From his friendlist, Feng Bujue saw Little Tan’s and others’ statuses were still [Playing], so he paid a visit to the Box of Fear again. The number of goods there had been increased thrice compared to that of the afternoon. Moreover, it was still increasing. At this moment, even if he just read the names, he wasn't able to read them all. Thus, he could only search randomly.
And it went like that for an hour. Feng Bujue returned to his login space and checked his friendlist. He then saw his friends’ statuses had changed to [Idle] one by one. These three had almost left the scenario at the same time. Basically, there were two possibilities. The first one, they all got killed at the same time; and the second one, of course, they had finished the scenario and got teleported.
Feng Bujue still thought that the second one was more likely to be the case, mostly because he did believe in the ability of the two ladies. He didn’t send them messages but invited them directly to his conference room. As soon as Little Tan received the invite, he casually added Feng Bujue to the team and handed over the captain role to him.
Like Rain was the first one who entered the room. Looking at Feng Bujue’s expression, she instinctively asked, "Lost the Killing Game?"
"Sort of..." answered Feng Bujue.
At this moment, the door opened again, and Dispirited, with a smile on her face, overheard their conversation. "Captain, losing is losing. What do you mean by saying 'sort of'?"
"No need to mention that." Feng Bujue felt he could only use these words to answer.
The door, which had just closed, opened again. Little Tan arrived while holding some snack. He spoke up with food in his mouth, "Yo, Jue-Ge, is that Joker’s appearance?"
"Yep. Your humble servant styled it himself," answered Feng Bujue contentedly.
"I don’t dare to compliment this taste," Like Rain’s comment splashed him a bucket of cold water.
"Hm, hm..." Feng Bujue immediately shifted his countenance to be more serious and changed the topic. "Hey, besides the Killing Game, I’ve just tried Single-player Survival Mode at Nightmare difficulty level."
"You lost it too?" Dispirited teased him maliciously, revealing her mischievousness.
"I made it. I did it." Feng Bujue’s face was somber. "Anyway, the feeling when I passed the scenario is—how can I describe it—not better than getting killed in the middle of the game."
"So the plot is a Bad End one." Like Rain sensitively smelt something.
"Ah... anyway, personally, I don’t recommend you guys, especially Little Tan, to try that game mode," said Feng Bujue.
"I won’t play even if you ask me to! Even if it isn’t the Single-player Survival Mode Nightmare difficulty, I don’t dare to play…" answered Little Tan.
Dispirited threw him a glance, using her eyes to show her scorn for him. "Well, you even screamed when we were playing Multiplayer Survival Mode. Since we are from the same union, I also felt ashamed."
"Well, you will get used to it after a while. If Little Tan isn’t terrified to the point of getting forced to disconnect and he can survive until the scenario is clear, we should acknowledge his ability," said Feng Bujue.
"Yeah… you’re talking like you’re giving me a way out. But your words are like sabers stabbing me… Good one." Little Tan glumly swallowed a mouthful of snack.
Feng Bujue didn't pay attention to him and started to talk about the main topic. "Alright, now we should discuss what we should play next. Considering that we have four players, if we want to join Killing Game, it should be 2 versus 2. Civil war. Or shall we continue playing Multiplayer Survival Mode?"
"You haven’t played Multiplayer Survival Mode with us yet. We should play once," Like Rain answered.
"Agree," said Dispirited.
"No objection," said Little Tan.
"By the way, after this scenario, we girls have to log out," Like Rain said.
"Understood. It’s not good to sleep in the cabin game for a long time." Feng Bujue smiled. He still remembered what Like Rain told him this afternoon. "You’ve played two multiplayer scenarios. One more scenario and it’s time to rest."
"So, as we are here in the conference room, we should know about each other’s stats before we queue for the new game," Like Rain said.
"Makes sense. We can avoid misunderstanding teammates’ details during the game." Feng Bujue nodded in agreement. "We should speak about our personal stats first."
Like Rain spoke up as if she wanted to give them a sample. "I’m at level 15. My title has changed to Spirit Serving Swordsman; the skill granted from this title can passively increase damage when using swords against spirits. My highest graded Specialty is Fighting D, and the worse ones are Curing and Summon. These two aren’t unlocked yet. I’ve just changed my new main weapon too. Currently, this weapon could be used for quite a long time." She took out an item from her bag, using 3D hologram function to display it on the conference table.
[Name: Canonization]
[Type: Weapon]
[Quality: Normal]
[Attack Power: Medium]
[Attribute: None]
[Special Effects: User’s Spiritual Value recovery speed can be increased by 50%.]
[Equipment Conditions: Fighting Specialty D]
[Remarks: The main power of this sword has been sealed. After killing and accumulating a certain number of evil spirits, the seal will be lifted. At that time, this sword can fully perform its original power.]
"Wow! This is awesome! It’s not a Spiritual Weapon, but it can develop further," said Feng Bujue.
"Spiritual Weapons?" The other three looked at him with curious eyes.
Feng Bujue then displayed his Death Poker on the table and then followed Like Rain to share his stats.
Title: The Plot Seeker
EXP: 11000/15000
Skill Value: 1,580
Game coins: 20,4600.
Specialties: Common D, Weapon E, Investigating E, Fighting D (increased by the mask), Shooting D, Curing F, Spiritual F and Summon N/A.
Bag: 7/10, including [Mario’s Pipe Wrench], [The Eye of Hatred], [M1011A9 Pistol] (2 bullets left), [Echo Armor], Survival Value Supplements (Medium) x 4, [Dagger], and [Flashlight].
Equipment: [Dance of the Knight], [Casey Jones’ mask], [The Death Poker].
Login Space storage: 3/10 including, Jigsaw Puzzle Piece: Monkey, Jigsaw Puzzle Piece: Sunglasses, Jigsaw Puzzle Piece: Spinner.
Skills: [Perfunctory Maintenance], [Lower Side Kick of a Brat], [Body-Spirit Congregation Technique], and [Planned Victory from Thousand Miles Away].
After having Feng Bujue share his stats, the other three were startled. Of course, he didn’t describe everything in detail as he just copied Like Rain’s way of describing her skill. He just talked something about his skill granted from the title, the highest grade of his specialties, and the unlocked specialties. Then, he showed off his Death Poker.
Anyway, these things were enough to jump to the conclusion that he was incredible now. In fact, compared to the standard of a player at level 15, Like Rain was the best representative for an excellent ordinary player. The difference between her and the other professional gamers were just the time they had spent and the attitude towards the game. Under the circumstances that they were at the same level with similar items, Like Rain’s fighting capacity wouldn't be less than Saber Sword Smile from the Martial World or the Four Great Gods from The Immortals. However, she had only trained her Fighting Specialty to Grade D, and she didn’t have a Spiritual Weapon yet.
Just like Feng Bujue, besides Summon, his Specialties were all unlocked. Moreover, there were three graded D and two graded E. Whether he had used items to enhance his Specialties or not, such stats were out of reach.
Of course, there were many hidden risks along the way he had walked to achieve them. In comparison to other players who had trained one or two Specialties only, what he lacked the most was his practical fighting experience. It could be seen in the match he had with Wild Trace Sword Shadow. Moreover, until now, he didn’t have any fighting skill to depend on. [Body-Spirit Congregation Technique] could just enhance his physical strength. To a player who was completely not familiar with fighting skills like him, it was like pouring 97 RON fuel into a tractor… Well, in fact, it should be diesel though.
Players’ capacity and the capacity of their characters were two different concepts. If we considered his [Planned Victory from Thousand Miles Away] as his signature, then, in fact, he was just a player characterized in solving puzzles whose Specialties were pretty high.
"Jue-Ge, this weapon is invincible! How did you get it?" Little Tan asked.
"I completed a [Hidden Quest] in the Killing Game," Feng Bujue answered, "and, let alone the result, that plot isn’t bad. It used the plot of ‘Thunderbolt Fantasy’ and I just needed to compose a poem to accomplish the quest."
"Poem? You can make those stuff?" asked Dispirited.
"What’s the matter? It’s my job…" Feng Bujue said, "your IDs also belong to the Thunderbolt, do you need me to write two pieces of poem for you?"
"No need."
"No thanks."
The two girls immediately refused.
"Okay... Alright," Feng Bujue said with embarrassment, "then we should continue. Little Tan, tell us about your fighting capacity."
Little Tan shoved a potato chip into his mouth and sucked his fingers. From his face, which looked like he was wondering about something, perhaps he didn’t even know his basic stats, so he had to check his menu first. Seconds later, he spoke up, "Yeah, I’m at level 15, too. My title finally changed, from [The Flustered Ambusher] to [The Nervous Long-range Warrior]. I think it’s a little bit better... The title grants me a proactive still, called Bee Sting that could leave opponents with [Bleeding] effect. My highest grade of Specialties is Fighting D. I haven’t unlocked Spiritual and Summon Specialties. Common and Shooting E, and the other three are graded F. My main weapon is from the shop, Damascus Dagger (1). I sold the chef knife, and I haven’t used [Largo Quicksand] yet. Ah, Jue-Ge, your Winchester shotgun is still here. I forgot to give it back to you."
Feng Bujue flung his sleeves. "You can keep that gun. I have many weapons now." Upon saying this words, he stood up and lifted his stool.
Since the conference table had covered it, now people could notice that from the beginning, Feng Bujue hadn’t sat on the chair equipped with the conference room as he had been sitting on a broken stool all the time.
"Seeing your reaction, my mind could be at ease," Feng Bujue said then retrieved the broken stool into his bag. It now occupied the eighth slot there.
"Hey... is that a weapon?" Little Tan asked.
"True. Moreover, after conducting the experiment, I can confirm…" Feng Bujue said, "sitting on this stool can help you hide your murderous intents."
"Are you going to use this to stealth someone else in the Killing Game…" Dispirited soon understood his mind.
"Certainly."
"Good luck then…"
Feng Bujue shrugged and talked to Little Tan, "Back to the main topic, can you elaborate your skill, Bee Sting?"
[Name: Bee Sting]
[Type of Special Ability: Proactive]
[Consumption: 7% of the highest Physical Value]
[Effects: Comes to effect after hitting the target, giving the target [Bleeding] effect for two minutes. The effects could be piled up to ten layers. No matter which layer, the duration will depend on the time of the last use to calculate. (No cool-down time. Need to use a cold weapon to cut target’s skin in order to use this skill. Only works on one target at a time.).]
[Remarks: If you are not taking the upper hand in strength, don’t be afraid to try the war of attrition.]
Little Tan described the general effects of his skill; having listened to him, Feng Bujue nodded. "Not bad, if you can use it with the Physical Value Supplement, you can even wear out a strong player to death."
"Only players?" Little Tan smiled. "I can even use it to deal with a sturdy BOSS though. If I’m playing with another player, he or she can always use medicines or bandage."
"No, your nauseating skill is very suitable to deal with other players." Feng Bujue shook his head. "It will immediately cause [Bleeding] effect when hitting the target. You can use it constantly without a CD (cooldown time). With your full bar of Physical Value, you can make the opponent bleed dozens of times. Although the effective time is short, if you can pile it up, and if your opponent cares about it, he will just waste his bandage. At that time, your [Bee Sting] will surely give your opponent a headache. When the wound is not serious, using bandage is a waste; but when it becomes more severe, then they have to use many blood bottles."
Apparently, Like Rain agreed with Feng Bujue. She added, "It’s you who overthinks about wearing out the sturdy BOSS to death."
Little Tan’s face was dulled. "Eh? Why?"
Feng Bujue sighed. "If there exists this sort of BOSS, with its recovery ability, it can always dissolve your skill. This is just a simple rule. Agile monsters are usually weak, and the slow ones will have an intimidating destruction ability or tough defensive power."
"Ah, anyway, to be honest, I don't want to fight against other players. I feel it’s not suitable for me."
"Alright, they just wanted to talk about your skills," Dispirited spoke to him then immediately turned around. "My turn. My level is a little bit lower, level 14. My title hasn’t changed yet, still [The Skilled Gunman]. The skill I got from my title is a passive one, and it isn’t related to fighting since the effect is that I can put bullets of three different weapons in one slot. Obviously, my favorite Specialty is Shooting. It’s graded D now. Besides Summon, I’ve unlocked all the others. Anyway, I’m not as excellent as our captain. My Common, Weapon and Investigating are all E, and the others are F. About weapons… I don't have a signature weapon. I often use three different types of guns."
It could be considered that they had finished exchanging information. Feng Bujue mused for a while then spoke up, "Yeah, I understood the profile of our team. Time to go."