Unexpected Encounters and Frustrating Games

Lin Ling picked up his phone and logged into the game. He glanced at the members in his team, a sudden confusion clouding his mind.

The squad comprised five players. Aside from the three he’d played with recently, there was one ID Lin Ling didn’t recognize.

Or rather, it wasn’t unfamiliar; it felt incredibly familiar. The ID was… Jing Hou Jiayin.

“Damn it, when did Chen Sishi start playing this game?!”

A wave of panic washed over him. Fortunately, Lin Ling’s microphone was muted; otherwise, he could only imagine the expressions on their faces if they heard his outburst.

“See? I told you he’d come.”

It was Li Yan’s voice, and Lin Ling was seized with an urge to punch him. If not for this guy’s shameless insistence on playing together, he wouldn’t have logged in only to be ambushed by Chen Sishi.

“Lin Ling, why isn’t your mic on?”

Qin Ruoxue’s voice came through as she unmuted her microphone and asked. From her tone, it seemed she wasn’t bothered by Chen Sishi’s presence. After a moment, Lin Ling slowly activated his microphone.

“Cough, cough, I’m here, I’m here. I was just looking for my headphones.”

“Brother Lin, which map are we playing this round?”

“Hold on, let me check.”

After a brief exchange with Li Yan, Lin Ling opened the map panel and selected an older map with a reasonably large area.

Following a slightly eerie cutscene, the five-person squad landed in a small residential area. This spot was usually deserted, aligning with Lin Ling’s preference for a steady approach.

After looting a few houses, Lin Ling’s expression soured. Despite searching for so long, he hadn’t found a single assault rifle, only a submachine gun. The others weren’t faring much better; Li Yan didn’t even have a weapon.

“Brother Lin, do you have a gun? I’ve been searching for ages and haven’t found a single one.”

“No, let’s head forward and take a look.”

Leaping from the second floor, Lin Ling set his sights on another cluster of houses. Before he could reach it, Qin Ruoxue’s voice suddenly echoed in his ear.

“Towards the 210 residential area, I spotted someone.”

Prompted by Qin Ruoxue’s warning, Lin Ling quickly swung his weapon around, but saw no one.

“Are you sure it’s just one person?”

“I only saw one.”

Lin Ling furrowed his brow, meticulously scanning the terrain ahead. There was ample tall grass and uneven ground offering numerous hiding spots. To one side of the grassy expanse stood a two-story building, its open door clearly visible from Lin Ling’s vantage point.

“Let’s go check it out first.”

With that, Lin Ling moved towards the location. At the same moment, the other female teammate tossed a shotgun to Li Yan. Upon acquiring the weapon, he let out an excited shout and charged enthusiastically towards the houses.

“Heh heh, your grandpa’s here!”

Listening to Li Yan’s shouts through his headphones, Lin Ling found it rather grating. Just then, the opponent also spotted their five-man squad.

*Bang, bang, bang, bang!* Several gunshots rang out. Bullets whizzed past Lin Ling, striking Chen Sishi, who was behind him. Chen Sishi remained silent, having already dropped to the ground to recover the moment she was hit.

Lin Ling found it rather peculiar. Among the five squad members, she was the only one without her microphone on. Even if she was shy, surely she wouldn’t be *that* afraid to speak?

****

In a villa district in Xinshi, a silver-haired girl stared intently at her phone. Her legs pressed together, she sat on the edge of a soft bed, an empty bottle of peanut milk resting on her lap.

“So annoying. He’s stopping me from getting close to Lin Ling. I really want to kill him.”

Muttering to herself, Chen Sishi maneuvered her game character, aiming a few shots at the opponent’s head.

The enemy reacted swiftly, retreating into the house after taking a single hit. Lin Ling wasn’t about to let such a prime opportunity slip away. The moment the opponent ducked back inside, he tossed a grenade into the building.

With a muffled *thud*, a kill notification flashed across the side of the screen. Lin Ling breathed a sigh of relief, thankful it was only a lone wolf. If the enemy had teammates, that last push might not have been enough to eliminate him.

The squad regrouped and continued their journey. Along the way, Lin Ling even took down a few zombies. Though killing them didn’t count towards elimination stats, they dropped valuable loot, and the squad was desperately short on equipment.

As time ticked by, Lin Ling stood at the edge of the safe zone, watching the approaching horde of zombies. A shiver ran down his spine.

This game differed from the battle royale titles Lin Ling had previously played. The toxic zone would continuously shrink starting five minutes into the match. Players, after looting at the start, had to quickly converge towards the center to survive longer.

Even within the safe zone, a small number of zombies could be found. These could either spawn naturally or be players who, after being eliminated, remained unlooted for too long and transformed into the undead.

In terms of gameplay, it was indeed far superior to the games Lin Ling had encountered before. Finding a vehicle, the squad gradually moved towards the center of the map.

Just as they secured a hilltop, Lin Ling prepared to hold their position for a while. Suddenly, gunshots erupted from the nearby bushes, startling Lin Ling so badly he nearly dropped his phone. Before he could even react, his screen went black.

“Holy crap, Brother Lin, there was a whole squad prone here! Huh? Brother Lin, you’re gone?”

Li Yan’s situation was slightly better; he had already found cover the moment he heard the gunshots.

Observing through Li Yan’s perspective, Lin Ling’s emotions were a tangled mess. He had just circled this very spot multiple times, not seeing a single soul, yet this squad had inexplicably appeared out of nowhere.

“One’s creeping up from below!”

Qin Ruoxue spotted an enemy advancing from below, but her aim was rather poor. After landing only a few shots, she was swiftly knocked down by the opponent.

Li Yan’s first instinct was to peek out and engage the enemy, but little did he know someone was specifically aiming at him from the bushes. The moment Li Yan showed his head, it was blown apart. Now, only the female teammate remained in the squad, and Lin Ling didn’t even want to watch her play; they had already lost.

As expected, the girl managed to knock down the approaching enemy, only to be eliminated by an opponent’s grenade. Lin Ling pressed a hand to his forehead, his expression a complicated mix of frustration.

Was it his fault? Lin Ling was confident that if their team had engaged in a direct fight, his squad would have surely won. Yet, these opponents stubbornly refused to confront them, choosing instead to lie motionless on the ground. This trash game wasn’t worth playing.

They played a few more rounds, but aside from one victory, they consistently made it to the final circle only to be ambushed and eliminated. The gaming experience was abysmal. Eventually, Lin Ling grew so exasperated that he immediately switched to a dark green outfit, lay prone on the ground, and refused to move.

****

After an indeterminate amount of time, Lin Ling glanced at the clock; it was already five in the afternoon. Rubbing his strained eyes, he bid his teammates farewell and exited the game.

Lin Ling rose and headed to the kitchen, where he prepared a bowl of instant noodles. He took a few bites, then returned to bed, gazing contemplatively at the ceiling.

While the current plot diverged from the original, its fundamental elements remained unaltered. Lin Ling was still trapped on a path leading to death.

At present, however, Lin Ling couldn’t conceive of any way to completely shake off Chen Sishi. He could only maintain the status quo, awaiting the principal’s approval of his transfer application.

Typically, transfer applications were a mere formality for the principal; as long as the student wasn’t an absolute top-tier prodigy, approval was almost guaranteed. Lin Ling wasn’t particularly concerned about that. His main worry was how to sever his online ties with the female leads.

‘Perhaps I’ll create a new account in a couple of days and abandon this one,’ he mused.

As he considered this plan, Lin Ling felt it might work. The only issue was his lack of an extra SIM card. Furthermore, he wasn’t yet an adult, making it impossible for him to apply for a new card himself.

With no other options, the matter of getting a new SIM card would have to be put aside for now.