PFRG: Chapter 99

“Do we just need to escape from here?” Ji Xingque’s voice rang out.

At this time, everyone had discovered that during the process of this holographic game, their appearance had all changed.

In this prisoner appearance that was completely an internal setting of the game, they could only use other methods to judge the specific identities of the players around them.

At this time, Ji Xingque spoke and Chi Ting caught his presence in the crowd at a glance. He replied, “It should be.” Then he lowered his eyes to look at himself twice more.

It was impossible to be sure of his current appearance at the moment, but he could be sure that he couldn’t catch any traces of his original self from his present self.

The already dim light became even darker. Chi Ting noticed the figure in front of him and looked up. Before he could identify who the person was, he heard a voice saying, “I still like your original appearance the best.”

“……”

Chi Ting knew the other person’s identity instantly. He took a look and said frankly, “Me too.”

The project they experienced this time wasn’t a dress-up game, but this type of conventional modeling was indeed a bit too ‘conventional.’

Any two faces placed next to each other looked identical. It needed to be compared carefully to notice the subtle differences, just like playing a ‘spot the differences’ game.

Soon, everyone in the cage confirmed each other’s identities.

Before officially setting off, Chi Ting could notice that Hang Jing was moving closer to him, whether it was intentionally or unintentionally.

Chi Ting raised an eyebrow when seeing the obvious instinct for seeking cover. A hint of a very satisfied smile vaguely emerged in his eyes.

As a senior captain of the search team, he was very sensitive to this type of dependence from humans. It might just be a type of admiration for the strong that was born out of a survival instinct, but it was still enough to make him feel very useful.

After all, who wouldn’t enjoy the feeling of being strongly needed by a cute human being?

This was even though they were most likely to go their separate ways after leaving here, just like the humans he had met before.

Chi Ting had always cherished the present moment. He immediately stopped Hang Jing and the others without hesitation. He waved his hand, signaling everyone to follow him and walk outside along the corridor.

The deep passage didn’t seem too deep at first glance, but it felt inexplicably long when walking in it.

This was until they reached the end. They pushed open the door with force, and the first area appeared in front of everyone.

As soon as all seven people walked in, the door that had just closed behind them suddenly disappeared completely.

What followed was a rustling sound from all directions. It was as if something was attracted by the noise of the door opening and gradually groped its way over here, like a lot of feet, or something constantly knocking on the ground to promote rapid movement. The dense sound was enough to make them feel numb for a moment.

In an instant, the first shot rang out.

Before he could see clearly, Ji Xingque’s finger landed smoothly on the trigger and shot at the flying shadow with unmistakable accuracy.

The head exploded, and the smell of blood that entered their noses at this moment was very strong. But after the shadow hit the ground, there was a sudden violent struggle. Suddenly, it got up again and pounced at them.

This time, everyone clearly saw what this thing was. Instantly, there were several gasps of shock.

All the bones in its body seemed broken. In the process of crawling on the ground, it clicked and knocked against the ground. The head that had been severely hit had fallen to the side with brain matter spilling out. Its open mouth revealed a mouthful of sharp canine teeth, which were densely packed like upside-down thorns. The soft flesh all over its body seemed to have life, surging in waves as it rushed forward like a pool of loose mud.

What was even more devastating than this visual effect was the strong smell of decay that spread as soon as it approached.

Ji Xingque obviously found this difficult to tolerate. Seeing that the headshot just now was ineffective, he immediately launched a wave of gunfire. He accurately shattered all the bones in the monster’s body, finally causing it to completely collapse to the ground.

The surroundings returned to silence for a while.

Hang Jing’s expression was obviously a bit unpleasant. “Are these the monsters mentioned in the hint? But from the looks of it, it seems like…”

“It was indeed a human before.” Song Xuefeng squatted in front of the monster that had been killed at some point. He lowered his eyes and slowly scanned the area. He replied clearly and professionally, “The alienation occurred around half a month ago. He was a male, around 32 to 35 years old. He is 189 cm tall and weighed…”

The corners of Hang Jing’s lips twitched slightly. “…Is it so precise?”

Song Xuefeng looked up at Chi Ting as if looking for a final result. “Captain?”

Chi Ting knew what he was going to say. After a short silence, he slowly nodded. “It is indeed a very terrible familiar feeling.”

He raised his eyes and looked toward the top, which was completely engulfed by darkness. It was as if he was looking for something. However, his action was soon interrupted by the next movement.

The matter just now was obviously a trigger.

In this new prison area, more and more noises of unrest came without warning from such a quiet environment.

It was as if an unknown passage had been suddenly opened. Layers of figures squirmed and poured out of the darkness.

Like the previous monster, they had almost no human form but they obviously recognized the completely different aura of the players and rushed out one after another.

At almost the same time, Ji Xingque reloaded the gun and stood in front of the crowd. There was no fear in his eyes. Instead, they were gleaming with excitement. “Everyone, get out of the way. Let me do it—!!!”

As the words came out, the burst of gunfire instantly filled the entire dark space.

The heart-rending roar of the monsters was intertwined with the sound of bullet casings falling to the ground. In an instant, the originally empty ground started to be filled with layers of monster corpses.

Ji Xingque held the gun and intensively fired wildly around him. He looked almost crazy but was completing every beautiful kill.

This feeling of slaughter made him more comfortable as he became more and more excited. The number of kills that gradually popped up on the virtual panel made him seem particularly vigorous despites his increasingly crazy attitude.

One, two, three.

After three rounds of attacks, the smell of decay and blood mixed together and filled everyone’s nostrils.

Hang Jing looked at the pile of corpses that had piled up around him without noticing. He was still shocked by the crazy scene he had just witnessed.

After being stunned for a long time, he opened his mouth in a trance and confirmed it. “This… is it over?”

“That should be the case.” Yue Ren lowered his eyes and looked at the bloody corpses at his feet. Then he made an ambiguous ‘tsk’ sound.

He didn’t say anything else, but one could detect a hint of disgust in his eyes.

“I can only say that it is over for now,” Chi Ting added to Yue Ren’s words. Seeing this person’s expression, he knew that the other party must’ve noticed something again. Chi Ting glanced around and caught a glimpse of a door in the corner. “After making sure that his area has been cleaned, continue to move forward. However, if you want to earn game coins in this experience project, it is best to do it yourself.”

He thought for a while after he finished speaking. Ji Xingque could probably handle it all himself before other problems occurred, but he still looked at Song Xuefeng very seriously and gave his bottom line. “At the very least, get enough kills worth 99 coins to at least make back your money, okay?”

Song Xuefeng was silent for a moment before rubbing his head helplessly. “…I’ll try my best.”

Chi Ting nodded in satisfaction.

As he continued walking toward the second area, he intentionally or unintentionally moved closer to Yue Ren.

“Did you find out too?”

Yue Ren heard this and looked back.

The face in front of him was obviously completely different from his preferences, but just hearing the voice had a beautifying effect. It made him feel that this appearance was much more pleasing to the eye.

He smiled slightly and replied, “What do you mean? The degree of alienation or the amount of human content?”

These two were actually the same thing. Chi Ting could indeed feel that ever since coming out of the previous instance, Yue Ren had become more and more accepting of the terminology of his original world.

He smiled silently. He knew that the other party had understood what he meant and didn’t continue talking.

Just at this moment, they came to a new door.

Chi Ting was still walking in front as normal. He didn’t notice when Yue Ren caught up with him and the two of them walked to the second area almost side by side.

It was still a dimly lit environment. There were a few roars filling the silence.

Chi Ting held the gun steadily in his hand. He was ready for a new round of gunfights at any time. Then he suddenly noticed something. He looked back and found that Yue Ren, who was supposed to be with him, had disappeared.

In fact, it wasn’t just Yue Ren.

Ji Xingque, Old Song and the three players who teamed up with them had all disappeared.

The dim darkness completely engulfed them.

A ray of light flashed by. Chi Ting suddenly raised his gun to meet the enemy, but was slightly stunned when he saw the figure.

This person was also pointing a gun at his head. The man in front of him looked exactly the same as what he looked like in the game.

Crash—

The sound of countless fragments falling seemed to tear apart the entire space and time.

Suddenly, the light around them brightened up.

One, two, three…

Chi Ting brightly looked around and countless figures entered his eyes.

They were all him.

Was it a mirror image?

The first thought that came to Chi Ting’s mind was this.

Then in the next second, this conjecture was completely shattered.

Several clear gunshots were heard.

At the same time that he quickly dodged to the side, he could see the figures in this field of view begin to completely distort.

He saw his hands start to break apart. The moment he fell, countless pink threads spread out from them and wrapped around his neck little by little.

At this moment, he also seemed to feel the pain of his neck being completely cut.

In the trance that directly touched his soul, he subconsciously reached out and touched his neck. It was dry without any blood.

However, the pain just now was so clear and distinct.

It seemed that the game officially began from here.

Chi Ting was silent for a moment. His eyes sank slightly, but his face showed a smile. “This place really… brings back some bad memories.”

He raised his eyes and looked at the countless changing shadows in front of him. It was as if he was looking through these things toward a more distant place.

This scene was captured by a camera somewhere. In front of a screen floating in the air, there was a man standing there and meeting this gaze from afar.

No 7 gently turned the silver ring on his finger, looking at the face that had completely changed its appearance. He seemed to regret having made such a setting for the experience center. His expression revealed a strong regret.

“If I had known you would come, I wouldn’t have spent so much unnecessary effort to set up this uniform look.” He seemed to be very fond of wanting to see Chi Ting’s original appearance through the simple face in front of him. His muttered words floated around him as if he was secretly expecting to be praised. “But Chi Ting, how do you feel now? Do you like the gift I gave you?”

Such words floated in the air around him, causing the black lolita-dressed girl next to him to look over. “You seem to be particularly interested in him.

No 7 paused for a moment. He looked back at No 3 and was silent for a bit before smiling slowly. “What I am most interested in is what method can be used to completely… kill him.”