Chapter 9
Chapter 9
The sudden events over those few seconds were the game’s way of greeting players at the start of the Newbie Tutorial.
Under normal circumstances, a person would be startled when their surroundings abruptly turned pitch-black without warning. The chilling voice that followed would make anyone’s spine tingle. And when the elevator suddenly lurched downward, even if just for a brief moment of weightlessness, it was enough to make one’s heart race in terror.
But Feng Bu Jue? He stood there, perfectly calm and utterly unfazed…
After the elevator jolted, it began descending at a normal speed. At this point, Feng Bu Jue’s vision automatically overlaid the game menu.
The game menu only appeared in the player’s field of view—it couldn’t illuminate the environment. Moreover, browsing the menu was a private action. Even if another player stood right beside you, they wouldn’t know whether you were studying options or just spacing out.
No system voice announced anything, but Feng Bu Jue saw text pop up on the menu: [You may open this menu anytime to check your character’s attributes, status, equipment, and items.]
Most of the menu was shrouded in shadows. When the text vanished, a portion in the top-left corner lit up, revealing three rectangular bars resembling health indicators.
An arrow appeared, pointing to the first bar—a fully charged green energy gauge. Subtitles materialized: [This is your Vitality Value, displayed as a percentage. Specific numerical values are hidden. If your Vitality Value drops to 0%, your character is considered dead. Current Vitality Value: 100%. Abnormal Status: None.]
The arrow shifted to the second energy bar, also green, but displaying numbers instead of a percentage: [This is your Stamina Value, with visible numerical values. This decreases when running, walking long distances, carrying heavy objects, fighting, or using skills. It can be restored through resting or items. Current Stamina Value: 100/100.]
The third bar was empty—this was what Feng Bu Jue needed to focus on: [This is your Terror Value, displayed as a percentage. If your Terror Value exceeds 100% for more than three seconds, your connection to the game will be forcibly disconnected, and your character is considered dead. Current Terror Value: 0%.]
Since Feng Bu Jue had read the basic settings online beforehand, he skimmed the content quickly. He had assumed other sections of the menu might unlock, but after about ten seconds, the menu vanished automatically. When he tried summoning it again, the shadowed areas remained unchanged.
Clearly, the Newbie Tutorial wasn’t just about reading text in a dark elevator and familiarizing oneself with the interface. Otherwise, the system wouldn’t have warned about the tutorial ending from a high Terror Value before entering.
Indeed, the elevator soon stopped. Darkness still surrounded him, the only sound his steady breathing.
Suddenly, the lights flickered on for a single second—just one second—before plunging back into darkness.
In that split second, Feng Bu Jue’s retinas captured a sight enough to make anyone scream and leap back in terror.
You should remember the elevator had a mirrored wall. During that brief illumination, Feng Bu Jue saw the mirror reflecting two figures.
One was obviously himself. The other… though only a glimpse, Feng Bu Jue was fairly certain it was a blood-soaked, upright creature.
It would have been better if the darkness had remained absolute. Instead, the fleeting glimpse left him with more dread than ignorance.
Another person might have screamed immediately, backing into a corner of the elevator or frantically punching and kicking the spot where the blood-stained figure had stood.
But Feng Bu Jue stood there, expressionless, muttering to himself: “Hmm… Since it’s a tutorial, the system probably won’t drop players into a deadly situation right away. At worst, they’ll lose some Vitality Value or get scared. Something must happen next to keep the game moving.”
As he thought this, a sliver of light pierced the elevator, quickly expanding. The elevator doors had opened on their own, releasing a stench of rot and mildew. Beyond lay a straight corridor. The ceiling was wooden, and the walls were covered in wallpaper with an eerie pattern resembling human eyes. The floor was carpeted in green. There were no windows or doors along the corridor—only wall lamps spaced at intervals, their glow dim and yellow.
The corridor seemed endless. The distant wall lamps looked like tiny grains of rice, their light fading beyond twenty meters. Further ahead was pure shadow—only by advancing could one see what lay beyond.
A normal person would have bolted the moment the elevator doors started opening. Feng Bu Jue, however, wasn’t in a hurry. To him, this dim corridor might not be any safer than the elevator. Now that the darkness had lifted, he wanted to turn around and clearly see the nature of the shadow beside him.
As Feng Bu Jue turned his head, he saw a blood-covered claw with hooked fingers lunging straight for his face. He barely dodged by ducking his neck, half-squatting before springing out of the elevator. Looking back, he finally saw the full figure of the shadow.
It was a skinless corpse, similar to a human muscle model in a biology classroom—but this one was alive, bleeding profusely from its exposed flesh.
The elevator doors were slowly closing. The skinless corpse tilted its head, its lips twisting into a grotesque smile. Its gaze locked onto Feng Bu Jue. As the doors nearly shut, it thrust an arm out, squeezing through the narrowing gap.
“According to standard logic, this is where I should run…” Feng Bu Jue mused. “But this thing doesn’t seem particularly strong. Maybe I should try fighting…?”
Just then, the skinless corpse stepped out of the elevator and roared fiercely. It swung at one of the corridor walls. The wallpaper and wooden panels shattered instantly, releasing a flood of cockroaches like a bursting dam—enough to fill a sack.
“You’re ruthless,” Feng Bu Jue muttered, immediately turning to run.
Since this was a tutorial, the primary goal wasn’t to kill players but to guide them forward. The skinless corpse’s action was essentially a time-waster, giving fleeing players more distance. The system had anticipated other scenarios too—like a player paralyzed with fear or someone attempting to fight the creature head-on in the light. In those cases, the creature’s attack would jolt the terrified into action or deter the reckless.
Of course, if a player was too scared to move or insisted on fighting, they’d likely face a Game Over and restart with a randomized Newbie Tutorial scenario.
“First, I probably can’t break walls. Second, even if I did, there’d be no escape route. Third, fighting this monster would be suicide. Great…” Feng Bu Jue mentally cataloged his predicament. Clearly, the Newbie Tutorial offered limited choices.
After running a significant distance, Feng Bu Jue spotted a thick wooden door at the corridor’s end.
He turned the handle—it opened! Without time to consider dangers beyond, he rushed through. The skinless corpse was close behind, leaving no room for hesitation. At this moment, Feng Bu Jue realized he should have bolted the moment the elevator opened. Lingering had made his escape far more urgent.
Slipping inside, he slammed the door shut. To his surprise, there was an iron bar on the inside. Without hesitation, he secured it—almost as the creature began pounding against the door.
Feng Bu Jue ignored the commotion and surveyed the room. It was a sixteen-square-meter square room, completely empty except for one wall lamp and two doors. One door was being attacked by the creature; the other was on the opposite wall.
He approached the only viable exit, pulled the handle—locked. He kicked the lock twice, feeling some give, but his strength wasn’t enough. He’d need multiple forceful attempts.
The next moment, the game menu popped up again. A previously shadowed section now displayed a number—currently zero: [This is your Skill Points, with visible numerical values. Skill Points function as currency, accumulated through character actions. Efficient gameplay behaviors will reward you with Skill Points. Current Skill Points: 0.]
“Giving this Skill Points prompt now—is this hinting at an optional shortcut…?” Feng Bu Jue glanced at his Terror Value. Still 0%, completely unchanged.
Sighing, he looked at the battered door. The iron bar had already warped slightly—it wouldn’t hold for long. Under the pressure of a monster ready to kill, most people wouldn’t remain as calm as he was.
Feng Bu Jue scrutinized the room again. The seemingly empty space held a clue—a corner of the wallpaper on one wall had peeled back. It wasn’t obvious at first glance, but careful observation revealed it. Rising on his toes, he reached up and grabbed the torn corner.
Tearing it off, he revealed a blood-painted symbol on the wooden wall—a circle connected to a crack-like shape. It was clearly a key symbol.
A roar erupted behind him, followed by splintering wood. He turned to see the creature’s claw punching through the door, flailing wildly through a bowl-sized hole. Whether its AI would realize to pull the iron bar remained uncertain.
This development signaled the creature’s imminent arrival—no time left for puzzles or forced entries.
Feng Bu Jue quickly elbowed the wooden panel marked with the key symbol. Pain flared through his arm, but the wood was brittle, breaking easily. He braced for a swarm of insects but found only dust. Behind the panel was a narrow cavity, and in its center lay a key.
As Feng Bu Jue grabbed the key, the game menu reappeared. Another shadowed section cleared: [You have acquired an item. Since your inventory and equipment slots are locked, you may only hold or discard it.]
The new menu displayed the item’s details:
[Name: Rusted Iron Key]
[Type: Consumable]
[Quality: Common]
[Function: Unlock door locks]
[Can be taken beyond this scenario: No]
[Note: This key feels suspiciously fragile…]
Feng Bu Jue felt the note’s tone was oddly spiteful, but he had no time to dwell on it. Closing the menu, he rushed to the locked door. As it opened, the key vanished. A long-absent system voice activated: [You have gained 30 Skill Points. This prompt will only appear once. Future changes can be viewed in the game menu.]
No time to consider unneeded items, he pressed forward. Beyond the door, stone steps led upward, flanked by high walls of smooth stone. The moonlit night sky was visible above, bathing the steps in cold, silvery light. But climbing wasn’t an option—the walls were too high and smooth, over two meters apart.
Ascending the steps, Feng Bu Jue checked his Stamina Value—now 24/100. Mentally calculating, he realized running hundreds of meters from the elevator, kicking doors, smashing walls, and climbing had already drained three-quarters of his Stamina. The loss was faster than he’d expected. His Vitality Value had also dropped to 98%—apparently, the system registered injury from his earlier wall-punching.
Behind him, the skinless corpse burst through the unlocked door five seconds after Feng Bu Jue’s escape, resuming its relentless pursuit. Its guttural laughter echoed, unnervingly close. Feng Bu Jue, however, remained unfazed by the harassment.
At the top of the steps lay a hillside. Moonlight gleamed coldly on a giant sword embedded in the slope. As Feng Bu Jue’s gaze fell on the blade, the creature seemed to sense it, accelerating furiously. The distance between them—dozens of meters—closed in an instant.
This time, Feng Bu Jue scrambled up the hillside, unwilling to die on the brink of escape. Tripping and tumbling, he finally reached the sword, gripping its hilt. To his surprise, it lifted effortlessly—far lighter than it looked.
Spinning around, he faced the charging skinless corpse. Its piercing scream pierced the air as twin blood-claws lunged for him.
(End of Chapter)
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