Chapter 22

After walking along the street for about fifteen to twenty minutes, the five of them arrived at the entrance of the police station. The building covered an area of about five hundred square meters, with its main entrance facing the street. From the side entrance, one could enter the parking lot.

Feng Jue first went to check the side entrance. It was a driveway, with a high wall at the end and a movable iron gate that had already sealed off the entrance. Looking further in, it was pitch black, and it seemed that this route was impassable.

When he returned to the main entrance, Long Ao Ming had already finished his inspection. The main door was made of wood, with a double-door design, thick and sturdy. It was tightly closed, and something seemed to be blocking it from the inside, making it impossible to push open even a bit.

Feng Jue shook his head slightly, and Long Ao Ming spread his hands, "This side can't be opened either."

Wang Tan Zhi took a few steps sideways, looking at the building's exterior wall. "There are iron bars on the windows, it looks like we'll have to put in some effort to get in..." Before he finished speaking, his expression changed. "Uh... Did you hear that..."

Feng Jue, of course, heard it. He shouted, "Step back!" and quickly moved forward, grabbing Wang Tan Zhi's shoulder and pulling him back.

Long Ao Ming, Loneliness, and Melancholy had already retreated upon hearing the warning. Just as Feng Jue and Wang Tan Zhi had taken a few steps back, a dull sound came from behind them. They turned to see the wall next to the police station's main entrance being smashed from the inside, and a large monster emerged, revealing half of its body. If Wang Tan Zhi had stood there for a few more seconds, he would have been crushed under the rubble.

"Alright... I think what I heard just now was the sound of it charging at the wall." Wang Tan Zhi's face was pale, but his voice was not very loud. He had already passed the stage of being easily startled and was gradually becoming numb to various situations that would normally raise his fear level to about 50%... because his current fear level was already around 35% most of the time.

Just like every small boss that breaks through a wall, the monster let out a roar upon its appearance. Feng Jue recognized it—it was a Blood Corpse...

This Blood Corpse was clearly much stronger than the one Feng Jue had encountered in the tutorial, with a physique that was more than a size larger. The previous one had only managed to create a hole by smashing the wall with its hands, but this one had directly demolished a section of the concrete wall.

"Great... Not only did it open a way in for us, but it also hinted that there are some good rewards inside with its powerful presence, heh..." Feng Jue curled the corner of his left lip, eyeing the large and ferocious monster with a predatory gaze, speaking as if he had encountered something good.

"Bro Feng... If you say it's 'good,' it's based on the premise that we successfully defeat this monster, right?" Long Ao Ming was sweating, unable to think much, knowing that the upcoming battle would be tough.

"Here." Feng Jue actually handed the pipe wrench he was holding to Long Ao Ming. "This doesn't have any equipment requirements, Brother Long, you can use it first. It deals extra damage to the head."

"This..." Long Ao Ming hesitated. Feng Jue's behavior was equivalent to proposing a trade request, and it was a free offer.

In this world, trust between people was quite low. High-quality equipment was undoubtedly valuable during the beta test phase, and one had to think carefully before handing it over to someone else. If the other person took it and decided to log out, abandoning the script just to keep the equipment, there would be nothing you could do, as you had initiated the trade request, and the system wouldn't help you.

"Take it quickly." Feng Jue said.

Long Ao Ming took the "Mario's Pipe Wrench" and, upon seeing its attributes, his expression changed. Feng Jue had so far given the impression of being a very shrewd and cautious person, and it was hard to imagine him easily handing over powerful equipment to someone else.

"Bro Feng... Aren't you afraid I'll log out with your equipment?" Long Ao Ming said. People who said this usually wouldn't actually take the equipment. Those who would take it would simply log out directly.

"Afraid?" Feng Jue smiled bitterly, thinking to himself: If I could be afraid, that would be good.

He replied, "It's more accurate to say 'concerned'... But to be honest, I'm more worried that we'll all be wiped out here."

At that moment, the Blood Corpse had already torn down the lower part of the wall and stepped onto the street. Once it was completely out of the police station, it looked even more ferocious. Over two meters tall, with bulging muscles, its body covered in semi-coagulated blood, and a skinless, blood-red face that was even more terrifying than a pure skeleton. This monster was clearly a small boss, and its appearance was triggered by the players staying at the police station's entrance for a while and attempting to find a way in.

"Bro Long, you hold it off and buy us some time. I'll circle around to its back, go through that hole, and look for guns or something. If I find anything, I'll come back to help." Feng Jue said, "You all keep your survival values in check, don't engage in a hard fight."

Upon seeing the Blood Corpse, he had weighed the outcome and losses of the battle. They currently had no equipment like "Blood Corpse Must Die" that could effectively counter the monster. The only things they could use to harm it were the shield, pipe wrench, and fruit knife. These close-range, short weapons were fine against the smaller, infant-like monster they had encountered earlier, but against this Blood Corpse, which was even taller than Long Ao Ming, their setup was inadequate.

Therefore, the best course of action was to enhance Long Ao Ming's strength and have him hold off the Blood Corpse. Feng Jue decided to take the risk and enter the police station to search for weapons. The appearance of the Blood Corpse made him even more certain that the police station contained items of tactical value. Skills, equipment, and plot items were all possibilities. He planned to find one item as quickly as possible and then return to deal with the monster.

"You go ahead, even if I'm taken down before you come back, I'll try to return the equipment to you." Long Ao Ming replied, then moved forward, immediately drawing the Blood Corpse's attention and engaging in a hit-and-run battle.

"Alright... No need to be so serious, it's just equipment." Feng Jue seemed unconcerned, facing the ferocious Blood Corpse without fear. He crouched forward, moved at high speed, and circled around to the side, leaping through the hole in the wall and disappearing into the dark police station...

The two people in the distance were somewhat at a loss. Loneliness and Melancholy were still playing the role of being unarmed and unable to help. They were also helpless and could only retreat further to avoid getting in the way.

Wang Tan Zhi cautiously approached the Blood Corpse. The monster's attention was mainly on Long Ao Ming, so he would attack the Blood Corpse with a quick slash whenever there was an opportunity, then retreat to avoid being heavily damaged by the boss.

Unlike Long Ao Ming, who fought with brute force and could withstand attacks, Wang Tan Zhi's fighting style was more agile. He dodged and moved, striking unexpectedly, advancing and retreating, focusing on wearing down the enemy. This style was not suitable for blunt weapons or shields; edged weapons were the best choice. He didn't need great strength; as long as his speed was fast enough, a light graze with the blade could still deal damage.

Later, both of them became players primarily skilled in combat, but under the same specialization, they developed very different fighting styles. Their styles in this script were evident: one excelled in "strength," the other in "speed."

In the later stages of the game, as players' abilities grew, the differences between players with the same specialization became unimaginable due to their different understandings of combat styles. There were also other specializations, such as "Combat" paired with "Shooting" or "Combat" paired with "Medical," and countless skill combinations. In Horror Park, characters had infinite possibilities.

This is why the game did not set "classes." With the powerful performance of the system, classes would have become a restriction for players.

The late-game experience and personalized character attributes of an online game are very important. If every character reached the highest level with identical attributes and was limited by "classes," it would be quite boring. Any ordinary player could look at the guides written by top players and basically know the final base attributes of their class, the skill combinations, and the equipment needed to support those skills...

However, the current game design gave players a huge space for free play. First, there was no concept of "character attributes" except for physical values. Survival and fear values were always displayed as percentage energy bars without specific numbers. The amount of damage dealt by attacks and the amount of damage that armor could withstand were not shown in numerical form.

Second, skills and equipment were randomly generated, with no class distinctions. Specialization was everything. Players would unlock and explore their specialized skills during the script, and if they were capable, they could train all six specializations to S-level.

Under this highly free design, the "Title System" was the biggest selling point of Horror Park besides the fear value system. It ensured that each player would not get lost in the complex combat styles of the late game, maintaining character personalization while providing a "focus." This system was a stroke of genius by Dream Company.

"Titles" would grant players a special ability outside the twelve skill slots, such as Long Ao Ming's "Lightning Charge," which was a special ability not occupying a skill slot. Titles would change as players grew, and the system would update players' titles based on their performance and abilities after completing scripts, starting from level ten. Titles were unique, and even if titles with the same name appeared, the special abilities they granted might differ. Special abilities could be active, passive, or even invisible, non-obvious bonuses.

During the open beta period, in scripts above level twenty, titles became like trademarks. When queuing for team survival mode, it didn't matter what the teammates' nicknames were; players would first check their titles to understand their strengths. Titles like "Brave Charger," "Reckless Fist," and "Accurate Gunner" were straightforward and clear. Of course, titles also indicated strength, and at level forty and above, you might see titles like "Eastern Evil," "Western Poison," "Southern Emperor," and "Northern Beggar," which clearly indicated high-level players, offering hope for a strong team...

Returning to the main story, while Long Ao Ming and Wang Tan Zhi were engaged with the Blood Corpse, Feng Jue was moving forward in the dark police station, feeling his way...