Chapter 1: New Beginning
Jack felt disoriented. He had been idly adjusting his antivirus settings in his dorm room one moment, and the next... this. He found himself seated in a poorly lit train compartment, surrounded by strangers, speeding through the night. His mind raced, attempting to comprehend the incomprehensible.
This can’t be real. It’s too much like...
Before he could complete the thought, a cold voice broke the silence. "Not bad, you have the best quality of the bunch this time."
Jack turned to face the speaker. A man with short black hair and a face marked by scars took a long drag from his cigarette, observing the group with a mix of amusement and something more sinister. The stranger’s casual indifference unsettled Jack more than the strangeness of the situation.
Glancing around, Jack quickly counted seven other individuals in the compartment: three men, three women, and a few silent westerners who seemed just as bewildered. Seven, Jack thought. Just like in the story. But that would make me...
"Where is this place? Who are you? Why am I here?" one of the men asked, his voice escalating in panic. Jack immediately recognized him: Zheng Zha, the protagonist of Terror Infinity. His memories of the novel fell into place as Zheng repeated his question in both Chinese and English, attempting to make sense of their situation.
The westerners paid no attention to him, but the scarred man, the seasoned survivor, responded calmly. "Think carefully, it should have inserted everything into your head."
Jack suddenly felt a surge of information flood his mind, confirming his worst suspicions. Points, rewards, missions—the details were all there, just like in the novel. Terror Infinity. He was inside the story, trapped in the twisted game of survival through horror movies. And the first one...
"Resident Evil," Jack muttered under his breath, a jolt of fear running through him. "We're heading to Resident Evil."
Jack wasn’t supposed to be here. He was a 20-year-old college student, a fanfiction writer who spent his free time diving into worlds like Terror Infinity and Resident Evil. He had come to China for a vacation, hoping to get away from his studies for a while. But after clicking on a strange email link in his hotel room, he was transported here—this train, heading toward certain death. This was real—too real to be just a dream.
The scarred man began explaining the rules, his tone as indifferent as if he were describing the weather. "You’re inside a game now. It's not a joke. You survive the movies, and you get rewards. If you die, well, you die for real. Points are what matter here."
Jack listened, already familiar with the system, but the others seemed confused. Zheng’s face was a mix of horror and disbelief as the veteran continued.
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"For surviving a movie, you’ll get 1,000 points as a base reward. For every ten zombies you kill, you earn 1 point. Lickers, those bigger, nastier ones, are worth 100 points. But don’t get any ideas about killing your teammates—killing a newbie will cost you 1,000 points."
A girl with glasses, who Jack knew as Lan, raised her hand, her voice trembling. "What about the timer on our watches? What does it mean?"
The veteran crushed his cigarette under his boot. "That’s the time you have to survive in this movie. When the timer runs out, you’re pulled out and sent to God. God gives you your reward if you live."
"God?" Zheng repeated, his voice shaky.
"Yeah, God," the scarred man replied. "It’s what pulls us into the movies. A ball of light. I don’t know what it is either, but you get 50,000 points, and you can go home. That's surviving fifty movies without using any points. Think you can handle it?"
Jack’s mind reeled. The information was exactly like the novel. 50,000 points... But nobody made it that far in the early stages.
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The train came to a stop, and the doors opened, revealing the dimly lit platform. Jack’s heart raced as he followed the others out, his mind in overdrive. This is no longer just a movie. I’m actually here, inside Resident Evil.
As they exited, Jack spotted a single suitcase near the train. He immediately thought of the scene from the movie. The anti-virus, he pondered, before quickly dismissing the idea. No, it’s too risky. I don’t have the password, and explaining how I would know about Umbrella’s secrets is impossible.
His attention turned to the high school student, who also noticed the suitcase. The student picked it up, struggling a bit with the unexpected weight. Big mistake, Jack thought grimly.
They approached the metal door of the lab, marked with the unmistakable Umbrella Corporation logo. The sight sent a shiver down Jack’s spine. He kept his eyes on the mercenaries, observing as they systematically checked the entrance.
"It looks like we’ll be using the stairs," one of them announced. The elevator door revealed cut wires, leaving the long, spiraling staircase as the only route downward.
As the group descended, Jack made sure to stay near the mercenaries, mindful of the 100-meter rule. The others, however, were already beginning to struggle. The middle-aged woman panted heavily, and the stout man had trouble keeping up. Jack could hear their labored breathing as they fell behind.
Suddenly, one of the mercenaries adjusted his night vision goggles and turned to the black-haired man leading the group. "Zhang Jie!"
Jie didn’t hesitate. He took out his Desert Eagle and continued moving forward with an air of confidence. Zheng kept his eyes on Jie, knowing the man understood the rules of this world. In Resident Evil 1, as long as the central computer system stays on, we’re safe. But if it gets shut down...
Jack’s stomach knotted as a loud bang echoed through the stairwell. The overweight man and the woman had fallen too far behind. They were gone.
Jie’s voice broke the silence. "Three out."
Zheng frowned, confused. "What do you mean, 'three out'?"
Jie sneered. "Them. The overweight man, the middle-aged woman, and the high schooler—they’re all dead."
Zheng’s eyes widened as Jie continued. "This isn’t just some reenactment of a movie. We’re bound by rules here. The moment they fell too far behind, it was over. If you’re more than three hundred feet away from me for too long, the system triggers. Boom. You explode. And those three couldn’t keep up."
Jack winced at the stark reality. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the chubby man stumble, his breath ragged, before a deafening BOOM! marked his elimination.
The high schooler, still struggling with the suitcase, didn’t fare any better. The weight of the case slowed him down, and just like the others, he was erased from existence in a flash. The middle-aged woman, lagging behind, collapsed. Her breathing was labored, and when she fell too far from the group, another explosion signaled her end.
Zheng’s mind raced. The high schooler should have survived, he thought grimly, guilt weighing on him. Because of me, he’s dead.
The mercenaries remained unfazed, continuing ahead. Jie, having survived multiple movies, was clearly enhanced beyond the others. Glasses Girl, slight and frail, grabbed onto Jie’s shirt, letting him support part of her weight. Jie barely noticed her presence, his gaze fixed ahead.
Behind them, Jack saw Zhang’s pace quicken. His movements were fluid, almost unnatural, driven by something more than mere survival instinct. It’s not just willpower—it’s the plot keeping him alive, Jack realized, pushing himself harder to stay close. He wasn’t protected by the narrative, but he wasn’t powerless either.
They finally reached the bottom of the stairs. The group paused, catching their breath, the loss of three members still fresh in Jack’s mind. He stayed close to the mercenaries, not wanting to draw attention but also keenly aware of how close he had come to falling b
ehind.
"The game has started," Jack thought, squaring his shoulders.
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