Chapter 331: Clearing the Game
Ron's words made the four young nerds eager to try.
Actually, aside from their initial discomfort, they weren't really afraid anymore; instead, they were treating this virtual reality game like a game.
As Ron said, this rare experience was incredibly captivating.
"Watch me!" Rajesh was the first to rush forward, kicking a biker gang member to the ground, then using his toes to push off the ground again, performing a graceful somersault in mid-air, dodging a fatal blow from behind, and then kicking the biker gang member between the legs.
"BANG!" The biker gang member, probably having reached his limit, exploded into a cloud of blood mist, splattering Sheldon, who was standing nearby: "Ron! Ron! Quick, get some water! I need to wash this disgusting stuff off!"
Sheldon's scream was louder than the biker gang members who had been attacked.
Ron shook his head helplessly. His younger brother... what a waste of a max-level character!
Following Rajesh, Howard and Leonard grabbed whatever tools were available and started throwing them forward like they were in a food fight.
Ron covered his face, utterly unable to bear watching, but what could he do? Their characters were more support-oriented. It was fortunate Ron hadn't chosen such a character, otherwise the game would be unplayable.
Ron pulled nunchucks from Leonard's bag, struck a Bruce Lee pose, and was about to start fighting.
"BANG!" A gunshot rang out.
A man with war paint walked into the bazaar entrance, followed by a group of henchmen. If Ron couldn't recognize this as the big boss, then all his years of gaming would have been for nothing.
"Hello, Doctor, long time no see." The war-painted BOSS stared intently at Sheldon as soon as he arrived, as if everyone else was just trash in his eyes. This look annoyed Ron. "I believe you must have something I need."
"Hey, how do you prove it's yours?"
"Click-clack~" Behind the BOSS, his men loaded their guns.
"Hey, you veteran gamers, what do you usually do in this situation in a game? Can you teach me?" Ron raised his hands.
The disparity in firepower was huge. If it were just hand-to-hand combat, Ron was confident he could smash every one of them in the head with his nunchucks, but the problem was they had guns.
Howard and the others naturally followed suit: "Normally, in a game, I would control my character to tank some damage and get close to fight, but..."
Before Howard could finish speaking, someone threw a smoke grenade between them and the BOSS. The canister emitted a lot of smoke, immediately creating a visual barrier between the two groups.
"Quick, follow me! Hurry!" Ron heard an unfamiliar voice beside him. The boss in front of him was furious, shouting, "Grab them!"
Ron heard heavy footsteps coming from the smoke. Leonard asked anxiously, "What do we do now?"
"Maybe it's some new plot development. Let's just follow them first." Howard's answer was simple and efficient. Ron had the same idea, so he grabbed Rajesh and Sheldon by the collar and dragged them back.
This time, dragging Sheldon wasn't too difficult, because even if Ron ignored him, Sheldon was ready to run away, or rather, no one could stop Sheldon from running away.
It was Rajesh who required more effort from Ron. This guy had gotten carried away, and Ron had to use more effort to drag him/her back.
"Ron, why are you stopping me? I can take them all down right now!"
"Rajesh, wake up! They have guns! Even if I use my own body, I'll only be able to fight them if they're equally armed."
Ron rolled his eyes and explained.
"So we're going to follow some unknown NPC through the sewers now? No way!"
The NPC who rescued them looked like a young man. He had just led them through a side street in the bustling market and opened a manhole cover to let them down.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm not an NPC, I'm a player just like you," the young man said impatiently. "Hurry up, their pursuers are coming soon."
"I..." Sheldon crossed his arms, about to say something, but was immediately kicked down by the already impatient Ron. He didn't have time to waste with Sheldon.
Seeing Ron's behavior, the other three scientists immediately obediently crawled into the sewer one after another.
"CLANG!" Ron was the last to go down, casually closing the cover behind him. Just then, the pursuers turned the corner and came onto the alley. They hurriedly stepped over the manhole cover, completely unaware that the people they were looking for were below.
"Stay close to me, do exactly as I say." The newcomer spoke succinctly.
"You still haven't said who you are? Why do we have to follow you?" Sheldon stood up, dusted himself off, and glared at Ron. "And, I'm definitely telling Mom about what happened today!"
Ron was tired of hearing that, so he simply ignored it and followed the newcomer.
"God, you're finally here! You have no idea how happy I am to see you. When I saw you at the bazaar, I thought it was my imagination..." The newcomer led the way, chattering on and on, when suddenly he raised his hand to stop them. "Now, stick to the wall!"
As soon as they did so, "WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!" Several arrows pierced through the middle and embedded themselves in the skeleton behind them.
"Holy crap!" Rajesh was covered in cold sweat; the arrow had almost grazed him.
"Keep going." The young man continued leading the way without changing his expression.
"Who are you? And who do you think we are? You seem to know this place very well." Even Ron couldn't help but ask the question that had been on his mind.
"Sorry, it was my fault. Let me explain the situation..."
"You're the pilot, the guy called 'Seaplane'?" Sheldon immediately recognized him before he could finish.
"Yes, that's me. I was one of the people who got caught up in the game before you. Watch out for the white bricks," the young man warned. Having learned from their previous experience, everyone immediately obeyed.
Sure enough, one after another, arrows emerged from the wall, narrowly missing them.
"What a crappy game!"
"This isn't over yet," the young man took a few more steps, then suddenly threw away his torch. But instead of falling to the ground, the torch continued to fall, and by its light, everyone could see that ahead was a deep pit teeming with crocodiles. "Let's use this plank."
The young man placed the plank across the pit and was the first to cross. Ron was second, pulling Sheldon across as well. Sheldon then led the next person by the hand, and the group of cowardly scientists walked hand-in-hand across the plank.
When they finally crossed the crocodile pond, all their hardships came to an end. The young man pushed open the wooden door in front of him, and the outside world turned into a dense forest.
"I'm Alex."
"I'm Ron, that's my brother Sheldon, this is Leonard, and those hugging over there are Howard and Rajesh. Also, although it looks like a woman, it's actually an old Indian guy inside. I hope you're not fooled."
If Rajesh were a woman, he would definitely be the world's biggest flirt. Ron had just seen her flirting with the new guy countless times.
"Want some Margarita? I make it myself; it's one of my character's special skills. Another one, as you know, is that I'm pretty good at flying, but considering my plane was shot down by a bunch of orangutans with rocks, maybe I'm not that good."
"Thanks," Ron took the glass and downed it in one gulp. Everyone except Sheldon, who explicitly refused, said it tasted pretty good. "Give me another one. How long have you been here?"
"Uh... I'm not sure, but probably a few months. I didn't get past the transportation depot checkpoint."
"The transportation depot? That's the next checkpoint. I've died twice there," Alex raised his arm to show off his tattoo, now down to the last line. "The first time was on the hot air balloon, and the second was the orangutan incident I mentioned earlier.
Then I only had one life left, and I figured I couldn't make it by myself, so I waited here until you guys arrived."
"The transportation depot? Are there vehicles there?" Ron's heart skipped a beat. If you're talking about vehicles, now I'm interested.
"Of course there are, but I don't recommend going by ground, because there are..."
"No, no, no, I think you might have misunderstood something?" Ron interrupted Alex's explanation: "Perhaps you might gain decent driving skills from the character itself, but driving is very much related to experience. You might have the corresponding ability, but not the corresponding mindset, but I have that."
Ron's driving skills were directly obtained from Toretto. If that were all, he and Alex wouldn't be much different. But the problem is, Ron has a very strong passion for driving and has escaped from all sorts of dangerous situations by driving in past missions more than once.
"Take us to the transportation depot, and leave the rest to me."
"Okay." Alex was moved by Ron's confidence and readily agreed.
The transportation depot, just like its name, was filled with all kinds of vehicles, as well as helicopters, hot air balloons, and every other mode of transportation you could imagine.
"Which one should we choose?" Alex asked.
There were originally two guards outside the depot, but Ron sent Rajesh to seduce them and distract them, while Ron himself snapped their necks from behind, easily taking care of them.
It's worth mentioning that Rajesh's dance was really something...
Even after Ron had dealt with the guards, Rajesh was still dancing against a pillar.
"What other choice is there? A car, of course!" Ron almost thoughtlessly grabbed an SUV and jumped in.
"Now, to the next level!" Once everyone was in the car, Ron immediately started it.
The car crashed through the gate and onto the road, but the game wouldn't let them have a smooth ride. Sheldon pointed out the window in horror: "But what about those rhinos?!"
In the distance, a large herd of rhinos was charging towards them, looking incredibly imposing.
Ron didn't even bother to glance at them: "What else can we do? We just need to outrun them."
Indeed, that was the case. Even on rugged mountain roads, the average speed of an off-road vehicle was over 40 miles per hour, while a rhinoceros's maximum speed was only about 20 miles per hour—and that was just its sprint speed; it would be even slower on a long run.
No matter how much the game wanted to make things difficult for them, it still had to adhere to basic biological common sense.
"Howard, look at the map! Where's our next stop?" Ron asked as he drove.
"No need to look, we're already here, it's over there!"
Following Howard's pointing finger, a tall jaguar statue stood not far from the forest, its head shrouded in a large black cloud. Following the typical game mechanics, this should undoubtedly be the final level.
"OK, let's go now!" Ron sharply turned the steering wheel, shoving the rhinoceros that had brushed against the passing vehicle, and floored the accelerator.
The car sped through the herd of rhinos, racing towards the statue. As the car approached, the rhinos, whether exhausted or weary, slowly disappeared from their sight.
In their place, torches lit up one by one along the roadside as they advanced.
"If we weren't playing a video game, I would have thought this was some kind of welcoming ceremony. Sheldon, do you remember what that NPC told us to do?"
"Put the gem back where it was, inside the jaguar's eye, right there." Sheldon pointed to the jaguar's forehead. "But the car probably can't go up there. Can you go up and put the gem back yourself? I'll wait for you in the car."
"Can't go up there?" Ron chuckled. "I think you're still too young. Watch my driving skills. Are you prepared for a bumpy ride, guys?"
"Ron, what are you planning to do?" Sheldon gripped the roof handle tightly, asking in fear.
"To do something awesome, of course!" A wild glint appeared in Ron's eyes. Facing the steep slope ahead, instead of slowing down, he shifted to the highest gear again and floored the accelerator.
The mountain path ahead was merely a narrow ledge wide enough for one or two people to pass through, but this posed no challenge for Ron. He simply pulled the steering wheel, directing the car up the slope.
"Stop them!" The big boss, whom Ron and the others had met before, pointed at the car climbing the statue and ordered his men.
However, it was too late. They had only just reached the foot of the mountain, while Ron had already reached the statue's head.
At this distance, even a gun wouldn't be able to hit accurately.
"Stop the car! We're here! Now we just need to put the gem back on the statue's head!" Sheldon, seeing the car had reached the top, hadn't even had time to rejoice when he realized the car wasn't stopping; instead, it was accelerating even faster.
"Ahhhh!!!" The car sped into the air amidst Sheldon's scream.
"Give me the gem!" Ron grabbed Sheldon's gem, and as the car just left the ground, he opened the door and jumped out, landing precisely where the gem was missing from the statue's head.
"Jumanji!" Ron pressed the gem back into place...
(End of Chapter)
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