https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-521-Sagging-Shoulder-Star-People/13548487/
Chapter 520: Freedom Explore Mode
Chapter 520: Freedom Explore Mode
【Scenario completed, calculating rewards.】
【Gained experience points: 340,000, game currency: 100,000】
【Gained item/equipment: Must-Break Armor Blade, flashlight, Small Mirror.】
【Completed/Accepted tasks: 6/6】
【Special/hidden tasks completed: 0, Unlocked world view: None】
【Terror Value surge: 0 times, Maximum Terror Value: 0%, Average Terror Value: 0%】
【Your Fear Rating is Fearless, eligible for an additional reward. Please select later.】
【Gained skill points: 1,224】
【Skill Points Bonus: Experience 12,240, game currency 100,000】
【Scenario clearance reward: Puzzle Piece Card x2】
【Settlement completed. Please continue.】
As soon as Feng Bu Jue returned to the Login Space, the settlement information swiftly appeared on the touchscreen.
"Ahh... Perfect, a hundred-something words just slipped through like that..." Feng Bu Jue muttered a nonsensical remark. We'll politely ignore him.
"Well... Let's check the rewards first." After viewing the settlement screen, Feng Bu Jue headed straight into the storage room.
Two glass columns awaited him, ready to bestow his rewards.
Feng Bu Jue approached the first glass column to claim his scenario clearance rewards: 【Puzzle Piece Card - Banana】 and 【Puzzle Piece Card - Plunger】. Testing them, he found they couldn't form a deck with his existing 【Puzzle Piece Card - Strawberry】, so he temporarily stored both cards in the warehouse.
Next, he moved to the second glass column. A familiar interface materialized before him: 【Please select your extra reward: (1) Randomly draw equipment appropriate to your level, (2) 50,000 game currency (cap), (3) 17,200,000 experience points】.
"Seventeen point two million..." Feng Bu Jue murmured as he studied the menu. "At the thirty-level bracket, this amount of experience should let a player jump four levels, right?" As he spoke, he'd already selected the equipment reward.
White light condensed. The item gradually solidified into form.
【Name: Manga Artist's Tuxedo】
【Type: Armor】
【Quality: Common】
【Defense: ★★★】
【Attribute: None】
【Special Effect: Always appears as fresh and new as the day it was purchased】
【Equipment Condition: Universal Proficiency B, bound on pickup】
【Background: Dammit, the single-volume sales were decent, and I even got a serialization in Weekly Young Jump... So why wasn't I invited to last year's banquet?! I even bought a tuxedo! Turns out the system never planned to invite comic doujinshi artists to begin with...】
"What the hell?!" Feng Bu Jue stared at the item description, stunned. "Can this even count as equipment? This absolutely wasn't generated by the system, right? Some programmer just decided to flex their creativity again? Was the designer behind the 'Rotten Egg' skills involved here? Maybe management should have a heart-to-heart with these overzealous developers during downtime?"
This equipment was clearly destined for the shop. With its Common quality, even the shredder wouldn't accept it.
With that, Feng Bu Jue finished his rant and carried the item to the mall.
Nowadays, Feng Bu Jue was a "superstar"-level character. At the very least within Terrifying Paradise, his popularity rivaled any top-tier player. After discussing with his companions, he'd even changed his usual mall access code...
Previously, members of the Hell Front operated around Mall Exit 10. Now they'd moved to Exit 101, a more secluded area where crowds thinned noticeably, effectively avoiding onlookers.
Of course, "fewer people" was relative - the phase space's fundamental principle always diverted unassigned players toward less crowded zones. Even so-called "existing" areas still contained at least a hundred players at any given moment.
"Hehe, look! The guy in the purple suit! Could it be...?"
"Oh! Is that Mad Bu Jue?"
"Double-check. Lately, tons of people copy his look. Some even mimic his hairstyle!"
"No way, he looks exactly like the videos I saw!"
"Really? Let me check... Hmm... Face-to-face, he doesn't seem that special."
"Don't talk nonsense. There's rumors he's a real-life Classkiller..."
"I heard he's actually a patient from the madhouse?"
Conversations like this swirled around Feng Bu Jue's ears from all directions.
Under the burning gazes and hushed whispers of nearby players, Feng Bu Jue quickened his pace toward the system store. He retrieved the tuxedo, flashlight, and Small Mirror from his satchel, sold the useless items, then quietly and swiftly returned the way he came.
"Sigh... What a hassle..." Back in the Login Space, Feng Bu Jue sighed deeply. "Going to the mall feels like sneaking around like a thief these days..." He scratched his head, tapping the touchscreen. "Hmm... Recent harassment emails have dropped off. Guess the new update distracted the public. Or maybe my blacklist just got too full?"
Multitasking, he deleted spam emails while pondering his next move.
"Another Nightmare scenario?" Feng Bu Jue muttered while scanning the screen. "Or..." He deleted the newly arrived emails in a flash, then pulled up the mode selection interface. "Come to think of it, this new mode definitely intrigues me..."
At this thought, Feng Bu Jue had already made his decision.
After all, he was currently in Sleep Mode, hadn't played during daytime hours, and had no risk of exceeding real-world gaming limits. Next, he'd have ample time to wander through the Freedom Explore Mode world.
【Mad Bu Jue, Level 43】
【Please select your game mode.】
【You've chosen Freedom Explore Mode.】
【Entering this mode costs 20,000 game currency. Confirm operation.】
【Confirmed...】
【This is your first time joining this mode. Searching multiverse randomly...】
【Search completed. Connecting to multiverse...】
【Loading started, please wait.】
The elevator began moving after those words appeared on the screen.
"Welcome to Terrifying Paradise." This time, the greeting came directly from the system voice.
Feng Bu Jue muttered, "This feels just like entering a regular scenario... no difference at all..."
【Loading completed. You are now entering Freedom Explore Mode.】
【This mode has no task system, no time limit, and no passive play detection.】
【You may travel between the Login space and the scenario world through the 'Safety Room' (each entry will consume 20,000 game currency).】
【Scenario has begun. Please leave this safety room within five minutes.】
The moment the voice finished, the elevator doors opened...
Outside was a cavern-like space with irregular rock walls and ceiling. Directly opposite the elevator stood a massive steel door embedded into the rock face. Naturally, it was closed.
In one corner of the cave sat a strange device about the size of a refrigerator, emitting the rhythmic thumping sound typical of old machinery. This appeared to be a generator, with cables snaking from its base to power several basic light fixtures scattered around the cave.
Stepping out of the elevator, Feng Bu Jue scanned the area. The so-called "Safety Room" was completely empty, serving merely as a buffer zone between the Login space elevator door and the outer world's gate.
Once he fully entered the safety room, a text-heavy menu immediately popped up before his eyes. The subtitles rolled alongside the system voice: 【Before entering the Freedom Explore Mode world for the first time, please read the following information carefully.】
【A. Leaving the elevator officially begins your scenario journey. From this moment, returning to the elevator will count as "normal scenario exit."】
【B. You have a five-minute time limit inside the safety room. Leave through the outer gate or return to Login space before time runs out, or you will be forcibly teleported back to Login space, which also counts as "normal scenario exit."】
【C. Exiting the scenario from anywhere outside the safety room (including but not limited to death, forced exit, disconnection, etc.) will result in penalties to your game currency, skill points, and experience points. Upon re-entry, you will return to your last recorded safety room.】
【D. You may only use the safety room's gate once per hour (whether entering or exiting). Skills or items used in the safety room cannot affect people or objects outside.】
【E. Any items you wish to take out of this world can be carried in hand or stored in your satchel while in the safety room. To bring living creatures into the safety room, ensure you have claimed ownership and stored them in your satchel first.】
【F. All conscious entities within the scenario world, including player-summoned creatures, are prohibited from entering or exiting the safety room. Refer to Clause E for exceptions.】
【G. Entering the Freedom Explore Mode world always consumes 20,000 game currency. If you're dissatisfied with your assigned universe or wish to change after prolonged exploration, you may reallocate for 500,000 game currency.】
"Ah... always emphasizing the 20,000 game currency cost... mentioned three times already." Feng Bu Jue spent just a few seconds scanning the familiar warnings. He'd seen most of these details in the patch notes, and the rest could be found in the fine print. He quickly closed the menu.
"But... if they didn't emphasize this, there'd probably be endless trouble." As he spoke, he walked toward the outer gate.
His reasoning held truth. For instance, some players might try walking back and forth across the elevator threshold or repeatedly spam skills inside the safety room. Of course, this would result in teleportation penalties, and those players would inevitably complain about losing 20,000 game currency. Though essentially their own fault for ignoring the game instructions, they'd stubbornly blame others. These days, plenty of people would sue someone or some institution even after getting struck by lightning on the street, just trying to recoup their losses.
"No door lock either... seems like it." Standing before the thick steel gate leading outside, Feng Bu Jue observed the simple door handle with no keyhole - just turn and open.
"Right, nothing from the outside can enter anyway." He twisted the handle and pushed the door open.
Beyond lay a narrow, elongated tunnel carved from rock in all directions. No illumination devices here - the tunnel's end disappeared into the distance.
Without hesitation, Feng Bu Jue retrieved his 【Compound Anti-Gravity Launcher】 from his satchel. After activating the front-mounted spotlight, he started forward.
He'd taken just a few steps when - Whumph! - the safety room door slammed shut behind him.
A mark painted in the center of the steel door's outer surface: a simple circle enclosing the character "Shock" (Jīng).
"Hmm... might as well test it." Feng Bu Jue didn't even comment on the strange symbol. Instead, he approached the door, reached for the handle.
【Sorry, you've recently entered/exited through this door. Please try again in 59:34 seconds.】 The system prompt and subtitles appeared simultaneously, and the handle wouldn't budge.
"Fine..." Feng Bu Jue shrugged casually.
He placed the anti-gravity launcher on the ground, then turned toward the empty air ahead. With a sharp shout, he launched a double-fisted strike from both sides.
After releasing his first 【Wild Ball Fist】, he paused in thought: "Hmm... since there's no time limit or passive play detection, maybe I could just sit here and punch once every hour..." Calculating mentally, "That way, I'd level up after 59 hours of practice. In real time, that's just five hours and 54 minutes - roughly one night's gaming. If I keep this up for ten nights, I'll become unstoppable..."
Shaking his head immediately, he scoffed, "Hah! Like that could ever work!"
Indeed, such a method was impossible for Feng Bu Jue. He was an adventurer by nature, a restless soul for whom boredom was worse than any punishment. Besides, that wasn't playing the game - it was the game playing him. He wasn't some hardcore player who'd endure this kind of grind.
"Sigh... Workhorse destiny. Let's move on." Picking up his anti-gravity launcher, he resumed his journey.
The rocky tunnel ahead twisted and turned far longer than expected. Fortunately, his equipment and skills were fully prepared. Fearless of anything, he could even face down a Predator if needed.
"Now that I think about it... this mode really is ultra-'free'..." Feng Bu Jue mused while walking. "Not even a plot summary! Theoretically speaking, I might already be shrunk a hundredfold, crawling through some insect's nest..." He paused. "Or maybe I'm on an alien planet?"
As he pondered these possibilities, suddenly...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
