Chapter 1 The Beginning

Bupa quickly hid behind Yi Dao and Yi Jian, feigning fright. The two decisively drew their weapons, standing in front of her, ready to face the strongman's possible attack.

"Let them in, Ivan." A man's voice came from the door behind the strongman. "They are my guests." The voice was polite and had a slight accent.

Ivan lowered his pistol at the words and walked back to the door, using his thick arms to open it wide, then silently watched the players.

[Main Quest Triggered]

The system prompt sounded at the right time, and everyone could see the quest content in the menu: [Enter General Zaroff's castle and listen to his explanation of the game rules.]

When Feng Bujue saw the quest, his expression changed rapidly. He muttered softly, "General Zaroff... Ivan... Wait... I'm a hunter... shipwrecked and came here..." He suddenly raised his head, his eyes serious. "The Most Dangerous Game... Richard Connell." Content related to this story immediately surfaced in the attic of his memory.

When inspiration dried up, Feng Bujue often read short stories to relax and collect material, so he was quite familiar with the content of these stories and could quickly recall them.

If there were no surprises, this script was a game of hunting "humans," and Feng Bujue knew very well that the players would play the role of prey...

After hesitating for a while, Yi Dao and Yi Jian turned around to seek Feng Bujue and Si Yu's opinions. Anyway... everyone rushed forward when there was a good thing. But when there was something dangerous, it was best to let others take the lead for them. If it was really impossible, they would first ask for opinions, so that at least they could push some of the responsibility onto others after something happened...

Feng Bujue shrugged, sighed, and walked directly to the front, saying as he walked, "Just do as the quest says."

Ivan stood at the door like a ferocious giant statue, full of deterrence. However, Feng Bujue didn't even take out a weapon, passing in front of him as if no one was there, and entered the castle.

Si Yu followed closely behind. She had followed Feng Bujue when he stepped forward and was the second to enter the castle.

The remaining three looked at each other. Yi Dao was the first to react and cleared his throat. "Ahem... well... let's go too."

Yi Jian took the opportunity to follow suit. "Yes, if they're in any danger, we can support them."

Bupa nodded and followed behind the two. The three also entered the castle one after another.

Ivan, standing at the door, had been monitoring every player who passed in front of him with a condescending and vigilant gaze. After all five had entered the castle, he silently closed the door.

Inside the door was a spacious hall, brightly lit. The marble staircase leading to the second floor was very wide, and a man in a tuxedo, with a strong physique, was standing there straight, watching his five "guests."

General Zaroff was past middle age, tall, and handsome. His hair was white, but his eyebrows and beard were still black, and his eyes were also black and bright. In addition to the distinct features, there was something unique on his face, a kind of temperament that only those who were accustomed to giving orders had.

"I am very happy and honored to welcome you excellent hunters to visit my home." He bowed slightly and said, "I am General Zaroff." He gestured as he introduced himself.

Ivan, seeing Zaroff's action, put away his gun, saluted, and stood to the side of the stairs.

"Please forgive the rudeness of my men, gentlemen... and of course, ladies." Zaroff's unique tone made every sentence sound meticulous, as if every word had been carefully considered. "Ivan is a simple man, but a bit barbaric. He is incredibly strong, but unfortunately, he is a mute. God gave him some things and took away others..." The expression on his face when he said this was worth pondering.

"Looks like a Cossack." Feng Bujue replied, of course he knew this.

"Indeed, my friend." Zaroff replied, smiling and squeezing out a sentence from between his sharp teeth and red lips, "I am too."

He gestured again, and Ivan quickly walked over and stood in front of the general. Zaroff said a few words to him, but only his lips moved, without making a sound.

After receiving the order, Ivan left the hall, not knowing where he went.

Zaroff then said to the crowd, "Please, follow me." He said, walking down the stairs and leading the crowd into a corridor.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a study in medieval style. The floor was covered with a gray carpet, and the furniture and bookcases had a heavy feel. In addition to a large number of books, there were also many animal specimens, deer heads, zebra skins, etc., and even a standing grizzly bear.

"I have read all the books about hunting, English, French, and Russian. My life has no other pleasures, only hunting." Zaroff walked slowly past his collection, as if showing off that what he said was true, and said, "Did you see that head of a South African Cape buffalo?"

Feng Bujue replied, "Impressive."

"That thing caught me, threw me against a tree, and broke my bones, but I finally finished that beast." Zaroff seemed to remember the scene of that hunt vividly.

Feng Bujue knew very well the meaning of these words. Based on the information provided in this line alone, the players should have an idea of the Boss's strength.

"I think the South African Cape buffalo is probably the most dangerous of the big game." Feng Bujue tried to match Zaroff's words according to the content of the novel in his memory, so that he could get to the point as soon as possible.

The general suddenly fell silent for a moment, then cast a meaningful look and said slowly, "No, that's not the most dangerous." He walked to the desk, picked up a bottle of whiskey, held it up, and looked at everyone. "Something to drink?"

"No, thank you," Feng Bujue replied.

Zaroff poured himself a glass. He took a sip of the wine and said, "On this island, that is, in my territory, I have invented a more dangerous hunt."

"Invented?" Feng Bujue asked knowingly.

"Hehe... yes, invented." The general nodded with a smile. "You must be wondering, how can hunting be invented?" He paused. "Of course, I am not God, and it is impossible to create a dangerous animal out of thin air. However, I have discovered a species that already exists, but no one has ever hunted. They are not native to this island, but I can import them myself..."

"What kind of prey are you importing, General? Is it a tiger?" Feng Bujue was still matching words with this Boss.

Except for Si Yu, the other three were a little confused. They were wondering in their hearts: This kid is too into the act, right? Does he really think of himself as the hunter mentioned in the script? Why is he talking so much nonsense with an NPC?

Zaroff grinned. "No, I'm tired of tigers, and I've been messing with them for a long time. Hunting tigers has lost its appeal to me. Those animals can no longer make my hands shake... not even for a second." He took out a gold cigarette case from his pocket, picked up a long black cigar, which had a silver line trademark, and emitted a scent like incense after lighting it.

"I am the kind of person who lives to enjoy danger, but most animals can no longer make me feel dangerous." Zaroff exhaled a puff of smoke. "God made some people poets, some people kings, some people beggars... and me, he made me a hunter, the best, the strongest." He showed a sad expression. "But after a happy day, one day, I finally found that hunting was no longer attractive to me. You are also a hunter. Can you guess why?"

"If you regard hunting as a sport, you always know that you will win before the game starts, right?" Feng Bujue continued.

"That's right, I didn't expect you to understand." Zaroff said happily. "I can always successfully hunt my prey because they are just animals. Apart from legs and instincts, they have nothing. But I am a human being with wisdom. It is not fair to compete with wisdom and instinct. When I realized this, I felt very miserable, simply pathetic." He took another puff of his cigar. "Until one day, I had an inspiration. I realized that there is something that I have never hunted before. They are the most perfect prey because they can think."

When they heard this, the four people besides Feng Bujue finally understood the basic situation of this script. General Zaroff in front of them turned out to be an anti-human lunatic who hunted humans for excitement. The "listen to his explanation of the game rules" displayed in the mission was the rules of the upcoming "hunt."

"Are you sure this is not a joke, right?" Feng Bujue responded in a very serious tone. Of course, he had already determined that this was definitely not a joke.

"I never joke about hunting." Zaroff replied. "I bought this island and built this house. I'm here to hunt. This island is an unparalleled hunting ground. The jungle is as complex as a maze, full of winding paths, cliffs, and swamps, and most importantly, it is surrounded by the sea. Here, I hunt almost every day, and so far, I have never felt bored."

"I'm puzzled, General." Feng Bujue said, "There are five of us here. Can't we just stop your crazy murder in the study?"

"Hahahaha..." Zaroff laughed. "Murder? No, no, no... This is an intellectual competition, a game between hunter and prey." His gaze swept over the five players. "As for the situation you mentioned..." He raised his arm and made a gesture.

Ivan appeared from nowhere, holding a tray, bringing the general fragrant Turkish coffee. He put the coffee down and stood like an iron tower beside Zaroff, staring at the players present with burning eyes.

"Once a group of Spanish sailors came to this island. I invited them to join my hunt, but they refused and showed obvious hostility." Zaroff said calmly. "Ivan tore them into pieces by himself and fed them to the animals on the island."

Hearing this sentence, Feng Bujue's expression changed suddenly. He didn't remember that the novel he had read described that there were other wild carnivores on the island: "May I ask... what kind of animals are they?"

"Hehe..." Zaroff showed a cold smile. "There are too many... pythons, coyotes, Bengal tigers, etc.... I want to make the jungle here more lively, so I imported a lot of goods. Humans are not the preferred feed. They usually eat wild boars, of course, live wild boars. Each one needs to be hunted by themselves, so that the animals can remain wild."

Zaroff paused for two seconds and said to Feng Bujue with an even stronger smile: "Your face has become a little bad, my friend."

"Ah... because I would rather hear the answer is wrens or parrots... instead of various beasts." Feng Bujue replied.

"Hahaha... you are very humorous." Zaroff seemed extremely happy. "Okay, now, let me say something you need to know about this hunt."

He walked to the side of the window and pressed a button on the wall. "Do you see it?" The general pointed to the distant sea, where the lights quickly lit up, but disappeared in a flash.

"The light of the lighthouse seems to point out a route, but in fact, this route does not exist. The rocks huddled there are as sharp as razors. They are like sea monsters, which can crush every passing ship into powder, as easily as crushing a nut." The general said, "I think the ship you were on is now sunk nearby. So, don't expect to escape to the sea to find rescue."

After showing this well-deserved ship trap, Zaroff came to the other window. He opened a mechanism. In the cellar below the window, the lights flickered. The space below was strangely shaped. Many huge black shadows were walking around there, groaning, and their eyes faintly emitted green light in the darkness.

"As prey, it is also very unwise to hide in one place without moving." Zaroff said, "My hounds are well-trained. In my collection room..." His eyes swept across the surrounding animal specimens, grinning. "I mean... in my real collection room, there are many head specimens. Some of them are very shrewd people, but in the end, they can't escape the mouths of my hounds."

Zaroff closed the window and stood in front of everyone again. "Okay, the rules are very simple. There are five hours before sunrise. You can leave the castle at any time. I will start looking for you in an hour." He put down his cigar and wine glass, stood with his hands behind his back in a military posture, "I don't want you to think I'm bragging, but... the number of prey I've hunted is far beyond your imagination, white people, black people, Indians, Mongolians... There have been a few prey that were indeed very good. They were resourceful, strong, and had extremely strong endurance and adaptability, but... I have to say, so far, I have not missed a single time."

"What if you miss?" Feng Bujue said, "I mean, as long as we live until sunrise, you will lose, right?"

"Hehe..." The general showed a confident smile and said in a warm tone, "Then your efforts will be worth it. I will prepare a single-masted sailboat for you and guide you on how to reach the nearest town on land."

Zaroff picked up the glass on the table again: "You can completely trust my promise, I guarantee it as a gentleman, soldier, and athlete. Of course, you also have to agree not to mention anything about what happened here." He lowered his voice, "If you can really leave..."

[Current Quest Completed, Main Quest Updated]

The system prompt sounded, and the original quest in the game menu had been checked. A new quest appeared:

[Escape the castle, avoid General Zaroff's hunt, until sunrise.]

[Time remaining before Zaroff sets off: 59 minutes]

[Time remaining before sunrise: 299 minutes]

In addition to the quest description, the values of these two times can be checked in the taskbar at any time, but not accurate to the second.

The general sipped his wine, and before the players left, he gave a few very kind and sincere words of advice: "By the way, I suggest you try to avoid leaving footprints near the castle, that's a low-level mistake; also, it's best not to go to the southeast corner of the island, there is a large swamp there, we call it the 'Swamp of Death', there is quicksand there. A smart guy went there once, and my beloved dog, Lazarus, followed him, and they were buried in the swamp together. You can hardly imagine my mood, Lazarus was the best of my hounds, it felt really bad."

Feng Bujue was already shaking his head, turned around and prepared to leave.

He also did not expect that after Zaroff said so many meaningful hints, one of his teammates was still brewing an impulsive and foolish act.

In a flash, Yi Dao Qing Cheng drew his knife and went up, murderous intent appeared, the knife was unsheathed, the blade slashed horizontally, like a stampeding bull.

The distance between him and Zaroff was only about five meters. When he saw Ivan at the gate of the castle, his knife had been taken out of the luggage and held in his hand, so this attack was very sudden, and the other four people present were all shocked.

Yi Dao Qing Cheng has his own understanding of this plot. He thinks that this is the best opportunity to kill this Boss, and there is no need to do things like escaping. Just solve Zaroff here. If you run into the jungle outside to face various unknown dangers, and wait until you are exhausted, and then let this Boss bring the hounds to chase you, that is a sure loss.

From the beginning of the script to the present, only these two human-shaped monsters have appeared in this castle, and these two guys are just ordinary humans. How strong can they be? Their body types are in the normal human range, and the weapons they use are also ordinary pistols. From this world view, this is about the real world two centuries ago. It is impossible for these two Bosses to have superpowers or something. Even if their setting is physical fitness close to the limit of human beings, it doesn't matter, because the player's combat power is also stronger than ordinary people.

And the most critical point is that Yi Dao Qing Cheng is very confident that he can take down this Boss. His confidence comes from a skill, which is the title skill of [Entry into the Blade Door] – Head on the Ground.