Chapter 5-1
Team China would need a bus whether they want to head to the border of the city or the White House. If they went by feet, the fire would rain down on them before they could leave the city.
Twenty minutes had passed since entering the movie. The two newbies woke up one after the other. In the time that Zero and WangXia headed out to look for a bus, the newbies moved through the phases of distrust, doubt, toward believe. The process was fairly quick because of the gigantic piece of metal floating in the sky. Even an idiot could realize something was off with this world.
“That’s the basic situation… Ahem. Why does this line sound so familiar? Anyway, you are in God’s realm like I mentioned. God throws us into various movie worlds and our goal is to survive in these worlds. We will obtain points and rewards then you can choose to enhance yourselves or return to the real world. Whatever you decide. And yeah, the movie we are in is Independence Day.”
Zheng was explaining the specifics of the realm to the newbies and asking for their professions and backgrounds. After all, one of them could be the Guide so he took up the questioning to himself. Xuan told him privately to inform him the details of the newbies before the attack came.
(Is he planning to use the Guide to create an influence for team China? I don’t know what he’s planning but I should trust him. He hasn’t disappointed us. Or you could say he always overdoes things and triggers unexpected events. In the end, we are always near the brink of death. Don’t know if we should feel fortunate to have him or hate him.)
The two newbies weren’t too old. The man was about twenty-seven, wore a pair of slim, gold tone glasses. He looked well-mannered and educated, like a successful person who danced in the upper-class society. His face was a little weary but he still wiped the dust off his clothes with a handkerchief the moment he woke up. No queer language came out of his mouth. Still, these little gestures and frowns he held made the handsome man seem unsightly.
The woman was more normal in comparison. She was about twenty-three with charming facial features. Slightly chubby but it did not take away from her beauty. Her actions were normal, which led Zheng to give her more attention. She had sharp senses and noticed the attention from Zheng then blushed a little.
The man was said to be in upper management of a big company located in Hong Kong, graduated from Cambridge, possessed numerous international certificates. He was indeed a highly educated individual who became part of the upper-class society. He spoke in English when he woke up. Only upon noticing the strange looks the rest of the people here were giving him and their skin color did he changed the language. First to Japanese, then Korean, and finally Mandarin. This irritated the team.
The woman woke up clumsily then screamed in panic following the normal reaction script. After a while with no one caring about her, she carefully looked around. By the time Zheng finished explaining the realm, she sat on the ground frozen. Then she started to inquire the details of the realm.
“You are a… computer programmer? A rare breed, women who choose this profession… But you came at the right time. This movie needs your skills. You might be able to provide us a lot of help.” Zheng said, never taking his eyes off the fortress in the sky. He also split his attention to monitor if Zero and WangXia came back. These little things became an annoyance when they no longer had a psyche force user. As the thought came up, he looked over to Lan and the other members who were still in their dreams.
(Psyche force aside, HongLu needs to wake up as soon as possible. With him here, we can at least know what Xuan is planning. Anything’s better than this fog that is blurring our minds.)
Zheng wondered what Xuan was doing. The dude walked into a nearby electronics store after Zero and WangXia left. The mall was chaotic as were the streets outside. People were running and cars were crashing into each other. Some hooligans were robbing the stores. Xuan walked into a store and came back out with a laptop in hand. It seemed like he just went into his own house for a second.
“I don’t know what you are planning but that looked arrogant to simply walk out with a computer. It gives me an urge to beat you up. Are you planning to write a virus like the movie did? If so, she can help you.” Zheng pointed at the newbies and introduced them to Xuan.
The man’s name was Lin Juntian. His face had a resemblance to his name, Jun, meaning handsome. His language was half Chinese, half English. It felt like he had to insert a few English words into every other sentence he spoke. When he introduced himself, he demanded the others to call him Philip, as if it would change his race. His language, expressions, and gestures induced dislike. He gave off a sense of being superior to everyone else.
Xuan asked him a question and he began praising himself in half Chinese, half English, such as the fact he knew karate. He made it seem like it was an honor for the team to have him.
“Chinese likes to stay moderate and avoid standing out. It’s not a good habit. Completely opposite from foreigners’ courage to bear responsibilities and take on challenges. Staying moderate is the biggest obstacle to improvement. Our country does have a small fraction of people with talents in management and other fields. We call these people elites. Only when the normal majority is led by the few elites will our country not fall behind other countries. This loose structure in the current team is illogical. It would be best if…”
The rest of the team started to ignore him as he went on. People who call themselves as the elites of society and actually were successful in the real world with fame and wealth had an abundance of confidence with their experience. They felt there was nothing they couldn’t do in the world. They believed they were perfect except for the families that they were born into weren’t the wealthiest. They wanted to become the leader in any situation as their confidence told them they would succeed. But this was God’s realm.
The woman’s name was Yang Xuelin. She was normal in every way compared to Juntian. When Xuan asked her what did she think of the current team China, she couldn’t find an answer. However, when he asked about writing a computer virus, words flowed out like a stream of water. She probably liked her profession a lot.
(Those are all the hints we have. Both of them seem like the Guide but they aren’t much different from normal people. Even people like Juntian aren’t rare in the real world. Has Xuan figured it out? Damn it. We can’t even communicate privately without a psyche force user. Speaking of which, we have to capture the other team’s psyche force user in this movie.)
Zheng didn’t know if Xuan figured out who the Guide was. The dude asked the newbies a few questions then turned to his computer. Xuelin watched him from the side with interest.
“Only thirty percent.” Xuan said while he was typing. “I only have a thirty percent probability of figuring out which one… Continue with the movie. There’s still a long time to go. We will eventually get enough hints to figure it out.”
(So you are not omnipotent…)
The veterans thought and laughed to themselves. Before the team got to talk more, a bus appeared at the end of the street and were driving toward them. This bus avoided running over people on the chaotic street but not the vehicles as it bumped the vehicles on its way to the sides, clearing a road on the crowded streets. The bus stopped at the empty area the team was on.
“Come on in! The roads leading out of Washington are blocked. On the other hand, I couldn’t see a single car on the roads leading to Washington. Let’s get there while it’s still early!” Zero opened the back door and said with a frown. WangXia was on the driver’s seat.”