Not Afraid acted as if she was very frightened, hiding behind One Saber and One Sword. The other two then determinedly took out their weapons and shielded her, ready to defend in case that burly man would attack them.
“Ivan, let them in,” a male voice called out from behind the big guy, “they are my guests.” The voice was polite and gentle with a slight accent.
Ivan followed the order. He put down the revolver and returned to the gate, using his sturdy arms to open the doors. Then, he kept silent while looking at the group of players.
“Main Quest has been triggered.”
When the system’s notification arose, everybody could see the Quest in their menu, which read [Enter Zaroff’s Castle and listen to his explanation of the game rules].
Feng Bujue’s complexion soon changed after he had read the Quest. He mumbled, “General Zaroff, Ivan… wait a minute, I’m a hunter, I got here after a shipwreck…” He suddenly looked up as his eyes turned somber. ‘The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell’.” The related contents of this old story emerged from the attic of his memory.
Whenever Feng Bujue had drained his aspiration, he often read some short stories to relax and collect materials. Thus, this sort of novels was familiar to him as he could recall them quickly.
If there were nothing unexpected, this scenario was a ‘human’ hunting game. Moreover, Feng Bujue got it clear that players would play the role of the preys…
After hesitating for a while, One Saber and One Sword turned around to ask for Feng Bujue’s and Like Rain’s opinions. Anyway, if there was a good chance, people would compete to get it. But, if it was a bad thing, just let the others take it. If we have no choice, just ask for the others’ opinions, and later on, we can pour a part of responsibility on them…
Feng Bujue shrugged, sighed and directly walked forward. “Just follow the quest’s direction then.”
Ivan was standing there like a ferocious giant statue, which seemed very intimidating. However, Feng Bujue didn’t even take out his weapon and just swaggered in front of him before entering the castle.
Like Rain followed him closely. When Feng Bujue started to walk, she had already caught up with him and was the second one to enter the castle.
The other three exchanged looks. One Saber finally reacted as he cleared his throat, “Ahem… That… We should go.”
“Yeah, right. In case that they meet anything bad, we can give them a hand then,” said One Sword.
Not Afraid nodded and followed behind them. The three of them then passed over the gate.
Standing at the gate, Ivan kept a surveilling eye on them for the whole process. Until all five of them had entered into the castle, he then silently closed the doors.
Behind the doors was a bright, spacious hall. A sturdy man in his ball suit was standing on the marble stair leading to the second floor, scrutinizing his ‘guests’.
General Zaroff was a tall, handsome middle-aged man. He had a gray hair, but his beard and eyebrows were still black. His eyes were glistening dark. Besides the bright facial features, that face had something special, which was the aura of a powerful man who used to give commands.
“I’m very excited, and it’s my honor to welcome the great hunters coming to visit me.” He slightly bent down. “I am General Zaroff,” he introduced himself and saluted them.
After Ivan had seen Zaroff’s move, he retreated his revolver and stood near the stairs.
“Forgive my careless guard, ladies and gentlemen.” The special accent of Zaroff gave his words a feeling of being considered carefully. “Ivan is a simple person. However, he’s a little bit harsh. His strong build is unbelievable, but unfortunately, he’s a mute. God gave him something and took something away from him…” he spoke this with a contemplating face.
“He looks like a Cossack,” said Feng Bujue. Of course, he knew that detail.
“Not bad, my friend,” answered Zaroff. He smiled and bared his sharp teeth. His words came out from his red lips, “Me too.”
He gestured, and Ivan quickly came to him. Zaroff mouthed something to him as his lips moved without releasing any sound.
After Ivan got his order, he left the hall. No one knows where he was heading to.
Zaroff told them immediately, “My guests, follow me please.”
He descended the staircase then led everyone to a corridor.
Minutes later, they arrived at a big medieval-styled room. Gray carpet covered the entire floor while the bookshelves and the other furniture in the room brought people a heavy feeling. Besides books, there were so many animal specimens like deer heads, zebra skin, etc. There was even a gray bear standing in a corner.
“I’ve read many books about hunting, English, French, and Russian. I have no other interests besides hunting,” Zaroff walked over his exhibition and spoke like he didn’t brag about it, “do you see the South African black water buffalo?”
“Very impressive,” answered Feng Bujue.
“When it caught me, it threw me against a tree. I got my bones broken, but finally, I finished that animal.” It seemed like the scene of that hunt was still playing in front of Zaroff’s eyes.
Feng Bujue understood what he meant. With the information from his talk, players had a general concept of this BOSS’ strength.
“I think the South African black water buffalo is the most dangerous animal to hunt down.” Feng Bujue tried to use the details from the novel with exact words to urge Zaroff to come to the main topic.
The general suddenly mused for a while, then he threw them an understanding look and slowly spoke up, “No, it’s not a dangerous prey.” He walked to a coffee table, picked up a bottle of Whiskey, then asked,” Do you want some?”
“No thanks,” answered Feng Bujue.
Zaroff poured one glass for himself. “In this island, my territory, I have invented a dangerous hunting game.”
“Invented?” Feng Bujue knew it but still tried to play with him.
“Ha, ha. Yeah, invented,” the general laughed, “are you curious how I have ‘invented’ hunting?” He stopped for a while before continuing, “Of course, I’m not god, so I can’t create a dangerous animal from thin air. However, I have soon realized a species that has existed for quite a long time, but no one had ever hunted them down. They are not on this island, but I can always import them.”
“What kind of prey are you suggesting? Tigers?” Feng Bujue was still playing with this BOSS.
Besides Like Rain, the other three felt awkward as they considered in their minds that this boy was playing too hard; did he consider himself the hunter in the plot? Why did he need to talk to an NPC that much?
Zaroff curled his lips. “No, the tigers had soon bored me. I’ve played with them enough. I’ve lost my interest in hunting tigers. Those animals can’t make my hands tremble even a second.” He took a metal cigarette box from his pocket and put a long, black cigar which had a silver roll as its label in his mouth. He lit it up and started to smoke.
“I want to enjoy the thrill of danger, but most of the wild animals can’t give me this feeling,” Zaroff blew out the smoke, “god makes someone to be the poet, someone to be the king, and someone to be the beggar… As for me, he has made me the greatest hunter.” His countenance became gloomy. “However, after having fun for a while, I found that hunting couldn’t attract me anymore. You are also a hunter, can you guess why?”
“If hunting is an activity, you always know you will win before the game, is it true?” continued Feng Bujue.
“True. I can’t believe you understand that!” Zaroff joyfully said, “I can always hunt the preys because they are just animals. Besides the wild instincts, they have just bare hands.”
“But I’m a human with intelligence. It’s not fair to compare it with instinct and intelligence. When I recognized that, I felt I was so pathetic. It’s so sad, you know,” he took out another cigar, “until one day, I had a feeling that there was something I have never hunted before. They are the most perfect preys because they can think.”
Until now, besides Feng Bujue, the other four finally got the basic plot of this scenario. Turned out that General Zaroff’s standing in front of them was a sociopath. To seek for stimulations, he killed humans. The quest of ‘Listen to his explanation of the game rules’ was all about the rule of ‘hunting game’.
“You’re sure this is not a joke, right?” Feng Bujue replied with a serious tone. Of course, he soon confirmed that this wasn’t just a joke.
“I’ve never joked about hunting,” answered Zaroff, “I bought this island, built the castle, and lived here for hunting. This island is an unrivaled hunting ground. The dense forest looks like a maze; a complex area which is full of cliffs, swamps, and ponds. More importantly, this island is bound by the sea. Everyday, I go hunting and I never feel bored.”
“General, I’m doubtful,” said Feng Bujue, “there are five people here. Can’t we just stop you from massacring everyone in this room right now?”
“Ha, ha, ha…” Zaroff laughed out loud, “Massacre? No, no, no. This is a competition. It’s like the hunter and his prey are playing chess.” His eyes scanned over the five players. “As you have mentioned that case…” He raised his hand and gestured.
Ivan emerged from nowhere with a tray in his hand, bringing along the pure aroma of Turkish coffee. He put the coffee away and stood next to Zaroff like an electric pole. He was looking at the players with eyes like a torch.
“There used to be a group of Spanish sailors who came here. I have invited them to join my hunt, but they denied me and showed their hostility,” Zaroff continued deliberately, “Ivan alone had torn them into pieces and fed them to the animals on the island.”
Upon hearing his words, Feng Bujue’s expression suddenly changed as he didn’t remember the novel mentioning other kinds of predators living in the island. “Can I ask what kind of animals are they?”
“Ha, ha, ha!” Zaroff coldly smiled, “Oh, pythons, coyotes, Bengal tiger. I thought I should make the forest livelier, so I have imported many things. Humans are not their original food. Usually, they eat boars. Of course, there are living boars, and they have to hunt them on their own. Thus, the wild animal can preserve their wild instincts.” Zaroff then spoke to Feng Bujue, “Your face isn’t good, my friend.”
“Ah, it’s because I expected the answer to be pigeons or parrots, but not the strong animals,” replied Feng Bujue.
“Ha, ha, ha… You are very humorous.” Zaroff seemed to be excited. “Good. Now let me tell you something you need to know in the hunt.”
He came and switched a button on the wall. “Do you see that?” The General pointed to a far location on the sea. A light suddenly flashed there.
“A light for showing the route, but this route doesn’t exist.”
The rocks there were sharp like sabers. They were like sea monsters who could crush every ship traveling by as easy as crushing a nut.
“I thought your ship had wrecked over there. Thus, don’t think about getting help and running to the sea,” said the General.
This matched the name of the Ship Pitfall well. Zaroff came to another window and activated a mechanism. A chamber appeared below the window lit up by a flickering light. There were many giant shadows walking back and forth and groaning. In the dark, their eyes were luminescent with a weird greenish hue.
“Being a prey, hiding still in a place is not a wise choice.” Zaroff said, “I have well-trained hunting dogs. Now, I’m collecting…” his eyes raked over the animal specimens in the room, then he grinned, “I’m saying that I have a lot of skulls in the exhibition room. Some of them were smart guys, but they couldn’t escape my hounds’ mouth at the end.”
Zaroff closed the window and came in front of them. “Excellent. The rule is simple. It’s five hours more before sunrise; you can leave the castle at any minute. One hour later, I will come for you.” He put down both of his cigar and the glass in his hands, then he stood upright as a soldier. “I don’t want you to think that I’m just pretending. Anyway, the number of preys I have hunted is beyond your imagination. Caucasians, blacks, Indians, Mongolians. There are some excellent preys. They were smart, strong and patient. They have also adapted well to the situation, but I have to say that, I have never lost a game.”
“What if you lose?” Feng Bujue asked, “I’m saying that, if we survive until sunrise, you will lose, is it right?”
“Ha, ha,” the General beamed a confident smile and said with his enthusiasm, “Then you should be worth my effort. I will prepare a ship for you and show you how to arrive towards the nearest island.” Zaroff lifted the glass he had put on the table. “You can trust me. I’m saying this with the honor of a gentleman, a soldier, and an athlete. Of course, you have to agree that you will say no word about what has happened on this island,” he lowered his voice, “if you can leave here and tell your tale…”
“Current Quest, accomplished. Main Quest, updated.”
The system’s voice echoed in their ears, and that quest in their game menu now had a checkmark. The new quest read, [Leave the Castle, avoid General Zaroff’s hunting until sunrise.]
[59 minutes before Zaroff departs]
[299 minutes before sunrise]
Besides the description of the quest, there were two countdown clocks that players could check at anytime. However, it didn’t show seconds.
The General finished his glass of whiskey. Before the players left, he was kind enough to advise and warn them sincerely, “Oh yeah, I suggest not to leave footprints outside the castle. That is a basic mistake. Besides, don’t go to the southeast corner of the island. There’s a big swamp there. We call it the ‘Death pond’. Quicksand is also there. A guy who claimed himself smart went there. I sent Lazarus after him. They both buried themselves there. You don’t know how I felt. Lazarus was my best hunting dog. Ugh, that feeling was very terrible.”
Feng Bujue had turned around and was about to leave as he hadn’t expected that Zaroff would tell them many hints like that. However, one of his teammates was an impulsive fool.
It had happened faster than the talk. One Saber to Conquer the City took out his saber. Murderous aura diffused when the saber was taken out of his scabbard. He then slashed horizontally just like a running cattle.
He was about five meters away from Zaroff. When they saw Ivan standing at the gate, he already took out his saber from the bag. His sudden attack had startled the other four.
One Saber To Conquer The City had his own understanding of this plot, and he felt that this was the right place and the best chance to deal with this BOSS. They didn’t need to play hide and seek with Zaroff; instead, they just needed to solve him here. If they ran into the jungle, where they didn’t know what kind of danger was awaiting for them—during the moment they have drained their strength—this BOSS would then come with his dogs, and it would be their biggest nightmare.
Since the beginning of the scenario, there were only two people who appeared in this castle and they were just normal human, so how strong could they be? Their builds were ordinary, and their weapons were classic. From the settings, it seemed to have taken place two centuries ago in the real world. It was impossible that these two BOSSES possessed supernatural powers. The only thing to consider was whether they had pushed their bodies to the limit a human could achieve. It was okay since players’ fighting capacity was also higher than that of ordinary people.
But the point was, One Saber To Conquer The City was confident that he could catch this BOSS because of his skill, the [Falling Head], granted by his title of [Basic Saber Technique].