Thriller Hunting Program

Chapter 1: The Hunting Program

Translated by: Milky

It was late night where clouds covered the moon and the windy rain seemed desolated, coupled with a rather historic-looking abandoned hospital, it constituted a very classic horror movie scene.

Under the blinding incandescent light, the hospital hall was crowded with people, from the pharmacy till the registration room, and even the stairs to the second and third floors were full of people. Through a rough count, there were at least 200 people in there.

The youngest among them were only 14, while the oldest were averagely over 30, all of them were quite young.

Not only that, they were dressed in different styles, including summer and winter clothing, ranging from modern to ancient costumes. There were also people cloaked in a line of intergalactic armor.

The sound of rain from outside and the sound of conversation inside made the place extra noisy, it was clear that everyone’s talk was pointless, they had no idea what happened, and all they could do was feel anxious.

At that moment, they suddenly heard the overhead loudspeaker sounded with a
“ding-dong” rhythm, and the following announcement rang through every corner of the hospital.

Through the broadcast, a mechanical female voice sounded rigidly as the announcement was made.

[The Hunting Program has rebooted. Welcome, a total of 3 million outstanding travelers from each system, who are selected to participate in the games.]

[This game adopts the survival elimination system, randomly assigning players to various tournament zones. Each game lasts for five days, and zones are automatically rotated after five days.]

[The game ends when the survivors shrink to one in a thousand.]

As if a stone had stirred up a thousand waves, the entire group of more than two hundred travelers went mad.

“What hunting program? What survival elimination system?”

“What did it just say at the end? One in a thousand? It means only 3000 out of 3 million people can survive?”

“What is this for? So I was sent here to die?!”

…

These are players who were bound to various systems, they’re all experienced in their respective fields before, and none were surprised by the crossing.

However the problem was, it was different this time. This was not simply just completing their tasks, but a survival game with an extremely low survival rate.

They somehow just appeared here, without any prior warning, nor even any psychological preparation was given.

“I…fuck…just who…who thought of this, bad idea, I…I’ll…kill…kill him.”

The one who spoke was a man in his early 30s, about 5’9” tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing a very punk biker undershirt, the muscle lines on his arms were hard and strong. His fierce and tough aura were obvious even if he just stood there. 

However, the excessive stuttering problem had weakened his deterrence for at least 60%, not only made him not intimidating, but even a little silly.

There was a young girl beside him. Her facial features were comely which matched her two twist braids. She wore a cartoon T-shirt and shorts and hugged her knees tightly to herself at the corner until she was shrunken into a small ball. She remained quiet without a word from the beginning, looking pitiful and wretched.

The man was quite soft-hearted, he thought this child was so scared she zoned off. Just as he wanted to go over to comfort her, he saw the young girl's almond round eyes open widely, following a slap on her thighs, her angry words cursed out.

“Mother fucker! Taking 3 million people’s lives as if we’re a cannon fodder, this fucking hunting game! Who is the person who designed this silly system?! Their parents could be so mad they’ll resurrect from their coffins, while the crows will be bouncing on his grave and wild dogs urinating in his urn, diluting it so their parents could make a cup of pu-erh tea for them to drink!”

It shocked the man as the young girl's loud and penetrating voice was completely opposite from her appearance.

The man’s appearance looked sturdy, but in fact, he was quite easily frightened.

“Young girl, y…y-you…have quite the literature talent…in…in your cursing skills.” 

“You flatter me.” The young girl was still slightly mad, yet she gave him a glance as she placed a hand by her cheek to support it, “Bro, what’s your name? Which system are you from?”

“Chang Su, V…Vio…Violent Neighborhood System, it’s just…just beating people up…every day.”

“Oh? That’s so cool. To be honest, I’ve always wanted to be under such system, since my system was extremely boring,”

“You…what…system?”

“A Love System, which is called ‘Becoming the Female Lead’s Stepping Stone’ System. I usually transmigrate there as a female cannon fodder counterpart, trying my best to ruin their relationship and must eventually let the female and male lead kill me with their own hands to complete my task.” The young lady sighed, “It made me fucking afraid of falling in love and have marriage-phobia, men are all scumbags.”

“Y…You can’t…be s-so…so pessimistic.” Chang Su tried to retain some men’s dignity and also persuade her, “I-It’s fine if you…d-don’t marry, but falling in love…you can still, still date.”

The young lady glanced at him, “So, are you dating now, bro?”

“I-I never dated.”

“You never dated, yet you’re abetting others to date?”

Chang Su was speechless.

The word “abetting” was…spiritual.

Chang Su thought it was because he was always busy in gun wars and snatching territories, he had no time nor the energy, and not even a suitable young girl willing to date him. If he had the chance, he would have dated someone.

But it's hard to reason with a young girl, and besides, he stammered a lot, he didn't have the ability to reason with people.

So he wisely changed the subject.

“Young girl, w-what’s…your name?”

“Me? Wu Shijiu.”

“Wu…Wu Shijiu?”

T/N: Wu Shijiu has the same pronunciation of 59 in Chinese.

“Yeah. I know a little of everything, yet I’m not good at anything, they’re all 59 marks, meaning I fail.”

Chang Su dumbfounded, then he sarcastically boasted with all his best: “I-It’s a… good name.”

“Where’s the good part?”

“...Everywhere.”

Then their awkward conversation ended. They had nothing more to say and all they could do was shake hands symbolically, since they were of the same fate.

Who knew not long after, they suddenly heard a man’s voice, he shouted gruffly.

“Hey! Blind girl! I’m talking to you! Don’t block our way, get it? Find a spot to squat, don’t you think it’s fucking crowded here?”

Obviously he was yelling at the black clothed girl in front of him.

The girl had a head of long dark hair which reached her shoulders. She wore a pair of teal sunglasses that covered most of her face, revealing only her soft red lips and delicate jaw, vaguely recognizable as a beauty.

The wide knee-length jacket made her figure extra slim, she had her head down since the beginning, holding a silver shiny metal blind cane, thicker and longer than ordinary blind canes.

Hearing the other party's urging, she pointed at the ground with her blind cane, slowly moving two steps to the side.

The man was so impatient that he simply reached out and pushed her, causing her to stagger and nearly fall over.

“Dilly-dallying, can you just fuck off!”

He dyed his head red and had a big flower arm tattoo, he was probably one of the gangsters on the streets before.

The broadcast just now made him unusually annoyed, and since he was annoyed, he instinctively wanted to find a weak person to take out his anger.

The girl named Wu Shijiu was someone who would intervene when she saw injustice, not to mention she had a violent temper, seeing that made her so mad she stood and walked towards them.

“Shit! What's wrong with you? Are you still a guy? How could you bully a girl?!”

The red-haired man glared: “Don't meddle in someone else’s business, young girl. I'm warning you, I'm annoyed right now and I might beat you up too!”

“Okay, how about you try to beat me up then? I’ll break your teeth in return!”

Chang Su had his hand at his back as he took two steps forward too, standing next to Wu Shijiu.

“A huge man…with a little girl, h-how dare you behave atrociously?!”

Chang Su was a head taller than the red-headed man, with his casserole big fist and that fierce looking aura, he was indeed intimidating.

The red-haired man was slightly terrified, reluctantly, he made out a low curse, then turned around and slinked away, not daring to shout again.

The blind lady pushed her sunglasses up a little then made a slight bow, and spoke with her gentle voice: “Thank you, both of you.”

Wu Shijiu comforted her quickly: “It's okay young lady, don't be afraid, I will protect you, this big brother here is also a good man, he will protect you too!”

Chang Su nodded: “Yes, I hate…s-scumbags…that bully…d-disabled people.”

“Thank you.”

“T-Then…what is…is your name?”

A smile appeared at the corner of the blind lady’s lip, it was surprisingly enchanting: “Ling Chengmu.”

“I-It’s…a good name.”

Wu Shijiu couldn’t help it: “You praise everyone’s name when you hear them, don’t you?”

Chang Su decided to remain silent.

Just then, the hospital’s broadcast sounded again after some time of silence.

[This is tournament zone No.056, theme [Zombie Invasion], number of participants: 5000.]

[The game will start in ten minutes, before the countdown ends, players who successfully eliminate one competitor will receive an additional system reward: a map of the entire city.]

5000 people, seems like the whole city will be the tournament zone, while this hospital was just one of the strongholds.

The dial of the metal wristwatch worn by each player present was lighted up instantly, and a green alert box appeared after a light tap, which includes an alert of the number of survivors, the remaining time, a system reward alert and lastly a teammate binding alert.

Someone exclaimed as the broadcast ended, “ Eliminate our competitor? Aren't we all competitors?”

This was a silly question, but yet a most realistic one.

The hospital hall, which had been noisy earlier, was suddenly silent.

All the players looked at each other, all fully alerted now and trying to keep a safe distance from the others in this not so spacious area.

This mad system was going to let them kill each other before the escape game even started.

But the terms were indeed attractive.

Because everyone knew very well how important it was to have a map in a zombie-themed scenario, it was far better than running around like headless flies, and the chances of survival will be greatly improved.

But the problem is, who to kill.

If they’re gonna kill someone, it is necessary to kill the most certain weakling, so they could ensure they have absolute invincibility.

No one was willing to become others’ stepping stones just before the games began.

Whu Shijiu mumbled: “Stupid rules, I don’t care if there’s no map. I’m not someone with a terrible sense of direction, I don’t think I can’t find a way out of this.”

However, not all players have the same benevolent thoughts as she does.

Before she could finish her words, she heard two girls' screams coming from the second floor one after another.

At the same time, the number of survivors displayed on the dial was also decreasing immediately.

At first it was exactly 3 million people, but then it was reduced rapidly, 300 people were gone and the number of deaths was still increasing upwards.

There is no doubt that this is the act of all players fighting against each other.

In order to survive, there were always people who would do whatever it takes, it was normal.

Seeing the countdown continue to shrink, there were only seven minutes left.

In the hospital, more and more players got anxious, especially some who happened to be carrying defensive tools, and one after another they started to look for targets to attack.

Anyway, you only need to kill one person, right?

There were quite a few people around who had locked their eyes on Ling Chengmu, the seemingly soft and weak blind girl, which also includes the red-haired man who returned after he left just now.

“...Why are you staring at me?” Receiving a warning look from Chang Su, the red-haired man bravely raised his voice, “Can't you see that so many people are trying to kill her? If you don't want to do it, then hide away, what for acting like you're heroics?”

Chang Su glared at him: “S-She is di…d-disabled.”

A player retorted: “The disabled should die sooner, otherwise you think she can live long after the games begin? Instead of being bitten to death by zombies, we should let her die painlessly.”

Immediately, someone agreed: "Yes, can you stop pretending to be some Mary Sue here? With a one in a thousand survival rate, you may not even live long enough to care about others.”

They argued in a dignified manner.

“Who’ll be getting the reward if we kill her together?”

“Since we’re doing it together, maybe the system will give all of us the reward because it’s difficult to assess?”

It was hard to explain but, although Wu Shijiu looked like an obedient young girl, there was still a female warrior character hidden deep inside her. She had the natural desire to protect weaklings, especially weak young ladies.

She protected Ling Chengmu as she pushed her towards the back, comforting her with a soft voice:

“Don't be afraid, there’s still five minutes till the countdown ends, let's try to delay the time.”

Ling Chengmu had her hands tight on her blind cane, then smiled as she faced Wu Shijiu.

“Thank you, you're such a kind girl.”

Although there were sunglasses blocking her face which made Wu Shijiu unable to see through clearly, that smile still made Wu Shijiu a little emotional.

Sigh, this young lady is really a beauty, it’s such a loss of her pretty face just because she’s blind.

At that moment, the red-haired man, who still stood there viciously raised his arms and shouted, “What the hell are you still waiting for? Why don't we all kill her, the one who succeeds gets the reward!”

The proposal was so effective that the men pushed and shoved Chang Su who was trying to block the way away, probably to kill not only Ling Chengmu, but also Wu Shijiu too.

Yet before they succeeded, they heard a thunderous bang in the distance and the hospital doors collapsed.

A team of black-claded men with a stern aura, as if they were ghostly shadows, came through the door with gloomy steps.

They were all clad in floor-length black cloaks with guns in their hands. Their faces hidden in the shadows, vaguely visible to others.

And Only the young man at the head looked different, wearing a tailored black uniform, four stars embroidered around a totem on the gold emblem by his shoulder.

He had an extremely handsome face, his body was strong and lean, uniform trouser legs tied into leather boots, outlining a straight and slender pair of legs.

The leather boots stepped on the floor of the hospital hall, making a palpitating sound.

He walked forward slowly, and the oppressive feeling emanating from his body was like a substance, causing the players to back off cautiously, no one dared to make a rash move.

He glanced around, and finally stopped in front of Wu Shijiu.

He pointed to his own badge engraved with “TASA” on it, the pair of inked deep eyes was cold and indifferent, like a silent well, not even ripple would be shown through those eyes.

Then, he finally opened his mouth, his voice was low and slightly hoarse, like a distant echo in a dream.

“Time And Space Administration, Executive Officer Qin Ce. According to the law, here to arrest the wanted criminals on the black list.”

Wu Shijiu was shocked, “Shit! Who’s the criminal?! I’m just a cannon fodder of a Love System, how would I even be on the system’s black list?!”

But she quickly came to her senses and realized that he was probably not referring to herself.

Because Qin Ce's gaze went straight past her and landed behind her.

And behind her, was standing the gentility soft blind girl, Miss Ling Chengmu.