“Damn it, none of you know the sheer terror of waking up to a zombie drooling right in your face. It was practically the end of the world scared me so bad I thought I was having a heart attack!”
The speaker was a sharp-featured, buzz-cut man wearing a white veteran’s undershirt and camouflage trousers, seated at the head of the long table.
“Oh, come off it, Eagle. Who here hasn’t had the crap scared out of them by the authorities at least once? I even saw someone get scared right to death,” grumbled a round-faced boy with a bowl cut, pouting as he voiced his grievance.
The authorities…
Hiding in the shadows, Nan Yao silently took stock of the eight people at the long table. Including her, there were five women and four men. Every single one of them had a brooch pinned to their chest, displaying only a name and a string of digits. Her own number was 474.
Having been suddenly transported to this dim room furnished with nothing more than a long table and a few flickering LED electronic candles, Nan Yao’s first instinct upon arrival had been to size up this eccentric group of men and women.
What caught her attention most was a man lingering in the opposite corner just like her. His silhouette was sharp, defined, and carried a tall, fluid posture. Even though she couldn’t make out his eyes, Nan Yao could feel the gaze he shot her way carrying an inexplicable sense of danger.
“Eagle, this channel is running a team battle this time. You better not forget to cover the rest of us.”
“Alright, alright,” Jiang Ying grunted, shooting them an annoyed look. “Just make sure you lot don’t team up to screw me over.”
“As if! Once everyone gets amnesia the second they step into a channel, how could anyone pull a fast one on you, Eagle…?”
Screeech—
The heavy door of the dark room swung open, and a blindingly stark white light flooded inside.
Jiang Jingyu?!
Nan Yao’s brows knitted together tightly as she stared at Jiang Jingyu, who marched through the doorway without a single scratch on him.
“Nan Yao!” Jiang Jingyu locked his furious gaze on her, rushing straight toward her with blazing rage. “Never thought I’d survive, did you? I swear, Nan Yao, I’m going to kill you with my own hands and feed you to the zombies!”
“We’ll see about that.”
With an indifferent expression, she bent down, lifted the leather suitcase from beside her feet, and brushed right past Jiang Jingyu to take an empty seat on the edge.
Fuming with hatred, Jiang Jingyu whipped out a dagger and lunged at her.
With a cold, piercing gaze, Nan Yao side-stepped with fluid agility. The dagger buried itself deep into the wooden table, vibrating with a sharp clang.
“Not so high and mighty now, are you? If you’ve got the guts, stop dodging!” Veins bulging in his eyes, Jiang Jingyu yanked the dagger free and charged at her again.
“Out of his mind.”
Losing all patience with his harassment, she swept her leg up in a swift side kick, sending him flying backward through the air.
“Ooh, another combat goddess. Way to make us guys look completely useless,” cheered Liu Xing, the bowl-cut boy, clapping his hands with starry eyes.
“Nan Yao, I—”
“Enough!” Jiang Ying barked, cutting him off. “Getting knocked flat by a woman, and you still have the nerve to keep making a fool of yourself!”
Jiang Ying cast a probing glance toward Nan Yao.
“Good morning, players. I am Timi, the host of this dating reality game.”
A familiar screen flickered to life, displaying a figure wearing a jester mask while a voice distorter heavily altered their speech.
Every gaze snapped toward the screen in unison.
“First, allow me to introduce our flagship channel—the Dating Show. Since its inception, this channel has received universal acclaim, characterized by rich content (fight tooth and nail), diverse formats (a wide variety of survival scenarios), and superb production (focused on authentic experiences). Both participants and viewers will secure high-value cash prizes through their respective paths to victory. As long as victory belongs to you, the flagship Dating Reality channel will grant you the title of Overlord, elevate you to the status of a High-Tier Resident, and invite you to participate in channel broadcast recordings.”
“Everyone here is a successfully promoted victor and the future hope of our Channel City. Please continue to give your all so we can make life better and better.”
“Now, please open the suitcases in your hands. Inside, you will each find an amount of gold bullion matching your personal strength. Freely choose one or multiple players to invest in as your winning stake. If the player you bet on ultimately wins, you will be promoted right alongside them.”
“This dating show mode is a team battle. Remember that working together with one heart is the key to winning, so try not to kill each other later in the challenges. Timi is kind-hearted and offers this warm reminder to the female players: this dating show features characters holding the ‘Wolf Prince’ role among the male players. Female players must guard their hearts carefully and avoid being seduced by the ‘Wolf Prince.’ Well, without any further ado, Timi wishes all players a wonderful time~”
“Crap! The authorities put a player limit on this! Dammit, none of the people I actually wanted to bet on are in here!” Jiang Jingyu cursed loudly.
An Feiwan gasped, “What? Let me see… What kind of nonsense are the authorities pulling now?!”
“It’s like they never intended for us to walk out of here alive!”
Complaints instantly erupted all around the room.
Nan Yao opened her suitcase. Inside lay just five gold bars, with three names printed across the top: An Feiwan, Chu Jie, and Jiang Ying.
She had already seen Jiang Ying, but the other two… Nan Yao arched her delicate brows.
An Feiwan wore a British-style brown uniform skirt, sporting a cute student-bob and an oval face.
Chu Jie wore a white t-shirt and black pants, with a frail build and skin so pale it looked ghostly. His bangs were deliberately combed down to obscure his eyes, giving off the vibe of a gloomy, depressed teenager.
Tapping her fingers against the table, Nan Yao made up her mind and locked in her bets without hesitation.
The rest of the group dawdled, making their selections while continuing to spit endless streams of complaints.
“Isn’t this just being forced to babysit? What kind of team battle is this? At its core, it’s still just a free-for-all!”
“Shut up,” Su Xiaiai snapped, finally losing her patience with Jiang Jingyu’s whining. “This game heavily favors you male players, and you’re still whining? Damn it, once I become a High-Tier Resident, the first thing I’m doing is blowing up the broadcasting authority’s headquarters.”
Flash!
Ten pillars of white light descended in a sudden flash. When their heavy, drowsy consciousness finally faded and their eyes fluttered open again, they found themselves standing scattered across a bright azure beach.
“Ah—!”
A blood-curdling scream pierced the air, instantly making everyone tense up. They quickly clustered together in sheer terror, watching in horror as a young girl a short distance away was swamped by a surging horde of zombies, devoured until not even a shred of bone was left behind.
“I’m dead!” Seeing the girl stripped of flesh in a matter of seconds, Liu Xing wailed in despair, his face crumpling.
“Which damn idiot made a move?!” Jiang Ying roared in exasperation. “Did you deliberately lead the zombies over here to get us all killed?!”
Quietly creeping up behind Nan Yao, Jiang Jingyu suddenly shoved her hard, sending her hurtling straight toward the approaching horde.
An Feiwan gasped, “Watch out!”
Frost gathered in Nan Yao’s eyes. Regaining her balance just in time to stop her momentum, she lashed out with ruthless precision, her fingers locking onto the ice-cold neck of the zombie lunging at her. With a crisp snap, its neck broke, and its head rolled to the ground.
“Run!”
Nan Yao shouted fiercely, jolting the gaping, frozen crowd back to their senses.
A dense, pitch-black tide of zombies surged forward, waving arms torn to bloody shreds by their peers as they twisted and lumbered in frantic pursuit.
“Ah!” Terrified out of her wits, An Feiwan stumbled and fell, instinctively grabbing onto the collar of the person in front of her.
Feeling her collar yanked tight, Nan Yao struggled for air just as she was violently pulled down onto the sand. Her ankle struck a sharp rock hidden beneath the grains, tearing the skin and drawing a bright stream of blood.
The scent of fresh blood made the drool spill eagerly from the jaws of the oncoming zombies, driving them into a wild, unstoppable frenzy.
“Get up! Hurry up!” Jiang Ying stomped his foot in fury, barking at the top of his lungs, “We’re almost at the safe zone! Get up and run!”
Tears streaming down her face, An Feiwan gripped Nan Yao’s collar in a death-grip, shaking her head as she sobbed, “I sprained my ankle, I can’t stand up, I’m scared, I’m so scared… Don’t leave me behind!”