“They even put up the studio name… it seems Dream Inc. doesn't reject the inclusion of professional teams and pro players.” Feng Bujue said.

“This isn’t good news for players like us who don’t have an ‘organization’ as a backer,” Long Aomin said. “If the game company doesn’t restrict those studios, the game's upper echelons could be controlled by a small group of people. For example… they could negotiate to control the market price of top-tier equipment, monopolize high-level game resources or intelligence, and so on.”

“It’s also possible… Dream Inc. thinks the balance of this Thriller Paradise game is impeccable, and the studios’ profit margins are already limited by the system. Besides, the situations you’re assuming are technically impossible,” Feng Bujue added. “Of course, we don’t need to worry about these things, and we can’t control them anyway.” He paused and asked, “By the way, Brother Long, I don’t know if it’s appropriate to ask… are you a pro player?”

“Ah? Haha, what’s inappropriate about that question? Being a pro player isn’t something to be ashamed of,” Long Aomin laughed. “I admire pro players, but I’m not one.” He replied, “I'm just a very enthusiastic game enthusiast.”

Long Aomin was telling the truth. In reality, he was a police officer named Long Liwen. Although his name contained the character "Wen" (文, meaning culture or gentleness), he was fierce and decisive when carrying out missions, with the demeanor of a daredevil. He was only one step away from being transferred to the SWAT team, but unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. He suffered a minor injury during an operation to arrest a criminal. To make a long story short, ever since his knee… he could only sit at a desk in the bureau. Although it didn't affect his daily life, and he was even promoted in a sense, returning to the front line was unrealistic.

“I see…” Feng Bujue said. “I thought you were the type of pro player who went it alone.”

“Heh… actually, I don’t have a lot of time to be online. These past two days, my wife accompanied her mother to her hometown to sweep the tombs and visit relatives, and I happened to be off work, so I’ve been on more. Tomorrow I have to go…” He hesitated slightly, but still didn’t say the word “bureau,” “...go to my unit to work, so I probably won’t be on.”

“Then let’s hurry up and queue for scripts. Let’s try to get two or three team survival modes done tonight,” Wang Tanzhi said eagerly.

“Then join the queue,” Feng Bujue said.

“I’m ready too, queue up,” Long Aomin added.

Xiao Tan said, “Oh,” and the system prompt sounded immediately.

This time, Feng Bujue wasn’t the team leader, so he didn’t have the option to choose. Therefore, the prompt he heard was slightly different, omitting the beginning part and directly saying:

[Your team is joining Team Survival Mode (Normal). The random team size value has been generated: six players.]

[Your team has entered the queue. Searching for other ready individuals or teams.]

[Matching complete. Coordinating neural connections, script generation in progress…]

[Loading begins, please wait.]

“Welcome to Thriller Paradise.” This time, the voice sounded like someone with multiple personality disorder, and the voice changed to another halfway through the sentence.

[Loading complete. You are currently in Team Survival Mode (Normal).]

[This mode provides a script introduction and has a chance of triggering side hidden missions and special worldviews.]

[Script completion reward: randomly draw a learnable skill card.]

[The script introduction will now be played. The game will begin immediately after the playback.]

This opening CG began in a mountain forest. The scene moved slowly forward from a first-person perspective, and the narration said: [One autumn night, you and several recently acquainted members of your tour group became lost in the mountains. Cold and hungry, you stepped through dense cattails and withered bushes, miraculously discovering a solitary mansion.]

At this moment, an ancient mansion appeared in the scene. Dark clouds hung low in the sky, shrouding the gloomy mansion. Next to the mansion was a mountain pond, and on the wall near the water were two windows, as if the house had a pair of hollow eyes, overlooking its distorted reflection in the lake.

[An ominous aura spread inescapably from the house, rising from the withered bushes, the gray walls, and the silent pond, but you have no choice. The cold air is seeping into your bones, and the feeling of hunger has dulled your vigilance. You decide to enter the mansion…]

The words stopped abruptly. Feng Bujue’s eyes lit up, and he found himself standing inside the large house.

This should be the living room. It was tall and spacious, the floor was wooden, and the furniture and decorations seemed to be in the style of the nineteenth century. The chandelier on the ceiling and several sconces on the surrounding walls were clearly electric, but other than these, he didn’t see any other appliances.

Opposite the living room was a staircase about two meters wide, leading to the second floor. There were three or four doors around it, and there was also a corridor behind the stairs, but the light was not good there, so he couldn’t see the end of it, let alone know where it led.

Feng Bujue spent a few seconds observing the surroundings, and finally focused his attention on three unfamiliar players in the living room.

The first was a male player named Yongzhe Wudi (Brave and Invincible). He was only one character different from the first player to reach level 20, Yongzhe Wuju (Brave and Fearless). However, this guy was far from level 20 and was currently at level 15. His title was [Reckless Pugilist]. From his appearance, Yongzhe Wudi and Long Aomin were both the tall and mighty type, but compared to Brother Long’s Schwarzenegger-like physique, he was obviously lacking in height, muscle, and presence…

The other two were female players. They seemed to have queued together as a team, as they stood close to each other at the starting position, and their names also hinted at their relationship. One was called Siyu Ruoli (Seemingly Rain, Seemingly Apart), and the other was called Beiling Xiaogu (Sorrowful Soul, Laughing Bone). Both of them were level 13.

Siyu Ruoli looked to be in her early twenties, with short hair that covered the back of her neck. What was strange was that although her face was very beautiful, it didn’t really attract attention. Logically speaking… with the appearance modification function of the game pods these days, everyone could change their appearance to be extremely beautiful, and even change a man’s face to be feminine. It was incomprehensible for a female player to enter a nerve-linked game without modifying her appearance to the extreme, just like going out without makeup. Could it be that this sister’s real appearance was so bizarre that this was already the limit of what she could change?

When Feng Bujue looked at her, her gaze happened to meet his. The impression that a person leaves on others largely depends on their eyes. At this moment, if what could be seen in Feng Bujue’s eyes was calmness, then what could be seen in Siyu Ruoli’s eyes was something akin to murderous intent, and a cold murderous intent at that. This was not glaring with wide eyes, nor was it pretending to be cool, but an unconscious expression that was revealed in a very ordinary state. This was the kind of gaze that people in the assassin industry in real life should have.

Moving his gaze upward, Feng Bujue saw Siyu Ruoli’s title: [Ruthless Decapitator]. At that moment, he complained in his heart: “What the hell… what’s going on? Is a security bureau agent here to practice their courage in the game…”

As for “Beiling Xiaogu,” she looked much more normal. She looked a year or two younger than Siyu Ruoli, with an oval face, a very delicate and lovely appearance, long hair without bangs, and a faint smile that occasionally appeared at the corners of her mouth, but… there was no hint of a smile in her eyes.

Beiling Xiaogu’s title was [Shrewd Gunslinger]. If there were no surprises, she should be a player who favored the Shooting specialization, and probably played it well.

“What is it?” Siyu Ruoli suddenly said.

Her eyes stared directly at Feng Bujue, her expression cold, and her words concise.

Feng Bujue knew that she was asking why he was staring at her. He squeezed out a smile and casually came up with a topic to greet her: “Well… what was it, your nicknames have quite a ‘Pili’ vibe.”

Siyu Ruoli actually chose to respond with silence, as if she had heard a useless sentence that didn’t require an answer. Feng Bujue was instantly embarrassed.

Seeing this, Beiling couldn't help but smile, and then replied, "Same to you, your IDs are also quite interesting." She knew that her older cousin didn't like to talk, so she interjected to give Feng Bujue a way out.

To briefly explain the situation of these two, Siyu Ruoli's maternal grandfather's older sister was Beiling Xiaogu's biological grandmother. Basically, that was their familial relationship. They were actually the same age this year, both twenty-two. Siyu Ruoli had never liked to talk since she was a child, but she actually had her own opinions in her heart. She had never lost a fight, including against male opponents. She was just naturally this cool.

Beiling Xiaogu, on the other hand, was like a child who never grew up. She was usually quirky and loved to tease people, and she was very smart. If you were to talk about intelligence, she was actually smarter than Feng Bujue, but she didn't have any strange hobbies such as reading obsessions or reasoning obsessions.

What? You ask why I'm writing the explanation so clearly? Of course, it's because these two are main characters. It wouldn't do to not have the female lead and female second appear after thirty chapters, right? Could it be that you are secretly expecting the system to become moe-ified and have some kind of development with the protagonist? Go read light novels if you want to see that kind of setting, you bastard!

“Heh… you’re too kind.” Feng Bujue seized the opportunity to change the subject and immediately turned to Yongzhe Wudi, saying, “This… Brother Wudi, may I ask if you have any connection with that ‘Yongzhe Wuju’?”

“From the same studio.” Yongzhe Wudi put on a look that he didn't want to pay attention to him. "Don't ask me anything else, I'm getting annoyed by you 'casual players'." He clearly spoke with sarcasm and disdain when he said those four words.

"Oh~ So you're a pro god, nice to meet you." Feng Bujue said a compliment with an even more disdainful tone.

The other party responded with a cold snort, turned his face up to the sky, and if the system hadn't stopped him, he might have already cursed.

At this moment, a system voice broke the somewhat oppressive atmosphere: [Main quest has been triggered]