"Authenticating hunter's identity, logging into the hunter room…"
"System's automatic detection shows player's combat level is iron-level rank-3. Iron battleground can be activated."
"Would you like to activate it?"
"Activate." Lin Huang nodded his head to confirm.
"Iron battleground activated!"
"Please enter your account ID."
"God of Gun." Lin Huang wanted an arrogant name.
"The ID has been used. Please choose another ID"
"God of Firearm."
"The ID has been used. Please choose another ID "
"Blast Master."
"The ID has been used. Please choose another ID "
"Simply a Newbie." Lin Huang finally decided to be modest since all the cool names are in use.
"Please confirm ID?"
"Confirm." He was sure.
"The iron battleground is segregated into the firearm zone and mixed battle zone. Please select your zone to begin combat."
"I choose the firearm zone." Lin Huang saw the advertisements for the mixed battle zone. There were a variety of weapons there but Lin Huang wanted to battle against stronger opponents instead. A virtual map then popped up onto the projected game interface, showing eight maps that were available for selection.
Lin Huang noticed that one of the maps had a combination of Chinese and western buildings. He found it interesting and chose that map.
"Confirm selection of Lijiang Tower"
"There will be two teams in the Lijiang Tower combat mode. Six players will be assigned to each team and players are distinguishable based on the color labels on top of the players’ heads. Team members are white while opponents are colored red. The entire battle will take place over half an hour an the side with the highest amount of kills will win."
"You may auto-match with random players or invite online friends to play."
"Random matching." It was the first time Lin Huang played this game. He did not have any friends yet.
"Random matching completed. Please choose your weapon."
As usual, Lin Huang chose the BlackEagle33.
"Weapon selection completed. The map is now being generated."
Within a short while, the virtual environment before Lin Huang changed. The spacious game cabin was transformed into a night-time city environment.
"Welcome to Lijiang Tower!"
His team members appeared one after the other.
"Are there any first-time players?" A tall man glanced around and his gaze landed on Lin Huang's ID which was placed above his head.
The rest of them shook their heads. Lin Huang was the only one who raised his hand. "I just bought my game ring today."
Everyone suddenly seemed displeased. A new player could easily become a burden to the team in this game, an easy target for the opponents.
"Follow me then and morph your weapon to its rifle form and use automatic-fire." The tall man frowned when he saw Lin Huang holding a BlackEagle33.
"I'm not going to change anything. I'm used to attacking with the BlackEagle33." Lin Huang shook his head.
"Kid, just change it for the sake of the team. Don't be selfish. The speed and the shooting distance of that pistol is no match for a rifle. You're a newbie and you're not used to this game yet. Please don’t be a burden to the team." The 40-year-old man was rude indeed. The ID above his head said, "Man in his forties is a flower in bloom".
"I'll try a few shots first. If I can't manage it, I'll change my weapon to a rifle." Lin Huang insisted.
"It's fine, stop talking about it. You're given two chances. If you die without a kill, you're changing your weapon."
"Okay." Lin Huang compromised.
He was confident with his technique. Although he might not be able to defeat all the players in the iron zone, he at least believed that he would not be killed twice and would at least get a kill!
"I'll bring him to the night market. The four of you please go to the courtyard." The tall man gave his instructions. None of them disagreed with him because truthfully, no one was willing to bring Lin Huang to the night market.
Lin Huang kept quiet. It was fine if no one was going to accompany him. He preferred wandering around on his own so he could familiarize himself with the map. Of all the people there, he did not think that it would be the tall man who would lead him there instead, especially after the heated debate about them wanting him to change weapons.
The player ID of the tall man was 'I'm the tall and mighty man'.
Walking behind the tall man, Lin Huang looked at his player ID and he furrowed his brows. "It's true that he's tall, but... Mighty? Was the word 'Mighty' referring to his performance in the game or something else?"
Brother Mighty did not know that Lin Huang was laughing at his player ID. He explained to Lin Huang as he walked, "Based Lijiang Tower's map, it seems that there are not many buildings here. The battleground is separated into two main areas. One is the courtyard, the area where the four of them are headed to now and the second area is the night market, where we're headed towards now. The courtyard has a better field of view with a bridge there while the night market has more shelters. With the way the night market is designed, the best weapon to use here would be a sniper rifle..."
Since Lin Huang was using a BlackEagle33, Brother Mighty told him to attack using its sniper form so he does not get killed so easily.
It was night-time and the virtual map was brightly lit.
Lin Huang observed his surroundings as he listened to Brother Mighty’s explanation.
Although he knew that it was just a virtual scene in the game, he was hungry because of the many food stalls in the market.
He casually took a grilled squid from one of the stalls. The squid was still hot and it had a burnt aroma to it, it felt so real! He was astounded at how advanced this game was.
Lin Huang walked with Brother Mighty and together, they passed by several restaurants. He attempted to familiarize himself with the dynamics here. Just as he was walking out of a shop selling steamed buns, a gunshot from a sniper went off.
Brother Mighty’s s head exploded and his body collapsed to the ground.
Lin Huang did not run away. Instead, he rushed out of the shop and activated Cloud Steps, moving around a short distance. He lifted his pistol and shot upwards, towards the high ground of the night market that Brother Mighty mentioned just now.
There was a woman wearing a tight, black leather outfit on the high grounds of the night market, using a skill similar to his. Lin Huang saw that she was using the same type of weapon he had – a BlackEagle33.
After a few consecutive shots, Lin Huang's expression changed. He would never have thought he would meet a pro in his very first battle and of all the zones, he had to meet her in the iron zone…