Chapter 3
Have I been exposed?
Upon hearing Shi Ru's sudden words, Zhu Yu's mind was devoid of any romantic thoughts; only the eight ruthless words remained in her head:
"Those who offer gifts without cause are either treacherous or thieves."
However, after saying that, Shi Ru didn't do anything else, so Zhu Yu assumed that this was probably just standard practice when playing games.
"Damn, how come there are so many zombies? Shi Ru, what difficulty level did you set?"
Zhang Yuge's character was once again overwhelmed and knocked to the ground by the swarming zombies.
Frustrated, I returned to the character rebuild screen. In the game "Apocalypse War," players can respawn, but in the early stages, respawning only results in rebuilding a completely new character.
All collected resources and skills that have been mastered will be cleared.
"Since there are more of us, it's definitely more fun to play on the hard mode."
Shi Ru said matter-of-factly, "Zhu Yu went out, and I'm downstairs at your place."
While they were talking, Shi Ru had already located Zhu Yu's house by following the red dots on the map that indicated his teammates.
After clearing away the zombies that had gathered around after hearing the noise, he went into the room, waiting for Zhu Yu to come out while scavenging for supplies.
"Why do you only pick up Zhu Yu? We've been friends for so long, and you've never come to pick me up before. You've forgotten your friends for the sake of a pretty face!!"
Zhang Yuge, who was struggling to escape from the zombie siege while controlling a tiny figure with only initial clothes, was extremely envious.
Shi Ru remained silent, but with each strike he took down a zombie, advancing towards Zhu Yu with unstoppable momentum.
"Let's go, everything outside has been cleaned up." Shi Ru opened the door, letting Zhu Yu go first, while he brought up the rear.
"I found an unlocked car! I'll come pick you up."
Upon hearing Zhang Yuge's words, Liu Xiaoxiao, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.
"Okay, but the noise of your car will attract more zombies. We can't beat them, can we?"
"It's alright. I just found a big machete. These monsters seem pretty fragile."
Driving in the game is different from driving in real life; it requires two virtual joysticks for control.
One controls the front and back, and the other controls the left and right.
With the added obstacle of zombies, it's actually quite difficult to drive this car.
"Liu Xiaoxiao, go pick up Zhang Yuge, and then bring Wang Yu and Dong Zhihe with you. I'll take Zhu Yu to pick up Ma Ke."
To prevent Zhang Yuge from shouting again, Shi Ru made the decision.
#
It's been a long time since I've felt the joy of fighting alongside my teammates, each of us fulfilling our roles.
The group played until they missed mealtime, at which point Zhang Yuge treated them to a meal and they all went home.
Even after washing up, drawing the curtains, and lying in her little nest, Zhu Yu's mind was still lingering on every character from the game.
There is a driving prodigy named Liu Xiaoxiao who can skillfully navigate through hordes of zombies without hitting anything and causing her vehicle to break down.
There is a master of looting, Mark, who can retrieve all sorts of rare resources from the corpses he defeats.
There's also Wang Yu, the master organizer, who has planned their base in an orderly manner.
Everyone is important, and everyone has their own reason for being.
This game is really fun.
The unity and mutual help among everyone in the game made Zhu Yu somewhat reluctant to believe that Shi Ru would be an accomplice in that sinful land a few years later.
"Want to play again?"
Before the event ended today, a message popped up in the WeChat group that Zhang Yuge had just created.
It was issued by Shi Rufa.
"I didn't expect this person to be so addicted to games."
Despite saying that, Zhu Yu wouldn't miss this opportunity to get closer to her.
"I don't have class until 10 tomorrow, so I can play for a while."
Apart from Zhu Yu, who said she could play, the others either didn't reply or said they didn't have time.
Even Zhang Yuge said, "I want to cut out a section of what I filmed today to see the effect first, then I'll stop playing around with it. You guys can play."
"Just the two of us, are you in?" Shi Ru sent a friend request.
"Go ahead and play! I haven't finished reading the skill books yet!"
"Call on."
The time Zhu Yu and Shi Ru spent playing together wasn't as ambiguous as one might imagine, but it did make Zhu Yu feel much closer to Shi Ru emotionally.
This even includes the case of Zhu Yu forgetting to turn off the stove fire because he was in a hurry to go out and meet Shi Ru, which caused the entire base to burn down.
Shi Ru, with his good temper, led Zhu Yu to find a suitable new location. The two worked until nine in the morning to restore most of the base.
"I can't take it anymore, my brain has completely shut down. I have class later, I need to get ready to leave."
After being woken up once again by a phone hitting her face, Zhu Yu finally couldn't take it anymore and took her leave first.
"Okay, you can log off now. I'll rest too."
Fortunately, today's class was just an elective that didn't require much brainpower, and with the system acting as a second brain to help, Zhu Yu barely made it through.
With no classes in the afternoon, Zhu Yu returned to her dormitory and fell into a deep sleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
=
"The people on the list need to film a few night scenes at the location set I sent at 9 PM tonight."
Zhu Yu slept until dusk, and when she woke up, she saw this message that was pinned to the top of the screen.
Everyone on the list, except Zhu Yu, has replied "received".
"Received, received."
As if to make up for it, Zhu Yu quickly caught up with the formation.
Didi
"[Image.jpg]"
"We've encountered a zombie horde, this house is no longer safe..."
It seemed that Shi Ru's message followed closely behind Zhu Yu's message in the group chat.
Did you log in and play by yourself?
After glancing at the picture of the room full of corpses that Shi Ru had sent, Zhu Yu replied.
"Well, I didn't have class today, and I still hadn't collected all the skill books, so I came up here to finish them off, but then I ran into a horde of zombies."
After all, it was a base that the two of them had worked hard all night to barely manage to build up, so Zhu Yu still wanted to salvage it: "Can these stains be cleaned?"
"Yes, all you need are a rag and cleaning solution."
"But the windows and doors are broken, so it doesn't seem safe anymore..."
Zhu Yu held onto the railing as she descended the ladder with one hand, while sending a voice message to Shi Ru with the other.
"I can repair doors and windows. I just need to level up my carpentry skills."
"Then I'll mop the floor!"
"Continue tonight?" It seems that Shi Ru only becomes talkative when he needs to explain or popularize something.
Zhu Yu silently noted this characteristic, but adhering to the principle of feigning indifference... no, the principle of studying hard, she restrained herself and declined the invitation.
"I can't tonight. I'll probably be back around 11 or 12 after filming tonight. I have a full schedule of classes tomorrow. Maybe this weekend. I'm free on Saturday and Sunday."
"OK."
It seems that the other side lost interest in chatting after realizing the game wasn't going well, and stopped sending any messages.
But with "The Last War" as an excuse, Zhu Yu felt that her relationship with Shi Ru had progressed by leaps and bounds.
In the game, they experienced three zombie incursions and went out together to search for supplies countless times.
If you round it up, she and Shi Ru now have a life-or-death bond!
(The "life-or-death" friendship mainly refers to the time after Zhu Yu made a mistake and was killed by a zombie, Shi Ru helped her pick up the tools and skill books that she had dropped and returned them to her.)
=
When we arrived at the filming location that evening, Shi Ru was there too. I don't know if he was there to supervise the work or if he was genuinely interested in the industry.
However, after playing the game with him for so long last night, Zhu Yu realized that she did develop a certain psychological dependence on this person.
After all, he saved me countless times in the game.
Although Shi Ru was on set, he never interfered with the filming process. He would just sit to the side, occasionally watching them rehearse, and most of the time he would be tapping away on his phone.
Zhu Yu naturally walked over and sat down next to him, and sure enough, she saw the game interface of "Apocalypse War" on his phone screen.
"Why are you still playing? Aren't you going to wait for us?"
Upon hearing this, Shi Ru sat up straight and tilted his phone screen to show Zhu Yu: "Since I'm just killing time anyway, I'll clean up a bit; it looks too dirty."
Zhu Yu smiled and glanced at him, then leaned slightly toward Shi Ru without saying anything more. Shi Ru, however, suddenly felt a little awkward and shifted his position.
The distance between the two, which had initially narrowed, widened again.
Fearing that his abrupt action might make Zhu Yu overthink, Shi Ru stiffly changed the subject: "Why did you come here? Aren't you filming?"
Zhu Yu waved the script in his hand: "It's not my turn yet, so I'll find a quiet place to familiarize myself with my lines."
At this moment, Zhu Yu had changed into her costume from the play, with a blood-red gemstone adorning her brow and her upturned eyes tinged with a light peach-pink.
Even in dim lighting, it is dazzlingly beautiful.
The moment Shi Ru met Zhu Yu's gaze, he was momentarily lost in thought.
The last time he went to watch Zhang Yuge filming, his attention was mainly on the script and the quality of the actors. Zhu Yu wasn't the main character, and for some unknown reason, he found himself unable to look directly at Zhu Yu's face...
So theoretically speaking, this was the first time they had formally sat face to face.
She's so beautiful.
The script that Zhu Yu acted in was actually written by Shi Ru's cousin, whose father was Shi Ru's uncle, Shi Fangyue.
Shi Fangyue is a film and television producer. He founded Wakengbuwa Media, and most of the good and hit dramas on the market today are produced by his company.
My cousin is clever and pretty, but considering the various aspects of the entertainment industry, we originally wanted her to be a producer. However, something went wrong at some point, or perhaps she simply went through a rebellious phase, and the girl ended up writing scripts instead.
They wrote it, but after listening to someone's praise, they stubbornly believed that their script was a masterpiece that would be remembered for generations, and they made a huge fuss about having it filmed.
Shi Ru was the leader of the children in his family's generation. Even those of his generation who were older than him could listen to a few of what he said.
The uncle summoned Shi Ru as if he were calling for reinforcements.
Shi Ru asked Zhang Yuge to read the script. It was written by a junior high school girl, and Zhang Yuge was known for her sharp tongue when it came to professional matters.
The little girl went back to school that very day with her schoolbag... and also applied for boarding school, so she only went home once a semester from then on.
As for the current script, it's about a stubborn but soft-hearted uncle who gets heartbroken when his daughter cries and asks the senior screenwriter in the company to revise it again and again.
The money for the investment was, of course, given by his nephew uncle.
Do you need me to help you with your acting?
Shi Ru said.
He remembered Zhu Yu's character, who was both extremely evil and extremely beautiful in the script.
After agreeing to help his uncle with this favor, Shi Ru specifically looked into the acting industry and found that playing a good person is always easier than playing a bad person.
He wasn't present when the role was cast, but he had heard Zhang Yuge say that Zhu Yu's acting skills didn't seem very good.
At that time, Zhang Yuge boasted to him with a beaming smile, saying that Zhu Yu was very talented. With such a face, as long as it was slightly sculpted, sweeping all the major awards was not a dream.
Shi Ru calmed his wildly beating heart and carefully examined Zhu Yu's face. He had to admit that although Zhang Yuge seemed a bit unreliable, his judgment was impeccable.
Watching Zhu Yu's lips move with the flickering light, Shi Ru's eyes were almost dazed. She really was very clever!
He didn't want such a face to become bitter because of anything.
"OK!"
Zhu Yu was completely unaware of these inner monologues; she had originally intended to coax Shi Ru into acting with her.
The scene we're filming tonight involves a lot of physical contact between her and her co-star, which is perfect for building rapport.
Seeing that Zhu Yu agreed, a smile flashed in Shi Ru's eyes. He stopped the little figure in the game in the safe zone and then exited the game.
Let's begin!
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