Chapter 1: Heavy Rain

Meanwhile, a strange smell of blood began to permeate the streets.

... ...

The dark clouds in the sky kept rolling, and the raindrops became increasingly dense, soon turning into a torrential downpour, accompanied by bursts of lightning and thunder, forcing pedestrians on their way home from work to quicken their pace, regardless of whether they had umbrellas, as they rushed towards their homes.

The man in the suit gazed at the lightning that connected the dark sky above the lightning rod, feeling a sense of trepidation in his heart. Was this lightning too thick and fierce? Fortunately, it was intercepted by the lightning rod atop the building; otherwise, if it struck a pedestrian on the street, it would surely incinerate them instantly.

Should we try restarting the computer? After waiting for a while, Liu Qian could no longer hold back and reached out with his prosthetic limb to press the power button of the computer

Three days later

"The weather forecast did not mention any rain? Is a heavy downpour about to occur? I didn't bring an umbrella when I went out, so I must hurry home before the rain starts, otherwise I won't be able to return." A man, dressed in a suit and appearing to be a junior office worker, walked out of a toy store, looked up at the sky, and then hurriedly made his way in the direction of home.

Unknowingly, it is already the last minute before the launch of "Trembling World". Liu Qian put on the new technological product, the sensing headset, from San Yu Company, anxiously and excitedly waiting for the moment to enter the game.

At that moment, a loud thunderclap echoed outside, and a lightning bolt, as thick as a bowl, struck down fiercely from the darkened sky, hitting the satellite receiving device atop the observation tower next to the small villa, causing a large burst of sparks to erupt from the tower's summit

In front of the San Yu Building, a massive billboard stands tall, displaying four bright red characters that read 'Tremble the World.' After being drenched by rain, they appear to be dripping blood, creating a rather chilling effect. The man in the suit found his gaze lingering on it for a moment. This game, which can be operated using a new technology sensory headset, is set to launch in three days. He has always been an avid enthusiast of such games and had already purchased the headset in preparation for playing it.

Finally, the game login interface has officially opened. Liu Qian used a sensing headset to bind the ID set on www.hetushu.com for automatic login to the game. After a series of verifications, the game interface appeared on the computer screen

Once again, a dazzling flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and a thunderbolt as thick as a bowl rapidly struck the ground. Fortunately, nearby was the branch of San Yu Company, where a thick lightning rod atop a building over a hundred stories high attracted the lightning, channeling it completely underground, thus preventing any harm to pedestrians on the ground.

After the heavy rain falls to the ground, it cannot be drained away from the underground drainage system in a timely manner, resulting in a large amount of standing water by the roadside. This is originally a very normal occurrence, but what now seems very abnormal is...! ... that the standing water is actually red! As the water by the roadside becomes deeper, the red color becomes increasingly bright and glaring, resembling blood spilled all over the ground!

Press again, but there is still no response

Accompanied by the sound of thunder, large raindrops fell violently from the sky, splashing up clouds of dust on the streets that had not seen rain for a long time

The suited man instinctively reached out to touch his face, then looked at his hand, staring at the blood-red liquid covering it, and couldn't help but exclaim, his face filled with shock and horror

The computer is unresponsive

The dark clouds rolled incessantly, growing thicker and thicker, and the sky suddenly darkened. Although it was only just approaching 6:00 PM, the sky was already so dark that it seemed as if night had fallen. After a dazzling flash of lightning, a deafening rumble of thunder echoed through the sky

A thunderclap suddenly echoed outside the small villa, prompting Liu Qian to instinctively glance out the window. It was still pouring rain outside, having continued for three consecutive days. He had been alone in this mountain villa for over a month, with Aunt Zhao, the housekeeper, visiting twice a week to tidy up the house and bring him enough food to last three to four days. Apart from Aunt Zhao, Liu Qian had not interacted with anyone else during this month.

Welcome to the World of Tremors

Aunt Zhao last came over three days ago. According to the usual pattern, she should come again today, but it is already afternoon and she has not yet come up the mountain. The heavy rain outside has not stopped for three whole days. I wonder if there have been any landslides or similar incidents. If the rain continues, Liu Qian is very concerned whether Aunt Zhao can still deliver food to the mountain in time

Fortunately, there is still a day's worth of food left in the refrigerator. This heavy rain has been falling for three days; it should stop by tomorrow, right

At the same time, a dazzling white light appeared before Liu Qian, momentarily blinding him, yet a gentle electronic female voice could be heard in his ears

The suited man's home is located in the Happy Garden community, just a block away. The rain is not too heavy at the moment, and if he runs quickly, he should be able to get home soon. Given the overcast sky, if he seeks shelter from the rain, it is likely that the rain will not stop anytime soon. He is worried that he might miss his son Dongdong's fourth birthday.

Today marks the launch day of "Trembling World"

The man in the suit was running along with the crowd when he suddenly sensed that something was not quite right.

The screen was filled with a crimson rain of blood, and the streets of the city were crowded with aimlessly wandering zombies. The walls of the room reverberated with the wails of the undead emanating from six surround sound speakers, which excited every cell in Liu Qian's body, a fan of zombie-themed games. He immediately used the sensory headset to select his character and initial weapon.

Liu Qian felt a bit nervous and somewhat excited as he waited, because the prosthetic limb he had installed was quite inconvenient to use. The number of games he could play was now very limited. Fortunately, San Yu Company had developed the first online game, "Tremor World," which could be operated using a sensory headset, allowing him to freely experience the excitement of gaming once again

Today is the fourth birthday of the suit-clad man's son, Dongdong. He bought the little one a toy airship, and it is certain that the child will be very fond of it

This made Liu Qian feel somewhat irritable. With San Yu Company being such a large gaming company, their servers should be the best in the industry, and the optimization of their game programs should also be top-notch. Why is it taking so long to enter the game? He was already eager to dive into that zombie world and unleash havoc, yet he was stuck on this interface with no response at all.

It is unclear whether the issue is due to the excessively large game map or the server problems caused by the high number of logged-in users, as Liu Qian's screen continuously displays the words 'Loading' but he is unable to actually enter the game.

After a moment of contemplation, the man in the suit gritted his teeth and dashed through the rain towards home with determination