thriller paradise
When the darkness first fell, Ms. Saddest screamed in terror. In reality, Mr. Loneliest was spooked as well, but with his girlfriend hanging on his arm, he could not have start screaming. Thus, all he could do was put on a brave front and tell his girlfriend, "Don't worry, I'm here."
However, the level seven Mr. Loneliest did not even have a weapon to fight the monsters, and he was unable to save himself.
He and Ms. Saddest had been queuing for Team Training Mode since level one and joined their first Team Survival Mode when they reached level five. The result was that they both died, but his contribution was slightly bigger than his girlfriend's, so when the other players cleared the scenario, Mr. Loneliest got a little more EXP. Then, they queued up for another Team Survival Mode, and similar to before, they both perished in the scenario. That was why one was level seven, and the other was level six, with no equipment and no skills. They were simply dead weight.
Long Aomin had been drawn into this team by the arrangement of the system. There were more than one hundred players in the queue, so why this team of five? That was because, after analyzing their earlier performance, the system categorized Mr. Loneliest and Ms. Saddest as weaker players.
To help them along, the system had assigned the level ten Long Aomin, a stronger player, to the team. At the same time, the system had found two more players who were of a lower level but showed great potential to keep the overall balance of the team.
Thus, the group of five had been formed. Their total level was thirty-three, and their average level was 6.6. So, the scenario that they were in had a difficulty of around level six or seven. To put it plainly, the system created a chance for Mr. Loneliest and Ms. Saddest to be carried and prayed that they would finally manage to clear a mission to stop them from quitting the game out of frustration.
"What was that?" Long Aomin asked. Actually, that was a casual remark; he did not expect anyone to give him the answer. It was simply because the situation was too scary, and he thought that voicing his thoughts could help him calm down.
To his surprise, Feng Bujue, in his calm tone, seriously answered, "There are three possibilities. I'll explain them to you later."
This time, Wang Tanzhi did not scream, but his face was white, and his voice was shaking. "Is… is is is is… there really a need to do that? Turning off the lights… in the subway… is one thing, but… out here in the open… under the moon… and the lights can still go off? Who is the game trying to scare‽"
"The scariest thing is actually over there." Feng Bujue pointed behind Wang Tanzhi, his face devoid of an expression. Xiao Tan turned his frozen neck, and at the same time, Long Aomin as well as Mr. Loneliest and Ms. Saddest, who were further away, saw what Feng Bujue was pointing at.
The last surviving monster baby climbed on top of a bus and gnashed its teeth. Its form had changed—its skin turning darker, its eyes releasing an eerie green light, and its teeth changing into tusks. While its size did not change, the scythe-like arms and its hind legs had grown twice as large. When the monster stood upright, it reached almost 1.6 meters in height, and the scythes looked more like twisted human arms.
Wang Tanzhi swallowed and lowered his head to look at his fruit knife and then at the monster's arms. Instantly, he was swallowed by a sense of shame.
"It feels like it has evolved after consuming some strange chemicals…" Feng Bujue climbed down from the roof of the car while holding the wrench.
"I'll charge forward and try to lure it to the ground. When there's an opening, try to attack it from the sides." Long Aomin moved forward while giving his plan. Unlike Feng Bujue, he did not have much humor in him during this moment.
Unfortunately, Long Aomin's tactic failed. Perhaps the monster knew human speech, or maybe its intelligence was higher than they expected, but the monster baby ignored Long Aomin, and with a bend of its legs, it jumped into the air, leaving behind two holes in the shapes of hooves on the car roof. It flew through the air, jumping over the three people, aiming for Mr. Loneliest and Ms. Saddest, who were huddled under the streetlight.
At that moment, Long Aomin wanted to activate his earlier skill to aid the two, but his hands were tied. The skill, Lightning Bash, that he used earlier to help Feng Bujue was a special power given to him due to the title of 'The Intrepid Charger'. The consumption for activating this skill was thirty percent of his maximum Stamina Points, and the cooldown was a stunning one hour.
The 'title system' would be explained later, but in any case, the only person who could save Mr. Loneliest and Ms. Saddest at that moment was themselves.
Seeing the monster lunge at the two defenseless players through the sky, with its arms lashing, the other three all ran toward them. But the monster was like a meteor crashing through the sky. The speed from the bounce of its powerful legs was not something that could be matched by the players' speed.
"Run toward us! Lower your head!" Feng Bujue yelled. This was naturally a command for Mr. Loneliest and Ms. Saddest, and it was the correct response. Regardless of whether they backed away or ran to the sides, at least one of them would be killed once the monster landed on the ground. Standing there frozen or trying to fight back would cause them to die even faster.
Only by lowering their bodies and charging forward, trying to get close to the other three in the few moments the monster needed to change its direction, would the two have a chance to survive.
During this dangerous moment, the order that was given in a deep and powerful voice was remarkably effective. Those who were frozen in fear would often follow the orders given to them without thinking. As expected, after hearing that, Mr. Loneliest immediately grabbed Ms. Saddest, pushed her head down, and rolled forward.
When the monster landed, the two just so happened to slide away underneath it and were standing behind it. The scythes hit thin air, and that made the monster agitated. Its hooves stomped against the ground. It leaped and turned, using only two seconds to reach the escaping pair.
But the monster was unlucky. By then, the large man had already arrived. With a jump, he leaped to stop the assault of the monster. A gray, metallic shield blocked the monster's way.
The empowered scythes slashed against the shield and created metallic echoes. Unfortunately, its attacks only managed to create some sparks on the shield; it barely left a dent. Seeing that, the monster slowed down its attack and started to retreat.
———
Item Name: Ultron's Fragment
Item Type: Armor
Quality: Excellent
Defensive Points: Quite Strong
Element: Reflex
Special Effect: None
Remark: After a generation of Ultron was destroyed, it left behind a chip. It was originally the size of a thumb, and it was added into the recipe when making this shield. The shield seems to be stronger than other mass-produced shields of a similar model, but multiple experiments have proved that it might not be so. There is no clear data to support this hypothesis.
———
The shield was powerful, and compared to Feng Bujue's wrench, it was able to shine brighter during the early stages of the game. The monster slowly stopped its attack because it understood that if it continued its assault, the one taking damage would be itself.
The monster decided to ignore Long Aomin and used its speed to circle around this wall. Alas, it had wasted too much time. A man wearing a black helmet and armed with a fruit knife had sneaked behind it…
Due to the weak weapon and the lack of courage, Wang Tanzhi did not dare act recklessly. He circled around a car to hide behind the monster. Only then did he raise his weapon and aim right at the monster's spine. It was unclear whether his medical knowledge influenced his decision to aim at this spot that would have incapacitated the monster even if the hit did not kill it.
With a scream, black blood spurted out and drenched Wang Tanzhi's face, but the monster still had a breath in it, and it tried to struggle.
Right then, a wrench came in from the side and poked through the monster's left eye.