Chapter 1 Logging In

Feng Bujue lay in the game pod and logged 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 at the login space, he clicked to select the game. This time, no prompts popped up. The screen only displayed the optional game menu, such as social options, that is, friend lists and blacklists, as well as more game introductions. If players have not read them on the website, they can also browse in this space. Considering the time ratio, this actually saves half the time.

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

After Wang Tanzhi joined the team, a team list popped up on the display screen beside 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 Training Mode, Multiplayer Training Mode, and Single Survival Mode (Normal). Since the two of them were in a team, the two modes that could only be played by one person were grayed 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 captain.

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

【You have selected Multiplayer Training Mode, please confirm.】

【Confirmed, coordinating nerve connection, generating script...】

【Loading begins, please wait.】

The elevator Feng Bujue was in began to move again, and it felt like it was going down.

At the same time, a subtitle directly appeared in front of him, accompanied by a system prompt: 【You are about to enter the same script with other players. Before joining a multiplayer game for the first time, please be sure to understand the following content.】

【A. In non-confrontational modes, any attack behavior against "other players" will be restricted by the system, and your intention will not be transformed into the actual action of the character; in modes or scripts where players may have confrontation, any attack behavior against "teammates" will be restricted by the system, and your intention will not be transformed into the actual action of the character.】

【B. Any voice that is judged by the system to be a sensitive word will be silenced, such as the names of political figures, swear words, and the names of animals, plants, and items in specific contexts.】

【C. The act of deliberately using slowed-down lip movements, gestures, words, paintings, etc. to launch verbal attacks against other players will be restricted by the system, and the player's intention will not be transformed into the actual action of the character.】

【d. Regardless of gender, any behavior that is judged by the system to be sexual harassment, including attempts to implement it in the manner listed in items B and C for this purpose, will be restricted by the system, and the player's intention will not be transformed into the actual action of the character. Repeated attempts will be forcibly disconnected, and the player's citizen ID will be permanently added to the system blacklist, becoming a monitoring object with a higher priority.】

【e. Any behavior that is judged by the system to be discrimination 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 IDs 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 handed over to the public security department for processing. For details, please refer to the Network Public Security Law and its derivative regulations.】

Here, it should be explained that Feng Bujue lives in the year 2055 in a certain parallel universe. In the world he lives in, sexual harassment and various forms of discrimination (disability, race, congenital diseases, etc.) are severely punished. The latter is not punishable by imprisonment, but in serious cases, the citizen IDs of the offenders will be added to the blacklists of various industries and institutions; the former is definitely punishable by imprisonment.

Feng Bujue had been exposed to many games before, and he had also used helmets to play nerve-linked games. Basically, he could see similar clauses. As the optical brains continued to upgrade, the number of loopholes that players could exploit became less and less. It can be said that these two kinds of behavior were nipped in the bud.

【Loading is complete, you are currently in Multiplayer Training Mode.】

【In this mode, no script description, tasks, or world view is provided.】

【Completing this mode can only earn experience points, no skill points or game currency.】

【This mode has no clearance rewards or extra rewards for fear rating.】

【The game has started.】

After listening to the prompts, the elevator door opened. Almost at the same time, a rather eerie and strange voice rang in his ears again. This time it was a shrill man's voice: "Welcome to Thriller Paradise." After speaking, he let out a terrifying grin.

The scene outside the elevator door was another corridor, but this one looked quite spacious. The floor was tiled, and the two walls were painted white. There were three doors on one side, 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, and with this architectural layout, it looked like a hospital at first glance.

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 behind him, parallel to the one he had just walked out of.

Feng Bujue walked to the door and peeked inside, only to hear a scream: "Ah..."

"Are you sick?" Feng Bujue asked.

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

"Can I ask, how much is the scare value of you being scared by me just now?" Feng Bujue was really curious.

Wang Tanzhi went to look at the menu after hearing this. In Feng Bujue's view, it was just that his eyes did not know where to focus, and after a few seconds, they returned to normal.

"I've calmed down now, and the scare value is fluctuating around 3%." Wang Tanzhi replied, "But I don't know how high it jumped in that one second just now."

"Hmm... it increases instantly according to the degree of fear, and then decreases, right..." Feng Bujue muttered, "By the way, what color is the scare value displayed in the energy bar?"

"Uh... bright red."

"Oh, I see."

"Jue-ge, is your illness... always keeping your scare value at 0%?" Wang Tanzhi certainly knew about Feng Bujue's condition, but as a recent graduate of medical school, he was naturally powerless to do anything about this disease. It was precisely because he studied medicine that he understood that Feng Bujue's illness might really depend on luck. If he was lucky, he might be fine for thirty years, but if he was unlucky, it would not be strange for him to be done for in three minutes.

"Yes." Feng Bujue replied calmly.

"Then I'm all counting on you... you have to cover me in any situation." Wang Tanzhi said.

Feng Bujue did not reply to this, but said: "There are only three minutes of preparation time before the script starts. If you don't come out, you will be forcibly kicked out of the elevator by the system."

Hearing this, Wang Tanzhi quickly stepped out.

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

Wang Tanzhi took the stone, looked at its attributes, and twitched the corner of his mouth: "Jue-ge... even if you picked this up and used it in the novice tutorial, you wouldn't be 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 threw the stone on the ground and took out a fruit knife about five inches long from his knapsack. "This one has better attributes."

"Why do you have equipment!" Feng Bujue shouted. Wang Tanzhi had said on the phone before that his fear rating in the novice tutorial was "trembling with fear." According to the description on the official website, this level has 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: Broken】

【Attack Power: Weak】

【Attribute: None】

【Special Effect: None】

【Can it be brought out of this script: Yes】

【Remark: At least this thing has a blade.】

Feng Bujue returned the knife to Wang Tanzhi and wailed: "Luck, all the things that can be picked up in my script can't be brought out."

"Then what is your stone..."

"Drawn from the extra reward after settlement." Feng Bujue said, "Are you scared?"

"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 a "normal person." No matter how brave a normal person claims to be in front of others, none of them are not afraid when playing horror games. Fear is a very normal reaction, not to mention that Thriller Paradise is a nerve-linked game, and the immersive sense of horror is even more realistic.

There was a corner about twenty meters ahead of them. There were three doors on this section, all on the right hand side. The left hand side was a wall, with nothing on it. The walls were empty, and there were no doctor information, floor maps, or even health encyclopedias that were usually posted in hospitals.

When the two of them had just walked five or six meters and had not yet passed the door of the first room, they suddenly heard a strange laugh, 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 past in the distance and hide in the corner.