The Trembling World

Chapter 4: Preparation for Battle

“No way? If I die-ingame, then I’ll really die? Wouldn’t the San Xing corporation be considered murderers? So according to today, the tens of thousands of players that are entering the game means that they’ll be trapped here and unable to leave?” the glasses-player shook his head frantically with an expression of disbelief.

“Being unable to leave means that the gaming company will discover this abnormality. Then they can send help. With this many people involved, even if the company doesn’t care about it, the government will surely step in.” said a 27 or 28 year old looking player in a suit. He had the look of a civil-servant.

“How will they rescue us? Where are we even at? How will they enter? After entering, how will they bring us out? You act as if this situation is such a simple thing!” replied a small-statured player to the public-service player. At the same time he replied, he revealed an expression of disdain.

“This is a government approved game, the gaming company should definitely have protocols for helping us exit, otherwise why would there be a log off function at all. Perhaps everything that we have experienced so far is just a joke that the gaming company is playing on us.” said the public-service player as he faced the small-statured player.

The first person to discover the alloy watch was the glasses-player, and while others were trying to find a way to release the watch and take it off, the glasses-player found that it was impossible. The watch was created from a strengthened alloy, which perfectly fit the wrists of every player. Not too large or too small. Unless they found the proper method of opening the watch or used a power tool to attempt opening it, it was just a wasted effort.

After Liu Gan stared at his watch for a while, he mustered up the strength in his body and stood up. Compared to other people’s panic, he was showing signs of hope. As an amputee and disabled person, being unable to use his arms and legs again played a huge part in his livelihood. So out of the ten players, Liu Gan was the most mentally stable one.

No matter what happens, he understood that if he was able to survive, he would find a way out of the game.

A year ago had been the lowest point in his life. Compared to that, his current situation was a lot better. At this moment, Liu Gan laid out his resolve to stay alive in the long term battle of the game.

Returning to the real world and once again losing his arms and legs, or staying within the dangerous Trembling World. Both of these options weren’t the best choices, nor was one option better than the other. But, rather than focusing on an uncertainty, he chose to focus on what was in front of him: his dangerous surroundings.

The next moment, a little over ten meters away were three zombies that noticed the abnormality, and started to rush towards the ten players.

“This is not the time for debates! What did you choose for your starting weapons? If you don’t want to get bitten, then prepare for war!” Liu Gan gripped his machete, and rushed towards the closest zombie.

Not caring about the fact of this being reality or a game, if they wanted to stay alive then they had to focus. The zombies were closing in too fast, and the players didn’t have any time to argue.

“Everyone, prepare a line formation!” The green-skinned player shouted, while he held an iron rod and stood side-by-side with Liu Gan. They glanced at each other, and it was as if these two were close friends who had years of experience at fighting.

Finally, a few players came over and also took out their own starting weapons, before hiding behind Liu Gan and the green-skinned player. Some had iron rods, some had hand grenades, while others had Molotov cocktails. These were their starting weapons.

The starting weapon choices didn’t included a gun; other than a machete and an iron rod, the hand grenades or Molotov cocktails were one-time-use items.

Liu Gan and the green-skinned player stood side-by-side at the front, while others cowered behind them. There were only three zombies charging at high speed toward the players. A small warzone was about to occur on this plaza.

Right now, there was only three zombies that were charging at Liu Gan and the group. Liu Gan gave a loud shout….. there was no need to swing or charge forward, as the corpses were charging towards them at a high speed. It was as if the zombies were in a high speed vehicle; if they don’t dodge in time, the force of the momentum alone would knock the air out of them.

At the same time, just when Liu Gan was about to roll away, the green-skinned player was thinking of doing the same motion towards the opposite direction. Both of them had the same way of playing…… a self-preservation style of play. They didn’t know the other players, so why should they sacrifice themselves for them.

Liu Gan and the green-skinned player leapt apart, and the three zombies charged right into the crowd behind them. One of the zombies went for a male player, whilst the other two zombies got a different male player. These players thought that with Liu Gan and the green-skinned player in the front, they themselves would not take any damage from the force but they didn’t expect them to roll away. So without any preparation, the moment the zombies came in contact, they tumbled hard onto the ground. They cursed at Liu Gan and the green-skinned player, and moaned in misery.

Liu Gan took this opportune moment to slash his machete on the back of the zombies, and with the blade in hand it cut into the two zombies. The other zombie was struck onto the floor by the iron rod of the green-skinned player.

Two black orbs once again melted into Liu Gan’s body, and he felt his body was burning hot, as if he was recharged – full of energy. His vision, hearing, and more, seemed to have gotten better in turn. Liu Gan looked down at his alloy watch, and under player properties, his level had risen from 1 to 2.

Unsure of why his body went through that, after viewing the digits change, Liu Gan felt a lot calmer and started to feel as if his objective was more clear. He believed that, with the new opportunity of his renewed arms and legs, he could kill even more zombies.. This would allow him to be stronger, which would in turn, significantly increase his chances of survival.

The two people knocked down by the zombies were creating a scene by shouting. They were on the floor with fresh blood leaking out of their wounds.

“Damn! I’m going to die from the pain! What kind of broken game is this? Is this for real?” Shouted those two male players while cursing. Nowadays, in society, the otakus would never had any chance to get injured this seriously. This type of pain far exceeded their threshold of suffering.

“I said it’s painful isn’t it? You thought I was joking? Now you know my pain!” The bald-player saw the two players who had been bitten, and deep down he felt much better.