Law of Tragedy

The police officer hit the accelerator and we zoomed off dodging the lone ones on the road until we hit a road block. The road was too narrow for the car so we made it desperately on foot. I instructed Feng to protect Min because I was positive no one would notice in this chaos. We made a crazy dash to the supposed institute but the zombies were getting more and more until we were blocked at the front too. Everyone tensed ready to risk it all when suddenly the head of the zombies blew up accompanied with the sound of heavy gunshots.

Zhi Hua turned to the direction where it came from along with everyone else to see that they had already reached the institute with militant snipers by the wall shooting the zombies. The institute has huge walls reaching the height equivalent to the wall of china and there were militants stationed around the wall with a metal gate infront.

"Brother there are a lot of floating stuff" Feng whispered to him.

Zhi Hua already expected it. If those guys were all as new to this as Min then the best place for them to stay would be in the Haven made by the military plus it has one of the major scenes of the storyline. Although the prospect of being watched by so many eyes made him feel highly uncomfortable even though he was with the main characters and should be used to it but at least he could have some breathing space if he didn't meet them but now the eyes are covering the entire institute leaving almost no space free from observation. He guessed they couldn't intervene unless it's a major offense and tested that out by asking Min those questions, infact he's sure they stopped caring about her once they saw how weak she was if not they surely would have penalized her for revealing secrets to him whose existence is the same as an NPC. Zhi Hua paused then realized that the most advantageous position is actually as a support NPC because players naturally let down their guard and then it becomes easier to scheme against an opponent you would never consider.

"Alright move it" a soldier said to us after clearing the zombies. He was quite rude to us and all the other soldiers looked down on us.

"Three of them"Feng whispered to me as we passed the gates to the inside. Zhi Hua surveyed them and confirmed in his head that they can't immediately know whether you are a player or not because he couldn't feel the slightest sense of communication with them. He wondered if they could find out how to identify other players.

"Have you found any others yet" he whispered to Min

"I'm just a newbie hero so I don't have enough aura to notice" she whispered embarrassed. So it seems like when you grow stronger then you can naturally feel the presence of other players. That puts us at a disadvantage because they would find Min first.

"From now on, don't do anything unless I tell you to unless you will lose. Just trust me and stay with the others obediently" Zhi Hua told Min under his breath and she nodded. Good now that she can't run around then he would have to be the proactive one.

They separated them then checked for bites and scratches then they reported to the one in charge of personnel in the institute. He asked what the skills they have are then assigned them to different work places according to that before giving them a small apartment for all of them to share. He told them that they would be given points for their daily work which can be exchanged for food, clothes and any stuff the store has. Lastly everyone has to work he said eyeing Feng who was behind me.

The apartment had only three rooms plus the living room and kitchen. The mechanic and highschooler took one, the police officer and scientist took one, Zhi Hua coaxed Feng to share a room with Min then he took the couch in the living room.

He took his sister out on a stroll under the pretext of her being bored. He asked her to find places where the floating things aren't watching which was the place with the least amount of players. It turns out that the store had the least amount of players but it seems to make sense. After all it's a very serious job because lack of food would result into a riot so they can't move outside of the store. They would eventually miss important scenes because they are stuck in one place, sure they could hire people to do it for them then make them loyal enough to watch over the store while they take care of the major villain but these players don't look that experienced to think of the method.

The next day they each went to their respective work places. The police officer joined the hunting team, the mechanic went to work with the other mechanic to fix cars or other machines they could find, like went to work in the kitchen and the scientist went to meet the general to discuss a cure, he told Min to work in the store then left Feng to run free on her own while he joined the scavenging team which was lower than the hunting team and more dangerous. He has to admit that the way they placed themselves is a very good way to get information. The hunting team is prestigious and made of soldiers that have work closely with the general, the machine station includes lab equipment they probably use for their evil experiments if they do those, the most relaxed place is the cafeteria where the soldiers gossip as they eat while the scientist is even more likely to find something suspicious and all of this was a coincidence. Plot armor is really amazing, Zhi Hua thought amused at it.

Well his choice was on purpose. The weakest links are always cut off first so he's sure they use the members of the scavenger team for something heinous and that's the real reason it has such a high death rate. It's easier to kill or kidnap someone outside than inside. He left Feng to wonder around so that she could be ready for any unexpected situation once he starts ignoring the words of the soldier.

A few weeks went by normally and everyone fell into their routine until it became normal. Zhi Hua was wondering how long it would take until one day it finally happened.

He was checking a convenience store for any canned food when he saw another member being taken away. He remembered that he had a girlfriend waiting for him who told him goodbye at the gate everyday and said girlfriend worked in the kitchen and the soldier had been eyeing her for a while. He followed them at a distance and hid behind a building, after a while he heard the sound of a human body falling down with a thud and being dragged away.