“Just a few questions,” Qiu Yi said reassuringly. He gestured for his teammates to remain outside and entered alone. “There’s nothing mandatory.”
Even so, Fu Changxun didn’t let down his guard.
He allowed only Qiu Yi inside, then slammed the door shut on everyone else with a loud bang.
“Ask.”
Dong Zi settled onto the sofa, looking as if he were the homeowner.
Qiu Yi remained composed.
“Then I’ll ask a few routine questions. What was the instance you entered like? What were the mission requirements? How many people survived?”
Fu Changxun glanced at Dong Zi. Dong Zi immediately understood and said, “You first—tell us about the instance you experienced, and how you found us. Let’s keep it an equal exchange of information.”
“No problem.”
Qiu Yi replied, “I triggered my instance last night. After returning, I was appointed director of the Special Affairs Office. Surveillance showed that you were among the earliest players to enter the game, so I came looking for you. My instance required killing a zombie. Four players died; three survived.”
Dong Zi followed up, “The game we participated in… involved identifying a ghost hidden among eight players.”
“Seven people in total made it out alive. Only one died. But after leaving the game, the six of us went our separate ways.”
Qiu Yi scribbled rapidly in his notebook, then asked, “Then may I ask about your abilities?”
Fu Changxun answered bluntly, “No.”
“Well then.” Qiu Yi looked regretful. “I was also hoping to ask whether you’d be willing to join the Special Affairs Office. After all, going solo can’t compare to government support.”
Dong Zi looked at Fu Changxun. Fu Changxun frowned slightly and shook his head.
So Dong Zi replied, “No, thank you. We’d like to try going our own way for now.”
Qiu Yi looked even more regretful.
“You were able to clear the newbie instance—you clearly have some ability. Could you consider bringing others along?”
“Sorry,” Fu Changxun refused firmly. “We barely survived ourselves. Asking ordinary people like us to take responsibility for others… that’s not appropriate, is it? I don’t want to be responsible for other people’s lives when I can’t even guarantee my own. To be honest, I’m really afraid of dying.”
Even though he refused, he still shared the information they’d obtained from the newbie instance.
—Livestreams can receive gifts.
—The game is very fair.
—There may be traps; even identifying who the [Ghost] is doesn’t mean you’re safe.
…And so on.
“Thank you very much. This will be extremely useful to us,” Qiu Yi said. Embarrassed to bring up the topic of escorting others again, he thanked them and left.
Only after the men standing at attention outside were gone did the black cat jump down from the shoe cabinet and shake out its fur.
It ran into the living room, rubbing itself back and forth between its two owners’ legs as if stamping its feline seal of ownership, all while emitting distinctly un-aloof purr purr sounds.
Fu Changxun gently picked up the cat and set it on his lap, then looked up at Dong Zi.
“It’s not that I’m unwilling to join them. We just got through one game—we’re still too weak. I’m even worried that after leaving the newbie stage, we won’t be able to protect ourselves.”
Dong Zi nodded.
“I know. Should we contact Xu Zhengyi and talk about the game?”
“I’ll ask him.”
Fu Changxun set the cat down on the sofa and went to the balcony to make a call.
The black cat flicked its tail at Dong Zi, clearly uninterested in him. Dong Zi didn’t have much affection for the cat either. They stared at each other for a moment before both looking away.
Fu Changxun’s voice drifted faintly through the door crack.
“…Alright, then let’s meet up later.”
He returned to the living room and lifted his phone. “Xu-ge said he wants to come meet us and talk things through.”
Seeing the stiff, awkward posture of one man and one cat, he paused and asked, puzzled, “You two—?”
Dong Zi scooped the cat into his arms in one swift motion.
“Nothing. We’re getting along great.”
The black cat, humiliated: “Meow.”
“Alright…” Fu Changxun said doubtfully. “Then let’s pack up and head out?”
An hour later, the three of them met at a breakfast shop downstairs in the residential complex.
The shop owner was still stubbornly keeping the place open, though the customer flow had clearly dropped.
“Spiked bat, kitchen knife, compass, pepper spray—I bought everything. Now we’ll see if we can bring it into the game,” Xu Zhengyi said, patting his bulging backpack in an elder-brotherly tone. “I’m also thinking of going to get a protective talisman. What do you think?”
Fu Changxun obligingly played along.
“Sounds great. I was planning to do that too.”
Since Xu Zhengyi had already taken care of what Fu Changxun had intended to prepare, that left one other matter…
Over the next few days, the three of them watched as social order gradually slipped into chaos—then was rapidly stabilized by personnel from the Special Affairs Office.
Life and production did not stop.
Most of those who survived after entering the game chose to stay in reality, too afraid to go back in again. Of course, there were exceptions. As for those whose friends or family had died inside the game—every single one of them was sobbing and cursing this damned game with venom.
Fu Changxun rented a gym—after all, even if it was the end of the world, people still had to eat and spend money. The owner was more than happy to have a sucker paying cash and agreed without hesitation.
After tidying things up, the three of them began cramming at the last minute, throwing themselves into training.
Fu Changxun knew very well that his physical stats were the weakest. One teammate had 68, another had 90—he had 20.
The one dragging the team down was inevitably him.
They couldn’t control what kind of game they’d be thrown into, but improving their own strength was necessary.
Dong Zi, with his high physical stats, naturally became Fu Changxun’s “personal trainer.”
Unfortunately, physical fitness wasn’t something that could be dramatically improved overnight. After seven or eight days of training, it had barely crawled up to 23.
Fu Changxun felt a little dejected, but he also understood that he couldn’t rush it. Otherwise, the soreness and exhaustion would outweigh the benefits. So on the last day, he took the time to rest properly.
There were also very few patients at the psychological clinic these past couple of days—everyone was terrified of the game and had no energy left to see a psychologist.
In the blink of an eye, it was the evening of the tenth day. The three of them gathered at Fu Changxun’s place.
Xu Zhengyi asked, “Do you want to enter the game, or exchange Points for thirty days of rest?”
He still thought his two teammates also only had 30 Points.
Fu Changxun lowered his eyes slightly. No one knew what the next game would be like, or whether items would be needed. They couldn’t afford to waste Points recklessly.
Dong Zi saw what he was thinking and said, “Don’t wait anymore. Today’s the tenth day. We’ve prepared as much as we can. If we keep waiting, we won’t even have the courage to go in.”
Xu Zhengyi agreed wholeheartedly.
“Right. Strike while the iron’s hot.”
Both of them looked at Fu Changxun, waiting for him to decide.
He let out a breath and nodded.
“Let’s enter the game. Let’s see what kind of instance we draw.”
Following the team instructions on the Game Panel, they purchased the item. This allowed the three of them to enter the same game. A flash of white light passed by, and they vanished once more.
[Ding-dong!]
[Congratulations, Player, on triggering the game. Only by clearing the game instance can you return to reality.]
[Welcome, Player… to the multiplayer instance: The General!
Game time limit: nine days.
Player objective: find the General’s blade within the time limit.]
