The other players also looked at the man warily.
However, they had no choice but to refrain from acting recklessly, as the man’s speed was so fast that they couldn’t even see it, which meant that his strength far exceeded theirs. They didn’t dare to provoke him rashly, as they didn’t know how they would even die.
The man stopped his action and turned his masked face towards the player who had just spoken.
His black mask reflected the dazzling light, and was cold and mysterious, making it impossible for the players to see his expression through it. Except for the man who had just spoken, they didn’t even know if the rest of these people under the mask were male or female.
The nearly two hundred people were exceptionally quiet, and only the faint sound of sand grains rolling in the black and red soil could be heard.
Suddenly, everyone heard a soft moan accompanied by a painful sound, and the sound of bones dislocating.
They were attracted by the sound and looked over, only to see a player who should have been dead struggling to stand up from the ground.
Half of the player’s face had already been torn off by the zombies, and his abdomen was also bitten and torn apart. The twisted intestines and liver trembled and fell out of the wound one after another.
The players’ faces changed all at once. Even fools could tell that the player who stood up with a twisted posture like a puppet was not in the right condition.
Their long-term experience in copies made them feel an instant sense of crisis.
The man in the protective suit glanced back at his companions and then one of them jumped forward and rushed to the player who had turned into a zombie, intending to cut off the player’s neck with his knife.
At the moment the knife was about to fall on the neck, the player who had turned into a zombie roared and caught the knife with his arm. The man in the protective suit reacted quickly after being caught, but he couldn’t pull out his knife and had to retreat decisively.
Meanwhile, the zombie player had already made his move, and the man in the protective suit was knocked down. Fortunately, he was wearing a protective suit, otherwise he would have been seriously injured.
“Look at his arm!”
Someone in the crowd shouted, and everyone immediately focused on the zombie player’s arm, which had turned completely black, different from the color of any normal skin.
“The result of infection among the ability users is not only becoming exceptionally powerful and ferocious but also gaining paranormally enhanced abilities,” the leader in the protective suit explained.
“Furthermore, ability users become infected at a faster rate than regular humans. It takes normal humans three days or even half a month to fully transform into a zombie, but the fastest record for a supernatural to completely succumb to the disease was five minutes.”
“Speaking of ability users and feelings is a ridiculous matter. One second they’re your comrade-in-arms, and the next they could become your enemy. Everyone and everything should maintain a cautious and vigilant attitude. This is the first rule of the apocalypse that I am teaching you today.”
With that, the man leaped directly in front of the transformed player. His lightning-fast blade was drawn, and before the player could even react, the blade plunged into their forehead.
The thin blade, like a beam of light, went in and came out from the back of the player’s head. At the position of the blade, a small blue diamond-shaped crystal was firmly lodged.
The man glanced at the crystal. “A blue crystal with decent quality. Who wants it?”
Everyone looked at each other, unsure who should speak up.
Without the crystal’s support, the transformed player slumped to the ground, motionless.
The players sighed.
Just a dozen minutes ago, they were fighting side by side as comrades-in-arms, but now, they just wanted to kill each other.
Damn it, if the player had bitten them just now, they would have become that same ghastly creature.
The man picked up the crystal with the tip of his blade and walked back to his previous position. Seeing that no one wanted the crystal, he tossed it to his companion behind him.
Afterward, the man surveyed his surroundings. “Shall I continue?”
Players who were nit been bitten cautiously stepped back, even adopting a guarded posture while looking at the players who had been injured by the zombies.
The injured players were almost like they had received a death sentence, their faces filled with despair as they stared at the man in the protective suit, praying not to become infected.
The man held up his scanner and continued his examination.
The player whose arm had been injured was also infected.
As the players waited for their imminent deaths, the man in the suit unexpectedly didn’t make a move.
He moved past the infected player and gradually tested the others behind him.
A total of more than thirty players had been injured by zombies, but only three of them showed the safe green signal.
The man led the three lucky survivors to stand in front of him and began to speak.
“There are three of them. Take them to the lab and hand them over to Dr. Adolf.”
Seeing that they were about to be taken away, the three of them panicked again, with one of them quickly asking, “Where are you taking us?”
The man spoke slowly, ”Although it shows safe here, there is still a risk of infection from the zombie virus. Before we can confirm that you are not infected, you need to be isolated and observed at a designated location.”
“Dr. Adolf is a highly accomplished expert on our Ark. He will take good care of you.”
The three looked at the pale-faced players and then at the Ark behind them. In the end, they chose to accept.
Two NPC’s wearing protective suits led the three to the bottom of the Ark. After performing some operation, a dark opening appeared in the sealed bottom of the Ark, resembling an elevator.
The elevator closed, and the group disappeared from the sight of others.
The man said, “Now it’s time to deal with you.”
His voice was as calm as ever, as if what he meant by “deal with” was not people’s lives, but blocks of tofu.
“I don’t want to die! I finally climbed up to level 400, completed 95% of my main task, and only need 5% to leave this rubbish game. If they mutate, does that mean I will mutate too? Maybe I’m immune.” A player with a pale face screamed in despair, “I promise I won’t board the Ark, please let me go!”
During his pleading, the player’s eyes fell on the player who was unscathed. “You should help me. We’re in the same boat. Can you guarantee that you won’t be bitten by zombies later? You will also die!”
“We have nearly 200 people on our side, while they only have six. They are not our match.”
“Let’s join forces. Please, I beg you.”
The man snorted, “It’s a battle of trapped beasts. Let me answer a few of your questions.”
“First, I don’t understand what you meant by that 5% earlier, but even if you don’t board the Ark, I won’t let you go. If I let you go, you may infect hundreds or even thousands of normal organisms. Releasing you would make me a traitor to the entire Blue Star.”
“Second, I will answer you seriously. Even if you join forces, you are not my match. There are different levels of ability users, and I am an A-level user, while you are all E-level. One hundred e-level users can only compete with one D-level user, and one hundred D-level users can only compete with one C-level user.”
“If you’re good at math, you should be able to figure out how many people you need to defeat me.”
“Of course, there is one thing you are right about, no one knows whether they will be infected in the future. Normally, when an ability user becomes infected, they should take care of themselves while they are still sane. However, human’s fear of death can take over after infection, and at that time, they need someone else to help them. It is a cruel test that ability users must go through during their training.”
The man paused and looked at the uninfected players through his black mask. “Soldiers, use your skills and send them on their way.”
As soon as the man finished speaking, the system’s voice rang out at the top of the people’s heads.
【Ding!]
【Please kill the infected players. After killing all of them, you can enter the Ark and start the main storyline.】
[After successfully killing all the infected players, every player will receive 6,000 mall points and 3,000 performance points. In addition, the player who directly kills an infected player can receive an additional 6,000 mall points and 3,000 performance points for every unit of infected player.]
[If the task fails, all players will be unable to board the Ark. And what awaits you is the next zombie frenzy.]
The NPC’s and system’s voices were like two giant gongs banging in the players’ heads. The injured players stared incredulously at the man and the players with poker faces. They never expected to die at the hands of other players instead of monsters.
“Ah!”
The pressure of death, the betrayal of fellow players, the failure of the game… All the emotions rushed into these players’ minds at once.
Finally, a few of the infected players couldn’t bear the psychological torture any longer. They shouted out loud, and their originally black and white eyes turned into the black and red eyes typical of zombies.
“Don’t hesitate anymore, everyone attack and kill them, or it will be us!” An uninfected player yelled and attacked with his special ability, “We’re helping them. If it were us, it would be the same. Nobody knows who will be next tomorrow.”
As the first player began to move, others followed suit.
Bai Lixin held the Mermaid Heart on his neck, frowning slightly. The black pearl was emitting a faint glow. He had been using the Mermaid Heart’s power to heal the infected players since earlier, but it had no effect.
He looked at Song Yuantian, who was standing beside him and didn’t move. He asked in a low voice, “Was it like this when you entered last time?”
Song Yuantian’s skin color was no better than that of the infected players: “Last time, there weren’t any such strict rules. At that time, ability users were immune to infection, but now even ability users can be infected. It may be due to the awakening of the zombie king and the upgrade of the zombie virus. What about your Mermaid Heart?”
Bai Lixin looked at the chaotic battlefield in front of him and shook his head, “No, it can’t heal the zombie virus.”
After hearing this, Song Yuantian coughed violently several times. He lowered his head and muttered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “I hope it works for her, otherwise I…”
Song Yuantian’s voice was very soft, and Bai Lixin didn’t hear what he said afterwards.
The injured players were already severely injured by the zombies, and their energy was seriously depleted. In addition, they were outnumbered. After only ten minutes, the last infected player fell to the ground.
The man saw that all the infected players were eliminated and nodded, “Congratulations, ability users, on passing the test. Please board the Ark with us.”
As he spoke, he manipulated the electronic watch on his wrist and opened a huge hole next to the rope that was thrown down earlier.
Then a step-like elevator quickly extended from above, and the system’s voice rang out again.
[Ding! Congratulations to the players for completing the task. Rewards have been delivered…]
————————
In The Live broadcast room.
[It’s simply… the end of the world.]
[It’s supposed to be an end-of-the-world copy.]
[The plot hasn’t even started yet, but I already feel that sense of despair and oppression. If you don’t resist the zombies, the ark will be attacked. But resisting the zombies is highly likely to result in infection, and infection means death.]
[In the apocalypse, the so-called rules for ensuring personal safety are already ineffective. Death and threats are everywhere, and the only thing that matters is staying alive.]
【It’s just like the apocalyptic zombie movies I’ve watched. Once infected, one becomes a zombie. Even if it’s hard to let go, one should try to deal with it as soon as possible. Otherwise, after becoming a zombie, they won’t be able to do anything, and may even attack and bite their loved ones.]
【In fact, the moment they become zombies, they’re already dead. You see, it’s not the brain that controls their subsequent actions, but rather that tiny crystal nucleus. In other words, zombies have a completely different structure from us. The flesh only serves as a container for the virus, and under the control of the nucleus, proud and elegant humans become nothing more than nucleus slaves and walking corpses. If I were in that situation, I would definitely let them kill me.]
[But in the moment of death, human instinct compels us to want to stay alive. It’s already very admirable for someone to be able to resist that instinct and face death calmly.]
[Sigh… it’s fortunate that this is just a horror game simulation of a copy, not a real end-of-the-world scenario. Let’s hope that we never have to face such a situation.]
[Sigh, of course, we definitely won’t.]
————————-
[Ding! Congratulations, players! You have successfully boarded the ark and officially started the main task. The copy has 200 players, with 53 deaths so far and 147 players remaining. By successfully boarding the ark, you have taken a step closer to success. Congratulations to all the players.]
As all the players boarded the Ark, the system’s voice rang out once again.
Although the system had been congratulating them all along, most of the players didn’t feel happy at all. Some even had other players’ blood on them.
The place where they were was a pure white tunnel, which looked like an air-raid shelter. The top was arched, and a huge conveyor belt could be faintly seen beneath their feet.
“Follow me,” the man in the protective suit commanded the over hundred players with an unquestionable tone, and the players followed behind him.
The escape system explained in Bai Lixin’s mind: [This is a partition layer, not the real upper level of the Ark. The entrance and exit of the Ark are different. The place where you saw the rope being thrown is the exit of the Ark, while the entrance is here.]
[To prevent the zombie virus from being brought into the Ark, all personnel must undergo three rounds of disinfection in the wind forest of the partition layer after returning to the Ark, and only then can they truly enter the civilian area of the Ark.]
The man walked at the front, leading the way through the long tunnel. Just as the group followed the man onto a conveyor belt, more than a dozen black cylinders suddenly extended from the arched top.
The next second, a white disinfectant spray with a pungent smell spewed out from the black cylinders.
The disinfection lasted for a full 30 seconds.
The conveyor belt continued forward, and the same two rounds of disinfection followed.
By the time the three rounds of disinfection were complete, the players all had ashen faces.
At the end of the conveyor belt, a bright light appeared.
The escape system said: [Alright, the exit is ahead. Since the security measures were activated just now, you are safe.]
As the light grew brighter and brighter, the crowd finally saw the scene behind the tunnel.
What greeted their eyes was a green and lush grassland, with clusters of colorful flowers blooming here and there. Many butterflies and bees floated on the flowers, collecting nectar.
The other players also looked at the man warily.
However, they had no choice but to refrain from acting recklessly, as the man’s speed was so fast that they couldn’t even see it, which meant that his strength far exceeded theirs. They didn’t dare to provoke him rashly, as they didn’t know how they would even die.
The man stopped his action and turned his masked face towards the player who had just spoken.
His black mask reflected the dazzling light, and was cold and mysterious, making it impossible for the players to see his expression through it. Except for the man who had just spoken, they didn’t even know if the rest of these people under the mask were male or female.
The nearly two hundred people were exceptionally quiet, and only the faint sound of sand grains rolling in the black and red soil could be heard.
Suddenly, everyone heard a soft moan accompanied by a painful sound, and the sound of bones dislocating.
They were attracted by the sound and looked over, only to see a player who should have been dead struggling to stand up from the ground.
Half of the player’s face had already been torn off by the zombies, and his abdomen was also bitten and torn apart. The twisted intestines and liver trembled and fell out of the wound one after another.
The players’ faces changed all at once. Even fools could tell that the player who stood up with a twisted posture like a puppet was not in the right condition.
Their long-term experience in copies made them feel an instant sense of crisis.
The man in the protective suit glanced back at his companions and then one of them jumped forward and rushed to the player who had turned into a zombie, intending to cut off the player’s neck with his knife.
At the moment the knife was about to fall on the neck, the player who had turned into a zombie roared and caught the knife with his arm. The man in the protective suit reacted quickly after being caught, but he couldn’t pull out his knife and had to retreat decisively.
Meanwhile, the zombie player had already made his move, and the man in the protective suit was knocked down. Fortunately, he was wearing a protective suit, otherwise he would have been seriously injured.
“Look at his arm!”
Someone in the crowd shouted, and everyone immediately focused on the zombie player’s arm, which had turned completely black, different from the color of any normal skin.
“The result of infection among the ability users is not only becoming exceptionally powerful and ferocious but also gaining paranormally enhanced abilities,” the leader in the protective suit explained.
“Furthermore, ability users become infected at a faster rate than regular humans. It takes normal humans three days or even half a month to fully transform into a zombie, but the fastest record for a supernatural to completely succumb to the disease was five minutes.”
“Speaking of ability users and feelings is a ridiculous matter. One second they’re your comrade-in-arms, and the next they could become your enemy. Everyone and everything should maintain a cautious and vigilant attitude. This is the first rule of the apocalypse that I am teaching you today.”
With that, the man leaped directly in front of the transformed player. His lightning-fast blade was drawn, and before the player could even react, the blade plunged into their forehead.
The thin blade, like a beam of light, went in and came out from the back of the player’s head. At the position of the blade, a small blue diamond-shaped crystal was firmly lodged.
The man glanced at the crystal. “A blue crystal with decent quality. Who wants it?”
Everyone looked at each other, unsure who should speak up.
Without the crystal’s support, the transformed player slumped to the ground, motionless.
The players sighed.
Just a dozen minutes ago, they were fighting side by side as comrades-in-arms, but now, they just wanted to kill each other.
Damn it, if the player had bitten them just now, they would have become that same ghastly creature.
The man picked up the crystal with the tip of his blade and walked back to his previous position. Seeing that no one wanted the crystal, he tossed it to his companion behind him.
Afterward, the man surveyed his surroundings. “Shall I continue?”
Players who were nit been bitten cautiously stepped back, even adopting a guarded posture while looking at the players who had been injured by the zombies.
The injured players were almost like they had received a death sentence, their faces filled with despair as they stared at the man in the protective suit, praying not to become infected.
The man held up his scanner and continued his examination.
The player whose arm had been injured was also infected.
As the players waited for their imminent deaths, the man in the suit unexpectedly didn’t make a move.
He moved past the infected player and gradually tested the others behind him.
A total of more than thirty players had been injured by zombies, but only three of them showed the safe green signal.
The man led the three lucky survivors to stand in front of him and began to speak.
“There are three of them. Take them to the lab and hand them over to Dr. Adolf.”
Seeing that they were about to be taken away, the three of them panicked again, with one of them quickly asking, “Where are you taking us?”
The man spoke slowly, ”Although it shows safe here, there is still a risk of infection from the zombie virus. Before we can confirm that you are not infected, you need to be isolated and observed at a designated location.”
“Dr. Adolf is a highly accomplished expert on our Ark. He will take good care of you.”
The three looked at the pale-faced players and then at the Ark behind them. In the end, they chose to accept.
Two NPC’s wearing protective suits led the three to the bottom of the Ark. After performing some operation, a dark opening appeared in the sealed bottom of the Ark, resembling an elevator.
The elevator closed, and the group disappeared from the sight of others.
The man said, “Now it’s time to deal with you.”
His voice was as calm as ever, as if what he meant by “deal with” was not people’s lives, but blocks of tofu.
“I don’t want to die! I finally climbed up to level 400, completed 95% of my main task, and only need 5% to leave this rubbish game. If they mutate, does that mean I will mutate too? Maybe I’m immune.” A player with a pale face screamed in despair, “I promise I won’t board the Ark, please let me go!”
During his pleading, the player’s eyes fell on the player who was unscathed. “You should help me. We’re in the same boat. Can you guarantee that you won’t be bitten by zombies later? You will also die!”
“We have nearly 200 people on our side, while they only have six. They are not our match.”
“Let’s join forces. Please, I beg you.”
The man snorted, “It’s a battle of trapped beasts. Let me answer a few of your questions.”
“First, I don’t understand what you meant by that 5% earlier, but even if you don’t board the Ark, I won’t let you go. If I let you go, you may infect hundreds or even thousands of normal organisms. Releasing you would make me a traitor to the entire Blue Star.”
“Second, I will answer you seriously. Even if you join forces, you are not my match. There are different levels of ability users, and I am an A-level user, while you are all E-level. One hundred e-level users can only compete with one D-level user, and one hundred D-level users can only compete with one C-level user.”
“If you’re good at math, you should be able to figure out how many people you need to defeat me.”
“Of course, there is one thing you are right about, no one knows whether they will be infected in the future. Normally, when an ability user becomes infected, they should take care of themselves while they are still sane. However, human’s fear of death can take over after infection, and at that time, they need someone else to help them. It is a cruel test that ability users must go through during their training.”
The man paused and looked at the uninfected players through his black mask. “Soldiers, use your skills and send them on their way.”
As soon as the man finished speaking, the system’s voice rang out at the top of the people’s heads.
【Ding!]
【Please kill the infected players. After killing all of them, you can enter the Ark and start the main storyline.】
[After successfully killing all the infected players, every player will receive 6,000 mall points and 3,000 performance points. In addition, the player who directly kills an infected player can receive an additional 6,000 mall points and 3,000 performance points for every unit of infected player.]
[If the task fails, all players will be unable to board the Ark. And what awaits you is the next zombie frenzy.]
The NPC’s and system’s voices were like two giant gongs banging in the players’ heads. The injured players stared incredulously at the man and the players with poker faces. They never expected to die at the hands of other players instead of monsters.
“Ah!”
The pressure of death, the betrayal of fellow players, the failure of the game… All the emotions rushed into these players’ minds at once.
Finally, a few of the infected players couldn’t bear the psychological torture any longer. They shouted out loud, and their originally black and white eyes turned into the black and red eyes typical of zombies.
“Don’t hesitate anymore, everyone attack and kill them, or it will be us!” An uninfected player yelled and attacked with his special ability, “We’re helping them. If it were us, it would be the same. Nobody knows who will be next tomorrow.”
As the first player began to move, others followed suit.
Bai Lixin held the Mermaid Heart on his neck, frowning slightly. The black pearl was emitting a faint glow. He had been using the Mermaid Heart’s power to heal the infected players since earlier, but it had no effect.
He looked at Song Yuantian, who was standing beside him and didn’t move. He asked in a low voice, “Was it like this when you entered last time?”
Song Yuantian’s skin color was no better than that of the infected players: “Last time, there weren’t any such strict rules. At that time, ability users were immune to infection, but now even ability users can be infected. It may be due to the awakening of the zombie king and the upgrade of the zombie virus. What about your Mermaid Heart?”
Bai Lixin looked at the chaotic battlefield in front of him and shook his head, “No, it can’t heal the zombie virus.”
After hearing this, Song Yuantian coughed violently several times. He lowered his head and muttered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “I hope it works for her, otherwise I…”
Song Yuantian’s voice was very soft, and Bai Lixin didn’t hear what he said afterwards.
The injured players were already severely injured by the zombies, and their energy was seriously depleted. In addition, they were outnumbered. After only ten minutes, the last infected player fell to the ground.
The man saw that all the infected players were eliminated and nodded, “Congratulations, ability users, on passing the test. Please board the Ark with us.”
As he spoke, he manipulated the electronic watch on his wrist and opened a huge hole next to the rope that was thrown down earlier.
Then a step-like elevator quickly extended from above, and the system’s voice rang out again.
[Ding! Congratulations to the players for completing the task. Rewards have been delivered…]
————————
In The Live broadcast room.
[It’s simply… the end of the world.]
[It’s supposed to be an end-of-the-world copy.]
[The plot hasn’t even started yet, but I already feel that sense of despair and oppression. If you don’t resist the zombies, the ark will be attacked. But resisting the zombies is highly likely to result in infection, and infection means death.]
[In the apocalypse, the so-called rules for ensuring personal safety are already ineffective. Death and threats are everywhere, and the only thing that matters is staying alive.]
【It’s just like the apocalyptic zombie movies I’ve watched. Once infected, one becomes a zombie. Even if it’s hard to let go, one should try to deal with it as soon as possible. Otherwise, after becoming a zombie, they won’t be able to do anything, and may even attack and bite their loved ones.]
【In fact, the moment they become zombies, they’re already dead. You see, it’s not the brain that controls their subsequent actions, but rather that tiny crystal nucleus. In other words, zombies have a completely different structure from us. The flesh only serves as a container for the virus, and under the control of the nucleus, proud and elegant humans become nothing more than nucleus slaves and walking corpses. If I were in that situation, I would definitely let them kill me.]
[But in the moment of death, human instinct compels us to want to stay alive. It’s already very admirable for someone to be able to resist that instinct and face death calmly.]
[Sigh… it’s fortunate that this is just a horror game simulation of a copy, not a real end-of-the-world scenario. Let’s hope that we never have to face such a situation.]
[Sigh, of course, we definitely won’t.]
————————-
[Ding! Congratulations, players! You have successfully boarded the ark and officially started the main task. The copy has 200 players, with 53 deaths so far and 147 players remaining. By successfully boarding the ark, you have taken a step closer to success. Congratulations to all the players.]
As all the players boarded the Ark, the system’s voice rang out once again.
Although the system had been congratulating them all along, most of the players didn’t feel happy at all. Some even had other players’ blood on them.
The place where they were was a pure white tunnel, which looked like an air-raid shelter. The top was arched, and a huge conveyor belt could be faintly seen beneath their feet.
“Follow me,” the man in the protective suit commanded the over hundred players with an unquestionable tone, and the players followed behind him.
The escape system explained in Bai Lixin’s mind: [This is a partition layer, not the real upper level of the Ark. The entrance and exit of the Ark are different. The place where you saw the rope being thrown is the exit of the Ark, while the entrance is here.]
[To prevent the zombie virus from being brought into the Ark, all personnel must undergo three rounds of disinfection in the wind forest of the partition layer after returning to the Ark, and only then can they truly enter the civilian area of the Ark.]
The man walked at the front, leading the way through the long tunnel. Just as the group followed the man onto a conveyor belt, more than a dozen black cylinders suddenly extended from the arched top.
The next second, a white disinfectant spray with a pungent smell spewed out from the black cylinders.
The disinfection lasted for a full 30 seconds.
The conveyor belt continued forward, and the same two rounds of disinfection followed.
By the time the three rounds of disinfection were complete, the players all had ashen faces.
At the end of the conveyor belt, a bright light appeared.
The escape system said: [Alright, the exit is ahead. Since the security measures were activated just now, you are safe.]
As the light grew brighter and brighter, the crowd finally saw the scene behind the tunnel.
What greeted their eyes was a green and lush grassland, with clusters of colorful flowers blooming here and there. Many butterflies and bees floated on the flowers, collecting nectar.
