Chapter 1 Dont Pretend to Be Friends

Chapter 1 Don“t Pretend to Be Friends

——

[Thank you for using our product. Scanning... please wait.]

[Scanning completed. ID SH13***313, certified.]

[Name: Feng Bujue.]

[Device: Standard single-player cabin, Model NL2055. No abnormal external hardware detected. Heart and lungs function normally. Nerves connection is ready. Please select connection mode.]

[Non-sleep mode selected.]

[Adjusting...]

[Adjusted. Please confirm to start the game right away or return to the previous menu.]

[Program started. Your game will start in ten seconds.]

After the countdown, Feng Bujue immediately entered the game. He stood at a place that seemed like an elevator booth, but no buttons were to be seen. There was a thirty-two inch touchscreen on the right wall, and opposite to the doors was a full-length wall mirror attached on the wall, where players could see their entire bodies.

Feng Bujue eyed his image in the mirror. He was a high-pixel 3D computer graphics character now, wearing a black long-sleeve T-shirt and trousers, nothing fancy. The face of this character was almost identical to his real appearance. The height was less than 6 feet; bird-nest messy hair covered the soft, feminine contours of his face.

With the aid of the Fourth Generation Optical Computing Technique, the players’ nervous system would be connected to the game directly, which allowed them to realistically experience everything with their five senses. However, the graphics of the game were still in 3D. It still didn’t have a feel of reality.

"Welcome to the login space. The following games are all Dream Inc.’s products. Please select."

When the voice of the system echoed in his ears, icons appeared on the touchscreen next to him. Players could then choose the games that they wanted from there.

"Geez, they’ve created the whole login thing for just one game. Did they imply that there will be more to expect?" Feng Bujue thought as he pressed the icon of the only game there: Thriller Paradise.

"Players have to be over sixteen years old to register. Players with heart diseases, mental disorders or related diseases are not recommended to play this game."

The system did not only display this paragraph on the screen, but instead said it out loud. Afterwards, three different buttons appeared on the screen, including ‘Confirm Registration’, ‘Cancel’ and the last one, with an eye-catching link, was ‘General Disclaimer’.

"Mental disorders?" Feng Bujue thought, " I’d better take a look then."

He then selected the third icon, causing a maze of words to be displayed on the screen. From the tiny size of the scroll bar on the right, this General Disclaimer was really lengthy.

He cocked his head as his left palm held his right elbow. The index and middle fingers of his right hand which were placed on his forehead slightly slid along his nose bridge—his familiar gesture when he was thinking. "It means, if the players die because of a heart attack or mental disorder, the company will not take any responsibilities."

He mumbled to himself, as if he had jumped to a conclusion.

Feng Bujue didn’t spare the case that this was a trick of the Dream Inc. He had read about the design of this game on the home page, and the most attractive feature of the game was the "Fear Value".

The Optical Computing program and the game cabin would depend on the stats of heartbeats, pulses and neurons reactions of the player to calculate the degrees of fear. During the game, if the player’s Fear Value had exceeded the limit, the nervous connection would be forced to quit, immediately ending the game. In case that player had a serious health problem such as breathing problem, or the heart stops beating, the cabin would instantly notify the emergency unit.

Anyway, all the connections with the players’ nervous systems were designed to be linked with the police and emergency units. The chances that some players would be scared to death wasn’t big.

After he had selected to continue, Feng Bujue heard another notification from the system. "You have logged in for the first time. Please enter the name of your character."

A blank space appeared on the screen, where he was supposed to enter his name. Also, there were some restriction terms. For example, the name should have more than four characters, and no vulgar words were allowed.

In the age of the Optical Computing Generation, this restriction had become more accurate. The system intelligence and calculations had reached the peak that gave people goosebumps. ‘It’ just needed a glossary, even with a common term to allow for its calculation and prevent any violations. Such names like Bo Da Jing Shen (4), or FUC followed by some symbols and then the letter K, etc., those tricks were useless to the Fourth Generation Optical Computer.

Dozens of years ago, people had been worrying that Artificial Intelligence would strike back and enslave human beings, however, up to now, there were no trustworthy information supporting this theory.

In conclusion, Optical Computer was pretty smart. How smart it was, the later parts of this novel would mention.

"Verified. ‘Feng Bujue’ is available. Please confirm."

Feng Bujue’s given name was rare. Of course, it would be available to use. However, he had replaced ‘Feng’ (封) by ‘Feng’ (瘋). On one hand, he didn’t want to use his real name. On the other hand, it was sarcasm that he gave himself. (5)

After he had confirmed, the system notified, "Tutorial for new players will start soon. Players can only play the tutorial once. Scenario will be randomly chosen. When you finish the tutorial, you will receive corresponding rewards. Please be guided that the results of the new player tutorial will not affect the original attributes of your character, only the rewards will differ . If you skip the tutorial because of the high Fear Value, actively disconnect or leave the cabin. The next time you login, you cannot continue the previous scenario. The system will provide you with a new one."

After having listened to the reminder, Feng Bujue touched the confirm button. Unexpectedly, when his finger just touched the screen, the entire elevator suddenly became pitch black.

In the next second, a voice arose, but it wasn’t the robotic one as that of the system. At this moment, the voice sounded more like an old witch. "Welcome to Thriller Paradise."

As the sound reverberated, the elevator suddenly shook without any prior signs or indications. The interior of the box was so dark that one couldn’t even see their own fingers. It started to move, then it gradually descended.

--------------------------------------------

(1) Amygdala: Part of Limbic System responsible for the response and memory of emotions, especially fear

(2) Obsessive Compulsive Disorders

(2) Zhang Song: Zhang Song (died 213) was an advisor to the warlord Liu Zhang during the late Han Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was famous for his excellent memory as he could remember everything he had placed his eyes on.

(3) Bo Da Jing Shen: (lit.) big phallus, deep cave. It is a way of puns using similar sounds. The original phrase is actually a locution, which means wide-ranging and profound knowledge.

(4) Feng (封), the MC’s name, means seal or close off; while the other Feng (瘋) means crazy. Feng Bujue, his nickname in the game means ‘unidentified mental disorder’.