Chapter 6

"Help! Save me!" The bespectacled man shouted loudly to Liu Qian, who had already climbed to a height of seven or eight meters.

Liu Qian looked down from the iron pillar he was hugging. In this situation, he definitely couldn’t go down to save him, and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t.

Several more zombies rushed over, pouncing on the bespectacled man under the billboard. Some bit his head, some bit his feet, and some reached out to tear open his belly, pulling out his intestines. The bespectacled man didn’t die immediately; he continued to struggle and scream, the sight of his torn flesh and entrails showing just how much pain he was in.

Seeing this scene, Liu Qian smelled the stench of the man’s torn intestines and heard his extremely agonized screams, his body inexplicably trembled, a sense of fear of death invading his entire body. Without even considering whether death in the game would lead to death in the real world, the very real and cruel way of dying in the game was already terrifying enough.

The pain was so real, it was easy to imagine the immense mental and physical suffering the player was enduring. Even if they didn’t die in the real world after dying in the game, they would likely be left with severe psychological trauma.

Fortunately, these zombies couldn’t climb the iron pillar; otherwise, Liu Qian’s fate would have been no different from that of the bespectacled man below.

Liu Qian’s current situation wasn’t great either. The iron pillar supporting the billboard was very smooth, and it was at least fourteen or fifteen meters high. He had only climbed halfway, and he had to both try to climb higher and use his body to grip the pillar to prevent himself from sliding down, which was very exhausting.

Liu Qian hugged the iron pillar to catch his breath and looked around the square...

The mutated zombie had been severely injured by the players and was no longer able to chase them. However, the zombies that had scattered from the surrounding streets had blocked all the escape routes. Two of the remaining players were still trying to run to an open area, but they were quickly surrounded and pulled down by the zombies, and despite their struggles, they couldn’t escape being torn apart and devoured.

Three players had gathered around the man with the green skin, all of whom had chosen melee weapons. It was unclear what the man with the green skin had said, but after the three players dispersed, they kicked, slashed, and smashed the approaching zombies, clearing a small space for the man with the green skin, who then squatted down and used the iron bar in his hand to pry open a manhole cover on the ground.

Just before the zombies surrounded them, the man with the green skin managed to pry open the manhole cover and quickly climbed inside. The three players who had helped clear the area also rushed over, preparing to follow the man with the green skin into the manhole, which was likely part of their escape plan they had discussed earlier.

Unexpectedly, when the three players arrived, the man with the green skin, who had already climbed into the manhole, grabbed the handle on the underside of the manhole cover and closed it! The three players tried to open the manhole cover again but failed, possibly because the man with the green skin was pulling it from below. Soon, a large number of zombies surrounded them, pouncing on them and tearing them to pieces.

The vast square quickly became empty of players, except for the man with the green skin who had climbed into the manhole and Liu Qian, who was still clinging to the iron pillar of the billboard. The other eight players had all died in this wave of zombies!

Liu Qian tightly hugged the iron pillar, his body trembling slightly. He didn’t know how the man with the green skin was doing in the manhole, but his own situation wasn’t good. If he couldn’t continue climbing to the top of the billboard, Liu Qian would eventually run out of strength and slide down the iron pillar, only to be torn apart by the increasing number of zombies gathering in the square.

Even if he climbed to the top, Liu Qian felt a sense of despair. While the iron frame of the billboard provided a place to rest, he couldn’t stay there forever. The game had hunger and thirst values, and if he remained trapped on the billboard, he would eventually starve or dehydrate to death.

As it was, due to the continuous running and climbing, Liu Qian was already feeling thirsty. A person could survive for over ten days without food, but only about three days without water.

Although climbing to the top of the billboard might not guarantee survival, not climbing up would certainly mean death. Staying still and hugging the iron pillar still consumed a lot of energy, so after a brief rest to catch his breath, Liu Qian immediately resumed his climb.

The muscles in his arms and legs were already at their limit, and Liu Qian could only persist through sheer willpower. He gritted his teeth, five meters, four meters, three meters, two meters, getting closer to the top of the billboard, but each half-meter he climbed became increasingly difficult. He felt that he could lose his strength at any moment and slide down the iron pillar, only to be torn apart by the zombies below.

"Only one meter left! I want to live!"

Liu Qian shouted, hugging the iron pillar tightly. He wiped the sweat from his palms on his clothes and then climbed up a few more steps with all his might.

Finally, just before he ran out of strength, Liu Qian reached out and grabbed the iron frame of the billboard. Using the last bit of strength in his body, he pulled himself up onto the iron frame, punched a large hole in the billboard, and managed to sit on the iron frame.

For the moment, he was safe.

The clouds in the sky grew thicker, rolling above the billboard, creating a sense of immense pressure. Lightning and thunder occasionally appeared at the horizon, moving closer, and a heavy rain could fall on the square at any time.

Thousands of zombies had gathered in the square, densely packed in all the open spaces. The zombies near the billboard’s iron pillar all looked up at Liu Qian, their eyes filled with a bloodthirsty desire. Some even tried to climb the iron pillar to hunt Liu Qian, but fortunately, the pillar was too smooth for them to climb.

Some zombies tried to climb the billboard frame by stepping on each other, but their human ladder was not sturdy and collapsed after reaching only three layers. They continued to try, perhaps because their brains, lacking the ability to think, didn’t know what else to do.