Chapter 53: Waking Up in the Debris

After returning home, Chen Xu cooked some noodles and finished eating quickly to fill his stomach.

He sat down to rest after his meal and awoke the Virtual Dream Gear. A window popped up in the new dream world interface that allowed props to be bought along.

This was an option that was not available in the first dream world experience.

He guessed that it was because he had completed the mission for the previous dream world experience and accumulated fifty points. Hence, he could unlock new experiences in his second experience.

After clicking it open, many small images appeared in front of him. When his attention was on a certain image, the image would automatically enlarge and become three-dimensional.

They were all weapons such as guns, daggers, axes, medications, and even big things like trucks and other vehicles. There were approximately ten to twenty different items.

Chen Xu felt that this experience was becoming more akin to a game.

The props were not considered expensive – a normal pistol only needed two points, and a hundred bullets would merely require one point.

From the name of this world, the probability of encountering a monster was high, so there was a need to use weapons to protect himself.

He exchanged his points for a pistol and rifle. Coincidentally, the models were the same as the ones used in the previous dream world experience. He also bought two sets of bullets for both the pistol and rifle he had chosen.

Just like that, he spent five points.

Next, he bought a left exoskeleton arm worth forty points. With his remaining five points, he bought a backpack, water, food, and some medication.

After much thought, he felt that the props were all quite powerful, be it guns or rocket missiles. However, they could only be useful when the target was hit. On the other hand, the exoskeleton arm could directly enhance his power and was more useful.

The only downside was that it was so expensive. A single exoskeleton arm was worth forty points, and to get the full set would require eighty points. He did not have enough points, so he could only afford one.

This exoskeleton arm had built-in energy and weighed thirty kilograms, but his power could reach up to ten tons. It was advanced technology.

After spending all his points, he exited the interface. He lay on his bed, preparing to sleep.

…

“Preparing to enter the virtual dream world ‘Alien Invasion’. This is a one-star difficulty dream level, lasting one hundred and eighty days. Wishing you the best experience in this dream world.”

After listening to that voice, he opened his eyes.

He saw the dark sky covered by dark yellow fog, causing people to feel oppressed.

“This time it is not in a room?”

He smelled a thick burning smell and stood up, realizing that around him were stones of different sizes, causing him to feel uncomfortable. He was in a daze after standing up and scanning his vicinity.

All around was quiet and piled up debris, just like what was seen in a movie, a city razed to the ground. There were collapsed buildings, and he was just standing in the middle of bricks and cement pillars that were abandoned with some very old, rusty rebar.

This was a city where no life form could grow.

Woosh.

A gust of wind blew, and he could hear a faint voice.

Chen Xu looked at the building that was far ahead and felt a chill run down his spine, “What happened to this world exactly?”

Could it be that the aliens had invaded and destroyed the world?

If that was the case, it would be way too dangerous. To survive here for one hundred and eighty days was mission impossible.

Even though he had had the dream experience before, facing this kind of environment still caused him to be anxious.

“Oh right, where are the props I purchased before?”

He had nothing on him, the props he spent fifty points for were nowhere to be seen.

“It can’t be.”

He searched everywhere in a state of panic, turned around, and found a headless corpse in a pool of blood. It was a gory scene.

“The game is going to this extent?”

He took a deep breath. No wonder there was a burning smell. It was the smell of hair and meat being charred. The thought of that gave him the urge to vomit.

Still uncomfortable, he walked towards the corpse.

From the color of the blood, the person had died not long ago. This meant that danger was lurking nearby. His first instinct was to get his weapons so that he could protect himself.

The type of clothing that the corpse was wearing was very unique. They seemed like a soldier, so there was a high possibility that there would be weapons on it.

After Chen Xu walked up to it, he found a pistol, and his eyes lit up. He immediately picked it up.

“It’s this model?”

He was surprised. It was the model he always used. Taking out the magazine, he found that it was filled with bullets.

No matter what, with a pistol in hand, he felt reassured. If there was a dangerous situation, he would have something to defend himself with.

He looked around and found a new problem. A rather well-preserved building around ten meters opposite had something burning in it.

“I shall go and take a look.”

He loaded the pistol and inched his way to the building while being cautious of his surroundings.

When he saw the interior of the building, he could not help but sigh. When he had seen the first corpse, he already had a hint of what was to come, but he had not expected it to be such a dire situation.

There were both human and alien corpses. Signs of a fierce battle were everywhere, with blood splattered all around.

He hesitated for two seconds but still walked in.

He took the risk because he saw an exoskeleton piece of armor that looked familiar. The model was exactly the same one as the one he used his points to exchange for. He could not believe that it was a coincidence.

“Just some NPCs and monsters. They can’t scare me.”

He kept repeating the sentence in his heart and avoided looking at all the corpses. Near the building, he picked up a rifle. As expected, it was exactly the same as the one he had traded points for.

He carried his guns on his back and walked to the corpse with the exoskeleton armor. He realized that its right arm was heavily wounded, but its left arm was as good as new.

It was evident that these were all the props he had exchanged points for. He had not started with them but had to acquire them in different ways.

“Is this a strategy to make the game more realistic?”

He did not know whether to laugh or cry. Just as he thought all his props that were exchanged were lost and his heart ached, they were all there waiting for him to pick them up.

“If I was careless and left, would I have missed these?”

He could only sigh. Visitors had no rights. Hints were not even given when playing a game. Everything depended on himself.

Next, he recalled the operating procedures for the armor, removed the exoskeleton arm from the corpse, and put it on himself.

It was not only a mechanical arm as the legs were included as well. Without support from the legs, a human would easily get tired from carrying a thirty-kilogram arm around.

This mechanical arm was half-covered. When he put it on, it seemed like half a piece of armor.

He tried to move it around, and its resistance was not bad. His arm was still as nimble as before.

“Let’s try the strength.”

He saw a cement pillar that was two meters long and held onto one end. He used some force, and the cement pillar, which weighed a few tons, was lifted off the ground.

“Advanced technology, indeed.” He placed the cement pillar down and sighed, “Looking at this, the technology in this world is of a higher level than that of reality.”

At that moment, he heard some noises behind him and turned around. He saw a green monster as tall as a normal human standing less than five meters from him, drooling.

Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine.