Their surroundings sank into darkness, and the game menu became temporarily unavailable. After the short pause, Feng Bujue could sense that, in the inky darkness, he had moved from his standing position to a seated position. He felt like he was sitting on a chair with a hard back.
“Welcome to Thriller Paradise.” This time, the randomized voice sounded very normal, like a youth, but the tone was still creepy.
“Download complete. You are currently playing Team Survival Mode (Normal). 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: During the rating review, you will gain an additional eighty percent EXP.
“Playing the scenario introduction soon. The game will start right after.”
The introductory CG appeared before Feng Bujue’s eyes. It felt like he was wearing 3D glasses, and at the same time, the system audio appeared in his ears.
“This is a bustling modern city. Like all modern cities, it was filled with skyscrapers, horrible traffic, overpopulation, and less than satisfactory air quality…”
As the audio continued, the screen flicked through images to match the story, but so far, there had only been normal street views.
“Everything was normal until one night, when the sun set and never rose again. The floating dark clouds covered up the moon, which tried to cast its lonely light on this silent city.”
The images started to turn dim until it was completely dark. Several seconds later, some lights came on; it really did feel like Feng Bujue was staring at a moon-lit city. There were still some lights in the city, but it was definitely not as bright as a modern city should be. From afar, the city streets were filled with many immovable vehicles, but there was no one on the street or anything moving for that matter…
“You open your eyes and find yourself inside the last subway that you normally take. You soon realize that you and the strangers around you… are the only survivors in this city.”
When the premonition entered his ears, Feng Bujue was blinded by a flash of light before his senses returned. The game menu could be assessed again, which meant that the game had started.
He was indeed sitting inside a moving subway. The scenery outside the window flew by. He lifted his head to look and noticed Xiao Tan sitting not far away from him. As said by the introduction, there were three other passengers inside the cabin.
Left of Feng Bujue and Wang Tanzhi, on the next row of seats, were a man and a woman. They looked around twenty and should be a couple of students. The young man’s face was very fair, and his hair was long. Honestly… with that kind of appearance, he did not look much different from the girl next to him. They were about the same height and were on the skinny side. They looked quite matching, and from their IGNs, it was almost certain that they were indeed a couple. The man’s name was ’Loneliest when I think about you’, and the woman’s was ’Saddest when I miss you’.
In the Team Survival Mode, this was their final preparation period before the game started for real. It was also something that the system came up with so that the team members could have some time to get to know each other. In this environment, the players’ IGNs were all shown above their heads. After leaving this space, the names would disappear, and if they needed a reminder of anyone’s name, they could refer to the team tab.
Information in the team tab was limited. First, the players could not see their teammates’ appearances in the tab; there were only names and levels. Secondly, the status would only show one of two options, ’living’ or ’dead’. Their current Life Points and special status were all eclipsed.
There were five people in the cabin, so one had not been introduced yet. He was sitting right opposite Wang Tanzhi and Feng Bujue. Even though he was seated, from just a glance, the man should be more than 190 centimeters tall, and his weight was in the hundred range. From his appearance, the brother was probably less than thirty. He looked unfeeling and had a strong jaw, large shoulders, and a V-shaped physique. Even through the long-sleeved T-shirt, one could make out the taut muscles of his arms.
Even though the game allowed the players to edit their appearance in-game, there was a limitation to the editing. Photoshopping a face was simple enough, but the degree of editing to the physique had a limitation of eighty percent, or else it might lead to system problems. For example, for someone who was 200 centimeters tall in real life, it was impossible for them to use a 155-centimeter-tall body in-game.
Therefore, if the player was 180 centimeters in real life, then the upper maximum limit would be 194.4 centimeters, and the lower limit was 165.6 centimeters. Those who weighed sixty kilograms would have around 4.8 kilograms to work with, going up or down. Furthermore, the correction of physical ratios was a very vague concept. For example, one could flatten a beer belly, but one could not turn it into a washboard abs. Therefore, the issue of faces aside, this large man in real life… was almost certainly also a large man. Plus, there was the possibility that he did not even edit his appearance.
After meeting Feng Bujue and Wang Tanzhi’s eyes, the large man spoke first. “Let me introduce myself…”
He patted his chest. “Long Aomin, just reached level 10.”
“I guessed as much… nice to you meet,” Feng Bujue answered.
“Big brother, is the part before your name also a part of your IGN?” Wang Tanzhi asked with curiosity. “Does the system allow you to create such a long IGN?”
“Oh, that. That’s my title. You’ll get it after level ten. It’s given by the system,” Long Aomin answered. The name above his head was ’The intrepid charger—Long Aomin’.
Feng Bujue had obviously read about that setting, which was why he said, “I guessed as much.”
“You look so impressive…” Wang Tanzhi sighed with his two eyes shining.
“What do you mean by look?” Feng Bujue said in a serious tone. “He is very impressive.”
“Ha ha ha. You flatter me. I’ve just been playing the game for a while.” Long Aomin laughed. What Feng Bujue had said obviously matched his taste.
“Brother Long, you are too humble. Just from one glance, I know that you are an impressive character.” Feng Bujue directly referred to the guy as Brother Long. It sounded like he had a sincere admiration for the man. When he saw the man, it felt like he saw an emperor appearing in game.
Feng Bujue then turned his head around to address the couple. “Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, hi there.” The two answered casually like they did not really care about the other three people in the same space. In the next few minutes, Feng Bujue chatted with Long Aomin about his experience in the game, and Wang Tanzhi joined in whenever he could. This was the first day of the closed beta, and everyone was still a newbie, so there was plenty of information to share.
Long Aomin should not have been called Long Aomin, but Very Earnest because he was very earnest. He was sincere toward others and very candid. One could hear the genuineness in his voice, see it in his actions, and even feel it radiating off him. The opinion that he provided was heartfelt and did not have any attitude before Wang Tanzhi and Feng Bujue because they were lower level than him.
On the other hand, the couple kept to themselves. They whispered and canoodled, completely immersed in their own world. What about the game not allowing overly affectionate behavior? The game did not allow harassment, but when all parties were willing, the system would condone it. Of course, they had not done anything too salacious, at most just some stolen kisses. In this society, the game would definitely bar them from going further.
Soon, the subway slowly slowed down before stopping completely. The lights at the subway station were still functioning, but there was no sound other than the movement of the train itself. There was not even an announcement to say that they had arrived at the station. As the doors opened, the lights inside the train went off.
Ms. Saddest shivered and softly squealed. Mr. Loneliest was also startled, but he did not squeal; his body only froze for a short moment.
“Ah!” That scream came from Xiao Tan.
After he finished screaming, Feng Bujue sighed. “If not for the system, I really would stick this wrench down your throat.”
As he shook his head, he stepped off the train.
Even though the lights inside the train had gone off, it was not that dark thanks to the lights from the platform. Wang Tanzhi was so heavily shamed by his girlish squeal. The young couple tossed him condescending look while Long Aomin tried his best to hold the laughter in. With quivering lips, he followed Feng Bujue out the train cabin.
Ten seconds later, all five of them stood on the platform. Feng Bujue looked around and said, “I’ll go take a look at the driver’s cabin. Maybe we can find the operator.”
“I don’t think you should go alone. Perhaps we should go together?” Long Aomin suggested.
“Oi, why are we looking for the operator? That is so troublesome and a waste of people’s time. Don’t we have a level ten player here? We can just follow him all the way up to the surface. We’ll just kill everything on the way. We’ll definitely be able to cut our through to the end,” Mr. Loneliest said.
From the team tab, Feng Bujue noticed that Loneliest and Saddest were respectively level seven and six. In any case, their levels were higher than his and Xiao Tan’s, so in a way, they had a greater say in team decisions.
“Alright then.” Feng Bujue agreed easily and then turned to ask Long Aomin, “What do you think, Brother Long?”
“No problem, follow close behind me. If there’s any situation that calls for combat, just try to help.” Long Aomin gave his promise readily. Then he walked onto the escalator. “Come with me.”
He pulled out a shield from his backpack and equipped it on his right arm.
“Brother Jue, what’s going on?” Wang Tanzhi whispered to Feng Bujue. He was familiar with the man; Brother Jue was not someone who would change his mind due to a single counter argument by others. Furthermore, the suggestion by Mr. Loneliest was not only dumb, it was highly dangerous.
“It’s nothing. I also think that the chance of finding an operator is low. I just wanted to double-check,” Feng Bujue whispered back the answer. “But since there was dissent… then there was no need to start conflict over such a small matter.”
Eventually, they reached the end of the escalator, but they were still underground. To move to the surface, they needed to climb up another floor.
After exiting the escalator, a sign greeted them. It pointed toward the various exits and landmarks, but that was not important to them. They only needed to find the nearest exit and examine the current situation of the city.
Right then, the system audio echoed in the team’s ears. “Main quest has been triggered.”
