Tragedy
This was an order from the government, but some of the Players sent out to carry out the mission did not belong to the original government faction. They did not respond right away. Once the lockdown barriers in the other areas disappeared, the three areas under their responsibility were isolated from the rest of the city. Yet in the few seconds it took to report the situation and receive instructions, nearly half the people in two of those areas suffocated and died!
So many people—on the streets, inside residential compounds, outside malls—had collapsed in heaps. In less than ten seconds, they had fallen silent. The city seemed to plunge into utter stillness in an instant. Anyone who witnessed the scene could hardly recover from the shock!
Confusion, bewilderment, shock, fear, guilt, despair... Countless emotions churned in people's hearts and showed on their faces. At that moment, everyone wanted to know: They had only been trying to survive or save more people, so why had they ended up causing so many deaths?
The dead were not all strangers. Some were neighbors, some were relatives or friends, and some were family. They had moved here precisely to live somewhere safer!
"Thud!" A Player's knees buckled, and he fell to the ground. He collapsed beside his family's bodies, wailing in grief.
More and more cries joined in. The heartbroken, anguished wails stunned the people in the nearby lockdown areas. Before long, drones began appearing over the city from every direction, broadcasting the horrific situation in these lockdown areas exactly as it was.
For a moment, Players and civilians even forgot to blame one another. This catastrophe was far worse than any Random Instance they had ever faced, and it reminded everyone that, from beginning to end, they were all bound together by