Chapter 381- Infinite Online Game (01)
Waking up in a daze, the sound of gunfire, clashing weapons, and monstrous roars filled his ears. The people around him shouted excitedly, but the young man only felt a splitting headache, unable to muster the energy to think clearly.
Someone nearby seemed to be calling him anxiously, pulling on his arm in an attempt to rouse him back to consciousness.
When the young man finally opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a creature with sharp teeth and ashen skin, resembling a human, lunging toward him. His heart skipped a beat—wasn’t this the kind of zombie depicted in movies?
Just as the zombie was about to pounce on him, the person beside him swiftly raised a gun and aimed directly at the monster’s forehead, blowing its head apart.
However, there wasn’t the expected scene of blood and gore. Instead, the zombie disintegrated like destroyed data, vanishing completely before his eyes without leaving a trace.
Staring blankly at the scene in front of him, he saw the humans around him fiercely fighting against the horde of zombies. Compared to the creature that had almost injured him earlier, the zombies at the back of the horde appeared more advanced, resembling humans even more closely.
Everyone seemed utterly unafraid of death. Their weapons ranged from firearms to knives and axes; some even charged in wielding nothing more than a frying pan.
In this chaotic battle, the next one to die could be anyone—a zombie or a human. Yet, they all shared one thing in common: at the moment of death, they dissolved like data, disappearing before everyone’s eyes.
Even when a human died, their comrades at most cursed under their breath, their faces showing no trace of sorrow.
Mu Jin stood there, dumbfounded, unable to process what kind of place this was.
“Xiao Jin! Xiao Jin, are you okay?” the person next to him called out anxiously. Only then did the young man realize they were calling his name.
He turned his head and saw a tall man in camouflage combat gear standing beside him. The man had neatly trimmed black short hair, with sharp and handsome features. His light amber-colored eyes were focused on him, filled with concern.
The man was holding a rifle in his hand and had a longsword strapped to his back. It was a somewhat chaotic combination, but even so, it did not diminish his imposing presence.
“Brother Qi?” The young man instinctively called the man’s name, and the man nodded in response. Then, while their teammates moved forward, he quickly grabbed the young man’s arm and dragged him to the back. He said, “Xiao Jin, you rest here for now. Leave the front to us.”
The young man said “Thank you.” in response. He knew that in his current condition, he could not be of any help and would only be a hindrance. So, he obediently listened to the man’s words, the most important thing being to recover quickly.
After a while, the young man’s dizziness began to subside. He then recalled that he must have just entered this game not long ago. Although he had been lucky enough to qualify for the competition, he still hadn’t fully adapted, and from time to time, he would experience mental exhaustion and dizziness.
The man had called him Xiao Jin because his name was Mu Jin. He had been a student about to enter university, but as an orphan, he could not afford the tuition fees for his college education.
At that time, the world-famous Qiansha Game Company announced a gaming competition, with substantial cash prizes for the winners.
Upon hearing this news, he decided to try his luck and enter the game. If he won, not only would his tuition be covered, but he could also have a sizable amount of startup capital if he decided to start a business in the future.
To participate, he had even borrowed money from his friends and rented a game pod.
In this competition, players would enter the game world through the game pod, with no right to quit midway. However, if they died in the game, they would be deemed to have failed and would immediately exit the game.
Qiansha Game Company was incredibly renowned, with all its games being masterpieces and boasting countless fans worldwide. Ever since the announcement of the tournament, global participation had exceeded tens of millions, but fewer than 5,000 people managed to pass the selection process to earn a spot in the competition.
Mu Jin was truly fortunate to have passed the test by chance. However, after actually entering the game, he realized he had underestimated its complexity. This competition was completely different from what he had imagined. The environments and experiences were crafted with astonishing realism, making it far more brutal than he had expected.
The game’s world changed periodically, and along with it, the roles and factions each player belonged to also shifted. The tournament followed a team-based competition model, where each scenario divided participants into two opposing factions. Which faction a player would belong to was determined randomly.
Teammates could be chosen freely, and there was no upper limit to team size. However, it was highly likely that teammates from one scenario could become members of the opposing faction in the next.
Players could earn points by killing monsters or members of the opposing faction. However, killing monsters yielded fewer points, while defeating players from the opposing faction granted significantly more.
The main system was responsible for tracking these points, which could be exchanged for rewards upon exiting the game. The player with the highest points would ultimately be declared the winner of the competition.
Although Mu Jin had luckily entered the game, he quickly realized he wasn’t particularly skilled at such highly competitive games.
This was just the first scenario world they had entered, set in a post-apocalyptic setting filled with zombies and mutated plants and animals. The factions were divided into the Human Faction and the Advanced Zombie Faction.
Looking at those terrifying zombies, he could even vividly smell their stench. Even though they disappeared immediately after death, Mu Jin couldn’t suppress the fear in his heart. It was thanks to the man called Brother Qi, who had been taking care of him along the way, that he had managed to endure until now.
Mu Jin didn’t know the man’s real name, only that everyone called him Brother Qi, and his in-game name was a simple code: 07. Mu Jin assumed people called him Brother Qi because “Qi” sounded like the number 7 in Chinese.
Since teammates could change with each new scenario, almost no one asked for each other’s real names, instead addressing each other by their in-game names. Only Mu Jin had foolishly set his real name as his in-game name.
When the wave of zombies was finally defeated, everyone stopped to rest. Although players didn’t physically feel fatigue in the game world, their character attributes included a fatigue level. Therefore, they still needed to rest and replenish themselves with potions.
The others looked at Mu Jin, weak and prone to fainting, with a hint of disdain in their eyes.
Mu Jin was aware that a teammate like him was essentially the infamous “deadweight teammate” everyone dreaded, and he felt deeply embarrassed. He stayed alone at the back of the group, not daring to talk to anyone.
Only Brother Qi approached him, deliberately handing him a potion and softly saying, “Drink it. It’ll lower your fatigue, and you’ll feel better.”
Mu Jin nodded at those words, offering Brother Qi a grateful smile. He said somewhat embarrassedly, “Thank you. Brother Qi, it’s all thanks to you taking care of me along the way. I’m really useless, always holding everyone back.”
When Brother Qi heard this, a trace of pity flashed in his eyes. He lowered his gaze to conceal the complex emotions in them and gently shook his head. “That’s not true. You’re doing great. If you don’t like facing those zombies, just stay behind me. Don’t worry; we’ll definitely make it to the end.”
Hearing Brother Qi’s encouragement, Mu Jin felt an indescribable sense of gratitude. Just as he was about to say something, a blaring alarm suddenly echoed throughout the world. Everyone stood up at the sound, looking around nervously.
This was their first time encountering such a scenario in the first world they had entered. Along with the alarm, a dazzling white light began spreading rapidly across the entire world. It was only after seeing the main system’s message in the sky that they realized the alarm signaled an imminent transition to a new scenario.
Uncertain about the kind of world they would be transported to next, Mu Jin couldn’t help but feel a bit anxious.
At that moment, however, Brother Qi firmly grabbed his hand and said, “After the transfer, we’ll all be temporarily sent to a safe zone. You’ll have an hour to stay there. Don’t wander off—I’ll find you.”
Mu Jin stared at the man in a daze, nodding dumbly at his words. Brother Qi seemed like he wanted to say more, but there was no time. In the next instant, the entire world, including the man in front of him, vanished from sight.
Mu Jin’s mind went blank, and he temporarily lost consciousness.
After just a few seconds, Mu Jin opened his eyes again and found himself in a completely different world. It appeared to be a highly advanced futuristic interstellar setting, far more sophisticated than the dimension he had previously been in.
However, the appearance of the people around him struck him as peculiar. While everyone was wearing the default white tank tops and shorts, most had various kinds of tails and ears attached to their bodies.
Some even had scales or other markings on their necks and arms, as if they had entered a world filled with mystical creatures.
It was only after reading the information transmitted by the main system that Mu Jin understood this was a world of interstellar beastmen, which explained why everyone had different animal characteristics.
Most of the people around him hurriedly left, eager to move on and search for equipment elsewhere. But Mu Jin remained motionless, obediently standing in place. He remembered what Brother Qi had told him earlier: to stay there and wait because Brother Qi would come to find him.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Mu Jin saw the tall man, also dressed in the default white tank top and shorts, striding quickly toward him. It was still Brother Qi’s familiar face, but now a pair of white tiger ears stood upright on his head.