When Shen Hao returned, it was the early hours of the morning, but he did not feel tired at all.
Eager to see what he had gained, he immediately checked his system panel.
He was very satisfied with his performance in the game, especially how successfully he had toyed with that girl.
He had obtained a total of 370 Fear Points from her, and the haul gave him a sense of accomplishment.
"Looks like women are more fun after all."
Of the five players, three had been men and two had been women. He had not obtained many Fear Points from the three men, but the two female players had given him a great deal.
Generally speaking, women had richer emotions and were more easily affected. Their courage and psychological resilience were also somewhat inferior to men's.
That made it easier for him to obtain Fear Points from female players.
Now his level had changed.
Level: 4 Experience: 20/400 Basic attributes: Constitution: 18 Spirit: 18
He had gained four levels in this instance, with each level adding two points to his basic attributes.
But after returning to the real world, he had lost the bonus from the Horse-Faced Butcher's basic attributes, leaving his constitution at only 18.
Still, those 18 points were his own, and he could clearly feel the major changes in his spirit and constitution.
Although he still looked rather thin, the outlines of his muscles were clearly visible when he took off his clothes. Before, he had not had any noticeable muscles.
His talent had not changed at all, but his abilities had.
Abilities: Throwing Axe Mastery, Undying 1.
Throwing Axe Mastery had originally been marked "temporary," but the word was gone now, meaning the ability was entirely his.
There was also a new ability called "Undead." It sounded impressive, so Shen Hao immediately chose to view the Undead's ability description.
[Undying 1] This does not mean you are truly undying, but your heart is no longer a vital point. Damage to your heart will not cause your death unless you suffer severe injuries repeatedly within a short time. Your recovery ability is greatly enhanced.
The ability was different from what Shen Hao had imagined, but he was still very satisfied. After all, this was a beginner instance, and expecting to obtain an overly powerful ability from it was unrealistic. What he had received was already quite good.
An inventory had appeared on the system interface. He opened it at once and found only an axe inside: the Horse-Faced Butcher's axe from the instance.
[Bloodthirsty Axe] Quality: D rank A sharp axe that can grow by absorbing the blood and fear of enemies.
Shen Hao immediately chose to take it out. The axe appeared directly in his hand, but he failed to catch it. It slipped to the floor, smashing a dent into the floorboards and nearly hitting his foot.
Without the boost from the Horse-Faced Butcher's attributes, he could barely lift the axe with one hand now, so he clearly could not use it. With a thought, he returned it to his inventory.
Throwing Axe Mastery and the axe were not very useful at present, but the increase in his basic attributes and the ability [Undying 1] were indeed quite good.
To gain so much from his first Paradise instance was completely beyond his expectations.
Ordinary players could gain levels at most from a beginner instance. If they wanted special items and abilities, they could only obtain them from regular instances.
By comparison, he was very lucky.
After becoming a player in Thriller Paradise, he would have to participate in at least one Paradise instance every month. That was no problem for Shen Hao; he even thought it was too few.
In the game, he was a demon, but in the real world, he was only human. How could being human be as interesting as being a demon?
He decided to become a grind emperor and immediately chose to match with a new instance.
This was a game function that matched players with instances close to their level. It usually took about three days. Once a match was found, players would be notified a day in advance and could use that day to prepare, such as by studying guides.
But if a player went a whole month without participating in an instance and was forced into one by the system, they would receive no advance notice and might even be matched with an instance unsuited to their level.
Most players, however, waited until three weeks after finishing their previous instance before matching with a new one. After all, not many people truly enjoyed playing this game.
Early the next morning, Shen Hao turned on his computer as soon as he got out of bed.
Although he was in his final year of high school, it was Sunday, so he did not have class. He had plenty of time to browse the forum.
[Thriller Paradise Forum]
This was a website founded by Thriller Paradise's largest gaming guild, the [Paradise Alliance], where Thriller Paradise players could communicate.
The Alliance had official backing. It had attracted enormous attention as soon as it was founded, absorbing several major guilds and rapidly growing into the number one guild.
The forum was entirely devoted to Thriller Paradise instances. Players could find guides for every Paradise instance there, along with all kinds of things to watch out for, increasing their chances of survival in the game.
The forum was divided into a public section and a members' section. Anyone could enter the public section without an account, but the members' section required a dedicated account.
To obtain a member account, one had to be a Thriller Paradise player, have successfully completed three beginner missions, register one's identity with the guild, and agree to join the Alliance and abide by all its rules.
The official organization's entry requirements were low, but its benefits were excellent. Besides a generous guaranteed salary, it provided various forms of support.
As long as someone joined the Alliance, even if they died the very next day, the Alliance would provide compensation to their family, leaving them with no worries.
Clearly, it was an excellent organization, and Shen Hao wanted to join as well.
But his status was somewhat unusual. He was clearly opposed to the other players, and joining an official organization would be a bit like walking into a trap.
Besides, he was not yet qualified to join an official organization. He had only cleared one beginner instance, after all.
"I'll have to find a way later."
He definitely had to join the Alliance. After all, he needed to infiltrate the enemy's ranks.
After entering the forum's public section, Shen Hao browsed players' accounts and guides for recently cleared beginner instances, as he usually did.
Although he was different from the other players, these things were useful to him too. Through the guides, he could learn about his enemies and understand their intentions.
Know yourself and your enemy, and you would never be defeated.
After reading accounts of several other beginner instances, Shen Hao was drawn to a post titled:
[Thriller Paradise has a BUG! There were actually two bosses in the Qingshan Hospital beginner instance!]
He clicked on it immediately.
"Yesterday, I entered the Qingshan Hospital instance. There were five of us, and according to the guide, three of us lured the boss away while the other two went into the basement to steal the boss's heart.
Everything went smoothly at first. We found the boss's heart and burned it, but strangely, we didn't get a mission completion notification. Not only did the boss not die, but he also returned to the basement.
We were terrified. We tried to find somewhere to hide, but discovered another corpse under the bed.
The person under the bed was extremely ugly, and the skin on his face had all been burned. Most importantly, his heart had been dug out, but the wound left behind had healed.
When I saw the corpse, my first thought was that this person might be the real Horse-Faced Butcher!
But if he was the Horse-Faced Butcher, then who was the one outside?
In the end, my companion and I were killed by the boss when he burst in from outside. We never figured out what was going on, even when we died.
Even stranger, I clearly died, but I came back to life in the real world.
I don't know what happened to my other four teammates. I think they might not have died either, but as punishment for dying, I had 90% of my experience deducted."
Although quite a few people had viewed the post, it had not attracted much attention. Most of the replies questioned it, and some went straight to insulting the poster.
"I'd love to know: if you died, how are you posting here?"
"Attention-seeking trash. Making up stuff like this for attention."
"I bet the OP isn't even a player and is just posting this kind of wishful thinking."
"Do you think you own the Paradise? You think you can come back after dying? Even if your dad were Zhang Erhe, that wouldn't work."
"Stop posting this crap to fool newbies. People really die in this game."
Apparently, the poster was one of the two men he had killed in the basement yesterday.
But hardly anyone believed the poster, because Thriller Paradise never made mistakes and could not possibly make mistakes.
Before long, however, these people would believe the post. Legends of demons would only grow more numerous, and many people would experience a demon's treachery, cunning, and evil!
A faint smile appeared on Shen Hao's face. Thinking about it filled him with an excitement he could not suppress.