[The script has been completed, rewards are being calculated.]

[Experience gained: 500, Game currency: 0]

[Items and equipment obtained: None]

[Completed accepted quests: 0]

[Special, hidden quests completed: 0, Worldview deciphered: None]

[Sudden spikes in terror value: 0 times, Highest terror value: 0%, Average terror value: 0%]

[Your fear rating is Dauntless, no additional rewards in this mode.]

[Calculation complete, please continue.]

Here, I should explain some settings regarding calculations in multiplayer mode.

In Thriller Paradise, the number of monsters you personally kill does not affect the final experience gain; all experience is calculated after the script ends. Generally, as long as you haven't created any significant obstacles to the script's progress or had a counterproductive effect, each survivor receives the same amount of experience, unless that player's performance truly qualifies them as a "pig teammate," in which case the system will deduct some of their experience points during the calculation.

This is also to limit "monster stealing" and "excessive output." Some players, when playing games, will attack with extremely exaggerated means to ensure the ownership of items and experience from a certain monster, like using a rocket launcher to kill a dog, just to deal more damage faster than their teammates. This is not only a personal behavior but also a waste of team resources.

However, this setting seems to have created another problem: since the experience is the same, those who kill more monsters only waste their Survival Value and Stamina Value, leading to a decrease in players' enthusiasm for combat. Actually, that's not the case. Players who are diligent in combat and skilled in combat will receive Skill Value rewards, which I will explain later.

In Thriller Paradise, besides killing monsters not giving extra experience, the concept of "item drops" doesn't exist either. For example, when a mummy dies, it's absolutely impossible for it to suddenly drop a knife, a shield, or even a gun. If you really want to get something from it, it would be rotten bandages or shriveled muscles, and even then... the player has to tear them off by hand. After tearing them off and holding them in your hand, the system will give you an item description, and how disappointing it is, please refer to [Stone].

Getting equipment in this game is a very "interesting" thing. Besides entering some specific storage areas by solving puzzles, in most other cases, a large number of non-main quest items, including equipment, all rely on the player to "find" them. For example, a Spider-Man suit is displayed in a street window, which may be completely useless, or it may be a high-quality piece of equipment with stats; or, for example, wandering around in a sewer, you may find a series of weapons such as twin blades, Emei daggers, nunchucks, and long staffs...

In short, to get equipment in the script, you only need one of wisdom, luck, and diligence. The first two cannot be forced, and the third is simply spending more time searching. Of course, searching requires the support of combat strength. Generally, the script won't give players a lot of free time to move around, and players also need to have enough Stamina Value to move around.

As for ways to obtain equipment outside of the script, there are basically none in the closed beta stage, but when the exchange opens in the public beta, you can rely on Game Currency and Skill Value to purchase them.

Game Currency goes without saying; like most games, it can be used to buy "store goods" provided by the game, or to bid on items put up by other players in the auction house, or to conduct direct transactions.

Skill Value is a relatively rare currency. Players cannot trade Skill Value with each other, and it doesn't circulate in the exchange. Skill Value can only be used in one place: the "Scary Box." This is the name of the system's special store, and no one knows why it's named that way. Maybe they think players will get a "scare" when they see the items inside.

Skill Value can be used to buy two types of goods in the Scary Box. The first type is Game Currency, which players can exchange one-way at a ratio of one to ten. The second type is items that cannot be taken out of the script, such as the [Blood Corpse Must Die] that Feng Bujue obtained in the novice tutorial. Obviously, the role of this sword in his tutorial is similar to a plot item, designed to allow him to defeat a blood corpse that he could not possibly defeat with the strength of his character at the time. Therefore, there were no level or specialization usage restrictions on the sword at that time, and it could not be taken out of the script.

Similar equipment, items, skills, etc... will not disappear from the system's database after the script ends. Although players cannot take these things out, they will enter a place similar to a recycle bin, which is the Scary Box. These things will be sold here as goods, and can only be purchased with Skill Value, and their attributes will also change accordingly. For example, the usage conditions of equipment will be adjusted, some special effects that are only applicable to a certain script will be changed, and most of the skill cards will become permanent, and of course, the learning conditions will also increase.

The Scary Box was not opened during the closed beta because the "recycle bin" is still very empty. After the public beta starts, it is bound to welcome a huge number of players, so it needs to accumulate a certain amount of goods reserves during this period. After this special store is officially opened, in order to control the total amount of goods from becoming too large and affecting browsing, items that have not been sold within seven days of real time from the time they are put on the shelves will be completely deleted by the system.

The level cap for the closed beta is level 20. As a game where you queue up to clear scripts, the level is not much of an advantage, and Game Currency can be bought with money in the future. Therefore, the biggest advantage for closed beta players when the public beta starts is undoubtedly the Skill Value they have accumulated. The first batch of goods after the Scary Box is launched can only be purchased by these players who have Skill Value, which is a kind of priority selection.

Speaking of this, it is easier to explain the previous question about actively fighting - fighting for Skill Value.

Not everyone is good at puzzle solving, but everyone can participate in combat. The setting of Skill Value is that "all behaviors that improve game efficiency will be rewarded with Skill Value," which can not only be reflected in puzzle solving, but also often has opportunities to obtain Skill Value in combat, such as high-yield and low-loss kills, chain kills, group kills, using scene conditions to complete special kills, etc...

A good example is still Feng Bujue's novice tutorial. If he didn't look for the key in that square room, but chose to kick the door, he could still get Skill Value. The key is how he kicks it. Most people will face the door and kick it with the soles of their feet, and many characters in movies do the same. In fact, this is the most laborious method. It is much easier to kick with a side kick or a spinning kick. If Feng Bujue used a more efficient way to kick the door at that time, he would still get Skill Value, but maybe not as much as solving the puzzle, but about 10 points or so.

These are two ways to play, two different paths to growth. Players who like reasoning can obtain a large amount of Skill Value at one time by solving puzzles, deciphering worldviews, and other behaviors; while players who like combat can continuously hone their combat skills and also obtain Skill Value through force. Under normal circumstances, players who take the combat route actually get more. Even if a puzzle solver has already reasoned to the last step, as long as they fail to decipher it, they will not get any Skill Value at all. Martial players can accumulate it little by little.

But no matter how you play, the most taboo thing in this game is "brainless" behavior. The settings of various horror elements are nothing more than to make people lose their composure and make moves like killing a dog with a rocket launcher. In Thriller Paradise, the most reasonable way to fight will get the most benefits. With a rocket launcher, you will only get a pile of slag, but if you use the Dog Beating Staff Technique, you can get a self-made fur and a pot of stewed meat.

…………

After Feng Bujue returned to the login space, looked at the calculation data, and opened the menu, he found that he had directly leveled up to level 4, his Stamina Value had increased to 400/400, and his current experience was 0/400. It seems that the leveling experience in this game is not exaggerated. At least for now, it is still increasing by a hundred上限 (shàngxiàn, upper limit) per level, which is consistent with the increase in Stamina Value. However, the official website does not give specific game data on how much experience is required for each level, and those who write guides have not mentioned this, so it cannot be ruled out that the experience required for leveling up will become more and more exaggerated after reaching a high level.

"Brother Jue, I leveled up directly to level 3! And I'm only 30 experience points away from level 4!" Wang Tanzhi's voice sounded from the communication channel.

"I know." In fact, Feng Bujue had already calculated Xiao Tan's experience. Compared with him, the difference was nothing more than the 30 Skill Value bonus in the novice tutorial. "If we play another multiplayer training, we should both level up to level 5. But... this mode is indeed not very cost-effective. When we reach level 5, we will naturally play the Team Survival Mode, which is the core content of this game. But now we are severely lacking equipment. Not to mention good equipment, we don't even have ordinary equipment. If we enter a team like this, we may hold others back..."

"Ah? Team? Hold others back? Who?" Wang Tanzhi asked in a daze.

"You kid really don't read the game instructions at all..." Feng Bujue explained, "The number of people in the Team Survival Mode is random from two to six. It doesn't directly start the script upon entering, but enters in a queue format. If we team up with a full six people, that's fine. But we are a team of two. As long as we don't encounter a two-person script, we will need to cooperate with others in three, four, five, or six-person scripts.

If we are too weak, we may die during the script, and even if others successfully clear the script in the end, we can only get the corresponding experience points based on the contribution we made before we were over, and we will not get the settlement rewards after clearing the script.

Moreover, there is also a problem of dividing loot in that mode. Players who are not in a team with each other will naturally get the equipment and skills they find. Unless there is something that cannot be taken out of the script and they can't use it themselves, no one will easily share the equipment or skills they find.

That's just how people are... Even if some people pick up a useless thing that can't be sold in the exchange at all, and can only earn a few dozen Game Currency by selling it to the system, they won't be willing to give it to other players in the script for free. You must give them something in exchange to make them feel like they have made a profit."

Wang Tanzhi heard this and interjected, "In short... it means that if we don't take advantage of the present to improve the character's hard power, it will be very difficult after level 5. If the specialization level is not opened, even if people want to give us the equipment they replaced or useless skills as a favor, we won't be able to use them."

Feng Bujue said, "It's good that you understand. Then, let's disband the team first and start the solo survival mode."

"After saying so much, you're just preparing to ditch me and work solo, huh!"

Feng Bujue smiled and replied, "We should be considered to have completed the previous multiplayer training mode exceptionally, so we shouldn't have gotten as much as 500 experience points. I'm thinking... this Boss is not meant for us to kill at all. The probability of clearing this script by killing is extremely small. Normally, clearing the script with an escape ending would probably only get about 300 points.

But since the level has already increased faster than expected, it's best for us to reach level 5 by completing a single-player survival mode each. After we've done that, our strength should improve significantly. At the very least, we can open one or two specializations and get one or two more pieces of equipment or skills."

"Okay, then I'll solo queue first. You can see my game status in the friend list, right?" Wang Tanzhi said.

"Yeah, I can," Feng Bujue replied. "Anyway, whoever completes it first will wait for the other person. If nothing unexpected happens, we can both clear the script and reach level 5 in at most an hour, and then we can try the legendary Team Survival Mode..."