Visa On Arrival Chapter 4
bySafe Zone and Neo
After a wild dash, the two finally burst through that curtain of white light.
Their legs gave way, and they both collapsed onto the ground.
Heavy gasps echoed one after another. Their throats tasted of blood, their hearts hammered like frantic drums, and sweat soaked through the backs of their clothes. Neither spoke, lying there in a daze as if they had just survived a catastrophe.
Looking up, the words Safe Zone met their eyes.
This Safe Zone seemed to be constructed according to a honeycomb structure; or rather, it was a honeycomb built underground.
The walls were made of matte metallic gray panels with silver-gray sealant at the joints. Every twenty meters, a hexagonal vent was set into the wall.
It was a nearly paranoid level of uniformity. Standing there and staring for too long made one feel dazed—was one looking at a honeycomb, or had one already become a bee inside the nest?
There were no windows, no natural light, and no signs to distinguish direction.
The childish voice of a mechanical boy drifted from an unknown source.
Congratulations on successfully clearing the stage. I am your guide program, Neo. This is the Doomsday Safe Zone. Next, I will lead you on a tour.
Follow me.
The voice came from overhead.
No, it was from mid-air.
The two of them jerked their heads up.
It was about twenty centimeters above them at a diagonal angle.
It was a suspended object.
Square-shaped.
It wasn’t very large, entirely silver-white, with a soft silver glow emanating from its edges.
It floated there, bobbing up and down.
On its sides were two pairs of vibrating wings.
Those wings, thin as a cicada’s, trembled slightly, emitting an almost inaudible hum. The edges of the wings had fine patterns that shimmered with silver-blue tones under the lights.
In the center of the square’s front face was a large eye—perhaps a camera—staring directly at them.
Congratulations on successfully clearing the stage. Now, please follow me.
The voice came from that square box.
What! There’s a second stage!? Qi Ranyue wailed with a face full of disbelief.
Chen Rong’s face darkened, her gaze fixed intently on the object.
Neo bobbed up and down flusteredly, explaining in a panic, No, no, it’s a tour, just a tour.
It then continued its scientific briefing: The Safe Zone is a place for game participants to provide energy and restore physical strength.
The various facilities here are built as 1:1 replicas of the Doomsday Safe Zone to give players a better sense of immersion…
Neo led the way, flying back and forth toward those hexagonal rooms: Look, besides those facilities, there are also shops selling souvenirs. For example, this one has figurines, and over there are travel fridge magnets. Further in, there are food stalls, general stores, and clothing stores. At the very end is the luxury hotel in our Safe Zone. It’s enough to keep you busy for half a day.
Qi Ranyue followed slowly, her head turning left and right like a rattle. Before she could clearly see the left display window, her soul was lured away by another shop.
Passing a food stall, the aroma wafted straight into her nose. Qi Ranyue turned to glance at the sausages in the grill machine. Before her brain could react, her mouth suddenly blurted out, Then how do we get out after we’re done looking around?
Neo froze for a moment and gave two awkward, sheepish laughs. …You’ve only just arrived.
The expressions of the two women instantly became guarded as they stared at the square box.
Don’t look at me like that. Neo let out a whimpering cry as if it felt guilty and nervous.
Neo blinked its electronic eye and spoke cautiously: Um… just a friendly tip, you’ve actually already missed the final entry and exit time for the amusement park. The exit passage is currently in sleep mode and won’t open until the amusement park opens tomorrow.
Waaaah…
What?
Qi Ranyue was incredulous: It’s closed?
I haven’t even cried yet, what are you crying for? Qi Ranyue was a bit speechless, yet she also found this little thing somewhat silly and cute.
Neo muttered in a low voice: Uh… this… it really is a small bug on our end… but my boss spoke up and said we can arrange a hotel suite for you to stay in for the night as compensation… The whimpering sound started again.
That Niu, uh… Little Niu. Qi Ranyue asked uncertainly, Is your name Niu?
Neo replied with a sobbing voice: My name is Neo. The English letters N, E, O.
Oh, oh, sorry.
Qi Ranyue turned to Chen Rong and asked softly, What do you think?
Chen Rong nodded.
Alright then!
You’re so nice! Neo spun happily over Qi Ranyue’s head. You didn’t scold me or blame me. After saying that, it started whimpering again. I’m so moved.
It actually doesn’t have much to do with you, so why would I blame you!
Right, I haven’t asked what your names are yet?
I’m Ranyue, you can just call me Yueyue. After Qi Ranyue finished, she looked at Chen Rong and told Neo, She is Rongrong, my best friend.
Chen Rong’s brow furrowed slightly, but in an instant, it smoothed out without a trace, as if that flicker of displeasure had never existed.
Mhm, then I’ll call you Rongrong and Yueyue too!
Can we ask you a question?
I promise to tell you everything I know, Neo said solemnly.
After a moment of hesitation, Qi Ranyue continued, It’s about the Monster Zone. Are the things inside real?
Her voice was very low, as if she was afraid of being overheard.
Actually…
It paused, looking toward the direction of the Monster Zone.
Actually, the monsters in the Monster Zone… It paused again before continuing.
They’re all fakes. Hee hee hee.
The two of them looked at it with serious faces.
They’re all people. It said somewhat anxiously, repeating itself, Wearing prop suits and special effects makeup, hiding in the monster spawn points where you’d expect them. When you get close, they jump out, baring fangs and brandishing claws, roaring.
Players think they are system-generated AI, but actually, it’s just people sweating buckets inside prop suits.
But they looked exactly like real living creatures.
The two of them simultaneously looked toward that distant area.
The place they had just run out of with all their might, those monsters that had scared them until they couldn’t breathe, those sharp claws that had almost torn them apart…
Were they all just people?
The style is too realistic!? So real you can’t tell at all. It continued, its voice carrying a strange pride, It’s all thanks to high technology! Our most, most, most beloved boss created all of this.
It pointed to a person lying down and resting in a corner.
He was drinking water with his eyes closed.
Beside him was a monster skin suit.
They looked over, but the figure was several hundred pixels away from the image in their memory.
Perhaps it was the effect of technology and lighting again.
There, it said, Just got off work.
Off work?
A scene suddenly flashed through her mind.
That monster that had been preparing to attack them—ever since it emitted those low-frequency sounds, they hadn’t seen another living monster.
She secretly wondered if that sound was related to a notification for comrades to evacuate when it was time to get off work.
Then how do they notify their comrades when they get off work?
Of course, that also uses technology. The little fellow explained in detail: They only need to use buttons inside the NPC suits to emit sounds to receive notifications or share information and locations. For things like encountering a target or an off-work notification, this series of information doesn’t require phones or broadcasts.
Alright then.
Qi Ranyue was preoccupied, feeling like something wasn’t quite right.
Come, come, come, Yueyue, Rongrong, follow me! Let’s stroll toward the hotel while we look around. There are many interesting things on the way.
As it spoke, it floated up and down to lead the way, occasionally turning back to bob back and forth, urging them: Keep up, keep up! There’s more fun stuff ahead!
Stopping and starting along the way, they finally arrived at the hotel room.
A regular hexagonal door was embedded in the wall, looking like a spacecraft entrance from a movie.
Wait a moment. Neo flew to the center of the door, and thin blue beams of light from its large eye scanned the identification area on the door.
Click.
The hexagonal door split down the middle, and then the two door panels slid open cleanly to both sides, revealing the room inside.
Wow, Little Neo, you’re actually our exclusive room card. Qi Ranyue was a bit surprised. That’s amazing, just like the high tech in movies.
Really?! Really?!
As soon as the words left her mouth, it zoomed to the ceiling with a whoosh and then flew wildly around the room, letting out whimpering cheers as it flew, like a lit firework.
The two of them watched this scene and let out a chuckle.
In a daze, Qi Ranyue snuggled closer into Chen Rong’s arms, lifting her bleary eyes to look over.
What’s wrong? You seem preoccupied. You haven’t said much since we got to the Safe Zone. Don’t be afraid, we can leave tomorrow.
Her voice grew lighter and lighter, and by the last few words, she was almost asleep.
The perspective shifted first to the silhouette of a person sitting there quietly in front of a computer screen. A faint blue light spilled from behind the monitor, tracing a cold edge along his body.
On the screen were the faces of two girls.
It was the feed coming from Neo’s large eye program.
He raised his hand, his finger gently touching the screen. His fingertip fell on one of the girls’ faces as if caressing it—it was Qi Ranyue’s face.
The screen was pressed by his fingertip, creating a slight, blurry halo of light.
The door behind him was pushed open.
Someone walked in.
Standing three steps behind him, the person spoke in a low voice, devoid of any emotional color.
They have already checked into the hotel.
Understood.