Chapter 399 - Searchlight
TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney
Truthfully, this trial wasn’t much of a challenge for Liu Gan. Now that he was level 10, his strength was much higher, so he had a higher stamina than the other players, perhaps up to ten times as much. On top of that, his cheat, the alloy limbs, hardly experienced fatigue like regular muscles would.
Liu Gan truly believed that his strength would be able to withstand the challenge. Even if he got tired, with NaNa by his side he could grab onto her body to rest a bit until his strength returned. With his fortified mentality, he hardly felt any fear. To him, this trial wasn’t much of a test.
“How long is it! Do you see the end? If we don’t reach the end of this, we will run out of strength!” a player shouted after he had reached a hundred meters or so in his climb. He was starting to panic. At this moment, he still had strength, but fear started to set in. When fear set in, his mentality started to drain the strength in his arms.
“Concentrate on your climb! Don’t shout! It won’t help you at all!” Liu Gan shouted back at the fool.
Relying on upper arm strength to monkey climb through high alt.i.tude required a lot of strength. Normal players could only last the initial ten meters, but these players survived a hundred meters, then two hundred meters. That was the limit for these level 5 players.
“I can’t! I don’t think I can hold on anymore! Someone! Help me!” a player panicked as he shouted loudly.
“I don’t think I can hold anymore! Lord Liu, help me!” another player started panicking as well.
“This is a test of ‘valor’, it is not a strength test. As long as you don’t succ.u.mb to the fear of the zombies, then you won’t have any problem!” Liu Gan encouraged the players.
“Lord Liu! It is easy for you to say! Having courage doesn’t mean we can just continue climbing through this! Hurry and save us! Otherwise we will die here! It will be all your fault!” the player started slipping on his grip as he shouted at Liu Gan.
“I didn’t force you to come with me. When I called for volunteers, you knew what you were signing up for,” Liu Gan replied after he heard the player’s complaint. When he asked for volunteers, he clearly said that this trip to the laboratory was very dangerous. It was possible that no one would return alive. Yet, these players rushed to volunteer of their own will.
Even if Liu Gan had intentions of using them as cannon fodders, they were willing to be subjected to this condition since they signed themselves up.
These new players that surrounded Liu Gan weren’t familiar with Liu Gan’s personality yet. Only the few familiars like Jiang JinYuan, Zhao Meng, and QiuTao were the ones that Liu Gan would help in critical conditions. Ultimately, if it came down to it, Zhao Meng and QiuTao would have to be given up. It was necessary that he protect Jiang JinYuan this time around.
Why the special treatment for Jiang JinYuan? Since Jiang JinYuan was the match maker for him and Yin He. It was quite difficult to revive Jiang JinYuan with Su Nina’s help. Until the last minute, he wouldn’t give up Jiang JinYuan so easily.
“Liu Gan! I curse you and your ancestors!” the player shouted after he was denied any help. As lactic acid built up in his arms, he lost his strength and fell into the horde of zombies.
A searchlight on the wall suddenly turned on. It was located fairly close to the fallen player. It shone onto the player as he fell down around 15 meters into the grasp of the zombies. He was swarmed by the zombies and torn apart. The zombies all had a piece of the fallen player, from his skin to his organs. The player was screaming as he was torn apart alive. The sound of the zombies moaning drenched out his screams of pain.
Without a doubt, this searchlight was turned on by the mainframe, using it to light up the fallen player’s demise. This tragic scene aroused more fear among the remaining players, further increasing the tremendous amount of psychological pressure.
When the remaining players watched the scene of their fallen comrade dying, they tensed up, and the overtension made them feel even more tired and exhausted. It didn’t take long before other players started losing strength in their grip. One by one they started falling after feeling mentally exhausted.
Remaining by Liu Gan’s side was QiuTao, Jiang JinYuan, and Zhao Meng. QiuTao was level 7, so it wasn’t a surprise that he could support himself up to that point. Jiang JinYuan and Zhao Meng were level 6, so they were a little better than the level 5 players that fell.
“I don’t think I continue any longer, Lord Liu! Thank you for cultivating me! This is a consequence of my own actions. It is no one else’s fault!” After ten minutes of continuous climbing, even Zhao Meng fell down. Right before he fell, he shouted up to Liu Gan.
Another searchlight started up and shone on Zhao Meng’s body as he got torn into shreds by the zombies.
“I don’t think I can handle it any longer. Thank you Lord Liu for saving me. My fate seems to be the same as last time. I’m really sorry…” Jiang JinYuan was at his limit as he said this to Liu Gan.
This place didn’t seem like it was for players below level 10. For the first trial, Liu Gan didn’t kill his own followers. That was a lot more generous than what Qiu Zi had done. The second trial was the limit for these players.
“Climb onto my back,” Liu Gan said to Jiang JinYuan.
“That... How can I do that?” Jiang JinYuan didn’t expect Liu Gan to say that to him. In all honesty, everything that happened after transferring into the game, Jiang JinYuan had no memories. Everytime Liu Gan treated him with favoritism, he feels flattered.
“Quickly, climb onto me. I can’t hold your weight for long, since I will have a time when I feel exhausted,” Liu Gan told Jiang JinYuan.
Jiang JinYuan had no choice but to climb onto Liu Gan’s back. Liu Gan continued to climb forward with Jiang JinYuan on his body. After several minutes, when Jiang JinYuan recovered some of his strength, he climbed off of Liu Gan’s body and continued himself. Liu Gan continued to climb on.
After half an hour had pa.s.sed, there was still no end in sight. Unsure of how much further to continue, Liu Gan shouted out loud. The mainframe didn’t respond. Seems like it would only respond when someone fell down, then it would use the searchlight to let everyone know how tragically they ended.
“Lord Liu, thank you for everything you have done for me. I don’t think I can continue any further. It is pointless to continue being your baggage,” Jiang JinYuan was exhausted as he shouted loudly to Liu Gan. Jiang JinYuan didn’t want to exhaust Liu Gan by being carried, either.