Chapter 61: Heading to the Florida Keys |
"The effects of Berserk are actually this powerful."
Bai Mu gazed at the ship exploding in a sea of flames. Without needing to exert much effort at all, he had easily hurled the Cherry Bomb right onto its deck.
This skill, which only lasted for a mere three minutes, had drastically elevated his physical capabilities. He felt as though every single one of his attributes had shattered the limits of a normal human being.
It was not just his easily measurable attributes like muscle strength that surged; his five senses were vastly heightened as well. The world appeared incredibly sharp to his eyes, to the point where he could perfectly make out the specks of rust and tiny screws on the distant ship.
He could perceive the distinct patter of falling raindrops, untangle the myriad of scents carried by the wind, and even hear the steady heartbeats and breathing of Great Northern Wilderness, Nancheng Port, and Misty Rain Traveler behind him. Without even needing to turn around, he could pinpoint their exact locations. He had been comprehensively enhanced.
Unfortunately, Bai Mu's Stamina bottomed out right after he threw the Cherry Bomb, leaving him unable to make any further strenuous movements.
He had overdrawn fifty percent of his maximum Stamina. Normally, once Stamina dropped below the fifty percent threshold, a Player's movements would become slightly sluggish and weak. The lower the value plummeted, the more prominent this sensation of encumbrance became.
However, after activating Berserk, Bai Mu did not feel fatigued in the slightest. Furthermore, his interface indicated that his Stamina was recovering at a rapid rate of one percent per second.
He only experienced a fleeting moment of exhaustion where his limbs lost all their strength the very second his Stamina ran dry. Thanks to his rapid recovery rate, he quickly shook off that bout of weakness.
"It looks like I need a full stomach for my Stamina to regenerate quickly," Bai Mu muttered, analyzing the hidden effects of Berserk.
Having tested it in a real-combat scenario, he could confidently declare it an incredibly potent skill. The rewards from hidden side quests were truly in a league of their own. It seemed he would have to dig for more of these hidden paths if he wanted to grow his strength rapidly.
While Bai Mu was assessing his current condition, the military vessel was completely left in the dust, and the notification chime from Paradise rang in his ears.
[The Script's storyline has concluded. You have completed the Script: Journey of Death.]
[Surviving Team Members: 4.]
[The team has achieved the Hidden Ending: Heading to the Florida Keys.]
[Ending Summary:
"The survivors endured untold hardships, fighting their way through a city overrun by Zombies. They believed that as long as they could contact the military, they would finally reach a safe haven. However, this supposed safe zone was nothing but a cruel joke. You were only one step away from being thrown into a cage and treated like captive lab rats."
"Fortunately, at the very last moment, you managed to uncover the dark truth hidden beneath the surface. In the end, you hijacked an abandoned transport vessel and set course for the Florida Keys down south, seeking a true paradise upon those isolated islands."
"The vast ocean surrounding the islands will serve as your greatest barrier of safety. Perhaps across the sea lies true freedom."]
[Community teleportation is now available. You will be automatically transferred to the community in 180 seconds.]
A brilliant white light enveloped the four of them. In a flash, Bai Mu's Stamina was completely replenished, and Berserk was forcibly deactivated. However, he did not enter the usual weakened state. During the settlement phase, Paradise automatically restored Players to their peak condition, wiping away all negative status effects.
A new option appeared in his interface—the prompt for community teleportation. Bai Mu could choose to transport himself immediately, or he could linger on the ship for the remaining 180 seconds.
Simultaneously, the community friends list unlocked. It seemed these 180 seconds were intentionally provided by Paradise to allow Players a brief window to chat. If they felt they made a good team, they could exchange contact information and add each other as friends.
Furthermore, if there were any items they wished to trade, they could connect privately once they exited the Script.
After all, Players were restricted from permanently trading item ownership while actively inside a Script. Such transactions could only take place within the community, where they could use Community Time or Points to officially purchase and transfer desired items into their personal inventories.
Great Northern Wilderness let out a long, heavy sigh of relief and slumped against the cold metal railing. The military vessel had completely vanished from sight. The ominous dark clouds scattered just as quickly as they had gathered, allowing brilliant sunlight to once again bathe the world below.
Although their stolen transport ship was still drifting aimlessly across the water and the corpses of several Mutants slain by Bai Mu littered the deck, Great Northern Wilderness knew that he and his brother were finally safe.
The outcome proved he had made the right choice. This was the very first time he and his brother had ever achieved a Hidden Ending. Their personal reward settlements would only be calculated once they returned to the community, and he was practically buzzing with anticipation. He felt certain that his performance rating this time would be a B-Grade at the bare minimum, which meant a high chance of receiving a Rare-Grade or better item, piece of equipment, or skill for free.
"Brother Bai, let's add each other as friends," Great Northern Wilderness said, sidling over with a bright grin.
The fact that they had completed this Script with such relative ease was almost entirely thanks to Bai Mu's efforts. Even though Bai Mu had looked rather terrifying during his rampage a moment ago, it did not deter Great Northern Wilderness from his desire to cling to this expert's coattails.
Jokes aside, pride was entirely worthless compared to keeping his own life intact.
Great Northern Wilderness would never pass up any opportunity that could increase his chances of survival in Paradise. While he knew he and his brother hadn't exactly delivered a dazzling performance during the Script, they had been highly dependable. They had put in the hard work and followed orders without complaint.
In truth, team-players like the two brothers were always in high demand for group Scripts. Needless to say, Great Northern Wilderness actually boasted quite a robust friends list; the vast majority of Players who survived a run alongside them were more than happy to add them to their contacts.
"Sure," Bai Mu nodded, accepting the friend requests from Great Northern Wilderness and Nancheng Port.
Misty Rain Traveler shuffled over as well, and ultimately, all four of them exchanged contact information.
"We'll leave it at that for now, Brother Bai," Great Northern Wilderness said, waving his hand. "My brother and I are going to head back to the community first. Let's catch up later. I seriously need to get some rest."
Bai Mu flashed an "OK" gesture. The two brothers nodded before dissolving into beams of white light, vanishing from the deck.
Misty Rain Traveler stayed behind. "Bai," she began, "could you privately message me your Player Grade? I don't mean anything by it; I'm just genuinely curious."
She was dying to know if he was actually a high-level Player in disguise. She simply couldn't believe that Bai Mu was only at the F-Grade level.
Bai Mu decided to satisfy her curiosity. Through the friends list interface, Players had the option to disclose select portions of their personal data. Misty Rain glanced down at her chat log and completely froze, staring blankly for a long while.
Paradise didn't lie. Bai Mu was genuinely a freshly minted F-Grade rookie. His profile even displayed his total Script completion count: two solo Scripts and a single team Script.
Misty Rain slowly lifted her head to look at Bai Mu's face. She opened her mouth but remained utterly speechless for several moments, eventually settling for just giving him a thumbs-up.
With only about a dozen seconds remaining on the timer, Bai Mu spoke up. "I won't keep you any longer, Commander. Time's almost up. Let's part ways here."
"Don't call me Commander, I really don't deserve the title," she replied with a wry smile. "Just call me Misty Rain."
"Alright," Bai Mu nodded. "We can catch up once we're back in the community. Let's both go check our final rewards first."
"Sounds good," Misty Rain agreed with a nod.
Both of them selected the prompt to return to the community. Following a sudden flash of brilliant white light, Bai Mu found himself standing right back inside his small, cluttered apartment filled with gym equipment.
A long string of text promptly materialized before his eyes, detailing his final reward settlement for successfully completing the Script.
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