Chapter 1 Entering the Nightmare

As soon as he entered the living room, Feng Bujue noticed that Ruoyu's game pod was lit up.

"Hmm... she actually logged in as if nothing happened... doesn't she worry that I might not come back..." Brother Jue muttered, looking at the game pod.

"It's just going to deal with a trash-mob-level ghost... and Bao Qing is accompanying you, what could possibly happen?" Asaas, who was lying on the sofa, heard Feng Bujue's muttering and replied in a timely manner.

"That's hard to say..." Feng Bujue said, "What if that ghost is hiding its strength or something..."

"You're already back... why are you still talking nonsense." Asaas didn't bother to listen to his bullshit.

"Alright, alright~" Brother Jue shrugged and ended the conversation.

Then, he quickly went to the bathroom to wash up, changed his clothes, and then lay down in his own game pod.

After setting the option "Connect immediately after entering sleep mode," he closed his eyes...

When he opened his eyes, he was in the familiar login space.

"Tch... as expected, they're already in the game..." Feng Bujue opened the social bar and looked at his teammates' online status, "Oh well... there are only a few days left before the preliminaries, I'll improve as much as I can..."

The time when Brother Jue and Bao Qing went to catch ghosts was in the early hours of August 27th.

In the previous ten days or so, the Hell's Frontline team had been constantly improving under the "guidance" of their captain and coach, Feng Bujue, and their team battle awareness had greatly improved. In the last few days, they had stopped queuing for team practice matches and were instead seizing the time to queue for more ordinary scripts, hoping to get more equipment and skills.

"So..." Feng Bujue muttered as he processed his emails, "...I'll just queue up for a solo script or something..."

After making up his mind, he casually sent a group email to his teammates to say hello.

Then, he quickly dealt with the pile of trivial matters in front of him and clicked on the script menu...

"It feels like it's been a long time since I played a solo script... these past few days I've either been doing tactical analysis for practice matches (at least that's what he thinks he's doing), or leading the team to farm team scripts (who's leading who is debatable)," As he spoke, his eyes moved to the [Single Survival Mode (Nightmare)] option, "Heh... you're the one I've decided on."

As someone who sees ghosts in the game and also sees ghosts in real life; as someone who has lost fear for half a year and has been involved in the supernatural world for several months... Feng Bujue had gradually developed a sense of familiarity with the word "Nightmare." Nightmare mode was simply no pressure for him.

[Mad Detective, Level 50]

[Please select the game mode you wish to join.]

[You have selected Single Survival Mode (Nightmare), please confirm.]

[Confirmed. Generating script...]

[Loading, please wait.]

"Welcome to Thriller Paradise." A hoarse, strange voice, similar to that of an electronic voice changer, spoke the opening line.

Before the voice finished, Feng Bujue had already lost control of his body, and his surroundings turned pitch black.

[Loading complete. You are currently in Single Survival Mode (Nightmare).]

[This mode provides a script introduction and has a chance to trigger side hidden quests and special worldviews.]

[Script completion reward: Puzzle Card*2.]

[The script introduction will now play, and the game will begin immediately after the playback is complete.]

After the familiar voice prompts, the opening CG began.

This time, the opening was a video that immersed the viewer into the perspective of a certain character.

In the slightly blurred picture, the first thing that appeared was a wall, a white wall that was close at hand.

"Number 250." A voice came from the left side of the screen.

It was a man's voice, speaking English.

"Number 250!" Two seconds later, the voice repeated the sentence again.

At this time, the camera turned to the left, and in the picture, there was a bunk bed, iron bars, and a man in a prison guard uniform.

"Ho~ The number assigned to this protagonist during his imprisonment is really auspicious..." Feng Bujue couldn't help but complain after only watching the beginning.

The next second, the "protagonist" he spoke of stood up and walked towards the prison guard, and the CG screen naturally followed his actions and moved from his first-person perspective.

"Is there something you need, officer?" Number 250 asked, his voice sounded very young, about the same age as Brother Jue, but he also spoke English.

"Come with me." The prison guard replied with an impatient tone, already opening the door of the cell.

Afterwards, the screen faded to black... when it lit up again, the scene had switched to the next scene.

In a narrow room, Number 250 was sitting at a metal table, waiting for something...

Before long, the only door in the room opened, and a middle-aged man in a suit and tie, with shiny leather shoes, slicked-back hair, and sunglasses walked in.

"Whoa, whoa... could this be someone from the MiB (Men in Black)?" When Feng Bujue saw the other party's appearance, he couldn't help but think of a certain film series.

"You're Rudy Austin?" The man in the suit asked a question as soon as he sat down.

"Yes..." Number 250 admitted his identity, "May I ask who you are..."

"You can just call me 'Sir'." The man in the suit continued at a very fast pace, "I'm here to make a deal. I can make this deal with you, or I can make it with someone else. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes, Sir," Austin replied.

"Very good." The man in the suit nodded slightly without any expression, and continued, "Mr. Austin, you're twenty-four years old this year, right?"

"I'll be twenty-five next month," Austin replied.

"For a convict sentenced to life imprisonment, you're a bit too young." The man in the suit leaned forward slightly, "Don't you think so?"

"It seems your deal can get me out of prison early." Austin's performance was relatively calm, and his reasoning was quite reliable.

"That's right." The man in the suit continued, "The content of the deal is very simple..." He paused for half a second, and then said, "There's a government research project that needs a batch of grassroots operators. As long as you're willing to be an operator for this project, then... in a month, you'll be free."

After saying these few sentences, he quickly added, "Of course, this position is undoubtedly dangerous... and it's life-threatening." He said bluntly, "If you survive, you can shorten decades (most younger life imprisonment inmates can leave prison alive) of imprisonment to just thirty days. It's up to you whether you want to take the risk."

Austin was silent for more than ten seconds after hearing this, before saying, "What kind of project is it?"

"You have no right to ask that question, and I have no right to answer you," the man in the suit replied.

"Who are you? FBI? CIA?" Austin asked again.

"I don't want to repeat what I just said," the man in the suit said again, "And I don't want to waste time here with you..." He stood up, turned his head and said, "Guard, open the door."

"Wait!" Austin panicked when he saw that the other party was about to leave, "I'll go!"

As he said these words, the screen went black again, and the scene changed again.

"You really have guts..." Feng Bujue took the opportunity to complain again, "This is obviously a conspiracy... if you go, you'll definitely have a slim chance of survival!"

After the scene change, a corridor appeared on the screen.

The four walls of the corridor were all made of metal, and the lighting equipment was embedded in the ceiling. The white light was very bright, but the space gave people a sense of inexplicable oppression.

At this time, the camera was slowly moving forward from "Austin's perspective." It could be seen that... there were two men in orange jumpsuits (not tight-fitting, but looser jumpsuits) in front of him. Both of these men had buzz cuts and wore handcuffs. From this, it could be inferred that Austin should also be in this state.

"Stop." After walking for a while, the three of them arrived at an electronic door at the end of the corridor, and a voice immediately came from behind them.

Austin turned his head at this time, so, on the screen, there were three men in full-coverage special forces uniforms with live ammunition.

Chi-- buzz--

A few seconds later, with the sound of the valve opening and mechanical movements, the electronic door opened.

In front of everyone appeared a metal room with an area of over one hundred square meters. Many staff members in white coats and protective masks were standing in the room, and they were busy in front of large computers connected to the walls.

"Go." After the door opened, the special forces soldier gave another order.

The three orange-clad personnel, including Austin, continued to move forward, all the way to a large metal door in the room.

After standing still, they waited for a minute. Then, that door also opened...

But seeing... behind the large metal door that rose upwards, stood three humans, and a tall, unknown creature, and Brother Jue had seen that unknown creature before - [SCP-173].

"Holy~ Crap!" Feng Bujue was no longer calm when he saw what was behind the door, "What deal! So I was tricked into being a D-Class personnel!"

His shouting would not have any impact on the development of the plot...

Currently, Austin and the other two D-Class personnel were obviously preparing to switch shifts with the three people inside the door.

However, just as this shift was taking place, the lights in the entire room... went out.

About 1.5 seconds later, the red light from the backup power supply came on. But the SCP-173 inside the door... was no longer in its place.

"Ah--" Immediately afterwards, screams came from not far away.

Crack... thud.

Following was the clear sound of joints breaking and falling to the ground.

It was also at this time that the opening CG ended without any sense of disharmony, and Feng Bujue smoothly regained control of his body.