The Monster is Coming

Chapter 358 On How to Scientifically Harvest Fear
"If it's a miniature teleportation array, it doesn't require many space-related materials, so the price won't be very high."

How much exactly will it cost?

"Here's the deal: you can buy the space-related materials yourself. I'll give you a list, and our Gold Coin Merchant Guild team will handle the construction. You just need to give them 40 sacrificial power as a service fee."

Upon hearing the price quoted by the Gold Coin Merchants Association, Wei Shan felt a pang of heartache.

He worked hard for more than half a year to accumulate 139 million sacrificial power, and the hard work fee took away nearly one-third of his assets.

It is often said that knowledge is wealth, and this moment is undoubtedly the best proof of that.

But if you lack ability and don't like to study, you still have to spend your energy to pursue your dreams.

"Okay, we'll go with your plan. Send me the list, and I'll go make the purchases right away."

"Wait a moment, I need to calculate the required materials according to the plan you provided."

A corner of the square in Teizuka Village.

Wei Shan, who was waiting for the purchase list, closed the private chat dialog box and brought up the Star Pulse interface.

The currently inlaid life souls are Ink Flame, Gargoyle, and Speed.

He did not intend to keep any of these three life souls.

In the future, the summoning system will focus on the Fear and Nightmare Souls, which will be the mainstream. Subsequent Souls will also primarily provide support and amplification effects.

Fear is a sixth-generation soul, and the purchase price reaches 10 points of sacrificial power.

The Nightmare Soul is a fourth-generation item, priced at 1.2 Sacrifice Power.

For his third soul, he chose the Light Shield Soul, which focuses on self-protection and support. For his fourth soul, he chose the Qi-Eating Soul, which increases his mental energy sustain.

After completing the disassembly and inlay process.

Regarding the allocation of evolution points, he directly upgraded Nightmare Soul to level 75, which is the core Soul for the next step of the plan.

With the remaining evolution points, he raised Fear to level 59, Light Shield to level 38, and Breath Consumption to level 50.

The Fearful Soul has two growth modes.

They consume evolution points to increase the level of the Soul, which can significantly improve the combat power of the terrifying evil spirits that can be summoned at each stage.

The second growth system involves advancing through fright points, with each stage allowing you to summon more powerful fear-inducing spirits.

The summoning style, built around the Fearful Soul, primarily revolves around the second growth mode.

The evolution points that Ah Le had accumulated by staying at the training camp for more than half a year were quickly depleted.

The reconfiguration of the Star Pulse resulted in a significant increase in mental strength, a result of the improved power.

That's not enough.

He immediately went to the functional building in Emperor's Tomb Village: the Pillar of Rules.

Using the "Divine Transformation" function, the amplification ratio of the Life Soul attribute is adjusted to Spiritual Power (90%) and Vitality Strength (10%).

This allocation scheme can significantly improve both the strength and recovery efficiency of mental energy.

As for the issue of being fragile, everyone's playing summoner, who still wants to fight in melee?

The task of direct, hand-to-hand combat naturally falls to the summoned beasts.

Next was the performance upgrade of the armed vehicles... After updating himself from head to toe, Wei Shan received a list of materials from the Gold Coin Merchant Guild.

After closing the chat window, he brought up the trading post interface and began searching for the materials on the list.

The spiritual materials listed above are mostly popular items in the trading market, with transparent prices, so the trading model is basically a fixed price.

Auctions, on the other hand, are difficult to sell due to time constraints.

Only rare or newly emerging spiritual materials will be subject to the auction model that deducts an additional 1% handling fee.

Space-related materials are also among the most expensive basic commodities in the trading market.

Purchasing according to the list, the number of sacrificial power in the balance column dropped rapidly, and soon 40 sacrificial power were spent.

To avoid losing money on transactions, he used a plugin provided by the Gold Coin Merchants Association to compare prices throughout the process.

The chart above shows the price fluctuations of popular products, making it easy to see the specific price of each item at a glance.

He is not in a hurry to sell some commodities that have experienced short-term price increases.

Keep refreshing the auction house interface, and you'll find players listing items at reasonable prices. Then, simply lock in your purchase.

This is also a habit of many veteran players.

This is also why many products can sell out instantly after being listed.

As long as the price is reasonable, spiritual items are easy to sell, and many veteran players who need them will wait and refresh the page to buy them.

After purchasing all the materials on the list, most of the day had passed.

A total of 62.76 sacrificial energy was spent.

He transferred these materials directly to the Gold Coin Merchants Association's professional team through cross-space transactions.

As for the possibility that the other party might abscond after receiving the materials, there is absolutely no need to worry.

The Gold Coin Merchants Association is a golden brand, and its reputation accumulated over the years is as solid as a rock.

The other party quickly replied, saying they would contact him once the setup was complete.

After ending the conversation, Wei Shan accessed the forum and began researching information.

All other issues have been resolved.

Now all that's missing is a detailed layout plan for entering the small world.

There are three proposed solutions.

The first solution is simple and straightforward.

After entering the small world, find the most bustling and densely populated area and build a nightmare experience scene.

Then they would seek out beings on the world's wealth list and plunder them directly, using their funds as experience bonuses.

For example, challengers who come to experience the game can receive a certain amount of reward money after completing a certain number of courage challenges in the Nightmare Illusion.

Use cash rewards to incentivize more challengers to participate.

In this way, the challenger can earn money and also gain fear points, thus forming a profit cycle.

If they don't have enough money, they'll rob you again; if you don't give them any, they'll beat you

As a player, you don't necessarily have to hide your identity and hide behind the scenes; you can solve all problems through violence.

As for the potential risk of confrontation with the world.

No matter how much trouble the creatures in the small world cause, they are utterly powerless in the face of absolute power.

The process can be a bit cumbersome.

The second option is to take a covert infiltration route.

The core strategy is to use fear as bait and weave a web with the help of others.

The horror experience venues built will not be known to the outside world as being related to supernatural powers or powerful beings from other worlds.

The advantage of doing this is that it aligns with the cognitive level of the small world and avoids turmoil in the real world.

Continuously collect fear points through a voluntary process.

The advantage is that it reduces operational hassles, and by using local creatures as a cover, it basically doesn't need to be taken care of after it's opened.

It could even allow the local creatures responsible for the operation to gain some benefits.

Let it act as your agent in your little world.

The premise of this model is that the creatures in the small world enjoy seeking thrills and are willing to experience a terrifying and suspenseful atmosphere through terrifying scenes.

If the creatures in the small world have no need for "horror" content.

The first option is simpler and more direct, attracting challengers by offering incentives.

The third option is more straightforward: to descend upon the world as a world-destroying demon king.

It brings destruction and death to the small world.

The advantages and disadvantages of this plan are both extreme.

The advantage is that it can generate a huge amount of fright points in a short period of time.

However, it cannot operate in the long term.

A plan to destroy the world must involve a large number of death and destruction elements.

If you only use "world-ending threats," you can gain fright points in the early stages, but once the creatures in the small world realize that it's all bark and no bite, you can no longer harvest fright points.

If the world were truly destroyed, bringing absolute oppression to smaller worlds in the guise of a demon king would still be a short-term gain.

The fear experienced by creatures struggling to survive in their small world can gradually lead to despair, numbness, and even self-abandonment.

If you make a big profit in the early stages, you'll basically be ruined in the later stages of the game.

Rebuilding the small world and restoring it to normal order is too complicated and requires a lot of time and effort.

Therefore, the "World-Destroying Demon King" is a short-sighted approach.

The advantages and disadvantages of the three options are obvious, and Wei Shan has not yet decided on the specific choice.

However, he prefers the first two options.

He plans to play Monster World for the rest of his life, and sustainable development is his priority.

If a small world is ruined within six months, it's unknown when the next small world will appear, and there are currently no replacements available.

So you should take it easy in this little world.

Secondly, the impact of world-destroying acts on one's mental well-being was also taken into consideration.

Although it's just a game, the realism of the monster world has blurred the lines between virtual and reality.

The fear and will to survive in the eyes of living beings before they die are completely genuine.

Many times, he almost forgot that this was a game.

As a player, he can indeed act recklessly, but he also has a deep-seated sense of morality.

Let the city melt in lava, let the rivers turn blood red, let parents hold their children and cry out in despair in the ruins... Just imagining those scenes makes him feel that they are too cruel.

He could accept using nightmare illusions to gain fear points, as it was ultimately a mental experience and wouldn't actually take his life. He could also use violence to plunder wealth, since the gain or loss of wealth was far less significant than the loss of life.

But the destruction of the world completely crushes all hope and deprives countless innocent lives of their very foundation of existence.

This behavior is irrelevant to many players.

But in his eyes, this was purely a malicious outburst, and he would inevitably feel guilty afterward.

Most importantly, he wanted a scariness level that could be repeatedly harvested and varied in depth.

Therefore, he decided to use the first two options for preliminary testing.

If all else fails... then we'll think of something else.

If forced to do something against one's will, becoming a world-destroying demon king isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Time can wash away guilt.

With his ideas clear, Wei Shan began to devise a concrete implementation plan, breaking down the plan from a framework into actionable steps.

Many ideas are refined through thinking.

Next comes the weaving of horror scenes.

He needs to refer to relevant materials in this regard.

Wei Shan chose to come to the library in Dizhong Village to look up horror stories, hoping to use them as a blueprint to weave a nightmare illusion.

He had just found a relevant book and sat down when a message popped up in his live stream chat:
Visitor #1: There's no need to look up information. You should ask for directions first and learn more about the culture and customs of the miniature world.

When Wei Shan saw that the person who sent the comment was none other than the famous Visitor No. 1, he was filled with awe.

I never expected that a forum guru would visit my deserted live stream.

But he was still puzzled and couldn't help asking:

"Boss, I don't understand what you're trying to say?"

As soon as the question was raised, Tourist Number One sent a reply.

Visitor #1: The essence of fear is cognitive shock. If you directly apply the horror system template from Earth, it may not be suitable for the small world. You have to dismantle and reassemble the inherent cultural symbols of the small world, turning them into familiar yet unfamiliar weapons... For example, weave fear with the customs they revere, so that they can watch everything they firmly believe in turn into an abyss that devours them in their most familiar environment. This kind of fear based on cultural foundations is far more touching to the soul than horror scenes fabricated out of thin air, and it can also make the harvesting efficiency of fright points increase exponentially...

After reading the analysis of visitor number 1, Wei Shan suddenly understood.

I realized how short-sighted my previous thoughts were.

The culture, history, and belief systems within this small world... these are the best materials for constructing a nightmare illusion.

The terror woven from self-perception is merely self-delusion and terror.

It's like using the scenario of turning into zombies or ghouls after death to scare groups that believe in "death is rebirth." They might even see zombies or ghouls as pioneers of reincarnation and feel awe towards them.

The fear of being detached from cultural soil is like a rootless duckweed, unable to truly sink into the depths of the other person's soul.

What he perceived as ferocious and terrifying might have been merely a comical sight to the creatures of the small world.

Even a thriller scene meticulously designed using Earth's culture might just happen to coincide with a celebration ritual of a creature in a small world, earning the creature's awe and respect.

Not only did I not feel scared, I also felt that the scene was very sincere.

Therefore, he must first understand the culture of the small world before he can weave a deep fear that will cause the challenger's pupils to shrink and his heart to stop.

As Visitor No. 1 said, only by being rooted in the taboos passed down through generations, the reverence engraved in their blood, and the customs integrated into their daily lives can fear truly take root and sprout.

For example, the shock of "the alienation of familiar things"—where they are judged by the very gods they worship, and the laws they follow are twisted into shackles that bind them—is what makes the shock value erupt like a volcano.

At this point, Tourist Number 1 gave a few examples that he could understand.

In ancient times, a common element in Chinese horror was the paper doll.

These were originally common items in traditional funeral and sacrificial ceremonies, but in the eyes of people at that time, they carried the function of communicating between the living and the dead, and were a vehicle for the living to express their respect to the deceased.

When the paper figure transforms from a rigid offering into a living being with lively eyes and twisting joints.

The terror it brings is not as simple as the paper figures moving.

Rather, it is the deep-seated unease brought about by the disruption of the Yin-Yang order.

In ancient Chinese traditional culture, if the performance of sacrificial items crossed the line, it meant a desecration of the rules of life and death. This fear was far more terrifying than the image of a "ghost".

However, this kind of terror, born from traditional customs, becomes harmless when placed in a region without the same cultural concepts.

For example, this kind of terror could be placed in primitive African tribes that do not share the same cultural foundation.

The concept of paper figures becoming spirits is far less ferocious and terrifying than the real wild beasts that exist around them.

Other terrifying manifestations include the "reversal of joy and death."

Traditional Chinese weddings and funerals have strict etiquette and rules, with red for celebrations and white for funerals being clearly distinguished. Reversing these distinctions is considered a terrible taboo.

There is a long tradition of using concepts such as "ghost marriage" to make horror movies since ancient times.

In the movie scene, the wedding hall, which should have been brightly decorated, was instead lit with red candles burning green flames. The bride, wearing a phoenix coronet and wedding gown, had bluish-purple lividity. The guests during the wedding ceremony were all paper figures. The master of ceremonies, who should have said "May you have a son soon," instead recited: "May you rest in peace in the earth."

This fear of alienation is the most deeply felt.

Similar examples include the legend of the Slit-Mouthed Woman, La La Quina, and the Naga Revenge, all of which evoke extreme fear due to cultural elements.

What these examples have in common is that they all distort a group's ingrained beliefs, customs, and emotional symbols.

Turn the sacred into evil, the mundane into the bizarre, and awe into fear... Only by using the culture of creatures in the small world as raw materials can the most mellow fear be brewed.

This "abnormalization of familiar things" is precisely the sharpest blade of fear that pierces through the defenses of the mind.

The detailed explanation from visitor number 1 made Wei Shan's eyes light up.

It felt like opening a new door.

The analysis of cultural foundations and the logic of fear is like a precise scalpel, dissecting his previously vague conception of nightmare scenarios and making the idea of ​​how to efficiently harvest fear points crystal clear.

After concluding the exchange, Wei Shan sincerely thanked tourist number 1, then turned to look at the guiding water sphere floating beside him:

"Brother Guide, I have a question to ask you."

【put!】

"I want to learn about the small world where the virtual rune legion was born, and related information..."

……

three days later.

Wei Shan, who was in the library looking up the latest updated information, received a private message from the head of the "Space Research and Development Team" of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce.

This indicates that the space teleportation array has been completed and can be activated at any time to travel to the Meteor World.

However, this is a one-way ticket. The torn passage will close after the teleportation ends, but the "base" can be retained for future use.

Wei Shan fully understands this.

While the teleportation array remains active, it needs to continuously absorb energy, and the void will also cause continuous wear and tear on the array base.

It is in a stable, active state, which is equivalent to the time card mode in the game, and the fee is continuously deducted.

The most cost-effective solution is one-way transmission, which is closed once the transmission is complete.

As for the return ticket.

As a player, this is not an issue.

They have a more convenient and cost-effective trick: returning the soul to the imperial palace.

No matter how far away from home a traveler is, they can return home in just one hour to see their hometown and be reborn under the divine radiance (white light) of Brother Di Zhao.

Upon receiving the notification, Wei Shan did not linger and traveled to the Misty Coast region via the teleportation array in Dizhong Village.

The teleportation array was built on an open area west of the Misty Coast node, not on Dream Island.

After all, Dream Island is the territory of the Gold Coin Merchant Guild, and all the land will be developed and used in the future, so it is impossible to preserve the array base for him for a long time.

Half an hour later, Wei Shan met with members of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce at the agreed location.

The other player was clearly a member of the Lunar Eclipse Clan, around 20 years old, and extremely handsome.

At his feet was a miniature teleportation array specially built for him, occupying an area of ​​only about five square meters.

The array base runes look very complex, and each node is also inlaid with an energy crystal.

Without wasting any words, Wei Shan immediately initiated the transaction and paid the remaining balance:
"I don't know how to use the teleportation array, so I'll leave the activation to you."

"Don't rush. Let me explain the teleportation details again. There is a 30% chance that this teleportation will be swallowed by the spatial reverse flow, but I can wait for you here. You can teleport multiple times after death and resurrection, but you will have to pay for each teleportation."

"Understood." Wei Shan, who had already learned about the relevant content in advance, nodded in understanding.

He then stood at the center of the formation, guided by members of the Gold Coin Merchants Guild.

Before long, the formation was activated.

In an instant, a dark blue halo burst forth from the ground, wrapping around his body as if it were alive.

The scene before my eyes began to distort violently.

Along with this came a strong sense of weightlessness, as if the ground beneath his feet was turning into a black hole vortex, pulling his body down continuously.

The space ahead is collapsing, forming a passage that stretches endlessly into the unknown.

His body was sucked in and flew forward as the passage extended.

There is no concept of "up, down, left, or right" in the space tunnel, and you can see spatial reverse vortexes appearing from time to time in the colored passage.

Anyone who touches it will be pulled into the void, their soul returning to the Emperor's Mausoleum.

The concept of time becomes blurred during transmission.

After an unknown amount of time, Wei Shan's view suddenly opened up.

After flying out of the space tunnel, he found himself at high altitude, plummeting rapidly, with an endless sea below.

Open the map function.

The words "Meteor World" were displayed on the map. Apart from his location, the rest of the area was still shrouded in mist and remained unexplored.

In the blink of an eye, Wei Shan's jacket transformed into pixelated particles that coalesced into a floating skateboard beneath his feet.

Next, he decided to explore the small world first to dispel the fog on the map.

　Here are 5500 words~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)