Terror Infinity - Volume 1 - Chapter 1

Vol 1. Resident Evil

Chapter 1
Zheng Zha (Zheng) always felt that he was dead in reality. Go to work, come home,
eat meals, go to bed and wake up. He didn’t know where the meaning of his life
lie, but it was definitely not in that face of his fat supervisor, not in that white collar
woman’s body who he met in the bar, and not in this steel and concrete forest - the
modern city.
Zheng felt he’s becoming rotten. Going to rot from age 24 till the end of his life, then
become part of the earth, and leave behind a name. No, not even a name, since no
one will remember you. No one will remember a little white collar. Whether he lived
as a truly graceful person or just acted like one, he was just a tiny piece of this world.
He wanted to change something. He wanted to have his meaning.
“Want to know the meaning of life? Want to live… a real life?”
When he turned on his computer at work today, a message popped up. This was
obviously some newbie hacker seeking attention. Whatever you choose, it would
force you to download a virus. Zheng laughed at it and was about to close it. Yet,
when his hand touched the mouse, his heart skipped a beat, then he stopped.
“Want to know the meaning of life? Want to live… a real life?”
Zheng felt a little lost. An indescribable force attracted him to put his finger on the
mouse. He clicked on the YES button. Then, he lost conscious.
—
Cold, shaking…
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The moment he woke up, Zheng jumped up from the ground. He looked around in
panic. The vision of his office and the current environment caused a chaos in his
head, but after a few seconds he woke up from the confusion.
“Not bad, you have the best quality of the bunch this time.” A cold voice said.
Zheng turned his head around, and saw a black haired guy sneering at him. This
person was around 24 or 25, had a very common face, but the few scars on his face
made him looked horrifying.
Black haired guy had a cigarette on his hand, and took a deep smoke. Then his
sight looked past Zheng. That was when Zheng realized there were five people
lying beside him. Three men and two women. Other than that, there were over ten
westerners in this concealed room.
This was the compartment of a train, and the train’s moving very fast. The feelings of
cold and shaking were coming from the train.
“Where is this place? Who are you? Why am I here?” Zheng asked these people.
Furthermore, due to the presence of westerners, he also repeated it in English.
The westerners looked at him for a moment then turned their head away. Only the
black haired guy said to him, “Think carefully, it should had already inserted everything
to your head.”
Think carefully? Zheng tried to recall everything. He only remembered when he saw
the pop up on the screen “Want to know the meaning of life? Want to live… a real
life?”, and clicked YES, he fell unconscious.
Wait… Zheng felt there’s something in his head, something about survival and life.
This is a game. Whoever created this game is not known, maybe it’s god, maybe it’s
the devil, or maybe it’s the aliens or humans in the future. Now he’s became a player
of this game, or maybe part of this game.
A game that brought together those who’s lost in life but have yet to become a rotten
person. When they chose this game, they will be transported to various scenes in
horror movies.
“This time is Resident Evil 1. Your luck isn’t bad, newbies, getting such an easy horror
movie on the first time. Even when you die it will be an easy death.” The black haired
guy took his last smoke then crushed the cigarette in his hand.
“You are saying only our conscious has come inside the computer? Just like in novels?
And when we complete this game our conscious will go back to our bodies?” A
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chubby dude next to Zheng asked.
Black haired took out a gun, a desert eagle, while handling the gun he said, “I don’t
know if it’s conscious or not, but you will feel pain, you will get injured, and you will
die. And you were wrong, when you finish this movie, you will go to the next one.
Maybe you have seen that movie or maybe not. God will bring in new members to
replace those that died in the last movie. Every movie consists of seven to twenty
people. In other words this is a very easy movie, we only have seven people here.”
Chubby dude said with a sneer, “How do you know those who died didn’t go back
to their body? Perhaps they chose to die willingly.”
Black haired raised his head suddenly, as though he had became a panther this moment.
He bent his knees and in a split second he’s already on top of the chubby
dude. His desert eagle stuffed inside the chubby dude’s mouth.
“Then do you want to try and die? Can you imagine that unending terror? I lived
through three movies. The first one was Nightmare on Elm Street 1. There were 15
newbies in that movie and two experienced survivors. But do you want to know the
ending? They all died in their dreams. Me and another person were the only ones
survived. Do you want to know how it feels to get killed by a stupid dream? Imagine
everything around you becomes slithering rotten meat, in a gruesome factory you
watch as a pair of scissors slowly cut through every bit of your body. Can you imagine
the pain? You piece of shit! You want to die?”
Black haired was shouting like a madman. His intent to kill was so clear and obvious
in his eyes. The chubby dude was scared and unable to move. And with a gun in his
mouth, he couldn’t even plead.
Zheng and the other four people persuaded them to break up. Black haired walked
back to his seat and said, “ Dying in an horror movie is real death. Furthermore when
you die here you will be tortured by the devils in these movies. So if you don’t have
determination to live, I advise you to suicide now.”
A girl with glasses said, “Then we don’t have a way to return to our bodies?”
Black haired said with a sneer, “I have been saying, it’s not your conscious that came
into the computer. Do you think humans have to technology to create this game? No,
this is the work of god, we are nothing more than bugs in his eyes. We are thrown
here to struggle just to entertain them. Both our body and conscious have been
brought to this world, and can’t go back. At least I don’t think we can go back.”
The glasses girl has a sense of calmness, she thought for a moment and said, “By
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your tone, it seems like there’s still a way to go back?”
Black haired took a look at her and said, “The quality of this time’s newbies are not
bad. You’re right, there is hope to go back.”
Everyone stared at him. “Every time you finish a mission, that is you lived through a
movie, you will obtain 1000 points. You can exchange these points for a lot of things,
such as the right to live in a movie for 100 days.” Black haired said.
A middle aged guy said, “Who would want to live in a horror movie? That’s asking to
die.”
Black haired remained quiet. Glasses girl said, “No, I think I understand what he
meant. There are many genres of horror movies, sci-fi like Resident Evil, where everything
can be explained with science. You just have to go outside where the main
events are happening, the rest of the world is normal.
Black haired snapped his finger, “Bingo. You can indeed live in another part of this
world normally for those days. Think about it, after experiencing a couple of life and
death trials, the chance to live normally in this world is a bless.”
Zheng’s body shivered. He thought he understood the meaning of this world a bit.
Yes, the reason he’s feeling rotten was because his life was boring. Once you experience
life and death, then the mundane life is what you would wish for.
Black haired continued, “Other than exchanging for time, there are many other things.
Such as this desert eagle with unlimited ammunition. It only took 100 points, that’s
10 days of time. You can also use points to improve yourself, including intelligence,
mental capacity, reaction time, cell vitality, muscle density, and immunization strength.
In other words, if you survive through this movie, you can double your strength. If
you lived through a hundred movies, you can become a super human.”
Glasses girl asked calmly, “Let’s get back to the point, how many points does it take
to get back to our world?”
“500000 points.” Black haired took out another cigarette. “If you don’t use any points,
you just have to live through fifty movies. Then you can go back.”
Suddenly, everyone quieted down. According to this guy, if you don’t use your points,
it’s impossible to live through fifty movies.
“Of course, 1000 points is the base reward of every movie. You can do side quests in
movies to earn points. Like when I explained everything to you, according to God’s
rule, explaining to newbies will be rewarded 100 points. Also you should noticed that
special watch on your hand.” He waved his left hand, there’s a black metal watch.
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Everyone looked at their own left hand. There were a few data on this watch. A
timer that is counting down from 3 hours 7 minutes. A counter for zombies, hunters,
newbies…
“You will get one point for every ten zombies you kill, 100 point for every hunter, and
1000 points for every newbie…” He looked at everyone with a wicked face. Only
Zheng and the glasses girl looked back calmly at him.
“Of course that’s negative 1000. Ok if you have any other questions hurry up and ask.
This movie is about to begin.”
Glasses girl looked at Zheng, then continued asking, “I have three more questions. I
saw Resident Evil, the ending is the T virus from the lab spread throughout Raccoon
City. Then if we drive this car and leave the city, wouldn’t that let us survive easily?”
Black haired nodded and replied, “Take a look at your watch, there’s a name on the
upper left side, read it.”
“One.” Everyone read it out, then they noticed one of the westerners had a faint glow
on him, then slowly faded away.
“This is the leader of the mercenaries in this movie. This movie belongs to a specified
location genre. The plot only happens in the lab. In this kind of movies, you are not
allowed to leave the plot area or stay too far away from the casts. If you stay further
than 300 feet from One, then bang, you will have nothing left. Understand? Of course
when One is dead in the movie, this restriction will be moved to another cast.” Black
haired explained.
Zheng then asked, “Who is this God that you have been mentioning?”
“God is the thing that manages our entrance to movies. It gives us points and you
also exchange through it. God is a ball of light. I don’t really know what it is either.”
Glasses girl nodded and said, “One last question. This number, what does it mean?”
She pointed to the timer counting down.
“This is the time that you must stay in this movie. Once the timer is over, you will go
to where God is and get your reward. There you will also wait for the next movie.”
The train started to slow down. Black haired guy finished his cigarette and took
out his desert eagle, “Ok, the plot is starting. The casts will be able to hear our
conversations now. Remember if they hear anything not belonging to this world or
spoilers, 10 points will be deducted for every sentence. Well newbies, try your best
to survive.”
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The train slowly came to a stop. The mercenaries cautiously moved out. Black haired
was the first to follow, then glasses girl took a look at Zheng and the others, and
followed them out. As One was moving further away, the rest moved out also.
Outside the train was a platform. Zheng recalled the movie, this was the beginning
where people wanted to enter the Hive, and the entrance to the underground lab.
People followed the platform and soon came to the lab entrance, where a metal door
blocked their way. On the door was a set of special symbols denoting the company
of this lab and the danger of this place.
Zheng and the others followed the mercenaries to the door when a woman in red
skirt suddenly turned to One and asked, “I want to know who you people are and
what’s going on here.”
One looked at her then waved to the other mercenaries. They took out some devices
from their bags and started unlocking. He then said to the woman, “You and I have
the same employer. The mansion above us is an emergency entrance to the Hive.
You are security operatives placed there to protect that entrance.”
Zheng remembered this scene. This was where Alice asked about the cause of this
event. Even though he had seen the movie and know the truth behind it, but experiencing
this scene in person gave him a surreal feeling.
Alice seen a little lost. She rubbed her wedding ring, and muttered, “What about
this?”
Matt said, “Your marriage is a fake. Just part of your cover to protect the secrecy of
the Hive.”
“And what is the Hive?” One of the non mercenary westerner asked. Zheng recognized
this person also. Spence Sparks, he was the cause of this event. A business
spy attempting to steal the T virus.
One turned to a mercenary, “Show them.”
He nodded, and brought up a screen on the laptop.
“Raccoon City, nearest urban center. The mansion where we found you and gained
access to the train, which in turn brought us to the Hive.”
A building that looked like a bee’s hive appeared on the screen.
“The Hive itself is located underground deep beneath the streets of Raccoon City. A
top secret research facility owned an operated by the Umbrella Corporation… Our
position on the map is indicated by the heat signature.”
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As One explained, our location was shown on the laptop. We were standing on the
platform on top of the Hive. Zheng knew this was a safe place, but not long afterward,
this area would become a death zone.
“And them?” Alice pointed to Zheng and the others.
Zheng panicked. They thought they were guests of this world, and the casts would
not interact with them. They would only need to avoid those monsters. Who would
had guessed the main character talked to them.
One said, “They are also security operatives. Company has their registered files. But
I question if there’s an error in corporate orders. Aside from one person, everyone
else is just ordinary people.”
This is probably the identity God gave them.
Spence then asked, “Why can’t I remember anything?”
“The Hive has its own defense mechanisms, all computer controlled. A nerve gas
was released into the house. Primary effect of the gas, complete unconsciousness
lasting anything up to four hours. Secondary effects are varied, but can include acute
memory loss.”
“For how long?”
“Subjective. An hour, day week.”
Another non mercenary westerner said, “So you’re saying this place was attacked?”
One looked at him, “I’m afraid things are a little more complicated than that.”
Zheng recognized this cast also. He’s Matt Addison, came here looking for his sister,
who was a researcher inside the Hive. She found out the corporation was researching
T virus and attempted to contact the government. The person she contacted was
Alice. But before she could stole the virus, Spence stole the virus and leaked it. She
later got infected and became a zombie.
Zheng was thanking the gods. He watched a lot of movies because his life was so
boring. And scifi and horror were his favorite genres. Knowing what the plot was and
who the main characters were would increase his chance of surviving. It’s common
sense that the main characters won’t die whether it’s a movie or a novel.
At this time, a voice came from the door, “Sir! We’ve breached the Hive.”
One nodded, then he looked at Zheng’s group and sighed. He turned around and
led the mercenaries to the door.
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The door opened under the computer’s control. It was totally black inside. One called
a mercenary, “JD!”
That person nodded and put on night vision goggles. One paused for a moment, he
turned to black haired and said, “Zhang Jie (Jie)¡‘
Jie took his desert eagle and just walked in. Zheng knew black haired also knew the
plot. In Resident Evil 1, as long as the central computer system stayed on, they would
be safe there. But once the computer system got shut down, this place would be
filled with zombies and hunters.
It didn’t take long for Jie to turn on the lights. The whole room was lit, you could
also see a scenery of the modern city through the window. A scene that Zheng had
enough of in his life.
The mercenaries and everyone went into the room. A female mercenary said, “Halon
content has dissipated.”
When Spence stole the T virus, he broke a vial of it. Then the ventilation system
spread the virus throughout the Hive. Everyone inside was infected. When the central
computer system found out, it isolated the Hive and injected gas. The only thing
left in the lab were zombies and hunters.
It seemed like Resident Evil was a popular movie. Everyone in Zheng’s group saw it.
All of them were leaning on the windows and looking outside. They weren’t worried
at this moment because they knew this was still a safe place.
Matt suddenly said, “Makes it easier to work underground, thinking theres a view.”
Zheng hesitated a moment the put out his hand, “Zheng Zha… Uhm, I may be a
security operative.”
Matt’s hands were handcuffed because his files were not in the corporation. He
turned around with a bitter smile, “Handcuffed, I don’t think we can shake hands like
this… And I forgot my name.”
Zheng gave him a friendly smile. Matt was a nice person in the movie. He’s also an
innocent person. He was just here to look for his sister and he tried to protect Alice
until the end of the movie. He was one of the person that lived at the end.
On the other side, One and a few mercenaries got the elevator door open. But it
was pitch black inside. They threw down a flare and saw that the elevator was at the
bottom with the wires cut off.
“Looks like we’re taking the stairs.”
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One turned to everyone, “Through the stairs, we must reach the bottom in ten minutes.
Everyone follow.”
The mercenaries were well trained, Alice had T virus, Spence and Matt’s stamina
weren’t bad either, Jie had gone through three movies already and probably enhanced
himself.
Of the remaining six people, even though Zheng’s a office worker, he liked to exercise
and spent a day in the gym every week. According to him, this helped to take care
of those women.
Glasses girl looked skinny and as a girl, her stamina was weaker than a man’s. But
she was smart enough to got a hold of the corner of Jie’s shirt. So Jie supported part
of her weight. He looked at her for a moment then continued moving in front of her.
The chubby dude looked about twenty eight. Before long, he was panting, and his
speed slowed down.
There were three more people. A middle aged man, probably a laborer. He was not
running fast but kept up with everyone. A middle aged woman. She was doing worse
than the chubby dude. She’s at the point where she’s walking step by step. The last
one was a boy in his teen. His face looked very common and his body didn’t seem
strong. But like the middle aged man, he kept up with everyone.
After a while, you could no longer see the chubby dude and middle aged woman
from behind. Zheng was following close to Jie all along and sudden heard, “Two
out.”
Zheng asked curiously. “What two out?”
Jie sneered, “Them! Don’t think of my words as a joke. This is a real world. We will
die here. Perhaps you are still not taking this seriously and think of this as a movie,
right? Being more than three hundred feet away from him will explode, this is one of
the rules. They are going to die!”
Bang.
Just as Jie finished his sentence, two explosions came from above. Zheng’s group
looked toward it with a daze, but aside from the stairs there was nothing else.
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Chapter 2
Zheng and the newbies followed the mercenaries in panic. They didn’t know what to
do. They came from a modern, civilized world and when they first experience these
fantasy-esque scenes, they thought it was all just a dream. To be honest, Zheng was
rather delighted.
After being bored with the real world, he needed some kind of stimulation. Whether
it’s one night stands, getting into fights, or even drugs, they were just part of the real
world. Once you wake up, you would be back at that boring world. But that’s not
what he wanted. He wanted something more exciting.
He was delighted when he first learned of this world. Not only could he experience
all these worlds, but he could also enhance himself with points. Because he saw so
many horror movies, as long as the first few worlds belonged to movies he had seen,
then he would just become stronger and never die. Once he became strong enough
and nothing could kill him, he would be able to go to any world and live however he
like. And if he got bored of this place, he would just go back to the real world.
That was what Zheng imagined. Until the sound of those two explosions came. It
shattered his fantasy. Heaven didn’t exist, and this place wasn’t heaven. This was
hell. He was just a little bug in the eyes of God. Human lives worth nothing more
than just explosions. He… didn’t want to die.
The casts didn’t notice those explosions. They didn’t even notice two people were
missing. When they reach the bottom of the stairs, a mercenary said, “Status. Red
Queen is locked onto us. She knows we’re here.”
“Who’s the Red Queen?” Alice asked One with curiosity.
“State of the art artificial intelligence. She is the computer that controls the Hive.”
Everyone reached the bottom. Jie turned around and looked at the people panting
with a smirk. “Keep going guys. You’re lucky if you live through this. To be honest,
luck is already by your side. This movie has a very easy difficulty. One of the few
movies where you can solve problems with guns. Once you survive this movie, you
will have 1000 points to enhance yourself.”
As the group moved forward, laboratories appeared on the sides. These labs were
filled with water. Corpses of researchers floating inside. Zheng also knew that these
corpses were already infected. Once the central computer restarts, they will be freed
from any restrains.
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“This is going to slow us down. Our route to the Queen takes us straight through
these labs.” A mercenary said.
“Rain, JD, see how bad the flooding is.” One ordered. “Kaplan, Jie, find us an alternate
route.”
Jie waved at Zheng’s group and went ahead casually.
After the four were gone, Spence asked, “What happened here?”
One looked at everyone then answered, “Five hours ago, Red Queen went homicidal.
Sealed the Hive and killed everyone down here. When we realized what was
happening, my team was dispatched to shut her down.”
The main characters looked puzzled. “Why did she do it?” Alice asked.
One shook his head, “That we don’t know. But outside interference is a possibility.”
As One was talking, a figure appeared through the window of the lab closest to Matt.
He looked closely, realized that was a floating corpse and jumped back.
Everyone was surprised, even Zheng’s group. They looked toward that lab and saw
a pale female corpse. The casts quickly calmed down, but Zheng’s group was scared
and shivering. Perhaps you couldn’t feel it in the theaters, but when you were experiencing
this, especially when you knew that corpse was a zombie, this sense of fear
was unimaginable.
Zheng’s mind blanked out. Then a hand tapped his shoulder. The slightest sound
was enough to freak anyone out this moment. He immediately jumped backward a
few feet before turning around to take a look. The glasses girl was standing there
laughing at him.
“Hey! Why don’t we introduce ourselves? Since our lives are on the same line.”
The three men agreed. Glasses girl then said, “My name is Zhan Lan (Lan), sounds
like a boy’s name right? I am an author. Before I came to this place, I always complained
about the lack of inspiration. Little did I know I came to a world with limitless
inspiration. This is probably retribution. Ha!”
Zheng returned with a friendly smile, “Zheng Zha. I was a manager. Uhm. Before I
came here I complained about the world being too boring and wanted some excitements…
Though this place seems like too much.”
Lan smiled and shook his hands, “That’s what I felt too!”
The middle age man smiled along with them, “Mou Gang (Mou), I was a truck driver.
Before I came here I did complained about my wife being too stingy, and my son
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didn’t live up to our expectations. I clicked YES when I was playing online games
with my friends, then I came here.”
At last the boy said, “Li Xiaoyi (Xiaoyi), high school student. Well, I complained about
a lot of things, but this place doesn’t seem bad. As long as I live, I can become a
super human. According to what Jie said, you may be able to retain your powers if
you manage to go back. I am tired of being bullied in school. If I can go back, I will
kill those assholes!”
The boy let out a savage expression. The three adults looked at each other. They
knew that this boy was probably bullied constantly in school, he’s disappointed in
reality. It seemed like the common ground for everyone here is being disappointed
with reality.
Jie and Kaplan came back. When he walked passed Lan, he suddenly tapped on her
shoulder heavily. Lan let out a scream while Jie walked over to One laughing out
loud.
“Sir. I found an alternate route, but it’s gonna cost us time. We double back, cut
through Dining Hall B, then we’re right back on track.” Kaplan said.
By now, the other two mercenaries were back also. “Sir, no go. The whole level’s
flooded.”
One nodded, “Alright, we’re behind schedule. So let’s move it.”
Zheng’s group followed them reluctantly. Luckily the mercenaries didn’t start running
again. Finally, they stopped in front of a metal door. They opened the door with a
computer and cautiously moved in while holding onto their guns.
This was a room with many metal cases. Anyone who watched the movie should
know, inside those cases were Hunters. Once the central computer closed down,
they would be a hundred times more dangerous than zombies.
A mercenary looked at his computer, “Dining Hall B. That’s what it says on the map.”
One walked over to him while Matt chimed in, “Maybe the corporation’s keeping a
few secrets down here.”
One looked at Matt without answering, “JD, Rain, and Jie keep the prisoner here and
secure the exit.”
At the same time, a mercenary said, “Sir, halon levels are nonexistent in this room. I
think the system malfunctioned.”
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One nodded, “JD, Rain and Jie, there may be survivors. Give me a search line, but
keep it tight.”
The three nodded, but Jie sneered and took out a tobacco. He knew that there were
no survivors, though there were quite a few zombies.
Lan suddenly walked over to Jie and asked in a low voice, “I want to know something,
can we change the movie’s plot?”
Jie nodded, “Continue, what else do you want to ask?”
She laughed, “Can we bomb this place? If we kill all the hunters in this room, then
we could gain a few thousand points.”
Jie laughed with her, “You’re not wrong, we could get a few thousand points for
bombing this place, but I have two questions. First, do you think they will let us do
it?” He pointed to the mercenaries.
“They don’t know what these are, and don’t know what would happen after the central
computer is closed. If they see us doing something strange, they would probably
shoot us first thing. Which may release the hunters earlier. God wouldn’t let you
change the plot so easily, and even if you did, it will probably increase the difficulty
and cause some accidents. Understand?”
“The second question is, what do you rely on the most to survive in these movies?”
Lan paused for a bit, she touched her forehead and answered, “Power? No, luck?
It’s not reliable… Probably knowing the plot?”
“Bingo. Knowing the plot is our biggest advantage, so when I am not a hundred
percent confident, I won’t change anything. And whoever tries to change the plot for
points, I don’t mind sending him to hell.”
Zheng was listening to their conversation all along. Then he realized Jie was looking
at him, with a sense of pity and mock… as though he was looking at a dead man. This
made Zheng very uncomfortable.
At this moment, One said, “Ok, the rest of you come with me.”
They went through a few doors and arrived at a control room. Of course the Red
Queen had already gone out of control. This room could no longer control the whole
laboratory.
Kaplan turned on three computers. His computer skills were definitely first class in
Zheng’s eyes. His hands were typing non stop across three keyboards, yet several
minutes passed, the door leading to the central computer was still closed.
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Rain asked, “What’s taking so long?”
Kaplan replied without taking his eyes off the computer, “Red Queen’s defenses are
in place. She’s making it difficult.”
Just as he finished talking, the door finally opened. One nodded, “Let’s pack it up.”
Then he turned to Zheng’s group, “You stay here.”
Behind the door was a corridor about ten meters long, with walls made of glasses,
different from the steel and metal walls on the outside.
One walked in first. He was moving very cautiously, being careful with every step.
Even then, when he reached the center of the corridor, his whole body shivered.
Because the glasses walls suddenly lit up.
Kaplan’s voice came from the speakerphone, “The lights are automated. Nothing to
worry about.”
(It’s obviously the lasers from the self defense system, automated lights and nothing
to worry about?) Zheng thought.
Then as he was about to say something, a hand pulled him. He turned around and
saw Lan shaking her head.
One finished setting up the transmitter, it was a device similar to a cellphone. He put
it on the sensor of the door. Kaplan started typing again. After a while, the door on
the other side of the corridor finally opened.
One let out a deep breath and waved to the people outside, “Move up.”
Alice sudden asked, “What is that?”
Kaplan was nearest to her, “That’s what will shut the Queen down. Delivers a massive
electrical charge. Scrambles the mainframe and forces it to reboot.”
As the mercenaries were about to enter the corridor, Zheng couldn’t help but shouted,
“Wait, wait. Don’t you feel strange? This computer seems too useless just letting you
reboot it like this. I don’t think things are this simple, there’s probably something
wrong with this corridor.”
The mercenaries stopped and looked at him. Lan let out a sigh and took off her hand.
Then she moved over to where Alice was.
One came out from the corridor and silently stared at Zheng. “Ok. You, and you will
come with us.” He pointed to Zheng and Mou.
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Their hands and feet suddenly got cold from hearing that. They knew this corridor
was a death trap. Anyone that entered will die, even One, he was sliced into little
pieces.
Zheng finally knew why Jie looked at him like that back there. Yes, he couldn’t help
but try to change the plot. Yet it’s difficult to sway the plot from it’s momentum. Even
when it did change, God would increase it’s difficulty just like this.
Mou put his hands on his head and screamed, “No, I don’t want to, I don’t want to
enter it!” As he screamed, he started running back from the way they came. Before
Zheng’s group could react, the mercenaries took out their guns and shot him. By the
time his body dropped to the ground, it became a corpse.
“Wahh!” Zheng and Xiaoyi started vomiting. A life was taken away in front of them.
Zheng was feeling terrible inside, because he couldn’t mind his own business and
caused Mou’s death.
One looked at him coldly, “I was suspicious of you from the beginning. Even though
your identities were registered in the corporation, but you don’t seem like a security
operative. And now you’re trying to stop us from rebooting the Red Queen? Ok,
Zheng, come with us.”
Zheng felt frozen. His stomach was still feeling uncomfortable from the vomiting.
One didn’t give him a break, grabbed his hands and entered the corridor with the
others.
Once everyone was inside, just like what happened in the movies, the doors to both
sides of the corridor closed up. One and the mercenaries were holding on their guns
cautiously, then talked to his speakerphone, “Kaplan?”
Kaplan panicked, “Some kind of dormant defense mechanism. Opening the door
tripped it.”
“Put it back to sleep.”
Kaplan was sweating, “Working on it.”
“Hold your positions. Everyone stay calm.”
Zheng was terrified, he knew the plot had started moving and he became part of the
plot. As anticipated, the glasses walls dimmed, a thin laser appeared between the
walls. This laser started moving toward the mercenaries and Zheng.
One was the first to react. He brought down the two people beside him. Zheng
was focusing from the beginning. He threw himself on the ground when the laser
15
appeared. The laser barely touched his shoulder. He could feel that sharpness and
heat passing through his shoulder. Other than this, his mind was totally blank.
“Medic! Medic!”
One shouted. This brought Zheng’s mind back to consciousness. He turned around
and saw the medic’s head slowly falling down. Then it stood on the ground. It’s eyes
staring at him like a curse.
“No, no! I don’t want to die!” Zheng screamed like a madman. As he screamed, his
mind felt calmer than ever. He started recalling this scene in the movie.
One was holding onto a mercenary who lost his fingers. Then someone shouter, “It’s
coming back!”
This time the laser will start from ankle height. Zheng recalled the details of this
scene. He remembered it will move pass the first mercenary and curve up when the
second mercenary jumped, cutting him in half. He only had one chance, if he failed,
the laser will kill him. He didn’t know if this part was changed due to his interference,
but he could only trust on what he knew.
As that laser quickly moved towards them. The mercenary on the ground was killed.
The remaining two started backing. Zheng put his full concentration on the mercenary
in the front. One second, two seconds, it’s as though time had slowed down
in this life and death situation. He couldn’t hear anything, and his surrounding felt
slowed down.
“Mental capacity limit broken! Rewarded 500 points, mental capacity increased by
20 points, reaction speed increased by 30 points!”
A rigid and dignified voice sounded by Zheng ears. But he couldn’t hear it. His whole
attention was on that mercenary. At last, the moment he jumped, Zheng threw himself
on the ground. The laser moved pass him, that white light was like Death’s scythe.
At that moment, Zheng believed Jie’s words. Their whole body was transported to
this game, this work of the Gods, or maybe devil. They… could die here!
The laser curved up as expected and cut the mercenary in half. After the laser passed,
Zheng quickly got up. He looked behind and saw through the window on the door,
that Lan was standing outside with tears on his eyes.
Zheng gave her a smile then he grabbed One and ran near the door. He could only
hope that the plot didn’t change from this point on. This laser would stop when it
almost reached the door. It was no use trying to dodge it as it will turn into the shade
16
of a net. All he could do was stay near the door and pray. Please follow the plot and
end everything!
One was struggling to get out of Zheng’s grip. “Let go of me! This place will get us
cut in half! Let me go!”
Zheng grabbed his collar and said, “Trust me! There’s no way to dodge it this time.
Stay close to the door and we can still try our luck! Trust me!”
The third laser had formed and started moving towards them. It’s path was going to
cut them in half. One was struggling to get down but Zheng wouldn’t let go of him.
He had his whole body clung to the door then closed his eyes.
“Live, I want to live, even if I am in a situation like this, I still want to live!”
Perhaps his praying reached the gods, the laser quickly opened up to the shade of
a net as it approached them. One let out a scream. As he was in despair, the laser
dimmed down and disappeared a few centimeters in front of him. He could feel a
heat wave touched his face. For a moment, he couldn’t believe he was still alive.
Zheng opened his eyes. He didn’t see the laser disappear but he knew he succeeded.
Knowing the details of the plot allowed him to stay alive from the edge of
death. He was never this close to death in his twenty some years of life. Death was
so close it barely touched his shoulders.
“What’s this?”
As Zheng was thinking about his luck, he found a little ball of light on One’s collar. He
picked up the ball of light then it disappeared in his hand. A sense of warmth went
from his hand to his body, an extraordinary comfortable sensation.
“Rank B side quest reward. Rewarded 5000 points.”
The same rigid and dignified voice appeared. Zheng then remembered he heard
something before. It was 500 points and increased mental capacity by twenty points
and reaction speed by thirty points. That was like a thousand points already if you
were to enhance yourself, the same amount you would get for surviving a movie.
These 5000 points were like a gift from heaven. Zheng was pleasantly surprised.
When the door opened and several people rushed towards him, he was still standing
there in a daze.
Xiaoyi tapped his shoulder, “You’re amazing! You survived that!”
Zheng’s thoughts came back to reality. He shook his head with a bitter smile. He
17
didn’t even know what to say. It was too much stimulation for a normal person from
a peaceful world.
Lan came over also, “You deserved it. I was reminding you not to interfere all along
but you didn’t listen. Jie was right. Our biggest defense here is not luck but knowing
the plot. Your luck won’t always be there for you. Stop being so impulsive from now
on. No one wants to die here.”
Zheng shook his head and didn’t reply. He didn’t know if he should tell them about
the rewards. Rank B side quest reward? What did that mean? Did that mean you
changed the plot or saved a cast that was supposed to die? or survived a dangerous
scene?
He didn’t know. That was so dangerous just now, he almost died in there. And the
middle age man died because of him. So he was too afraid to change anything from
now on. Jie probably wouldn’t let him do anything again. Because no one knows
what’s going to happen now. Maybe everyone will die here, including the players,
the casts, and even the main characters.
That’s what a horror movie is. No one is absolutely safe. Everyone can die. They are
merely struggling to survive.
Chapter 3
After a few minutes, everyone recovered from the bloody event. One thankfully patted
Zheng’s shoulder. This mercenary leader that was supposed to die in the corridor
now lived. This would interfere with the original plot considerably. Of course he may
die to zombies or hunters later, no one could predict it.
One looked at everyone, then said, “We will continue!”
“Continue?” Spence shouted, “Continue what? You kidding me? There’s no way I’m
going down there.”
One turned to Kaplan. His face was full of sweat, “Yes, yes. I turned off all her defenses.
All…”
One repeated, “All? You positive?”
Without waiting for Kaplan to respond, One picked up the device and walked through
the corridor.
18
Kaplan was still typing. This time the door didn’t close. Alice followed like the original
plot. After they went through, the door to the Red Queen closed again. Zheng’s
group looked at each other. They knew they were going to face the theme of Resident
Evil, zombies.
Lan said to Zheng and Xiaoyi in a low voice, “Don’t get too far away from Jie. Don’t
get bit by zombies. In the movie, once you get infected you will become a zombie in
thirty minutes. I did a rough calculation, the vaccine only works within ten minutes of
getting bit. Remember to stay close to Jie. Since he lived through three movies, he
will probably survive this one.”
They nodded. Then Lan suddenly smiled, “Right and do you feel disgusted from
murders?”
Xiaoyi replied first, “I would feel disgusted when I just arrived here. And I wasn’t
accustomed to this place. But after vomiting before, I feel like I had loosen up. If I do
it with my eyes closed, I think I can kill someone.”
Zheng thought for a bit. He too felt much better after vomiting, especially since he
experienced life and death. He got rid of the surreal sensation he had and slowly
integrated into this movie. As long as he could survive, killing monsters, humans,
he’s willing to do anything.
Lan continued, “Ok, then find a chance to pick up their guns. If you see a zombie
got separated from the pack, then kill it. These are reward points! Remember, head,
that’s their weak point.”
Then the room dimmed down. They knew One had turned off the central computer.
At the same time, the defense system that isolated zombies and hunters stopped
working. After what happened to Zheng, they wouldn’t dare to change the plot this
time. And just waited as the central computer was shut down. Then they will have to
go face to face with death.
In the dark, Zheng could feel Xiaoyi shivering non stop. Even Lan was shivering. He
asked, “Scared?”
Xiaoyi answered, “Yea, very scared.”
Though Lan said, “Too excited…”
Zheng suddenly felt Lan was terrifying. He didn’t ask anymore and turned to the only
light source. Silently waiting for what’s going to happen next.
After a minute, the room lit up again. Zheng knew everything was starting!
19
One and Alice came back from the central computer room. One looked exhausted,
he took a look at the corpses in the corridor, “We will bring the Red Queen’s main
circuit back to the corporation first. Kaplan, how’s the Hive?”
Kaplan turned to his computer, “Good, all defenses are down. We can leave the Hive
in a straight line.”
One nodded, “Ok, then now…”
Before he finished, gun shots came from Dining Hall B. One looked at Kaplan then
they ran out of the room. Alice and the other casts followed. Then Zheng’s group
followed.
When Zheng reached Dinning Hall B, he took notices of those cases containing
hunters. The lights on the cases had turned from green to red. Just thinking about
how many of them were in this room sent goosebumps up his spine. This wasn’t
something human can rival.
One asked, “What’s wrong? I heard gun shots.”
Rain lost a piece between her thumb and index finger. It was bloody and horrifying.
“Sir, we found a survivor. But he’s gone mad. He bit me…”
One frowned, “So you opened fire?”
Rain shouted in reply, “Sir, but he’s gone mad!”
“He’s gone.” Jie’s suddenly said. He looked at the pool of blood on the ground and
said, “He was here just then but he’s now gone.”
One walked over to the pool of blood. The blood was already half solidified. This
definitely wasn’t like fresh blood. He’s feeling a bad premonition.
One stood up and shouted, “We leave immediately!”
Rain felt strange and asked, “Sir? Isn’t our order to wait here for backup after we get
the Red Queen’s main circuit?”
One shook his head, “There’s no more backup. Prepare to leave!”
Lan walked over to Jie and asked, “You just reminded them, aren’t you afraid of
changing the plot?”
Jie laughed, “You guys are the fearless ones. You changed the plot as a newbie and
survived. Look at your watch, One’s name is not there anymore.”
Lan and Zheng looked at the watch, it was blank on the place where One’s name
used to be.
20
Jie sneered at them, “We’re free to move from now on. Remember you can do anything
as long as it means surviving.”
He thought for a moment and added, “If I am at your position, with the lack of stamina,
reaction speed, and weapons, I would follow the group back to the Red Queen’s
room. At least you will be safe for a little longer.”
Lan smiled, “You’re actually quite a nice person. You’re just not good at expressing
yourself.”
Jie laughed, “Nice? Don’t joke around. I just didn’t want you to hinder with me earning
points. Don’t be mistaken, there are no good people in this world. As long as I can
survive, I don’t mind using you three as meat shields.”
The tone of his words sent a chill down their spines.
At the same time, a metallic sound came from afar. Rain and JD moved over cautiously.
After a few steps, a man wearing a white robe came out from the corner. A
few people lumber and stumble behind him.
JD pointed at them. “Stop there! Otherwise I will open fire!”
These “people” obviously wouldn’t stop there. They were already infected with the
T virus. Soon after, numerous people lumbering out from all sides of the room. Some
were in uniforms and some in robes. Some of them had started rotting, and there
were some with totally deformed legs. Zheng even saw one with only half it’s head
left.
“Stop! I’m going to shoot!”
Bang!
One was the first to shoot at these zombies. A zombie holding a hammer was
knocked down. But he quickly got back up. After getting shot over ten times, it
didn’t even bleed much.
Bang!
Jie shot with his desert eagle. It blew up the zombie’s head like a watermelon. “You
guys go find an exit. Leave this to me!”
One hesitated for a while and shouted. “Ok, everyone remain in formation. JD go
find an exit. Rain, keep an eye on the prisoner. Everyone else follow me.”
Zheng looked back at Jie. He waited for the zombies to approach then shot at them
all at once. The few zombies closest to him all got shot on the head. His accuracy
and speed was way higher than a normal person.
21
Zheng felt he could follow Jie’s movements. He read some books on MMA. There
were two types of visual acuity. Distant visual acuity measured how far you could see
and dynamic visual acuity defined your eyes ability to discern fine detail in moving
objects.
It seemed like dynamic visual acuity was related to reaction speed. He could see
Jie’s movements clearly which meant the difference between their reaction speeds
weren’t that big. And he was first disgusted by the blown up zombies but he’s feeling
quite natural now. This was probably related to his mental capacity.
(It seems like those rewards really enhanced my abilities!)
Zheng was overjoyed. He stayed calm and followed One. Then One turned around
and gave him a gun and two magazines. “I can’t take care of you guys. There are
fifteen rounds in each magazine. Follow what Jie did and go for their heads.”
Zheng understood it more than anyone. Even though he never used a gun before,
he was shooting very fast thanks to his enhanced reaction speed. He was smart
enough to only aim for zombies within ten meters. Ten meters was his effective
shooting distance.
The other people didn’t know about this and just saw him getting headshots without
aiming. One nodded and left his back to Jie and Zheng.
Xiaoyi saw it and was full of excitement. “Zheng that was amazing! You’re probably
used to shooting? How many points was that?”
One turned around to him. “Points?”
Xiaoyi’s face darken. Zheng knew he probably heard a warning and deducted his
points. Poor dude was in the negatives before he earned one point.
One looked at the three of them then turn back to the zombies. Lan patted her chest
and muttered. “That was dangerous. I thought the plot’s going to change again.”
Lan actually had a nice body and her face is quite pretty. Zheng and Xiaoyi was
staring at her when she patted her chest. She realized it and said. “Is Jie going to
be all right? We couldn’t see him anymore.”
Zheng knew she was trying to digress so he answered casually. “He’s probably all
right. He’s stronger than us and he has that desert eagle with unlimited ammunition.
Shit. If I survive this I will get one for myself.”
Lan touched her forehead, this seemed to be a habit of hers. She had a larger forehead
than the average person.
22
“One hundred points can enhance someone’s power by a tenth. After I survive I have
to ask Jie about the details on exchanges. But we don’t have time to talk about this.
You should just concentrate on protecting us.” She smiled at Zheng.
Zombies kept swarming in from all sides. Even though they looked scary, the zombies
actually moved rather slow. Under Zheng’s full concentration, the zombies couldn’t
get close to them. But as the number of zombies that died under his gun increased,
he only had one magazine left.
On the other side, the mercenaries opened the door leading to a laboratory. However,
a bunch of zombies suddenly swarm out and pulled the mercenary who opened
the door inside. His last scream was horrifying. As said before, you may not think
much of this when watching a movie, but when the same thing happened next to you.
That horror was indescribable.
One shouted. “Back to the Red Queen’s room! Back there!”
Before long, over ten zombies had moved in between Zheng’s group and the mercenaries.
As they were stumbling towards Zheng, the three could smell that stank.
Xiaoyi couldn’t help but yelled, “Zheng, shoot them, hurry!”
As the viewers know, anyone who got bit or clawed by the zombies will get infected.
The only vaccines were still in the train. They would die before getting to the train,
they were still only normal people.
Zheng was getting anxious as he saw the mercenaries went farther away. More
zombies were appearing through the corner yet his ammunition was getting lower.
“Ten, nine, eight…”
Zheng silently counted the bullets in his gun. Then suddenly zombies in front of him
were dropping down one by one. Jie appeared behind them and shouted, “What are
you doing? Didn’t I tell you to follow them? Haven’t you seen the movie? A hunter
will appear here.”
Jie kept on shooting, and without taking another look at the three, he ran towards
where the mercenaries went. Zheng, Lan and Xiaoyi followed.
(His speed is about 20% faster than us. He probably enhanced his muscles.)
Zheng was inspecting Jie when they ran. He found that his body couldn’t catch
up with his thinking speed or reaction speed. It was most prominent when he was
shooting.
23
With the addition of Jie, the four of them finally arrived at the central computer room.
Then with a loud bang, the door was shut and the zombies were blocked outside.
Everyone suddenly dropped to the floor. Aside from Jie, they were panting heavily,
grasping for air. Even when their lungs were filled with air, the terror kept them
breathing heavily. It took a while for the three to calm down.
“That was not bad.” Jie put his gun on the waist and laughed at Zheng.
“What do you mean?”
Jie turned around to look at the mercenaries. They were looking at the corpses in
that laser corridor. Then he said in a low voice. “The most dangerous time for a
newbie is usually the first movie. Mentality is the most important. First you have to
understand your situation. I have seen many people thought this was some illusions
or a tv program so they died the fastest. But the three of you quickly adjusted your
mentalities. Especially you and Lan. You were the best out of all the newbies I met.
Not only did you adjusted your mentality quickly but also overcame your fears.”
“Secondly, overcoming your fears isn’t enough to live. You are still only a normal
person in the first movie. Even if you know the plot, it’s still easy to die. So the first
movie also heavily depends on luck. As long as you lived through the first movie, you
can enhance yourself and exchange weapons, like my gun.”
After saying all these, Jie took out a pack of cigarette and handed one to Zheng.
“Congratulations newbies. How does it feel to be alive? Hahaha.”
Xiaoyi came over, “Jie, give me one too.”
Jie glanced at him, “Don’t think I can’t smell it. You do not have a hint of cigarette
scent on you. If you don’t want to die then follow us.”
Xiaoyi lowered his head, “Jie, I am already at negative ten points. What should I do?”
Jie laughed and said, “You lost ten points instead of earning any? Your luck is better
than average. Don’t worry, you will get 1000 points at the end, but remember, if you
are still in the negative after that 1000 points, you will be erased from the world.”
Then someone knocked on the door. Alice’s voice came from outside the room.
“Open the door. Hurry!”
The mercenaries came over, and Jie opened a crack for Alice and Matt to get in.
One asked them. “How is it outside? Can we go back the way we came?”
Alice shook her head, “They are all over the place.”
24
Everyone fell to a silence. Kaplan broke down. “We can’t escape. There’s no other
path in the Red Queen’s room. We’re done!”
Then Spence said, “Couldn’t we stay here? Once the outside found out we are missing,
they will send backups. I think we’re safe here. I don’t want to go out and fight
those undeads.”
But the mercenaries looked embarrassed, Spence asked in curiosity, “I said something
wrong?”
Kaplan replied, “There probably isn’t anymore backups.”
Spence was irritated and grabbed his collar. “What do you mean no backups?”
One sighed, “Our order was to bring back the Red Queen’s main circuit and isolate
the Hive from the outside. Remember the path that goes from the building to the
Hive? If we’re not back there by three hours, the gate will shut, thus isolating the
Hive. Fuck the corporation, I understand why we received such orders.”
Zheng’s looked at each other. They also knew what the timer meant on their watches.
They had to survive until that gate shuts. And before that, they couldn’t get injured by
the zombies, couldn’t fight too many zombies at once and just a desert eagle couldn’t
fight a hunter.
Spence let go of Kaplan, but he was panicking. “No! They couldn’t do this. Are they
trying to kill us all down here?”
Rain said, “This is the safest way to keep the secret of their research. If we all die
down here then no one will leak anything out.” Her hand was bloody at where it was
bit.
People were silent, then Spence got more irritated. “Why are you telling me this now?
Why didn’t you say them before everything?”
Then asked intervened, “Stop arguing. Let’s find a way out. We will first find a way
out of this room.” She picked up the Red Queen’s main circuit and went into the Red
Queen’s room.
“What’re you doing.” One asked.
“Turn her back on.”
As the mercenaries went away, Zheng asked Jie. “Aren’t we going to take a look?”
“What is there to look at? Not like you haven’t seen the movie. You’re better off
saving your stamina here and kill a few more zombies later.”
25
Lan touched her forehead. “Oh right, Jie, I have a question. How are we going to go
back to God’s place? Does it shine a light on you? We slowly fade away? Or a path
appear in front of us?”
Jie said, “I don’t know how we get back. Every time after the mission was over, I
am in the lobby of God’s place the next moment. You don’t have to worry about not
being able to go back when the time comes. As long as you are alive, even if you
got infected by the T virus or something. As long as you still have your conscious,
everything will go away. Similarly if you lose an arm or a leg, you can repair it with
just some points.”
Lan frowned then asked, “You mentioned mission?”
“Of course, I said we’re merely struggling to survive. Like when we just got here and
couldn’t leave One. That was a special mission. So that’s how it is, sometimes we
have to complete some special missions, that’s God’s way of increasing difficulty.”
Lan sighed, “That’s unfortunate. I originally wanted to… never mind.”
“What did you want to do?”
Zheng interrupted, “You mean let us stay here?”
Lan smiled at Zheng, “Right. That’s what I wanted to do. Like Jie said we will leave
here instantly when the time comes, so we can be at any place unlike the casts. Then
why not stay here. I remember in the plot they will go into an underground tunnel
and almost died to a hunter. Even after they get into the train, they are still not safe,
then what about this place?”
Zheng and Jie were surprised at Lan. “You’re afraid God will give us some mission
later? Like make us follow another cast? and if we aren’t near them we will die?”
“Right, this is the safest place if we don’t consider that possibility.”
Jie took a smoke and thought for a bit. “Ok we will stay here. God won’t give us
impossible missions. Like when the mercenaries go away and we have to be within
300 feet of them. Since it’s decided, we will stay here.”
The three were surprised, Zheng said to Jie, “You don’t have to stay here like us.
We are still normal people but you have a gun and enhanced yourself. Why not go
kill zombies for rewards? And if you happen to kill a hunter that’s a hundred points!
We’re only staying here because we have to.”
26
Jie forced a smile, “To be honest, who the heck wants to be in this place. Anyone
will break down from going from one movie to another. This is my fourth one and
sometimes I thought about just killing myself.”
“And I want you guys to live. Sometimes you can’t survive by yourself. If there are
some experienced survivors other than myself, then our chances of surviving will be
higher. Ok then we will stay here. Think of what to say to the casts.”
The four of them started discussing until the casts came out. Then they go over to
the casts with a smile. Zheng understood, not only did he want to live, everyone was
the same.
Chapter 4
Jie took a smoke then said to One, “The four of us will stay here.”
One was planning to explain to them their next actions, but Jie’s words had him taken
aback. He paused for a moment then said, “What do you mean? We don’t have time
to joke around.”
Jie threw away the cigarette butt and said in a serious tone. “Not joking. I meant the
four of us will stay here. I think you realized that the three of them are just normal
people. They won’t be able to keep up with the running you’re going to do. Instead
of taking the risk of falling behind, it’s safer for them to stay here.”
One looked at Zheng and the other two, he fell silent for a moment. “And you? Why’re
you staying here also?”
Jie shrugged his shoulders. “I apologize, but I have gained some of my memory back.
These three are my friends so I can’t leave them alone. I have to stay here to protect
them.”
The rest of the mercenaries came over. They were looking at Zheng’s group with
curiosity. One looked at Zheng again, “No, he saved my life, and I can’t just stand
there and watch my comrades die. Remember, we are comrades now. Understand?
My order is to leave this place immediately.”
Lan stood up, “Captain and everyone. You know we don’t have the stamina to keep
up with your steps. Instead of becoming a zombie, don’t you think we have a better
chance of surviving by staying here and waiting for possible back ups? If you really
want us to die, then I have nothing else to say.”
27
One fell into silence again. After a while, he said with a dejected tone, “I understand…
Kaplan, turn on the defense system of that laser corridor. You guys stay in the Red
Queen’s room, that’s the safest place. Wait there peacefully. If we survive, we will
reflect this situation to the corporation… Don’t die.”
Jie led Zheng and the others to the Red Queen’s room. Then Kaplan turned on the
defense system of the corridor. The lights of the corridor lit up again. The two groups
could see each other threw the window on the door. They felt a sense of sympathy
from each other.
After the mercenaries left, Lan laughed. “Did you see it? They were looking at us
with sympathy. I wonder how they will feel when they encounter the hunters.”
With three sturdy metallic doors and the defensive system of the corridor, this was a
very safe place. At least compared to what the casts had to face. The four of them
finally could relax. Jie also handed some cigarettes to Zheng.
“You can also exchange cigarettes from God?” Zheng took a smoke. This cigarette
was much higher quality than those he used to smoke. So he asked in curiosity.
Jie squint his eyes. “There are too many good things you can exchange from God.
I haven’t even finished reading through the list. It has four categories. 1. Scientific,
such as guns, bullet proof vests, and even some weapons that only appeared in scifi
movies, but they also cost a fortune. They’re not something I can afford. 2. Magical
items, like scrolls, Taoist charms, amulets, and swords.”
Xiaoyi said with a surprise. “Are those weapons like what they have in games? Are
they very powerful?”
Jie glanced at him. “I don’t know if they are powerful or not, but magical items cost
double the points of scientific items. I think you would use them in supernatural
movies.”
Zheng asked in curiosity. “Supernatural movies?”
“Yes, like…” Jie thought for a moment. “The Grudge!”
The three felt a shiver down their spines. As though there were ghosts hiding in the
shadows.
“You know why I said Resident Evil was an easy difficulty movie? It’s because you can
solve and explain everything here with science. You can kill the monsters, you can
run away. As long as you’re not infected and you have a gun, you can survive.”
28
A hint of fear crossed Jie’s face. He said while thinking of the past. “Those movies
that you can’t explain with science are the most horrifying. You don’t know when you
will die, how you will die, or even if you are still alive. Terror is always accompanying
you, as though it wants to drag you to hell…”
Zheng patted Jie’s shoulder. He sat next to Jie and asked. “That’s Nightmare on Elm
Street right?”
Jie nodded gloomily. “You couldn’t imagine what we experienced in that movie. Almost
twenty of us died, and everyone’s death was miserable. We wanted to run. The
experienced survivors led us to rob a car then we kept driving along the highway. No
one dared to sleep, and even if you fell asleep, the others will wake you up. Just like
that, we lasted for 5 days. Then a town appeared in front of us. We drove inside
the town in joy then realized this was the town in the movie! And the experienced
survivor that was driving this whole time had became that demon! He laughed at
us…”
Jie was shivering like a pendulum. This man that had kept his cool the whole time
was breaking down. Zheng tried to diverge the topic. “Then can those magical items
kill that demon?”
Jie took a smoke and shook his head. “I don’t know. That was my first movie, I am
only alive due to luck. You know where I got that scar on my face? That demon
cut it with a pair of scissors! I didn’t have God cure these scars because I want to
remember everything. If I meet him again, I will kill him!”
Zheng and the other two looked at each other. They felt a sense of fear. Fear of their
future.
Jie continued. “You get 5000 points for killing that demon and a rank B side quest
reward. That was the first time I saw a side quest reward.”
Lan asked, “What’s a rank B side quest reward? Is it important?”
Jie nodded. “We will continue on the third category of things you can exchange.
Support items, like antidote, drugs with healing properties, perishables like bullets,
some scifi items like invisible cloak, and enhancement items.”
“I was overjoyed when I saw the enhancement items. Like the genetic mutation of
spiderman, the description said it lets you obtain the bloodline of spiderman, increasing
intelligence by 20, mental capacity by 20, cell vitality by 50, reaction speed by
100, muscle density by 100, and immunization by 150 points. and you also get the
web shooter ability. All these for just 2000 points.”
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Zheng and the other two was surprised. Lan counted then said. “The enhancements
along would cost 3000 points, and you get a web shooter ability. This is too cost
effective, why didn’t you exchange it?”
Jie waved his hand with a bitter smile. “I do want to. If i have this genetic mutation
then I won’t be in danger in movies like Resident Evil. But this type of enhancements
cost side quest rewards. Rank A reward can be reduced to three rank B rewards.
Rank B can be reduced to three rank C and so forth. The lowest rank is D. I have only
seen the reward appear once. It isn’t something you can easily get.”
Zheng held the urge to tell them he had a rank B reward. He asked, “What rank
reward does the spiderman mutation needs?”
Jie took out another cigarette. “It needs a rank C reward. I have also looked at a few
rank D enhancements. Like battle Qi, rank D gives you entry level Qi, but the but the
high level Qi would require rank B or even A rewards.”
“There’s also T virus mutation, like the one Alice has. It increases intelligence by 20,
mental capacity by 20, cell vitality by 50, reaction speed by 50, muscle density by
50, immunization by 100, and the evolution ability of T virus. It needs 1500 points
and a rank C reward. It’s so lucky to be the main character of this movie. She gets it
without doing anything.”
Zheng felt he was blessed, this meant once he survived through this movie, he could
exchange for quite a few enhancements. He had some more hope in his future.
Jie then said in a mysterious voice. “There are also some high level enhancements.
But they are there just to entice you. I won’t believe they actually exist. Like the
bloodline of god. It needs a rank S reward and 50000 points. Isn’t that exaggerating?
There’s also Xiuzhen (Taoist method of gaining immortality). It has less basic stats,
but you gain special skills. It needs a rank S reward and 70000 points.”
Zheng and Lan laughed at his words, but Xiaoyi’s eyes flared up.
Zheng thought for a moment and asked. “And the fourth category? The first three
seem to have included everything already.”
Jie said with a mysterious smile. “The fourth category has the good stuffs. You know
everyone will break down when they’ve been here long enough. So the last category
is entertainment items.”
“There’s tobacco, weed, heroin, these are cheap. One reward point can be separated
into 1000 parts. A kilo of heroin only takes 5 parts of a point. How’s that? God
30
analyzed that a normal person only needs about 300 points in cell vitality and 350
points in immunization to inject heroin without constraints.”
“Other than these, you also exchange for time to live in a normal world through this
category. There are also music albums, movies, and even women!”
Jie was laughing hysterically at this point. Zheng said. “I am not interested in silicones.”
Jie patted Zheng’s shoulder. “What are you talking about, it’s real women. God can
create real women! They have intelligence, they have their personality, and even
memories. When you buy a woman you can choose their face, body, age, race, every
detail. You played that Artificial Girl game (by Illusion)? This is much more detailed.”
Xiaoyi’s eyes were shining, while Lan snorted.
Jie stopped laughing and said in a serious tone. “No one knows if they can live
through the next movie. So I want to have a woman that I like by my side. You will
know once you tried it, she’s not a doll. Even though she’s a life created by God,
she’s more realistic than a lot of women in the real world. And she really loves you.
You can share the terrors you experience with her. God said once you get enough
points to go back, you can keep your enhancements, all the items you exchanged,
and this woman can go with you. If I can go back I will marry her. She’s the one that
I will love with the rest of my life.”
These words were said with sincerity and passion. In the modern age, people only
cared about money and sex. Zheng and the others admire someone that can truly
love someone.
Lan touched her head. “Stop this topic. Gentlemen, there’s a lady here. Jie, tell us
about God’s lobby. What will happen after a mission?”
“Nothing special. You will go to God’s lobby after the mission. God is a sphere of
light floating in the center. You can communicate with it just by thinking. There are
twenty rooms to the side, though they were never all filled. You will have your own
room. Only people you give permission to can enter your room. Other than this, you
will have ten days in the lobby between every mission.”
Lan was going to ask something else when Jie suddenly stood up. He ran to the door
and looked out through the window. The rest of them was shocked and followed
behind him. But they couldn’t see anything in the corridor.
Jie turned around and shouted. “Red Queen, report what happened outside the
room.”
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A little girl’s voice sounded. “Two hunters are attacking the outer door. It will last
forty seconds.”
“Fuck. I knew things won’t be so easy. Those hunters must’ve sense our smell. The
outer door couldn’t block them. Good thing we hid here already.” Then Jie looked
at his watch.
Zheng and the others looked at their watch also. The countdown still has seventeen
minutes remaining, there were three doors and a corridor between the hunters. They
couldn’t fight the hunters face to face with the weapons they had.”
Zheng didn’t want to die here, especially when there’s hope. He shouted. “Red
Queen, how long can we last?”
That voice didn’t respond. Then Zheng pointed his gun at the computer. “I know
you’re programmed to prevent the spread of T virus. In other words you want to
kill anything that has a possibility of spread it. That includes us, right? Make your
decision, either you protect us with the defense system or you let the hunters come
in here. But we will destroy your main circuit before they do. Once you lose control
of the Hive, how much virus will get to the outside world?”
The girl’s voice finally came back. “Can I ask why are you still struggling? You’ve
decided to stay here, aren’t you going to sacrifice yourself?”
Lan answered before Zheng could say a word. “Computers are not supposed to
question humans. You have to be aware of being just a computer. Understand? Also
since we are already here, we won’t be able to spread the virus even if we live. Then
why won’t you protect us? Little girl.”
“Understand. The hunters won’t be able to penetrate the defense system.”
At this time, there were loud banging on the door at the other side of the corridor.
You could see the hunters through the windows and the metal door was losing its

form.
“Impressive power, no wonder it’s worth 100 points. If I have an RPG with unlimited
grenades I could be earning points now.” Jie laughed.
Zheng asked without thinking. “How much does it cost?”
“Of course it’s going to be expensive. A normal RPG costs 2000 points. I would
rather enhance myself if I have that many. And it isn’t effective in every movie.”
The door had totally deformed, then the hunters’ claws ripped it apart and appeared
in front of their eyes.
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They were several meters tall, a whole body of red muscles. They had no eyes,
probably sensing targets through heat and smell. Their tongues could extend out
three feet. Their claws were harder than steel.
Zheng looked at the two hunters then at his gun. He didn’t think this gun could even
injure it, not to mention kill it.
The hunters turned to them and one started to charge, the second followed. Bang!
They could feel the door tremble.
“Red Queen!”
Zheng and Jie yelled. At the same time a laser formed inside the corridor and moved
toward the hunters. When the hunters were about to charge again, the laser moved
past them then disappeared. The hunters stopped moving then their upper body
slowly fell off.
The four exhaled. They felt so small in front of the hunters. It would only take one
claw to take a life. Even Jie was just a stronger normal person. He wouldn’t be able
to survive against these monsters.
Jie sat on the ground and took out a few cigarettes. He also threw one over to
Xiaoyi this time. “Know that fear and terror? I’ve experienced it many times already.
I don’t even know how I got myself through those three movies. Shit. This place is
unbearable.”
Zheng and Lan smiled bitterly. The moment the hunters charged over, they were
reacting worse than Jie. They could barely keep themselves standing with the shivering.
Thank god the defense system saved them. Otherwise they couldn’t even run
away.
“Keep waiting. This defense system is good enough. We could probably…”
Suddenly the whole room darkened. They ran to the door and looked out. The
corridor was totally black. The power had went out.
“Shit. The plot. How did I forget about this? You still remember this plot?” Jie kicked
at the door and started screaming.
Zheng tried to recall the plot. This movie was over ten years old already. Even though
he seen it but he had forgotten the details. After a while, he and Lan both said.
“Kaplan shut down the Red Queen!”
When the main characters were locked in a laboratory and a hunter was attacking
the door. Kaplan turned off the Red Queen to save them. So then the four of them
33
lost their defense. The only thing they had left was the last door.
They gradually calmed down. They knew that any sound could caught the attention
of hunters. So they kept their mouth. Even then their breathing sounds were still so
noticeable in this darkness.
Time passed, then a heavy breathing sound came from the darkness, along with
the abrasion sound between two metals. They didn’t have to look to know what’s
outside.
Zheng remembered it only takes a few minutes for the main characters to go back to
the ground after the power went out. That’s about the same time their mission ends.
Zheng asked Lan in a low voice. “What’s the time on the watch?”
“I don’t know. Couldn’t see in the dark. Maybe a few minutes.”
(Few minutes? That’s how many minutes?)
Zheng couldn’t open his mouth again. The breathing had approached their last door.
Everyone’s heart clenched. Then they heard the sound of scratching on the door.
(How much longer? How much time left? Hurry!)
Zheng was staring at the door intensely. He held onto his gun, even though he knew
this couldn’t do anything against the hunter. That was the only form of support he
had.
Bang! With a loud bang, a sharp object almost penetrated the door. Their heart
skipped a beat then they ran to the back of the room. Even Jie was keeping his body
close to the wall.
The door started to deform then finally a claw penetrated it and ripped this 10cm thick
metallic door apart like butter. They could see that terrifying face of a hunter.
“Ahhh!”
Zheng and Jie started screaming and shot at the hunter. They had lost their cool to
the horror and along with the darkness, non of their bullets hit the hunter. The hunter
threw away the piece of door on his hand and charged at the four.
Chapter 5
(Am I dead?)
34
Zheng stood there with his eyes out of focus. He remembered the in previous moment
that monster of a nightmare jumped at him. Those huge claws were right in
front of his eyes. It would only take an instant, just an instant to rip him to pieces.
(Then… am I dead?)
Zheng stood there looking at his surrounding in a daze. He was standing in an open
platform with a huge sphere of light in the center. It lit up the whole platform light the
sun. Beyond the edge of the platform was darkness. A kind of darkness where not a
hint of light could be seen. Just looking at it for a few seconds made his head dizzy.
“We lived, shit, that was close! We finally lived.”
Jie’s voice brought Zheng’s mind back. There’s him, Jie, Lan, Xiaoyi and a fourth
person here. A girl came out from one of the rooms on the edge. She was crying
as she ran toward Jie. This man showed a kind of tenderness not belonging to his
character. He ran to the girl, embrace her and started kissing.
“If you have any questions, just ask God. Communicate to him with your mind.”
“Other than creating your own person, don’t exchange anything. Wait until tomorrow.
Oh right, choose a room, just imagine how you want the room to look like.”
He carried that girl and ran to his room before anyone could say anything. Zheng
and the others stood there looking at each other, then they fell on the floor.
“Well he’s strong. He can still run and have energy for some sexy time.” Lan said as
she was lying on the ground. “I was so scared, I still couldn’t move my hands and
legs. And he’s acting like nothing happened.”
No one responded her, she turned around to see the two men had their eyes closed
under the sphere of light, with a tent on their crotch. Probably designing their women.
“Two freaking idiots. Men are idiots! We lived through that and experienced so much
terror, yet the first thing they think about is echi stuff.”
Lan ran toward a room in anger, and closed the door with a bang. It woke the two
men from their thoughts. They laughed with embarrassment then closed their eyes
and continue.
This is a wonderful feeling, as Zheng closed his eyes under the sphere of light, he
felt as though he was emerged into the light. A screen appeared in front of him, it’s
similar to a computer program. There were four categories of items, and the six stats
of enhancements, it also showed him the amount of points and rewards he had.
35
Zheng’s stats were: intelligence 107, mental capacity 122, cell vitality 97, reaction
speed 131, muscle density 112, immunization 103. It seemed like only his muscle density
was a little above average from going to the gym, the extra points from mental
capacity and reaction speed were rewards in the movie.
He had 6502 points, 1000 from the basic mission, 5000 from the hidden quest, 2
points from killing twenty zombies, and 500 from something else.
“Create a woman. Create a woman…”
Zheng was not planning to use his points yet. He recognize the importance of it after
experiencing life and death. Even though he had quite a lot of points, he wanted to
consult with Jie first. There’s only one thing on his mind.
(Lori, can I create her?)
God seemed to recognize Zheng’s thoughts. It opened up the entertainment category,
then the rigid voice said. “The first humanoid creation is free. Following creations
cost 500 points each. Please simulate the type of being, gender, face, height,
age, skin color, race… in your mind.”
Zheng sunk into his memories. That year when he was still a teen, when he had
secret feelings for her. Her smell, her smile, her voice, her memories were still so
vivid.
(So it turned out that my boring life was because the lost of her. That I was falling into
darkness because her hands were no longer holding me.)
“As long as you are by my side, I will never fall to darkness…”
Tear fell out of his eyes, then disappeared when they reached the ground.
When he opened his eyes again, a girl of 15 was standing in front of him. This girl
was the same as the one in his memories, Lori.
They grew up together. Even though they had accustomed to each other to the point
where they weren’t even aware of the presence of the other person. They were
aware of the importance of the other person. Kids that grew up in the urban city
were mostly lonely. The doors across the apartments were usually shut. Sometimes
you don’t even know who your neighbors are even after living there for a few years.
Zheng always thought he was fortunate. His parents were bold and forthright. They
would invite the neighbors over for food and coincidentally, their neighbors were the
same type of person. This type of people were rare in the cities. And the luckiest
thing was he met that girl one year younger than him.
36
She was like gifted by the gods. Perfect as a pure crystal. She was smart, kind
hearted, tough, liked to laugh out loud, wasn’t scared of any difficulties.
He thought as long as she was there, his heart would never feel cold.
But why was human life so fragile? She was only fifteen when she was lying on that
white bed. Long periods of chemo took away her long hair. That pale face was no
longer lively. All that remains was her smile. But he knew that smile was just there to
comfort those close to her.
What is life? Why did that beautiful smile suddenly turn to ashes? That’s not what he
wanted, he wanted to see that gentle smile, he wanted to see her rolling on top of
him, and talking by his ears…
Paddling through a sea of people in a black and white world. He kept falling, rotting,
one woman after another, bars, ecstasy, ice, and maybe sooner or later, heroin.
“As long as you are here. I will not fall…”
When Zheng woke up, it was already past eleven o’clock. He reached for the
cigarette on the nightstand when he touched something soft.
“Stop. Let me sleep a little more…”
The computer screen, Resident Evil, death, and Lori. Memories were coming back to
him. He suddenly flipped over the blanket and there she was. A girl of fifteen, with
traces of tears on her face, and blood on the sheets.
Zheng could only remember when he was creating a human, he recalled everything
about her. And when he saw her face he could no longer contain the years of suppressed
feelings.
He’s now staring at that familiar face. There were so many things he wanted to say.
And before he know it, he was full of tears.
The girl was feeling cold, she reached for the blanket again but couldn’t catch anything.
She opened her eyes and saw Zheng staring at her. She felt embarrassed and
snatched the blanket from Zheng’s hand. Then she started crying.
“Stupid Zheng, you made me so painful last night and now you’re teasing me. And I
made you breakfast this whole month. You said you would give me a ring when I am
eighteen and marry me after twenty two. You idiot, I am not even sixteen yet.”
Zheng shivered as he heard those words. He held onto her hands and asked. “You…
Lori, you have memories? You remembered everything?”
37
She stopped crying and asked him curiously. “What do you mean if I still have my
memories? and Mr. Pervert, please put on your clothes, then go over to my house
and get me that green dress. You ripped my clothes last night. Thank god my parents
are at work.”
Zheng was shocked, this girl’s attitude, tone, and actions were exactly the same as
how he remembered her. Then he realized this room was the same one he lived
when he was a teen. Even the details were the same.
“Oh my god, your parents probably heard our voices last night. They will probably
think I am that kind of girl. You idiot, pervert… I don’t know how to face your mother
anymore.”
“Wait, maybe I’ve been dreaming this whole time? Everything that happened yesterday?
Even when you were sick? Haha. That was all a dream!”
Zheng held onto her and laughed loudly. Then after a while he started weeping. Lori
also stopped struggling and held on him tight.
(Thank god that was all a dream. I don’t want a future like that…”)
Then there was a knock on the door. Lori slid into the blankets. “Your parents are
back, pervert, how am I going to go out? I don’t have clothes.”
Zheng suddenly felt cold. He could recognize someone calling his name, that voice
was Jie. In other words, he’s not dreaming, the Lori in his arms was just a being he
created.
He forced a smile. “Lori, I will take a look outside and bring you some clothes. Stay
here and don’t move.”
Zheng sighed, put on his clothes and went to the platform.
He opened the door and saw Jie and the others. He looked past them and the sphere
was light was still in the center.
“Give me a few moments.”
He ran toward God. “Tell me, God. Isn’t she a being you created? Why does she
have memories? Why is she exact the same as her? Does she know about this
place? What is happening?”
Zheng asked the questions troubling him with his eyes closed. After a while, that
voice finally replied. “She’s created by you. Her memories came from your memories
of her. Her personality, face and body come from how you remembered her. She’s
the person of your memory.”ff
38
Zheng was silent for a moment, then continued. “I don’t understand what you mean,
God. I don’t care if she’s the one that I remember, I just want to know if she’s real.
The things she says, her actions, her expressions, her tears… are all these real? Not
some program you created, not someone dependent on orders. I want to know if
she’s a real human!”ff
“Yes. Once a life form is created, unless it’s owner dies or it gets killed, it is a real
living being.”ff
Zheng grasped what this was all about. God created a copy of the Lori in his memory.
She was Lori, but just a copy. The real person died when she was sixteen. That’s why
the copy was only fifteen years old, the age that he remembered of her when she
was most beautiful.ff
“One last question. When I get enough points to go back, will she come with me?”ff
“The person who exchanges ‘Back to the origin’ can retain the following items. 1. all
items from exchange. 2. stat enhancements. 3. created life forms. 4. summoned
life forms. 5. genetic changes. The above exchanges will belong to the owner even
if he goes back to the origin.”ff
Zheng slowly calmed down. He already lost her once. He couldn’t do anything but
see her die. But this time he had the ability to change everything. As long as he can
survive, survive from the countless horror movies and earn enough points. He could
bring her back to the real world. Then he wouldn’t lost her ever again!ff
Jie and the other two were looking at him curiously. He apologized then brought
them to his room. According to Jie, he just had to think in his mind to give them
permission to enter his room.ff
Once inside the living room, Zheng thought for a moment. “Wait here for a bit, I will
be right back.” Then he went into his bedroom. And closed the door.ff
Lori stick out her head from the blankets. “How did it go? Did your parents say
anything?”ffffZheng went over to the bed and caressed her hair, then said in a serious
tone. “Lori, I have something to tell you. But you have to promise me and stay calm.
Ok?”ffffShe opened her eyes wide and tears started filling up, then lowered her head.
“Is it about break up? Just like what they said, once a guy got the girl’s body, he will
change his heart. I thought you were going to be with me. If you are going to break
up, then you don’t have to say anything. I don’t want to hear those words from your
mouth.”ff
Zheng pulled her over and held onto her. He yelled. “It’s not what you think. I loved
39
you all this time, even when you were dead for ten years, I still loved you.”ff
Then he told her everything from her death ten years ago, to the peculiar events that
just happened. Though he omitted how he lived his life during the ten years.ff
“Lori, you are the real Lori. Yes, I could only watch as death took you away. But I can
protect you now. Trust me, I will earn enough points to get us back!”ff
Zheng kept talking but Lori remained silent. He had a bad premonition about this.
He looked at her but she just kept pinching her arm.ff
Zheng got a hold of her hand. “What are you doing? Lori, say something. I know it’s
hard to accept that the real you died and you’re a copy. I know it. But no matter what,
don’t hurt yourself. If you’re feeling upset just tell me. Ok?”ff
Lori started laughing and stood up. She put her hands on Zheng’s face and pulled
it. “No wonder. I was thinking why did you look so mature all of a sudden. And so
hairy. So that’s it. It’s good to be alive again. Why should I feel upset? And you idiot
scared me, I thought you were going to break up with me. If you ever say something
so ambiguous again, I will rip apart your mouth.”ff
Zheng was shocked, then felt relieved. Right, this was the tough girl in her memory,
the one he loved.ff
According to Jie, everything in this room could be changed with his mind. As Zheng’s
created life being, Lori could change this room also. When she learned of this, she
ran to the closet and started taking out gorgeous dresses, then she pushed Zheng
out of the bedroom.ff
In the living room. Jie and the other two were staring at him with an expressionless
face, but he could notice the corner of their lips twitching. “Go ahead and laugh as
you like. You look like someone just punched you in the face.”ff
Everyone started laughing out loud. Jie said. “It’s strange you would like girls like
this. She seems quite bold.”ff
Zheng sat on the sofa and told them her past. “I didn’t expect this situation. I originally
just wanted to create a person that looks like and acts like her, god forbid I created
a copy of her.”ff
Jie was surprised. “That’s incredible. God can actually give her your memories. I
have been through four movies and didn’t know about this. Who knows how many
secrets are hidden in this place.”ff
40
Zheng nodded. “Right, no one ever mentioned this place in the real world. Get
transported to movies, interacting with the casts, and even changing the original
plot. Furthermore, exchangeable items are unbelievable. I can understand things
like guns, but enhancements? Do you think this will happen in a real world?”ff
They were silent. Zheng exhaled and continued. “I don’t care if this is God’s territory,
or a devil’s game. I just want to live. Earn enough points and bring her back. None
of you probably wants to die in the movies, right? I think the four of us should form
a group. Because no one knows what movie is next. There’s a limit to how much a
person can do. We can form a team and help each other out. Any opinions?”ff
Lan was surprised. “Yo, you seem to have changed quite a bit overnight. More so
than Xiaoyi who just lost virginity. Is that girl important to you?”ff
Xiaoyi’s face redden. Jie laughed at it. “What is there to be embarrassed about? You
just became a real man. You’re actually not bad for creating a blonde. Just be careful
not to get dried out.”ff
Then he turned to Zheng. “I think you’re right. We couldn’t confront any movies alone
before we get enough enhancements. I’ve experienced three movies so I know how
important team work is. Sometimes those next to you are just as dangerous as the
monsters. Then we will share our information and help each other out. If any newbies
want to break apart our team, I advise we should kill them.”ff
Lan was shocked. “Didn’t you say killing a newbie will cost 1000 points?”ff
Jie smiled hideously. “Yes it will cost 1000 points. But am I going to kill him myself?
No, I can just break his arms and legs, or push him into the monsters. As long
as I didn’t finish him with my own hands then it will not count. You have any other
questions?”ff
Lan and Xiaoyi shivered, but Zheng nodded. “Right, we won’t hurt any newbies intentionally,
but if they are to get us in risks, then I don’t mind doing it. I need to survive,
until I go back to the real world. Now I have something to tell you.”ff
Zheng said with a serious expression. “I think I know how to obtain side quest rewards.
It probably has to do with changing the plots. Like saving a cast that was
supposed to die, or kill strong monsters, or completely reverse the plot. I think you
can get rewards by completing these.”ff
Then he told them about his experience and saving One. And that he received a
rank B reward and 5000 points. The three of them were shocked and didn’t know
how to continue.ff
41
Lan asked cautiously. “How many points do you have?”ff
“6502 and a rank B reward.”ff
They looked at Zheng with envy and jealousy. Jie forced a smile. “I risked my life
and almost died a few times to get just four thousand points but you got over six
thousand in your first movie, and even a rank B reward. Shit. It seems like I will have
you carry me next time.”ff
Zheng laughed. “If you didn’t stay with us in the Red Queen’s room, I might had just
died there. I have to thank you for that.”ff
Lan also smiled. “We know how to obtain side quest rewards, even though they are
difficult but it’s better than not knowing anything. Plus you also get points along with
it. That’s why you need 50000 points to go back, it’s impossible if you just complete
the basic missions. At least we have something in mind now.”ff
Jie also stopped being jealous. He knew Zheng was a good enough friend to tell
him about this. He smiled. “Ok then I will give you a description of the exchangeable
items and stats. We still have nine days to rest so we don’t have to rush. For the next
movie!”ffff“No, for staying alive.” Zheng added silently. He glanced toward his room
with tenderness.
Chapter 6
“There are six stats you can enhance. From my understanding, intelligence is correlated
with memory and your ability to think. Mental capacity is unknown at the
moment, because there’s no way to test it. Cell vitality affects your recovery rate.
Reaction speed and muscle density are obvious and they’re the most useful stats
for us. Reaction speed allows you to see objects moving at high speed, and when
you reach a certain level, you can even see the trajectory of bullets. Of course your
body has to move fast enough, that’s what muscle density is for. It increases your
strength and toughness. Immunization strength is also an important factor, if your
immunization is strong enough during Resident Evil, you wouldn’t get infected.”
“That’s all for enhancements, we will continue with exchangeable items. I will advise
you two to not exchange any items and spend all your points in cell vitality, reaction
speed, muscle density, and immunization strength, with a focus on reaction speed
and muscle density. Otherwise you won’t even be able to keep up with the running.”
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Then Jie turned to Zheng. “Since you have enough rewards, you should just go for
a genetic and whole body enhancement. But what you want is up to you. Then
spend the remaining points on stats and some weapons. You will be the strongest
one among us in the next movie so you should probably also get a magical item.”
Zheng nodded. “That’s what I am thinking. Out of all the horror movies I have seen,
supernaturals like The Grudge are the most dangerous. Your first one Nightmare on
Elm Street is the same. So I am planning on getting a weapon that can kill these type
of monsters. Though it might be rather expensive.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Lets go check them out then I will have Nana make
you a big meal.”
The four walked toward the sphere with excitement. Especially since it’s the first time
for three of them. They were going to surpass normal people from now on.
Zheng stood under God then closed his eyes. He experienced that feeling of being
connected to God again.
“First take look at genetic and body enhancement.”
The screen focused on support items category then listed all the possible enhancements.
He filtered all of them and only looked at rank B and C enhancements. Even
then the number was still in double digits.
“Spiderman genetic mutation, rating 83, applicable to movies that require high dexterity.
Web shooter can be used in any circumstances. Requires a rank B reward and
2000 points.”
“High level Qi, rating 87, applicable to movies that require close combat. Can buff
stats substantially in short period of time. Requires rank B reward, 2500 points, and
intermediate level Qi.”
“High level werewolf genetic mutation, rating 88, applicable to most movies. Has the
ability to transform into a werewolf, increasing stats substantially temporarily. Owner
will not be affected by the instincts of werewolf bloodline. Requires rank B reward,
2700 points, and entry level werewolf mutation.”
“Vampire Count (rank) genetic mutation, rating 90, applicable to most movies. Has
blood energy and access to most blood magic. Rank Count increases vitality substantially,
can recovery from any injury as long as brain and heart are not destroyed.
Owner will not be affected by sunlight and silver. Requires rank B reward, 3000
points, and Vampire Viscount mutation.”
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As Zheng was looking, a thought came to his mind then he flipped to the rank A enhancements
list. And there they were, top level Qi, werewolf mutation, and vampire
mutation. These all required their rank B counter parts.
“God, I have a question, can I choose two bloodlines or genetic mutations at the same
time?”
“Yes but it will have unpredictable result. The different genetics could absorb or
proliferate each other. You have a seventy percent chance of becoming a non human
being.”
That probably means monster. Zheng nodded as he made his decision. He separated
the rank B reward to three rank C rewards. Then one of the rank C into three
rank Ds. He exchanged for rank D low level Qi, and rank D Vampire Baron. Then
their rank C counterparts. All he had left is a rank D reward.
“Low level Qi costs 500 points, Vampire Baron costs 800, intermediate Qi 1200, Vampire
Viscount 1500. Shit’s too damn expensive.”
Zheng counted this had already used up 4000 points. God forbids he risked his life
to complete a side quest for that.
The other three people were looking at him in shock. A beam of light shone on Zheng
then lifted him to the air. Countless particles moved from the light to Zheng’s body.
This lasted several minutes.
Jie suddenly yelled. “Honey, come look at Jesus!”
Lan was acting better than the men. She asked Jie. “Are our enhancements going
to be so dramatic?”
“No. When you enhance your stats, some particles will float from God into your body
then you will feel stronger. He probably exchanged something amazing.”
Another few minutes passed and Zheng fell back to the ground. He gave the others
a strange feeling. He was just slightly handsome before but when they look at him
now, he seemed a little strangely pretty.
Zheng quickly looked at his stats. Intelligence 187, mental capacity 232, cell vitality
321, reaction speed 287, muscle density 302, immunization 331. These stats surprised
him, it was only some low level enhancements but he was almost three times
stronger than a normal person.
Then he looked at his abilities. Qi and blood energy. Qi is a form of life force, it
will recover naturally. As Qi increases, a persons stats increases. Blood energy is
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specific to vampires. It comes from a power core in the brain and allows vampires to
use some blood magic.
Zheng finally opened his eyes and saw them looking at him. “What’s wrong? Did my
face changed?”
He panicked a bit and touched his face, then looked at his body. He was afraid genetic
mutations would make him a monster. But nothing seemed too strange. “Why
were you looking at me like that? Scared the shit out of me.”
They laughed awkwardly. ”How’s it? Tell us what you chose and what are your stats?
“I separated the rank B reward to rank C and D rewards. Then exchanged entry level
and intermediate level Qi. And also exchanged vampire mutation.” Then he told
them about his stats.
Then three were envious of that. Lan touched her head and said. “Do you think those
Xian (Taoist immortals), ghost, vampires, werewolves in tales and legends are real?
They were people that got away from this place. Perhaps this place had existed since
ancient times. Of course there were no horror movies back then but there was still
horror tales and stories.”
Lan continued. “Because no matter it was Xian or vampires or werewolves, their
first generations were always the strongest. Perhaps the first gens were people that
came from this place, but their descendants gradually became weaker because they
lack the source of power. Is this possible?”
Xiaoyi asked. “Then what about this place? A place that can even give you the
bloodline of God. Who could had created this place?”
Lan waved her hand. “Perhaps the real God or some devil. Who knows? This whole
place is a mystery. Oh Zheng, did you get any abilities?”
“Yea, Qi and blood energy. But I still don’t know how to use them yet. What about
you guys, did you get your enhancements yet?”
Xiaoyi jumped six feet high. Then said with excitement. “I feel like my body’s full of
power. And I could see everything clearly. How are you feeling?”
That said, Zheng felt his surrounding was crystal clear. He could even see scratches
on the doors far away. Then he jumped nine feet high.
“Impressive!” Lan and Xiaoyi exclaimed. Jie laughed. “Great, hurry up and figure out
your abilities. After all they required several rewards. And look at scifi weapons. A
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rank D reward could get something nice. Your abilities cost two rank Cs and Ds, they
must be strong.”
Zheng connected with God again and focused on scifi weapons. It had everything
from swords to RPG and even lightsaber and plasma guns. He even saw a combat
robot. It required 20000 points and a rank A reward.
He turned to something more affordable and looked at modernized weapons. Guns
were inexpensive, even an anti air rocket launcher only cost 50 points. But the unlimited
ammo counter part cost 2000 points. It’s twenty times more.
Then he looked at the magical items. He played enough games and could borrow
info from those games. One time use scrolls were inexpensive, only cost twice
as much as a grenade. A lightning scroll cost 30 points, frostbolt 50. Most of the
weapons were close combat weapons. A glowing sword cost 1000.
Zheng considered what weapon he wanted to use. As his stats increases, ranged
weapons and scifi weapons become less effective. Perhaps he will get to a point
where he moves faster than a bullet or so tough that even a bullet couldn’t penetrate
him. Or strong enough to kill someone with just a finger.
Also considering the fear he had on ghosts and supernaturals, he decided to choose
a magical close combat weapon.
As he was scrolling through the list, a ring caught his attention. It had the strange
name Na. A ring created by Xiuzhen technology. It had a subspace of 1.5 cubic meters
and can be activated with Qi and other Xiuzhen related energy. Once activated
it would create an energy field around your fist. This energy field could damage
supernatural beings.
Zheng thought this item was totally made for him. Close combat, energy field, and
can be used with Qi. Another surprise was it had a subspace to store items. He could
bring more food and medication to movies.
“Alright then that’s it. Even though it’s a little expensive.”
1500 points and a rank D reward. He almost used up all he had.
When Zheng opened his eyes, a ring appeared in front of him. It’s a bronze ring with
a dragon carved on it.
Jie asked curiously. “Something from entertainment category? Is this for that girl?”
Zheng smiled then without saying anything, he put on the ring. Then he felt energy
moved from his abdomen to his finger. He could sense the subspace on his mind.
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And this was also his first time sensing Qi.
“Try and touch it.” Zheng held out his right hand with a smile. Jie moved his hand
over then quickly moved away as if he received an electrical shock.
“Is this an electric shock ring?” Lan asked.
“No, this is a Xiuzhen item, something created by the Chinese immortals, Xian. It has
the name of Na and store 1.5 cubic meter of items, and can also attack supernaturals.
In other words we have something to deal with those movies. Haha.”
They were looking at him with jealousy again. Zheng knew he obtained everything
by luck and any person would be jealous of it. So he used the remaining 1000 points
for medications, antidotes and support items. This made the three of them feel better.
Jie said. “Ok bring your women and come eat in my house. My wife has executive
chef level cooking. God is rather generous on food, you can create any food in the
kitchen. Then you will start training with me.”
“Training?”
“Yes, training. Your stats can increase with training. From my observation, people in
special forces can almost rival Zheng in stats, they’re only missing special abilities.
But their combat techniques and endurance are much more refined. Zheng may not
win against them in a duel. I’ve been training during the resting sessions every time.
You will also have to learn shooting and everything. I have a training ground in my
basement. We will train hard, for the next movie.”
“Not for the next movie. For staying alive.” Zheng told himself silently. He needed to
live no matter what. And bring his woman back to the real world.
When Zheng went to get Lori, he was surprised to see her in a maid uniform. She
was so pretty, he thought his soul was sucked away.ff
Lori was humming a song as she cleaned up the room. Since this room was created
from the memories ten years ago, it was rather disorganized. She was doing it so
leisurely, she looked so beautiful and deliberate. Unwittingly, Zheng walked over
behind her and embraced her.ff
“Ah!”ff
Lori was shocked but quickly calmed down. Because she could smell that familiar
scent behind her. She remained quiet for a while then realized something was not
right. “Pervert! What are you doing walking like a cat? I knew you were up to nothing
good, trying to scare me huh?”ff
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Zheng couldn’t contain himself as he watched her talk. He kissed onto her lips. She
struggled a bit then calmed down.ff
“Pervert, enough is enough! Look at what time it is, no, I mean even if it’s nighttime.
And don’t kiss me without my permission, don’t touch me and don’t do anything echi.
Got it?”ff
Zheng tried to digress. “Where did you get these clothes? They look… rather pretty.”
He was going to say sexy but then realized her was trying to get away from the topic.ff
Lori started laughing, she seemed to have forgotten her requests a while ago. She
held her dress and spin around. “How’s it, doesn’t it look nice? Only I can design
something like this.”ff
“Yes it is… but isn’t this a maid uniform from anime?”ff
Her face slightly blushed. “What are you talking about, you see here, I changed the
decorations on the end of the skirt, and…”ff
She started babbling on her dress, then moved onto the decorations on the room.
But Zheng was not annoyed a bit. He felt the warmth of a family, something he had
not felt for a long time.ff
Then her faced turned all serious. “Oh right, you will have to tell me what you done
all these years. Don’t think you can fool me, you were so experienced last night. So
that’s it, tell me everything honestly. Don’t try to hide anything.”ff
Zheng smiled awkwardly. She was rather a petty woman, especially when it comes
to relationships. So he tried to digress from the topic. “Haha. Definitely. Right I am
here to take you to see my friends. When I go to movies I will have to fight along
with them. One of them invited us over for a meal. So are you going to change your
clothes?”ff
“Of course, you can’t go out with this. Anyway you have to tell me everything when
we’re back. Understand?”ff
After a while, she came back in casual wears. She fixed the wrinkles on his shirt then
said. “Let’s go, I haven’t been outside once yet.”ff
Outside, Lori was amazed at this special place. She pointed at God and asked various
questions until they reached Jie’s room.ff
Everyone’s already there in the room. A blonde sat next to Xiaoyi with the body of
a model. A woman with long black hair dressed in Cheongsam sat next to Jie. She
was fixing Jie’s shirt attentively. Then there’s Lan on the side looking unhappy. She
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snorted at the two men as if she despises them. Then when she saw Zheng enter
she snorted again.ff
Jie was talking as he entered. “… that life creation also includes men. Lan why don’t
you go create the man of your dreams?”ff
“I’m not so silly, unlike you guys. Getting what you can’t get in the real world like this.
I also never wrote the YY (Stupidly OP MC) type of novel. It disgusts me to even think
about creating the perfect man. I rather go exchange a vibrator.”ff
Xiaoyi was blushing as he heard this. Jie laughed. “Stop lying. You’re obviously a
virgin. I’ve seen enough women to tell.”ff
Lan started to blush also but she remained her cool. “That’s the difference between
men and women. Men wants to have the women of their dreams then fall in love with
them, but women wants to fall in love then love that men. Do you think I will be as
silly as you and start a relationship with a stranger?”ff
As she finished, a voice again from behind Zheng. “Well said. Men are detestable
and perverted, they don’t know the importance of true love.”ff
Lori walked over to Lan and started a conversation with her. Jie looked at Zheng’s
bitter expression and laughed. “You’re late. My wife’s complaining the meal’s gotten
cold. Come, let’s go eat.”ff
Zheng exchanged some high quality wine from God. Relative to the practical items,
these entertainment related items were so inexpensive. When he got back to the
room, his ring was filled with various wine.ff
Jie’s wife was sure enough an executive level chef. Everyone enjoyed the meal. Even
though there were only ten dishes, all the food were expensive items they couldn’t
get in the real world. From bear’s paws to monkey brains to various sea food.ff
Jie lit a cigarette. “God’s especially generous at entertainment, especially food. Even
a billionaire in the real world probably couldn’t compete with us. We drink wine over
a hundred year like water, smoke the highest quality cigarette. For real, if it isn’t the
dangers, this isn’t a bad place. You go to the real world when you’re bored, then
come back here.”ff
Zheng and the others nodded. “That’s why we have to live, survive through all the
movies. Then we can choose to live however we like, whether it’s go back to the real
world or stay here.”ff
Jie laughed. “Ok, I will bring you guys to the training ground. Take a break and we
will start training. You have nine days then we will welcome the next movie!”
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Chapter 7
The room Jie created was huge. He led the other three down stairs and left the
three girls outside. In front of them was an area as big as a soccer field. They were
amazed by it. Jie said with pride. “I didn’t know that you can change the room, but
after figuring it out, you just have to focus and imagine on where you want to change
while holding the room’s handle outside. God will also amend any imperfection you
have. Just like this training ground.”ff
This training ground was separated into a few areas. There’s a target practice field, a
long distance running field, an obstacle running field, and a close combat platform.ff
“Starting today, everyday from 8am to 12pm, 1pm to 6pm, and 7pm to 12am. We will
train non stop. We won’t see any results on our body with just these few days so
we will start with shooting and close combat. You will also have to run and test your
limits. Once you know your limits you can plan ahead in the movies. Anyway, there
are a lot of training we have to do.”ff
Jie gave everyone a description of the purposes of each training. Long distance
running and obstacle running was obvious. Close combat was necessary, shooting
was an important factor in scifi movies. Everyone agreed to his plans.ff
Zheng asked. “What about guns? Do we go exchange them for training? Or are we
using your desert eagle?”ff
“Didn’t I said you can create anything in your room? It’s just that you can’t take many
of these things out of the room. Go take a look at that storehouse. I exchanged a
magazine on guns, then created them according to the descriptions. You can also
test the power of scifi weapons. Even though they are expensive but you should
probably exchange one when you have the points.”ff
Xiaoyi exclaimed then ran toward the target practice field. Lan sighed. “You probably
can’t create magical weapons in this room, right?”ff
Jie nodded. “No. I kept trying but couldn’t create them. God probably put a restrain
on this.”ff
Lan touched her forehead. “The most difficult movies are probably the supernatural
ones. God wouldn’t let us get familiar with this type of weapons to increase their
difficulty. Anyway, if I have the points I will probably only get one scifi weapon and
spend the rest on magical weapons. That’s what I am planning.”ff
Zheng and Jie nodded. Especially Zheng, that 1500 points didn’t go to waste.ff
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Jie spent the rest of the afternoon teaching them how to use guns. Of course, other
than testing out scifi guns for fun, they put their focus on normal guns, especially on
their shooting accuracy. Lan and Xiaoyi spent the whole time doing target practice.ff
Jie led Zheng to the combat platform. Jie only spent 100 points on his gun and the
rest enhancing himself. He probably was also in the army back in the real world. He’s
much more experienced than Zheng in close combats. It only took a while for him to
knock down Zheng.ff
Jie shook his head. “Not enough. Your speed and strength are there but you couldn’t
keep calm. You have much more strength than before so you can not control the
punches you throw. Learn how to control your speed and power the first few days.
Then you will have to learn to use your abilities. We will depend on you for the next
movie.”ff
Zheng nodded. He definitely felt he couldn’t control his strength, and he’s rather
curious on his Qi. Was it as amazing as how the novels described it? The punches
he received from Jie could had knock a normal person out, but it was only painful at
first then he felt a warm sensation moving through his body and the pain dissipated.ff
The four of them had dinner at Jie’s room. Then Zheng brought Lori back. On the way
back, he was still thinking of the training. He figured out the function of Qi. Other than
lessening pain, when he spread it through his body, his speed and strength would
double. That was the only time he beat Jie in combat. Jie couldn’t even do anything
against that kind of power. But then he could barely move for ten minutes. Seemed
like this could only be used in danger.ff
Zheng still hadn’t figured out how to use the blood energy yet. Since it’s on the same
rank as Qi, it shouldn’t be too weak.ff
“Ahem!”ff
It woke Zheng up from his thoughts. Lori was standing in front of him with a red
face. She seemed mad at him. “You’re walking with me and your mind is elsewhere.
Are you regretting you didn’t create another beautiful woman when you saw those
two women? I am just a teen, mature women are more attractive, is that what you’re
thinking?”ff
He held onto her hands and smiled. “I am thinking about this afternoon’s training. I
will tell you everything if you want to know. Be confident with yourself. You know
there were almost a hundred guys trying to date you in school. And you know I’ve
always liked you, how could I have think about someone else?”ff
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She looked at him for a while, then smiled. “Then you will tell me in a bit how you
spent these years. You just said you will tell me everything right?”ff
Zheng was startled then he forced a smile.
Good people should be blessed. But am I still a good person?ff
Zheng knew he’s not a good person. Lori’s death was too much of a shock to him, he
became corrupted. Living in a black and white world, games, bars, one night stands,
drugs…ff
He couldn’t imagine how she would react when she learns of it. She was so pure,
flawless as a crystal. It reflected his filth.ff
Zheng had prepared for the worst. He sat on the sofa and lit a cigarette, then prepared
to tell her. Lori stood up. “That’s it. Stop. Look at your face, I can guess what
you’ve been through. I don’t want to hear it. It will just make me mad.”ff
Then she put her head close to his. “Pervert. Listen carefully. I am back so you
will forget all the mess from now on. Those women or other girls. Forget all these.
There’s only Lori, the only one. Understand?”ff
She started crying as she said. “I’m sorry. So sorry. I didn’t keep our promise. To
be together till our hair turn silver. To think about our childhood memories like in
the songs. I can forget about you, and my memories, but I can’t forget this promise.
You’re probably so sad these years. I was selfish to leave you alone. I’m sorry.”ff
Zheng embraced her without a word. All that’s left in the room was her cries. But
they know after all the sadness came out, what they have left was hope. The past
was over and their future has infinite possibilities and hope.ff
Times always went so fast when you’re in happiness. Zheng spent the days training,
then look through the items God had, and his nights watching horror movies with
Lori. Yes, horror movies. He found out he could exchange any movie from God.
As someone that had to survive through horror movies, it was more important than
anything to be familiar with the plots.ff
This lasted for nine days. Today was the last day they were staying in this place. They
decided to take a rest and wait until the evening when they will be transported to the
next movie. But before that, they have one last chance to finish preparation.ff
Eleven AM. Zheng’s still in bed chatting with Lori.ff
“Then are you going today?”ff
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Zheng’s feeling a heavy weight. He didn’t know what’s next. May be it’s virus, or
monster, or aliens. Once he’s in there, life is not a guarantee. So he didn’t answer
her. Just held her tight.ff
“Our promise… to be together until our hair turn silver, to think about our childhood,
you have to tell me stories, we have to travel in the real world, to watch auroras, to
see the statues in Easter Island… so many promises. Tell me you will come back, and
finish these promises with me.”ff
Lori raised her head and looked at Zheng’s eyes until he nodded.ff
“Love is like a sand castle. You put it together bit by bit, and have to prevent it from
getting washed away. It’s difficult and tiring but when you finishes it, you will see how
beautiful it is. It’s worth spending so much to protect it.”ff
He hadn’t heard this for ten years. She always liked to say this, and then looked
at him with expectation. He never paid much attention it it back then, but when he
heard it again after ten years, he was moved.ff
“Then… please finish the castle. This time we will keep our promise together.”ff
Zheng closed his eyes, and when he opened it again, he was determined. He will
live no matter what.ff
“That’s basically it. Three grenades each person, one hemostatic spray, one oral
antidote, one bandage, and an amulet. Thanks to Zheng, these cost 100 points. We
wouldn’t have the points to exchange them.”ff
Zheng looked at his points with a bitter smile, he only had 276 points left down from
6502. But then he looked at all the support items in his ring and felt better.ff
Jie packed his stuff then put them in his pockets. “Even though it’s only a few days
but you’ve trained everything you should. Just remember one point. Everything can
happen in movies, so you must be cautious. And try to help others if possible but if
they affect your safety, kill them.”ff
Lan and Xiaoyi hesitated, but Zheng nodded. “How are we going to the next movie?
Do we just disappear suddenly?”ff
Jie shook his head. “No. When it’s time, there will be twenty beams. You just have
to stand in one.”ff
They sat on the floor in the platform as they talked. Lori and the other two women
didn’t come out to see the go. Perhaps women were all the same when they had to
see their lovers go.ff
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After twenty minutes, God became brighter and brighter. Then it shot twenty beams
to the ground. A voice sounded inside their head.ff
“Enter the beam in thirty seconds. Target locked. Transportation to Alien starts.”
The world faded black. Zheng entered a state of half awake and half asleep. This
didn’t last long. In the blink of an eye his vision came back. This room wasn’t too big,
the ceiling and walls were made of steel. Various machines spread out in the room,
all of them were unfamiliar to Zheng.ff
He looked to the side. Eleven newbies lied on the ground. Jie and the other two had
waken up now.ff
Jie immediately looked to the ground, then his face turned pale. “This is bad, fifteen
people. You won’t get this difficulty in a scifi movie like Alien. God must have changed
something.”ff
Zheng looked at him confused. “I’ve never encountered this situation before. I heard
from the veterans that God can change the plot and difficulty of a movie. This happens
randomly and usually ends with the party getting wiped. Of course you also
get a generous amount of rewards for finishing it. Look at your watch.”ff
Zheng and the other two looked at their watch. It showed different data than during
Resident Evil. There was no countdown. The only line it had was ‘kill Aliens, every
member is rewarded 1000 points and a rank D reward.’ff
Jie took out a cigarette. “Any of you still remember the plot?”ff
Zheng shook his head. “This movie is too old, even though it’s a classic and I had
seen it before. I forgot all the details already.”ff
Xiaoyi shook his head also. “I only saw a few of the latest horror movies these few
days. Didn’t expect God to choose something like this.”ff
Lan laughed. “You guys are unprofessional. Since our lives is on the line, then you
should review even the oldest horror movies. Especially if this dimension existed
since the ancient times. I even looked through some horror stories. The plot of
Alien…”ff
“Alien happened sometime in the future. Human’s technology was advanced enough
to support planetary travels. They created colonies in a few galaxies, but unfortunately
humans never found any extraterrestrial life until the start of Alien.”ff
A voice interrupted Lan. A young man stood up from the ground. He had a common
face and wore glasses, but his eyes looked unusually calm. He gave off a sense of
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wisdom.ff
Zheng was the first to react. “Zheng Zha, welcome.” He held out his hand.ff
The man hesitated then shook his hand. “Chu Xuan. If you don’t mind, can you tell
me what is this place?”ff
Zheng smiled bitterly. “It seems like you are familiar with the plot of Alien. Can you
tell us the details first?”ff
Xuan sat on the floor, he adjusted his glasses. “If you insist.”ff
“The plot starts on a commercial spacecraft. According to the law, anyone that encounters
an unknown signal during space travel has the obligation to investigate, to
determine if it’s sent by an intelligent species. In the plot, a commercial spacecraft
caught such unknown signal, a frequency that doesn’t belong to humans. It may
come from extraterrestrial life.”ff
“According to the law, if they don’t investigate it, they will be fined. People on the
spacecraft were forced to land on the planet that sent the signal.”ff
“Indeed they found the source of the signal. A ruin that might be a spacecraft. They
also found the bodies of huge aliens that may have died tens of thousands of years
ago, bodies that had fossilized. In the following investigations, they found some
cocoons that were still alive.”ff
“One of the staffs touched it out of curiosity. A starfish like organism jumped out at
him, then sticked onto his face. Other people brought him back to the spacecraft.
These organisms are Aliens. More accurately, the larva form of Aliens. They cannot
harm anyone physically and cannot stay alive by themselves. They have to find a
host. The larva enters the host’s body, even though the host will not look different
physically but the larva inside will grow to into an Alien.”ff
“When the people returned to their spacecraft, the larva had already grown. It
climbed out through the host’s chest. The Alien at this time was about the same size
as a serpent but with a much higher attack power and speed. We will call this the
second stage. Then the plot becomes repetitive. The Alien hid in the spacecraft and
attacked the staffs nonstop until it gained enough nutrients to evolve to the third
stage.”ff
“Third stage Aliens are almost flawless. Their exoskeletons are bullet proof, their
bodily liquid is acidic. They have insane strength and speed. The staffs finally realized
the disaster they brought. In actuality, that signal wasn’t a cry for help. It was a
warning, to stay away from the ruin. Then…”ff
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At this time, a voice interrupted Xuan. “That’s enough already, listening to your bullshit
in the morning. What the fuck is this place?”ff
The four of them looked at him. The other newbies woke up already. They were
looking around in confusion. Three of them with hair dyed in bright colors looked at
them impatiently. Dressed in hippie clothes. One had piercing on his nose, and lips.
He said loudly. “Who the heck are you? I was gaming in an internet cafe, how the
heck did I get here?”
Chapter 8
Zheng knew this place takes in all kinds of people. As long as you chose YES when
asked the question, you will be transported here. Anyone was possible, he wouldn’t
be surprised even if the president appeared in front of him.ffffZheng ignored these
three teenagers and shouted. “Everyone calm down. We will explain the specifics
later. For now let Xuan tell us the details of Alien.”ff
Xuan was inspecting Zheng’s group. Then he looked at those on the ground and
the surroundings. He nodded calmly. “Then the staffs naturally wanted to kill the
Alien. They didn’t have many weapons, the most notable one was a flamethrower.
Of course, according to my calculations, this close range high temperature weapon
is rather useless against the high speed and defense of Aliens. They can kill you
instantly when they close up on you.”ff
The teenagers were startled by Zheng’s tone. But then they saw Xuan continued the
conversation ignoring them and started yelling. “Fuck. Who do you think you are?
How dare you give us orders? I recognize you, I know where you live. I can bring
people to kill your whole family.”ff
Typical hooligans, always talks about killing your family and acts like they know everyone
and their addresses. Before Zheng could speak, Jie pulled out his desert eagle
and pointed it at them. “Shut up. This is an important time to gather information,
don’t make me mad.”ff
The teens panicked after seeing the gun. The rest of the newbies immediately moved
away from them. Then they started laughing. The one full of piercings pulled out a
gun from his jacket. “What street you from? Shit, at least get this model 54 gun if
you’re getting an imitation. Desert eagle? You think everyone can buy one easily?
It’s so easy to tell it’s a fake.”ff
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When the teen took out the gun, Jie pulled the trigger without hesitation. A loud
bang and he shot the hand that was holding the gun. The power of a desert eagle
easily blew his arm in two. ff
The teen was startled, he waved his arm in disbelief but when the pain registered,
he started screaming. The other two immediately got on the floor. The realization of
a real gun scared them.ff
Then other newbies started screaming. But Zheng noticed a few people remained
calm. These people looked at Zheng’s group of four silently. He nodded, the newbies
were not too bad, at least these few were calm enough.ff
Xiaoyi went over to pick up the gun. “Jie, this is an imitation, not the real thing.”ff
Jie nodded and put his gun back. “Stop his bleeding with the hemostatic spray, then
bandage him up. Oh, and you newbies listen up. Don’t point a gun at me, I will get
stressed and do something out of panic.”ff
Zheng turned around, he took out a pack of cigarette and handed one to Xuan.
“Aren’t you scared? That was a real gun.”ff
Xuan rejected the cigarette. “I don’t smoke, it will kill my brain cells. You still want
me to continue with the plot details?”ff
Zheng smiled, and lit his cigarette. “Yes please.”ff
“The Alien was beyond their imagination, there were less and less people alive. But
there’s a bug in the movie, and a contradiction to the plot. The movie’s plot was
the main characters found out one of them was a robot sent to monitor them by the
government. The robot’s mission was to bring the Alien back to earth, even if it meant
the life of everyone in the spacecraft.”ff
“So according to the robot, the government had already known about the Aliens
in that ruin beforehand. Their plan was to sacrifice people on the spacecraft for
an evolved one, but is this possible? That the government sent a robot instead of
scientists or soldiers. Furthermore, this robot wasn’t the leader of the spacecraft. So
there was a very high chance of it failing to bring the Alien back. What if the staffs
only took a brief look at the ruin then left? The government won’t do something so
stupid and chose a commercial spacecraft instead of the army.”ff
Xuan adjusted his glasses and continued. “I’ll use an analogy. A country finds out
a hydrogen bomb is buried in the desert within its borders. Then will this country
will send an army to bring back the bomb or put a soldier within a group of traveling
merchants and find out the bomb by chance as they travel through the desert?”ff
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Zheng and Jie looked at each other. They finally realized why God pulled in so many
people. Because of the bug in this movie, God probably changed the plot and therefore
increased its difficulty. They had lost their biggest defense in the movie and
wouldn’t be able to predict what happens next.ff
Xuan continued inspecting their expressions. “The remaining staffs planned to destroy
the spacecraft and escape through a survival pod. Then two more people died
before reaching the pod. Only the main character got in successfully, but the Alien
followed her in. Then she opened the door of the pod and the it was sucked out into
space. She was the only one that survived.”ff
“Now that I’m finished, can you tell me some things? Like what is this place? If I am
not mistaken, this is that spacecraft in Alien, right?”
When he saw the look of astonishment from everyone in Zheng’s group, he smile. “I
was just testing, but now I am certain. Can you explain the situation? I can’t imagine
how I got here.”ff
Jie and Lan was about to say something, but Zheng waved his hand and interrupted
them. “When was the last time you see this movie?”ff
Xuan adjusted his glasses. “About seven years ago. I can still remember something
this recent quite vividly.”ff
Everyone was shocked, remembering something from seven years like this. Then
what are they? People without memories?ff
Xuan turned to the other newbies. “Everyone probably seen the message ‘Want to
know the meaning of life? Want to live… a real life?’ from the internet right?”ff
People started to answer and their answers all agreed with it. Furthermore, everyone
chose YES.ff
“This message appeared when I was coding. The crucial part is my computer was not
connected to the internet at the time. I was not aware of any virus that could break
through the firewall I coded. So I immediately started to crack the origin and source
code of this message. And guess what I found out?”ff
Xuan adjusted his glasses and continued in a calm manner. “This message is not
coded using 0 or 1’s. The source code is not a computer program. It’s created with
characters and symbols. If memory serves me right, the characters are a combination
of the oracle bone script, cuneiform script, and hieroglyphs. Three of the oldest forms
of writing in the world. There are also numerous unexplainable symbols.”ff
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“I was curious, you have to know that when a computer breaks through the limit of 0s
and 1s, artificial intelligence will develop. Especially when this message was coded
with so many characters. So I chose the option with the most characters and symbols,
which happened to be YES. The outcome was miraculous. I ended up here. Even
though I don’t know what this place is, it should be far away from Beijing.”ff
Zheng looked around at the stunned people, to be honest, he was shocked by it also.
It seemed like the newbies were impressive this time. And who is this guy?ff
Zheng hesitated then asked. “Who are you? Why do you think this place is far away
from Beijing?”ff
“If I can’t deduce this with my IQ of 220 then I wasted my life. Let me introduce myself
again. Chu Xuan, Colonel. I was in a secret military base in Beijing, the second top
secret base of China. I don’t believe anyone can kidnap me out of there. Furthermore,
my detector device shows that I haven’t left the base, yet I am obviously in
somewhere else.”ff
Xuan showed them his watch. According to him, this watch was specifically designed
for top researchers to prevent them from getting kidnapped. It remains connected
to the computer in the military base, and send signals of it’s location and how far it is
away from the base.ff
“The only possible explanation is I left the dimension instantly. Since I am in a different
dimension, the watch can’t connect to the base’s computer and thinks I am still there.
So it seems like absurd explanation is actually correct.”ff
Zheng looked at Jie. “Lan go explain to them about this place, and why we are here.”ff
Lan’s eyes brighten then smiled. “Thank you guys. Hehe. I will make you guys a
meal when we go back. Women are naturally weaker than men physically so these
100 points can go toward my cell vitality and muscle density.”ff
Then Lan explained this world to the newbies, and that they were in Alien. The watch
on their hand shows them their mission, kill the Aliens. Of course she kept the information
about side quests from them. This was a valuable that only belonged to the
four of them.ff
Most people either didn’t believe it or panicked. Other than Xuan who was looking
around calmly, there were two more people looking at Zheng’s group. This was when
Zheng noticed a caucasian with a large build.ff
He walked over to these two people. “What are your names? Can you understand
Chinese?”ff
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One of them was slender but had dense muscle. He didn’t shake Zheng’s hand and
took a step back. “You can call me Zero. I don’t want to answer any other questions.”ff
The caucasian shook Zheng’s hands openly. “Kampa Lovski. Of course I can understand
Mandarine. Just that I and not used to it. Your hands are… strong.”ff
Zheng then turned to look at the others. Aside from the three hooligans on the
ground, there were two middle aged fat men, they stood together cautiously and
holding suitcases. These two were probably businessmen that knew each other in
the real world. Two twenty something young men. One of the was smart enough
to inspect the surroundings, the other was flirting with the woman. Based on their
clothing, they were probably white collar workers. They had seemed to had calmed
down.ff
Zheng shook his head then shouted. “Everyone please introduce your occupation,
age, and what you’re good at, so we can assign your responsibilities properly.”ff
These people hesitated, then Xuan said. “Even though that’s what you are saying,
but we can’t confirm those are the truth.Do you have anything to prove you’re not
lying? Like the things you exchanged or your physical abilities?”ff
Jie snorted. “You think it’s easy to survive in horror movies? Maybe people that
lived through twenty movies could satisfy your request. They can definitely penetrate
through steel with a punch.”ff
Xuan shook his head. “No, you’re mistaken. I am not being sarcastic. But for our
cooperation to go smoothly it’s better to eliminate our wariness.” Then he looked at
Zero and Kampa.ff
He added. “Then just let us take a look at the hemostatic spray and bandage.”ff
Jie turned to Xiaoyi and nodded. Xiaoyi threw the spray and bandage toward Xuan.
Xuan asked again. “Anyone have a knife? The sharper the better.”ff
Zheng and his group looked at each other. They actually don’t have any close combat
weapons. At this time Kampa took out a dagger from his pocket and threw it over to
Xuan. Zheng just realized this caucasian and Zero was focusing on Xuan.ff
Xuan sliced his wrist decisively, as if that hand didn’t belong to him. Blood started
pouring out like water. Lan and the other woman started to scream as they saw it.
The rest of the newbies were startled also. Then Xuan sprayed his wrist with the
hemostatic spray. Miraculously the wound started to clot and the bleeding stopped
after a few seconds. Then he bandaged the wound and handed the dagger, spray
and bandage to Kampa.ff
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As Zheng’s group looked, they noticed Kampa and Zero did the same thing. After
they finished, Kampa said. “I am a member of an international mercenary group. A
top ranked gunner. My nick name is Overlord. To be honest, I would rather you to be
lying. This is a terrible place.”ff
Zero returned the spray and bandage to Xiaoyi, then he said coldly. “I don’t have
a name, just call me Zero. I am an assassin specialized in long distance sniping.
Unfortunately this movie doesn’t require my skill. And there are no sniper rifles here.”
Zheng nodded and before he could speak, Jie laughed out loud. “Good, your abilities
are quite capable. The four of us survived from the last movie. I lived through
four movies and they lived through one. Though it seems like we miscalculated. We
should had exchanged some limited ammo guns, since those are rather inexpensive.”ff
Then Lan explained how they would go back to God’s dimension after the mission is
finished, and the categories of items. She smiled after saying everything. Looks like
she got that 100 points.ff
Xuan adjusted his glasses and asked in confusion. “But why is he the strongest one?”
He pointed to Zheng. In fact, Zero and Kampa were also paying close attention to
Zheng, though they were silent this whole time.ff
Zheng laughed. “You get 1000 points every time you survive a movie, that’s fixed.
Other than that, God will issue you missions. Completing these missions will earn
you extra points. Look at the watch, it displays the mission for this movie and the
rewards.”ff
“I finished a mission in the last movie and was rewarded extra points. So I’m a bit
stronger than them after spending my rewards on enhancements.”ff
Xuan was going to ask more but the only door in this room opened. Everyone looked
toward it, yet there was nothing outside.ff
“The movie is starting!” Jie immediately took out his desert eagle and pointed it at
the door. Several minutes passed and there was nothing.ff
Zheng and the rest let out a sigh of relief. Then they saw the two middle aged men
walked outside. He was appalled and immediately yelled. “Don’t go out carelessly,
this is only your first movie. You’re much weaker than us and in much more danger
than us. Even if someone is to gather information, we should do it instead.”ff
Zero sneered. “You think they are going to gather information?”ff
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As he was speaking, the young man and woman pair followed out, then the hooligans
sprint toward the door too. Zheng could hear the middle aged men said. “Heh. He
thinks we don’t know. Trying to con us with some stage and actors. At least spend
more money on the set up, look at that scrub, if he’s an assassin then what am I?”ff
The young man and woman agreed in a low voice. Though the hooligans just ran
away without saying anything. In the end, only four of the newbies stayed. Xuan,
Kampa, Zero, and the smarter young man.ff
The young man walked over to them cautiously. “Can I join your group? Even though
everything is unimaginable, but I still wish to stay by you. Oh right, my name is Li
Shuaixi (Shuai). Occupation… just graduated from college, don’t have any occupation
yet. But I used to watch a lot of horror movies and stories at home. Oh, and I am
familiar with fantasy web novels and various mythologies.”ff
Zheng and Jie looked at each other, then he held out his hand. “Welcome to this
group. Even though we are not guaranteed to live, we won’t give up on our comrades.”ff
Jie put his gun back in his pocket, then asked. “What should we do next? We can’t
just stay here.”ff
“Information.” Lan and Xuan said simultaneously, then they smiled at each other.
Xuan waved his hand. “It’s better to have you say it. I specialize in analysis. Not as
confident in planning out.”ff
Lan touched her forehead. “Hehe. I was a writer. So I am quite confident at devising
plans. If I get anything wrong, please remind me.”ff
“The four of us did a brief analysis when before you woke up. To be honest, Alien isn’t
a difficult movie. Since there’s only one Alien in the whole movie. In comparison, it
has a lower difficulty than Resident Evil. Both movies can be explained using science.
Yet why is Resident Evil a seven people difficulty movie while this is fifteen? We
believe that the plot changed so the difficulty is raised accordingly.”ff
Xuan nodded. “Resident Evil 1? If that’s the comparison then the hunters in Resident
Evil 1 are on par with Aliens, furthermore they are in much larger numbers. Your
deduction is sound, the difficulty of Alien shouldn’t be higher than Resident Evil. If
the plot changed, what do you suggest we do?”ff
“Information!” Lan said with certainty. “We need to know how much the plot changed,
why is the difficulty so high? Also we don’t know the real strength of Aliens from just
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watching the movie. We have to fight one to learn his speed, strength, and other
variables. Then we can devise a method to kill them.”ff
Seeing that Xuan nodded, Zero and Kampa did not object, Zheng also nodded and
said. “Then we will go investigate this spacecraft. It would be best if we can meet
the casts, and if we encounter an Alien, I will fight him head on. Jie’s desert eagle
has infinite ammo, if you can, let Zero support me with it. I think I should be able to
escape with Qi if something goes wrong.”ff
At the same time, they heard a scream from the other side of the hall. The voice
belonged to the two middle aged men and the young man and woman. The eight of
them ran toward the sound source. Xuan, Zero and Kampa’s physical fitness were
amazing. They kept up in running with the four that gone through enhancements.
Only the young man started panting as he ran.ff
Zheng turned around to take a look, then sighed and ran over to take a hold of his
hand. Even then he was still exhausted.ff
The scream came from a lobby. The middle age men and the other two saw on the
ground screaming in terror. Following where their fingers pointed, three corpses
lied on the ground. The bodies belonged to a blonde woman, a black man, and
a caucasian. Their faces were twisted as if they experienced intense pain before
death.ff
As Zheng’s group entered the lobby, the four ran to the hall on the other side. Zheng
sighed and didn’t bother to chase them. He kneel down next to the bodies. After a
few look, his face turned pale. “How many Aliens… were in the movie?”ff
Xuan said with certainty. “One. My memory won’t be wrong in such detail.”ff
Zheng stood up with a pale face. The three corpses under him all had a hole on their
chest. This meant that a stage two Alien came out through their chest. Furthermore,
one of the body had a hole that covered the chest and abdomen, like an Alien several
times bigger than average came out of it. An Alien that size was terrifying just from
imagining it.ff
“We are going to face three… perhaps more and bigger Aliens soon.”
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