Chapter 170: Haunted Manor |
After taking inventory of his harvest from the Script, Bai Mu went to the Trading Market to take another look.
He unexpectedly received a message: [Your item "Murkoff Pistol" has been purchased by Player "White Windmill".]
That was the item he listed in the auction house during his very first visit to the market. Over fifty days had passed, and finally, a Player had purchased this handgun. Bai Mu received 760 Points. When he listed the item, he set the price at 800 Points. The auction house charged a five percent handling fee, so he only received 760 Points in hand.
Following this small replenishment of funds, he took another stroll through the free market to see if he could find any good items tradeable with Community Time. Unfortunately, items like the "Desert Merchant's Knapsack" were not something he could stumble upon every time he visited.
However, he still managed to purchase some basic survival supplies, including a case of bottled water and a bag of compressed biscuits. It was enough food to last for about a week. This cost him a hundred hours of Community Time and was bought from a female Player named Natural Lychee.
Since his inventory slots were rather tight, he did not stockpile too much food.
In truth, even if he hoarded a vast amount of food and water, it would not be of much use. As evidenced by the fact that he was placed into a C-grade Script despite being an E-grade Player, Paradise dynamically adjusted the Scripts assigned to Players based on their individual skill levels.
It was entirely predictable that Paradise would never allow a Player to breeze through a Script immediately upon entry relying solely on the items, Equipment, or skills they carried.
If he stockpiled a mountain of food, he would probably never be placed in a survival-type Script again. Even if he were, the objective of the Main Quest certainly would not be to just keep himself fed. Therefore, preparing emergency supplies was more than enough.
Logically speaking, he should have slept incredibly well. After all, this room was his exclusive private space, meaning absolutely no sounds or people would disturb him.
Yet, this abnormal silence actually made Bai Mu, who was accustomed to light sleeping, feel rather uncomfortable.
Perhaps it was because the Community was entirely too safe. He felt that the bed was nowhere near as comfortable as the mattress in the Abandoned Factory, and it was even inferior to the sofa in the solitary cabin he had lived in back in the city.
The sofa and the old mattress were both far more familiar to him than this room, which was so quiet he could hear a pin drop.
He even felt he slept sounder when lying on the sandy shores of an isolated island than he did here.
"For others, it is hard to go from a life of luxury to one of frugality. Is it the other way around for me?"
Bai Mu, having just gotten out of bed, yawned with a hint of helplessness.
It was too quiet and far too safe; instead of resting, he found himself unable to sleep the entire night.
He figured that perhaps changing the mattress would help, so he bought a hard wooden plank, tore off the soft mattress, and tossed it into his storage.
But he still could not sleep comfortably. He had never realized he had such a minor quirk before. However, after surviving in an apocalypse for ten years, ending up with only this small quirk was actually something worth celebrating.
Unable to sleep well, he simply gave up on resting. Instead, he did some sit-ups and push-ups, utilizing his fitness equipment to work out.
Afterward, he routinely visited the Trading Market to browse around, hoping to snag a bargain.
On the second night, he experimentally bought a television and a horror movie DVD from the Community shop. He turned off all the lights in his room, cranked up the volume on the horror movie, and set it to play on a loop.
This actually had some effect, allowing him to successfully drift off to sleep.
On the morning of the third day, he stretched lazily and used the remote to turn off the television. The screen had just been displaying a long-haired female ghost crawling out of a deep well, right before a terrifying jump scare.
The plot of the horror movie, having looped five or six times, was now etched into his memory. After getting up, he went through his daily routine: eating his fitness meal, doing some warm-up exercises, and aimlessly wandering the Trading Market.
Time slipped away quickly, and soon it was the agreed-upon gathering time with Great Northern Wilderness.
Great Northern Wilderness sent a message stating that the gathering spot was still the same "Big Dragon Spins" bar as last time. Thus, Bai Mu organized his Equipment and headed over to the bar to meet up.
Aside from Great Northern Wilderness and his brother, the remaining three arrived at almost the exact same time.
"Everyone should be ready, right?" Great Northern Wilderness asked. "If there are no issues, let's form our party first."
[Player "Great Northern Wilderness" has invited you to join the party. Do you accept?]
[Yes/No?]
"Yes." Bai Mu joined the party, and soon, Misty Rain and Firefly also entered the group.
Once the party was formed, Great Northern Wilderness set aside three more minutes for everyone to double-check their belongings and personal status for final preparations. The designated leader for this Script was Great Northern Wilderness. After all, he had organized the team, and he was quite familiar with the background of the Village of Mist. In this derivative Script, he was the experienced one.
Three minutes later, everyone was fully geared up and ready to go.
"Then I'll use the item," Great Northern Wilderness said, taking out the key to the Ancient Manor.
"Go ahead," Bai Mu replied.
As soon as he spoke, a flash of white light blinded their vision.
[Detected that your teammate "Great Northern Wilderness" has used the special item "Key to the Mysterious Ancient Mansion". Teleporting.]
[You are currently entering: Team Mode (Adventure).]
[Script Name: Haunted Manor]
[Current Script Danger Rating: D-grade.]
[Playing Script introduction now.]
The opening cinematic this time immediately gave off a heavy horror movie vibe.
The scene opened on an incredibly eerie ancient manor that looked like it had stood for many years. Its walls were completely covered in dark green ivy. Beneath a gloomy sky, it was surrounded by a lush, dense forest, giving off the feeling that it could be haunted at any moment.
[The once-peaceful village has transformed into a cursed land, shrouded in mist. The departed souls cannot find rest, condemned to remain trapped within rotting husks, endlessly wandering the mortal realm.]
Bai Mu knew this narration was referring to the events of the Village of Mist. Haunted Manor was a derivative Script of the Village of Mist, set in the same universe. According to Great Northern Wilderness, that key had also been found in the thatched cottage where the final boss resided.
After he and his teammates had joined forces to slay the boss, the mist covering the village had dispersed, and all the zombies had collapsed. They had successfully cleared the Script, but it was only a normal ending. They hadn't unraveled the truth behind the curse plaguing the Village of Mist.
However, according to Great Northern Wilderness's memories, the final boss was a zombie taking the form of a little girl in village attire. She possessed the supernatural abilities of levitation and telekinesis. On top of that, she could control plants, venomous toads, and poisonous insects. Her combat power was incredibly formidable, and she had an arsenal of skills at her disposal.
Fortunately, her physical body was quite fragile. He and his three teammates worked together to draw the boss's aggro, ultimately hacking her to death in a flurry of blades. 'It seems the Mysterious Ancient Mansion is a supplementary storyline to the Village of Mist.'
Bai Mu made this judgment based on the following line of narration.
[You are one of the original inhabitants of the cursed land. It was originally a peaceful village, but everything changed one fateful day. You and several companions joined forces to escape the mist, only to lose your way in the dense forest outside the village.]
[Starving and freezing, you traversed the deep forest and tread upon overgrown paths until you discovered a Mysterious Ancient Mansion standing tall in the heart of the woods.]
[This is not your first time arriving at this place. Over the past few days, no matter which direction you walked, you would inevitably end up right back at the entrance of the Ancient Manor over and over again.]
[An ominous aura billows out unmasked from within the house. Those battered, aged doors resemble a giant maw, ready to swallow you whole.] [Knowing you have no other choice, you step forward toward the manor's doors...]
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