Chapter 1 Si Yu's Departure

Si Yu sat up from the game pod, looked at the middle-aged woman in an apron in front of her, and sighed: "Mom... it's one thing for you to come into my room, but why did you unplug the power cord?"

"You didn't answer when I knocked," Si Yu's mother said with a smile.

"I heard you, but I was busy..."

"Anyway, you're offline now. Come out and help Mom prepare dinner."

"Ah..." Si Yu sighed in a complaining tone, "Mom~ Can't you just ask Dad to help you with this?"

"Your dad took a game helmet and is hiding in the garage playing."

"You even know where he's hiding... and you still..."

"It's a man's nature to be playful. If it's not too much, we women will just turn a blind eye. Otherwise, if I drag him out of the garage today, he'll hide in the basement tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, he might drain the swimming pool and squat in it to play."

"That's all nonsense... Okay, I'll come." Si Yu couldn't do anything about his mom, crawled out of the game pod, and obediently went to the kitchen to assist her.

...

At the same time, in Thriller Paradise.

Feng Bujue was standing in front of a tree, holding the trunk with both hands, banging his head like a woodpecker, and wailing, "This is a rip-off! A real rip-off!" Of course, he was just putting on an act to show his frustration, not actually hitting hard.

Si Yu's irresponsible disconnection had completely disrupted Feng Bujue's plan.

According to his estimate, it would take players at least three hours to cross the dense jungle from the castle to the edge of the island. And General Zaroff... was powerful and knew the island like the back of his hand. For the same distance, although he couldn't ignore the terrain and advance at high speed, he could probably cover it in two hours at most.

Feng Bujue's idea was: if the four of them split into two teams and fled to opposite ends of the island, the chances of survival for at least one team would greatly increase. Regardless of whether the Boss eventually caught up and eliminated one team, the distance between the other team and the Boss would be enough for them to last until the five-hour clearance limit.

This was a very simple tactic of exchanging space for time. Doing so would bring the script clearance success rate close to 100%, although there was a nearly 50% chance of death for each player, it was still a worthwhile deal. As long as they cleared the script, the team that wasn't being chased would naturally get the clearance rewards; and the team that was being chased had objectively made a great contribution to the survival of the other team, and the system would give them a good proportion of experience points after the script was successfully completed.

As for which team died and which team lived, it was entirely a matter of probability. The Boss would chase whoever he wanted, and the players couldn't decide that, so they couldn't blame anyone but their own bad luck. From this point of view, it was very likely that One Sword and Not Afraid would accept this plan.

And in this plan, Feng Bujue naturally planned to team up with Si Yu, because he was very worried about that Not Afraid beauty. Judging from the title [Hide-and-Seek] and the clues revealed in her words and deeds, her title skill was very likely to be something like stealth or aggro transfer. It would be fine to stay with her when there was no danger, but in a dangerous situation, she would probably become a scapegoat.

But his reasoning was not supported by factual evidence after all. Even if he said it, Not Afraid could completely deny it. Besides, that might just be her gaming style. Since someone was willing to take the bait, why should he spoil their fun? So, Feng Bujue didn't stop One Sword and One Blade when he saw they intended to be her protectors. Anyway, he wouldn't be a sucker himself, and he'd just remind his friends not to be fooled.

But now the problem was, Si Yu had somehow disconnected. If he followed the original plan, Feng Bujue would have to go alone... which meant there were more variables.

The reason why Feng Bujue didn't make the plan to have four people flee in four different directions was because the degree of danger for acting alone was too high. If he went alone, he would probably be killed by a beast or some other unknown factor before he even crossed the jungle. If the four of them went their separate ways, they would probably die one by one along the way. Even if the strongest one barely reached one side of the island, it would be all for naught if the Boss caught up...

"Hmm... a five-person script, just getting to the main topic, and now there are only three people left," Feng Bujue muttered to himself, "It's meaningless for the three of us to escape together. The Boss will definitely catch up to us, so sticking together will definitely lead to a wipe. The two-way escape plan can't be changed..."

After he understood this, he returned to One Sword and Not Afraid and said, "Alright... let me talk about the escape plan."

"Wait a minute," One Sword said unhappily, "Why are you giving orders? You have the lowest level here, right? Besides, according to what you just said, the plot of this script has nothing to do with the novel, right? Don't you have the same information as us?"

"Then you command, what do we do next?" Feng Bujue threw the burden back to him with one sentence.

"Uh..." One Sword was stunned for a moment, swallowed, and raised his voice instead because he lacked confidence. "We'll run towards the northwest corner, cross the jungle and run all the way to the seaside, and distance ourselves from the castle." He said pretentiously, "Zaroff has hunting dogs. Even if we eliminate our footprints, it's only a matter of time before we're tracked down, so let's just ignore our footprints and set up more traps along the way to delay his speed. By the time he catches up to the seaside, it might already be dawn."

"Good idea, you're a genius!" Feng Bujue said with sparkling eyes.

"Ah? Haha, you flatter me, you flatter me." One Sword didn't hear the sarcasm in Feng Bujue's words.

Not Afraid was looking at him with a strange expression, seemingly wanting to remind him of something, but in order to maintain her image as a weakling, she stubbornly held back.

"But, I don't think it's necessary to set up traps," Feng Bujue said.

"Ah? Why?" One Sword asked.

"Do you know anything about jungle traps? How many kinds can you make?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Uh..." One Sword then realized that his understanding of traps was still at the level of digging a big pit and covering it with leaves. He didn't even know how to make the simplest snare.

"Basically, jungle traps can be divided into two types: hunting traps and combat traps," Feng Bujue said. "Their main functions are capture and killing. In addition, some traps require people to operate them nearby. I personally think that the movies *First Blood* and *Predator* perfectly interpret the power and function of traps, but they are also a bit idealized. In fact, most traps are not necessarily reliable, and they take a lot of time to set up."

He tilted his head and scratched his hair casually: "Even if we have a way to skillfully set up some traps in a short period of time... don't forget that there are many other animals in this jungle. Even if we set up traps, you can't guarantee that Zaroff and his hunting dogs will be the first to step on them, so... it would only be a waste of time."

One Sword's face darkened. Anyone would be a little embarrassed and angry when someone quickly and incisively pointed out the flaws in their plan.

"Of course, this kind of flaw can only be said to be a minor blemish," Feng Bujue changed his tone. "Apart from this, your plan is perfect."

"Is it... really?" One Sword was a little afraid to respond this time, for fear of being praised and then pulled down again.

"Of course it is. You two go towards the northwest direction. Be careful along the way. Let's say goodbye here." Feng Bujue waved his hand and turned to walk up the stone steps of the castle again.

"Hey! What are you doing?" One Sword exclaimed, "Are you going back?"

Feng Bujue didn't answer this question, but said: "If the three of us go together, we'll definitely be wiped out if Zaroff catches up. But if we split up, you go to the northwest corner, and I go to the southeast, then at least one side can live."

Not Afraid asked: "But what are you going back to the castle for now?"

"Oh, I don't have any lighting equipment. I'm going to ask the general if he can give me a torch or something," Feng Bujue replied, and then went up the steps and walked back to the castle occupied by the Boss.

"Ha... this guy's crazy..." One Sword Laughing Soul chuckled twice, "Hmph... no wonder they call him Mad Determination."

Not Afraid, however, looked at Feng Bujue's back with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

"Let's go, let's ignore him," One Sword said.

Not Afraid immediately returned to her silly and innocent look and replied, "Okay, okay, Brother One Sword, you have to protect me."

"Hehe... leave it to me." One Sword patted his chest, looking confident, took out his sword, raised his flashlight, and led Not Afraid into the jungle.

...

Northwest corner of the island, deep in the dense forest.

In the darkness, there was a slight rustling sound.

A shadow was wriggling and hovering on the ground, sometimes circling around the tree trunk, and sometimes wandering among the rubble.

The python is the most deadly predator in the jungle, one of the creatures at the top of the food chain.

On this island, there is a huge, evil, and cold-blooded python, its body is more than ten meters long, its head is flat and covered with wrinkles; its back is black, its abdomen is dark brown, and there is a thin, vertical white pattern behind it.

It is a natural killer. Its forked tongue is like a three-dimensional sniffing radar, and its thick body can strangle any animal until its bones are broken. There is no poison in its body because it doesn't need it. It can extend its jaw to dislocation, swallow a whole living person, and slowly digest it for several weeks. After one hunt, it can remain unfed for months.

Except for General Zaroff, this giant python fears nothing, and except for General Zaroff, no one can kill it.

Usually, it is entrenched on the island in a lair that other animals avoid.

And tonight is the night when it goes out to forage after several months.