Chapter 176: Despicable Me (Part 1)
Chapter 176: Despicable Me (Part 1)
"Mad Bu Jue, Level 18."
"Please select your game mode."
"You have selected Singleplayer Survival Mode (Common) (Nightmare). Please confirm."
"Confirmed. Generating scenario..."
"Loading started, please wait."
"Welcome to Terrifying Paradise." This time, the voice startled Feng Bu Jue slightly—it was his own voice speaking.
"Loading completed. You are now entering Singleplayer Survival Mode (Common) (Nightmare)."
"This mode provides a scenario overview and has a chance to trigger side quests/hidden tasks and special world views."
"Scenario clearance reward: Randomly select one usable fine-grade equipment."
"Scenario briefing will now play. Game starts immediately after completion."
The clearance reward for Nightmare Difficulty was indeed impressive. Last time, Hirata's scenario rewarded him with drawing two puzzle piece cards. This time, it was direct equipment. However, Feng Bu Jue primarily chose this scenario to kill time between 10:30 PM and early morning—his awkward Non-Sleep Mode gaming hours. As for actually clearing it, he wasn't holding out much hope himself...
"Overlapping space-time, death game, endless horror, cyclical nightmare."
No opening CG. The system voice only delivered this cryptic message before Feng Bu Jue suddenly found himself standing in a wooden corridor, free to move.
The corridor's floor and walls were made of thick wooden planks—sturdy and unyielding. The overall tone was brown—not spotless, but reasonably clean without moldy odors or messy stains. Illumination devices were embedded in the ceiling at regular intervals. Looking ahead, there were no dizzying wallpapers, carpets, decorations, or doors—just a ten-point dull corridor.
"What a joke of a scenario overview..." Feng Bu Jue muttered, instinctively patting his pockets. If a Walkman had popped out with a cassette message, things would’ve made more sense.
"Hello, Feng Bu Jue. Let's play a game."
Suddenly, that voice cut through—the iconic, raspy growl from the Saw franchise. Feng Bu Jue looked up to see a camera and square speaker embedded in the corner where the ceiling met the wall, nearly three meters high.
"Is that sadistic Saw guy back again?" Feng Bu Jue stared at the camera, his expression tightening with pressure.
The voice paused a second before continuing, "You've always treated solving mysteries as a game, believing every challenge has rules and answers.
Gathering information and logical reasoning have become your habits. You believe that aside from unavoidable physical confrontations, all problems can be solved with your mind.
But soon, you'll learn how wrong that belief is.
Right now, a toxin has been injected into your body..."
At this, Feng Bu Jue immediately opened his game menu. Sure enough, the [Poisoned] status effect was active—exactly like his previous encounter with the Saw scenario.
"The moment the poison activates, you'll be deemed to have failed. Even *-500 won't neutralize this toxin." The voice crushed Feng Bu Jue's first instinctive countermeasure—using universal antidotes.
"You have ninety-two minutes to find four unique chemical reagents. Mix them to create an antidote." The voice laid out the rules, "During this time, you'll encounter people and witness events. Everything you see or hear may alter your actions and cloud your judgment."
Feng Bu Jue had already used [Know Your Enemy], hoping to scan the boss's data—but nothing appeared.
"As a special favor to our old friendship, I'll spare you from combat factors, letting you focus purely on puzzlesolving." The voice concluded, "Now, the game begins."
[Special item acquired *2]
[Main quest triggered]
[Find Chemical Reagents (0/4)]
While Feng Bu Jue was still mulling over the "old friendship" remark, system prompts flooded in.
"Old friend?" He muttered, "So it really is that Saw guy from before? The one who could transfer task items between scenarios?" Suddenly he paused, "Wait... no. Last time, I played as a reporter named Arthur Sieger. Now he's calling me Feng (Mad) Bu Jue directly... If the name changed, how can he call himself an old friend?"
As he pondered, Feng Bu Jue opened his menu to check his satchel, curious about this "special favor."
What he saw made his eyes widen.
[Name: One-Shot Pistol]
[Type: Weapon]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Attack Power: ???]
[Attribute: None]
[Special Effect: Instant Kill]
[Equipment Condition: Shooting Proficiency F]
[Can be taken out of scenario]
[Background: This gun has infinite bullets, none of its parts can be disassembled or reloaded. When shooting, only one bullet needs to be fired at the target. As long as you roughly aim, pulling the trigger guarantees a hit that will instantly kill.]
Feng Bu Jue's first thought upon seeing this item was: After the scenario ends, I must check the Scare Box to see how its attributes and price change...
The second item was equally shocking:
[Name: Contra Medal *4]
[Type: Plot-Related]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Function: Can substitute player death (cannot be traded, discarded, or removed from satchel)]
[Can be taken out of scenario]
[Background: Strange... why not thirty lives? Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, B, A...]
"What the hell is going on..." Feng Bu Jue muttered, his lips twitching as he stared at these items. "This isn't just favoritism from an old friend—it's legitimate son treatment!" He paused, "Judging by this, it's pure puzzle-solving ahead. And judging by the difficulty... this level must be as hard as hell."
He quickly reviewed the situation. The information was minimal, yet strange—why would this boss give him four extra lives and an instant-kill weapon, but no simple timer item? Ninety-two minutes was a long time. Did this guy even know he could count time in his head? Wait... He probably knows what's in my satchel and their effects too—otherwise how could he preemptively state *-500 was useless?
Feng Bu Jue didn't dwell long, quickly moving forward. From scenario entry, rule explanation, item inspection, and strategizing—it had only taken him under five minutes.
Originally, he hadn't expected much from this Nightmare Difficulty solo instance. But now, things had changed. That voice in the broadcast had successfully caught his interest. Call him combat power level five trash—he wouldn't care. But don't say he's bad at puzzles, then hand him such powerful items while smugly implying "you still won't clear it."
Feng Bu Jue, a man afflicted with both Reading Compulsion and reasoning addiction, would never back down from such a challenge. He'd relentlessly unravel every mystery, charging straight to the boss's lair just to glare and declare, "Kneel before me", before considering the matter settled.
………
Feng Bu Jue had started near a wall, meaning he only had one path forward.
After marching steadily for about five or six minutes, the corridor's scenery remained unchanged—repeating endlessly. Looking ahead or behind revealed perfect symmetry, like a mirror. Any player spinning in circles here would quickly lose their bearings.
Further ahead, the corridor finally opened into a wider fan-shaped area. Connected directly to the corridor without doors, the space expanded outward with walls slanting diagonally. Directly opposite stood a curved wall with four evenly spaced doorways, each framed by open doors. Beyond them stretched identical corridors matching the one Feng Bu Jue had just traversed.
"Pfft… This is it? I thought there'd be some complex labyrinth or tricky puzzles. Turns out it's just four paths leading to four potions. Each road ends in a room for some claustrophobic self-harm game. Hmph… What's so special about this?" Feng Bu Jue scoffed, venting his irritation.
But suddenly, he heard frantic footsteps and ragged breathing echoing from the leftmost door. As the sounds grew louder, someone shouted, "You're wrong! Everything's wrong!"
Recognizing the voice but staying cautious, Feng Bu Jue gripped his pipe wrench and one-shot pistol, ready to fight or kill whoever emerged.
A moment later, a bloodied man in a purple long coat stumbled into the chamber—another Feng Bu Jue.
A memory flashed: [You'll meet people, witness events—what you see and hear may alter your actions and cloud your judgment.]
Remaining calm, Feng Bu Jue rationalized: "This could be a hallucination, a clone, a mimic… This is Nightmare-tier in Terrifying Paradise. Anything's possible."
The injured Feng Bu Jue showed no surprise, as if expecting this encounter. Before he could finish shouting, "Don't—" a gunshot rang out. A bullet tore through his neck, silencing him mid-sentence.
Feng Bu Jue lunged forward, reaching for his *-500 vitality value supplements, but the wounded man dissolved into white light—the same fate as a defeated player.
"Was he just a hallucination… or a version from another timeline?" Feng Bu Jue's mind raced through [overlapping space-time, death games, endless horror, cyclical nightmares].
Glancing at the empty floor, he narrowed his eyes at the corridor. "If that was me, why did he die? Could a bullet to the neck kill me? Did he run out of vitality value supplements?" A chilling realization hit: "One-shot pistol…"
Gripping his weapon tighter, he edged beside the doorway. "Hey! Shooter! Are you me?!" His absurd question echoed oddly—tiny sounds carried far, but voices only traveled short distances without echoes.
Receiving no reply, he strained to listen. No footsteps followed the shot. Someone likely waited silently, gun aimed, ready to snipe any reckless head peeking out.
"Maybe that clone was just a trick", Feng Bu Jue mused. "Or this whole scene—an illusion? No corpse, no bullet holes… How do I prove any of it happened?"
Yet doubts gnawed: "What if I'm right? If that was my future self… What then? He'd know my every move, my thoughts, my decisions. So why kill his past self? What did he mean by 'You're wrong'?"
Cold sweat dripped. "Which timeline matters more? Which 'me' is making the right call?" He'd never faced such a paradox.
"Ha… Haha…" A bitter laugh escaped. "Only I could outwit myself." Holstering his weapon, he declared, "I surrender! Come out, talk, kill—whatever! I trust my choices… and my future self."
With Contra Medal as his safety net, he finally understood: the four medals and handgun were merely basic tools for surviving this scenario.
(End of Chapter)
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