Ethan's Nightmarish Game I Chapter 8

What was going on? The few people who had just escaped from the tragic scene of zombies eating living people were obviously still in shock.

The aroma of barbecue, the stench of zombies and the smell of blood, mixed together, will only make people's stomachs squirm uncomfortably, as disgusting as if they had swallowed a caterpillar alive.

The man's nose must have lost its original function, because he began to eat the grilled lamb skewers in his hand with gusto, while complaining to himself: "It's my first time grilling meat, and it's really half-cooked."

"Gurgle---" Ethan's stomach growled loudly. He had already eaten dinner at 4 pm. Combined with the intense exercise just now, there was nothing left to digest in his empty stomach.

The handsome young man leaning outside the snack bar smiled at them kindly, "Would you like a bunch? Just consider it as a reward for the middle of this game. After all, it's not easy to get here alive. Right, Song, Han, Zhang?"

Seeing that Blake Song hadn't responded yet, he continued to talk to himself: "This is not a place to promote love. This game requires constant killing, betrayal, and escape. The burden will only increase the possibility of game over. Are you bringing five burdens with you to serve as cannon fodder? This is what you would do."

Faced with this kind of sharp and malicious speculation, Blake Song pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and said lightly: "This has nothing to do with you, Lu Ren."

Lu Ren threw the bamboo stick aside: "Okay, okay, I know that in your eyes I am a pervert who should talk to a psychiatrist."

"No need." Blake Song said coldly, "You can send him directly to a mental hospital."

A sharp "sizzle" sound was heard, and a zombie stuck in the shop next door finally knocked over a box on the ground and rolled out, then stood up shakily and walked towards Lu Ren.

It’s very close, it’s about to pounce on me! Ethan's pupils shrank, and his hand holding the iron pipe tightened immediately.

The guy named Lu Ren ignored the monster that kept approaching, and casually picked up the drink bottle beside him and opened it to take a sip. He didn't feel any fear at all when the monster approached him, and even had the leisure to talk: "Oh, I know this school girl, she confessed to me last week..."

The zombies were already howling and rushing towards him. Lu Ren put the drink bottle aside, gripped the hilt of the knife with both hands, and swung the knife like lightning. The long knife, shining with cold light, drew a silver-white arc of death in the darkness and passed over the zombie's neck with incredible precision.

The head flew up and fell to the ground, rolling a few times on the cold concrete floor, but the headless zombie kept moving forward a few steps, then fell to the ground, twitched twice, and became a real corpse.

The murderer shrugged, picked up the bottle of drink that had been placed on the counter beside him, and took another sip, as if the corpse at his feet had nothing to do with him.

Ethan felt a chill on his neck. The knife was too stunning and too cruel. There was no hesitation or reluctance to attack his own kind. It was purely merciless and natural, just like stepping on a cockroach at one's feet.

After finishing the drink in one breath, Lu Ren threw the bottle aside, and the empty bottle flew steadily into the trash can. He shouted "Yeah" happily, then he remembered the body under his feet and said with pity: "You obviously liked me very much, and cried and confessed to me, but you changed your mind in just one week. Women are really fickle. What a pity, I was going to give you a chance, after all, you are pretty. Of course, that was before tonight."

This tone of pity is even more chilling. He swung a knife at an old acquaintance, and swung it so cleanly and neatly, and he was still in a good mood afterwards. Is this guy... really not a pervert?

Those who were originally happy about having a powerful companion no longer thought about this possibility. What a joke! If they acted with such a pervert, they might be killed inexplicably at any time!

The same went for Ethan, he even forgot that he was hungry.

"Is this Tang sword a reward you got at the square? You wouldn't carry such a controlled knife with you. So are you the first person to arrive at the square?" Blake Song asked.

"That's right." Lu Ren shrugged, "But after getting the good stuff, I got hungry, so I came here to find something to eat to fill my stomach."

It was obvious that he had not considered, or did not care about, the dangers outside.

Anyone who would act so recklessly must be either extremely confident in his own abilities or a complete pervert. Judging from the brief encounter they had had, Lu Ren was both.

"Where are you going next?" Blake Song asked, crossing his arms.

"Go around, if you're worried that I'll do something bad to you..." Lu Ren touched his chin, seeming to be quite distressed, "In fact, I've never casually attacked a living person, after all, I'm a law-abiding person. Although I don't understand why the Easter eggs were released on Halloween instead of Easter, this gave me a big surprise. This game is so enjoyable. Can you rate it on Steam? I'll give it a full score!"

Listening to his speech at this moment, Ethan felt that Blake Song's evaluation of the man in front of him was absolutely correct - pervert.

He had no sense of survival crisis at all, but regarded everything as a game.

"But after playing for almost an hour, I'm already feeling bored. Where can I find some fun?" Lu Ren stepped over the headless zombie corpse under his feet and walked towards the men with a knife in hand.

Except for Blake Song, the others subconsciously took a step back.

"Wow, are you so scared of me? This is so hurtful. Look at your frightened expressions. I just..." Lu Ren came in front of them with a high spirit, his eyes shining.

Naomi Gao shivered and immediately hid behind Ethan who was nearest to her.

Lu Ren tilted his head and his eyes fell on Ethan. Ethan's heart skipped a beat and he almost couldn't control himself from stepping back.

"There is something on your shoulder." Lu Ren said to Ethan with a smile, and the Tang sword in his hand instantly appeared next to his neck, with the bloody and sharp blade facing upwards, just scraping Ethan's earlobe.

A cold, wet, sharp blade, a blade that had just beheaded a zombie, a blade held in the hands of a pervert.

Ethan was sweating profusely, and dared not move, fearing that he would be beheaded if he moved even a little. Naomi Gao behind him stumbled back, covering her mouth tightly and not daring to make a sound.

"A fallen leaf." The Tang sword pushed the withered yellow leaves away from Ethan's shoulder. Lu Ren made a sword flower like a show of skill, and the blade broke the withered leaf with a crisp "click" sound. The leaf was split into two in mid-air and fell at Ethan's feet in a curl.

Lu Ren grinned, as if he was very satisfied with Ethan's reaction.

Ethan shuddered suddenly, and then he realized that he had just held his breath. Not only him, but everyone present held their breath, not daring to interrupt Lu Ren's performance of talking to himself, not even the living dared to, and not even the dead could.

"Hey, can you give me some advice? If there is a BOSS in this game, where is it most likely to appear?" Lu Ren had already bypassed Ethan and walked to Blake Song, asking lazily.

"The Medical Department's laboratory building. The biochemistry caused by this virus is more or less related to the experiment. We may find some clues if we go there."

Lu Ren looked at him with a half-smile, weighing the Tang sword in his hand: "Since you gave me a good suggestion, I will also give you a reminder."

"Just now the get out of class bell rang, and the zombies nearby were very agitated. A poor guy was being chased and bitten by zombies, so I helped him out. As a result, I found his Easter egg. It turns out that there are people who carry this stuff with them. What a pervert." Lu Ren said with disdain, turned around and walked back to the supermarket. Soon he dragged a corpse back. "Before I came out, I stuffed the Easter egg back into his pocket. After all, I am a good person who returns lost property."

It was still a headless corpse, with one arm torn off, revealing the flesh and the white bones inside. The jagged wound did not look like a cut, but more like it was caused by the arm being torn off alive.

Lu Ren searched his pockets and shouted happily: "Found it!"

In the clean palm lay a goose yellow Easter egg, painted with a pattern of branches and leaves.

"Who is the Judas?" Lu Ren slowly read out the words on the easter egg, raised his head and looked at the people whose expressions had suddenly changed, with an obvious malicious teasing on his face, "There is no one who can be trusted in this game. Who knows who is the traitor? But it seems that most of the survivors are here, and I'm afraid Judas is no exception."

Lu Ren threw the Easter egg to Blake Song, who took the egg, confirmed it, and then passed it to Ethan who was standing beside him.

"Although you have bad intentions, I still thank you for your information. In exchange, I will also tell you an important news. There is an easter egg with the words 'Dawn is Hope'. This game should end at dawn."

"Eh, what a pity..." Lu Ren raised his eyebrows and said in a strange tone, "I wonder how many people will be left by then."

Lu Ren's eyes swept across everyone's faces with interest. Everyone who was caught by that look avoided him without exception. Even Blake Song frowned.

"Being eaten by zombies, being framed by 'companions', being betrayed by Judas, or even turning into a zombie yourself... It seems possible. Although I am a little curious about your ending, it seems that everyone doesn't welcome me very much, so I'd better find some fun on my own. That's it, Bye-bye~"

Lu Ren put the Tang sword back into the scabbard with a smile, picked up a bottle of mineral water and left without any reluctance.

The evening breeze made people shiver, and the six of them remained silent for a long time.

The shock that Lu Ren brought to them was not only from his strength, but more from his very different values   from ordinary people.

There is no mercy, no fear, and no one is even swayed by the moral values   that are taken for granted as "human beings".

It’s even scarier than zombies. Ethan evaluated Lu Ren in his heart.

Blake Song turned around and glanced at everyone's face, some with fear, some with uneasiness, some with confusion, some with fear, some with suspicion... None of them were firm.

The team, which was formed less than half an hour ago, is probably at its end. They couldn't trust each other in the first place, let alone the appearance of such an ominous easter egg.

---Who is the Judas?

If he was only afraid of zombies before, now he was more afraid of betrayal from within. The Judas hiding beside him was scarier than the zombies.

Blake Song rubbed his temples, sighed and said, "Let's disperse."

As soon as Blake Song finished speaking, Tyler Liu shouted: "What do you want to do?!"

"You heard it and saw the easter egg. We are no safer together than alone. This survival game tests the ability to escape, while combat capability is secondary. It may be safer for a person to hide in a sturdy room with an iron door." Blake Song's eyes did not reveal any special meaning, but everyone could hear the hidden meaning in his words.

---Invisible betrayal is more terrifying than zombies.

The atmosphere suddenly dropped to freezing point. The seeds of doubt had been planted, absorbing fear and despair and growing wildly in this nightmare-like bloody night.

Naomi Gao said weakly: "But one person's fighting power is limited after all. It would be terrible if we were blocked by zombies."

Tyler Liu sneered, "Ignore him. It's better to separate. Who cares? If you stay with such a person, you might get stabbed in the back."

"Blake Song is not such a person. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't even be able to get out of the dormitory area." Clara Zhou stepped forward. Although her face was still pale, she spoke firmly.

"You and they are in the same group." Logan Zhao snorted, his eyes wandering between Clara Zhou, Ethan and Blake Song.

The team was clearly divided into two groups. Perhaps it was the fledgling complex that made people instinctively trust the first person they met and showed kindness. Ethan couldn't help but look at Blake Song. He trusted this person far more than anyone else. If the team was to split up, he would follow Blake Song without hesitation.

"Of course we are in the same group. We got the good stuff but we didn't say a word. I heard your sneaky conversation just now. Don't think I don't know anything!" Tyler Liu stared at Ethan with an expression that showed he knew everything.

Ethan couldn't help but feel a headache. It was impossible to get the antibodies, especially for this kind of person.

"Since we can't trust each other, let's act separately. I can do it alone anyway." Blake Song had no intention of getting entangled with this group of people anymore, so he turned around and left.

"Wait---" Ethan grabbed Blake Song's wrist without thinking. Blake Song tried to pull his hand back, but was held tightly. Ethan looked at him firmly and said, "Let's go together."

Blake Song looked at him deeply and finally nodded.

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief. At least he was recognized by Blake Song, right?

"Wait a minute, I also..." Clara Zhou also wanted to chase after him, but her legs went weak and she almost fell. Naomi Gao, who was standing beside her, supported her and shook her head at her solemnly.

Clara Zhou looked at her hesitantly, and then looked at Blake Song without giving up, but she heard Blake Song turn around and say, "Ethan and I will keep moving, which consumes a lot of physical energy, and we will not bring any extra burdens. You have to think carefully."

As he spoke, he threw the shovel in his hand to Clara Zhou. Clara Zhou stretched out her hand in a daze but did not catch it. The shovel fell to the ground with a crisp sound of metal falling to the ground.

Clara Zhou looked at the two people's backs as they walked away, feeling empty inside.

...That's too late.

Naomi Gao held her hand and comforted her softly, "Don't be afraid. We have four people here. They are also heading towards the Student Activity Center. We might run into each other there."

"Hmm..." Clara Zhou's right hand tightly clasped her left hand and she responded softly.