This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 267: Street No. 65 Blockade Battle!

Chapter 267: Chapter 267: Street No. 65 Blockade Battle!

"Ah Wei, do you have everything with you? We’re about to leave the city, think carefully. Did you leave anything behind?"

Giant Stone City gate.

Before lining up to leave the city, Si Si was checking her tail VM and backpack, repeatedly confirming if anything had been left behind.

Her actions and demeanor were very much like that of a worried father.

"Wow! Got everything—wait, where’s Meat Meat?" Suddenly, Teng Teng became alert, glancing around keenly, sensing that something was missing from their group.

Teng Teng, who was lined up in the front, turned back to Si Si and Teng Teng in surprise.

"Eh? You guys didn’t bring Meat Meat?"

Si Si subtly shifted her gaze away, muttering quietly,

"...Really strange, how can such a big bear have such a low presence?"

It must be because it’s too timid.

Sesame Paste, who had also forgotten Meat Meat, blushed, and the cat ears on top of her head shivered with embarrassment.

"I, I’ll go get it."

"I’m going too!"

Si Si, anticipating Teng Teng’s move, skillfully caught her.

"It’s not far to the storage area from here, one person can go. Ah Wei, just stay in line honestly, it’s almost our turn."

"Giao!"

Meat Meat had been with the Double-headed Cow these past few days, reportedly scaring all the other animals in the storage area into shivering.

Even after reaching the New Map, it could not explore anywhere, and when leaving, it was nearly forgotten due to its low presence.

That is just too pitiful.

Si Si couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty.

After returning to Outpost Base, she would treat it to a few fish.

The line didn’t take long.

The guards at the city gate simply checked the wanted posters on the wall, made sure no one leaving was in trouble, and let the group pass.

Xu Shun had planned to set off with them, but due to a last-minute task, he had to move separately.

The group agreed to meet outside the city gate.

They walked out from under the city gate.

Crow stretched contentedly, looking at the sunset hanging on the horizon, her lips curling into a satisfied grin.

"Finally going home!"

She had sold her welded KV-1 Exoskeleton for 200 chips.

Although at a slight loss, it wasn’t a big deal.

Thinking about a certain Mosquito who got her stuck to a wall, Crow’s eyes twinkled with a hint of charming danger.

She swore.

If she didn’t give that sleazy merchant a mushroom-sized fist, she’d write her name backward!

The city gate was bustling.

Merchants were coming and going non-stop, mercenaries looking for work roamed around the square by the gate, and some hawkers were selling odd commodities.

The Militia Group had set up a recruiting post by the city gate, and the queue for enlistment went from the gate all the way into the slums.

The loudspeaker at the entrance to the slums kept repeating the recruitment terms—two chips a day, two rations of nutrient paste.

Enlist, and you’d get a gun, with ammunition supplied at the front line.

Crow looked around curiously when a whistle sounded beside her.

Feeling the gaze on her, Crow instinctively turned her face away.

She saw three men, looking like mercenaries, smiling while watching her.

Seeing Crow look their way, the leader among the mercenaries gave a suggestive whistle.

"Hey, gorgeous."

The two by his side also chimed in.

"Alone?"

"It’s tough working for the Tide, why not join us and make a fortune down south?"

The candid looks made Crow quite uncomfortable.

Though she didn’t fully understand what these guys were saying, their demeanor was enough to know they were hitting on her, and probably weren’t up to any good.

Crow made a shooing gesture, saying impatiently,

"Not interested, go chill where it’s cool."

She’d been hit on quite a few times these past days, mostly by mercenaries, occasionally merchants, but none caught her fancy.

Their unruly appearance was one thing, but those ill-intending glances were nauseating, barely stopping short of writing "very bad people" across their foreheads.

What she was really interested in were the mature, sunny, polite, smart, reliable, and righteous big brother types. And not too much of a clown, considering she was a bit of one herself sometimes.

Eh?

Thinking it over, the Manager was basically her ideal type.

Got to hand it to the company behind Wasteland OL; they really knew what they were doing.

Too bad it’s just a flat image.

Watching the stunning bosomed beauty ignore them completely, the three mercenaries’ faces showed visible annoyance.

Though they didn’t understand her dialect, the rejection was as clear as her dismissive attitude.

Their eyes narrowing to slits, the bearded man stepped forward, his tone turning threatening.

"I advise you to think carefully before you speak. This isn’t Giant Stone City, and beyond that gate is the wasteland."

"Anything could happen in the wasteland. What do you think?"

No idea what these guys are on about.

Crow rolled her eyes, about to retort in United Human language with an equivalent of "bugger off," when her teammates’ voices reached her from the direction of the city gate.

Teng Teng: "Eh? Crow’s being hit on again? Why do I feel like it’s not the first time..."

Teng Teng muttered dejectedly.

"Damn it, why does no one hit on Teng Teng!"

Teng Teng consoled her.

"Relax, I didn’t do anything..."

Teng Teng’s gaze fell on the two ponytails, her expression slightly complex.

"If you try to hit on Teng Teng, you’ll probably get arrested for being a criminal."

Teng Teng turned around and glared at her, anger revealing her fangs.

"What the hell! Are you looking down on me?"

Si Si cleared her throat.

"Of course not, my expression was improper."

The glances exchanged between the three mercenaries when they saw the people walking in from the entrance were tinged with wariness.

Especially the middle one with the sideburns, the leader of the mercenaries, whose eyes narrowed dangerously.

From these people, he sensed an "aura" of his own kind. However, it was difficult to gauge their exact strength; after all, there were variations of power even among Awakeners!

Standing before the mercenary leader, Tail crossed her arms in front of her chest and sized him up.

"Yo, lad, you’ve got guts, hitting on our Boss Crow."

The mercenary leader’s face remained expressionless but he sneered inwardly as he looked at her crossed arms.

She was full of openings!

His hand moved like lightning toward the revolver on his waist, but it had barely reached halfway when his vision blurred, and a gun was already pressed to his head.

A bead of cold sweat dripped down the mercenary leader’s forehead as the wind whispered past his ear.

So fast!

"I’d advise you not to make any sudden moves. Ah Wei has been using guns for less than six months; if it accidentally fires, I can only apologize," said Si Si who had somehow moved up beside them. The pu-9 in her hand was pressed against the back of another mercenary as she spoke casually in the not-so-fluent language of United Human.

"Just so you know, me too."

Though it was an inter-server interaction, communication was surprisingly smooth. Sometimes, simple body language made for more effective communication.

The mercenary leader coughed awkwardly, raising his hands and slowly backing away.

"Don’t be nervous, I was just fastening my belt..."

Si Si’s gaze was frosty as she watched him.

"Get lost."

The three mercenaries immediately scurried away, not daring to linger a second longer.

Si Si hid her submachine gun under her coat.

The whispers of the people around them filled the air, and the glances they directed at the group were clearly wary.

Those who were initially eager to approach now only dared to watch quietly from a distance.

Feeling the eyes on her, Crow grew nervous.

"Let’s hurry up and go, I feel like a lot of people are watching us."

Si Si nodded, scanning the surroundings.

"Let’s get out of here."

"I have a feeling something big is about to happen."

List’s Commercial Team had left the city, and White bear and Cat Ears were also in the group.

Xu Shun, who had left to handle some business, was likely on his way back as well.

As they spoke, the VM on everyone’s arms vibrated simultaneously.

They quickly looked at their devices, and a pop-up message appeared on the screen.

[Worldwide Announcement: The Tide Comes!]

Seeing this message, Si Si paused briefly, muttering to herself.

"This damn crow’s mouth of mine..."

It had only been a few seconds, and sure enough, something big had happened...

...

At the Garden Street Metro Station exit.

Players carrying their weapons and ammo were making their way to the surface along the stalled escalator, crossing the broken, jagged streets, marching rapidly southward.

The sky was tinted a dusky yellow; in at most an hour, darkness would fall.

Yet, in the distance, they could still see the grey-green mass of clouds.

"Weren’t we promised two weeks? It’s only been one week."

"The Tide’s come early."

"How thrilling, another group fight!"

The players whispered excitedly among themselves, every face lit with anticipation.

Their opponent this time was the Variants!

The monster siege!

The highlight of MMORPGs!

Missing out on such an exciting event would be a huge loss, so the players engaged in the action had simply taken the entire day off in the real world.

Walking among them, I Max Black, carrying his rifle, suddenly spoke up.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

The Battlefield Atmosphere Group turned to look at him.

"Did you notice something?"

I Max Black glanced at the leading Spring Water.

"That LYB isn’t wearing an Exoskeleton!"

"Ah, you cunning devil," chuckled the Battlefield Atmosphere Group, slinging an arm over his shoulders, "Don’t worry, if you’re scared, stick with me; I’ll cover you!"

I Max Black rolled his eyes unappreciatively and shrugged off his hand.

"Screw you, you’re always the first to charge in!"

"The most dangerous place is the safest place! I might charge in quick, but dad here never dies, do I?" responded the Battlefield Atmosphere Group nonchalantly.

Walking at the center of the group and looking at the map, Spring Water Commander wore a deadpan expression.

"Cut the crap; once we start, follow my lead, I’ll try to bring you all back."

He hadn’t wanted to take on this mission, but while others had volunteered, he’d been drafted in a crisis.

Though he could have refused, who in their right mind would turn down a faction leader-level NPC’s exclusive mission?

With the AI’s level of realism in this game, refusing to execute missions will unfortunately result in a loss of favorability.

That would really be a big loss!

Unaware of Brother Quanshui’s inner trepidation, the Battlefield Atmosphere Group chuckled and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Solid!"

Quanshui: "..."

To be honest, he didn’t feel solid at all at the moment; in fact, he was panicking.

The 120-player platoon, to put it nicely, was a suicide squad; but bluntly, it was cannon fodder.

Their only mission was to head to the junction of Street No. 65 and Changling Overpass and hold back the advancing tide along the pillars of the overpass, at all costs, until dawn to buy time for the troops in the rear to set up defenses.

Quanshui had studied the map; Street No. 65 was located north of the fifth ring road, running east to west with towering buildings on both sides, the most notable being a bell tower.

Due to the neglected maintenance of surrounding buildings, fallen concrete blocks filled the gaps, making it impassable and acting as a natural barrier.

The 12-lane Changling Overpass intersected vertically with Street No. 65; the junction was a relatively open area and the only passage allowing a large number of people to move through.

By establishing fire points on the upper floors of buildings on both sides of the overpass and sweeping fire at the Eaters behind the rugged obstacles, they could alleviate the pressure on the frontline.

However, this was only theoretical.

Quanshui had never commanded so many people, especially since half of the 120 players were newbies.

Fortunately, the other half were veterans who had been in at least two battles, most of them were Awakeners.

On the way to the battlefield, Quanshui managed to divide the players into three infantry platoons, each consisting of four teams of ten people, and communication devices were distributed to the platoon-level combat units.

In addition to the 120 people heading to the frontline, there was an artillery team of 20 people trailing behind them, carrying six 88mm mortars and 12 boxes totaling 144 shells, heading to an open field 1.2 kilometers away to establish an artillery position.

Due to the high-rise buildings everywhere, which were hundreds to thousands of meters tall, the artillery position could only be constructed on rooftops.

Considering that operating artillery was a technical task, Quanshui felt it would be best not to rely too much on the effectiveness of the mortar support.

It might even take more than a dozen shells just to adjust the trajectory, and anything could happen on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, as Quanshui led the platoon to Street No. 65 to intercept the massive tide, a logistics unit composed of 200 Strength-type players, 20 double-headed cows, and 300 NPCs was moving back and forth between Bet Street and Street No. 68, hastily constructing the first line of defense against the tide.

This logistics unit was led by "Spare people under the knife," the chief architect of Shelter No. 404.

The road conditions within the city were complex; motorbikes could barely be used from the North Suburb to the edge of the fifth ring road, but once deep within the fifth ring road to Street No. 68, they could only rely on double-headed cows and bicycles.

Luckily, thanks to Chu Guang’s foresight in transporting building materials to Bet Street, which were stored in the castle’s warehouse, the supply line for this battle wouldn’t be stretched too long.

The reserves of over a million rounds of ammunition were enough to withstand a battle of regimental scale.

The production capacity in the new industrial area had already been pushed to the limit, with an average daily output of 30,000 rounds of ammunition theoretically squeezable to 50,000 rounds.

The veteran players in the area around Far Creek Town were on their way back; Giant Stone City was also engulfed in the tide and was dispatching troops deep into the Third Ring to suppress the tide.

The longer this war dragged on, the more favorable it would be for Shelter No. 404!

Whether they could hold the tide at Street No. 65 would become the key to winning this battle!

Dusk was settling in.

Night enveloped the streets.

As the sunlight faded, Eaters began to emerge from the storefronts and alleys along the street, crawling over the streets littered with concrete blocks toward the players advancing towards Street No. 65.

But animals are just animals after all; they clearly overestimated their own strength and were soon riddled with bullets, tumbling into the roadside gutters and mud pits.

And those Eaters that managed to rush towards the players were met with armed and vigilant resistance, faring no better in their encounter.

A Strength-type player above level 5 could easily split open an Eater’s skull with an axe using just 10 points of strength.

Not to mention the Awakeners!

The Eaters that rushed into the crowd were like sheep entering a wolf pack, and were soon chopped into pieces by a Bow Soldier Shovel and Short Axe, or simply had their skulls crushed by the butt of a gun.

In the shadows, a Crawler measuring two meters in length with a robust physique crawled out of a window of a nearby building, clinging to the wall like a monkey.

Its crimson eyes watched the street intently as it bared its teeth and emitted a dangerous growl.

Seizing an opportunity, it powered its legs and its massive body plunged down like a diving eagle, smashing violently toward the group of players.

Its stretched arm was about to tear the people before it to shreds.

However, at that moment, a whooshing sound of something cutting through the air struck its face with unerring accuracy.

The thrown javelin, like a cannonball, blew its head to pieces.

Without its head, the Crawler fell to the ground with a thud like a kite with its string cut, kicking up clouds of cement debris and dust.

"Holy shit, that was badass!"

"Who the hell brings a javelin?!"

Seeing the surprised looks from everyone, Kakarot chuckled and weighed the javelin in his hand.

"Let’s save our ammo, everyone. There are fewer Eaters now, so use fists instead of guns where possible."

The commander from Spring Water also nodded along.

"That’s right, try not to waste bullets. We’ve got a tough fight coming up!"

They passed through three blocks in succession.

Despite numerous small and large battles along the way and the waste of some ammo, fortunately, there were no casualties.

The iconic Bell Tower came into view. Street No. 65 was just ahead!

Looking at the quiet street ahead, the Spring Water commander took a breath of relief, and his tense mood relaxed slightly.

The Tide hadn’t reached here yet.

They had arrived just in time!

Without any delay, the Spring Water commander immediately advanced to lead the group, shouting loudly to all the players.

"Team A, move up and lay barbed wire. Use the Engineer Shovel to clear any cover on the road as much as possible! Move out any concrete blocks in the pits, dig deeper where you can, and don’t waste time where you can’t dig!"

"Team B is responsible for the left residential area, and Team C for the right. I need you to set up fire points along the street, covering every blind spot on the battlefield!"

"We’ve got only three hours left... If we’re quick, we’ll encounter the first wave of Eaters before 10 o’clock!"

"Everyone, move out!"

His call was met with high-spirited roars, attracting quite a few Eaters, but this was not necessarily a bad thing.

It was always better to deal with these troubles before the battle began than to be distracted by these "strays" on the battlefield once the fight was underway.

Leading Team B’s players to the left side of the battlefield, Kakarot assigned tasks to each squad, clearing out key buildings of Eaters, and personally accompanied a few gunmen to the upper floors.

Team B’s supportive weapons included two water-cooled Maxim heavy machine guns, replicated by Ironworks No. 81, weighing 25 kilograms each, firing full-power 7mm rifle rounds with 6 ammo boxes each, totaling 1500 rounds.

In addition, there were 12 20mm Cavalry Guns anti-tank rifles and 2 of the latest 37mm Heavy Cavalry Guns, newly developed and produced by Ironworks No. 81.

While the former could still be barely considered rifles, the latter clearly fell into the category of a cannon.

Without a fixed mount, it seemed that only Awakeners of the Strength type could handle them.

Having deployed the two Maxims on the third floor with the best vantage point, Kakarot, with a 37mm Heavy Cavalry Gun in tow, took out a pair of binoculars, and glanced in the direction of the south.

The shattered Changling Overpass had collapsed into several sections; the long stretches reached hundreds of meters, while the shortest were only left with their piers, standing like isolated islands in the city.

Beyond that, the thick fog obscured everything, as "Kakarot" put down the binoculars and signaled the squad to put on their gas masks.

Not far away, the brothers from Squad A had already pulled up a circle of barbed wire, blocking several side roads on both sides of the overpass.

Although the few strands of wire would hardly stop the Eaters’ advance, they should at least manage to restrict their direction of movement somewhat.

A Constitution System player, with the ID "Broken Leg Kevin," who was manning the machine gun, couldn’t help asking,

"How many monsters are there ahead..."

Superman Ten Fists, "I don’t know... the intelligence reports 100,000, maybe more, or fewer. The fog is too thick to see clearly; who knows how many there really are."

Grave-Sweeping, "Do we have 100,000 bullets?"

After a moment of silence, "Kakarot" answered uncertainly,

"Maybe... the logistics side has promised they’ll do everything they can to deliver the ammunition to us, but if they don’t..."

Saying that, he patted the short axe hanging at his waist.

"Then we’ll use this."

According to the pre-determined plan.

If Squad A fails, Squad B will move from the left flank of the position to the front of the battlefield.

If B Squad also goes down, then C Squad will take over.

The precise number of the impending Eaters was impossible to calculate.

When a large mass of entities gathered together, the gray-green cloud of spores became a seemingly solid mass, completely obscuring what lay within.

The simple defensive fortifications were in place.

Squad A retreated to their positions.

The gray-green fog was approaching, and it was clear that the obstructing humans had been spotted. The pace of the Eaters quickened, and some even began to run.

The low growl of decay and the crunch of footfalls on gravel echoed out from the dense fog!

Seldom at the front line of battle and wearing only cheap gear, the Spring Water Commander, holding a Sickle Assault Rifle in his hand, shouted loudly at the players on the position,

"Brothers!"

"The Tide is closing in!"

"We need to hold our ground for at least twelves hours, do everything we can to stop the Tide from moving North! To buy time for the brothers building a defense behind us!"

"We may not bring back any experience, but glory will stay with us!"

"Everyone —"

"Fire!"

Ratatat—!

The dark barrels of the guns spit out tongues of flame.

The first to open fire were six water-cooled Maxims scattered over the left, center, and right defenses.

The shower of bullets, passing the obstacles beneath the overpass, weaved a net over the fragmented positions, tearing the night apart!

Confronted with the sudden onslaught of steel rain, the lead Eaters were mowed down like wheat.

Blood and gunpowder collide!

The Eaters, fearing not death, pressed forward; the Variants behind stepped over the corpses of those before them and continued their advance.

In just a few minutes’ time, the ground was littered with severed limbs, and there wasn’t a single intact corpse to be found — it was like the remains that spewed out of a meat grinder.

The dense assault quickly disintegrated.

A few stragglers that slipped through were shot dead by the pinpoint fire of Squad A’s players, with no need to waste bullets from a machine gun.

The machine gun barrels smoked, and Broken Leg Kevin, who was perched by a third-floor window, released his tightly pressed trigger and exhaled.

"That was easier than I thought!"

At least the Looters knew to duck or crawl forward on the ground, throwing smoke grenades for cover.

But these Eaters seemed to have no concept of death, charging more bravely than Clones.

However, in the face of the heavy machine gun firepower, such bravery was no different from suicide!

On Squad A’s position,

Battlefield Atmosphere Group who shot the last Eater lowered their raised gun barrels.

"The Tide seems to have stopped."

With the cessation of gunfire, the entire street was eerily quiet.

Looking solemnly ahead, the Spring Water Commander slowly nodded.

"The bad news is, the defenses we’ve been preparing for the past two hours are pretty much wasted."

I Max Black swallowed nervously, "That’s just your illusion... They’re still moving forward; I can sense them, and there’s something terrible with them."

Battlefield Atmosphere Group patted his shoulder, smiling without a hint of fear.

"Don’t scare yourself, just get the work done!"

At this moment, a newcomer suddenly asked,

"Come to think of it, why don’t the Eaters all attack at once? Why come in waves?"

Another player also frowned.

"Yeah... they only charged for 10 minutes and then stopped."

Not even as enduring as he was.

Standing among the positions, the Spring Water Commander spoke calmly,

"When tens of thousands of units are crammed together, they inevitably slow down. Stepping on each other’s heels is especially bad: one falls and the rest follow into chaos. In the limited width of the battlefield, advancing in echelons is the most efficient choice."

"These Eaters may be dumb, but they’re not stupid... There must be something that is commanding them!"

Looking at the barbed wire dripping with gore and the ever-thickening fog ahead, the Spring Water Commander couldn’t help a faint sense of unease.

That first wave of Variants, not a Tyrant or even a Crawler to be seen.

Using Cannon Fodder to scout, the main force follows...

Are these Variants really just mycelial entities?

The silence lasted for about ten minutes.

Then, from within the gray-green fog, suddenly came a piercing screech.

Everyone tensed, their fingers instinctively resting on the triggers.

I Max Black’s heart raced to his throat, that intense sense of crisis rising.

It’s coming!