https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-157-The-Protagonist-s-Advance-Part-2-/13547010/
Chapter 156: The Protagonist Strikes (Part 1)
Chapter 156: The Protagonist Strikes (Part 1)
"Welcome to Terrifying Paradise."
[Loading completed. You are now entering Team Survival Mode (Common).]
[This mode provides a Scenario Overview, with chances to encounter Side Quests, Hidden Tasks, and Special World Views.]
[Scenario Clearance Reward: Randomly select one skill card that can be learned.]
[Scenario Briefing will now play. The game starts immediately after completion.]
Feng Bu Jue entered the state of watching the opening CG from a first-person perspective again. A distant landscape appeared before him: a common rural settlement nestled beside mountains and rivers. The outskirts revealed fields and forests, while the town itself boasted complete modern facilities—schools, shopping streets, residences, office buildings... This settlement stirred a sense of unease in Feng Bu Jue, reminding him faintly of Hirata's hometown.
[Cherry Blossom Town—a secluded haven far removed from urban chaos.]
[In this tranquil settlement lingers a local legend.]
[About thirty years ago, during the first days of November, the town police station received multiple missing persons reports. Several young men and women vanished without trace, all last seen on the same day—October 31st.]
[No bodies, no corpses. Initially, everyone assumed these youths had eloped or run away to places beyond the settlement. Yet year after year, there was never any news. Worse still, from that day forward, similar cases occurred every year on the same date...]
[All evidence suggests the missing never left the settlement... Thus, the police launched a thorough investigation.]
[Though the police collected mountains of witness statements from residents, the investigation remained at a standstill. The only "clue" came from superstitious whispers of elderly townsfolk...]
[The "Resentment Well's Curse" theory emerged from this investigation.]
[Legendary... Deep in the mountains lies a Cursed Well at an Abandoned Shrine. On the last night of October, music from the Land of the Dead rises from the well. Those who hear this melody will come to the shrine and leap into the well.]
"They'll never return", elders claimed, "because they've entered 'Another World.'"]
[The investigation hit a dead end. Desperate, the police ventured into the mountains to search the Abandoned Shrine, where they surprisingly found several items left behind by the missing individuals.]
[On the night of October 31st that same year, a squad of officers staked out by the well to uncover the truth behind these "spirit-abduction" incidents. But they, too, never returned...]
[The case was indefinitely shelved. Local authorities banned villagers from entering the mountains at night, sealing the shrine's well with cement.]
[Yet every late October, the disappearances continued...]
As the voiceover played, the camera slowly zoomed from a distant mountain view to a close-up of the mountain itself. A narrow path snaked upward through the woods at its base.
[Time passed. Decades later, Cherry Blossom Town expanded threefold in size and population. These disappearances faded into obscurity, and the Legendary tale was forgotten.]
[One autumn night, six young townsfolk came here, seeking to test their courage by visiting the mountain shrine. This night, coincidentally, was October 31st.]
"Testing courage?" Feng Bu Jue listened to the narration, muttering, "This is pure suicide!"
He assumed the briefing would end here, but suddenly, a system prompt similar to the "Seven Mysteries of the Campus" scenario appeared:
[From the scenario's start, the system will randomly select one member of your team to receive the "Protagonist's Grace."]
[A player with Protagonist's Grace will never be marked as "Dead", except in cases of: Terror Value overload disconnects, voluntary disconnects, or active scenario withdrawals. All other lethal events—monster attacks, fatal falls, Vitality Value depletion to zero—will be miraculously halted at the very last moment. This applies even if the survival probability is infinitesimally small or defies logic.]
[The Protagonist's Grace can transfer between players via various Special Flags. Experiment to discover its rules and use them wisely.]
[When team size drops to two or fewer members, the Protagonist's Grace disappears.]
[Current Protagonist's Grace holder: yongzhe wudi.]
With this explanation complete, the scenario officially began.
Five people stood beside Feng Bu Jue. One he recognized immediately—yongzhe wudi, the fellow he'd once tricked. Yongzhe wudi was an Order Studio player assigned to research and gather intelligence on "fist" martial arts proficiency during the Closed Beta Phase. His role hadn't changed, though he'd risen to Level 23 and his title shifted from [Rash Brawler] to [Xingyi Martial Artist].
Of the remaining four, two were also Order members. One, [meng jing chan], Level 23, titled [Cold-Faced Killer], pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and exhaled a smoke ring while smoothing his sleekly permed waves.
The third Order member was a female player, undeniably beautiful with full red lips, clear teeth, and a delicate face framed by black hair. She wore Order's standard white coat over a crisp teal suit. Her nickname, [Ye Zhi], was likely a homophone for her real-world name. At Level 20 with the [First Aid Medic] title, she was clearly a Medical Proficiency specialist.
The final two players were both males, Level 10/8. One called himself [Copernicus], the other [Galileo], their titles equally grand: [Discoverer] and [Investigator]. They'd clearly entered together, though neither bore a Guild Emblem. Their appearance was unremarkable—wearing cheap-looking common T-shirts and pants slightly different from newbie gear.
To outsiders, they seemed like casual players with titles probably linked to Reconnaissance Proficiency. Their lack of Guild affiliation suggested either incompetence (too weak to get recruited) or poverty (too broke to start one). Their clothing confirmed the latter. Their actual skill level remained uncertain.
But Feng Bu Jue saw two extremes as possibilities for their true strength...
Feng Bu Jule considered two extreme possibilities. The first was that these two players might actually be Gms...
His experience from derivative being scenarios had at least confirmed one thing: derivative beings only appeared in team survival modes with six players. Although Pan Feng and Hua Xiong claimed the encounter probability was extremely low - and the chance of meeting one twice was practically zero - Feng Bu Jue had complete confidence in his notoriously bad luck.
If this scenario truly contained a derivative being, then these two players fit the GM stereotype perfectly from head to toe. Their moderate level, generic nicknames, and unassuming clothing were suspicious. Traveling in a duo without a guild emblem, their titles seemed deliberately chosen to blend in...
They appeared neither strong nor memorable, the kind of players who'd be easily forgotten after completing a scenario. Even if someone politely sent a friend request that got rejected, no one would think much of it.
The second extreme Feng Bu Jule considered was more likely - these two weren't Gms at all, just his overactive imagination working overtime. That would mean their capabilities were probably abysmal.
After all, Order's three-man combination was clearly no slouch. While Feng Bu Jule hadn't confirmed whether they were actual celebrity players, their overt strength indicators - levels and titles - suggested clear roles and formidable combat power. Their guild's dominance in two leaderboards also meant substantial guild buffs that should be factored into player strength calculations.
System-generated scenarios balanced team difficulty with rewards. Six top-tier players tackling an extremely difficult scenario was self-inflicted, but the current 3-2-1 player composition created high probability for mixed strengths. No game consisted entirely of elites - casual players always formed the overwhelming majority.
Feng Bu Jule's first team survival scenario with Long Ge exemplified this perfectly: one high-level powerhouse, two moderately capable lower-level players, and two mid-level newbies.
Thus, Feng Bu Jule's second hypothesis was that two extremely unskilled players had slipped into this party. These players were likely too weak to get guild invitations, resorting to spending game currency on cheap costumes for attribute boosts while unable to establish their own guild.
Regardless of which extreme proved true, this scenario wouldn't be "easy." Privately, Feng Bu Jule hoped they weren't Gms. Even if they played poorly, following orders during critical moments would still allow successful completion. If they were actually administrators though, the scenario difficulty would become terrifying...
"Oi! It's you!" Yongzhe Wudi recognized Feng Bu Jule and approached.
"Brother Wudi, hope you've been well", Feng Bu Jule greeted.
"Tch! Don't get familiar with me", Yongzhe Wudi wasn't stupid. Previously he'd suspected Usher House scenario's success relied on Si Yu, Bei Ling, and Long Ao Min, but seeing Feng Bu Jule's 【scenario explorer】 title now made everything clear. "Breaking doors down? Removing door handles? You pretended to be weak pretty well. After I died, you actually succeeded?"
"Your demise wasn't exactly in my calculations", Feng Bu Jule smiled. "Though splitting up at scenario start to expand search area was definitely wise. Later events proved that..."
"Yeah yeah... Don't explain. I don't even know what happened after", Yongzhe Wudi interrupted. "Last time I underestimated you first. This time I'll call you senior brother, okay? Just stop playing dumb and help us complete the scenario properly."
"You're flattering me", Feng Bu Jule said politely while smirking.
"Is this your friend, Wudi?" Meng Jing Chan approached, somehow already holding a small beer bottle from his satchel.
"Ah... Not really. We met once in a previous scenario", Yongzhe Wudi replied before turning back to Feng Bu Jule. "Hey? Your title suggests you're purely puzzle-solving type?" A reasonable assumption since even Order lacked players like Feng Bu Jule who maintained balanced proficiency level growth and combined combat with strategy.
"I prefer puzzle-solving", Feng Bu Jule said. "Though I wouldn't say my combat skills are completely weak."
"Oh? So you're both brain and brawn?" Meng Jing Chan said, then sighed before Feng Bu Jule could respond, "Ah... Youth is wasted on the young. Don't look at me like this... I used to be cool, handsome, and arrogant too..."
"Brother Chan", Feng Bu Jule's mouth twitched, "you're only in your twenties now, and already smoking, drinking, and balding..."
Even Yongzhe Wudi felt awkward: "That's his catchphrase. Don't take it seriously..."
The six chatted briefly in place, exchanging specialties. During this, Feng Bu Jule discreetly used 【know your enemy】 once. The boss data revealed:
【Name: Resentment Well】
【Race: ???】
【Level: 30】
【Depth: ???】
【Well Mouth Diameter: 122 centimeters】
【Combat Method: Illusion】
【Weakness: Becomes common dry well when power supply is cut】
【Skills: Soul Swallowing】
【Danger Level: High】
This information aligned perfectly with the scenario overview's well description, though the "Weakness" entry warranted deeper consideration. Cutting the Resentment Well's power supply would apparently neutralize it, but where exactly did this well draw its power from?
If its energy source existed in "another world", would players need to get swallowed first before disrupting its power from that side? Not only did the "swallowing" action likely cause instant death, but even if someone survived and successfully destroyed the well's power supply, they'd never return since the Resentment Well would become an ordinary well, severing the interdimensional connection.
A more plausible hypothesis suggested the well's energy originated from this world, hidden somewhere within this settlement or mountains. Discovering this truth would complete the scenario.
Approximately five minutes after the scenario overview ended - just as the group prepared to depart - the system's quest prompt sounded appropriately:
【Main Quest Triggered】
【Enter the mountains to locate the Abandoned Shrine.】
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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