This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 266: The Method to Deal with the Tide!

Chapter 266: Chapter 266: The Method to Deal with the Tide!

"Boss, save me!"

"Damn it, these Eaters have no fricking honor! Why are they trying to snatch my gear away?!"

"Scram! Stop gnawing on my shield!"

"My clothes! My clothes!"

"Just asking, is this game even legit???"

"Stick close to me! Damn! Don’t you guys run away!"

In the subway tunnel, the noisy voices of players echoed.

Old Six from the Strength Type was still trying to stabilize his teammates, but the Agile Backseat Driver had already run off without a trace, leaving the Perception Rookie shivering and the Intelligence Item Carrier making a chase scene right there.

Watching the four newbies being chased around by the Eaters, Quit Smoking felt a headache coming on.

He felt that even if he smoked all night, he couldn’t understand how these people got their closed beta qualifications.

Damn!

So annoying!

Looking at these people’s IDs, he thought they were more badass.

Seeing that the boss was quiet all along, the Item Carrier urgently sought help.

"Boss! Fire your gun!"

Quit smoking couldn’t help but retort.

"Damn, why would you use a gun against Eaters!"

But if he didn’t intervene soon, these newbies might not see the sun tomorrow.

Finally, Quit Smoking unlocked the safety and lifted his Sickle Assault Rifle, firing two shots to kill the Eaters surrounding the Item Carrier.

Then, he pulled out his Short Axe and charged, slashing wildly and leading his useless apprentices through a bloody path out of the Eaters’ encirclement.

Leaning against the wall and catching his breath, Quit Smoking shook his axe covered in black sticky liquid.

To be honest, these Eaters did feel stronger!

Both their speed and strength had a noticeable difference compared to those he encountered in the tunnel last winter.

Even as a seasoned fighter, he still found it a bit tricky.

However, that didn’t stop him from showing off in front of the newbies.

Taking a deep breath and stabilizing his breathing, Quit Smoking calmly said,

"The Eaters’ attack patterns are just a few types, grab with hands, lunge to bite. Don’t panic if they rush your face, don’t get entangled with them, just use a shield bash to knock them off balance, and then smack their heads with whatever you’ve got... you’ll get the knack after a few tries."

Leaning against the tunnel wall and panting heavily, the four post-disaster survival newbies listened to Quit Smoking’s gameplay tips, their eyes sparkling.

"Boss is awesome!"

"So strong!"

"Is this T0 combat power?"

"Unbeatable!"

Listening to this group’s awkward praise, Quit Smoking coughed.

"Cough... It’s not as exaggerated as you say. Don’t you guys watch the strategy guides?"

"Yeah! We’ve been studying them for a long time!" Old Six chuckled, then said, "I’m Strength Type! Frontline damage dealer!"

The other three also raised their hands in unison.

Lost Rookie: "I’m Perception! Professional scout!"

Backseat Driver: "I’m Agility, just missing the sniper!"

Item Carrier: "I’m Intelligence! Planning to go for brainwave machinery after Awakening! Future boss!"

Quit Smoking: "..."

He thought he knew where the problem was.

...

Four hundred players had already left Shelter No. 117, following the old players to the outside world.

Through the VM device linked with the "Pass the Torch" mission, Chu Guang could easily keep track of where the newbies went, what missions they were doing, and who was leading them.

With the "Hummingbird" drone patrolling the sky, he could even shift the camera directly above the players’ heads for a look.

Of course, there were a few headstrong players who decided to venture into the Wasteland alone with the 5 silver coins from the newcomer’s gift package.

It’s a sandbox game after all.

High freedom is part of the game content.

As an excellent designer, Chu Guang wouldn’t interfere with each player’s specific way of playing.

He just made macro-level decisions and rule judgments to ensure that most individuals stayed on the right track.

A few exceptions didn’t matter.

The purpose of rules would become apparent after they acquired property within the game.

Once the newcomers were equipped with God Equip and had made a bunch of brothers or sisters in the game who were closer than those in real life, they would naturally understand that following rules was not for others, but for themselves...

Shelter No. 404.

Having just finished talking with the newbies at the neighboring shelter, Chu Guang, after taking off his power armor, went directly to the B3 level medical laboratory.

When he arrived there, Batch, clad in his tin can outfit, was also present.

Ever since settling in the shelter, he took every chance to wander to the medical lab, inquiring about the latest research progress on the "Mutated slime fungus."

Heya hadn’t come out of the analysis room yet, and Chu Guang, looking at Batch sitting in the chair, curiously asked,

"Doesn’t Province of Yúnjiānxíng have ’Mutated slime fungus’?"

Batch: "Of course it does, whether it’s Cloud-On-City or Cloud-Below-City, it’s nearly impossible to completely get rid of them."

Chu Guang: "I heard that the Army dismantles cities to limit the survival space of the fungus."

A gurgling laugh floated out from the tin can.

"Heh, don’t believe the nonsense of those fools in the Army. Dismantling those skyscrapers? Even using up all the nuclear reserves of United Human wouldn’t achieve that, do they really have that ability?"

Chu Guang gave him a strange look.

"Why would the United Human demolish its own buildings?"

"Who knows what happened two hundred years ago," Batch shrugged. "I heard that during the Prosperity Epoch, there were many corporations."

While they were talking, the alloy door to the sample analysis room opened.

Wearing a white lab coat, Heya walked out from behind the door and handed over a wrist computer modified into a tablet to Chu Guang, who had just come in from outside.

Chu Guang glanced at the screen, full of dense data. Although he recognized every letter and number, he couldn’t understand them when they were put together.

But that didn’t matter.

If he could understand it, what would he need her for?

"What is this?"

With barely concealed excitement, Heya said animatedly,

"It’s a detailed analysis report on the juvenile phase of the lair! Thanks to the samples your residents previously obtained, we now have a more comprehensive understanding of the formation of the lair, which further confirms my hypothesis—these mucors are dominated by some kind of Unified Consciousness Entity, and it’s likely that the transmission of information occurs through spores!"

That meant...

Were spores not only reproductive cells but also a medium of information exchange between various mucor species?

Similar to pheromones in insects?

Staring at the tablet, Chu Guang fell silent.

A rather convenient organism.

At that moment, Batch, who had been standing by, suddenly became tense.

"Wait, does that mean the lair issues commands through spores? Could the spores released by the lair control the mucor on me?"

Heya looked at him and said,

"Were you infected outside of Qingquan City?"

Batch nodded nervously.

"...After I got infected, I walked about five to six hundred kilometers west and north before I reached Qingquan City."

Chu Guang said,

"Five or six hundred kilometers should be out of the boundaries of River Valley Province."

Heya spoke in a relaxed tone, "Then there’s no need to worry. These mutated slime fungi have strong regional characteristics. They rely on RNA-transcribed proteins to recognize their kind, and only the same species can coordinate with a unified consciousness entity. The ’identification codes’ for mucor from different regions are different."

Relieved by this, Batch finally relaxed.

Chu Guang turned to Heya, asking the question he was most concerned about.

"Does this kind of lair have any weaknesses?"

Heya answered straightforwardly,

"The weakness is the same as that of all living organisms—being killed will kill them."

Chu Guang: "..."

That was basically the same as saying nothing.

Heya straightforwardly replied,

"If you want to completely kill them, fire is undoubtedly the best method, followed by dynamite, and strong acids are also a good option, the latter however being too costly. If you’re looking for a shortcut, unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be one at the moment, unless..."

Chu Guang immediately asked, "Unless?"

"Unless we can manage to obtain samples directly from the central city’s lair," Heya said confidently. "According to the model I’ve built, I estimate that over 80% of the spores are produced by the central city’s lair. Other entities including the Eaters, hatcheries, and even new lairs all ultimately originate from that oldest lair at the city center!"

Chu Guang: "..."

What was the difference between that and saying nothing?

The honest Batch, voicing the thoughts he was thinking, muttered,

"...I think we could come to that conclusion even without a model analysis, just by looking."

Heya gave him a glance.

"Eyes can deceive, but data doesn’t."

Chu Guang coughed lightly.

"You’re right, data doesn’t lie, but what we most urgently need is a strategy to break the Tide, and we’re quickly running out of time."

However, Chu Guang was surprised that, indeed, as Heya had speculated, the mucor had already formed a highly organized beehive society.

They were mimicking not only the physical forms and hunting methods of other creatures in nature, but also more complex societal structures.

Some entities were responsible for reproduction, some for development, others for hunting, and when neccessary, the ’worker bee’ Eaters would even sacrifice themselves to expand the fungal mat of the hatcheries.

The citywide spore cloud could even provide a local-network-like service to all mucor species variants in the city, with these variants acting as routers, constantly releasing spores.

There were no shortcuts to destroying them.

After a pause, Chu Guang continued,

"As for the samples of the lair... it’s a difficult request, but I will try my best to help."

The Giant Stone City at the edge of the third ring road might have a way.

Previously, Xia Yan had mentioned that some strong mercenary groups were able to penetrate the city center to search for relics of pre-war civilizations.

If he had enough bargaining chips, this issue might be resolved with money.

As Chu Guang was pondering, Batch, sitting next to him, painfully clutched the tin can on his head.

"Damn it... why did I even make this long journey."

He was starting to regret it.

Maybe he should have just, like other classmates who chose a graduation trip, traveled around the Province of Yúnjiānxíng.

There was no need to venture so far, nor to aim so high from the start.

Thinking of how his handsome, attractive face had turned into this horrifying look, he was in agony and wanted to die.

It was all Luo Hua’s fault, he thought!

Chu Guang glanced at his friend from afar with a strange expression and kindly reminded him,

"You could actually take off the helmet; I think... the people in the shelter won’t mind your appearance."

Well, it’s almost as if...

the weirder the NPC looks, the more popular they are?

However, after hearing Chu Guang’s words, Batch violently shook his head, showing strong resistance.

"I’d rather die than agree!"

At dusk.

The new players, having been played by the game all day, dragged their tired bodies and worn-out gear back to the Outpost Base.

When they set out from Shelter No.117, many of them were carrying Engineer Shovels from the Steel Factory No.81, axes, or shields, javelins, bows and arrows, lances made by the woodworking cabin.

Now, however, practically everyone’s equipment had been replaced by random pieces of rebar, clubs, and even bricks.

Some players didn’t even make it back.

After spending a few months as Backseat Drivers on the forum, they finally experienced firsthand what a "100 percent realistic" Virtual Reality Game could really be like.

Dropping his battered club on the ground, a newbie whose ID was "Painter" sat down at the south gate, cursing and swearing,

"Damn it, those Eaters are way too strong! Holding a shield and just randomly biting furiously, they almost bit my nose off!"

His close friend, ID "Illustrator," echoed his sentiment,

"Exactly! Weren’t Eaters supposed to be beginner monsters? Their strength is ridiculously high!"

The plight of these newbies wasn’t an isolated case.

In fact, not only the newbies, but even the Awakened players could clearly feel that the Eaters had gotten much stronger than before.

This boost wasn’t just a matter of "monster AI" optimization; it was clear that even their basic stats had increased by a point or two.

Once surrounded, even Strength Type and Constitution Type Awakeners could easily find themselves in peril,

let alone the newbies whose stats had not yet matured.

But complaints aside, no one was disheartened.

If they couldn’t handle this level of difficulty, they wouldn’t have completed the increasingly ludicrous survey questionnaire, and they wouldn’t have had the chance to become one of the lucky players in the closed beta.

The hustle and bustle didn’t just surround the south gate unloading area and the north gate market; right in front of the Hunter Guild’s cabin, it was equally bustling.

Yu Hu looked puzzled at the Looters whose limbs were tied up.

If he remembered correctly, the mission he posted was supposed to be about searching the area for Mucor species Variants, clearing out Eater hatcheries, and the sources of spore spread.

However...

How did these "players" end up capturing a bunch of living people instead?

He quickly counted around a hundred.

His Hunter Guild didn’t have any slave capturing missions.

Watching the guild leader, Spring Water Commander chuckled, "Couldn’t find the hatchery, but we did find the Looters’ lair."

Battlefield Atmosphere Group remarked in awe, "These guys are seriously tough, hiding under the bridge!"

I Max Black: "It stinks so much!"

Neighbor Old Wang: "Hey, the few I caught were even crazier, their lair was actually on a hanging tower!"

"Kakarot": "Holy crap, aren’t they afraid of falling off from that height?!"

Neighbor Old Wang shook his head and poked the nearby Looter with the barrel of his gun, "Don’t know, why don’t you ask him?"

The Looter being poked with the gun shivered, scared and daring not to dodge to the side.

Other Looters felt the same way.

Besides fear, their faces were mostly confused.

They had originally planned to ignore these broke guys who didn’t even have a Double-headed Cow; the fat and greasy Commercial Teams were their actual targets.

But the moment these players saw them, their eyes lit up and they charged without a second thought.

From the players’ perspective, it was understandable.

After all, the Variants’ combat power had clearly increased, the only ones who stayed the same were these Looters.

Dealing with Looters? The veteran players had plenty of experience with that— from the Blood Hand to Chew-bone, which one hadn’t been defeated by them?

Not to mention, these Looters were much plumper than the Eaters; taking down their lair would earn them a pile of Silver coins and also boost their Contribution.

Who would reject walking experience bags?

Besides the captured Looters, there were slaves rescued by the players from their lairs.

Among them were men and women, some with intact limbs, others missing arms or legs, and some even barely alive.

Some of the women were visibly pregnant.

Yu Hu, having never dealt with Looters before, was at a loss for a moment.

Fortunately, the Manager came over at that time.

After understanding the situation, Chu Guang immediately called Guo Niu, who was in charge of the outpost’s warehouse, and instructed,

"First take the people to the POW Camp, the guards there know how to identify who are the Looters. After the interrogation, keep the Looters in the POW Camp and send the other rescued survivors to Changjiu Farm."

"If they have other places to go, let them leave; if they wish to stay, settle them in the migrant village, and let Jiu Li find them something to work on."

There were large areas of farmland on the west side of Changjiu Farm that needed plowing.

Besides farming, recently many inns and pubs aimed at traveling merchants had opened near Changjiu Farm, looking to hire cashiers, accountants, chefs, cleaners, and waitstaff.

No matter whether they had any particular skills or not, as long as they wanted to work, there were always job opportunities there.

Guo Niu nodded seriously.

"Okay, sir!"

Following the rates of 50 Silver coins and 50 Contribution points for each captive and 80 Silver coins and 80 Contribution points for a Looter, Chu Guang calculated the players’ task rewards.

Watching the jubilant players surge towards the north gate, Yu Hu hung his head in shame and mumbled,

"Sorry, I even failed at this trivial matter."

Chu Guang encouraged him,

"Don’t say that; you did quite well. For things like this, you’ll get the hang of it after handling it a few more times. If you’re really unsure, contacting me or Xiao Qi will do."

Actually, even Chu Guang himself was quite surprised.

He had established the Hunter Guild originally to cope with the impending tide and incidentally enrich the gameplay for hunter players. Unexpectedly, the hunter players hadn’t found many incubation rooms, but instead had destroyed many of the Looters’ lairs.

The large tract of land in the "North Suburb" was worrying him because it was difficult to cultivate.

Having been able to bring back so many prisoners was also an unexpected bonus.

Clearing his throat, Chu Guang looked at Yu Hu and continued.

"Let’s get to the main point, how is the matter I asked you to investigate progressing?"

Yu Hu quickly nodded his head and immediately responded.

"There are results already! I was just about to report to you!"

After a pause, he continued.

"According to the clues collected by our hunter squads sent from the fifth ring to the edge of the fourth ring, a large number of Eaters are moving from the city center towards the suburbs along several expressways out of the city."

"Their speed isn’t fast, but their steps are steady. Especially at night, their marching speed is almost twice that of during the day... If they maintain their current speed, the first wave of Eaters may arrive at the ’North Suburb’ within two days, with a scale of no less than a hundred thousand!"

A hundred thousand?!

Chu Guang’s expression turned slightly solemn.

"Has anything similar happened in the ’North Suburb’ before?"

If the scale of the tide was really that immense, the limited strength of the "North Suburb" would be totally inadequate for defense.

Not to mention the few bolt-action rifles in Old Leech’s warehouse, even if Brown Farm and the Blood Hand Clan were added together, it wouldn’t be enough.

Yu Hu frowned in contemplation for a while and then shook his head.

"I haven’t heard of the tide moving north before, though there were a few instances of fog... but that didn’t happen every year."

The difficulty of this year’s tide had obviously increased.

Could it be due to the population?

Chu Guang’s face was serious as he immediately said.

"I need to know the specific route of the tide, do you have a map here?"

Yu Hu immediately nodded.

"Yes, I was just about to bring it to you!"

Saying this, he returned to the wooden cabin of the Hunter Guild, quickly took out a map, and came back out of the cabin.

Back at Chu Guang’s side, Yu Hu spread the map in front of him, pointing to the marks he had made on the map.

"Right here!"

On that paper map, a red line and four yellow lines were drawn with a marker.

These two colors of lines respectively indicated the main direction of advance of the "Tide" and the branches traversing various streets of the urban area.

Garden Street Metro Station, located between Bet Street and Brown Farm, was precisely on that red line!

Without a moment’s delay, Chu Guang took the map and went directly to the residence of the security team, recalling Wrench, the head of the security team far away at Changjiu Farm, along with his capable subordinates.

The strategy meeting began.

Chu Guang spread the map out on the table.

"...If the tide continues to advance, not only our neighbors will be harmed, Shelter No.117, Outpost Base, and the new industrial area will all face troubles."

"There is a relatively open area at the southern ring road entrance and exit of Garden Street Metro Station. I plan to build a fortification around this area and deploy over 500 troops and heavy weapons."

"If anyone has any good suggestions, feel free to speak now!"

Vanus, focusing on the map, thought for a moment and suddenly spoke.

"I want to know if our opponents include only the Eaters or also the Crawlers and Tyrants?"

Chu Guang responded, "It might be all of them!"

Everyone in the meeting room held their breath in unison.

If it were only the Eaters, it wouldn’t be too difficult—the mindless, running, and biting Variants would be mere fodder before artillery, and several heavy machine guns would be enough to grind them into the ground.

However, if the "all-terrain mobile" Crawlers and the "with unfathomable health bars" Tyrants were included, the situation might not be so optimistic.

Add to that the Martyr, a monster that didn’t play by any rules, this battle could be a disaster.

Vanus took just half a minute to make a decision.

"One line of defense might not be enough! On the basis of this line, we need at least three kilometers of strategic depth to stop them with multiple lines of defense!"

Wrench’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed.

"Three kilometers might not be enough time, even constructing this line before they arrive would be difficult!"

Vanus said nothing but looked towards Chu Guang.

So did everyone else.

As if he was the only hope.

Under everyone’s gaze, Chu Guang slowly nodded his head, saying only three words.

"We can make it!"

It’s always possible to make it.

It just requires a bit of sacrifice...

Meanwhile, several kilometers away on an elevated bridge.

Within that tide-like moving column, a pair of crimson pupils was staring intently at the northern sky.

That gaze exuded an intimidation not even the Death’s Claws could withstand.

It opened its mouth.

The hoarse voice sounded like the wail of a demon.

"Children..."

"Burning..."

"Must... purify..."

In those crimson pupils was written a yearning for slaughter and blood!

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