Since the social tab showed that Xiao Tan’s group was still ’in-game’, Feng Bujue took another visit to the Thriller Box. Compared to that afternoon, the number of items had tripled, and it was still increasing. Even if he just glanced through the item names, he would not have read through them in time, so he merely skimmed through the list.
Without knowing it, he had spent an hour there. When Feng Bujue returned to the log-in lobby and looked at his social tab, he saw Xiao Tan and the girls’ status gradually turn back to ’free’. The three left the scenario at almost the same time. There were only two explanations to this situation. The three of them either died around the same time or had all transported after clearing the scenario.
Feng Bujue believed that the chance of it being the latter was higher. He had great confidence in the ladies’ ability. He did not request communication but directly invited them to join his conference room. After Xiao Tan got the message, he invited Feng Bujue to join the group and then handed the role of the leader to him.
Passing Rain was the first to walk in. When she saw Feng Bujue’s expression, compelled by instinct, she asked a piercing question. “You lost the Killing Game?”
“I suppose you can say that,” Feng Bujue replied. Right then, the door opened, and Laughing Soul, who overheard their conversation, chimed in with a smile. “Leader, if you lost, you’ve lost. What do you mean by you suppose so?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Feng Bujue felt like only that could end the conversation.
The door closed and opened again. Xiao Tan walked in with the bag of chips in his grasp. He mumbled while munching on the chips. “Yo, Brother Jue, are you trying to cosplay as the Joker?”
“Indeed, I came up with the styling myself,” Feng Bujue answered with a measure of pride.
“Your sense of fashion sure is hard to understand.” Passing Rain’s comment was a pail of water dumped over his fire.
Feng Bujue cleared his throat and moved the topic away. “By the way… Other than the Killing Game, I also tried out the Solo Survival Mode on Nightmare difficulty.”
“Did you fail that as well?” Laughing Soul asked with a mischievous smile.
“I did clear it…” Feng Bujue’s face was drawn. “But how shall I describe the feeling after clearing the scenario? Let’s just say that it would’ve been better if I’d died halfway through the scenario.”
“Sounds like it was a depressing scenario.” The sensitive Passing Rain noticed something in his words.
“In any case… I personally do not suggest any of you to go try it out… especially someone like Xiao Tan,” Feng Bujue concluded.
“Even if you force me, I will not do it. I already stay away from non-nightmare mode Solo Survival scenarios, and that’s for a reason,” Xiao Tan commented.
Laughing Soul narrowed her eyes and tossed him a condescending gaze. “Even when we were playing Team Survival Mode, you were still howling like a little girl. Since we’re from the same guild, do you know how ashamed I am of you?”
“Let it be. You’ll get used to it after a while,” Feng Bujue said. “Since Xiao Tan wasn’t scared to the point he forcibly disconnected and actually survived until the end, it should be enough proof of his ability.”
“Hmm… It sounds like you’re trying to say something good about me, but actually, it’s another shot at me… Unbelievable.” Xiao Tan channeled his indignation into another furious crunch of the chips in his mouth.
Feng Bujue ignored him and got back on topic. “Alright, let’s decide what we shall play next. Considering we’re a team of four, if we’re queuing for a Killing Game together, then it’ll be a 2v2 team fight among ourselves, or shall we queue for a Team Survival Mode?”
“You haven’t queued in a Team Survival Mode with us, right? Why not try that?” Passing Rain said.
“I agree,” Laughing Soul concurred.
“Me too,” Xiao Tan added.
“Other than that, after this scenario, us girls are going offline,” Passing Rain said.
“Understood. It’s not good to stay too long inside the gaming hub.” Feng Bujue smiled. He remembered what Passing Rain had told him that afternoon. “In this session, you guys have cleared two long team-based scenarios, right? It’s about time to rest after completing another one.”
“Since we’re already here, we should get to know each other’s status before queuing up for the game,” Passing Rain suggested.
“You have a point. It’s to prevent us from not knowing our teammates’ situation when we’re in the scenario.” Feng Bujue nodded in agreement. “Then it would have defeated the purpose of queuing up for a team scenario.”
Passing Rain began like she was asked to make the demonstration. “I am currently level fifteen, and my title has been upgraded to Arcana Swordsman. The skill for this title is passive, and it increases the damage bladed weapons inflict on arcane creatures. The highest mastery is Level D for fighting, and the lowest are summoning and medic, neither of which has been unlocked. I’ve just changed my main weapon, and I believe I will be using this for a very long time.”
As she said that, she showed an item inside her inventory in data form using the 3D projection function provided by the conference table.
———
Item Name: Holy Seal
Item Type: Weapon
Quality: Normal
Offense Point: Medium
Element: None
Special Effect: Increase the mana recovery rate of wielder by fifty percent.
Equip Requirement: Fighting Level D
Remark: The true power of this blade has been sealed. After it has been used to fell enough evil spirits, the seal will be abolished, and the blade will showcase its true power.
———
“Oh… this is quite powerful,” Feng Bujue commented. “It is not a Sorcery weapon but can still grow with its wielder.”
“Sorcery Weapon?” The other three turned to look at him with curiosity. Feng Bujue then showed his Death Poker on the table in data projection form and followed the format Passing Rain had laid down to explain his current status.
———
Title: Plot Explorer
EXP: 11,000/15,000, Skill Points: 1,580, Game Coins: 204,600
Mastery: General Ability D, Workmanship E, Sleuthing E, Fighting D (buff from the mask), Marksmanship D, Medic F, Sorcery F, Summoning N/A
Inventory 7/10: Mario’s Wrench, Eye of Hostility, M1911A1 Pistol (two bullets left), Echo Armor, Life Points Recovery Potion (M) x4, Dagger, Flashlight
Equipment: Jazz Shoes, Casey Jones’ Mask, Death Poker
Storage 3/10: Puzzle Card: Monkey, Puzzle Card: Sunglasses, Puzzle Card: Spin
Skills: A Hasty Repair, Below-the-belt Shin Kick, Body Enhancement Spell, A Strategic Victory
———
After hearing Feng Bujue’s introduction, the other three were quite shocked. Of course, he did not go into all those stats—he merely followed Passing Rain’s example, talked about his title, his skills, and his masteries, and showed his Death Poker.
However, just based on that information, one could see how powerful he was. In reality, for a player at level fifteen, Passing Rain basically represented the highest level among normal players. The difference between her and professional gamers was online time and gaming attitude. If they had the same level and equipment, Passing Rain’s combat ability would not be weaker than Jiang Hu’s Dao Jian Xiao or Brahma’s Four Gods. However, in that case, her fighting mastery was only trained to level D, and she had not unlocked a Sorcery weapon.
For a player like Feng Bujue who had unlocked all masteries other than summoning and had three level D masteries and two level E masteries, the equipment buff aside, with such all-rounded stats, he was already leagues ahead of other players.
Of course, this kind of training had its own downside. Compared to players who focused on a single mastery, what he lacked the most was actual combat experience. The battle with Flashes of Sword proved that. Furthermore, he did not possess a fighting skill that he could use in combat. Body Enhancement Spell merely strengthened his physical attributes. For a player who was not familiar with fighting, it was like adding premium fuel to a tractor. In reality, using diesel was the better choice.
The player’s actual ability and his status on paper were two different things. For example, Feng Bujue’s title skill, Strategic Victory, defined his fighting style, but at the same time, it also described him as a puzzle-solving player who had a more varied understanding of the different masteries.
“Brother Jue, this weapon is incredible! How did you get it?” Xiao Tan asked.
“It was from a hidden quest in the Killing Game,” Feng Bujue replied. “Speaking of which… the result aside, that scenario is quite interesting. It has borrowed from Pili Shen Zhou, and the requirement for completing the hidden quest is to come up with a suitable heraldry.”
“A heraldry? You managed to come up with one in the middle of battle?” Laughing Soul asked.
“Of course, that is my bread and butter after all,” Feng Bujue said. “By the way, both of your IGNs would fit in the world of Pili Shen Zhou quite well. Would you like me to come up with the heraldry for both of you?”
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Nope.”
The two girls rejected him instantly.
“Oh… Fine then,” Feng Bujue said awkwardly. “Anyway, let’s continue. Xiao Tan, it’s your time now.”
Xiao Tan popped another chip into his mouth and licked his fingers. Based on his expression, he looked like he was thinking, or perhaps he was not familiar with his own status and was stealthily checking the game menu.
Several seconds later, he opened his lips. “Er… I am now also level fifteen, and the title has changed from the earlier Panicked Hidden Assailant to Nervous Duelist. At least it sounds better now. The skill given by the title is still an active skill. It’s called Bee’s Sting. It can be used to inflict a bleeding effect on an enemy.
“My highest mastery is fighting level D. Sorcery and Summoning haven’t been unlocked. General Ability and Marksmanship are level E, and the rest are all level F. My main weapon was bought from the official shop. It’s a normal quality Damascus Dagger. I’ve already sold the chef’s knife. I still have the Slowing Sand from the earlier scenario… Oh, speaking of which, Brother Jue, your Winchester is still with me. I forgot to return it to you earlier.”
Feng Bujue waved his hands and said, “You should the keep the gun. I have plenty of weapons to choose from now.”
At this point, he stood up and raised the stool that he had been sitting upon.
Since the conference table was in the way, the group did not notice that Feng Bujue was sitting on a stool that he had brought on his own until now.
“Seeing your reaction, I can relax now,” Feng Bujue said and then stored the stool inside his inventory, using up the eighth empty slot.
“Hey… is that also a weapon?” Xiao Tan asked.
“Indeed, and based on the earlier experiment, I can confirm that,” Feng Bujue said. “This thing really can be used in an ambush.”
“Wait, you plan to use this to ambush other players in Killing Game…” Laughing Soul quickly caught onto the man’s train of thought.
“Naturally.”
“I wish you luck…”
Feng Bujue shrugged and turned to tell Xiao Tan, “Back to the matter at hand, do you mind giving more details about that skill, Bee’s Sting?”
———
Name: Bee’s Sting
Skill Type: Active
Consumption: Seven percent of maximum Stamina Points.
Effect: Can be activated when attack makes contact with target. Will inflict the lightest bleeding effect on the target, lasting two minutes. The effect can be stacked a maximum of ten times. The effective time is calculated based on the latest skill activation. (No cooldown. Can only be activated when equipped with cold weapon that can pierce the target’s skin. Can only target a single target at a time.)
Remark: If you are lacking in strength, why not try drawing out the battle?
———
Xiao Tan gave a brief description of the skill’s effect. After hearing him out, Feng Bujue nodded. “This is not bad. Coupled with Stamina Point recovery potions, you might even grind down very powerful players.”
“Players?” Xiao Tan laughed. “I should consider myself lucky to be able to use this on a slow-moving boss. If it’s against players, they will know how to use medicine or bandages to counter the effect.”
“No, a skill like this is most suitable to deal with other players.” Feng Bujue shook his head and explained, “A touch can lead to bleeding, and you can used it repeatedly without a cooldown. If your Stamina Points are full, you can inflict more than ten stacks of bleeding on the enemy. The effect of the skill is long enough to be annoying.
“The amount of Life Points lost is not that serious, but if left untreated, it will eventually pool up to a big loss, but treating it will be a waste of a bandage. Your enemy will be greatly annoyed by the endless stings. When the effect is too light, it’ll be too wasteful to use a bandage, but when it’s too serious, they will have to use both bandages and potions.”
Passing Rain agreed with Feng Bujue, adding, “And your idea of using it to grind down a slow-moving boss, that probably won’t work…”
Xiao Tan was confused. “Huh? Why?”
Feng Bujue sighed. “If there is really a boss like that. They would be powerful enough to have a recovery ability to counter the effect of this skill. This is a simple theory. Fast-moving creatures are normally fragile, while slow-moving creatures have enormous destructibility or immense defense.”
“Ah… You’re right, but honestly, I don’t want to fight with other players,” Xiao Tan said. “It doesn’t sound like something I’d do.”
“Stop wondering about it. They’re merely discussing your skill,” Laughing Soul told him and turned around. “It’s my turn, right? For me…
“My level is slightly lower, only level fourteen, and the title hasn’t changed. It’s still Smart Gunslinger. My title skill is passive, but it has nothing to do with combat. The effect allows me to store the ammo of up to three different weapons in one inventory slot. My highest mastery is marksmanship Level D. Other than summoning, I’ve unlocked all the other masteries, but they are not as good as the leader’s. My general ability, workmanship, and sleuthing are level E, while the rest are level F. In terms of weapons… I don’t have a specific main weapon, but I use these three guns most often.”
Then the discussion ended. Feng Bujue thought about it and said, “Hmm… I have a brief idea of where everyone stands. Then… let’s prepare to go.”