Chapter 31.2 Boundary Layer 3
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Not far from them, a tall figure appeared. Judging from the axe he carried and the rabbit mask on his face, it was clearly Joseph, the killer from the diary. Zhou Ze gasped in shock, about to shout for Yun Yuzi to run, but then he heard her say in confusion, “Is he one of us? Where did he get that axe from…”
“What do you mean ‘one of us’?” Zhou Ze exclaimed. “Run—this is a damn murderer!”
Yun Yuzi: “!” Only then did she realize the situation.
The two of them turned around and started running.
Meanwhile, they could hear rustling sounds coming from behind them, indicating that Joseph had followed.
Zhou Ze didn’t dare to look back. His body was already exhausted, and he couldn’t run very fast. He gritted his teeth and pushed through.
However, Yun Yuzi seemed to handle it with ease. While running, she looked back and didn’t forget to remind Zhou Ze, “Faster, Little Brother. He’s swinging the axe.”
Zhou Ze: “!!!” Sis, can you stop live-commentating already?——
“I can’t go on… I can’t go on…” After running for a few minutes, Zhou Ze couldn’t continue anymore. He pleaded tearfully, “Sis, you go ahead. I… I really can’t run anymore.”
His legs were giving out, but the killer behind him maintained a steady pace. His nonchalant demeanor resembled that of a hunter who had captured his prey, patiently wearing down the prey’s endurance until it could be claimed.
“Is he human?” Yun Yuzi suddenly asked.
“What?” Zhou Ze didn’t understand.
“I’m asking if he’s still human or a ghost now,” Yun Yuzi stopped running as well. There was not a drop of sweat on her forehead, as if she hadn’t been exerting herself at all.
“He’s human, right?” Zhou Ze became confused. “Is the killer a human or a ghost?”
“Forget it,” Yun Yuzi said helplessly. “We’ll find out by trying.” With that, she pulled out a gun from her backpack and aimed it at Joseph, who was not far behind.
After being shot, Joseph splattered blood and his steps slowed slightly, but he continued moving forward.
“Tsk,” Yun Yuzi remarked, “Isn’t he supposed to be human? What’s the point of us running—”
She raised the gun and fired several more shots at Joseph, each one hitting him in the head, leaving Zhou Ze in awe.
It turned out that fear stems from insufficient firepower.
After firing more than a dozen shots, the terrifying Joseph had been riddled with holes, resembling a leaky sieve. His massive body collapsed with a resounding thud—it seemed he was dead for sure.
Yun Yuzi, not taking any chances, approached and fired a few more shots. She spat, “Scared the life out of me. I thought he was something extraordinary.”
Zhou Ze was drenched in sweat as he walked over to confirm that Joseph was truly gone—at least the one chasing them was. He bent down, attempting to pick up Joseph’s axe, but he couldn’t even budge it. The thing was unbelievably heavy. He exerted all his strength, but couldn’t even drag it away.
“Step aside, let me take a look,” Yun Yuzi said.
“Look at what?” Zhou Ze asked.
“Of course, I’m checking if he has anything on him,” Yun Yuzi replied matter-of-factly. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, her beautiful face smeared with blood, resembling a fierce and enchanting beast. “After defeating a monster, shouldn’t there be some equipment or items dropped?”
Just as Zhou Ze was about to tell Yun Yuzi that she was playing a single-player game, not an online game, he saw her actually reach into Joseph’s pocket and pull out a piece of paper.
“Huh? There really is something!” Yun Yuzi exclaimed in surprise.
Zhou Ze was dumbfounded, thinking to himself, “Can that even happen?”
The paper was already stained with quite a bit of blood, but the words written on it were still legible.
Joseph’s Diary, Page Two.
Damn rabbits, I despise them the most. These repulsive and cunning creatures are everywhere. I’ve caught so many of them, ᴘᴇᴇʟᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜱᴋɪɴ ᴏꜰꜰ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴜᴍᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜰʟᴇꜱʜ ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴏɴᴇꜱ. Yet, there are even more rabbits. These foolish creatures actually want to kill me.
Mother, Mother, where are you? Mother, help me. The rabbits have bound me, ᴛʜᴇʏ’ᴠᴇ ᴄʜᴏᴘᴘᴇᴅ ᴏꜰꜰ ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀᴅ, ꜱᴇᴠᴇʀᴇᴅ ᴍʏ ʜᴀɴᴅꜱ, ᴄᴜᴛ ᴏꜰꜰ ᴍʏ ꜰᴇᴇᴛ. These damned rabbits, they will pay for this——
Insignificant rabbits can’t kill Joseph. I will return, I will come back with my body intact. I will be omnipresent until every single rabbit is exterminated.
As Yun Yuzi obtained the paper, there was another tearing sound, indicating that they had found the second page. At the same time, some kind of strange transformation began to occur in Joseph’s body.
The body that Yun Yuzi had knocked down started convulsing and writhing. The wounds on his body rapidly healed. But that wasn’t the most horrifying part. Zhou Ze heard footsteps again.
He turned his head and saw a figure emerging from the depths of the jungle, wearing the same rabbit mask and wielding the same axe. Joseph had returned, and there was not just one.
“Damn it!” Zhou Ze cursed. “Sis, let’s get out of here—”
“Alright,” Yun Yuzi also realized that something was amiss. Clearly, this thing was now undead, and their numbers were increasing. They, who were fleeing in all directions, had become the hunted rabbits described in the diary.
The agreed-upon time with the others was two hours. Within those two hours, each of them encountered Joseph in different circumstances. Some were lucky enough to encounter him from a distance and escape, while others had the misfortune of facing him up close and getting killed on the spot.
It was the same for Jiang Guan and his group. They had just come out of the wooden hut when they encountered Joseph, brandishing his axe. Jiang Guan reacted swiftly, firing several shots at Joseph, knocking him down to the ground.
“Is that it?” Jiang Guan sneered. “With this level of strength, they actually thought they could stop players?”
“Sister,” Jiang Nan murmured, “this is only the strength of the second diary page. The time is almost up. Should we go over and meet with them?”
“No need,” Jiang Guan said. “There’s not much information to gain, and it won’t make a difference if we go. We’d be better off continuing to search for the third page… This thing is coming to life. Let’s go.”
“Okay,” Jiang Nan obediently complied.
Two hours later, there weren’t as many people at the starting point as Lin Zhaohe had expected. Only their company’s members and a few children who had entered the second level were present. Jiang Guan was nowhere to be seen, but she was probably not in trouble. She simply didn’t bother to come over.
Information was exchanged between both groups, and Yun Yuzi handed over the diary page she had obtained to Zhuang Lao.
“I think the intensity of this game is just average,” Yun Yuzi remarked, feeling relaxed. “I’ve played other games that were more challenging.”
“Don’t be complacent,” Zhuang Lao said calmly. “It’s getting dark.”
“Should we spend the night together?” Zhou Ze asked cautiously. In horror movies, the worst thing to do was to split up.
“No,” Zhuang Lao said, “We have to hurry. The sooner we find the diary pages, the safer we’ll be.”
Moreover, according to Yun Yuzi’s account, Joseph would keep respawning. It was uncertain if the number of respawns was based on time.
“There’s a house over there,” Zhuang Lao said. “Yun Yuzi, take these children there. Me and the bodyguard will help you clear the surroundings. You can spend the night there while the others continue searching for the diary.”
Yun Yuzi: “Shouldn’t I go search as well?”
Zhuang Lao: “No, you shouldn’t. You and Lin Zhaohe stay in the house and keep watch. We’ll discuss it when it’s daylight.”
“Boss, I’ll go with you to search,” Lin Zhaohe suggested. He felt that Yun Yuzi being alone was not enough.
“Are you familiar with the route?” Zhuang Lao asked.
Lin Zhaohe: “…”
In the end, the determined Lin Zhaohe was forcibly left in the house by Zhuang Lao, with instructions for Yun Yuzi to take care of the elderly, weak, and infirm inside.
Lin Zhaohe’s eyes welled up with tears as he claimed he was still strong and refused to back down.
Zhuang Lao glanced at him, then used his finger to remove the reading glasses Lin Zhaohe was wearing. Lin Zhaohe angrily retorted, “Do you think I can’t see without them? Those glasses were just a prop to make you all relax!” He grabbed his boss’s wrist fiercely. “Give me back my glasses!”
Yun Yuzi: “…Let go, you fcking grabbed my hand.”
Lin Zhaohe: “…”
“Don’t act tough, Brother,” Yun Yuzi surrendered, “When we start shooting later, I beg you to make sure you aim properly before firing. I really don’t want to be accidentally killed by a teammate.”
Lin Zhaohe: “…Give me back my glasses.”
Zhou Ze couldn’t hold back his laughter, and his face turned red.
Zhuang Lao returned the glasses to Lin Zhaohe, who tearfully put them back on.
In fact, Lin Zhaohe no longer looked that old at the moment, but his physical functions probably hadn’t fully recovered yet. His eyes remained in a state of presbyopia, unable to regain clear vision.
Zhuang Lao gave a few more instructions, then walked out with a gun in hand.
After a moment, frequent gunshots echoed around the house. Judging from the direction, Zhuang Lao had at least taken down three or four Josephs.
The children inside the house huddled around the fire, trembling with fear. Lin Zhaohe looked at them, unable to understand why they were so frightened. Why would they choose to play this game if they were so afraid? Didn’t they have any sense of urgency?
“Addicted to being weak and demanding,” Zhou Ze said, grabbing a dagger for self-defense and poking at the fire. It seemed like he knew what Lin Zhaohe was thinking. He murmured softly, not clear whether he was referring to others or himself.
Lin Zhaohe: “Give me the gun.”
Yun Yuzi hesitated to speak.
Lin Zhaohe grew angry, “I’ve put on my glasses. Can’t you have some basic trust in your teammate?”
Yun Yuzi: “…A little trust, but not much.”
Lin Zhaohe: “…”
Despite their conversation, the gun ended up in Lin Zhaohe’s hands. Since he hadn’t received any professional training, Lin Zhaohe didn’t come prepared with these firearms when entering the game.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to use them, but if he couldn’t understand the game properly, sometimes monsters would end up hurting his teammates instead of being eliminated. It’s like in a horror game, the most terrifying thing is not the ghost but your friend who screams just like a ghost.
However, if it was necessary, Lin Zhaohe would still use the gun. He walked to the bedside, looked at the dark night outside, and tightly gripped the weapon in his hand. “Are they coming?”
“They’re coming,” Yun Yuzi whispered softly.
Something was approaching their small cabin. Through the darkness, they could see a tall figure carrying an axe, faintly visible among the dense trees.
Lin Zhaohe raised his gun, took aim, and fired in one fluid motion. The gunshot was followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.
“Impressive marksmanship,” Yun Yuzi exclaimed, somewhat surprised.
“See! Didn’t I tell you?” Lin Zhaohe declared. “I have my glasses on.”
Yun Yuzi: “…Can your bifocals grant you bonus skill points?”
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