Chapter 1 The Beginning

【Feng Bujue, Level 48】

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

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

【Confirmed. Scenario being generated…】

【Loading… Please wait.】

With the system's prompts, Feng Bujue lost control of his body and plunged into darkness.

"Welcome to, Thriller Paradise." The next second, a composed and calm female voice entered his ears.

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

【This mode offers a scenario introduction, and there is a chance of encountering side hidden quests and special worldviews.】

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

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

Before the voice finished, the opening CG began.

When his vision returned, the first thing Feng Bujue saw… was a windshield and a pair of windshield wipers swinging left and right.

And at the bottom edge of the screen, he also saw a pair of large hands gripping the steering wheel.

"A first-person perspective opening..." Jue Ge muttered in his heart, "Looks like I'll be playing a role again this time…"

【Hello, Mr. Dave.】The narration quickly confirmed his speculation.

【Congratulations, you have stood out among many candidates and obtained this interview opportunity.】The narrator's voice sounded quite old, and the solemn tone revealed a hint of kindness.

"Is this on the way to an interview?" Feng Bujue immediately thought.

【As the postmaster of Otaku Town Post Office, I sincerely hope that you can successfully become one of us.】

"I thought it was Silent Hill…" Feng Bujue complained, looking at the white fog in front of the car. "The fog in your town is a bit too much… even with the high beams on, I can only see five or six meters."

【Please be sure to arrive at my office before nine o'clock in the morning.】

【This interview may take a whole day. I hope you are well prepared both mentally and physically.】

"Hey hey… even an MiB (Men in Black) interview doesn't take a whole day…" Jue Ge thought, "Are you guys the Earth Defense Force disguised as a post office?"

【The post office is located on the north side of the town square. Please don't be late.】

【Finally, good luck.】

The scenario's opening wasn't long, and that was it.

In the same second, Feng Bujue regained control of his body.

He immediately eased off the gas a little, reduced the speed of the car, and observed the character he was playing through the rearview mirror.

The man called "Dave" looked to be around thirty years old, with a generic face and clean short hair. His clothes were very ordinary - a dark long-sleeved plaid shirt on top, with a light-colored leather jacket over it; classic-style jeans on the bottom, paired with white sneakers.

"Hmm… no wedding ring, and no trace of ever wearing a ring." Feng Bujue muttered as he observed the details of "himself." "Judging from the calluses on his fingers and the base of his palm, this guy is a lefty…" He glanced at his right hand, his right wrist wearing a cheap-looking watch. "Brown leather strap, ordinary metal and glass case… the surface and strap are covered with scratches…" Almost as soon as he saw these, he had made the corresponding deductions. "Combining the calluses on his hands and the thickness of his palms… Dave was probably a technician in decoration or auto repair before. Like most people, he remembers to take off his watch when he's working, but he didn't consider… what would happen if he put his watch with his keys and change. Of course… maybe he did consider it, but because the watch is cheap, he doesn't care."

Deducing a person from objects was a habit of Jue Ge's. Even if the information obtained had nothing to do with the progress of the scenario, it was good as a pastime.

"Ah… it seems we're here…" Before Feng Bujue had time to check Dave's pockets, a bridge appeared in front of the road.

Next to the bridge stood a large road sign that read "Welcome to Otaku Town"; next to the road sign was a stone pier with the words "40t" painted on it, which probably referred to the weight limit for vehicles crossing the bridge.

As the car Jue Ge was driving drove onto the bridge, the system voice sounded in his ears once again: 【Main Quest Triggered】

"Is the peaceful opening preparation time over?" Feng Bujue muttered in a deep voice.

He didn't immediately check the quest content, but tightened his grip on the steering wheel, slowing down again and paying close attention to everything within sight.

After driving cautiously for three hundred meters, he successfully crossed the bridge and arrived at the entrance of the town.

The asphalt road ended here. The roads inside the town were mostly composed of gravel and dirt, with very few concrete sections.

Sizzle—clatter—

Just as the car left the paved road surface, a very bad sound came from under the hood of the car… Seconds later, a plume of white smoke billowed out from inside.

"Such precise timing for a breakdown…" Feng Bujue said with a wry smile, "I'm speechless…"

Since the car had already stopped, he simply sat in the driver's seat and rummaged through his belongings.

Dave had a spring-loaded ballpoint pen clipped to the pocket of his shirt, and a pack of unopened chewing gum inside the pocket. His left jeans pocket contained a wallet, which held a dart club membership card, a credit card, a driver's license, and 3 two-dollar bills, 4 five-dollar bills, and 3 twenty-dollar bills… a total of 86 US dollars in paper currency. In his right pocket, he had 7 quarters and a set of keys.

"Hmm… the pockets inside and outside the leather jacket are empty, which means he considered the possibility of 'taking off his jacket somewhere' when he left the house." While checking his belongings, Feng Bujue didn't forget to further analyze the person "Dave." "He doesn't carry cigarettes, and his teeth and fingers don't look like those of a smoker…" As he spoke, he opened all the storage compartments in the car and inspected them. "No accumulated traffic tickets, no junk food wrappers, and no adult magazines or anything like that…" He turned his head and looked at the back seat. "There are no tissues or handkerchiefs in the car or on his person, and his cuffs are relatively clean…"

Thinking of this, Jue Ge paused for two seconds, then concluded, "Completely healthy body, without even common rhinitis or pharyngitis; excellent physical fitness, intelligence and self-control above the average white person; balanced diet, no habit of staying up late, no bad habits… Heh…" He smiled, "Giving me a body like an athlete, there must be a conspiracy…"

Only now did he summon the game menu.

Unsurprisingly… the skill bar and inventory bar were locked, and spiritual weapons were also unavailable.

And the main quest in the quest bar gave Jue Ge a hint of danger: 【Gain the approval of the Ghost Postman and become the new postman of Otaku Town.】

"So the guy who's interviewing me is a ghost…" Faced with this kind of supernatural setting, Feng Bujue was already used to it. After reading the quest description, he removed Dave's phone from the car charger. "Hmm… this… could it be the legendary Nokia 3310…" He pressed a random key and looked at the date and time on the phone. "December 25, 2002, eight twenty-five in the morning… Christmas morning?"

Then, Jue Ge unlocked the phone's keypad (old phones could usually be unlocked by pressing the asterisk key) in order to find as much useful information as possible. Unfortunately… the text messages and call history on the phone were blank (in the era of traditional phones, many people had the habit of deleting their history after sending a text or making a call), and the "Notes" were also empty. The "Phonebook" did have records, but they all seemed to be ordinary contacts, such as "Dad, Mom, Uncle Mark, Aunt Daisy, Williams, Maggie," and so on.

Most importantly… at this time and in this place, this phone was also - "Out of Service Area."

So, even if Feng Bujue wanted to make a call, he couldn't.

"Alright…" Jue Ge only fiddled with it for three minutes before casually stuffing the Nokia into the outer pocket of his leather jacket. "At least this thing can be used as a weapon…"

As he spoke, he unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed open the car door…