First Scene of Act One
"Hey bro, wanna do our first dungeon run together? More people means more help, and it's fate that we spawned in such close locations." Wang Xizhi said somewhat awkwardly. After using his Mutation ability for the first time, he vomited because he couldn't control it properly. Then, a beam of light swept over him, and his body instantly returned to normal.
They were located in the very center of the Land of Falsehood, the False Paradise, in the beginner phase before the first act was completed. Every hour, they could apply for a free treatment.
This False Paradise consists of countless enormous, unmanned cities. Of course, "unmanned" means excluding the players. These cities have automatically operating subways, buses, and all kinds of daily necessities.
Players are randomly spawned in this city. According to the information, the resource points in the city are allocated based on the limited number of players, and new resources will be refreshed every once in a while.
Even in this Land of Falsehood, players still need to eat and drink, otherwise they will starve to death. Each time a player dies, they will randomly drop items, such as module items.
Furthermore, in this Land of Falsehood, there are absolutely no laws. Whether it's robbery or murder in the street, it's all perfectly legal. Therefore, while it's called False Paradise, it's actually just a lawless place.
Players can run dungeons three times a day. From the dungeons, they can obtain item modules and Game Points. All players can also connect to the virtual auction house to consign or buy items. There is also a trading platform for Game Points and real currency.
Although the exact percentage is currently unknown, considering the game's distribution network, it's clear that it's brimming with business opportunities. This is precisely why Liu Feng chose to join the False Paradise and become a professional gamer to earn a living.
"Don't you want to familiarize yourself with the ability first?" Liu Feng had no problem with it; his ability was easy to learn, but this so-called Wang Xizhi's might be a bit more difficult. According to the data, the Alienation Path is the most difficult to master, and the previous events seem to be enough to prove it.
"Who do you take me for, Wang Xizhi? I will never make the same mistake twice. Getting into the dungeon is the right thing to do!" Wang Xizhi said enthusiastically.
Looking into the skinny man's sincere eyes, Liu Feng hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to agree.
The two then transformed into white light and disappeared from the city.
[Act 1, Scene 1]
[Script: The Legend of the Black Fog]
[Plot: In a secluded town, there is an event where, on a special day each year, black mist rises from the Blackwater River not far from the town, and a monster made of black mist emerges from it...]
[Mission: Survive until the end of the special period]
[Reward: One skill slot unlocked]
[Bonus: Killing the Black Fog Beast will grant additional rewards]
[Note: Some of the town's residents will seek refuge at the church on the east side of town on that day.]
Have fun playing the game!
"The information is much more complete than in the opening scene!" Wang Xizhi said, closing the panel.
"After all, this is an official mission." Liu Feng looked around at the surroundings. Just as the introduction described, it was a closed-off town with bluestone bricks bearing the marks of history and familiar pedestrians coming and going. The town was not large, with only about a hundred households and a population of about 400 people.
To the east of the town is a cliff, where a fairly large church stands at the very edge. To the north and south are isolated mountains; climbing those two mountains is tantamount to suicide. Only to the west is there a clear river with a suspension bridge over it.
"That must be the Blackwater River, but the water isn't black!" Wang Xizhi looked around and saw it.
Liu Feng noticed that there were no buildings on the other side of the river, just a desolate wasteland, not even covered with weeds, as if it were a dead land.
"Why do we have to pay to cross a bridge?" Wang Xizhi muttered, drawing Liu Feng's attention.
Looking around, you can see a bald, middle-aged man by the bridge, accompanied by three or four men who look like a guard, each carrying old-fashioned guns. Everyone who wants to cross has to pay a toll before they are allowed to pass.
"Hey, you two outsiders, are you going to cross the bridge or not? If you're not, I'm going to put it away. It's getting late, and I don't want to stay here any longer!" The bald, middle-aged man seemed to have noticed Liu Feng and his companion, and shouted at them.
"How much does it cost to cross the bridge?" Liu Feng asked, while feeling his pockets. Only then did he realize that he had changed into local clothing, and his pockets contained three coins.
"Look, is this enough?" Liu Feng pulled out three coins, which shimmered silver in the sunlight.
"Only three silver dollars? You'd need at least fifty to cross the bridge. Where did this poor outsider come from?" The middle-aged man grumbled and spat on the bluestone floor, his face full of disdain.
"It's just crossing a bridge, why charge so much?" Liu Feng used a clever trick here. From the pained expressions of the people who had crossed the bridge before, he could easily tell that fifty silver shiks had considerable purchasing power. Liu Feng asked this question deliberately in order to extract some potentially useful information from this person.
"Normally, three silver taels would be enough for you to cross, but this is a special time. If you don't cross the river, you'll just be waiting here to be devoured by the black mist monsters!" the bald man said disdainfully. "Perhaps you could go to the church and pray they'll let you in!"
Liu Feng sighed. People who profit from disasters are the most despicable, but there was nothing he could do. The other party had men and guns, and he couldn't very well materialize a longsword and fight him to the death. He was just an NPC.
Of course, Liu Feng could only imagine the derogatory term "NPC" in his mind. Faced with someone who had men and guns, he figured it was better to follow his heart. So he quickly pulled Wang Xizhi away in a sorry state.
Finding a shop that was still selling things, Liu Feng paid a silver dollar and bought some water and food from the shopkeeper, receiving a dozen or so copper coins in change. He then inquired about some information from the worried shopkeeper.
The bald, middle-aged man was the town's mayor. He controlled the town's military and the bridge. A month before and after special occasions, he would raise the bridge toll from 50 Copper Nat to 50 silver shikos, causing some town residents to be unable to cross the bridge each year and to be swallowed by the black mist, never to return.
"If that's the case, why not leave?" Liu Feng asked, then, looking at the shop owner's expression, he realized he had probably asked a foolish question.
"It's not easy anywhere. At least here, the yield of grain crops is very high. As long as you avoid special periods for a year, you'll be fine. If I hadn't gotten sick recently and spent a lot of money, I wouldn't be here waiting for fate to smile upon me."
As for why he didn't leave a month earlier, Liu Feng later learned from the shop owner that if someone was not seen within a month, they could be declared missing and dead, and their fixed assets would be distributed by the town mayor to some obedient people in order to win over the hearts of the people.
"Wait, high crop yields?" Liu Feng suddenly remembered the desolate wasteland across the river.
The gold coin system is just using a name; it has absolutely nothing to do with the group of people who play with sticks. Also, the update progress is 16/16, and the 800 monthly tickets have been paid out. I'm justifiably asking for a reward.