The Trembling World

Chapter 30: Quick escape

Even though there was an ethanol stove on the kitchen table, Liu Gan wasn’t able to find any ethanol or kerosene canister to fuel it with. Otherwise, he would’ve gladly prepared and cooked himself a pack of noodles. Then, it would’ve finally resembled a real meal. If only there were steamy soup to drink with his ramen, that would be the best. No matter how many biscuits one ate, it would never feel like a proper meal. It looked like it wouldn’t be possible to cook ramen tonight – maybe next time.

The living conditions in this world are unimaginably harsh. Having the ability to eat a meal that’s steaming hot is something that he can only hope for.

As Liu Gan was chatting with Pan Hua, LuLu just kept drinking water and eating the biscuits. It was evident that her psychological status had yet to revert back to normal, since she still had a frightened and detached look on her face. Before she had joined the game, she’d been a famous and beautiful female broadcaster, so in everyone else’s eyes she was the classic model of a female geek and a decent girl. In all of her 19 years alive, she’d never once slept overnight outside. Not to mention the current inappropriate situation tonight where she had to sleep with two guys in the same house.

However, she had to sleep under the same roof as the two guys in the house, even more so within the same room. To her, Pan Hua was acceptable because he was her fan, has a nice personality, and has been taking care of her. The issue for her is Liu Gan, who’s so temperamental – he can even be violent enough to kill right in front of them.

The only fact that allowed LuLu to sleep better was that Liu Gan rarely looked at her. Even when he did, the way he looked at her was no different from how he looked at other people. Luckily this was the case, because if he’d had any alternative thoughts, all he needed to do was use his brute strength to force her. She was completely ready to commit suicide if that were to happen.

“You guys… If we were to die inside the game like Wang ChangShun, would we be able to return to the real world?” LuLu chimed in on the conversation. She was thinking of finding a way out of this game.

“You can try. If you do decide to use that method to leave this game, I can help you with it – it’ll be quick and painless.” Liu Gan displayed his axe in front of LuLu.

LuLu instantly hesitated, everything she had experienced so far was too real. Even though the room was very dimly lit from the outside, she could still see the shine reflected on the axe. Thinking about the moment when the red-haired player was struck on the back of her head by the flying axe, made her lose all thoughts of suicide.

In addition, if they were to die here, would they really die?

“LuLu don’t think like that! We must work hard to survive. There are several hundred thousands of players who, like us, are trapped here. With an issue this urgent, the government must be taking action. They’ll force the San Xing Corporation to make an effort and have them send us help.” Pan Hua tried his best to encourage LuLu.

One could imagine how much of an impact the sudden disappearance of several hundred thousands of players would be. It would also affect at least a hundred thousand families, so if it wasn’t resolved quickly, then society will be hugely impacted. Pan Hua speculated that high ranking government officials would become extremely furious, and had probably already started an investigation of the San Xing Corporation. The first step would be the arrest of all the executives of San Xing Corporation, as well as to think of a rescue plan to extract the trapped players.

“Rescue? How would they rescue us? I feel like this whole game is a conspiracy. We, the trapped players, are just the test subjects of San Xing Corporations. We didn’t enter the game-world of [The Trembling World]. Instead, we were thrown into a zombie world to test us.” LuLu depressingly answered Pan Hua.

“If they dared to do that, the government wouldn’t let them go! These several hundred thousand players represent several hundred thousands of lives! What kind of corporation would take the lives of so many people as a joke? Do the executives at the corporation want to get the death penalty together? Pan Hua displayed his anger in front of his idol.

“Yes! The San Xing Corporation is vile! If they dared to do this, they have balls of steel – at least enough to be this reckless!” LuLu was also getting heated in the conversation. All the misery and suffering they had experienced together was all due to the San Xing Corporation. If they were able to return to the real world, they had to demand compensation for all the damages. Their anger and frustration was very understandable.

“Boss, how do you view this matter?” Pan Hua asked Liu Gan, seeing how Liu Gan had been silent this whole time.

“I don’t know, I don’t care if there is a rescue or not. All that matters is that we survive. No one knows if we can escape this game if we die or not.” Liu Gan shook his head, and got up to head out of the room.

This type of situation… no amount of evidence could be used to predict what actually happened. Rather than continuing this pointless debate with Pan Hua and LuLu, he would rather get a good night’s sleep and recover his stamina. There might be more dangers tomorrow, so he needed to be ready.

As for if the real world would send rescue? Liu Gan’s thoughts on this were very simple. These players were all unable to exit the game, so rather than expect a rescue, it would be much easier for the gaming company to just activate the logout function. So, since they hadn’t done so already, this issue couldn’t be that simple.

…

“I was at the minimart collecting a toothbrush and toothpaste. You guys don’t brush before you sleep?” LuLu held up the toothbrush and toothpaste, showing them to Liu Gan and Pan Hua.

“Our water supply is limited, if we were to do that our drinking supply wouldn’t last more than just a few days. So it’d be a waste for us to use it for brushing our teeth.” Liu Gan thoughtfully gave LuLu his reply.

“However, not brushing one’s teeth will lead to bad breath.” LuLu was persistent on brushing her teeth. As a female, she couldn’t resist this type of situation.

“LuLu…” Pan Hua tried his best to convince LuLu, but at the same time he was afraid that she had angered Liu Gan.

“Compared to surviving, bad breath doesn’t seem like a huge problem. These zombies seem to have much worse breaths than we do, so we should be okay.” Liu Gan brushed away her suggestion.

“You think this type of style is surviving? Then there’s no difference from surviving than living like a beggar or like a cockroach. What’s the point in living? Not brushing your teeth will lead to having teeth problems, prolonged issues will create bleeding. Then, one by one, they’ll fall off. By that stage, even if you find food, you won’t be able to eat it…” LuLu protested with her ideas to Liu Gan.

“LuLu, you won’t die from not brushing your teeth. However, if you don’t have water to drink, you will die…” Pan Hua was afraid of disobeying Liu Gan, so he helped discourage LuLu. If she continued, he was afraid that Liu Gan might kill her.

Liu Gan didn’t reply. The air in the room tensed up.

“Boss, boss… LuLu was just suggesting it. I feel that, even if we don’t brush our teeth, the remaining water could be enough to drink…” Pan Hua felt so nervous that it felt like his heart was about to burst.