Chapter 10

After the two of them had agreed, they disbanded their team. Feng Bujue could still see Wang Tan's current status on his friend list, which quickly changed from "idle" to "in-game," though the specific mode was not displayed. This was done to minimize the risk of players obtaining information about others.

The social options in Horror Park currently only had three categories: [Players You've Recently Played With], [Friends], and [Blacklist]. In-game, you could not send friend requests or add someone to the blacklist; these actions could only be performed in the login space.

How to "politely" reject someone has always been a challenge in social networks, and Dream Company had put a lot of thought into this issue. Although the current game pods offer a virtual appearance correction function (which can be used independently without logging into a specific game, but Feng Bujue didn't use it because he didn't care about it, and he was already quite vain), even knowing that the "beautiful female players" you meet in the game may not be real beauties, female players still receive a fair number of friend requests.

Another phenomenon is "clinging to strong players." In the future, Feng Bujue would often encounter this situation, receiving many friend requests after a script ends. This is quite normal; compared to uncertain teammates, people naturally prefer to play with stronger players, which can greatly reduce the difficulty of the game.

Whether it's the desire to flirt, the intention to cling to strong players, or simply to make friends, being rejected is always an embarrassing thing. Dream Company came up with the current solution, allowing players to submit friend requests only in the login space. If rejected, only the two of you would know, and by then the script would have ended, preventing players from doing things that might affect their passage due to emotional distress.

Only friends can communicate directly through the screen in the login space, similar to making a phone call, but video communication is not provided, so others cannot see your facial expressions. Non-friends can only communicate via email. Within 24 hours of real time, one player can send a maximum of three consecutive emails to another. If the other party does not reply, the fourth email cannot be sent. Each email cannot exceed 1,000 characters and is monitored by the system. Threatening letters and harassment emails will be intercepted by the system, and the system will send an email to the recipient, explaining that a certain player sent you a threatening letter or wrote a harassing letter, and asking if you want to add them to the blacklist.

Once a player is added to the blacklist, they are completely blocked. You will not encounter them in any mode, will not receive their emails, and if a team that invites you to join has a player on your blacklist, the system will give you an additional warning before you accept the team.

Under these restrictions, players can avoid playing with people they do not want to interact with to the greatest extent possible. Dream Company has done its best.

Of course, the actual situation is relatively harmonious. Most players, after being rejected in a friend request, generally do not try anything else and just move on to the next game. Writing an email to mock the other person for being out of reach would only result in being blacklisted. As the saying goes, "We will meet again," and playing games is not about seeking trouble.

...

Feng Bujue did not rush to start a new game. He first checked his status and noticed that his specialization level was still only "General," with the other five items in the menu still obscured by shadows.

According to the game data, the six specializations are Combat, Shooting, Equipment, Reconnaissance, Medical, and General. Specializations are the conditions for skill activation and learning and are the core of a character's strength. Although Feng Bujue does not lean towards a combat-oriented player, being completely clueless about specializations is not an option. He planned to try to unlock a few more in the upcoming scripts, preferably "Equipment" or "Reconnaissance." During the beta test, when most players' combat abilities are low, avoiding direct combat is a more successful strategy for passing scripts.

Another thing to check was the items in his inventory. The stack of sketches could not be taken out of the script and had naturally disappeared. The syringe he found earlier was still there, with the following attributes:

[Name: Disposable Syringe]

[Type: Consumable]

[Quality: Common]

[Function: Draw or inject liquids]

[Note: Stay away from drugs, cherish life]

Feng Bujue's inventory was quite empty, and the login space could store up to 30 items, so there was no pressure in terms of storage. He thought this might be useful and took it with him. At the very least, it was more reliable than a rock.

Reviewing his current situation, he had no equipment and no skills. There was a lot to do in this solo mode. If he didn't make any significant gains, it would become increasingly difficult after level 5. By then, the training mode would be closed, and the difficulty of solo scripts would increase with his level, making him a burden to his teammates.

Feng Bujue had high hopes for the upcoming script. According to his thinking, the more terrifying the scene, the better, as long as the rewards were proportional to the terror. He could fully accept it.

[Feng Bujue, Level 4]

[Please select the game mode you want to join.]

[You have selected Solo Survival Mode (Normal). Please confirm.]

[Confirmed, script generation in progress...]

[Loading started, please wait.]

After selecting the mode, Feng Bujue thought the elevator would move first, then open the door to enter the script, but this time he was teleported.

The scene turned pitch black, his feet left the ground, and he felt as if he were floating in the air, with no place to push off. The words "Welcome to Horror Park" echoed in his ears. This time, the voice had changed again, sounding like an ordinary middle-aged woman. It seemed that this line had nothing to do with the script content and was just a randomly selected voice each time, speaking the same line with a deliberate tone.

[Loading complete. You are currently in Solo Survival Mode (Normal).]

[This mode provides a script summary and has a chance to offer side/hidden quests and special worldviews.]

[Script completion reward: Randomly draw a skill card that can be learned.]

[The script summary will play next. The game will start immediately after the summary ends.]

The black background in front of Feng Bujue turned into a photo, which looked like a corner of a room or a warehouse. Due to the angle, he could only see a corner, making it hard to judge the size of the room. The walls appeared to be made of metal, not wood, and there was no wallpaper or paint, or the paint had faded. The floor was concrete, and the photo did not show any furniture.

At this moment, subtitles rose in front of him, and the familiar system voice began the narration.

[Your name is Arthur Siger, a renowned photojournalist. You have a happy family, a well-paid job, and a satisfactory social status. Until one Christmas night, you wake up from a coma to find yourself in a strange warehouse. The last thing you remember is going to the parking lot to get your car after work...]

The plot was not long, and the information provided was limited. After the summary, a white light flashed in front of Feng Bujue, and he was teleported to the place in the photo.

He was sitting on the ground, leaning against the corner of the wall. Before he could fully take in the situation of the warehouse, he instinctively lowered his head, noticing that his left hand was holding something—a silver Walkman.

This portable tape player was, of course, a long-obsolete product in 2055. Feng Bujue had never seen a real one; he had only seen it in a movie, and the current situation reminded him of that movie.

Pressing the play button, a hoarse male voice spoke in English, and his first words made Feng Bujue understand the basic setting of the script: "Hello, Arthur, I want to play a game with you..."

{Piaotian Literature}