Chapter 4

"Are you serious? If you die here, you really die? Isn't that like the Sanyu Corporation is killing people? It's said that hundreds of thousands of players will enter the game today. Does that mean hundreds of thousands of people will be trapped and die here without being able to leave?" The player with glasses shook his head vigorously, his face full of disbelief.

"If we can't log out, the game company will soon notice something is wrong and come to save us. With so many people joining the game and something happening, even if the game company doesn't care, the government will definitely intervene," a player who looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, dressed in a suit and looking like a civil servant, speculated.

"How can they save us? Where are we now? How can they get in? And how can they take us out after they get in? You're thinking too simply!" The thin player shook his head, showing a look of disdain towards the civil servant-like player.

"Since this is a game approved and launched by the government, the game company must have a way to save us, like activating the logout function. Perhaps everything we're experiencing now is just a joke the game company is playing on us," the civil servant-like player replied to the thin player.

The player who first noticed the wristwatch, along with a few others, tried to open the alloy bracelet to remove the wristwatch from their wrists, but they soon realized it was futile. The wristwatch was made of a sturdy alloy of unknown properties, perfectly fitting each player's wrist, neither too big nor too small. Unless they found the right way to open it or used powerful tools to dismantle it, it was impossible to remove it from their wrists.

After studying the wristwatch, Liu Qian stood up, trying to steady himself. Compared to the other players' panic, although he was also somewhat bewildered, as a former amputee who had undergone surgery, being alive and having his limbs back was itself a new hope. Therefore, he was the calmest among the ten players.

No matter what happened, he knew that surviving was the only way to uncover the truth and find a way to leave the game.

Having experienced the lowest point of his life just a year ago, Liu Qian's mindset was clearly better than that of the other players. While they were still in a state of panic and fear about being forcibly pulled into the game and unable to log out, he had already prepared himself for a long-term battle, even for the possibility of being trapped in the game world indefinitely.

Returning to the real world and losing his limbs again, or staying in this dangerous and terrifying world, neither option was necessarily better than the other. So although Liu Qian was also confused, he was more focused on being vigilant against the dangers around him.

At that moment, three zombies wandering dozens of meters away had already noticed the commotion and, after a series of growls, suddenly charged towards the group of ten players.

"This isn't the time to argue! What weapons did you choose? If you don't want to be bitten, get ready to fight!" Liu Qian, gripping his machete, shouted to the others as he rushed to the front.

Regardless of whether this was a game or a real-life situation, to survive, they had to be fully focused. The zombies were already charging, and they wouldn't give the players any time to adapt.

"Everyone, form up quickly!" the bald man also shouted, holding an iron rod and standing beside Liu Qian. The two of them exchanged a glance, as if they were long-time close comrades.

Finally, a few people reacted and hurriedly took out their weapons, hiding behind Liu Qian and the bald man. Some held iron rods, others had grenades or Molotov cocktails, which were the initial weapons they had chosen when entering the game.

There were no guns available as initial weapons; the choices were limited to machetes, iron rods, grenades, and Molotov cocktails, all of which were one-time use items.

Liu Qian, standing proudly with his machete and the bald man with his iron rod, led the charge. The other players took up their weapons and formed a line behind them, ready to face the three rapidly approaching zombies. A small-scale battle was about to break out.

Just as the three zombies were about to charge towards Liu Qian and the group, he shouted loudly... but instead of swinging his machete to meet them, he rolled to the side, avoiding the path of the charging zombies. If he hadn't moved, the combined force of the three zombies charging at him would have been enough to knock him down.

At the same time, the bald man also rolled to the other side, clearly having the same thought... they had no obligation to shield the other players they didn't know.

After Liu Qian and the bald man rolled out of the way, the three zombies directly charged into the group behind them. One zombie pounced on a man, while the other two pounced on another man. These people, who had been protected by Liu Qian and the bald man, were completely unprepared for the high-speed impact and were knocked to the ground, resulting in a cacophony of screams and curses.

Liu Qian took this opportunity to circle around to the back of the zombies, swiftly cutting down two of them with his machete. The third zombie was knocked to the ground by the bald man's iron rod.

Two black mists then entered Liu Qian's body, making him feel a surge of heat and power. His vision and hearing seemed to improve slightly. Liu Qian subconsciously checked his wristwatch, which now showed his level had increased from 1 to 2.

For some reason, seeing this change in the number, Liu Qian felt a sudden sense of calm, as if he now had a clear direction and goal. He believed that with his fully restored limbs, if he worked hard to kill more zombies, he would become stronger, and his chances of survival would greatly increase.

The two men who had been knocked down by the zombies were now screaming in agony, their bodies covered in blood.

"Damn it! It hurts so much! What kind of bullshit game is this? It's for real?" The two men who had just been bitten were cursing loudly. Modern otakus rarely experienced such severe injuries in real life; this pain was beyond their tolerance.

"I told you it would hurt, didn't I? Did you think I was joking? Now you know it hurts, right?" The bald man, seeing two more players bitten, finally felt a sense of balance.