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 took him 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’ve 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 here 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 backup? If you really want us to die, then I have nothing else to say.”
One fell silent 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 report 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 through 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 cast had to face. The four of them could finally 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 squinted 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 sci-fi 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 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 curiously, “Supernatural movies?”
“Yes, like…”, Jie thought for a moment, “The Grudge!”[1]
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.”
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 would 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 antidotes, drugs with healing properties, perishables like bullets, some sci-fi items like invisible cloaks, and enhancement items.”
“I was overjoyed when I saw the enhancement items. Like the genetic mutation of Spider-Man. The description said it lets you obtain the bloodline of Spider-Man; 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 this for just 2000 points.”
Zheng and the other two was surprised. Lan counted then said, “The enhancements alone 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 did want to. If I had this genetic mutation then I won’t be in danger in movies like Resident Evil. But this type of enhancement costs 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 in the urge to tell them he had a rank B reward. He asked, “What rank reward does the Spider-Man 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 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 lived 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.
1. The Grudge (2004) is a supernatural horror film about a curse that locks its victim in the grip of a powerful rage before claiming their life. They then haunt and pass on the curse like a virus to all those who enter the house in an endless, growing chain of horror.
Original Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC3bzK_i9_s
Plot Summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grudge#Plot
Remake of Ju-On: The Grudge.
Ju-On Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVbWpwkCJRg
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 stuff. 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 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 silicon.”
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)?[1] 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 admired 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.”
A little girl’s voice sounded, “Two Hunters are attacking the outer door. It will last forty seconds.”
“F*ck. I knew things won’t be so easy. Those Hunters must’ve sensed 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 watches also. The countdown still had 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 spreading 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 of the 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 bangings on the door at the other side of the corridor. You could see the Hunters through the window and the metal door was losing its form.
“Impressive power, no wonder it’s worth 100 points. If I had a 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.
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 reacted 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’d seen it 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 lost their defense. The only thing they had left was the last door.
They gradually calmed down. They knew that any sound could catch the attention of Hunters. So they kept their mouths shut. Even then their breath sounds were still so noticeable in this darkness.
Time passed, then a heavy breathing sound came from the darkness, along with the abrasive 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, none of their bullets hit the Hunter. The Hunter threw away the piece of door on his hand and charged at the four.
1. Artificial Girl is a Japanese hentai dating game where you can adjust the girl to your choosing.
Vous aimerez peut-être aussi
Commentaire de paragraphe
La fonction de commentaire de paragraphe est maintenant disponible sur le Web ! Déplacez la souris sur n’importe quel paragraphe et cliquez sur l’icône pour ajouter votre commentaire.
De plus, vous pouvez toujours l’activer/désactiver dans les paramètres.
OK