Hunter's Game 2: Zombie Paradise - Chapter 3

The instant the gate closed, it felt as though everything outside had been cut away.

I looked around. The entire arena was dim, with a thin haze drifting through it.

We took a few steps forward, our combat boots striking the iron floor with a metallic screech.

After a dozen meters, an old platform came into view.

Just then, our earpieces crackled to life.

“Attention, players. A mine cart is waiting on the platform. Everyone, board immediately.”

At the official instruction, we ran toward the platform without hesitation.

Sure enough, a black mine cart stood there. It had been custom-built to hold exactly ten people.

We hurried aboard.

The moment we sat down, the cart started moving along a winding rail.

“Players, please note that a signal lamp has been installed on the cart. It has three colors: red, green, and yellow. Beneath the lamp are three buttons of the corresponding colors.”

“The signal lamp may not go dark during the game. If it remains off for more than ten seconds, the system will release fifty zombies.”

“No single color may remain lit for more than two hours. At that point, you must switch to another color.”

“Pressing red causes the system to release fifty zombies.”

“Pressing yellow causes the system to release a random item. There is a fifty-percent chance of a helpful item and a fifty-percent chance of an item harmful to the players.”

“Pressing green releases nothing.”

“You must now select a signal color. The system will give you one minute to decide. If no button is pressed before time expires, the system will release fifty zombies.”

The ten of us looked at one another.

“We’ve only just entered and don’t know what we’re dealing with yet. Why don’t we start with green? Green doesn’t release anything.”

The speaker was a refined-looking man. I checked the name patch sewn over his chest: Fang Shuyan.

The others nodded in agreement.

“He’s right. Red is obviously out, and yellow sounds like a land mine. Who knows what kind of item they might randomly give us?”

“Yeah. Green is the safest choice.”

Everyone agreed.

Chen Lang stood closest to the signal and pressed the green button.

“You have selected green. The system will release nothing. Green will remain active for two hours.”

I checked my watch and noted the time: 6:10 p.m.

The cart continued forward. Twenty minutes later, our earpieces sounded again.

“Attention, players. Your mine cart has reached the first scenario in the game. Please enjoy the cinematic.”

“No way! There’s a cinematic too? This is so realistic!”

A boy who looked every inch the gamer cheered.

He had left an impression on me. His surname was Lin, and everyone called him Gamer Lin. He was a die-hard zombie-game fanatic.

The mine cart stopped in front of an abandoned factory.

In the dimness, most of the fog had already dispersed.

Several large shipping crates lay scattered across the ground, splashed with dark red blood.

An unlocked iron gate at the factory entrance swung back and forth, scraping out a shrill metallic cry.

I gripped my ice axe. My nerves tightened.

Then a light flickered in a room on the left side of the factory’s second floor. In the gloom and silence, it was painfully conspicuous.

“Khrrr… aaah… urgh…”

The sound of a gravely ill patient coughing up phlegm came from inside the factory.

The air seemed to freeze. Every player raised a weapon.

We all knew that skin-crawling sound far too well.

Just as every nerve pulled taut—

Crash!

A second-floor window shattered, and a zombie tumbled out.

“Aaah… uhhh…”

Its limbs twisted as it struggled upright, then staggered toward the iron gate.

“Khrr… hrrr… aaaugh…”

More coughs and gasps gathered from every direction.

Under the dim lights, warped shadows poured from every corner of the factory.

Sweat soaked my back. The hand clutching the ice axe had gone frighteningly cold.

At that dreadful, unnatural moment, the earpiece sounded.