Heart-Pounding Collab (2)

I jump straight into Discord. Ding.

"You're here!"

"Wheeee!"

"Hi~."

Everyone greets me warmly.

"Hello. Sorry, I got the room wrong..."

"It's fine."

"That happens. Let's go~ Let's go."

They all let it slide so kindly. Phew, what a relief.

"Shall we get started, then?"

Maru grabs the mic and smoothly takes the lead.

"Any rules or anything?"

"Um... none."

"Nope. Knew it. So, what's our goal?"

"Ah~ We do have a goal. Survive. And escape. Once you're in, just live well and prep for escape. Simple, right?"

"Got it. Anything else?"

Maru asks, but it's hard to answer. There's nothing else. No content planned. We just wanna play the game.

"Uh... just survive on your own. See you in the zombie world. L-Let's head in!"

"Sounds good~ Gotta jump right in. Once we're in, we'll switch to in-game chat instead of Discord, right?"

"Yeah, that'd be best. Yup. Way more immersive."

Maru and Moteok kick off the convo.

"Wait, but we need some rules. Game over if you die? Going full hardcore?"

"Ugh, that's too intense."

"But there should be a penalty for dying."

"Hm... penalty, huh."

A brief silence falls. But it doesn't last long.

"How about this? If you die... add one hour to the stream?"

"Good. Good. Nah, make it a full day."

"That's brain-breaking..."

"Then one hour. All together."

"All together?"

Raming sounds flustered as she repeats it, and Moteok jumps in excitedly right away.

"Yesss. If all four of us die, that's four extra hours. Something like that."

"Still brain-breaking."

"Just don't die."

"Easier said than done."

I quietly spectate the three seniors' debate. After over five minutes, they reach a conclusion. Did I get it right? Not totally sure, but from what I heard...

They'll set the hierarchy based on deaths. More deaths means lower rank, fewer means higher? Something like that. Not sure if the hierarchy even matters. Anyway, I'll go along with it. Oh, there were other rules too, but nothing important.

50 minutes since logging into the game. I spawned in Rosewood. They say it's super easy. Feels like fewer zombies, more items. I wander around slowly.

Zombies that weren't there before. Running zombies mean I can't let my guard down. They pop out suddenly—if you're spacing out, you're bitten. Slack off and you die carelessly. High risk of careless death.

"Walkie-talkie. This is a walkie-talkie, right?"

Something we talked about before starting... I jotted it down in notepad. I start setting the walkie-talkie.

The walkie-talkie's key feature? Lets you talk to people far away. As long as channels and range match, you can chat from anywhere. Downside? Gotta manage the battery well. Not an issue now. It's brand new—full battery, no prob.

"Uh... ah. Can you hear me?"

I turn it on and speak, but no reply. Means no one's nearby. So, wander around like this and find survivors.

Wait a sec.

"Uh... did I turn the walkie on?"

I check the switch again.

"It's on. Can you hear me?"

Try again—no reply. Guess I gotta go find survivors myself.

Before that, check inventory and status. Inventory's good, but sleep's the issue. Haven't slept much—fatigue emote's twitching. Fatigue levels: tired → sleepy → very sleepy → half-asleep. Currently sleepy. Damage way down, gotta sleep soon.

"Sleep..."

Wanna sleep, but no safe spot. Gotta sleep safe. Can't on the road—zombie bait. Gotta get in a house... bed for fast recovery.

I break into the two-story house window right ahead. Bad luck. At least one inside.

- Thud thud. Thud thud. Thud thud.

Zombie pounding the bathroom door. I crouch and carefully open it.

- Pwoof. Oh. Whoa!

"Eek!!!"

Thought one, but three. What were three zombies doing in a bathroom? Explain yourselves—two male, one female.

"Is this normal in America? Why zombies in the bathroom?"

"Who knows. Anyway... heading upstairs. Zombies won't come while I'm sleeping, right?"

Everything's great, but one regret. My job. Picked firefighter, can't hotwire cars. Sometimes no need if keys are there. But passed cars had none. Super unlucky.

If unlucky, find a book. But can't now. Survivors first.

End up spotting good cars but... no key! Argh!! Abandon it.

"Gonna sleep first. Whew... I'm doing good, right? Right, guys?"

List my achievements so far... Nah, not from me—angels in chat.

"Tell me what I'm doing well."

"I'm great, fact. Now ramble on about what exactly."

"Got it. You shy bunch. Praising's hard, huh? Ehehe."

I get it. Always getting hate, then suddenly gotta praise? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Awkward. Shy. Yeah. Sure. Haha. Anyway, time to think.

Gotta find survivors first to do anything. Base location, escape timing, strategy... Can't solo. Zombie-heavy areas. Mawgul cuz of that. Can't do mawgul alone. Tried before, all fails. Too many zombies = lag. Lagging while fighting zombies? Melee impossible. Need multiple gun users. Pros might clear with molotovs or axes. But not me.

"Gonna find survivors first. Where's everyone... Hm..."

Wait, am I the only one lagging? Others already going without me? No way...

Sudden chill down my spine. That'd suck. For real. No, no. I trust 'em. Maru. Moteok. Raming. Trust!

"Shall we?"

Curious, but skip mentioning. Might arm the cuckoos. Cuckoos are viewers relaying other streams. Problem? Heavy firepower. "Protect Maru." "Maru needs this." "Raming calling." "Our Moteok's hurt..." Chat floods. Mess up here, kill switch flips. Kill switch = stream folds. Die to hate. Saw it in old stream buddy's—now dead... Poisoned chalice stream. Chalice stream was 90% host talk. Collab? Cuckoos guard host. "What host doing?" "Protect host." Host... Buddy said nothing. Still drank chalice again.

"Let's go."

Lucky my chat's spicy. Crushes invaders. Fights external forces fierce. Swears, chokes, "blind trio." Slight fame? Instant cull. Doots decent too... Not chat, 1k doots. "Saw you on some commu ." "That illegal site guy? Like you too." ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠"Jjang, that guy's famous. Furry hentai poster. Always grateful." "Like him? Upvote?" "Who's that. GTFO." Brutal cull. Scary but reliable viewers.

"Thanks everyone."

Embarrassed, huh.

"Ehehe. You embarrassed?"

Heh heh heh. Hilarious. Chat reactions gold. Haven't seen flustered chat in ages.

- Static crackle.

Eh? Moteok's voice!

"I'm here! Moteok! I'm here!"

"V-Vaccine?"

Why vaccine? No urgent need... Feels like bad news if I go. Turn off now? Play dead? Angel Sena and Devil Sena pop up.

Devil Sena: We're a team, gotta save her. Build trust to escape together.

Angel Sena: What? Survive first, dummy. Give vaccine? You'll die too. You know. Can't even get bit now.

Why's devil saying save and angel run? Big trouble. Real big.

Ugh. Real big trouble.