The so-called reality may just be an illusion that we cannot control, painted by others.

…………

[Feng Bujue, Level 15]

[Please select the game mode you wish to join.]

[You have selected Single Player Survival Mode (Nightmare). Please confirm.]

[Confirmed. Scenario is generating...]

[Loading, please wait.]

"Welcome to Thriller Paradise." A young woman's voice entered his ears.

Because the previous 1v1 mode didn't take up much time, Xiao Tan and the others' team survival scenario obviously hadn't ended yet, so Feng Bujue queued up for a new mode unlocked at level fifteen, namely the "Nightmare" difficulty Single Player Survival Mode.

[Loading complete. You are currently playing Single Player Survival Mode (Nightmare).]

[This mode provides a scenario introduction and has a chance to trigger side hidden quests and a special world view.]

[Scenario completion reward: Randomly draw two puzzle cards.]

[The scenario introduction will now play. The game will begin immediately after the introduction is complete.]

Before Feng Bujue's eyes, there appeared a very ordinary street, with the outer walls of houses on both sides. The sky was gloomy, and as far as the eye could see, there were no tall buildings; the taller buildings were only about six or seven stories high, indicating that this should be a small town.

It is worth mentioning that the opening CG was completely in black and white.

The system voice then sounded: [This is an ordinary evening. You are walking home.]

[The town you live in was recently hit by a typhoon. Your original address was severely affected, and almost all of the nearby houses collapsed.]

[Although you survived unscathed, you must find another place to live.]

[You have been temporarily placed in a vacant house in the town, an old longhouse located in Sanchōme.]

[Legend has it that ghosts often appear there, so no one dares to approach it. But after the typhoon, you and two other affected households were forced to move in, living next door to each other.]

The scenario introduction ended there, and Feng Bujue was now free to move. Almost at the same moment, he heard the system voice prompt [Main Quest Triggered].

Opening the game menu, the quest log displayed the content of the main quest. This quest was truly simple to the extreme, consisting of only two words: [Go Home].

"Hmm… a haunted scenario, huh…" Feng Bujue muttered, "Doesn't seem to have a time limit either. This 'Nightmare' difficulty scenario seems to be less intense than the Saw one."

He began to check his pockets, trying to find any identification or maps. While searching, Feng Bujue observed his surroundings. Strangely, after the CG ended, the world was still in black and white; he seemed to have become colorblind. Moreover, he faintly heard a subtle sound, a clicking sound, very light, and he didn't know where it was coming from. Whenever he tried to concentrate and listen, the sound would disappear. When he wasn't paying attention, it would sound again.

Dozens of seconds later, Feng Bujue finished searching all of his pockets and found only a set of three keys in the right pocket of his pants.

[Name: Three Keys]

[Type: Story Related]

[Quality: Normal]

[Function: Open Locks]

[Can be brought out of this scenario: No]

[Note: Use them to find the corresponding locks.]

Feng Bujue picked up the keys and examined them closely. Judging by their appearance alone, the three keys looked very ordinary. From the serrations and patterns, the corresponding locks were not complicated either.

"Assuming one of them is the key to my house, what are the other two for…" Feng Bujue pondered, "Looking at the style of the streetlights and trash cans, this should be the twentieth century… Car keys back then shouldn't have been foldable or electronic; they were probably this kind of traditional key." He walked to the intersection ahead and glanced at both sides of the road. "Doesn't look like there's a parking lot nearby, so… even if one of them is a car key, the car isn't around here."

He scratched his head. "The hint information seems a bit scarce. Am I playing the game as a player, or am I playing the role of 'me'? If it's the latter, is 'my' identity important? Will it affect the plot? What will happen after I 'go home'?"

Given the current conditions, these questions were obviously unanswerable. Feng Bujue decided to follow the main quest first. After all, this was Nightmare difficulty. It might seem calm on the surface, but perhaps one wrong step would lead to death. Even without a time limit, rashly wandering around the town was dangerous.

"Come to think of it… although they told me the 'old longhouse in Sanchōme,' which seems to be an address, where is Sanchōme…" Feng Bujue naturally didn't know the roads in the town, so simply knowing the address was useless.

"Since it's 'walking home,' then… the direction I was initially facing was…" Feng Bujue turned to look in that direction, but it was a fork in the road. "Hmm… I'd better find a map or ask someone." He didn't want to take a fifty-fifty chance, for obvious reasons.

Thinking of this, a pedestrian happened to be walking slowly towards him. It was a woman, with long black hair, wearing a trench coat and trousers, with a scarf wrapped around her neck, and a mask covering the lower half of her face. Feng Bujue had been standing on the street until now, and this was the first passerby he had seen. But since it was a "small town," it was understandable that there were few people on the street in the evening.

"Excuse me, could you…" Feng Bujue went up to her, intending to ask for directions.

But before he could finish his sentence, the woman interrupted him. "Am I pretty?"

"Uh… what?" Feng Bujue immediately sensed that something was wrong. His hand had instinctively reached into his bag.

"Am I pretty?" The woman turned her face and asked again, but half of her face was covered by a mask and scarf, and not exposed at all.

"Pretty!" Feng Bujue had already realized at this moment that the person in front of him might be the legendary…

The Slit-Mouthed Woman immediately took off her mask, revealing her entire face. The cheeks on both sides were separated by two slits, in a torn state, almost reaching the roots of her ears.

"Am I still pretty like this?" she asked again.

Feng Bujue was truly glad at this moment that he hadn't gone all the way with the clown look, otherwise he and this woman could have made a pair.

Looking at the monster in front of him that could scare a child to tears, Feng Bujue widened his eyes and replied decisively, "Yes! Pretty." The hand holding the pipe wrench was ready to exert force at any moment, and he thought to himself: *Listen here, I've already complimented you a few times. If you dare to take out a sickle, don't blame me for giving you a second facelift.*

After a few seconds, the Slit-Mouthed Woman said again, "What were you going to ask me just now?"

Feng Bujue was now a little hesitant to continue asking her. Who would want to reveal their address to a monster? But then he thought, he wasn't really living here anyway, so he opened his mouth and said, "Could you tell me how to get to Sanchōme?"

"That way, turn left, turn left again at the next street, and keep going." The Slit-Mouthed Woman pointed to the fork in the road. After she finished speaking, she put on her mask again, wrapped her scarf tightly, and left.

Feng Bujue didn't plan to chase after her to thank her. He watched her leave his sight, then let out a long sigh and released the hand holding the pipe wrench. "I'll be damned… I haven't even gone home yet, and I've already met a monster… then going home is definitely going to be haunted."

Even so, since he was playing a horror game, he naturally had to knowingly walk into a haunted house. Feng Bujue then went according to the route the Slit-Mouthed Woman had said.

By this time, the sky was getting darker and darker, and since everything around him was in black and white, the atmosphere was extremely eerie. If it were another player, they would probably feel chills down their spine just standing on this empty street.

A gust of cold wind blew past, and Feng Bujue tightened his suit jacket again. At this moment, a white streak flashed across the black sky, and a ferocious flash of light lit up the sky. Seconds after the lightning, thunder rumbled. It seemed that not only was it getting windy, but it was also going to rain.

When Feng Bujue looked up, his gaze happened to see an anomaly high up.

At the top of a power line, in the blind spot of the streetlight, there was a humanoid black shadow, squatting there with a hunched figure. When the lightning illuminated this black and white world, Feng Bujue saw clearly what "it" looked like. The monster as a whole looked like an old woman wearing a white kimono, with a round chignon on the back of her head, and her face covered in wrinkles. Her eyes bulged, protruding from their sockets. The skin on her hands was black and wrinkled, and covered in lumps, and her fingers were spread out like ghost claws.

The lightning ended, and the shadow disappeared into the darkness again. Feng Bujue couldn't see it clearly no matter what, and he had no interest in getting closer to see what the monster was. As long as the other party didn't jump down from there, he would just pretend he didn't see it.

Feng Bujue buried his head and continued forward, quickening his pace again, almost running. He didn't see any pedestrians along the way, and he only stopped when he reached a street sign for Sanchōme.

It was also at this moment that the rain began to fall.

A torrential downpour poured down, drenching Feng Bujue. He quickly found his destination. From the street, he could see a row of three simple longhouses connected together in a courtyard, which must be it.

Feng Bujue quickly ran to the eaves of the house, brushed the wet hair from his forehead back, and then took out the keys.

According to the scenario introduction, this row of longhouses was inhabited by three families. He had two neighbors, and Feng Bujue didn't know which door he lived in, so he had to try them one by one.

Whether it was luck or not, he succeeded directly on the first try with the first key in front of the first door. Pushing open the wooden door, the room was pitch black, and it also emitted a unique smell of damp wood.

Feng Bujue reached out and fumbled around the door, found the light switch, flipped it, and the light in the room turned on.