ge, your illness... does it always keep your fear value at 0%?" Wang Tanzhi certainly knew about Feng Bujue's condition, but as a recent medical graduate, he was naturally powerless to help with this kind of illness. It was precisely because he studied medicine that he understood that Feng Bujue's illness probably really depended on luck. If he was lucky, he might be fine for thirty years, but if he was unlucky, he wouldn't be surprised if he was done for in three minutes.

"Yeah," Feng Bujue replied calmly.

"Then I'm counting on you... you have to protect me if anything happens," Wang Tanzhi said.

Feng Bujue didn't respond to this, but said, "The preparation time before the script starts is only three minutes. If you don't come out, you'll be forcibly ejected from the elevator by the system."

Upon hearing this, Wang Tanzhi quickly stepped out.

Before that elevator had completely disappeared, Feng Bujue took out a stone from his knapsack and handed it to Wang Tanzhi: "Take this and lead the way."

Wang Tanzhi took the stone, looked at its attributes, and his mouth twitched: "Jue-ge... even if you picked this up and used it in the novice tutorial, you wouldn't be so reluctant to throw it away and bring it back to the login space, would you..."

"You're just jealous," Feng Bujue replied shamelessly.

Without saying a word, Wang Tanzhi casually threw the stone on the ground and took out a fruit knife about five inches long from his knapsack. "This has better attributes."

"Why do you have equipment?!" Feng Bujue shouted. Previously, Wang Tanzhi had said on the phone that his fear rating in the novice tutorial was "terrified," and according to the description on the official website, this level had no extra rewards.

"I picked it up in the script," Wang Tanzhi said.

Feng Bujue said, "Let me see it first."

Wang Tanzhi shrugged and handed the knife over.

[Name: Fruit Knife]

[Type: Weapon]

[Quality: Dilapidated]

[Attack Power: Weak]

[Attribute: None]

[Special Effect: None]

[Can it be brought out of this script: Yes]

[Note: At least this thing has a blade.]

Feng Bujue returned the knife to Wang Tanzhi and lamented, "Luck! Everything I could pick up in my script couldn't be brought out."

"Then what is that stone of yours..."

"Drawn from the extra reward after settlement," Feng Bujue said. "Scared now?"

"Yeah..."

"Lead the way!"

Wang Tanzhi was helpless and walked forward with the small knife in his hand.

As soon as the game started, he felt a little scared. He was just an "ordinary person." No matter how brave ordinary people claimed to be in front of others, none of them weren't afraid when playing horror games. Fear was a very normal reaction, and besides, Thriller Paradise was a nerve-linked game, so the immersive sense of terror was even more realistic.

There was a corner about twenty meters ahead of them. There were three doors on this distance, all on the right-hand side. The left-hand side was a wall, with nothing on it. The walls were empty. There weren't even the doctor information, floor maps, or even health encyclopedias that were usually posted in hospitals.

Just as the two of them had walked five or six meters, before they had passed the first door, they suddenly heard a strange laughter, like that of a little girl. Then, countless bloody handprints instantly appeared on the white wall on their left, almost covering the entire wall, extending to the end of the corridor.

At the same time, both of them saw a black shadow flash in the distance and hide around the corner.