The car bumped along the road. It was moving very slowly. The motorcycle's headlights formed a distinct beam of light, like a sword piercing through the night, but it couldn't spread too far. The darkness in the forest was dense and tangible. Just when they thought there was no way out, suddenly, lights flickered in the distance. A small town appeared at the end of the road.
Peter also turned on the car lights. At the junction where they merged onto the town's road, Shiller noticed a somewhat dilapidated billboard. The designs on it were all hand-drawn, giving it a very retro feel. One side depicted a cartoonish red-nosed clown, while the words on the other side were somewhat faded and unclear.
Bruce, who was driving the motorcycle in front, turned back and stared at that billboard for a long time. But they still drove into the town, with Peter leading the way this time. Following the map, he drove to the doorstep of a house on the edge of the town.
They all got out of the car, and Peter stepped forward to knock on the door. Kate followed him. Then an elderly-looking middle-aged red-haired woman opened the door. Shiller noticed that she neither exchanged pleasantries with Peter, who was greeting her, nor did she acknowledge her niece. Her eyes were fixed intensely on Kate's belly.
Wonderful. Aunt Cain said in a somewhat sharp voice. Our family is about to have a new member. Wonderful. Linda, come out and meet your niece! Linda!!!
Linda came out. She was a somewhat sullen red-haired girl. Her red hair was tied messily at the back of her head, and her complexion was pale. However, her limbs were strong. She did not look thin; instead, she appeared somewhat clumsy.
She also stared at Kate's belly but said nothing. When the others entered the room, she silently stepped aside. Under the room's lighting, Shiller noticed her hands had some calluses, seemingly left from farm work.
Then he began to examine the house. It was undoubtedly an ancient building, built last century, but hadn't undergone repairs. Many wallpapers had peeled off, and some places had mold spots. Fortunately, it was still relatively clean.
The living room and kitchen were connected. The kitchen was, of course, open-style. There was a stove with two pots on it. Six cups were placed in a tray. A sink, with a towel draped over the faucet. Besides that, there was nothing else.
There were cabinets above, but the dust resting on them showed they hadn't been used in a long time. Whatever was inside, must have remained untouched for quite a while.
There was no television in the living room, nor books, magazines, or newspapers. The carpet under the coffee table was solid-colored, without any patterns. The sofa was dark brown, somewhat worn out with peeling leather, but still reasonably comfortable to sit on.
Welcome. Aunt Cain said. It has been a long time since anyone visited this town. We are really happy to host so many guests at once. My niece Linda is a very good girl. She's capable and beautiful. Moreover, her genes are excellent, and she can…
Madam. Linda suddenly spoke.
An interrupted Aunt Cain seemed a bit displeased. Shiller noticed her gaze was fixed on him as she spoke, indicating his disguise had worked.
He touched the pricey cashmere fabric and smiled, saying, Indeed, she is a good girl. But you are also a very respectable lady. The house is so clean, which surely requires both of your efforts. Cleaning such a big place must be quite exhausting, right?
Oh, not really, Aunt Cain laughed, appearing somewhat excited. Then she continued, We just... just do some things every day...
Sorry. My friend has a minor injury. Kent spoke. Do you have any bandages or something? We'd like to give him a simple bandage.
Linda. Go get them some bandages. Aunt Cain responded with slightly detached indifference. Shiller observed that the aunt didn't seem to care about her niece as Peter mentioned. Otherwise, she wouldn't be chatting with other guests while her nephew-in-law's head was bleeding.
Soon, the sturdy girl brought bandages. Kent helped Peter clean the wound and bandaged it. But his head wound was not shallow; the blood quickly seeped through the bandage.
Aunt Cain seemed unaware of anything. She just kept praising the town, complimenting her daughter, while persistently inquiring about the background of these guests.
Yes, I am British. Shiller said. We two brothers run a small business in London. We were just in Los Angeles a few days ago, meeting with some partners. We've heard about the beautiful natural scenery here, so we decided to come here for a holiday.
Ah, wonderful. Judging by your exquisite attire, one can tell you must be a wealthy gentleman. You certainly don't seem to be over 40. My daughter just turned 19. You young people should chat more often...
Aunt. Kate suddenly spoke. I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable; I'll go upstairs first.
After speaking, he headed towards the stairs. Peter also followed him upstairs. Meanwhile, Kent and his companion stood up to bid farewell. They said, "We were just passing through here. If it weren't to pave the way for you, we wouldn't have come to the town. We might have to rush back overnight tonight, so we're leaving now."
Shiller and his companion also got up to say their goodbyes. But Aunt Cain kept urging them to stay. She said, "It's so late, and there's no inn in the town. If you want to stay here for a few more days, it's best to stay here. We are a very traditional family. We have a guest room specially prepared for visitors. We have hosted many relatives and friends before, and Linda is very experienced in this regard. Please stay. You can visit the creek tomorrow…"
"Since you are so kind to invite us, we really can't refuse any longer. Please show us to the guest room," Shiller said with a smile.
"Linda!" Aunt Cain called out.
The two were led to the guest room by the young lady. The guest room was somewhat old yet spotlessly clean. The bed sheets were solid-colored without any patterns. The room had only a bed, two bedside tables, and a small wardrobe, as well as a lamp on the bed, and nothing else.
After escorting them, Linda left. Shiller watched her silhouette and thought to himself, "This family is definitely peculiar."
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he began calculating in his mind. When selecting the scenario, he specifically chose the thriller type, and the one with significant restrictions. This scenario indeed didn't disappoint them.
First, no one here possesses superpowers. The physical fitness level is just the average standard of a normal person. Based on body type, there's a slight difference, but not much.
Moreover, this scenario has very strict restriction mechanisms. Above everyone's line of sight, there's a semi-transparent blood meter. The player's strength level is not allowed to exceed the average level by much. Even someone like Shiller, who can forcibly raise their strength level through mental state, is subject to scrutiny. If detected with excessively high strength levels, the meter above will start depleting. The less the blood, the greater the scenario's intensity.
In other words, the difficulty of this scenario dynamically increases. If you want to dominate here, the scenario's difficulty will correspondingly escalate to a ridiculous level. Shiller had witnessed it before.
Secondly, players need to play character roles with different backgrounds and identities. Poor disguise will also deplete the blood meter. In other words, this scenario forbids players from communicating outside the plot. So even if they recognized the few people they met on the road as Batman or Spider Man, they can't reveal their identities. Otherwise, it would deplete the blood meter. Not to mention identifying them, even reacting too strongly would result in blood loss.
But this doesn't mean they can't upgrade their armory within the scenario. As soon as Shiller entered the room, he pulled out a gun from his suit jacket, then reached out his hand to his teammate and said, "Give me yours too. I want to do some maintenance."
Another gun was thrown onto the bed. Shiller walked over, picked it up, and inspected it. You can't expect much from guns bought on the black market. However, given enough money, the condition of the guns wasn't bad.
However, they also paid a price for this. Shiller took off his cashmere sweater. His left arm had a sunken black mark on it, as if the muscle had atrophied, like the entire piece of flesh had rotted away.
"If we had known it would be like this, we shouldn't have robbed that bank," the agent sighed and thought. "The restrictions in this scenario are too strict. The role he's playing is a con artist from England, and since he's not a good person anyway, why couldn't he rob a bank?"
Hunting only glanced back at him. He too removed his upper clothes. His abdomen was wrapped with bandages, with some blood seeping from the left side of his abdomen. This was clearly another after-effect from the previous action.
After they landed, they were on a commercial street in Los Angeles. The role played by the agent received a mysterious package a few months ago. Following the clues, he came to America, seemingly intending to make a fortune.
However, after realizing the stringent constraints, the agent knew that proceeding straightforwardly with the main storyline could possibly lead to dangers they couldn't handle. So, they planned to first strengthen their equipment and found the nearest bank for a quick heist.
And sure enough, they depleted their blood meter. But what the agent imagined, like suddenly a bunch of agents surrounded them or the bank's security guards turning into Super Saiyans, didn't happen.
Inside the bank vault, they found a special safe. As soon as the agent opened the safe, a jack-in-the-box with a joker popped out, stabbing Hunting. And when the agent touched the box, his arm instantly turned black as if it was cursed by something.
At the bottom of the box, they found a flyer that said "Qile Circus" and listed the address for their first performance, which was right in Big Creek Town.
With that, they officially kicked off the main storyline. They first arrived in Siv City, then drove along the highway to Big Creek Town, where they encountered Peter, who was also driving there.