ZZZ: Book Immersion System

*Ding Ding* Looking at the girl exiting, Chao Yu sighed before turning to the system.

[Try again?]

Chao Yu hesitated for a moment before clicking the floating button.

~~

"Mark, hand me that machete, and I'll give you the bat. Every guy can swing a stick correctly, but it's harder to straighten a sword swing."

"Here" Handing the machete and receiving the bat, Chao Yu took a couple of test swings to get used to the weight before turning to Zeno.

"I'm flattered but what made you think I can take on an Ethereal?"

"I don't, just stay alive while I deal with those two" Before Chao Yu could respond any longer Zeno turned to the Ethereals and sprinted at them like last time.

"Sigh, why did I sign up for this." Chao Yu complained to the system and sprinted to the lone Ethereal.

[Objective failed]

[Try again?]

"Maybe I should focus on dodging more."

[Objective failed]

"Grrr, how is that hand-spear so g*d*mn fast."

[Objective failed]

"AGAIN!"

[Objective failed]

[Objective failed]

[Objective failed]

[Objective failed]

[Objecti-]

"Mark, hand me that machete, and I'll give you the bat. Every guy can swing a stick correctly, but it's harder to straighten a sword swing."

"Here"

Being handed the familiar wooden grip, Chao Yu dashed forward first surprising Zeno and Crimson.

The lone Ethereal was alarmed by the footsteps rapidly approaching it and turned around to see Chao Yu who already raised his bat.

"Surprise m*therf*cker." Before it could react a heavy blow to the head dazed the Ethereal, letting Chao Yu ready the second hit.

Sensing the danger, the Ethereal instinctively moved to the right barely dodging Chao Yu's strike.

"Tch." Failing the stun lock, Chao Yu stepped back out of the Ethereal effective range.

"Roar" Recovering from a daze the Ethereal locked eyes with Chao Yu seemingly angry.

"What, you got a spear, I got a bat, clearly you have the advantage here" Chao Yu taunted.

"Roar!" Cleary aggravated the Ethereal and thrust his hand toward Chao Yu.

"Hm!" After fighting this Ethereal a dozen times Chao Yu now memorized his moveset.

Dodging with ease he struck back, hitting the Ethereal's side.

Crimson who was watching the spectacle watched in awe, though he had seen many battles as a proxy, Mark who seemed to be a normal citizen proficiently fighting the Ethereal dodging strikes from his blindsight as if having eyes in the back of his head.

Finally, with one last strike, Chao Yu quickly dispatched the Ethereal and went behind one of the Ethereal's back who was fighting Zeno.

Zeno who was occupied by two Ethereal was surprised by a bat rising behind one of the Ethereal.

With a strong strike, the Ethereal was instantly eliminated. Now left with the advantage in number the last one was quickly taken care of.

"I'm surprised that you can fight like that." Crimson who left his hiding place approached Mark.

"Well, I took a couple of self-defense classes when I was young, I guess those training paid off."

"Alright, now that the coast is clear, let's scavenge what we can here." Zeno scanned the area before approaching the military jeep.

Looking at the door, it was locked by some sort of keycard scanner.

Chao Yu turned to look at Crimson expecting an answer.

Crimson who noticed Chao Yu's gaze gave him a dead stare "How do you expect me to break into a military-grade jeep, their firewall is as thick as it could be, it's impossible for me to bre-"

"Beep, card verified." Hearing the robotic voice both turned to Zeno who was holding a badge over the scanner.

"Job privilege." Not elaborating much further Zeno searched for the driver seat and fiddled with the buttons on the steering wheel.

"Click" A click sounding from the back of the jeep surprised Crimson and Chao Yu.

"You really know your way around this car." Chao Yu commented, watching Zeno who was going to the trunk.

"Well if you got a job like mine, it'll be natural to know. Now." Zeno opened the trunk and retrieved a pistol, loading it, and cocking the slide he pointed the gun at Chao Yu.

"WOAH!" Both surprised by his action, Chao Yu raised his hand.

"Zeno, what are you doing." Crimson who felt betrayed looked at Zeno in anger.

"Shut up Crimson, this guy cannot be trusted. Who are you." Zeno's eyes had a mix of suspicion

"I'm Mark, you I've told you."

"What is your job?"

"Postal service, we deliver mail from and to outer towns."

"Then tell me. how did you learn how to fight like that." Zeno's grip tightened and placed one finger on the trigger.

"From high school-"

"Shut your lies, and tell me the truth, a normal school doesn't teach how to fight Ethereal like that."

"Tch." Chao Yu who was brainstorming how to handle the situation.

"I- I'm a former Hollow raider, happy?"

"Former?"

"Yes, I got turned in and went to jail, after my sentence I decided I wanted to live a normal, is it that odd for a man to want peace?" Zeno sensing sincerity in those words lowered his pistol.

"I see then I'll trust you for now."

"Phew, you put us in a tense situation." Crimson who was sweating from the situation wiped his brow. "Can is there any more guns inside the cab?"

"There is an assault rifle, how good are you with guns?" Zeno asked Crimson.

"Not that great."

"Alright take this for self-defense, I'll take the rifle." Zeno handed him the pistol grabbed the assault rifle and pocketed the spare mags.

"What about me?" Chao Yu asked.

"You can keep your bat since you're good at wielding it." Chao Yu still sensing Zeno's distrust nodded along not wanting to argue any longer.

"Alright let's keep moving, we shouldn't stay any longer."

"ROAR" Hearing a roar, the three of them were surprised by how near it was, backing off from the source of heavy footsteps approaching them beyond a wall.

Expecting something big is come Chao Yu shouted "Take cover!" before hiding behind the jeep.

As expected large concrete debris flew out from the wall as the dust revealed an outline of a huge Ethereal.

"Let's run!" Zeno who saw the huge behemoth shouted taking advantage of the dust covering them.

Sensing the danger both Crimson and Chao Yu quickly ran far from the area.

"Huff, huff I think he's not chasing." Chao Yu slowed down and looked behind an empty street.

"Good, that monstrosity must be the one who dispatched the group near the jeep."

"Yeah, we should find a beacon quickly," Crimson said.

As they moved forward Chao Yu glanced at his corruption timer.

[Either corruption: 02:60]

'!!'

"Ugh!"

Feeling something sprouting inside his arm Chao Yu turned to his teammates "I need that anti-either medicine right now!"

"Are you turning?" Zeno asked first but suddenly Chao Yu's left arm grew dark crystal surprising both of them.

"Does that answer your question?" With a sarcastic remark, Chao Yu was surprised at how it didn't hurt to move it around.

"Here!" Crimson searched his pocket and retrieved a bottle full of pills "Eat two and keep the rest for later."

Heeding his words Chao Yu swallowed two pills and the crystal in his arm began to deteriorate but the root was still present.

"Tch, it's still here." Chao Yu tried to scratch the remaining small crystals but was unable to. Seeing it isn't coming off easily Chao Yu gave up "Thank you."

[Either corruption: 05:00]

[Corruption state: small]

[Objective complete: Find and scavenge a hospital]

[New objective: Find a way out]

~~

Several hours have passed since Chao Yu's corruption started, as the trio explored Chao Yu started to gain Zeno's trust, from covering his back in combat and being genuinely a good person he cleared Zeno's suspicion.

Chao Yu on the way has died multiple times, be it a surprise attack or encountering a horde of Ethereals but for each death, he learned and survived.

On their travel, they encountered a mobile storage unit that was lying along the ruins.

Zeno explained that the mobile storage units are usually accompanied by a team of hollow investigators so it was strange to encounter many of them without being accompanied.

"Let's see what you got little guy." Chao Yu approached the mobile storage unit and opened the compartment to find several explosives inside including plastic explosives.

"C4's?" Chao Yu was surprised by what he found.

"Hollow investigators team who carry explosives are usually tasked with clearing ruins that blocked main paths," Zeno explained picking up a pack of plastic explosives before putting them back in "We can use these once we obtain a carrot and know a way out."

"Hmm, good idea."

Deciding to bring it along, Zeno waved his identity card on its face and with a cute beep it came alive and started following them.

"So little guy what's your name."

"Beep- beep!"

"It seems the translator is broken-" Crimson glanced at the Mobile cargo unit.

"I see, then I shall name you Sir. Storage!"

"Wait, you can understand it?" Crimson turned to Chao Yu in confusion.

"Of course!"

"How?!"

"Hehe, a state secret! Even the IRS can't extract this information out of me."

"Ha ha, let's see about that." Zeno who was amused by their conversation joined along.

"Wait, wait, wait. I'll tell, I'll tell, spare me!!!" Chao Yu who saw Zeno cracking his knuckles instantly surrendered.

Seeing the pitiful Chao Yu both laughed at him and continued on their journey.

~~

Several more hours passed finding without a beacon, Chao Yu's left arm had been consumed by ethereal forming a spear-hand.

Even Zeno and Crimson who have high Either aptitudes began to be affected. 

As their hope began to falter a flash of light shot above the sky garnering their attention.

"That's a beacon!" Crimson exclaimed and all of their eyes lit in excitement.

Wasting no time they sprinted in that direction and the beacon came into view.

Looking at the empty field they saw another group of survivors who were desperately fighting the incoming Ethereal attracted by the beacon's light.

"Jack! How long do we need to hold out!" A woman screamed to the man beside the beacon as she clumsily swung at an Ethereal

"Ugh, I can't last much longer!" One survivor who had a wrench stagged down as an Ethereal he was fighting saw the opportunity and stabbed him in the chest.

"!!!" Feeling the overwhelming pain the survivor felt his death was imminent.

"Jose no!!"

Bang

A bullet that came from a distance found its mark and eliminated the ethereal.

"?!?" Both parties were surprised as more gunshots were fired from a distance as Chao Yu dashed towards one of the ethereal.

Utilizing the corrupted spear-hand, he stabbed the ethereal in the chest which killed it instantly.

"Hah! Pay back B*tch."

Crimson and Zeno who followed behind shot down the remaining Ethereal, Zeno quickly came to Jose's side and retrieved a medkit to stop the bleeding from the wound.

Crimson who came to the side of Jack quickly shouted "Zeno I need your keycard!"

Without hesitation, Zeno threw his keycard to him and was quickly able to bypass the firewall. Jack who saw this backed off as he acknowledged Crimson is a more experienced Proxy.

Retrieving a modified phone he wired it to the beacon as it continued to scan the area.

"Defend the area while I path an exit!"

Looking at the incoming Ethereal Chao Yu cracked his head as he glanced at the system.

[Game saved]

"This is gonna be a long fight." Chao Yu sighed.

Zeno who was checking his magazine came beside him "Don't rush out unnecessarily, I will take them out of range and kill anyone who comes near."

"Well save me the energy from running around."