So-called reality might merely be an imagination that we cannot control, painted by others.
…
“Feng Bujue, level 15.
“Please select the game mode that you want to join.
“You have selected the Solo Survival Mode (Nightmare), please confirm.
“Confirming, adjusting nervous connectivity, generating the scenario…
“Please wait for a moment. Downloading.”
“Welcome to Thriller Paradise.” The voice of a young woman drifted into his ears.
Since the 1v1 Killing Game did not take up as much time as he thought, when he left, Xiao Tan’s team had not finished their game, so Feng Bujue queued up for another new mode that was unlocked at level fifteen, Solo Survival Mode at Nightmare difficulty.
“Download complete. You are currently playing Solo Survival Mode (Nightmare). A scenario introduction is provided in this mode, and there is a chance to trigger a side or hidden mission and special world-building.
“Reward for clearing the scenario: Random draw of two puzzle cards.
“Playing the scenario introduction soon. The game will start right after.”
A normal-looking street appeared before Feng Bujue’s eyes. Both sides were lined with residential houses. The sky was cloudy, and there were no tall buildings in the distance. The highest building was probably only six stories high, so it should be a small town. It was worth noting that this opening cinematic was in black and white.
The system audio began. “This is a normal dawn, and you are on your way home. The small town where you reside was ravaged by a tornado not long ago, and the place you lived in was considered the eye of the storm. The surrounding houses have mostly collapsed.
“Even though you have survived the ordeal, you need to find a different place to stay. Temporarily, you have been assigned an empty house in another part of town. It was an abandoned long house located at San-chome. According to legend, that was the ghosts and spirits’ favorite haunt, so it’s normally deserted. However, after the tornado, you and two other affected families were relocated there.”
The cinematic ended, and Feng Bujue could move freely. Almost at the same second, he heard the announcement. “Main quest activated.”
Opening the menu, he glanced at the contents of the main quest, and it was truly the simplest objective that he had ever seen. There were only two words. “Go home.”
“Hmm… So, this is a horror scenario,” Feng Bujue mumbled. “There is no time limit, it seems. This Nightmare scenario doesn’t seem to even match the Saw scenario in intensity.”
He examined his pockets to search for things like identification or a map. As he looked inside his pockets, Feng Bujue’s eyes scanned his surroundings. Strangely enough, after the cinematic ended, the world was still black and white like he had turned color-blind. Other than that, a very small shattering sound like glass vials breaking entered his ears. It was very soft and came from an unknown direction. Whenever he tried to focus, the sound disappeared, and when he least expected it, the sound returned.
Several seconds later, Feng Bujue looked through all his pockets and only found several keys in the right pocket of his pants. There were three keys in total.
———
Item Name: Three Keys
Item Type: Plot item
Quality: Normal
Function: Open locks.
Can be taken out of the scenario: Yes
Remark: Find the correct lock to use them in.
———
Feng Bujue raised the keys to his eyes to study them. From appearance alone, the three keys looked normal. From the teeth and grooves, their corresponding locks should be normal ones.
“Assuming one of the keys is the house key, what about the other two?” Feng Bujue rambled to himself. “Based on the design of the trashcans and lamp posts, this should be the twentieth century. The cars back then wouldn’t have folded or electronic keys, so they should use traditional keys like these.”
He walked down the road and looked down the junction that it led to. “There doesn’t seem to be a parking lot nearby, so… even if this is a car key, the car is not nearby.”
He scratched his head. “There is too little provided information. Am I playing the game with the identity of the player, or am I role-playing this character of ’me’? If it’s the latter, who am ’I’? Will finding my identity be important to the plot, and what will happen after I ’go home’?”
With what he had, he could not solve these problems. Feng Bujue decided to follow the main quest for now. After all, this was a Nightmare mission. It might look peaceful on the surface, but one wrong step, and he might die. Even though there was no time limit, wandering aimlessly around town could be dangerous.
“By the way… even though the system has given me an exact address of ’the abandoned long house in San-chome’, but where is San-chome?” Feng Bujue naturally was not familiar with the layout of the small town, so knowing the address was rather pointless.
“Since I was on the way home, then… the direction that I was initially facing was…” Feng Bujue turned to that direction, but it led to a junction. “Hmm… I should find a map or someone to ask for direction.”
He did not want to make the choice blindly for obvious reasons.
With that in mind, incidentally, someone was walking toward him. It was a woman with long black hair. She wore a trench-coat, long pants, a scarf around her neck, and a mask over her face. Feng Bujue had been standing on the street for so long, and this was the first pedestrian that he had encountered. However, since this was a small town, that was understandable.
“I’m sorry, but…” Feng Bujue accosted her to ask for some directions.
He had just started speaking when the woman cut him off. “Am I pretty?”
“Er… what?” Feng Bujue instantly sensed that something was off, and his hand reached instinctively into his inventory.
“Am I pretty?” The woman turned around and repeated the question. However, half of her face was buried inside the scarf and the mask. Feng Bujue could not tell how she looked for sure.
“Yes, you look pretty!” Feng Bujue reacted quickly. This woman might be the legendary…
Hearing that, the woman removed the mask to reveal her whole face. Her cheeks were cut open, and the corners of her mouth tore into a gash that reached her ears.
“Even now, do I still look pretty?” she asked again.
Feng Bujue was thankful that he did not go all the way for the Joker appearance, or else he would have looked like such a perfect match for this woman.
Facing this monster who would make any children cry, Feng Bujue widened his eyes and confidently answered, “Yes, beautiful!”
The wrench that he had in his hands was ready for its next victim. Feng Bujue thought inside his mind, B*tch, I’ve already complimented you twice. If you still wish to attack me, don’t blame me for giving you free cosmetic surgery.
Several seconds later, the woman asked, “What were you going to ask me earlier?”
Feng Bujue hesitated over whether he should be truthful or not. Who would be willing to expose their home address to a monster? But then, he remembered that this was not his real address, so he asked, “How do I go to San-chome?”
“Go down this road, turn left, take another left at the next junction, and walk straight.” The woman pointed at the junction. When she was done, she put the scarf and mask back on and left.
Feng Bujue did not plan to chase after her to thank her. After the woman disappeared from his sight, he sighed in relief and let go of the wrench. “F*ck me… I’m not even home, and I’ve already met a monster. It’s only going to be worse when I reach home.”
He might think that way, but since he was playing a horror game, he had to complete the objective even though he knew that it was dangerous. Thus, Feng Bujue followed the directions given by the woman.
He walked for a while, and the sky suddenly darkened. Combined with the black and white world, everything just felt weird. If this was another player, just standing on the deserted street would have caused them to panic.
The wind picked up, and Feng Bujue hugged his coat tighter. Suddenly, a white flash crossed the dark sky, and the wicked light lit up the sky. Several seconds after the lightning, thunder boomed, and following the wind was an imminent rain.
When Feng Bujue titled his head up to look, his eyes caught something strange in the sky.
At the top of an electric pole, on the corner where the lamp posts’ light could not reach, there was the shape of a human. It was bent over like it was squatting on top of the pole. When the lightning lit up this black and white world, Feng Bujue got a clear view of the creature. The creature looked like an old woman in a white kimono. Her hair was tied into a round bun behind her head, and her face was crawling with wrinkles. Her eyes bulged like they were trying to escape from her face. Her arms were dark and covered with boils, and her fingers opened like a devil’s claws.
After the lightning disappeared, the creature receded into the darkness. Feng Bujue could not see it clearly anymore, but then again, he did not have any interest in going to get a clearer look. As long as the thing did not jump over from its perch, he would pretend not to have seen anything.
Feng Bujue lowered his head and continued ahead. He sped up until he was running. He did not run into another person on the street and only stopped when he saw the road sign for San-chome.
Rain started to fall.
The rain dripped and gathered on Feng Bujue’s body. He found his destination swiftly. Looking up from the street, in the yard, he could see three decrepit old houses lines together, which had to be his home.
Feng Bujue ran to the veranda and dried the water that gathered around his forehead before pulling out the key.
According to the cinematic, there were three families living there, so two of the houses belonged to his neighbors. He had no idea which one was his home, so he tried them one by one.
Perhaps it was his luck that he managed to unlock the first door that he tried. Pushing open the wooden door, he looked into the dark recess. The scent of wet wood drifted out from within.
Feng Bujue felt around the entrance before he found the light switch. With a flick, the lights in the room came on.