Surviving the Game as a Zombie - Chapter 131

“I have to say, do you think it’s because Tang Jie is from a marginal star that she’s especially sympathetic to the suffering of the lower class?” a comment scrolled by as the livestream audience discussed the plot in real time. By now, the number of regular viewers had reached 900,000, a significant increase in popularity from before, enough to squeeze into the bottom ranks of the most popular livestreams.

“I think so. Other players rarely care about fairness. Most camps in the game are authoritarian, very few are like hers.”

“The people around her have been influenced, too.”

“Well, we’re on the main star, so we’ve never really had a hard life… uh, of course, I’m just saying. I wouldn’t go there even if you asked me to.”

“I heard the marginal stars are extremely primitive. No smart butlers, no brain-computer interfaces, no purification walls, no levitation tracks. You even have to prepare your own food. It’s almost like being an ancient Earthling.”

“And they have to endure attacks from interstellar monsters. The main star’s defense layer doesn’t extend to the marginal stars.”

“Whoa, for real? Doesn’t the General Administration invest in their development?”

“Develop what? They have no important resources or industries. There’s no need to invest. Some planets even have thin atmospheres. The General Administration has so many subsidiary territories, losing one doesn’t matter. They just let them fend for themselves.”

“That’s so tragic.”

“Aww, our poor Tang. Who knows how much she suffered before. Mommy wants to give you a hug.”

“Big sis wants to give you a hug.”

Most people from the main star couldn’t imagine life on a marginal star. They could only offer a symbolic “that’s so tragic” to assuage their sympathy. But as for actually doing something, they were incapable and had no intention of it.

A small number of people, however, had their interest piqued and took the initiative to learn about the general situation of the marginal stars. The information they found was varied. Reports from the main star described the marginal stars as “inhabited ruins.” These hundreds of small planets on the edge of the star region came in all shapes and sizes. The inhabited ones were slightly larger but as desolate as a barren wilderness. On the maps transmitted by AI, one could see vast expanses of green and blue, with clusters of round buildings of varying heights only in specific areas. It was a world of difference from the map of the main star, where every inch of land was already covered in skyscrapers.

The people there relied on primitive instincts, maintained low productivity, and even the native inhabitants’ knowledge reserves were low and primitive.

Xiao Zhao propped up her face and pouted as she watched the discussion on the screen. The situation described in the comments was just the tip of the iceberg. Resource scarcity and harsh living environments were only surface-level problems. Hidden beneath were the plunder and class discrimination brought on by that scarcity. People would do anything to escape the marginal stars and squeeze their way onto the main star, but the strict system for advancing between levels made it exceptionally difficult.

The planet where Xiao Zhao was born and raised wasn’t too remote, and the living conditions were somewhat better. Tang Yu’s Marginal Star 879, however, was as desolate as it could possibly be. Any further out and you would leave this star region and enter the territory of other alien creatures.

In the time it took for her mind to wander, the topic of discussion in the comments had already changed several times. People’s focus jumped faster than a clock’s hand. A glance at the screen revealed a new topic.

“Seriously, this is great. The fifth and sixth on the leaderboard are now friends. Our Xiao Tang has backing!”

“Totally! I didn’t expect Li Luo to be so easy to talk to. I wonder what she sees in our Xiao Tang.”

“She’s not into Xiao Tang, she’s into Song Lengzhu. Song Song, you have to stay true to your heart! Don’t let Li Luo lead you astray.”

“Li Luo doesn’t feel that way about Captain Song, right? Right? RIGHT?”

“I don’t think so. She’s probably just a career-oriented woman who’s interested in Captain Song’s resources. Not all closeness is because of love, people. Wake up.”

“That’s great, then. I support Miss Li joining them. Let’s get bigger and stronger!”

“Even if she was, I think Captain Song’s feelings are obvious. She won’t be led astray.”

“Look at Captain Song when she’s alone with Xiao Tang. Her gaze is so soft it could drip water. She’s not like that with anyone else.”

“Ah, this ship is killing me.”

“It’s just that Xiao Tang is as dense as a block of wood and hasn’t figured it out.”

“I think Xiao Tang has feelings for her too! She doesn’t say it, so we don’t know her heart, but her point of view often lingers on Captain Song. If I look at Song Lengzhu any longer, I’m going to have the number of her eyelashes memorized.”

“I second the motion.”

“Seconded.”

“But why did Song Song tell Xiao Tang not to hide things from her? What did she hide? Did I miss something?”

“It’s not you who missed it, it’s all of us. That damn BUG appeared again. There’s a part of the plot we didn’t get to see. Can this broken game be fixed already!”

“A few more times and I’ll get used to it.”

“Damn devs.”

“This isn’t the devs’ fault. You should be blaming the programmers.”

“Okay, damn devs.”

“After the screen went black, Xiao Tang brought out a computer. The information should be in there.”

“Waiting for Jian Che to take a look. It might be a key item.”

“Please, no more black screens. I’m going to get anxious if I can’t watch.”

A jumble of discussions flashed across the screen. The number of people chatting online was growing, and the topics were diverse. Perhaps because a good tone had been set from the beginning, the atmosphere in the livestream chat was relatively friendly. Everyone expressed their own opinions and communicated amicably, and many had become regular viewers. There were occasional heated debates, but they were mostly effective arguments where people stated their own views, rather than unreasonable personal attacks.

Xiao Zhao’s thoughts were quickly drawn away. She navigated to the comment section and found that the debate there was on another topic entirely.

“I’ve noticed a very interesting phenomenon. Tang Yu and Captain Song barely hesitated about giving up the city, even though it was a city they fought so hard to conquer. They seem happy to transfer and share resources with others, rather than holding on tightly and destroying them before letting other players get them. I haven’t watched many livestreams, are they the only ones like this?”

1L: “Replying to OP, from what I know, they’re not the only ones. Other players in this game have done similar things. But an interesting point is that, based on past game streams, female players are more inclined to cooperate, while male players are more inclined to fight each other. They rarely share resources, especially such a huge one.”

2L: “Because male players are more belligerent?”

3L: “If belligerent just means aggressive, I don’t think so. Being aggressive isn’t a bad thing; both men and women can be belligerent. My personal feeling is that the society created in the game makes men more inclined to prove their status through violence and power. They have an internal pecking order that doesn’t allow for the existence of the weak. The most convenient way to gain recognition from their peers is to constantly fight other men and win. Therefore, both the strong and the weak yearn for power and strength. This is the ‘male competition’ of ancient Earth. Even without the involvement of another gender, I think they would still be at each other’s throats. Female players in the game, on the other hand, don’t need this narrow sense of self-validation. Their sources of validation are more diverse. The positive impact on their surroundings, the benefits of allying with other players, and helping weak NPCs like Xiao Tang does—all these bring her a greater sense of value than simply ‘holding great power.’ Of course, this is just my personal opinion, offered as a line of thought.”

4L: “I disagree with the post above. That’s a bit like stereotyping. There are male players in the game who are willing to share benefits and female players who are unwilling to relinquish power.”

6L: “The friend above is talking about group characteristics, not individuals. Overturning group characteristics because of individual cases is a bit confusing. For example, it’s common knowledge that the bitter melons cultivated in space are bitter. But if you occasionally eat a sweet one, you can’t run around shouting, ‘We were all wrong, bitter melons are sweet!’ It’s the same principle. Also, labeling is about imposing a framework on a group to regulate their behavior, but the friend in post #3 is summarizing characteristics; the order of operations is the reverse.”

7L: “Replying to 4L, I’m stating the views I’ve observed and inferred. They aren’t necessarily correct. If you have another theory, you’re welcome to propose it.”

9L: “I think the bigger reason lies in the social mechanism. The game rules replace social rules, invisibly putting pressure on the players within. It’s like a social experiment. The actions taken are not just the player’s individual consciousness; there’s a chain of logic behind them. For example, Song Lengzhu and Tang Yu giving up the city is based on their experience showing that doing so can provide a greater chance of survival. And in this game’s context, female solidarity offers a greater advantage. This can be seen as a way of adapting to the rules.”

10L: “But it’s undeniable that in the same social environment, male players are just more belligerent. Even if they’ve received an equal education, they immediately adapt to such a power structure upon entering this kind of environment because they are in a position of advantage and naturally don’t want to give it up.”

13L: “Now that you mention it, why do I feel like this game is just a social experiment?”

14L: “I think so too.”

15L: “Going off-topic to interrupt the serious discussion, I just want to say one thing about this matter. Some people might read this and think female players are just this selfless and tolerant. That’s not it. Captain Song didn’t just give up the city blindly; she specifically chose Li Luo after careful consideration. Giving up the city brought greater benefits than occupying it herself, and it benefited three parties at once. Onlookers shouldn’t see them as naive sweethearts who just love to share.”

16L: “True. While we admire them for sharing resources, let’s not forget they are strategic. The two are not mutually exclusive. Besides, Captain Song is ambitious too, or she wouldn’t have attacked the city in the first place.”

18L: “Nothing more to say. I personally find it hard to understand.”

Xiao Zhao scrolled with great interest for a long time. There were other discussions further down, with people branching off to debate many things, eventually straying far from the original question and even touching on various aspects of anthropology, history, and psychology. Xiao Zhao deleted a few posts that were just random insults with no substance, but let the viewers discuss the rest freely.

Another popular thread in the comment section was about the “game rankings.” Xiao Zhao casually scrolled through it and found that many people had been discussing Lin Zhongqi’s identity ever since he appeared. Unlike the previous thread, the discussion here was much more direct.

“Did I see that right? Lin Zhongqi is ranked second?”

“His points are absurdly high.”

“I suspect many of the quests in the city were credited to him. A level nine camp, I’ve never seen a level nine camp before. That must have added a lot of points.”

“And his ability is extremely useful. If it weren’t for Xiao Tang and Captain Song having their own heaven-defying abilities, there’s no way they could have won, right?”

“Good thing Xiao Tang didn’t come to Songming City when she was weak, or she would’ve been offed in one hit.”

“I remember Lin Zhongqi was the former head of Chanyan Technology. He has some dealings with Star Research. Could he be cheating?”

“Even if he is, we wouldn’t know.”

“With such a powerful background, I’m just worried for Xiao Tang’s safety. He seems arrogant and petty. After being eliminated by Xiao Tang like that, will he cause trouble for her after the game?”

“It’s very possible, but Xiao Tang’s real body should be on Prison Island, right? No matter how powerful he is, he can’t interfere with matters on Prison Island.”

“That’s hard to say. What if he has people on the inside who secretly get rid of Tang Yu’s real body? Then she wouldn’t be able to come back, would she?”

“If she gets offed, she could just have her consciousness implanted into a mechanical body.”

“You’re overthinking it. Implanting consciousness into mechanical bodies is currently forbidden, and the regulations on androids are as strict as those on artificial intelligence. Even if it were implanted, her personal autonomy would be controlled by the General Administration’s technology department. She’d be better off staying in the game forever.”

“But staying in the game is so dangerous. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like it’s not just other players who want her dead.”

Xiao Zhao also broke into a cold sweat. There were far too many who wanted Tang Yu dead; even her supervisor was secretive about it. She felt both happy and scared seeing the steadily rising popularity. Happy because the livestream was bustling and her performance metrics were secure, but scared that it would attract the attention of some powerful faction and push Tang Yu into the eye of the storm.

But stopping the livestream now was impossible. It wasn’t something she could control, and stopping it would only trigger a wider discussion. Xiao Zhao decided to let nature take its course and conscientiously do her job.

For the second “broadcast malfunction,” Xiao Zhao filed a routine report and sent it to her superior as usual, but the email remained unread. The livestream audience had already gotten used to the broadcast glitches, and Xiao Zhao felt she would soon get used to them too. She was often torn between “Should I go report to my superior in person? What if something major happens?” and “Better not. What if they use some trick against Tang Yu and endanger her life?” She swung back and forth with worry, not knowing what the right thing to do was. So, she did nothing, only able to silently pray that her actions wouldn’t lead to any terrible consequences.

Now, Xiao Zhao had developed a habit of bowing to the screen before starting work each day. “Amitabha, I pray that Tang Jie stays safe today, Amen.”