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Terror Paradise Chapter 10
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Proofreading: kukelekuuk00, Volly
After the two had come to an agreement, they dissolved the party. Feng Bujue was still able to see Wang Tanzhi’s current status in his buddy list, as it quickly switched from “idle” to “in-game”, but the specifics of the mode was not shown. This is done with the intention to ensure that the player’s information does not fall in the hands of somebody else.
There are currently only three categories under Terror Paradise’s social options, namely “Recent Players”, “Buddies” and “Black List”. While in a level, one is unable to send a buddy request or send someone into the black list; only in the login screen can these operations be performed.
How to “politely” reject someone has always been a difficult problem in social networks, Dream co. has thought hard about this problem too. Even though current game cabins now offer a feature to edit one’s virtual appearance(A function that can be used as a standalone without logging into a specific game. Feng Bujue didn’t use it, as he doesn’t really care about it and he was already a hardcore narcissist But even with the idea that the “beautiful female player” that they meet in game might not even be a beauty in real life, the rate at which female players receive buddy requests is still obviously on the high side.
Also, there is a phenomenon of “leeching”. In future games, Feng Bujue will commonly encounter this type of situation where he will receive a lot of buddy requests in one go once a level ends. While this is very common, compared to meeting teammates of whom one is uncertain of, people will naturally be more willing to play games with players that are stronger than them as it can greatly reduce the difficulty of the game.
Whether one’s mindset is turned towards hunting for beauties, leeching off others or simply making friends; it is always embarrassing to be rejected. Dream co. came up with the idea to only let players send buddy requests on the login screen, if one is rejected, only the two involved are aware. Besides, the level will already have ended at that point, so the player will be unable to do things that will affect the clearing of a level because of his/her unhappiness.
Only players who are buddies with each other can communicate directly through the menu in the login space like a telephone call, Because no way is provided for video communication,others cannot see the expression on your face. Players who are not buddies with each other can only use the mail function if they want to communicate. The maximum number of mails one player can send to any specific other player is 3 in 24 hours of real time. If the other side does not respond, no fourth mail can be sent. The number of characters in each mail is limited to one thousand and the content will undergo screening by the system. Threatening letters and harassing letter will be intercepted by the system directly and the system will write a letter to the recipient stating that a certain player has sent them a threatening letter or a certain player has written a harassment letter to them and asking them whether they want to add the sender to the blacklist.
Once a player enters someone’s blacklist it would be as if that person is completely invisible. In future matchmaking modes they are not able to meet each other and will not be able to exchange emails. If someone invites you to a team containing a player you have blacklisted, the system will send you an additional notice before you accept the invite.
Under these restriction players are able to avoid playing games with people they would very much rather avoid contact with. Dream co. certainly appears to be trying their best.
Of course, reality is still pretty peaceful. A large portion of players, after getting their buddy requests rejected, will move on to the next round without doing anything else. Writing a letter mocking the other for arrogance, etc. will just earn a spot in the black-list. As the saying goes, ‘the mountain water will eventually reunite with the mountain.’ People don’t play games to look for trouble.
(TL Note: The idiom “the mountain water will eventually reunite with the mountain” is used to remind people not to go too far overboard when dealing with someone, as that someone will come back into their life, just like how it works in nature.)
———
Feng Bujue didn’t feel any rush to start a new game. First, he checked his own status and noted that his specialization rank was still only “general”. The other five options in his menu were still blacked out.
The six different type of specializations are, according to the information in the game, hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, mechanics, deduction, healing and general. Specializations are conditions that are used to activate skills and learn them and also the core of one’s strength. Although Feng Bujue was not inclined to dedicate himself as a combat player, it would definitely be bad to know nothing about specialization in general. He planned to use the upcoming level to try and unlock a few more, preferably “mechanics” or “deduction”. During the internal testing period, since the combat strength players have is generally low, avoiding direct combat is a highly successful approach to the game.
Another task was to check the contents of the inventory. The pile of sketches could not be taken out of the level and had naturally disappeared. The syringe he’d found earlier was still there, with properties as follows:
“Name: Single use syringe”
“Type: Consumable”
“Quality: Common”
“Function: Used to extract or inject fluid”
“Note: Stay away from drugs, treasure your life.”
Feng Bujue’s inventory was mostly empty, and since the login screen can hold up to 30 items there wasn’t any problem with storage. Thinking that it might be of use, he opted to bring it along. Useless as it might be, it should be of more use than a stone.
Looking at his situation, he found himself lacking in both equipment and skills. There were many things he’d need to accomplish this time in single-player mode. If he didn’t make much progress it would become even harder after rank 5, at which point the training mode would be locked. As the difficulty of single-player mode increases with his level, he really would become a burden to his teammates.
Feng Bujue had high expectations on the next level. By his thinking, the scarier the ambience the better: so long as reward and degree of terror are proportionate, he is entirely able to handle it.
“Rank 4, Feng Bujue.”
“Please select the game mode that you wish to join.”
“You have selected single player survival mode(normal), please confirm.”
“Confirmed, the level is currently being generated…..”
“The level is loading now, please wait.”
Feng Bujue originally expected the elevator to start moving and open its doors to take him to the level once he’d select a mode. Instead he found himself warped there.
The scene before him turned pitch black. With both feet off the ground, he felt that he was floating in mid air, with nothing to hold on to. The words “Welcome to Terror paradise” rang in his ears again. This time the voice was different, like that of a normal middle-aged woman. It seemed that, regardless of the level’s content, this sentence would be spoken by a random, deliberately human voice every time.
“Loading is complete, you are currently playing single player survival mode(normal).”
“This mode provides an introduction to the level and divergent/hidden missions and special subplots have a chance to appear.”
“Rewards for clearing the level: A chance to draw a learnable skill card”
“The level introduction will now play, after which the game will immediately start.”
The black background before Feng Bujue suddenly turned into a photo, appearing to show a room or a corner of some warehouse. Due to the angle of the photo, he could only see a corner. As such, it was very difficult to judge the size of the room for certain. The wall seemed metallic and not wood in any case. There was no wallpaper or paint,or perhaps the paint had already faded. The floor was concrete and there was no furniture from the image shown.
At this point, subtitles rose in front of him and the system voice, with which he had become familiar with, started its explanation.
“Your name is Arthur Seagal, a renowned video reporter. You have a happy family, favourable working conditions and you are content with your position in society. Until one Christmas night, when you woke up from a coma and found yourself in a remote warehouse. The last thing that you can recall is going to the car park after work to fetch your car…”
The story wasn’t long and there was a limit to the amount of information it could provide. After he’d read it, white light covered Feng Bujue from the front and he was teleported to the place into the place shown in the photo.
Sitting on the floor, with his back facing the wall, without realizing what exactly was going on in the warehouse, Feng Bujue lowered his head subconsciously because he noticed that his left hand was currently holding something — a silver colored walkman.
This portable tape player was a product that was, naturally, long extinct in the year 2055. Feng Bujue had not exactly seen the real thing before, except in a movie, and his present situation made him recall that movie.
He pressed play and a hoarse male voice sounded in English. His first sentence was enough for Feng Bujue to understand the basic outline behind the level. “Nice to meet you, Arthur. I would like to play a game with you…”