Zhao Qingyun took off his headset, slammed a fist onto the keyboard, and rose from his seat with a gloomy expression.
He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down through the glass. In the game hall on the first floor, the employees' lamentations rose and fell.
On the big screen, the participating members lay dead and wounded everywhere. The dragon-slaying team of over a hundred people, painstakingly assembled, had already suffered more than half its members killed or injured.
More and more characters died, and their screens immediately turned blood-red, leaving only one huge word: "Dead."
Looking around, more than half the computer screens in the entire hall displayed the same scene, with players sitting before them as though they had lost their parents.
Zhao Qingyun gritted his teeth. There had been casualties during previous boss raids, but this was the first time a Boss Battle had cost them so many people.
It seemed that slaying a dragon was still too much of a stretch. After such losses, the Azure Dragon Society would have to lie low and build up for a while.
But it didn't matter. As long as the core team was fine, that was enough. Cannon fodder could always be recruited again after they died.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Those unlucky bastards died pretty miserably." Liu Qiang's gloating voice sounded beside him. "President Zhao, you really took a huge loss this time."
"Watch your attitude, Liu Qiang. Don't think that just because headquarters sent you, you can disrespect me."
"Ah, yes, of course. How would I dare? I just have a foul mouth. You're a magnanimous man, so please don't take it to heart! Otherwise, I won't be able to sleep at night. Please accept my apology." Liu Qiang exaggeratedly performed a curtsy, his expression practically begging to be punched.
But this wasn't the time to argue about that. Zhao Qingyun turned on the microphone and cleared his throat.
"Same rules as always. Everyone who survived, return to the city immediately and recuperate. After logging off, you must all prepare post-battle reports. Each person must write a reflection report of no fewer than three thousand words. The leaders of each group, go to the conference room for a meeting. As for all players who died, congratulations—you may retire. Go collect your severance pay, and remember to take your personal belongings."
Fifteen minutes later—
Sixty or seventy players sat in a room, each wearing a strange expression.
They were all unlucky victims who had been killed in this Boss Battle. From the moment they entered this base, they had been told that in the game they played, called Old Earth, every player only had one life. Once they died, they had to leave, which meant their job was over.
Back then, their boss had promised that as long as their game account wasn't deleted due to personal reasons, they would receive generous compensation as severance pay.
They just didn't know whether that promise would be honored.
After all, nearly all of them had been "brought" here by various means, and during their time at the base, they had almost completely lost contact with the outside world.
The food and treatment were good, and their work consisted of nothing more than playing games, but one look at the heavily armed "security guards" around them made it clear that the owner of this base was definitely no ordinary man.
"Do you think the boss will really pay us?"
"Keep dreaming. You'll be lucky if you get out alive."
"I think we're done for. We've been locked in this base for over a year without even a chance to communicate with the outside world. There must be something shady going on here... They'll probably silence us."
"Probably not, right? We're just here to play a game. We haven't been involved in anything illegal... This isn't Moubei."
The waiting room door suddenly opened.
Zhao Qingyun walked in with an indifferent expression, followed by several heavily armed gunmen carrying a large pile of boxes.
He glanced at the crowd with a faint smile, then his expression suddenly turned serious.
"Congratulations. Your tasks at this base have been completed. According to our original agreement, each of you may receive three hundred thousand yuan in severance pay as compensation for your service here. I, Zhao Qingyun, keep my promises. I have always meant what I said. Come collect your money now."
The crowd immediately showed delighted expressions. They hadn't expected him to actually pay them.
One after another, they went up and took their boxes. Some opened them in disbelief and found them filled with neatly stacked cash.
Soon, everyone held a suitcase. Looking at the money inside, they were all excited. They had worked at this base for nearly two years, earning ten thousand yuan a month, and now they could take another three hundred thousand before leaving. They had made over four hundred thousand yuan in two years—far more than ordinary jobs paid.
Then they felt somewhat regretful. What a pity about the game's bizarre Rules: every player only had one life. Once they died, it was GAME OVER, and they couldn't even create a new character. Otherwise, how great would it have been if they could have kept doing this job?
Liu Qiang stood behind Zhao Qingyun, watching his performance with a sneer in his heart. His eyes held a trace of malicious delight as he looked at the crowd.
He knew very well what fate awaited these people. Keeping one's promises... It was truly awe-inspiring.
But the crowd noticed nothing. Everyone excitedly stared at their cash-filled suitcases. It was even cash—how generous.
Before long, all the money had been distributed.
Zhao Qingyun checked his watch. "A car will come to pick you up in an hour. Please wait here patiently. All right, this is goodbye, everyone. I hope your stay at this base was pleasant enough."
With that, he left with his men. The moment the door closed again, everyone began chatting excitedly.
"Hahaha, what did I say? The boss is a generous man. He definitely wouldn't lie to us."
"He really paid us. We're rich now."
"Rich my ass. It's only three hundred thousand. It's not even enough to buy a house..."
"Be content. You're getting money, so why are you complaining... Cough, cough, cough cough."
One player who had been speaking suddenly began coughing. He coughed louder and harder, as if he were about to cough out his lungs.
He hunched over and collapsed onto the floor. Yet even in such a miserable state, he still clutched the suitcase full of money tightly.
An acquaintance beside him hurriedly asked, "What's wrong, buddy?"
"Cough... I don't know... cough, I just feel a little... awful, cough—Bleurgh!"
As he spoke, the man suddenly began vomiting violently, as though his lungs were filled with water and he couldn't breathe. But he couldn't vomit anything out. With his mouth wide open, he let out horrifying coughing and retching sounds, struggling on the floor like a drowning man.
The huge commotion immediately drew the attention of the surrounding players. Everyone stopped talking and stared at the man on the floor in shock.
"Holy shit, A-Gui, what's wrong with you? I—Bleurgh!"
As another man spoke, his vision suddenly blurred. Dizzy and nauseated, he looked down and saw that his entire palm had turned dark green. At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He blinked, only to discover that not just his palm but his entire arm and body were turning green. At the same time, a sickeningly fishy stench emanated from his entire body, forcing the people around him to back away.
At the same time, an intense burning sensation spread through every part of his body.
"Ah! Ah! It hurts! It hurts!"
He screamed as blood flowed from all seven of his orifices.
The miserable screams terrified everyone present.
"What the hell is happening?"
"Old Li looks like he's been poisoned!"
"I—Ah!"
A third unlucky victim soon appeared. Before the man could finish a sentence, intense pain erupted from all over his body. Two columns of blood suddenly burst from his chest and back, as if someone had punched two holes through his torso. An invisible force tore at him, pulverizing his bones and forcing his ribs into his chest cavity. Screaming, he was crushed into a mangled mass of flesh and blood. Then wounds tore open across his body, blood spurting out as if an invisible monster were biting into him and chewing his flesh.
"Save me! Save... me!" He reached for the person beside him, but everyone around him recoiled in terror. Crack—his body snapped cleanly into two halves...
The horrific sight stunned everyone.
No one knew what was happening. More and more people screamed as they began dying in all sorts of bizarre ways. Some rushed toward the door for help, only to discover that the lounge door had long been sealed shut. Some noticed the cameras overhead and shouted for help at them, but received no response.
All kinds of gruesome deaths continued to unfold: people drowning, people poisoned, people electrocuted by lightning, people crushed to pieces, people torn apart, or hurled through the air by invisible forces and smashed until their heads bled.
When the screams finally ended, the lounge was left with nothing but twisted corpses and scattered flesh and blood.
Zhao Qingyun watched it all through the monitor, feeling a chill run through him. He had witnessed such scenes more than once, yet every time, his heart still pounded in fear. That invisible killer, Destined Death, was impossible to predict and impossible to resist. Hopefully, such misfortune would never befall him.
He turned away and tried to steady his emotions. It was fine. As long as he didn't die in the game, he had no need to worry about meeting with disaster in reality. With his level and equipment, plus the protection of his subordinates, ordinary monsters couldn't possibly threaten him.
As he thought about it, he finally began to relax again.
"Looks like we need to recruit another batch of new players—Liu Qiang."
"Don't worry, President Zhao. This is what I do. Besides, these days, as long as you have money, are you really afraid you won't find people?" Liu Qiang said with a grin, seemingly long accustomed to everything happening on the monitor.
Zhao Qingyun nodded. "Then I'll wait for your good news."