The Trembling World

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"Qiu Zi said he was merely one of the many beta players. At one point, he mentioned that several thousand beta players also arrived with him. When they were playing this game, it was still in front of monitors and with a mouse. But this time, they were all transferred into the game, without the function of logging out."

"Okay," Liu Gan nodded. He knew about this from Su Nina already.

"During the beta period, they were only on the Main Island. So they are more familiar than us regarding the game aspects. Many of these beta players had reached level 10, by the time the game server was finally released to public. Qiu Zi was in front of the monitor browsing through stage props that lead him to stumble through a Spatial Transfer Gate. He was transferred over to NinJing City. As of right now, his level would be the lowest among the beta players," LuLu continued to speak. In reality, Qiu Zi hadn\'t been honest; it was with Zhan Nan Shan\'s help that he had arrived at the current island.

"According to him, the zombies on the Main Island are much more vicious. Even the normal zombies on the Main Island have the same power as Variant Zombies on this island, which includes the Black-Spot Variant Zombies… With this long amount of time, if the beta players were still alive they would be between level 15 to 20," LuLu continued.

"However, he found his way of life, worshipped by thousands. He loved that feeling," Liu Gan interrupted her.

"It is possible that you are quite strong right now, but I feel that we can\'t compare with the beta players. When you arrive at the Main Island, it isn\'t the danger of zombies, but the danger of players," LuLu continued to urge Liu Gan.

"Aside from that, what else did he say?" Liu Gan asked. Everything LuLu had said, had been said by Su Nina already.

When this game first developed, it wasn\'t the type where people were transferred into the game. No, it was the type of typical game that you played with mouse and keyboard through the monitor, somewhere safe. Suddenly being kidnapped into the game, these beta players kept their previous game data, which gave them superiority over the normal players.

Their superiority wasn\'t just with levels, as weapons were also part of this advantage. As with the case with Qiu Zi\'s large axe, it was such a rare weapon. If Qiu Zi had obtained a weapon like this, then the higher level players must have even more powerful weapons.

With these beta players spreading out to explore, Liu Gan knew it was just a matter of time before he confronted another. As theatrical as the fight was today, it was just a practice show. There was now once again urgency to raise his level. Otherwise his advantage with the alloy limbs would be useless.

Liu Gan was living quite comfortably on NinJing City, as the island was considered a peripheral island. The main contestors on NinJing City were Kingler, the Malevolent Bear, and the Armored Warriors. Other than that, there was no real threat coming from players.

The situation would be completely different if it was on the Main Island. There would be so many high level beta players that would compete with each other. Every level above others would be an advantage and it would start an overwhelming dominance. As with the recent fight between Liu Gan and Qiu Zi, Qiu Zi was able to use his level advantage. If Qiu Zi had a one level advantage, then imagine what a couple of levels higher could do to Liu Gan.

"He also said that… the Main Island is very large. To put the size in comparison, it would be similar to mainland China. The weather is not as nasty as it is over here, although he didn\'t know how the weather was right now. This was all before all the catastrophe occurred. Qiu Zi said he and the other beta players were completing missions in the game. He said that their individual efforts and joint missions lead to the catastrophe breaking out. At that time, it was just a game for them, so they didn\'t think too much about it," LuLu continued.

"What individual and joint missions were those?" Liu Gan continued to ask. This was something that he had never heard of before.

"At that time… I wasn\'t too interested in this topic… so I didn\'t ask him any more. I only heard him say that the beta players facilitated the catastrophe. They all experienced the catastrophe as they witnessed the fields get dyed red from blood-colored rain. The rain turned everyone in the city into zombies. Other than that, I am not too sure."

LuLu had an embarrassed expression. She was quite ashamed that she didn\'t listen attentively to Qiu Zi\'s narrative. She was only half-heartedly listening to his chatter most of the time. If she knew that Liu Gan would be this interested, she would\'ve paid more attention and inquired more.

As Liu Gan and LuLu were exchanging words, they unconsciously walked backed to LuLu\'s house. Standing in front of the house were two players waiting around. When these two players saw Liu Gan, they rushed over.

These two players had met with Liu Gan earlier; it was Sun Cheng and Kong Mu. Sun Cheng was guarding the gate, and Kong Mu was the class lecturer. With Liu Gan as the new village leader, small fries like Kong Mu and Sun Cheng were upgraded from their positions by Second Elder. As a reward for being the first to come in contact with Liu Gan, they were promoted from their previous duties to be footman specialized for contacting Liu Gan.

"Lord Liu, Second Elder wants to invite you over for dinner." Sun Cheng and Kong Mu bowed down to Liu Gan. They didn\'t expect that the new player would become their new leader.

"Help me thank Second Elder, but I\'ve already promised Fifth Elder that I would eat here. If there\'s anything else that comes up, let\'s discuss it after dinner. I don\'t want to hold up Second Elder from his duties," Liu Gan kindly rejected the offer.

Second Elder already knew that Liu Gan was going to be having dinner with Fifth Elder, but sending two people to confirm that was just a friendly gesture. Just in case, Liu Gan was indeed left behind without anyone to host him, these players were sent to pick him up. After being rejected, Sun Cheng and Kong Mu left to report back to Second Elder and quietly departed.

Cheng Qi\'s dinner was well prepared. Liu Gan hadn\'t had chinese cabbage for a long time. Everything he had for dinner was grown in the self-cultivated fields behind the school. These fields were specifically cultivated for the high-ranking Elders. Cheng Qi and her daughter, Yao Yi, even made dumplings stuffed with meat and cabbage for Liu Gan to enjoy.

Real world simple food like this had become a delicacy. At least, this was true for many normal players that were stuck in this world. Experiencing the horrors and despair of this world, they realized how fortunate they were in their formerly peaceful lives.

If there was a chance to return back to the real world, their mentality would be tougher than the average person. Even with a small setback, they wouldn\'t be as frail or weak anymore. In fact, they would cherish everything they had more than they did before.

After eating the dumplings, LuLu brought in beef and rabbit meat to accompany the alcohol. LuLu also opened up bottles of wine for Liu Gan to enjoy. It was such a good night for Liu Gan that he ate happily. Unconsciously, Liu Gan finished several bottles of wine and grew tipsy.