Chapter 17

The scene before him plunged into darkness, and the game menu could not be opened temporarily. After a brief moment of disorientation, Feng Jue realized that in this endless darkness, he had changed from standing to sitting, seemingly on a hard seat with a backrest.

"Welcome to the Horror Park." The voice that randomly appeared was ordinary, with a common youth's tone, but the way it said those words still sounded quite eerie.

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

[This mode provides a script introduction and has a chance to feature side/hidden quests and a special worldview.]

[Script completion reward: 80% base experience bonus at the end of the game.]

[The script introduction will play next, and the game will start immediately after it finishes.]

The cutscene appeared directly before Feng Jue's eyes, as if he were wearing a pair of sunglasses that could play movies. At the same time, the corresponding narration played in his ears.

[This is a modern, bustling city, just like all the first-tier cities in the world today, with towering skyscrapers, dense traffic, overpopulated, and polluted air...]

As the narration continued, the scene before him played out in fast-forward, but it was just a normal street view.

[Until one night, the sun set and never rose again. The dim moonlight, appearing and disappearing behind the drifting clouds, illuminated this silent, isolated city.]

The scene before Feng Jue's eyes quickly darkened, becoming completely black, and after a few seconds, it regained some brightness, just the right amount for a moonless night. There were still some light sources in the city, but this was far from the brightness a bustling city should have at night. From a distance, many stationary vehicles could be seen on the city's streets, but no pedestrians or moving objects were visible...

[You open your eyes and find yourself sitting on the last subway train you often ride. You will soon realize that the few strangers around you and yourself... are the only survivors left in this city.]

After these words reached his ears, Feng Jue felt a sudden brightness before his eyes, and his senses returned to normal. The game menu could now be opened, indicating that the script had begun.

He was indeed sitting on a moving subway train, with the scenery outside the window flying by, turning into streaks of lines. He looked up and saw Xiao Tan sitting not far away. As expected, there were three other passengers in this carriage.

On the other side of the carriage, a short distance away from Feng Jue and Wang Tan, sat a young man and a young woman, both under twenty years old, who looked like students. The boy had a very pale face and long hair, and to be honest... such an appearance made him look almost the same as the girl next to him. Both were of average height, with slim builds, and could be described as a handsome boy and a beautiful girl. From their nicknames, it was clear that they were a couple: the boy was called "Loneliest When I Think of You," and the girl was called "Loneliest When I Miss You."

In the Team Survival Mode, this was the final adjustment time before the game started, allowing players to communicate. In this environment, players' nicknames were displayed above their heads, visible to each other. Once they left, the names above their heads would disappear, and to find out what their teammates were called, they would need to open the menu and go to the team section.

There were five people in this carriage, and one had not been introduced yet. He was sitting on the opposite row of seats from Feng Jue and Wang Tan.

Even when sitting, this guy's height was estimated to be over 1.9 meters, and his weight was definitely in the 100-kilogram range. From his appearance, this big brother was definitely under thirty years old, with a stern face and a strong jawline. His broad shoulders and V-shaped torso made his muscle lines visible even through his long-sleeved T-shirt.

Such a build could easily be called a "state governor." Although the neural connection game allowed players to modify their appearance in the virtual world, this function had a limit on the extent of changes. Faces could be "PS"ed at will, but the maximum change in body size could not exceed 8%. More than that would cause problems, such as a 2-meter-tall person using a 1.5-meter-tall body, which would definitely be uncomfortable.

So, if a player was 180 cm tall, the upper limit for adjustment would be about 194.4 cm, and the lower limit would be 165.6 cm. A person weighing 60 kg could gain or lose about 4.8 kg. Body proportion adjustments were a vague concept, for example, a beer belly could be adjusted to a flatter stomach, but it would not become abs.

Therefore, ignoring the face, the muscular man in front of him was likely a muscular man in reality, and it was possible that he had not modified his appearance at all.

After their gazes met, the muscular man spoke first: "Let me introduce myself..." He patted his chest: "Long Ao Min, just reached level 10."

"I see... Nice to meet you, nice to meet you," Feng Jue replied.

Wang Tan, curious, asked: "Big brother, is the part before your nickname part of your name? Can you have such a long name?"

"Oh, this? This is a title, everyone gets one at level 10, evaluated by the system." Long Ao Min replied, and his nickname displayed as [Valiant Charger · Long Ao Min].

Feng Jue clearly knew this setting, which is why he said, "I see."

"Seems pretty strong..." Wang Tan said, his eyes shining.

Feng Jue interjected: "What do you mean 'seems pretty strong'? How do you talk?" He said seriously: "This is very strong."

"Ha ha ha, not really, just played a bit longer." Long Ao Min laughed, clearly enjoying Feng Jue's words.

"Long Brother is too modest. I can tell you are no ordinary person," Feng Jue called him "Long Brother" directly, genuinely admiring someone who dared to name himself "Long Ao Min." The feeling of seeing this name was like a royal aura enveloping his face.

Feng Jue then turned to the couple and said: "Hello, students."

"Ah, hello, hello," they replied casually, not very interested in the three of them.

In the next few minutes, Feng Jue and Long Ao Min chatted about game experience, with Wang Tan occasionally joining in. It was still the first day of the beta test, so everyone was a beginner, and there was a lot to discuss.

Long Ao Min seemed to be more like Guo Da Lu, a very straightforward and sincere person. His sincerity could be heard, seen, and felt. He gave very reasonable suggestions and did not act condescendingly towards Feng Jue and Wang Tan because of their lower levels.

On the other side, the couple was already cuddling and whispering to each other, looking very affectionate. Some might ask, can't this game prevent intimate actions? Note that the game prohibits sexual harassment, but this couple was consensual. Of course, they could not do anything too extreme, just some kissing and hugging, nothing more. In a harmonious society, the game strictly limits further actions.

Soon, the subway gradually slowed down and came to a complete stop.

The lights in the subway station were normal, but there was no sound, not even the station announcements.

The doors opened, and at the same time, the lights in the carriage went out.

The girl, Loneliest When I Miss You, was startled and let out a small scream. The boy, Loneliest When I Think of You, was also surprised but did not scream, just shuddered.

"Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But this scream came from Xiao Tan.

After he finished screaming, Feng Jue sighed: "If the system didn't stop me, I would have really wanted to shove a pipe wrench down your throat." He shook his head and walked out of the subway.

Although the lights in the subway carriage were out, it was not pitch black because the platform lights were normal. Wang Tan's scream was extremely embarrassing, and both Loneliest When I Think of You and Loneliest When I Miss You looked at him with genuine disdain. Long Ao Min tried to hold back his laughter and followed Feng Jue out of the carriage with a forced smile.

A few dozen seconds later, all five were on the platform. Feng Jue looked around and said: "I'll go check the front of the train, maybe there's a driver."

"Maybe we shouldn't act alone. How about we all go together?" Long Ao Min suggested.

"Ah, why bother looking for a driver, it's so troublesome and a waste of time. Isn't there a level 10 big brother here? We can just follow him, go all the way to the surface, and kill whatever we see. We'll pass the level anyway," Loneliest When I Think of You said.

Feng Jue could see from the team status that Loneliest When I Think of You and Loneliest When I Miss You were levels 7 and 6, respectively, higher than him and Xiao Tan, giving them more say.

"Alright then," Feng Jue surprisingly agreed and turned to Long Ao Min: "What do you think, Long Brother?"

"No problem, just follow me. If we encounter a fight, lend a hand," Long Ao Min replied cheerfully, stepping onto the escalator: "Follow me." He stood on the escalator steps and took out a shield from his bag, equipping it to his right wrist.

"Jue Brother? What's going on?" Wang Tan whispered to Feng Jue, knowing that Feng Jue was not the type to change his actions just because of someone else's words, especially when the suggestion was not particularly clever or even correct.

"Nothing, I just thought the probability of there being a driver on this subway was low, but I wanted to check just in case," Feng Jue whispered back: "Since someone objected... it's fine to give in on this trivial matter."

As they followed Long Ao Min up the escalator, they were still in the subway station, needing to go up one more level to reach the surface.

After coming up the escalator, they faced a sign pointing to various exits and landmarks on the surface. However, this was not important to them; they just needed to find the nearest exit and go outside to see the city's condition.

At this moment, the system's voice prompt sounded in everyone's ears: [Main quest triggered.]