Chapter 72

Translated by boilpoil Edited by boilpoil

The barrier separating contestants and zombies is gradually retracted, revealing the straight road unto Hell. The normal zombies have not yet caught the scent of men. They are shambling about the streets. Everyone knows that every step inside would be a close dance with the reaper. Special zombies are hidden in the darkness, waiting for their opportunity.

The unarmed contestants look at each other without moving, including the strongest and largest group the Wolves. In the end, all their gazes land on the man.

Bright walks to the front, becoming the first to step inside. He does not care about anybody else, not even giving them a glance. Members who are thought to be in his group by default, including number 56, the Dwarf and the Giant, Old Veteran, etc. all follow behind him without orders, a tacit understanding between them. Some opportunistic contestants also follow them. More contestants join them as they are not chased off.

Infighting and competition have their places, but not this place. Those who don’t have vision, don’t know to be flexible are now all dead. For some reason, perhaps inspired by Old Veteran, everyone seems to think number 199 is soft in heart and gentle in his methods. He won’t kill contestants out of the blue——Beast who blatantly went against him doesn’t count.

So, under the camera, the scene is that the contestants who usually try to duke it out with each other have temporarily let go of their grudges and follow behind the man tacitly, forming a group.

The Inner City residents have their eyes glued to the man. Somebody points out, “a contestant managing to influence the whole lot of them is too dangerous.”

Director is confident, saying, “even if the contestants are working together, the monsters in the zombie wonderland can wipe the floor with ten times their numbers. All advanced and special zombies are all equipped with controlling devices. Their actions are doubly controlled by smart chips and AI. There’s also remote-controlled bombs on them. The situation is under control through multiple medium and there will not be any accidents.”

Gentleman says coldly, finally in agreement with Director for once, “no contestant is loyal to someone no matter who that someone is. If Bright is wounded or loses, they will be the first ones to rush onto him and tear him apart.”

“You do not look worried at all; your emotions sure are fickle.”

Hopkin feels irritated. When he worries about him they say he’s entrapped by the slave; when he does not they still drone on about this and that. He’s not someone with great temperament, so he ignores the person and continues watching the show while his thoughts drift away.

Bright, did you cause the fire?

What is it that you want to do?

Suddenly, somebody gasps. Hopkin looks back at what’s happening and sees that they have encountered a special zombie – an Underworld Cerberus.

Bright leads the people through the streets aiming directly for the abandoned police station, preparing to loot weapons and equipment inside. Yet the moment they make their way to the armory, they meet a special zombie.

The Cerberus is almost one whole floor in height. It has no hair and its colour is dark red. Tangled muscles can be seen as if the skin is peeled. All of its heads look hideous. It is drooling in the direction of the contestants.

Many people look towards the temporary leader of the team. Disappointingly, Bright does not make a move. The normal zombies were dispatched by contestants next to him when they encountered them before. Though he still doesn’t appear as if he will fight right now. He is expressionless as he meets eye-to-eye with Alpha. Then the Wolves all tear their clothes apart simultaneously.

“They’re going to transform!” Scientist exclaims in a tone full of excitement and he even bites his tongue saying it. His affection for creatures such as werewolves cannot be understated. They are wonderful creations that have merged man and wolf perfectly. Compared to number 199, he is even more interested in them.

Different from his excitement, Director shows a cold smile, “Watchdog is finally making their move.”

The military has always been waiting. The show is now at its third-to-last episode. It’s time for them to display their power, so they order the Dog Soldiers to display their true strength. They thought that with the power of the werewolves it is going to be obvious they will suppress number 199 to win this season’s championship.

With a howl that seems to render the sky asunder, the bodies of the members of the Wolves all grow taller and their muscles bulge. Hair and sharp claws emerge from their bodies.

“Holy shit!”

Contestants who didn’t know beforehand all have blank expressions. While they’re shocked at what species the Wolves actually belonged to, there is also more respect for number 199 who not only lived through their pursuit and even becoming acknowledged by Alpha.

To know is one thing, to see is another. Watching all those ferocious wolves lunge towards the Cerberus, to tear flesh and bones down from it, even Piers can’t help but feel his hairs standing on hand.

“Quit dozing off! Ready your weapons!” He cusses as he equips a bazooka. He’s seen Beauty use it on Bright before and he has always remembered the scene ever since. He really wanted to try it.

With werewolves distracting the Cerberus, the contestants infiltrate the place further under Bright’s leadership.

Big Retard is yowling like an ape as he smashes normal zombies into paste one by one. Harry and Old Veteran fire their guns every now and again, chatting as they do so. Harry says, “old man, I feel like I’m slacking off again.” Old Veteran laughs with a ‘ho ho.’

Up until now, the competition has entered its most dramatic phase. The contestants who have a chance at the championship have fought over and over again. There’s sieges, turtlings, blitzkriegs and information warfare. The battles are so intense that even lives could be at stake when the fans are pushing the stats for topics on social media. Also, there’s also internal fighting among the fans for many of the stars of the show. Fans who only like that one star, fans who want to make CPs, fans who only want to follow their work and fans who only look at the stats of the star are all having a battle royale, no less intense than even the competitions in reality.

While 69CP may be popular among the fans, the fans of number 56 and number 199 are actually highly hostile to each other, since there’s only one champion in the end. Their CP is destined for a BE. Fans of number 56 say number 199 is a prostituting bottom, making up videos and pictures and even coming up with eroticas. They say his thing’s inept and his hole is already loose yet still trying to score with their young master; fans of number 199 say they are an adulterous bunch, doing it with all sorts of people while still trying to ingratiate and beg themselves onto him. They say their Big Tiger will never fall for that. The two sides basically fight the moment they see each other. They even tried to hack each other’s idol’s webpage earlier.

Unlike how militant the pages of all other contestants look, Old Veteran has a wildly different group of followers.

“Thread: Elderly Living——These things kill your sperms, never eat them!”

“Daily log-on for luck.”

“I’ve come back in gratitude for granting my wish. Thanks.”

Anti-fans say, “You bunch of retards. I’ll livestream me eating my own keyboard if that old fart lives through episode 10.”

“Calm down, young one. I recommend a calming and cooling stew. Link”

“Now now don’t say that. It works when you have faith.”

A long-time fan says, “oh right, where’s the one that said he’ll never live through episode eight?”

“Do we want to dig them out?”

“No need. I’ve sent him a box of lotus leaf for tea-brewing. They nurture the intestines and facilitate excretion, so that he doesn’t spit shit out of his mouth again.”

Anti-fans are all like “…”

Old Veteran looks casual, but he’s actually focused on his surroundings. He does not dare to divert his attention to think about other things. While he might be past his time in brawls and stamina, he is familiar with firearms with great accuracy. He isn’t particularly a burden to his team himself.

Harry now calls himself Bright’s underling, he acts way more casually, bordering on recklessness. He asks Old Veteran, “old man, I heard you lost all your money gambling again?”

“Yeah. The fans treat me as a koi and try to get lucky off me. I don’t have any luck when gambling myself though.”

Old Veteran looks natural as a glint flashes through his expression. This isn’t actually the truth. A long while ago Bright has contacted him and asked him to put money on the bet for how many seasons Old Veteran could live——This is also part of why Bright slaughtered his way through episode seven. He needed to secure enough tools for him to live on.

As Old Veteran is seen unfavourably throughout the Internet, his odds are abysmal every single season. He won a lot for Bright in this way. Old Veteran is also quite a long-time acquaintance with people of the gambling den, and they’re also making a lot of money from this, so they’re happy to cover it up and put his money into an inconspicuous account.

As for what Bright needed all that money for…

Old Veteran doesn’t know. Nor does he want to know.

Harry is too focused on chatting with Old Veteran to noticed a zombified rat suddenly bursting out the sewers. Before its sharp teeth digs itself into Harry, an arrow pierces it through the brain and onto the ground.

Harry takes a peek at its eye which is pierced right through and swallows in nervousness. He turns to the archer, “thanks.” Beauty flicks his hair and walks in the other direction. A few supporters of his following behind.

“What a sight to behold,” Harry whispers.

“Don’t lose focus, now.” Old Veteran reminds him.

Harry scratches his head, sighing.

He has something on his mind.

He’s just received a good amount of money. There are so many zeroes that if it were paper money it could pile up on his grave, enough for ten reincarnations of his. It was so much he even wanted to ditch his boss and take Big Retard and run away.

He’s just some shady little character without ambition or heart. It’s hard for him not to be tempted!

Thanks to his underground connections, his boss asked him to contact his ex-bosses for some weapons and resources sent to specified locations. Weapons are to be expected. He knows nobody can mess about behind the scenes without firearms.

What was the part about a few tonnes of bananas though? And also smart learning devices?

Harry is a bit envious of Old Veteran. People who are broke don’t understand the troubles that come with money.

A roar that sounds as if it emerged from the deepest bellows of the earth is making everyone’s skin tingle. A rumbling sound reverberates through the floor. A giant pile of dirt burst up out of the ground as if it was a tumour of this land of sin. Then the pile cracks open with larger and larger markings before a monster with a cow’s head and a human body flies out. It is large in stature, about as tall as the Cerberus if it stood up. It looks like Minotaur from the myths, with an axe in one hand, smashing through a wall with just one hit.

Faced with such a strong opponent, the man still doesn’t move. Some contestant starts to become disgruntled. They think he might be expending their strength on purpose. Those who know the man well have become more concerned; there must be even stronger beasts lurking around.

Some people have run away. Of course, they’re running away when they think they won’t be able to beat it. This was a team formed temporarily after all. They have secured weapons now, so as long as they avoid the strongest beasts and leave them for the dumbasses to deal with, they will win. Yet they are wrong, and they pay for their hubris with their lives. A certain distance away from Bright, where most contestants can’t see, the murders of crows lunge towards them. With the great numbers of the zombified crows, firearms are of zero help. They turn into bloody piles of skeletons in almost no time.

“Tyrant is wary of number 199.” Director understands his own show the most, and he’s the one in charge of the whole thing as well, so he discovers this fact first.

Detective sounds giddy as if he’s celebrating, “the evidence is clear. Tyrant is trying to send its underlings to weaken Bright’s fighting force. It’s only taking out people who leave his sphere of protection.

“It can’t be? It’s Tyrant!” The ultimate creature is a copy of the king of the zombies from back then. The terrifying monster that the show only dared awaken after installing numerous fail-safes on!

“What kind of inhuman creature…”

Director says, “now I believe that Gentleman is in control of number 199.”

Author’s notes:

Everyone: Gentleman messed him up so much but still isn’t punched to death. This must be true love.

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