“Bloody… Hell! What is going on?” Chen Xiaolian was unable to stop himself from cursing out. “F**k!”
Everyone’s faces were of bewilderment. Lun Tai on the other hand, revealed a grim expression. Gritting his teeth, he let out a sigh. “This is just bad luck on our part.”
“What did you say?”
“This is a normal instance dungeon notification and we were not selected by the instance dungeon… unexpectedly, this time’s instance dungeon area is Tokyo. Additionally, judging by the contents of the notification, the entirety of Tokyo City will become an instance dungeon area.
“Conventionally speaking, if those who are not selected to participate in this instance dungeon happen to be in the area, they will be given an advance notice by the system, allowing those people sufficient time to leave the instance dungeon area. The people selected for this instance dungeon will also be given sufficient time to arrive at the instance dungeon area – take our last instance dungeon, the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang instance dungeon for instance, we were notified 48 hours ahead.”
“That is right!” Chen Xiaolian was furious. “But now, there is only twenty something minutes left in the countdown! What is going on here?”
“ … because, we were previously within Zero City,” Lun Tai sighed. “There is a very important reason as to why Zero City is deemed as the safest place in the world of Awakened ones… as long as one stays in Zero City, one would be able to escape being selected by the instance dungeon! Simply put, it would be as though the system’s selection ability is blocked. All instance dungeon notifications are also blocked.
“Therefore, when we were inside Zero City, we were unable to receive the system’s instance dungeon notification.
“By the time we come out, a great deal of time has passed and only a small amount of time remains.”
Chen Xiaolian’s face distorted as he raised his head to look at Lun Tai. “In other words…”
“This is just bad luck on our part,” Lun Tai bore a complicated expression. “If we had spent just another half hour within Zero City, the instance dungeon would have begun and we would have escaped from this calamity. On the other hand, if we had emerged a few hours in advance, we would have sufficient time to leave Tokyo City. As long as we reach the outer area of Tokyo City, we would have escaped as well.
“But now…”
Lun Tai bore a very bitter smile.
27 minutes… to run out from Ginza, the most bustling central commercial area in Tokyo all the way to the outer area of Tokyo City… in 27 minutes! That was simply impossible!
“We won’t make it using the subway, using a car is not even worth thinking about. It is currently 4.30 pm, very close to peak hour,” Bei Tai suddenly spoke out. “Unless we have a helicopter, that way we might actually be able to escape from the city.”
“Where are we going to find a helicopter?” Chen Xiaolian smiled bitterly. “Even if there is a helicopter in Tokyo City, twenty something minutes may not be enough for us to snatch the helicopter.”
Pa!
Roddy who was standing to the side suddenly slapped himself violently across his cheek! He executed the slap with extreme strength and ruthlessness! Several fingerprint marks appeared on his face.
“It is all my fault!” Roddy’s face filled with remorse. “If I had not forced everyone to stay in Zero City for one more day…”
After saying that, his hand turned over to deliver another slap onto his cheek!
“Enough!”
Chen Xiaolian grabbed onto Roddy’s wrist, preventing him from slapping himself.
Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. “There is still… 25 minutes left! Now is not the time to feel guilty or hold anyone accountable. Within 25 minutes time, the instance dungeon will open; the instance dungeon is the entire Tokyo City… we should not be discussing about useless matters now. Concentrate and discuss about how to get through this instance dungeon!”
“Is there a quest description?” Qiao Qiao furrowed her eyebrows.
“No,” Chen Xiaolian’s face turned gloomy. “Because we were not normally selected, there are no explanations regarding the instance dungeon at all!”
“Indeed, the system will notify us stray players to leave before the specified time. Only if we did not leave before the specified time is up will the system will give a detailed explanation to us when the instance dungeon opens,” Lun Tai forced out a smile.
“In other words, we currently know nothing about this instance dungeon, the quest, storyline, requirements, restrictions… we know pretty much nothing!” Chen Xiaolian frowned. “Anyone have any suggestions?” He turned to look at Lun Tai. After all, their guild mainly consisted of rookies. The ones with the most experience were the two brothers, Lun Tai and Bei Tai.
“In my opinion… in situations where we do not have any information, ensuring our own safety takes precedence. We must first create a safe house for ourselves! No matter what, we need to find a place with walls that are sufficiently thick, making a base for ourselves! In case danger arises, we would at least have a place we can mount our defence from.”
“Why? Could it be… would the system do the same thing as the movies, turning everyone in Tokyo into zombies?” Roddy gasped.
Xia Xiaolei blinked. “Brother Roddy, what kind of thing is a zombie?”
Lun Tai gave out a “pei”. “What is so great about zombies? No one can guess how creative the system can get. Forget zombies, I would not be surprised even if everyone in Tokyo is transformed into Smurfs.”
“Enough, let us begin! First, find a safe house just in case. Heaven knows what kind of instance dungeon the system will play out. In case the script follows Resident Evil and turns everyone in the city into zombies, this last 20 minutes of preparation becomes extremely crucial! Move out!”
Chen Xiaolian immediately exerted his authority as the Guild Leader. Lun Tai and Bei Tai revealed their agreement towards his decision while the others followed suit.
They quickly left the café and ran into the street.
It was past four o’clock in the afternoon and the streets of Ginza bustled with pedestrians. The pedestrians walked through the streets of Tokyo at a rapid pace, the crowds moving like torrents. Their group ran through the crowd of pedestrians with the strongest amongst them, Lun Tai in the front, responsible for making a path.
After moving out of an intersection, Chen Xiaolian checked his watch and saw that less than five minutes has passed.
At that moment, they sighted a hotel across the street. Judging by its luxurious image, it must be around 5-stars. At the very least, it would surely not be below 4-stars. As for its name, it was in English and Chen Xiaolian had no time to make it out.
“Go there!” Chen Xiaolian pointed across the street. “We will separate! Lun Tai, Bei Tai, you two take Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo to the hotel. Forget checking in. Just go directly to the highest floor, find a room with thick walls and doors and barge in! Occupy a favourable position!”
“What about you?” Qiao Qiao frowned.
Chen Xiaolian pointed to a convenience store not far away from the intersection. “I will bring Roddy and Xia Xiaolei to buy some stuff. Heaven knows what kind of situation will occur. We must first prepare some food and water.”
Seeing Qiao Qiao wanting to say something, Chen Xiaolian said grimly. “Do not argue! Make use of this time! Hurry! We will meet up with you on the highest floor of the hotel later! There is still 20 minutes left! Hurry hurry hurry!”
Qiao Qiao bit her lips and maintained her silence, pulling Soo Soo with her as she followed Lun Tai and Bei Tai, charging through the road heading towards the hotel.
“We need to hurry as well! Go!”
Chen Xiaolian led Roddy and Xia Xiaolei to a 7-11 convenience store by the intersection. Rushing into the store, they ran towards the food area.
“Do not take beverages! Take more mineral water!” Seeing Xia Xiaolei holding onto a dozen Cokes, Roddy shouted out hastily. “Throw away all fruit juices and carbonated drinks! Take only mineral water!”
Chen Xiaolian ran to the deli counter. He ignored the brands and took everything that was vacuum-sealed. At the same time, he shouted to Roddy. “Roddy! Get more chocolates and energy bars! Try your best to find those high in calories!”
“Understood!” Roddy quickly stuffed the items into the basket.
As Chen Xiaolian was moving past the area for daily appliances, he thought for a moment. Seeing that there were a few kitchen knives, he swept them into the basket that he was holding as well.
“Think, think, what else, what else…” Chen Xiaolian turned to look at the clock on the walls, doing all he can to remain calm. Then, he slapped his head. “Battery!”
He rushed to the front counter and grabbed a handful of varying batteries, throwing them into the basket.
There were people queuing at the checkout counter. However, Chen Xiaolian was unable to care about it at this point. Chen Xiaolian directly rushed over, pushing others aside, ignoring the complaints and lectures of the other customers. Once Roddy and Xia Xiaolei ran over, he pulled out a stack of US dollar bills from his wallet and threw it onto the surface of the counter without even looking how much there was. The three of them did not even bother returning the store’s basket as they held onto it and ran madly out of the store. The staff member of the store chased after them while shouting. However, the three of them have had their bodies strengthened; even Roddy and Xia Xiaolei had acquired the Genetic Enhancement Serum that Chen Xiaolian bought in Zero City, giving their bodies [B] Class attributes. How was an ordinary staff member of the store supposed to stop them?
Carrying the baskets, they ran through the rapid flowing traffic. Then, they jumped over a fence and continued running towards the hotel, running inside.
After bursting into the hotel, they quickly ran into the elevator. Chen Xiaolian did not forget to grab a map of Tokyo City from the hotel’s common area and stuffed it into his pocket.
After using the elevator to reach the highest floor, they walked out to find Qiao Qiao waiting for them.
“The room?”
“We got it! It is the innermost one. Additionally, it is close to the fire escape. That room was picked by Lun Tai,” Qiao Qiao led the three of them and they ran to the end of the corridor.
After they ran into the room, they slammed the door shut…
…
Everyone within the room turned to look at one another.
“What is a branch quest?” Chen Xiaolian frowned.
Lun Tai opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, suddenly…
They heard a burst of thunderous boom!
In the next instant, the entire room swayed lightly for a while! Thunderous rumbling sounds reverberated in from the outside.
Their faces changed and they moved as one towards the nearby window.
A distance away from the window, a mass of flames suddenly appeared in an unknown part of Tokyo City and dense smoke billowed up to the skies! A series of explosion erupted continuously and sounds of confusion from the streets gradually increased. The rumblings of explosions and the quaking of the earth…
“Earthquake? Terrorist attack? Or did the gas pipeline explode?”
Boom!
A loud peal resonated towards them from outside the windows once again! A gigantic black coloured mushroom cloud rose up to the skies! Three kilometres away, a huge building that was within the mushroom cloud collapsed!
“Holy shit! Did a war break out?” Roddy stared with wide-open eyes.
“Who cares, it is fine as long as it is not a nuclear bomb,” Lun Tai was able to stay fairly calm. “It should not be a nuclear bomb. If it is, then there is no point in having an instance dungeon. All the Awakened ones and Players in Tokyo will die. Wait for the system to issue out the quest, son of a bitch… I feel that this situation might be somewhat worse than we had expected.”
“Will we be safe here? What do we do if there is an earthquake?” Xia Xiaolei was at a loss.
“Be rest assured, this is Japan. Japan faces earthquakes on a constant basis. Thus, they will give attention to earthquake resistance when the buildings here are constructed. Normal earthquakes will not be a problem,” Chen Xiaolian comforted Xia Xiaolei and sat on the sofa. He began to inspect the information received by the guild system regarding this instance dungeon…
After glancing through it, Chen Xiaolian’s face changed and he was unable to restrain himself from cursing out. “Damn it!”
“What is it?” Roddy quickly asked. “Could it be that everyone in the city has turned into zombies? Just like Resident Evil?”
“… no,” Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth before smiling bitterly. “Worse!”
…