Chapter Eighty-Nine: Joining the Clique

It was a bizarre world steeped in fantasy: above the sky hung a colossal golden sun, identical in shape to the sunlight that dropped in the game. Its brilliant radiance bathed the land below, and even the air seemed filled with the warm breath of spring.

Wang Ling stood on a hillside lush with green grass. From where he was, he could look far into the distance and make out the silhouette of Plant Town. It was only a tiny settlement, not large at all, with patches of green, red brick, and white walls scattered through it, all wrapped in the atmosphere of a fairy tale.

As for the fighting plants in the town, they were only faintly visible. At a distance of five kilometers, he still could not clearly make out their number or variety.

Taken by itself, this would have been an extraordinarily beautiful fantasy world, one that was almost no less wondrous than Super Mario. And yet in this world there existed a creature utterly out of place: zombies.

From here, Wang Ling could already see the territory between the foot of the hill and the town. Across the brown earth, zombies dressed in Western clothing shuffled aimlessly about. Their heads were a dull blue-gray and terribly shrunken, making them look almost alien. The sight carried a distinct air of Resident Evil, or maybe Left 4 Dead.

The wandering zombies were not especially dense in number, but Wang Ling was certain that if any living person passed by, a large stretch of them would be drawn in at once, gathering to surround and attack.

In many games and films, zombies were not terribly frightening. They moved slowly, their defenses were weak, and since they acted only on instinct, without thought to guide them, they were far less nimble than humans. Even an ordinary adult could deal with one easily. But once these low-level monsters gathered together into a sea of zombies, they became a nightmare for anyone.

Their eyes held nothing but hunger for flesh. They knew no fear, would not retreat no matter what stood before them, and in the end, through wave after wave of relentless assault, they would swallow every living thing beneath them.

A great wave of zombies was coming...

This world’s mission had to involve a zombie tide, and that was absolutely unavoidable. And it would not be only low-level zombies; among them would surely be all kinds of elite zombies as well. The zombies ate your brains. It sounded like a casual joke, but what terrifying meaning lay hidden within it.

In another day, nine more Dreamers would descend and join the side of Dr. Zombie. Beyond their own combat strength, they might even influence the doctor’s decisions. After all, that doctor was a highly intelligent zombie... If such a thing really happened, it would be a fatal crisis for the Dreamers on their side.

Their side’s nine Dreamers would arrive a day earlier, and even this detail made the weakness of Plant Town’s forces obvious. And with this being a peaceful scenario, where damage between opponents was reduced to only one-tenth of its original value, the imbalance became even clearer.

To survive in this world and complete the main quest alive, the Dreamers on his side had only one choice: cooperation. Without cooperation, how were they supposed to deal with the zombie sea? How could they resist the enemy Dreamers? How could they handle the variables that might arise from the arrival of Dreamers among the zombie army?

After sorting through his thoughts, Wang Ling began to grasp the central thread of this world. He looked around and realized that although this was the place where all Dreamers would descend, the hillside was vast, and because descent could occur anytime within half an hour rather than all at once, there was no sign of any other Dreamers in sight.

He wondered whether the others had not yet arrived, or whether they had descended more than a thousand meters away, beyond the range where the Dream Badge would give notice. Should he wait here until all the Dreamers appeared and then move out together, or should they charge into Plant Town first?

After a brief consideration, Wang Ling decided there was no need to throw himself at the zombies. Besides, if battle broke out below, it would be visible from the hillside, and facing so many zombies might force him to reveal too much of his strength. He had no desire to be the first fool to rush in.

So he sat down on the grass, took Mini Hatsune out of his spatial pouch, and began playing with her. Before entering the mission world, he had already promised that she could stay outside as much as possible. Besides, keeping Hatsune outside also had certain advantages.

Less than ten minutes later, the badge sent out warning after warning that allied Dreamers were approaching. A group of four walked over in Wang Ling’s direction. Seeing him sitting on the ground, teasing a little figure no larger than a palm, they all froze slightly.

Among the four, one man stepped forward and stopped five meters away. He gave Wang Ling a scrutinizing look from head to toe. “Hey, kid. My name is Caslo. In this damned world, we’re going to face a huge number of zombies, and a day from now those damn enemy Dreamers will show up too. The four of us have already joined together and formed a temporary little group. We’ll help each other and share the benefits in this world. Interested in joining us too?”

Wang Ling, still seated on the ground, lowered his right hand and let Mini Hatsune, who had been rolling about on the grass, run along his arm to settle on his shoulder. Then he stood up and looked at the four of them.

Caslo was a middle-aged white man with curly hair, dressed in camouflage. He was powerfully built, broad of shoulder and thick of frame, with a calm, capable bearing that gave him the air of an officer. A kukri with a curved blade was strapped to his calf.

The other three were a slender Asian man with a clearly ferocious glint in his eyes; a very sexy woman by Western standards, probably a mixed Latin beauty, blonde with brown skin and a figure that could make anyone’s heart race, wearing black leather that protected her body as much as possible while outlining her scorching curves; and finally an old man in an Arab head wrap, his face covered in wrinkles, with a hooked nose and amber eyes, carrying a very eye-catching AK-47 on his back.

In the beginner zone, firearms were rather rare. Even a plain pistol was hard to come by, yet this Arab old man actually had an AK, which was rather impressive. The magazine on that AK could be seen to be extended, so it should be something from a certain storyline world. No one knew how its power compared to a real AK.

This little group was probably not weak.

Wang Ling kept his expression unchanged and nodded to them. “Good to meet you. This world is a peaceful scenario, and the enemy is strong, so I would naturally welcome cooperation... I just don’t know how capable you are. How many main quests have you been through? What are your specialties? After all, there are still four unknown Dreamers. I may be able to choose a better group.”

“And what ability do you have to join our group?” the Asian man said darkly. “If we take in a useless burden and have to waste effort looking after him, wouldn’t we be the ones at a huge disadvantage?”

Wang Ling immediately set Mini Hatsune’s Leek Song to display mode. When the four saw that the skill effect was restoration of health, their eyes at once turned hot. In the midst of grueling battle, the value of such a skill was self-evident.

“A healing skill with an area effect? In this damned place, there’s nothing more welcome than that! Relax, friend, this group will be your best choice. Every one of us is strong. Join us, and we’ll protect you, hahaha...”

Caslo laughed heartily several times, then continued, “Since in this world we have to cooperate sincerely, it’s necessary to tell one another what we can do. That way, it’ll also be easier to assign tasks in battle. I’ll introduce myself briefly. I’m Dutch, and I’ve already gone through eight missions. My specialty is strength, and I’m very strong in direct close combat.”

The small Asian man immediately followed. “I’m Japanese. Yamada. Seven missions. My specialty is agility, and I train in swordsmanship.”

“I’m Hassan, from Iraq. Seven main quests. I’m a ranged gunner.” The old man in the head wrap spoke with a stiff expression. He did not have the large beard common among Arabs, and his voice was old and hoarse.

“I’m Suna, from Venezuela. I specialize in agility. I can throw daggers and use capoeira kicking techniques. May I ask, is this lovely little person your summoned being or your familiar?” Indeed, the sensual Latin beauty Suna looked at Mini Hatsune with the shining eyes of a kitten staring at a ball of yarn. Any girl would probably be interested in such a cute Hatsune.

Wang Ling smiled faintly. “She’s my familiar.”

If a familiar’s master died, the familiar would die with him. A summoned being, however, would not. Wang Ling naturally answered truthfully, since his safety depended on it. With the effect of the Leek Song, these people would be more than willing to place him under special protection.

After all, the effect of the Leek Song was equivalent to continuously restoring a full 360 points of health for one hour after hearing the song. Against a massive zombie tide, this was a divine life-saving skill for everyone present.

“My God, I’m so jealous of you. You must have had some extraordinary encounter to be able to own a familiar, and one so adorable and useful at that!” Suna stepped forward and reached out a finger, intending to touch Mini Hatsune as a sign of friendliness. But Hatsune took no liking to her at all. She immediately grabbed Wang Ling’s hair and hid behind his neck.

Seeing Suna’s disappointed expression, Caslo patted her shoulder in comfort, then said to Wang Ling, “Friend, now it’s your turn to introduce yourself.”

“You can call me Gunner. I’m Chinese. As for my specialties, I focus on agility, with strength as my secondary attribute. In battle, I mostly rely on this gun. If the enemy gets close, I use a dagger and a shield.” Wang Ling displayed the white-iron musket, the meteorite spearhead, and the alloy great shield in turn. Since he would definitely use them in battle, there was no need to hide them.