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Chapter 108: Pili Prologue
Chapter 108: Pili Prologue
【Feng Bu Jue, Level 15】
Please select your preferred game mode.
You have selected Kill Game Mode 1v1. Confirm?
Confirmed. Generating scenario…
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Feng Bu Jue’s vision dissolved into darkness. Lines of text floated into view, scrolling upward alongside a voiceover:
Kill Game Mode focuses on player-versus-player combat. While the scenario’s inherent horror elements are reduced, any world setting or objective may emerge. The map’s scale and layout will adjust dynamically based on player count and abilities.
You may view teammates and opponents’ names, levels, and survival statuses in the team interface.
The Team Survival Mode’s player interaction rules (Sections A–E) still apply. Click the link below if you need a review.
Above instructions shown only for first-time entry into Kill Game Mode. Enjoy your match.
Feng Bu Jue frowned at the prompt. Instead of the usual “Welcome to Terrifying Paradise,” a male voice with a thick Minnan accent boomed: “Make your enemy tremble. Let them taste true terror!”
The scenario’s opening line changed—this wasn’t the standard script. Moments later, the next prompt appeared:
Loading completed. You are now in Kill Game Mode.
This mode features scenario overviews, potential side quests/hiden tasks, and special world settings.
Scenario Victory Reward: 50 Skill Points.
Scenario briefing will now play. Match starts immediately.
A cinematic unfolded. Feng Bu Jue stood in a desolate expanse, moonlight casting an eerie glow over flat stone terrain. To his right, a cliffside hung with mummified corpses and skeletons. The misty night painted a scene of haunting bleakness.
Then came the scenario overview—a voiceover that defied belief:
“The Demon Realm’s legendary scourge stains the Pili Divine Continent. The Xuan Sect’s prodigies shake the mortal world. Xuan Yuan seeks a single defeat across lifetimes. The Ghost General remakes creation anew.”
“What the hell is this… Pili Divine Continent?” Feng Bu Jue’s gut tightened.
“The Eroding Moon Night—a sorrowful haze under dim stars. A Fate Lantern hangs low, its ghostly green glow haunting, like a vision of hell. Beneath the Wall of the Hanged, storm winds roar. Two warriors from distant realms face each other—one tense but resolute, the other coldly silent, sword drawn.”
Who will triumph? Who will fall? Who dies? Who lives?
“Dead serious, huh?” Feng Bu Jue muttered. “Judging by the pattern, is this really an ambush right out the gate?”
He’d guessed right.
The scenario briefing ended after those few lines. Feng Bu Jue regained control and immediately scanned his surroundings. A hundred meters behind him, a figure stood—his opponent, turning toward him simultaneously.
Main Quest Triggered: Eliminate all members of the enemy team.
Hidden Task Triggered: Craft your own poetic war cry to obtain a corresponding psionic weapon.
System announcements blared one after another. Feng Bu Jue groaned. This hidden task had surfaced instantly. Worse, its description implied an in-scenario reward. What kind of twisted logic was this?
In truth, this system mechanic existed to spare players like Feng Bu Jue an instant defeat.
Kill Game Mode 1v1 often featured straightforward encounters—quick brawls decided in minutes. Victors earned meager rewards; losers left with nothing but scraps of Skill Points from combat. Exceptions existed, of course. Some 1v1 scenarios stretched for hours or even days, like two sharpshooters battling across a vast island laced with dense forests, secret research labs, and pirate forts. Such cases offered richer side quests and better rewards.
In 2v2, 3v3, or free-for-all modes, scenarios grew complex. The system might split players into rival factions or drop them into sprawling, rules-heavy environments—like the infamous Seven Campus Mysteries—favoring tacticians who thrived on strategy.
But in 1v1, simplicity reigned. Martial specialists dominated. Puzzle-solvers like Feng Bu Jue were at a glaring disadvantage.
Thankfully, the hidden task evened the odds—fairly, for both sides. If his opponent lacked cunning, Feng Bu Jue might prevail. But if his foe combined brains and brawn…
Feng Bu Jue had drawn the worst hand. His opponent was Kuangzong Jianying of the Jianghu guild—a trio of Jianghu Studio’s elite players alongside guild leader Xiao Wen Cang Tian and star class-player Wu Dao Ke, collectively known as the “Three Swordsmen: Swordless, Laughing Master, and Bladeless.”
Even The Gods, a studio renowned for its combat specialists, acknowledged their prowess. Both The Gods and rival titan Order had repeatedly tried to poach them—Order even drafting a merger plan to acquire Jianghu Studio itself. The deal collapsed, of course. No board would fund a corporate buyout for three players, especially if they quit afterward to form their own studio.
Kuangzong Jianying could easily crack the top 20 of any combat leaderboard. Yet he’d never logged in during Closed Beta, only starting at Open Beta’s launch. Like Feng Bu Jue, he’d just hit Level 15 and entered Kill Game Mode for the first time.
But unlike Order’s late-joining elites, Kuangzong’s delay hadn’t stemmed from disinterest. He’d simply been unavailable.
Jianghustudio started as a grassroots company in real life, its early scale roughly matching the four-person team of Jibu Shao Ye's Hiei Studio. Xiao Wen Cang Tian, Wu Dao Ke, and Kuangzong Jianying comprised Jianghustudio's original workforce. Unlike Jibu Shao Ye, who came from a wealthy family, these three had borrowed money from banks and relatives to start the business. If the studio failed, the most likely worst-case scenario would see their parents joining them on the streets while fleeing debt collectors.
Fortunately, they succeeded. Through their own efforts and management, the trio grew Jianghustudio into an industry leader. After repaying their debts, they moved into a dedicated office building and expanded their staff to over a hundred employees. From struggling beginners, they'd become respected young entrepreneurs.
Yet in the world of elite players, retirement rarely feels voluntary. This world resembled a "jianghu" martial realm—could true experts simply walk away when their skills remained sharp? Few would willingly fade into obscurity while still capable of fighting.
Thus, the three leaders of the "Dagger, Sword, and Laughter" factions still took personal action. They managed both real-world operations and their in-game guilds. During Closed Beta testing, they'd been too busy expanding into new gaming projects to log in much. Even now, with everything still not fully stabilized, they could only check in briefly during nighttime hours.
Returning to the current Kill Game Mode match.
Feng Bu Jue facing Kuangzong Jianying in one-on-one combat revealed an important truth—the system clearly considered their strengths comparable...
In Kill Game Mode, the maximum player level difference allowed per match was five levels. Within any scenario, neither ally nor enemy could differ by six levels. Players separated by more than five levels couldn't even enter the queue together.
The system matched teams of similar strength in group battles, and balanced individual duels as well. Thus, theoretically, every Kill Game Mode match offered both sides a realistic chance of victory—including this one.
"Hmph... That guy clearly specializes in combat. This looks bad", Feng Bu Jue muttered, studying Kuangzong Jianying. The opponent wore a glossy black silk robe with his long hair tied in a topknot that flowed into a ponytail. His drawn sword shimmered with cold intent. Combined with the man's ID and the opening cinematic's line—"One stands silent and stern, sword at the ready"—Feng Bu Jue understood much about his opponent.
Kuangzong Jianying found Feng Bu Jue harder to read. The distant figure in the purple long coat looked like a Joker from Batman's universe, wielding a handgun in one hand and... a pipe wrench as his melee weapon.
Kuangzong Jianying wondered internally: What exactly was this guy? The purple coat didn't suggest a power-focused player. Carrying both a ranged weapon and a mechanical tool—perhaps he'd trained mechanics proficiency alongside shooting? The system prompt's "One hides his anxiety while waiting" must refer to him. So this calm facade masked inner uncertainty?
Their staring match didn't last long. Kuangzong Jianying moved first, confident in his abilities. Better to attack and test the waters. If the opponent proved weak, that would simply be his lucky day.
【"Ho!"】 A voice with a Minnan accent echoed around them. 【A mighty aura surged as Kuangzong Jianying lunged forward. Killing intent pierced the heavens, turning night darker as storm clouds gathered.】
"Wha—?" Both fighters reacted identically, surprised to hear a narrator describing their duel within this scenario.
Following the narration, the sky indeed darkened. Winds howled stronger, and moonlight vanished behind thick clouds.
"Whoa, you're serious!" Feng Bu Jue immediately bolted, abandoning any notion of direct confrontation after hearing that dramatic commentary.
Seeing his opponent flee, Kuangzong Jianying felt emboldened. This was his first time entering Kill Game Mode—his first real player battle since entering Terrifying Paradise. Previously, he'd worried about facing unknown strengths. But Feng Bu Jue's retreat clearly signaled weakness. Kuangzong Jianying now pressed forward aggressively, fully committed to the hunt.
【A dragon in motion, wings unfurled, escaping death with lightning speed! Feng Bu Jue, unable to withstand the onslaught, whirls and bolts in panic.】
【Sword like ocean waves, aura like crashing tides! Kuangzong Jianying's blade slashes like roaring waves, killing intent surging like storm clouds, power manifesting as divine wrath!】
"Are you kidding me? Even my retreat sounds epic!" Feng Bu Jue shouted while running.
Fifteen meters behind him, Kuangzong Jianying chuckled. "Once you accept the game's style, it's kind of fun, friend."
Bang!
Feng Bu Jue didn't respond, instead firing a blind shot backward that emptied his M1911A1's remaining chamber. He then swapped magazines mid-stride, pulling a fresh one from his coat's inner pocket.
"You're not much of a marksman", Kuangzong Jianying scoffed. The bullet hadn't even grazed him as he continued chasing.
Even if Feng Bu Jue stopped to aim, hitting a moving target would be difficult—especially while running himself. That shot hadn't aimed to hit anyway; it tested his opponent's reflexes.
Unfortunately for Feng Bu Jue, Kuangzong Jianying's reaction proved troubling. The man hadn't dodged at the gunshot or slowed his pursuit. This revealed two things: First, his mental discipline was ironclad—he'd suppressed natural flinches within the game. Second, he must possess some bullet-deflecting ability.
Worse still, he mocked Feng Bu Jue's marksmanship while chasing. Maintaining pace with Feng Bu Jue's "jazzy moves" while commenting aloud demonstrated undeniable physical superiority.
"Battle cry! Battle cry! Battle cry!" Feng Bu Jue chanted like a mantra, urging his mind to work faster. "Think fast... or I'm dead."
(End of Chapter)
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