Chapter 15 Intermission 4

"The scenario has been completed. Calculating the reward.

"Obtained EXP: 450, Game Coins: 4,500.

"Obtained Equipment: Fainted Macaque

"Completed/Accepted Quests: 0/0

"Completed Special/Hidden Quests: 0. Unlocked World-building: None

"Time of Terror Points Increase: 0. High Terror Points: 0%. Average Terror Points: 0%

"Your Terror Rating is: Embodiment of Valor. Extra reward obtained, can be selected later.

"Obtained Skill Points: 100

"Additional Reward from Good Terror Rating, EXP: 100, Game Coins: 1,000.

"Scenario Cleared Reward: Skill Card x1

"Calculation complete. Please continue."

Feng Bujue looked at his rating result, and it was accompanied by the system audio that said, "You've reached leveled five, and your Life Points have increased to 500/500."

His EXP was now 150/500. In terms of EXP gain, Solo Mode and Team Mode did not differ much. When Feng Bujue and Wang Tanzhi grouped up for the Team Training Mode, they were respectively level one and two. If they did not kill the hard boss and complete the scenario in the most impossible way, the EXP that they acquired would have been around three hundred instead of five hundred. The scenario that he had just completed was modeled after the fact that he was level four. Based on the ratio of EXP gain, if he attempted the Solo Training Mode, he would have obtained around four hundred EXP as well.

However, this showed the difference in terms of the two modes' rewards. Compared to EXP, now Feng Bujue had also gained Skill Points and the additional EXP and Game Coins. Other than that, there was also the extra reward from the Terror Rating that he would not have gotten from the Training Mode.

However, there was still something about his rating review that baffled Feng Bujue. During his previous scenario, he had brought out the item one-time use syringe, but during that review, the Obtained Equipment tab showed 'none'. This time, however, the fainted macaque was listed. He had great confidence that the game manual did not mention this before, but of course, that was completely normal. The game manual was mostly promotional content and did not list every small detail.

The unsolved puzzle was like a fish bone stuck in Feng Bujue's throat. This kind of issue that others would be able to ignore was something that annoyed the man the most. He was too lazy to ask on the forums because the forums would not be able to provide a correct answer to this kind of question that was related to the system. Therefore, he contacted the customer service line through his log-in space. The person who answered was equally stumped. He went searching for a long time before coming back with the answer. "Items that are categorized as 'consumable' like medicine, bandages, ingredients, and mechanical parts and are 'normal' or lower quality will not be listed in the rating review when they are carried out of the scenario."

Feng Bujue got the answer that he needed. There would be many things that fulfilled these requirements in the team mode. If someone was free enough to grab as many things as they could, even trash like rocks, grass, bricks, wooden logs, and so on, during the last sixty seconds countdown, then the rating review would be dominated with the list of those pointless items. To prevent that, this setting was made.

After understanding that, Feng Bujue took out the macaque from his backpack to take a look. But to his surprise, when he did that, the monkey disappeared. In its place was a card around the size of a tarot card, and the system notification popped up. "After completing the scenario, players might obtain 'plot items that can be taken out of the scenario'. This type of item is normally categorized as an item related to plot points, but due to certain reasons, like the players using their own ability to clear the mission, the items are preserved. When such plot items are taken into the log-in space, they are transmuted into 'puzzle cards' and added into the card system (currently unavailable)."

After reading that system message, he looked at the puzzle card in his hand. The card had the quality like paper, but it was not bendable. The edge of the card was releasing a weak white light, and the picture was the same on both sides. The picture on his card was that of a monkey, and the painting style was in the style of a Chinese ink wash painting.

"Puzzle Card: Monkey"

That was the only attribute to the item—just a name, nothing else. Feng Bujue glanced at Wang Tanzhi's status on his friend list; the kid was still in game. Therefore, instead of going to grab his reward, he chose to contact customer service again.

Time for the card system's explanation…

Before that, a clarification about a concept—item quality delineation—as stated on the official website.

———

Trash: Even selling this type of stuff at the Trading Post will be difficult.

Poor: Old and used with deficiencies, but it is better than nothing.

Normal: Everything is normal about this equipment. Utilizing it in a logical manner will be beneficial to you.

Excellent: A dependable, trustworthy piece of equipment, no different from a good partner. (Excellent equipment will have at least one element or one special effect.)

Perfect: Flawless equipment, rare and powerful. (Perfect equipment will definitely come with a special effect but not necessarily element.)

Legendary: A God-tier item that is the stuff of legends. It will be able to increase the player's ability by leaps and bounds.

———

Based on this categorization, excellent equipment would become ubiquitous at later parts of the games, something that most players would have the power to aspire to.

The way to obtain equipment in Thriller Paradise had been explained already; it could be summed in one word, exploration. However, if some players really could not understand how to get excellent quality equipment and lagged behind, what should they do?

This card system was the answer provided by the game company; it was an alternative that was given to the players to obtain equipment in the later parts of the game. As long as the player managed to collect a whole set of cards, they would be able to exchange it for one piece of equipment. The item was guaranteed to be of the excellent quality, with a chance of obtaining a perfect quality item.

And what was the concept of a 'set'? The answer… it was totally random.

Just take this Puzzle Card: Monkey as an example. If you had puzzle cards monk, white horse, pig, and cannibals, then you would be able to complete a set. Similarly, if you had the cards rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, sheep, horse, rooster, dog, and pig, then you would have completed a different set. As long as the system could accept the collected cards as a 'set', then it was a set.

In other words, one puzzle card could belong to multiple sets, and the formation of a card was completely random. Like the monkey that Feng Bujue had obtained, it might not have turned into Puzzle Card: Monkey. It could instead have become Puzzle Card: Chimpanzee, Puzzle Card: King Kong, Puzzle Card: Monkey's Paw, and so on.

This kind of set up made every plot item into a possibly useful puzzle card. At the later stages of the game, if the players became so powerful that they could brute force their way through most of the plot, then the plot items could become the reason for them to change up their tactics.

Therefore, for players without equipment, they could enter the Solo Survival Mode, complete the main plot, skip all the triggered side quests, and keep all the plot items, and they would be able to use them to complete the puzzle card set when they left the scenario.

Of course, the players killing themselves after obtaining the plot items that they wanted was forbidden. To get the Puzzle Card, the lowest requirement was to clear the scenario. Upon dying under any kind of circumstances, all the equipped item would be taken away; only the plot items obtained within the scenario would be retained in the scenario. This was to prevent the scenario from locking up due to the death of one player in Team Mode.

That was almost the whole explanation. Feng Bujue ended the call with customer service after he finished his questions. Then he operated the menu and turned the Puzzle Card into data and saved it in his log-in space. He prepared to receive his scenario reward.

He did not have much hope for the reward from the good Terror Rating because the scenario itself was not that scary, but the reward of a Skill Card still piqued his interest.

He believed that the Skill Card had to be something that he could use, a skill in the schools of general ability of workmanship. That extra reward from Terror Rating… He had to choose another piece of equipment because after finishing the scenario, he was still defenseless.

Feng Bujue walked out from the elevator to enter the large metallic room. Similar to before, there were two hollow glass tubes.

First, he came to the scenario reward. Through the virtual menu, he obtained the randomized Skill Card. As the card materialized inside the tube, Feng Bujue was feeling quite hopeless, but once the explanation of the card became clear enough, his shattering roar could be heard echoing through the room again. "Well, f*ck me!"