This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 257: Encounter at the Fifth Ring Road

Chapter 257: Chapter 257: Encounter at the Fifth Ring Road

Giant Rock City gate.

A man clad in full plate armor stood like a statue, his entire demeanor starkly incongruous with his surroundings, attracting frequent sideways glances from passing mercenaries and traveling merchants.

It wasn’t just because of his towering height of two and a half meters, but also because of his armor, which was equipped from head to toe, barely leaving a single crack exposed. Even the helmet, welded from steel plates, only had a few sieve-like eye slits.

This guy...

Doesn’t he need eyes to see the road?

Two mercenaries, who were idling in the queue at the city gate, chewed the fat.

"I bet his armor couldn’t withstand a full magazine from me."

"Shh, keep it down, that guy might be an Awakener."

"So what if he’s an Awakener? More Awakeners have died at my hands than Dead Claws!" The mercenary was not at all flustered, for the fifty-meter area at the city gate was also under the jurisdiction of the Militia Group.

Forget about Awakeners.

Even if it were a Chewing Bone Tribe’s tank, what of it?

The traction cannons on the great wall could crush any armor.

His companion, clearly not believing a word, snorted and said,

"Stop bragging, you’re the one who pissed his pants at the mere sound of a Dead Claw."

"You say that one more time!"

Unconcerned with the surrounding chatter, the armored man paused at the gate for a moment before heading over to the Hotel Wind From Afar, which was across the street.

As for the man in heavy armor, the doorman at the hotel’s entrance was not overly surprised. Among the many guests he had seen, this kind of attire was at most conservative and hardly even strange.

Never mind wearing something, even if they wore nothing at all, he wouldn’t utter an extra word.

"Welcome, sir. Do you need a room?"

A muffled voice wafted from the armor.

"Is this the ’North Suburb’?"

"’North Suburb’?"

The doorman was taken aback, responding reflexively,

"This is Giant Rock City, certainly not some backwater place."

The man continued to ask,

"’North Suburb’, how do I get there?"

Meeting the crimson gaze through the helmet’s slit, the doorman’s heartbeat skipped a half beat. Originally intending to brush him off casually, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he said,

"Go straight down that road in front of you, get on the overpass, then head eastward. Once you see a leaning building, continue north..."

The man nodded and, without so much as a thank you, dragged his cumbersome frame towards the direction of the overpass.

The man didn’t seem to worry that the one who had just given him directions might deceive him.

The doorman at the hotel entrance stared intently at the man’s retreating figure, muttering under his breath,

"Damn it..."

"Those eyes, just like an Eater’s."

...

[The sheep has hit the road.]

At the edge of the Fourth Ring Road.

A man in a beast skin jacket sat in front of an extinguished fire pit, unfolding a crumpled piece of paper in his hands.

He had been toying with this slip of paper for some time now.

His name was Uu Chou, a mercenary, and an Awakener.

In Giant Rock City, awakening was not such a rare occurrence, but it was quite uncommon to see someone who had awakened, like him, still scraping by for a living. Many commercial teams and merchants were eager to recruit Awakeners into their ranks, willing to lavish money to nurture them, providing them with the best weapons and equipment.

In the Wasteland, only the fist is the ultimate assurance. Not only can a strong military force deter petty criminals, but it can also effectively reduce risks and premiums, something the merchants of Giant Stone City are particularly sensitive to.

However, Uu Chou was different from them.

First, he hated living a life constrained by others, and second, his reputation was indeed not very good.

Because two employers died at his hands, causing the middlemen who introduced him to tasks to lose a lot of money, very few people were willing to introduce him to decent, profitable work.

But...

Who cares?

At least he was quite satisfied with his current state of life.

Guarding those cunning merchants, one day’s salary was at most 10 chips, but if he were to rob that weak and arrogant wretch, the number could potentially flip a hundred or even a thousand times.

Reputation?

It was worth less than toilet paper.

Nonetheless, Uu Chou did not consider himself a Looter, although he knew quite a few Looters and would occasionally take on work from them.

Like now.

A week ago, no one knew where a batch of Spirit Leaf popped up in Giant Stone City, and a bottle of the diluted liquid selling for 10 chips made many people rich.

Someone had their eye on this piece of fat and gave him an offer.

Kidnap two Blue Jackets from the "North Suburb", don’t worry about anything else. In addition to the goods they were transporting to the North Suburb, he’d get an additional 5,000 chips.

Without a second thought, Uu Chou accepted the offer.

To him, these 5,000 chips were practically no different from picking up free money.

After bribing the slum gangs to help keep watch, he then hired about twenty Cannon Fodder from the slums, gave them weapons, taught them how to shoot, and promised them a reward of 50 chips each, on the condition that they capture at least two alive.

chips.

For the city folk, that wasn’t even a month’s wages, but for those survivors scraping by on leftovers and scavenging for a living, these 100 chips could allow them to live comfortably for half a year.

Of course, a team couldn’t consist only of Cannon Fodder.

To ensure success, he also sent four of his men to help.

According to the plan, they would act when those people approached the edge of the Fifth Ring Road. If all went well, there should already be a result.

Just at that moment, footsteps came from outside the door.

Uu Chou put away the note he was holding and glanced at the subordinate standing in the doorway.

"Any news?"

Uu Chou was ready to collect his reward.

However, what he didn’t expect was that the subordinate standing at the door was hanging his head, not speaking.

That heavy expression on his face vaguely gave Uu Chou a hunch, causing his eyes to narrow slightly.

"They got away?"

Sweat seeped from the man’s forehead.

Feeling the snake-like gaze upon him, he spoke up, his voice strained.

"Yes..."

Uu Chou suddenly stood up from his chair.

He strode over to the door, grabbed the man by the collar, and pinned him against the doorframe, staring intently into his eyes.

"There were only eight of them, and you damn took more than twenty people to bet against them, and now you’re telling me you let them slip away?"

Feeling the murderous look, the man’s face was filled with terror as he explained rapidly.

"It’s, it’s not entirely my fault, there really were only eight of them, but four of them were Awakeners. Those Cannon Fodder were completely useless; I can’t tell you how many times I and the others stressed that we should split into two teams and flank them from the sides, but all they knew was to charge head-on, and when they got hurt, they retreated in swarms..."

He didn’t even dare to say, that in less than fifteen minutes, half of them had been killed by the opposition, while the other side, aside from some minor injuries, was practically unscathed.

So much so that he and the other three brothers didn’t dare to join in...

"What a bunch of fucking useless trash!"

As expected, you can’t rely on these guys!

After throwing aside the collar in his hand, Uu Chou spat out a curse and turned to walk back, picking up the Bumblebee X-2 Assault Rifle that was leaning against the leg of the chair.

"Gather the brothers."

"I’m leading the squad personally this time!"

He didn’t believe it.

A bunch of Blue Jackets, what tricks could they possibly concoct!

Right now, Uu Chou was only worried about one thing: those Blue Jackets might just hide back in their holes after making a deal and not come out again.

If that were really the case, who knows how long he would have to wait to wrap up this deal.

...

South entrance of Linghu Wetland Park.

Five people and a bear were escorting a commercial team that had set out from Outpost Base, marching spiritedly in the direction that led deeper into Qingquan City.

Although this protection involved an additional person and a bear compared to last time, Qian Duo, walking among the commercial team, couldn’t help twitching his eyelids.

He didn’t doubt these Blue Jackets’ combat power as he had seen it with his own eyes several times before.

Whether it was the archer or the robust man who could wield a machine gun as if it were a rifle, or even "The Mechanical Hand," their combat strength was top-notch.

However...

The people who had gotten slightly injured in the last battle had changed, and a different group was accompanying them to Giant Stone City this time.

It wasn’t that he looked down on them at all.

He just felt like they seemed a bit as if they were on a picnic...

"Dammit! It’s Tail’s bear..."

"Okay, okay, stop being upset," Sisi patted Tail, comfortingly saying, "How about you ride VM once we collect it, all right?"

"What the hell? Are you already assuming it’ll be mine for free?" Crow, who was mounted on the great white bear, protested.

Meat Mountain Big Steamed Bun: "Wait, wait a minute, why do I feel like I’ve become a mount?"

Sisi’s expression subtly shifted towards the side.

"I never said that."

Teng Teng, who was walking at the back, said worriedly.

"Crow, don’t digress, you’re the scout, keep an eye on what’s ahead."

Since getting the testing qualification for the Game, Teng Teng had been playing it as a simulation game, either running Vine Cottage every day or visiting the Autumn Grass Autumn Leaf sisters.

This was her first time coming to such a dangerous place.

Looking at a nervous Teng Teng, Crow, positioned atop the bear, boasted proudly.

"Hmph, rest assured, the sense system’s intuition is passively triggered! I’ve tested it several times already!"

Meat Meat: "Don’t move around so much... I mean, you’ve tousled the bear’s fur."

"No worries! I’ll help you smooth it down!"

As for Crow’s suit of tin can armor, Boss Xia didn’t have much of a solution either, only managing to craft a leather saddle to fit onto the bear.

To be honest, Boss Xia’s crafting skills were strong, and the makeshift DIY product was much more useful than the conscienceless goods Mosquito made.

Crow, mounted on Meat Meat, resembled a gallant female knight, with three hundred kilograms of full plate armor giving a sense of security.

Of course, that was as long as she kept her mouth shut.

The two caravan guards exchanged glances and unanimously turned to the sole normal-looking guard.

Kaia swallowed hard.

"Are you sure they can fight?"

He had already injured both his arms, hoping this wouldn’t be his last mission in his career.

Xu Shun nodded solemnly.

"Of course! I’ve seen it before."

Qian Lai cleared his throat lightly.

"Honestly, I have a bad feeling... The group we encountered before clearly didn’t seem like ordinary Looters."

Wang Zhong, who had been silent, nodded.

"Indeed, they seemed like Cannon Fodder called in to make up the numbers."

Xu Shun frowned, puzzled.

"Doesn’t that just mean they’re all a disorganized mob?"

Qian Lai shook his head.

"A disorganized mob wouldn’t take the initiative to open fire on us. They aren’t professional Looters, just a bunch of temporary workers. Obviously, someone organized them."

For those who had never been to Giant Stone City, this might be hard to understand, but for them who lived there, such things were commonplace.

Not only Militia Groups and Mercenary Groups would recruit soldiers from the slums; Looters did so as well. And because gangs there often helped Looters fence their goods, it was easy for Looters to find a group of temporary workers for robbery, just by offering them a gun in advance.

Even without providing weapons, as long as the pay was enough, many Scavengers would make their own pipe weapons. This was similar to building a lean-to; for them, it was an essential survival skill.

According to Qian Lai’s experience, the attack was more like a probe.

The other side wasn’t certain of their strength, so they decided to send in some Cannon Fodder to test their capabilities first. It was hard to say how the other side evaluated their strength and whether they would give up on taking action against them.

He and the boss had suggested resting a few days before setting off again would be better.

But the boss was anxious to exchange the Spirit Leaf for chips, not only had the shipment doubled this time, but he was also given a purchase list worth one hundred thousand chips.

The pot transport machine could no longer satisfy the appetite of the lord of "North Suburb." The person became obsessed with purchasing second-hand machinery from Giant Stone City and wanted to get a bit of everything.

"We can only be more careful."

Glancing at the city ahead that resembled a graveyard, Qian Lai muttered softly.

Hope nothing goes wrong...

...

The city, littered with concrete ruins, was like a maze. There were more than one route from the North Suburb to Giant Stone City. Experienced merchants would usually remember more than ten different paths and would analyze which one to take based on all factors such as weather, temperature, intuition, etc.

For Hunters within the maze, catching a rabbit that has burrowed into the ruins is not an easy task.

However, there are always more solutions than difficulties.

Most Looters would set up an observation point at a high place to monitor one or two blocks they could look down upon and then predict which path their prey might choose based on their direction of movement.

On a high-rise within the fifth-ring road, a Mercenary in a grey coat lay by the broken wall, scanning the nearby streets with his binoculars.

His name was Sand Teeth, one of Uu Chou’s trusted subordinates, mainly serving as a sniper and scout in the team.

When he spotted the team in the lens, surprise appeared in his eyes. He immediately picked up the walkie-talkie, saying excitedly,

"Boss, they’re on the move!"

After a brief static noise, Uu Chou’s incredulous voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Are you sure?"

Those people had just crossed the edge of the fifth ring road that morning, and now, without even spending a whole day, they had set out on the road to Giant Stone City again.

Did these people not plan to rest for a day?

Sand Teeth immediately said.

"I’m sure... that direction, it can only be from the Wetland Park side! There are a total of nine people, including a Double-headed Cow carrying the goods and a white bear, likely their pet. They’re heading towards Street 1101, probably planning to cross the commercial complex there."

"These people are different from the ones we encountered before; the four Awakeners aren’t in the group!"

Hearing this, a glint of excitement flashed through Uu Chou’s eyes.

The commercial complex on Street 1101, that half-collapsed shopping center, was a perfect place to stage a robbery, especially since those four Awakeners weren’t in the group, which to him was incredibly good news.

The only pity was that time was too tight—they hadn’t expected those people to take that route, and there was no time to set up an ambush in advance.

But that wasn’t a big problem!

Their team had twice as many people as the others!

Uu Chou made a split-second decision.

"You circle to their west side and support us from the rooftop! Listen for my gunfire!"

"Roger that!"

Excitement was etched on Sand Teeth’s face.

After putting down the walkie-talkie, he was about to stow the binoculars and pick up the sniper rifle from the ground. However, at that moment, he suddenly saw the armored figure riding on the bear looking straight in their direction.

The movement shocked him so much that he nearly dropped the binoculars from his hands. He hurriedly took cover behind a nearby barricade.

A coincidence?

It didn’t seem like it...

The movement was too deliberate.

Realizing something, Sand Teeth’s face subtly changed.

The one riding on the bear’s back had to be an Awakener!

...

"Why do I feel like something is watching me?" Crow, dressed up in her tin can armor, furrowed her brow as she looked at the tall buildings behind her.

"Where?"

Tail quickly lifted the binoculars hanging around her neck and looked in the direction of Crow’s gaze, but aside from the stacks of ruins, she saw nothing.

There were too many buildings there.

Eyes could be hiding in any one of the windows.

As the Commercial Team’s NPC had said, if it was just one person, it wouldn’t be too bad, but a whole team entering here would have no secrets at all.

"A Level 12 Sense System, that means about 18-19 points in Perception," Si Si, who was carrying a submachine gun, murmured as she adjusted the wool cap she was wearing, "Can’t ignore that."

"Can’t you pinpoint the location?" Teng Teng asked Crow.

Crow helplessly replied,

"My Perception is high, but it’s not like I’ve got a cheat activated."

It was unfortunately too far.

If it were closer, her Talent could have been put to good use.

The group continued to push the Double-headed Cow forward.

The ruins and buildings were getting denser around them, with remnants of cars and billboards everywhere, and even half of a building lying across the street.

There were hiding places everywhere, and the nerves of the group gradually tightened.

With less than two hundred meters to the commercial complex ruins, Qian Lai, who was walking in the middle of the team, signaled everyone to stop and spoke a few words to Xu Shun, who was carrying the rifle.

Xu Shun nodded seriously and approached the players.

"Once we pass the ruins up ahead and travel 1.2 kilometers westward, we’ll reach our campsite. For safety’s sake, we need to send someone ahead for reconnaissance. Uh, maybe it’s better if I go—"

"Let Tail handle the reconnaissance! Tail is of the Agile system!" Tail volunteered enthusiastically, raising her hand, the safety already off on her Sickle Assault Rifle in her hands.

Sesame Paste stepped forward as well, clutching her Pu-9 tightly and speaking nervously,

"I’m, I’m also of the Agile system, I can go with you!"

But just then, Crow, riding on the bear’s back, suddenly spoke up.

"Do we have to go this way?"

Xu Shun, focused on the subtitles, paused momentarily before his expression became serious.

"Did you notice something?"

Crow nodded silently, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on the ruins two hundred meters ahead, muttering quietly,

"The distance is a little blurry... but I shouldn’t be wrong."

"There are people there—"

Before she could finish speaking, a gunshot echoed from between the high-rises in the distance.

Startled by the shot, everyone swiftly took cover behind nearby barricades. However, they quickly realized that no one was hurt, not even a single bullet had come close to them.

"Another group?!"

"The gunshot came from the high-rise buildings directly to our west!"

"Are there others here?"

"Seems like it!"

"Whatever the hell group it is, bring in the cows!" Qian Lai pushed Kaia in a rush, urging him, "Hurry up!"

Those were goods worth hundreds of thousands of chips!

If they were lost, the boss would surely kill him!

"Damn it!"

Kaia clenched his teeth.

Though reason told him it was best not to, he still braced himself and crouching, ran out.

"Hey, don’t go, we’re not sure if that gunfire was aimed at us."

Si Si shouted after him, but the NPC clearly didn’t understand what she was saying.

Tail, who was standing at the entrance of the alley with a rifle, suddenly became sentimentally reflective,

"Maybe this is just life."

Poor working folk.

This game was absurdly realistic in the strangest ways.

"Let’s not worry about what it is for now, what should we do?" Meat Mountain Big Steamed Bun said tensely, "There are people in those ruins ahead, aren’t there?"

Crow on her back nodded, and her heavy voice floated out from the armor,

"And there’s not just a few! Wait, they are coming out of the ruins, looks like they are heading our way!"

Even though it was blurry, she could see those figures moving!

Teng Teng nervously looked up,

"Are they Looters?"

"Um, I feel like that’s not important right now," Si Si readjusted her wool cap and analyzed, "Even if we imagine they could prove they’re friendly, we’d still have to make them lay down their weapons first."

"Don’t worry, Tail’s got this!" Tail was all fired up as she chambered her rifle and leaned against the cover, "Si Si, we’re going in!"

Si Si mustered half her own enthusiasm and also chambered her submachine gun,

"We’re going in! Oh, and Ah Wei, don’t rush in too fast later. We’ll circle around the side... They’re probably trying to surround us, we need to break out before that."

"Okey!"

They couldn’t let the newbies look down on them!

As Tail and Si Si were ready to face the enemy, Kaia was herding the last cow into a side alley.

Suddenly, a machine gun was mounted in the window of the commercial complex right across the street.

Before anyone could react, flames burst from the bipod, and a barrage of bullets sprayed out, recklessly ricocheting across the ruins.

The Double-headed Cow was shot dead on the spot.

Caught off guard, the Caravan guard herding the cow was also hit in the thigh by a round.

"Fuck!"

Kaia, shot in the leg and sweating bullets from the pain, immediately lay on the ground and clung to a piece of raised concrete debris on the street for cover.

Bullets hit just in front of his cover, kicking up a meter-high cloud of dust. Splintering pebbles rained down on his face, frightening him so much he dared not move an inch.

"Damn it, I’m freaking pinned down!"

"Help me out!"

"Stay down and don’t move!"

Another caravan guard, Wang Zhong, made a snap decision and threw a smoke grenade.

Thick smoke quickly spread across the street.

However, the gunfire did not cease. Instead, bursts of three shots each continued to fire towards Kaia’s direction, as if intending to pin him down there.

Not daring to move rashly, Kaia pressed his ear hard against the ground and suddenly changed his expression, shouting.

"They’re moving in on us!"

"Which direction?"

"What else could it be! Just ahead, in those ruins! At least 10, no, more like 20!"

As he was shouting, those 20 mercenaries split into two groups, advancing on the alleyways 200 meters away.

Uu Chou, leading the charge, was visibly furious, spit flying as he cursed, his rifle already loaded.

"Damn this idiot! I told him to wait for my gunfire! Why the hell did he start firing on his own?"

He had gone to great lengths to beat this bunch to the ruins of the commercial complex.

It was a simple problem that could have been settled with a gun to the head, but now it had become a hard-fought confrontation.

Great.

At least one other Awakener on the other side, and a bear with a steel plate on its chest?

He didn’t believe those people were a match for him, but he despised adding unforeseen variables to the plan.

But just then, another gunshot echoed from a distance.

A whizzing noise passed overhead, and the machine gun that was suppressing the street suddenly went silent.

Uu Chou was taken aback, immediately understanding what had happened, and he bellowed out.

"Sniper!"

"Spread out and take cover, watch out for the building to the west!"

...

"Two down."

On the twentieth floor of the high-rise ruins.

Lying next to a floor-to-ceiling window devoid of glass, Night Ten took a deep breath. His right hand, wrapped in a bandage, pulled back the bolt and ejected the hot cartridge.

He had confiscated the sniper rifle from a mercenary in Giant Stone City and had been using it for some time now.

Where the original scope once sat, it had been replaced with a thermal imager.

This valuable piece of equipment had cost him 2400 silver coins from an official website, and it supported 6x magnification, revealing any heat sources exposed outside of cover with nowhere to hide.

With his Perception abilities, it was virtually a divine artifact.

Without any hesitation, seeing that the mercenaries had located him, Night Ten immediately shifted his aim and fired at a Looter dispersing into the ruins.

This shot hit the chest.

The man who fell to the ground didn’t die immediately but wailed, begging his teammates for help.

Night Ten quickly worked the bolt again, choosing not to fire a follow-up shot immediately. Instead, he focused intently on a nearby piece of cover, ready to lie in wait.

However, he waited until the man died without anyone coming to his aid.

"Three down..."

Night Ten glanced at the VM next to him, noticing two green dots had dispersed from the alley, while four remained near the caravan, sticking close to the NPCs.

"That must be Tail and the others."

Those two were also experienced players; they definitely knew what to do in such a situation.

"Damn it... I can’t hit anything from here."

Night Ten muttered, picking up the sniper rifle and slinging it on his back, drawing the submachine gun and holding it in hand, stepping over a corridor filled with the bodies of Eaters, moved to the safety passage, and quickly descended the building.

Downstairs was parked a Hell Breath.

Although the city roads were difficult for vehicles to navigate, a two-wheeled motorcycle was always more practical than a four-wheeled car.

The "putt-putt" sound of an engine, like that of a tractor, started up.

Night Ten quickly ignited the engine and took the pre-planned route to the southern side of the battlefield at the fastest speed.

There was a building with over a hundred floors, a landmark he and his teammates had explored before. Night Ten even remembered finding quite a few office supplies and printer paper there.

The Eaters below the twentieth floor had been mostly cleared out, and even if new Variants had spread there over the past two months, they wouldn’t cause much trouble.

Gunfire continued incessantly in the distance.

Night Ten could vaguely hear the sound of Pu-9 firing, the combat within fifty meters, the situation had obviously reached a fever pitch!

Anxious, he turned off the motorcycle’s engine and dumped it on the roadside, climbing along a partially collapsed concrete wall to the second floor in three bounds and two steps, then hurried into the safety passage, moving to the twentieth floor’s office area.

Using the butt of his gun to shatter the floor-to-ceiling window, Night Ten lay on the ground, repositioned the sniper rifle, and aimed at the battlefield a half-street away.

Adjusting his breathing, he was about to pull the trigger when suddenly, an alarm went off in his heart, and he snatched up the freshly positioned sniper rifle and moved away from the window.

Almost at the same time, a grenade flew in through the window and landed on the ceiling not far from him, exploding in a burst of fire and light.

The heat wave from the explosion spread, large chunks of concrete fell from the ceiling, but fortunately, Night Ten’s reflexes were quick, and he avoided injury.

"MMP!"

How the fuck did they find me?!

He hastily saw that a group of Looters below had split into five individuals, scattering and closing in on his position.

Night Ten, hastily repositioning the sniper rifle, silently cursed this was bad.

At a distance of less than 500 meters, if he tried to descend now, he would certainly run right into them!

Night Ten hurriedly pulled the trigger, but to no avail—the street had too many coverings, and the Looters who had spotted his location easily dodged his shot.

Night Ten hastily worked the bolt of his rifle, mumbling under his breath.

"Damn it, the equipment I just got my hands on hasn’t even warmed up yet, can’t be falling apart now!"

Come on, Brother Guang.

Five against one is a bit against the spirit of fair play, isn’t it?

Have mercy on me!

It’s uncertain whether or not the Game Planner Ah Guang heard his prayers, but as Night Ten scrambled to keep shooting, a sudden change occurred.

A figure, covered head to toe in steel armor, appeared in the middle of the battlefield from seemingly nowhere.

The exchange of fire from both sides, Caravan guard and Looter alike, clearly hesitated, thrown by this new arrival.

Tail, hiding behind cover, had his eyes shine bright.

"Si! That armor is awesome!"

Much more so than Crow’s!

Sisi’s face grew solemn.

"...Ah Wei, don’t let your guard down. He might not be here to help us."

Oblivious to the atmosphere around, the person standing in the center of the battlefield paused as he looked left and right, then from under the armor floated a ghostly voice.

"How do I get to ’North Suburb’?."

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