Su Qi didn't immediately return to the gaming pod; after ordering takeout, he wandered around the house.
"That weird power spoke in mysteries; I don't even know if my eyes can see anything."
He wandered for a while and then discovered, to his surprise...
Everything in the room was normal.
There was nothing special at all.
Su Qi walked towards the bedroom and opened the cupboard.
The finger bone and a piece of sheet music were still there, unchanged
Still in a state of "..." chaos.
Just as Su Qi was about to put these two items back into the cupboard,
He suddenly paused and looked back at the gaming pod in the living room, then a thought occurred to him.
After finishing lunch, Su Qi lay back in the gaming pod once again.
"Neural connection in progress."
"Connection successful."
"Welcome, player Su Buxian, to your Personal Space."
"You have now unlocked the matchmaking feature, allowing you to select dungeon modes and difficulty levels."
Several selectable modules appeared in front of Su Qi's eyes.
Note: Experience and Game Coin earnings are 20% higher in solo dungeons compared to multiplayer dungeons.
"Multiplayer Dungeon Mode (unlocked at level 6)"
Note: Multiplayer dungeons require players to explore together, main quest progress is shared, and any player who kills a teammate will have their main quest blocked and cannot receive completion rewards.
Both modes allowed for the selection of difficulty: Ordinary, Hard, Nightmare.
Su Qi noticed the Nightmare option was greyed out and unselectable, with a tooltip saying, "During matchmaking, there's a one percent chance of entering a Nightmare-level dungeon, and the higher the average rating of the dungeon, the higher the probability."
"So it turns out this difficulty can only be encountered, not sought. My very first dungeon was a Nightmare-level—can't tell if that's good or bad luck."
After reading everything, Su Qi did not rush into a dungeon; he had another matter to verify.
After opening the Item Slot, Su Qi's gaze flickered.
Tow familiar items had appeared in the Item Slot.
"Polluted Finger Bone" "Polluted Sheet Music"
The two special items obtained from the real world could indeed be brought into "Abyssal Paradise"!
Su Qi looked serious.
What it implied was self-evident.
It also proved what Xu Linqiu had said, that Abyssal Paradise was not just a game.
"The 'other side' he spoke of must be in this Abyssal Paradise."
But these two items didn't seem to be equipment; they lacked attribute panels, and their purpose was unclear at the moment.
He closed the Item Slot and began to make his selection.
"You have selected Solo Hard Mode, now matching."
The experience and Game Coin rewards for solo mode were a bit higher, allowing players to adapt to gameplay and level up while accumulating basic attributes and advantages.
After unlocking multiplayer mode, players could then avoid holding other people back.
The lights in the login room flickered.
The next moment, the room plunged into darkness, devoid of any trace of light.
A low chuckle arose, its husky tone indistinguishable between male and female.
"Welcome to the Abyss."
The darkness in front of Su Qi slowly receded.
By the time he opened his eyes.
He found himself in an apartment room, where dim light shone on the not-so-clean floor, making the surrounding bed and table seem particularly cramped.
And the strangest thing.
The room had no windows.
Or rather... the windows had been completely sealed off, not just clumsily welded shut with sheet metal, but even the cracks that revealed glass were painted over with black paint, blocking any view outside the window.
The CG image gave no explanation.
"It seems I have to explore on my own before I can trigger the main quest," Su Qi looked around the room, found nothing but a suitcase on the bed, and it appeared he had just moved in, not even having a chance to clean up.
After he opened the suitcase, aside from some clothes, there was only a rusty-looking small clock.
[Quality: Low-quality]
[Function: Turning the clockwork will grant you 90% immunity to pollution for five minutes; can be used three times per day]
[Can it be taken out of the dungeon: No]
[Note: Always hold it tightly; it will be the key to your survival]
This thing could not be stored in the Item Slot.
Su Qi hung it around his neck and searched the suitcase again, finding nothing else.
"It seems there are no more clues in the room."
Su Qi's gaze naturally fell on the room's door; he was curious about what was outside, and the current eerie atmosphere seemed to tell him not to act rashly.
He reached out and cautiously pushed the door open.
Outside was a deep, dark corridor, lit only by the room's light, barely revealing five other closed doors beside his own.
Each door seemed to have a number.
Su Qi was number 5, and directly opposite was number 4.
A [?] suddenly appeared on the door opposite his own, number 4.
[The occupant of door number 4 is peeking at you through the peephole]
Is someone there? Someone isn't necessarily a good thing.
[It is waiting for you to knock on the door]
The information on the question mark changed again.
The character 'it' made him wonder how he could possibly knock.
The entire apartment exuded a strangeness, and these other five occupants were likely no ordinary people. Without understanding what was going on, it was generally best not to do anything unnecessary.
A bell rang out from the stairwell at the end of the corridor, like a bronze bell shaking. Sounds like these often signaled information, such as gathering, meal times, or class notifications.
Footsteps could be heard from the corridor stairwell.
The sound was heavy, like walking in wet shoes on wooden planks.
The rhythmic sound echoed in the deep, dark corridor.
Su Qi looked over, with a premonition of what might happen next.
Something unexpected happened to Su Qi; the door of room number 4 suddenly opened, and a tentacle reached out.
It pulled Su Qi straight over.
Without any hesitation, Su Qi held the butcher knife in front of him, but then he heard a voice.
"Don't be rash, I mean no harm."
With a "thud," Su Qi was pulled into room number 4 and the door was shut behind him.
But Su Qi was not someone who liked being passive; the moment he entered, he swung his knife, with explosive power he pinned down the being that had pulled him in against the wall, holding the murderous butcher knife at their throat.
This creature with tentacles turned out to be a human, and even wore glasses, looking somewhat refined. His pale face trembled with fear as he immediately knelt down without hesitation.
"Don't, don't kill me!"