The empty blackness was endless, and she was trapped in it, unable to find her direction.

"Are you going to escape?" A voice came from somewhere, sometimes far away, sometimes near, and no one knew where it came from.

Lu Cai did not answer, but closed his eyes to feel every subtle change in this space.

"You don't know what you're getting into—" The voice was filled with concern.

But she still ignored it. The current situation was either that she was injured and fell into a coma and hallucinations, or that the game consciousness (or a similar existence) was interfering with her.

She would never speak rashly before she understood the situation.

"If you insist on doing this, this world will be wiped out because of you—" The voice changed, with a hint of severity.

Erase? Lu Cai frowned.

The voice continued, "Because you have seriously deviated from the track, the game program has become disordered. As long as this disorder continues to deepen, this entire world will be wiped out!"

"Will you be erased too?" Lu Cai finally spoke, his tone full of curiosity.

His voice faltered, then filled with anger: "I am the system consciousness that dominates this world. Even if the world does not exist, I will not disappear—"

"Can you erase me?" Lu Cai asked directly without listening to it finish its words.

"You—" The voice was gnashing teeth.

Lu Cai smiled and said, "If you could erase me, you wouldn't talk nonsense to me while I was asleep—" She paused, "You can't control me anymore, you're afraid—"

"Yes, I'm afraid—" the voice suddenly softened, "I like this world—"

Do you like zombies all over the world?

"This copy world is so interesting. I guess your boss is not willing to give up this world. It just lacks a qualified manager—" Lu Cai said with interest.

The voice sounded like someone whose weakness had been exposed, and was somewhat annoyed and angry: "The world system and the copy world are bound to each other!"

"Oh, your boss wants to replace you, and you're going to be unemployed." Lu Cai was convinced that when chatting with this "world system", one should not be led by its words.

She guessed it had a boss because she accepted the concept of a "game." According to her speculation, the world she was in was a dungeon world with "side plots" and a "main plot."

This "game" must have other copy worlds. She temporarily referred to the power that controlled these copies as "game operators."

Assuming that the "operator" has the ability to close the game copy, he can evaluate the copy world and then initiate the closing procedure.

But they didn't, or it's not time to close them yet, so the existence of Lu Cai is just a "small loophole" for the operators.

But now a "world system" appeared inexplicably and communicated with her one-on-one.

They... or rather it, wanted to privately "persuade" Lu Cai to withdraw.

The world system is so eager to contact her, which means that Lu Cai's existence is closely related to its safety, even to the point of being able to influence its existence.

It said, "I am the system consciousness that dominates this world. Even if the world does not exist, I will not disappear."

Since the "world" and the "system" are two separate things, the only thing that will disappear or be replaced is the "world system."

According to human job-related punishment methods, managers are the primary responsible party. If the "operator" also adopts this method...

Lu Cai smiled. Did he want to take advantage of her feelings towards this world to trap her?

joke.

She opened her eyes and looked. Since this was an unreal world constructed by the world system, there must be a way out. Lu Cai stared at the darkness without blinking.

She stared at the pitch-black space, and gradually, the black faded. Lu Cai's heart skipped a beat, and he stared at that place.

My eyes gradually became dizzy as countless lines of orange data blended into the gray. Each string of numbers was different, and one number in the same string would jump and become another.

Lu Cai stared closely at the constantly intertwining and changing data. The orange color slowly spread, dyeing the entire black area orange.

The endless blackness instantly transformed into a confluence of tens of thousands of massive data points. Lu Cai saw a bright red data point and subconsciously approached it. However, she was now suspended in the various data points, like walking in outer space, her body unstable.

She struggled to get closer to the bright red data, ready to reach out and grab it, when she heard the alarm from the world system: "Data abnormality, cannot be repaired, data abnormality--"

She ignored it, raised her hand to grab the string of numbers, and fell forward, her head heavy. The orange data disappeared, and darkness appeared before her eyes again.

She kept falling and falling—

I suddenly opened my eyes, covered in cold sweat.

She saw the off-white ceiling and the cold white chandelier.

A series of rapid knocks on the door echoed in the room.

Yes, she was scratched by a zombie-like golden tiger and ran to the kitchen of a restaurant with the baby.

Lu Cai moved his body with difficulty. His shoulder was still in severe pain, but the burning sensation had disappeared.

"You're awake—" The little girl came up to him, her eyes swollen from crying.

When Lu Cai propped himself up, he found that his entire right arm was wrapped in white bandages, even his palm was not spared.

"What the hell is this?" Lu Cai looked at the bandage with irregular direction and uneven thickness, and his tone was a little unfriendly.

The little girl came up to him proudly and said, "If you blow it every year, it won't hurt anymore—"

Lu Cai looked at the little girl's enthusiastic eyes and finally swallowed the curse words. She checked the wound on her shoulder and found it had healed, leaving only a light red scar, like a scattered toy limb that had been sewn back together.

There was another banging sound on the door. Lu Cai looked at the tightly locked door and guessed that these zombies all had a hobby of banging on doors when they were bored.

"Your name is Nian Nian?" she asked.

The little girl nodded: "Peace every year..."

The little girl spoke in a lisp with a thick rolled tongue accent, but her expression was serious.

Lu Cai withdrew her gaze and looked at the kitchen carefully. The disadvantage of being enclosed everywhere was probably that she had no idea what year it was... Looking at the two zombies lying on the ground, she stood up and moved closer.

After searching through their pockets, she pulled out two cell phones, turned on the screens, and both showed "4:16".

Lu Cai unlocked the phones one by one, decisively stuffing the phone that needed a password back into the zombie's trouser pocket. She sat back down next to Nian Nian with the other phone in hand. She checked the settings to make sure the time displayed was in 24-hour format.

So it was about 4 o'clock in the morning.

The battery of her phone was at 70%, so she locked the screen and put it in her pocket.

"Are you hungry?" Lu Cai asked Nian Nian.

Niannian covered her stomach, then raised her head and nodded.

Fortunately, this was the restaurant kitchen, so there should be some food. Lu Cai began to search the cabinets, pulling out some small desserts, fried steak, and Italian fried noodles.

It turned out to be a Western restaurant.

The steak fried noodles had been sitting out for too long, so Coach Lu only took the dessert from the refrigerator.

"Take a nap after eating. We will leave in four hours." she said to Nian Nian.

Niannian took the dessert. She wasn't quite sure how long four hours was, but she nodded obediently.

——

The sky gradually brightened, the red morning glow in the sky dissipated, the earth woke up from the silence of the dark night, and the sun shone on the devastated world.

The rest areas and shops in the scenic area have become dilapidated, with broken glass doors and some railings tilted and twisted.

Four people flashed out of the store, all carrying fully loaded backpacks, bending over carefully and moving between the shelters.

The leader was a thin, pale boy, his plaid shirt and gray pants stained with dirt and blood. He walked at the forefront, holding a submachine gun, paying attention to any movement around him.

After the zombie outbreak, Lin Yong relied on the cover of flowers, plants and trees to reach the information station. In the end, he didn't get any clues from the information station, but instead saved a group of NPC tourists.

He took the group of tourists and hid in a store that served as an express delivery collection point. There were miscellaneous shelves inside for shelter, and there was a mesh iron door outside the store for protection.

After dark, Lin Yong discovered that the zombies seemed more agile and swift at night. Many figures gathered outside the iron gate that night, banging on it constantly, but their aggressiveness wasn't strong, and they just lingered for a long time.

After hiding at the collection point for a night, the gathered zombies slowly dispersed at dawn.

Among the tourists he rescued were many women and children, all exhausted after a night of intense hunger. Lin Yong was a gamer, and while he didn't need to sleep, he couldn't stand starvation. His energy and stamina depended on large amounts of food.

Following everyone's suggestion, Lin Yong picked three young people to follow him out to look for food.

They found a convenience store and had a great harvest.

At this time, Lin Yong was leading them to retreat.

He was paying attention to whether there were any zombies in front of him, but he didn't notice that several people behind him were exchanging glances with each other.

Among the three men, the strongest man was wearing a leather jacket and his hair was dyed burnt yellow and styled into a back-combed, upturned hairstyle. After a night of running for his life, his hair had become disheveled, and only the burnt yellow color shone brightly in the morning light.

The yellow-haired man looked at the submachine gun in Lin Yong's hand, his eyes full of greed and a grin.

He'd been hanging around on the streets since he was a kid, but he was still just a lackey. He'd never even touched a machete, let alone a gun. But this idiot, who looked like he'd been raised in a cold house, actually had a gun.

He felt bad watching Lin Yong rushing forward and shooting zombies.

Fortunately, he now had the chance. He didn't want Lin Yong's life, he just wanted to play with the gun. In today's environment, only with a gun could you have a chance of survival.

At this time, Lin Yong was listening attentively. There seemed to be a burst of gunfire in the distance, but he could not hear it clearly.

He led the three of them into a narrow alley, and after walking around a circle, they would be back to the collection point where they were hiding.

Huangmao picked up a nearby wooden stick and hit Lin Yong hard on the back.

Bang--

There was a dull thud, and Lin Yong felt a sharp pain in his back. He fell to the side and held onto the wall.

Three dark shadows rushed up and held him on the left and right. He was dizzy when he felt a yellow-haired man standing in front of him and snatched his submachine gun.

Lin Yong finally understood the other party's intentions. All the words in his mind converged into one sentence -

This idiot!

Huangmao held the submachine gun and looked at the gun carefully, his eyes wide open and full of excitement.

"I've arrived at a very unfortunate time—" a woman's voice, tinged with laughter, came from the windowsill above. "But just a friendly reminder, the main force is coming, so you'd better hide quickly."

Lin Yong's eyes were full of tears, but when he heard the voice, his mind suddenly became clear.

Lu Cai? Lu Cai!!

He tilted his head to look up. The girl was wearing tattered clothes and had messy short hair. Most strikingly, her right arm was tightly wrapped in a layer of bandages. Even more outrageous was that the girl was holding a three or four-year-old child in her arms!

It really is Lu Cai! How did she get into the side story? She, an NPC in the world view, actually got into the side story!

Huang Mao and the others also heard the noise, the sound of running and crashing coming from afar. Their faces turned grim, and just as they were about to run, the girl above them jumped out of the window and landed on the ground with the help of the two leverage points.

"This gun is not yours. It's not a good thing to take other people's things, right, Nian Nian?" Lu Cai looked at them with a smile.

Niannian replied in a baby voice: "Bad kids don't get little red flowers!"

"Bitch--" The yellow-haired man didn't finish his words and was about to raise his gun when a black shadow flashed before his eyes and his hand loosened. Before he could see clearly and regain consciousness, he felt his throat being strangled.

Lin Yong, who was leaning against the wall, saw that the submachine gun was about to fall to the ground. He spread his palm upwards, and the submachine gun disappeared and appeared in Lin Yong's hand.

Lu Cai caught a glimpse of Lin Yong's movements and realized that players' weapons could be recalled. It seemed that he had been meddling too much. Thinking of his own pistol, he couldn't help but frown.

It was said to be given to her, but whenever Lin Yong wanted to take it back, he could just raise his hand and take it back, right?

She withdrew her thoughts and fixed her gaze on the yellow-haired man in front of her. He struggled to his knees, clutching Lu Cai's wrists tightly with both hands, his face flushed purple.

Lu Cai frowned and suddenly loosened his grip. After a night like this, he seemed to have gained a lot of strength.

"Let's go." She gestured to Lin Yong and quickly turned and left.

Lin Yong held his gun, retrieved a bottle of blood-recovery medicine from the system, and poured two pills into his mouth. As he did so, he thought, "Lu Cai's skills seem to be getting even more agile..."

"Is it a tide of zombies?" Lin Yong threw the medicine bottle into the air. The bottle disappeared and he felt the pain in the back of his neck slowly fade away.

Lu Cai held Nian Nian in his arms with one hand, his movements still smooth and swift: "No."

It was just that he had just rushed out of the kitchen, making a lot of noise and attracting a lot of zombies.

"I brought a group of tourists to the express delivery point over there—"

Lu Cai saw the shaky iron gate, which looked like it would die at any moment.

"This door can't be blocked." Lu Cai looked around. "The terrain here is closed. Once it's broken, there won't even be a place to escape."

Lin Yong also frowned: "What should we do then?"

"You stay here, I'll lead the zombies away first—" After saying that, she prepared to leave.

Lin Yong called her: "Give me the child—" He saw that Lu Cai was running and jumping while carrying a small child, which was really too tiring.

Lu Cai felt Nian Nian's arms tighten around her. She looked at Lin Yong and said, "To be honest... I don't trust you." Thinking about it, she couldn't express herself well enough. "It's not that I don't trust your character."

It was really not a good time to chat. As the sound got closer, she hugged Nian Nian tightly, turned around, and climbed up to the higher ground with the help of some debris.

Lin Yong heard two gunshots and realized she had killed two more zombies. He snorted coldly and turned around to knock on the door. The advantage of this door was that it was old-fashioned and the switch was on the inner wall.

After he ducked down and scurried in, he and the other person inside pushed the cabinet against the door. Finally, there was a narrow gap left, just enough for someone to get in and out. Lin Yong was about to block it with a locker when he saw the yellow-haired man rushing over.

"Brother Lin! Help! I was wrong--" Before he could finish his words, a figure rushed over and knocked him against the iron gate.

The yellow-haired man's face gradually twisted, and his shrill screams echoed in the house, along with sounds like a wild beast foraging for food and chewing.

"Save me—"

Lin Yong pushed hard, blocking the last narrow gap, and leaned against the locker.

Since he came to the "KB Game" until now, he has never killed a single person. This "person" naturally includes the living NPCs in the copy world, but this does not mean that his heart is overflowing with saintliness.

Huangmao was greedy first, but unfortunately he did not have the blessing of a "player" identity, so he was destined to pay the price for his greed.

In this game called "survival", there is inherent inequality.