Chapter 13: The Proof of Strength

The room was still filled with confusion and disbelief. Faces pale with fear, some looked ready to argue, others on the verge of panic. Jack stood at the front, his eyes sweeping across the group. He could feel their doubt like a physical weight. The newbies were clearly struggling to comprehend the impossible reality.

"I know you're all finding it hard to believe me," Jack said, his voice cutting through the nervous muttering. "But this is the truth. We're not playing a game, we're fighting for our lives."

His gaze shifted to Zheng, who had remained silent, watching the exchange. Jack gave a nod. "Zheng, show them."

Zheng stepped forward, his expression calm and serious. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a solid golden bar—one of the emergency bars the team had exchanged for points. The weight of it alone spoke to its authenticity, gleaming in the dim light.

Jack took the bar from Zheng's hand and held it up for everyone to see. "This is gold, real gold. We exchanged it for emergency money in the last scenario. Go ahead, touch it."

One by one, the newbies stepped forward, hesitantly placing their hands on the golden bar. Some of them murmured in disbelief, feeling the smooth, heavy metal. Jack waited for a moment, then raised his voice again.

"Now, I want each of you to try and break it," Jack said, stepping back. "Go on, give it your best shot."

The group looked at him with wide eyes, unsure of what he meant. But after a moment, the first newbie, a lanky man with glasses, stepped forward and grabbed the bar with both hands. He pulled, strained, his muscles trembling, but the bar didn't budge.

Another man tried next, then another. Each one stepped forward, gave their best effort to bend or break the bar, but the result was the same. The bar remained solid and unbroken, as if mocking their attempts.

Finally, Jack raised a hand, stopping the line of failed attempts. "You see? No one can break it."

He turned to Zheng. "Now, Zheng, show them."

Without hesitation, Zheng took the bar back from Jack. He held it in his hands for a moment, then, with a grunt, snapped the golden bar clean in half. The loud crack of the breaking metal echoed through the room, and the two halves clattered to the floor.

The newbies stared in shock, their mouths hanging open. The disbelief that had hung in the air like a thick fog began to dissolve, replaced by a heavy, cold understanding. This was real.

Jack smirked. "Now do you believe me?"

## Chu Xuan Speaks

Before anyone could answer, Chu Xuan stepped forward, adjusting his glasses. His eyes were calm, but there was a sharpness to his gaze, a deep intelligence at work behind the lenses. He didn't look surprised, just thoughtful.

"I will temporarily believe this is true," Chu Xuan said, his voice steady. "There's no way I'm still in Beijing. My lab was the most secure facility in the country, but somehow I'm here. My computer wasn't connected to any network, but that message—'Do you want to know the meaning of life?'—still appeared."

The room fell silent as Chu Xuan continued.

"I decoded the message. It wasn't in binary, not zeros and ones. It was written in ancient languages—symbols from cuneiform, hieroglyphs, and the oracle bone script. It shouldn't have been possible, but it was. I was too curious, and I clicked 'yes.'"

He paused, looking around the room at the others. "And now, I'm here. There's only one explanation: something extraordinary is at work."

Jack nodded, satisfied with Chu Xuan's analysis. "Exactly. None of us asked to be here, but this is where we are. And now we have to survive."

With the tension still thick in the air, Jack decided to introduce the rest of his team to the group. These were the people who would stand by him, the ones who had already proven themselves in past scenarios.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"This is the team you're going to follow," Jack said, pointing to each one in turn. "You've already met me, Jack. This is Zheng, our strongest fighter."

Zheng gave a small nod, his face as impassive as ever.

"Next is Jie, our gun specialist." Jie stepped forward, arms crossed, a confident smirk on his face.

"And this is Len, she survived one movie, so she is senior."

Len waved, giving the newbies a reassuring smile, though the fear still lingered in her eyes from their current predicament.

"And finally, meet Jack B, my clone."

At Jack's words, Jack B, an identical clone of Jack, stepped forward. The sight of two identical Jacks caused more murmurs of disbelief from the group, but by now, they were beginning to accept that nothing was off-limits in this bizarre, dangerous world.

The group was still processing this when Chu Xuan spoke again. "I'll introduce myself as well. Chu Xuan, Colonel. My background is in military strategy and technology. For now, I'll work with you until we figure out a way to survive."

Then Kampa, the massive Russian mercenary, stepped forward, his deep voice rumbling. "Kampa, mercenary. I can handle weapons, explosives, whatever you need."

Finally, Zero, the quiet sniper, simply nodded. "Zero. I specialize in long-range combat."

## Newbies Introduce Themselves

The room was quiet for a moment, the stunned silence following Jack's team's introduction still hanging in the air. Finally, one of the newbies stepped forward, his voice shaking slightly but filled with resolve.

"I'm Zhang Wei," he said, a young man in his mid-twenties with a nervous look on his face. "I—I'm an engineer. If there's anything mechanical, I can probably figure it out."

Another newbie, a woman in her thirties, stepped up next. "Ming Yue. I work in logistics. I'm used to managing supplies and resources."

As they introduced themselves, more of the newbies slowly began to step forward. Some had professions that might be useful—medics, engineers, even one guy who claimed to be a computer programmer—but most of them were just ordinary people.

The pierced teen who had caused trouble earlier remained silent, his arm still bleeding from the wound Jie had inflicted.

Jack thought that there was one original member missing from the original Nobel. Who is supposed to come and become the official Bait. Now I have to improve.

Jack nodded, pleased that some of the newbies were at least willing to cooperate. He looked toward his clone. "Jack B, treat him."

Jack B immediately walked over to the wounded newbie, his expression calm, clinical. Without a word, he knelt beside the pierced teen and began bandaging the injury. The teen winced in pain as Jack B worked, but didn't say anything.

Jack B didn't apply any extra medicine—just a simple, efficient bandaging job. The bleeding stopped, but it was clear the teen would need more help later if they wanted to avoid infection.

The room watched in silence as Jack B finished his work, and the newbie, his face pale but grateful, muttered, "Thanks..."

Jack, observing from a distance, crossed his arms and turned back to the group. "That's all you're getting for now. We need to conserve our resources."

## Discussing the Difficulty of the Mission

While Jack B was tending to the wounded newbie, Jack turned back to the larger group, addressing everyone again. "This isn't just a normal mission," he said, his voice low but carrying authority. "If you're wondering why it feels so different, it's because this is a 15-player mission."

Jack's eyes swept over the group, and he continued, quoting Jie. "The last mission we survived—Resident Evil—was a 7-player mission. God adjusts the difficulty based on how many people are involved. This time, we're 15, so the plot will be even more dangerous. You need to be prepared for that."

Jie stepped forward, crossing his arms as he added, "And if you think you're getting out of this easily, you're dead wrong. God's changes to the plot mean there'll be surprises, and none of them are good."

Jack gave a small nod, reinforcing Jie's warning. "The more players, the harder the mission. The plot will likely deviate from what we know of Alien, and that means we have to be on our toes. Expect the unexpected."

As the room quieted down after the introductions, a heavy silence hung in the air. Jack could feel it—the growing realization that this was no longer a simple survival mission. The plot had changed, and they were in a 15-player scenario now. The danger was far greater.

"We're dealing with a 15-person difficulty," Jack said, his voice grim. "The plot of Alien is different now, more dangerous. We need information—details about the changes God made. Without that, we're walking into this blind."

Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses, nodding thoughtfully. "Information is crucial. We need to understand the deviations from the original plot as soon as possible."

"We'll need to scout ahead," Jie added, his hand resting on his holstered Desert Eagle. "And stick together."

But before they could plan their next steps, a sudden voice broke through their conversation. The room dimmed slightly, and a low hum reverberated through the walls. Jie tensed, his hand moving instinctively toward his gun.

"The film's started," Jie muttered, eyes darting to the walls. The familiar tension of a Terror Infinity scenario was thick in the air. They all felt it—the moment the simulation truly came alive.

Before Jack could say anything, the room erupted in chaos. The remaining newbies—those who hadn't fully grasped the reality of the situation—began to panic. Their faces twisted with fear as they glanced around wildly. And in a matter of seconds, they bolted for the exits, running aimlessly down the narrow steel corridors of the spacecraft.

"Run!" one of the newbies screamed, his voice filled with terror. "Get out of here!"

It was chaos. They ran in every direction, desperate to escape what they didn't understand. The pierced teen, bandaged but still weak from his injury, limped behind them, his face contorted in pain.

Zheng's voice rang out, sharp and commanding. "Do not run! It's dangerous in this first film! If you want to survive and collect information, stay with us!"

But the panic was too deep, the fear too strong. The newbies were beyond reason, their minds gripped with terror. Only Jack's team, along with Chu Xuan, Kampa, and Zero, remained, their expressions tense but controlled.

The Russian mercenary, Kampa, watched the newbies flee, his face expressionless. "They're not looking for information," he rumbled in his deep voice. "They're running away."

"They're only making themselves easier targets," Zero muttered, his sharp gaze following the movements of the wounded newbie, whose blood left a faint trail on the cold steel floor.

Jack, calm and collected, observed the scene carefully. His mind worked quickly. The first wound—the blood. "We need to follow him," Jack said suddenly, his voice low but urgent. "The wounded one is bleeding. He's leaving a scent trail. The aliens will be drawn to him."

Chu Xuan nodded in agreement, understanding Jack's logic. "We use him as bait."

Zheng became very upset and tried to tell that it's not right.

Len looked uneasy but didn't argue. She knew what needed to be done. The others remained silent, steeling themselves for what was coming next.

But then Jack said it's for our safety.

And he thought because of me another thing is change we do not have our original Bait

.

"We move quickly," Jack said, his tone decisive. "Follow the blood trail, gather information on the aliens. This is how we survive.”