"I can completely understand your confusion and unease regarding your current situation. I might be able to offer you some information that will help you sort out the circumstances you find yourself in."
"The following are some of the general rules regarding Paradise, compiled by the Players in the community. As a member of this community, you have the right to receive this information. If you wish to learn more details, you can still come find me in the public area within the next sixty-five hours."
"First: the community administrators who preceded me once gathered certain Players within the community to share information. Regarding the circumstances that brought us here, it is almost certain that before arriving in Paradise, we were all facing inevitable death. Some were pushing their limits climbing high mountains, while others' last memories were of a car crash."
"In the final moments of our lives, we all heard the same voice. Afterward, we were forcefully arranged into a beginner Script. What is certain is that without the intervention of Paradise's power, you would have already died in some corner of reality. I imagine you must have a relatively clear understanding of this by now."
"Second: from the past until now, at least within the information I know, there has been no report of any Player safely leaving Paradise. Perhaps someone did leave, but they left no clues behind. However, the greater possibility is that once you arrive in Paradise, your life, your soul, and everything about you becomes bound to it. You must strictly abide by the rules of Paradise to survive."
"You can think of Paradise as a place like heaven and hell manipulated by a god. You are already dead, so it is best to cast aside any thoughts of whether you can return home. Although this is cruel, I must tell you that it is an almost impossible task. All you can do is accept reality."
"Third: you completed the beginner Script. In Paradise, the most core element is the Script. You must understand that as long as you are alive, you have to continuously perform in the Scripts of Paradise."
"However, you do not need to worry while you are in the community. Before your Community Time runs out, you are absolutely safe. No one, and no power, can bypass the rules of Paradise to harm you."
"Since you were able to clear the beginner Script, you should have enough capability to understand what I have said above."
"For now, this is all I can tell you. I have sent you my coordinates. If you feel that the information I relayed has earned a modicum of your trust, you are welcome to come find me in the public area. We can discuss things in detail face-to-face."
"—Community Administrator: Light Evening Breeze."
Bai Mu finished reading the email. This Light Evening Breeze seemed very sincere, but everything he shared was rather inconsequential.
As long as he thought about it carefully, he could have reached similar conclusions himself.
However, the administrator was quite considerate of a newcomer's emotions, offering psychological comfort.
'This person really wants to gain my trust and speak with me face-to-face.'
From those words, Bai Mu figured out Light Evening Breeze's intentions.
He did not believe the other party acted out of pure goodwill. He believed there were genuinely kind-hearted people in the world who enjoyed helping others, but he did not believe his luck was good enough to encounter such a saint right off the bat—especially among a group of people who had been specifically filtered.
The single most useful piece of information mentioned in this email was that the Players in the endless Paradise all faced inevitable death scenarios before arriving here.
Who would encounter an inevitable death scenario?
Terminally ill patients?
Adventurers who enjoyed pushing extreme sports to the limit?
Bikers who loved street racing on the highways?
Or was it like him—an apocalyptic survivor driven into a corner amidst a horde of Zombies, left with no choice but to detonate a bomb and perish together with them?
Regardless of which it was, Bai Mu did not think the other party was a simpleton. This was especially true considering this person had obtained the title of "Community Administrator," certified by Paradise.
In this place that relied entirely on rules and abilities, the fact that someone could become a community administrator proved in itself that they were far from ordinary.
He did not believe that Light Evening Breeze was helping him out of the goodness of his heart. At the same time, he did not believe that Light Evening Breeze was answering his questions merely in his capacity as a "Community Administrator" under the rules of Paradise.
'If a community administrator's responsibility is to take care of newcomers, then he should have sent me an email the moment I arrived in the community.'
'He has his own motives. What does he want from me?'
'As a novice Player who just entered Paradise, there are only two things on me that could possibly be worth his effort: Community Time and Points.'
'I completed the beginner Script. Even if I cleared it in a sorry state, I must have the most basic amount of Community Time and Points on me.'
'He is eager to meet me. The most likely possibility is that he wants to get his hands on my Community Time and Points before I spend them all.'
'Community Time and Points are very likely tradable currencies in the community—and the only currencies of any value.'
'The reason he wants to communicate with me face-to-face is that it gives him a higher chance of convincing me to spend them on him.'
'A freshly arrived newcomer who knows absolutely nothing is just a silly little lamb in his eyes. He became even more proactive, especially after I sent that clearly anxious and uneasy email.'
'This shows he treats me as an extremely easy prey to hook. He believes there's a high chance of earning currency from me, which is why he's investing more effort.'
Bai Mu accurately and calmly analyzed Light Evening Breeze's intentions. However, this was not necessarily malicious. Based on Light Evening Breeze's behavior, Bai Mu grew even more certain of one thing:
—The rules of Paradise could absolutely never be violated. The other party had no opportunity to bypass Paradise as an intermediary to extract benefits from him directly.
If he could do such a thing, he wouldn't need to go through so much trouble for a novice.
'He can only obtain all my Community Time and Points if I agree to it.'
'And this kind of transaction must definitely be witnessed by Paradise acting as the intermediary.'
'If even a community administrator has to go through so much trouble to communicate with a novice like me, then another statement can be verified: within the community, my safety is directly guaranteed by Paradise, but only on the premise that it is before my Community Time runs out.'
'Perhaps it can be understood like this: Community Time is a countdown to every Player's life. Once the time runs out, the Player has to go "work" in a Script in order to earn their life back.'
'And this "work"—participating in a Script—carries the risk of death. Since Players cannot determine what danger level of Script Paradise will throw them into, obtaining time from other Players through transactions becomes an extremely desirable and safe trade.'
'He has to present something that might tempt me. Only then will there be a possibility of a transaction between us.' Bai Mu nodded. 'Let's go out and meet him, and see what tricks this Light Evening Breeze has up his sleeve.'