The introductory cinematic ended just like that. There was not even a hint. Feng Bujue gained his mobility, and the first thing he did was naturally observe his surroundings. The other three players were currently on the two sides of Feng Bujue, one on the left and two on his right. The four were facing the same direction, lined up in a straight line. The other three were all male, and they were in their twenties. The players were placed equidistant from each other. No one was too close to another. It seemed like everyone solo-queued into this scenario.
The building that appeared in the cinematic earlier was about ten meters before them.
“Main quest triggered,” the system said. Without any introduction, the players were thrown into the quest just like that. Feng Bujue opened the menu and saw the quest tab say, “All surviving players enter the ’Detective Club’.”
“Ha! I’m surprised that just joining a random queue will get me in the same group as a celebrity player,” the player who stood on the far right suddenly said. Feng Bujue turned his head to the voice…
The person who spoke had the ID ’Autumn Zither’. He was level twenty-eight, and his title was ’Intelligent and Courageous’. He was about 1.7 meters tall, on the lanky side, had short black hair, and could be considered handsome. He wore a dark themed clothes, and the badge on his chest showed that the name of his guild was called ’Mountain River’. When Autumn Zither said that, the other player on Feng Bujue’s right side immediately added, “Haha… What celebrity player? That’s just mere flattery. But the name Autumn Zither from Mountain River is truly well known.”
Feng Bujue tossed his gaze back to this player then.
The person’s ID was Ambitionist. That ID already explained a lot. He was level twenty-nine, and his title was ’Plotter’. He was slightly taller than Autumn Zither, and he too was on the thin side. He had silvery-white, medium-length hair and wore a pair of glasses as apparel. He looked studious. He wore a white, magical cape, looking like a mage from the middle ages. He did not have a badge on his outfit, so he was a free player who was not attached to any guild.
Once Ambitionist finished, the one on the far right added, “Brother Ambitionist, you’re being too humble… Who hasn’t heard of the name of Ambitionist the Brilliant Strategist in this circle?”
Feng Bujue turned his head to the man. This time, the man who spoke was called ’Weighty Words, Lengthy Plan’, often shortened to just Weighty Words. He was level twenty-eight, and his title was Steady Tactician. He was taller than Brother Jue and was thicker in volume compared to the other two. He had short hair and looked normal, the kind that would be lost in a crowd. In terms of dressing, he wore a deep navy military outfit. It should be the uniform of some guild. The guild badge said ’Heaven and Earth’.
“Haha… When I said celebrity player, I wasn’t just referring just to Brother Ambitionist alone,” Autumn Zither added. “Brother Weighty Words, your name precedes you as well.”
“Ha…” The three laughed. One could see how much they enjoyed flattering each other. After all, that was the reason most spent so much time online!
Feng Bujue listened to their conversation and looked around. He felt like an online writer who had accidentally joined a publisher’s symposium. He did not know what to say.
Feng Bujue had a recollection of the guild names ’Heaven and Earth’ and ’Mountain River’. They were often seen going in and out of the top ten guilds. But he had not seen the IDs of the three players before. After all, Feng Bujue was not part of the circle per se. Even though he knew the names of some of the big names, he knew few celebrity players. For example, a fake soccer fan would know Messi and Ronaldo, but if they heard mention of someone like Alba, the first thing that came to their mind would be the Hollywood starlet, not the Spanish footballer.
The three that were in the same group as Feng Bujue were all professional players, and they were well-known. However, in Thriller Paradise, they were not on any level or combat stat ranking. The person with the grandest reputation was Ambitionist, whom players referred to as the Brilliant Strategist. He had gained this nickname before Thriller Paradise.
A few years ago, Ambitionist had made a name for himself in the gaming scene. In many tactical and RPG historical epic games, he would be one of the top players. Furthermore, Ambitionist was a solo player. He had no resources or sponsorships from any gaming studios. According to rumors, he came from a poor family and worked his way into money through gaming. Including King of Shadows, as long as they were an unaffiliated professional player, they would have heard of Ambitionist. He had inspired quite a few people to enter the field.
Autumn Zither was the mind of Mountain River and was good friends with the studio’s boss. Normally, he had other posts in the company and would not join the game directly, but whenever he joined a game, he would be at the top. Autumn Zither was most famous for his mastery of tactical games, especially modern warfare games. He once wrote a thread that went famous on a forum for a game that had the three kingdoms theme—’As people of the modern day, why should you limit yourself to the tactical mindset of the ancient times when you are playing ancient war games?’
The fight caused by that thread continued to this day. Actually, Autumn Zither only wished to express one simple philosophy—war develops with time. Some people believed that the generals that led the army during the first world war would not be better than the strategists of the second world war, and that was just balderdash.
The third player, Weighty Words, came from an impressive background as well. He was a rare specimen of a highly educated person in the gaming community. As the career solidified, gamers became an occupation like athletes. Due to the uniqueness of the industry, the age where one could enter would be on the average lower, normally between fourteen to eighteen. The youngest might be twelve, and as such, most professional gamers only completed in high school or elementary school. He was a graduate from a famous foreign university and stayed to study for some time in Europe. He had won the state-level Magic: The Gathering Championship before.
In terms of age, Weighty Words was currently twenty-five and was two years older than the other two, but in terms of professional gaming experience, he had entered the industry later than the other two. Nonetheless, this newcomer borrowed the reputation of the ’winner’ of several famous games and soon made a name for himself as an intellectual player.
In conclusion, these three… were all experts among experts.
After the three had greeted each other, there was a temporary silence. They turned their gazes in unison to Feng Bujue.
“Er… I am just a nobody. Don’t mind me,” Feng Bujue said smilingly. Even though he had no idea who these three were, from what they said, they sounded impressive.
Thus, another silence stretched.
After a few seconds, Weighty Words said, “Er… Brother Feng, there’s no need to undermine yourself. Since we’re a team, everyone will be sure to contribute their part.”
Ambitionist pushed on his glasses and added, “Brother Feng, do you mind me asking whether you’re a brute force player or a puzzle solving player? Your title is rather confusing, so I would wish to confirm.”
“I’m just a casual player,” Feng Bujue replied. “I’m okay at fighting and not that good at puzzles.”
That was obviously a lie.
Of course, Feng Bujue had no history with these three and had no conflict of interest, so he was not trying to scam them. Actually, when he saw their titles, he was so happy. In the past scenarios, it was often Feng Bujue who provided the strategy. This time, it was rare for him to run into three intellectual-based players—the kind that was approved by the system through their title—and they seemed to enjoy the role given to them. Brother Jue, this ’nobody’, thus decided to take the back seat and allowed the others to take the reign. He just wanted to be carried.
“Oh… that’s strange…” Ambitionist held his chin with one hand.
“Oh? Is there a problem?” Autumn Zither asked as he wondered what the man meant.
“There is no introduction to this scenario, and it just dropped us a quest,” Ambitionist said. “There is a feeling of… ’just go and solve this yourself’.”
Then his eyes changed. He should be checking the menu. “And the ’Detective Club’ referenced by the quest appears to hint at something.”
“Oh…” Weighty Words said. “Autumn Zither, Ambitionist, and I are all tactical type players. Assuming the setting of this scenario is ’clearing it using pure intellect’, then theoretically speaking, all four of us should be puzzle-solving players.”
At this point, the three all turned to Feng Bujue again.
“Fine, if one has to choose… compared to fighting, I prefer solving puzzles,” Feng Bujue said awkwardly. Actually, he could hide that fact, but he was afraid the misinformation would disrupt his teammates’ assessment of the whole scenario, so he admitted it. However, he did not forget to add, “But don’t place too much hope on me… I am just a normal person. The real difficult problem has to depend on three brilliant minds other than myself.”
“Hahaha… Brother Feng, you’re being too kind,” Autumn Zither said. “For something like puzzle solving, we should pool our minds together. The more, the better. We will benefit from mutual discussion.”
Even though that was what they said, none of them treated Feng Bujue seriously. All of them were thinking, If this is a pure puzzle scenario, I can handle this alone. Stay back and watch the show.
One could not say that they were conceited… because ’strategists’ had always been like this since the dawn of time. As clever people, especially those who had confidence in their intellect, at the crucial moment, they would only believe in themselves.
Naturally, Feng Bujue was not part of this group. He merely had too much love and confidence in himself, and he could not be saved anymore.
“Hmm… A scenario made for four puzzle-solving players…” Ambitionist said with a curl of his lips. “Interesting…”
“Since the start of the scenario, the amount of information given to us has been dropped to the minimum,” Weighty Words added. “What kind of conundrum will we face next?”
Autumn Zither used a similarly serious yet joking tone as he said, “I shall use my tactics to resolve all of them!”
Finally, Feng Bujue added weakly, “I will provide mental support from behind…”