ZZZ: Book Immersion System

Chao Yu, who returned to the bookstore with a full stomach and calm mind, sat on the chair again before looking at the floating system.

With a reinforced will he repeatedly assured himself dying inside the simulation does not mean he would die in real life, he is safe within the parameters of the bookstore.

"System start Immersive story" His vision began to blur, and a tinge of nervousness began to bloom.

~~

Opening his eyes to the same rubbled town, he quickly hid behind some buildings and began looking for anything of use.

A distant roar and a familiar roar could be heard as heavy footsteps approached.

["Thank god I hid quickly."]

[Objective: Survive]

Chao Yu raised his eyebrow at the new response, it seems this body reacts to things he does in real-time, and not a pre-recorded voice which made him more immersed in the story.

["I need to find anti-ether medicine, or else I'll turn into an Ethereal!"]

[Ether corruption: 10:00]

[Objective: Find and-]

Chao Yu swiped off the new messages and began vigilantly looting and managed to find a machete and 3 capsules of HP salve, he used 1 instantly to heal his bruises and kept 2 for serious injuries.

Now fully healed and with a defense weapon he exited from the backdoor and started to carefully explore the town for a hospital.

Running around the corner he spotted a sign as his eyes lightened in hope 'A clinic!' he exclaimed internally.

Carefully scanning the surroundings, he confirmed it was safe before crossing the street and entering the long abandoned clinic.

"Empty, empty, empty F*ck" After searching every cabinet he found it was all looted previously, leaving nothing.

[Ether corruption: 06:23] Glancing at the time, he figured he had enough to search for another hospital.

Suddenly he heard multiple footsteps that seemed hurried and rapidly approaching. Panicked he hid below the front desk as the footsteps entered the clinic before slamming the front door shut.

Ethereal's footsteps went past the clinic as they let go of their held breath.

Several haggard breaths could be heard before one voice was raised.

"Who the hell said it was a good f*cking idea to raid the hospital after I remind you dumb f*cks over and over again THAT IT'S GUARDED BY A F*CKING ELITE ETHERIAL!!" A powerful crash echoed through the room as shelves toppling came after.

A few seconds of silence permeated the room before a nervous voice broke the ice.

"I-It's m-me boss."

"You? You cost us not only half of the squad but also WE'RE LOST IN THE F*CKING HOLLOW." A smack came after, and the front desk where Chao Yu was hiding shook. "Don't f*cking follow us anymore mutt. Come on let's go." Multiple steps slowly left the place before Chao Yu peeked slowly to check the situation.

One man was dazed and lying on the ground trying to stand up, he wore a peculiar outfit that Chao Yu instantly recognized.

'hollow raiders, a no-good bunch wanted from PubSpec'

Chao Yu turned his attention to the machete that was on the ground beside him and it gave him an idea.

"W-wait.. Please, don't leave... me behind." The hollow raider stood weakly with a haggard breath and started walking to the entrance.

Seeing the perfect chance Chao Yu lept from behind the counter and tackled the hollow raider to the ground, locking one of his arms behind his back.

"W-Who ugh!"

"Talk. How do I find an exit to this hollow." Chao Yu pressed the machete to his neck.

"Wha- I-I don't know, the b-boss only knows where the fissures are! We just follow him."

"Where is your base." Chao Yu

"I don't know! Space changes around here, I-I can't direct you, Please spare me, I'm telling the truth!"

"Tch." Chao Yu clicked his tongue and smashed the butt of the machete to his head knocking him out.

Flipping the body, Chao Yu searched his pockets for anything useful and found a chip.

Looking at the chip in confusion, the system panel suddenly appeared.

[Corrupt Carrot chip: essentially a piece of scrap if not restored in a hollow navigator beacon.]

"Shoot, I heard it's not easy to extract the data from those." Chao Yu remembered some proxy users always complain about how thick the firewall within the beacons is.

Pocketing the chip just in case he quietly escaped and glace at the corruption countdown.

[Ether corruption: 05:00]

[Warning, Humans classified as "individuals non-adaptable to either" will start transforming in 2 minutes if not given a dosage of anti-either medication quickly, please find an anti-either medication quickly.]

"F*ck."

~~

Quickly sprinting down the street, Chao Yu desperately scanned the building, his breath was hurried as his body felt like it was on fire.

[Ether corruption: 04:14]

"Huff, You, huff know system, maybe clarified if I start corrupting or fully corrupt when the huff, countdown ticks to 0."

[...] As usual, his system gave him the cold shoulder.

Looking behind him, several Ethereal were chasing him.

"Huff, Do these guys not have any stamina?! F*CK Off YA BITCH" Chao Yu raised his middle finger at them.

"RAAAAAAR!" The crowd behind him roared at him in unison as the sound of footsteps behind him became faster.

"!! Is it my imagination or did they sprint faster!?!" Glancing at the wave of angry Ethereal closing the gap between them Chao Yu faced forward and put more power into his legs.

"I'MSORRYIDIDN'TMEANITPLEASEFORGIVEME!!" Several tears escaped Chao Yu's eyes but seeing the dangerously close Ethereal Chao Yu closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

[Objective failed]

[Cause of death: Stampede by a horde of angry Ethereals]

[Try again?]

"At least it was a quick death, haaa, try again."

~~

Returning back to square one, Chao Yu moved to the abandoned house that contained the machete and 3 capsules of HP salve and went past the first clinic.

Chao Yu moved carefully this time going through the alleyways and obscure paths but stopped after hearing a voice beyond.

"Zeno, I need you to guard the entrance while I loot the hospital."

"Alright, I'll alarm you when I see any danger."

Peeking around the corner, Chao Yu saw a muscular man with a beard standing beside an entrance to a clinic.

'A clinic!'

A spring of hope blooms inside but the man that was guarding the entrance returned him to reality.

Scanning him carefully his clothes are covered in dust but not rough enough to be like hollow raiders, rather he wears clothing that is similar to a Hollow Special Operative.

"Ahem"

"Who's there!" Zeno who heard a cough turned to the alley that hid Chao Yu.

Chao Yu emerged from the alleyway with hand raised "I'm a citizen of New Eridu, I got swallowed by a hollow and I assume you are as well?"

"How do I know you're not a hollow raider." Zeno's eyes were razor-sharp as he tightened the bat on his left-right.

"Have you seen any hollow raider in a business suit? I was on my way to work and suddenly I'm stuck here."

"Hm. I see, you're in the same situation as well." Zeno put down his bat but kept a safe distance from Chao Yu.

"The name is Zeno, and you?"

"My name is C̶h̶a̶o̶ ̶Y̶u̶ ["Mark"], I was on my work before the hollow appeared."

'???' Chao Yu was confused for a moment before accepting the fake name the system gave.

"Well Mark, seems like we're in the same boat, another survivor is in the clinic, and we're trying to find any anti-either medicine to prolong our stay in the hallow if the situation gets dire."

"I see.." Chao Yu's eyes slowly wandered onto Zeno's clothing but he decided not to ask.

As time passed both spent their time in small talk.

"So got any relatives waiting for you at home?" Zeno asked.

["I have a son waiting for me, as for my wife.. she passed away in the hospital after my son's birth."] Chao Yu's mood became melancholic before returning to normal.

Chao Yu has gotten used to the system making up stories and letting it carry most of the conversation.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Zeno expressed his sympathy

"You don't need to be sorry, I just hoped I would make it out of this hollow, I can't imagine leaving my son all alone in this world."

As they spoke footsteps echoed from the entrance of the clinic.

"Zeno I was fortunate to find a relief supply, with this we can cure 30 people for a day or two."

As the figure emerges from the entrance he instantly notices Chao Yu and is on guard upon sight.

"Calm down Crimson, he's a citizen who got caught up in the hollow expansion as well."

"Crimson?" Chao Yu questioned the weird name.

"It's my alias, I'm.. a proxy, nice to meet you" Crimson extended his hand for a handshake.

["My name is Mark, the pleasure is mine."] Chao Yu displayed a professional smile and shook his hand.

Scanning Crimson, he wore glasses and casual clothing but also had a modified phone and various odd devices on his tool belt.

"Alright now that we are all acquainted let's continue trying to find a beacon" Zeno led ahead as Chao Yu and Crimson followed suit.

~~

As they walked, they conversed about their life in New Eridu though Zeno was evasive for most questioning Crimson was welcoming to the inquires. Chao Yu discovered Crimson had got a new girlfriend, surprisingly it was the first time he had been in a relationship, and asked Chao Yu for relationship advice.

"Mark, do you have any good advice?"

"Hmm, I know 3 scriptures that should never be broken!!"

"???"

"Well the first is to never anger your girlfriend, in any situation if she is angered, you will spend the rest of the night sleeping outside, or if you get lucky, on the couch."

"?? Mark have you ever slept outside because you angered your wife?"

["Haha, multiple times! One time I spent my evening drinking out with the boys and came back home to a locked door."]

"!!?!" Crimson vividly imagined such a situation with his girlfriend and, the thought itself sent a shiver to Crimson's whole body, he swore to himself never to wrong his girlfriend.

"The second is what I call 'your woman is always right' If she says something wrong, then it will automatically be right, and if in any way you disagree you will break the first scripture! So if you want to keep them happy is to nod your head at everything they say!!"

"And the thir-"

"Shhh" Zeno who was quietly observing the surroundings suddenly crouched and interrupted Chao Yu after peeking around a corner of a street.

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, they put all joke aside and crouch walking their way to the side of Zeno.

Peeking around the corner Chao Yu found 3 Ethereal who were wandering around. In the center was a military jeep with several armed men lying on the ground dead.

Their corpse seemed to be flattened to the ground seemingly crushed by something large.

[Game saved, If the host dies at any point, you may be able to start at this point.]

'System, is there something you're not telling me??' Chao Yu exclaimed, in his gaming experience if the game saved before a fight, then it can only mean one thing.

"If we manage to take care of these Ethereal, we can access that jeep that might have several guns inside." Zeno pointed at the back of the jeep "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."

Seeing an open hand extending to him Chao Yu in deep panic inside unconsciously handed the item in his hand which was the machete and thereafter handed a bat.

"Alright Mark, I will take on the 2 on the right, and you keep the last one occupied alright? Ready? 3... 2.. 1 GO!!"

"Huh? The- Hey wait! M*therf*cker." Chao Yu was left with no other choice but to rush toward the Ethereal.

"HAAAAA!" Chao Yu with his bat overhead charged at the lone Ethereal.

The Ethereal turned to look at Chao Yu in surprise and instinctively dodged out of the way.

'Wait!' looking at the Ethereal that dodged, Chao Yu tried to stop his momentum but was unable to and ended up stumbling right beside the Ethereal.

Lying down in his back Chao Yu saw the Ethereal looked at him as if saying 'You serious?'

"Wait!! we can talk about this-"

[Objective failed]

[Cause of death: Failed negotiation with a laughing Ethereal]

[Try again?]

"You Ethereal bastard! Don't you laugh at me!!" Chao Yu jumped out of his chair in fury.

"Ummm, h-hello I would like to rent a book." Surprised by a voice, Chao Yu creakily turned slowly towards his front desk to see a nervous young girl wearing a beanie hat.

"A."