Chapter 237: Lost Sunflowers |
After browsing the shop, Bai Mu took a stroll through the Player Trading Market to purchase some supplies.
Although he had drawn health regeneration ointment, his consumption of recovery items in the Corrupted Forest Blood Hunt had been simply too massive. During the final few days, he had relied almost entirely on Lucy just to hold on.
Now that he had ample funds on hand, his top priority was naturally to replenish those kinds of items. He also needed to expand his inventory space, as his storage slots were nearly full again.
First, he visited the Player Trading Market to buy two packs of milk candy, completely refilling his Candy Box. The milk candy bought from the Community store could not be placed inside it; only candy-type items drawn by Players or obtained from a Script could be tossed into the Candy Box to serve as Health Potions.
These candies were relatively cheap. A mere 100 Points bought a large bag. Following that, he spent 1,500 Points on a Large Mountaineering Backpack, which provided an extra twenty inventory slots, and another 600 Points for three bottles of Painkillers. With this, his post-battle resupply was complete.
Afterwards, he rested in the Community for three days.
He primarily spent those three days in the training grounds practicing his newly acquired skills. He leveled his Secret Sword Art to level two. With each level gained, the required experience bar increased significantly. Simple training only yielded meager amounts of experience; the fastest way to level up was still by slaughtering monsters.
Along the way, he brought Xiao Wei to the training grounds to test the buffs provided by the Blood of God in different environments, as well as her newly acquired skills. Of course, they only conducted tests in common environments. In a modern city, the buff from the Blood of God could essentially be ignored, but in environments like grasslands or forests, the enhancement was quite substantial.
He gained a rough understanding of the Blood of God's utility and also witnessed the beast spirits summoned by Beast Spirit Summoning. They were largely similar to the Mountain Evil Gods he had encountered in the Script, functioning essentially as purified versions of those entities. As the Mana cost increased, the summoned beast spirit would grow larger in size. When combined with Xiao Wei's Light of Healing, this could create an incredibly resilient damage sponge.
It seemed that Yan Yu, Firefly, and Great Northern Wilderness were all currently in a Script. It was about time for them to be matched into C-rank Scripts anyway. Once a player reached C-rank, the number of prolonged Scripts seemed to increase; both of Bai Mu's C-rank Scripts had been quite lengthy.
But there was another potential reason for their silence: they had already died during their Scripts.
Within Paradise, how long one could survive remained an absolute unknown for every Player.
Bai Mu felt that the overall capabilities of his friends were well above average, so there was no need to worry excessively. Worrying was useless anyway. As long as they were in Paradise, they had to face this destiny. No matter how much Community Time one hoarded, it would eventually run out. Even for a Player like Bai Mu, who achieved high ratings in nearly every round, his total accumulated Community Time had never exceeded half a year.
Such were the rules of Paradise. The countdown on the interface constantly served as a grim warning, as if measuring out one's remaining lifespan in real-time.
A terminally ill patient could usually hold on for another two or three years, but the Community Time of Players rarely ever surpassed thirty days. Truthfully, it was an incredibly terrifying concept, though Bai Mu had grown accustomed to walking alongside death long before he ever arrived here.
After familiarizing himself with his newly acquired items and skills in the training grounds, he pulled out the car keys he had previously received from Dave, preparing to initiate this C-rank solo Adventure Script.
Xiao Wei transformed into a Doll and was placed securely into his inventory. However, he suspected that the Dave series of Scripts were all Role-Playing Scenarios, meaning the items he could actually use would be severely limited.
Regardless, he stuffed his inventory full. Who knew, maybe a few things would prove useful.
[Do you wish to use the special item "Dave's Car Keys"?]
[Yes / No?]
[Player has been detected using a special item. Commencing teleportation.]
[You are currently entering: Solo Mode (Adventure).]
[Script Name: Lost Sunflowers]
[Current Script Danger Rating: C-rank.]
[The Script introduction will now play.]
Bai Mu vanished from his Community room, entering the first-person perspective of the Script introduction.
[Due to your heroic performance, Crazy Dave has enthusiastically invited you to join him in fighting off the Zombies invading the town.]
[Crazy Dave wants to retrieve his Sunflower. A few days ago, he drove his car to his brother, Mighty Dave, asking him to repair a leaking engine. He accidentally left the Sunflower in the vehicle. Now, with more than half the town overrun by Zombies, Crazy Dave is incredibly worried about the safety of both his brother and the Sunflower.]
[You have agreed to help Dave search for the Sunflower. However, before you can leave the backyard, a thick fog suddenly rolls into the town...] Bai Mu saw the very same backyard he had defended previously. He remembered that the time in the last Script was around ten in the morning. Now, however, dense fog surged from all directions. The once clear sky darkened, and a bizarre, eerie chill seeped from the mist, reducing visibility to an abysmal level.
At the exact moment he witnessed this scene, he was pulled out of the first-person perspective.
[This Script is a Role-Playing Scenario. Your attributes will return to their initial levels, and certain items and skills have been disabled.]
Following the notification chime, Bai Mu found himself standing on the grass of Dave's backyard garden.
His skills and a vast majority of his items were disabled. The only things he could use were his Baseball Bat, Revolver, and Garden Plants, which were items that belonged exclusively to the worldview of the Dave series of Scripts.
The Doll was also disabled, meaning he could not summon Xiao Wei. Aside from a few attribute bonuses, he had essentially reverted to his most primitive state. This was his third time participating in a Role-Playing Scenario, so he wasn't particularly surprised. He knew that the Script's C-rank danger rating was based precisely on this restrictive state imposed on the Player. In reality, it wouldn't be nearly as terrifying as the Corrupted Forest Blood Hunt.
At this moment, Dave was wearing his beloved frying pan on his head, peering intently into the fog.
"Oh, damn it, the weather forecast didn't mention any fog today." Dave turned his head and declared. "But, my friend, I believe a little mist certainly won't stump you."
"I believe you can definitely help me bring back the Sunflower. Once we have the Sunflower, those stinking Zombies will finally realize that they shouldn't mess with me."
"The Sunflower is right there in the backseat of the car. You just find my car, use the keys to open the door, take the Sunflower out, and bring it back to me. That's only four steps, isn't it?"
"You'd better be quick about it, though. If it gets dark, the Sunflower will have to go to sleep."
"Oh, I almost forgot about my brother! If—and I mean if—you manage to find him, it would be great if you could bring him back too. Let's just hope the Zombies haven't eaten his brain yet."
As Dave finished his rambling, Bai Mu heard another notification chime.
[Main Quest triggered: Bring the Sunflower to Dave before dark. Do not let the Zombies eat your brain.]
[Side Quest triggered: The Missing Mighty Dave.]
[Quest Objective: Help Crazy Dave find information regarding his brother, Mighty Dave.]
[Quest Reward: Depends on quest completion rate.]