The impact of the butt of my [Blooded Machete] into the forehead of the infected older NPC was done for several purposes. First, I wanted to quickly test the overall strength of the infected.

  She had thrown up further away but the fact that she had collapsed into a pool of my own vomit didn’t bother me. On a good day I would have sliced straight through her neck and held her head up.

  That would be an interesting test though, just to see if her jaws continued snapping once she was decapitated. With the rules of human biology in place I doubted it, this was [Science Fiction Horror]. Magic and the supernatural where not a place I wanted to go.

  Besides, we had never had gods back on Belphus. I guess the [Directors] or [Management] could be considered the same but..nah. Time to see if she bleeds.

  I stabbed my [Blooded Machete] into her shoulder to see if she responded. After shifting her a bit she had symptoms of black veins on her skin, there was no blood flowing out though from the injury.

  I smacked her head with the hilt of the [Blooded Machete] a few more times to make sure that she was entirely unconscious. Her initial scream hadn’t been too much of a surprise to me and my clothing was thick enough that an average human trying to bite through it would have a harder time.

  Judging from her age and rougher clothing, she a bit older than I had thought, early forties with a few pockmarks on her black vein covered face. A little bit of makeup and a pair of orange dungarees which did not suit her.

  Her body had been roughly damaged when she had fallen out of the pick up truck but from what I could see none of her limbs were bent the wrong way. She had tumbled out, gotten lucky and hit her head. Shame about the infection though, I would have made a cleaner kill than that.

  I turned my attention towards the pick-up truck around five metres away from me, the damaged windscreen made it harder to see the driver’s seat but I had checked and all the doors and windows had been closed. Not locked though.

  I could always have searched him for a key but if I knew one thing it was that the [Viewers] did not want one of their [Player Killer] actors or actresses

  I was aware that the young man had been dead inside the pick up truck but I had attached a seat belt to him to place him as having an accident. Touching the body inside a truck to gain a quick kill would be easy but my priority was to first get a better idea on how the infected operated until I reached Zen.

  Besides, there were no immediate screams. I had thrown my [Blooded Machete] at the woman and cut it into leg. Unless she had suffered a concussion from the shock of being knocked out of the pick up truck then she would have responded to the pain.

  This would mean that the infected weren’t undead or supernatural creatures. If the [Science Fiction Horror Zone] had crossed over to this one then there was a chance they could be aliens taking over their bodies in parasitic form.

  Either way, the threat from them wasn’t going to be the biggest issue for me at this time. The message from [Management] had mentioned a [Science Fiction Horror Zone] cross-over. That I could deal with, it simply made a relatively simple situation a whole lot more complex.

  No, the issue was the other [Player Killers] who were active inside this [Zone.] They had either been here doing the same as me, killing their way through malls, amusement parks or the out of town commercial office areas.

  There was a hospital around and a few police stations as well as the rest that made up the boundaries of the [Suburbia Zone] but I usually never hit those places.

  An ache settled through my body as my stomach ached once more, I forced myself to stand up and ignore the uncomfortable sensation as my stomach cramped. I was not going to vomit again. Once maybe, but twice wasn’t going to happen.

  The itchiness in my eyes had increased in intensity but I’d experienced being set on fire before and my flesh searing and melding with my clothing. This much was manageable but not preferable.

  The physical response to the pain of the infection within me wasn’t a fault of me being a [Player Killer] but a reminder of my human limits. True killers were immune to pain and never stopped, more like machines then creatures made of flesh. But in this Belphus Horror Marathon there were variations.

  As a relatively younger [Player Killer] I was still finding my own path. I had been largely playing the role of a [Silent Killer] to the [Viewers] as it had been a simple, worn and used role. As a [Player Killer] and wearing my [Fright Night Mask] my body would naturally fight back against hostile foreign infections trying to take me over.

  This didn’t mean that I was entirely immune, my rate of healing, my enhanced physical and mental strength were lessened. My sense of hearing and sight were also suffering as I fought against the urge to throw up once more.

  Back on Belphus, I had watched a fair few science horror films in my spare time. I wasn’t as big a fan of the slasher ones like my younger brother Zen had got into. His habit was a strange one given that he was a totally nice guy and had a decent group of friends.

  I figured that the horror films with killers running around with buckets of water drowning people were his outlet in life. He never showed any signs of sociopathic or violent behaviour aside from standing up and fighting bullies in his High School in Belphus.

  My brother had been such a gentle and sensitive young man with a couple of good friends, a loving family and an older sister who was meant to take care of him. Which I’d failed at. Badly. Really, really badly. Ugh.

  And I’d taken on the responsibility and failed. Repeat. I saw him there, around twenty metres from the broken pick up truck when I’d dropped him off as a mindless NPC. His body was twitching on the ground, there was sick around him in puddles but his eyes were vacant.

  There was no sign of him rising from the ground to begin screaming and attack me which was interesting. Either the virus was taking longer to affect him, or I’d shielded him, or the scenario playing out simply worked better on my part because the [Viewers] wanted to see how it played out.

  He wouldn’t have the same immunity and physical and mental defence against an infectious virus like I was unless a parasite had managed to get into both of us without me paying attention.

  I spoke aloud. Just loud enough for him to hear me but it didn’t matter if the [Viewers] saw me or not. I’d called out his name enough times but they could work it however they wanted.

  ‘Zen. Zen stay down. Your body has been infected. I’m going to come over soon but stay down. No matter what happens. To the [Viewers] I’m going to keep him because this NPC belongs to me now. I gave him a name and he’s mine. Back off. Fair game to me. Yeah. Zen! Stay down!’ I shouted out the last part and angled it right so I wasn’t a big sister calling to her brother.

  Later, I could claim that I’d wanted to try and experiment and had grown bored so wanted a challenge. But my single newly upgraded [SuperViewer] knew something. He’d even promised me a gift. Was this his gift? Turning the [Zone] even worse?

  My eyes lingered on Zen for longer than I’d wanted because there was a good chances are he would turn into one of the infected and try to hurt me.

  The few options I had was to tie him up and secure him with the ripped clothing inside the pick up truck. I’d need to enter it first though and that would be a risk.

  There was a reason that [Zone] scenarios had variables. For all I knew the young male NPC could mutate, or change his status even with a cut throat. Yeah. Not an option. Back to what to do with Zen.

  I could tie him up to the chain link fence by the electrical substation and ask one of the [Viewers] for a viral cure for the infection. Or better yet, one of my [Verified Viewers].

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  A single dose would be sufficient as I was confident that I could survive this infection but then Zen would be a standard, scared NPC who was stuck inside a [Cross Over Zone] and I’d be unable to protect him.

  And then I would be abandoning him once more, he would become infected, become a monster and try to kill me or his screams as his throat tore itself apart. Not an option.

  I received a quick message from a [Verified Viewer] which was showing that my performance was still holding strong. This time it was the one who was so into me or something but had been banned previously. Not that I’m complaining.

  By the standards of the [Heart Eating Beauty] my level of popularity was so low down that it was practically on the ground. A handful of [Verified Viewers] and a whole ton of invisible people who popped in and out on me like a bubble machine at a birthday party.

  <[Verified Viewer] GutzGutzLiver_23 has paid for total temporary ban removal. Penalty Removed. The following message has been sent: Beauty. I was blocked from watching your performance. So...that sucked. Not like I’m going to bootleg your stuff to others. Joke. Uh...you’re sticking with saving the whole NPC thing so….girl. You deserve this. I’m dropping an anti-viral boost for him. You can handle it, and if this guy treated you badly then you need to dump his a- [The rest of this message is being reviewed by [Management]. Thanks for your support! Good luck [Player Killers]! Burn and kill the night away!]>

  Oh. I hadn’t been expecting that. This was a nicer one than the last one where they had ranted at me. I looked over to Zen and he stopped twitching and his body relaxed a little as he curled up and rubbed his eyes.

  A shame that his own vomit was on him but bad smells weren’t an issue for a [Player Killer]. No doubt my own sick smelt just as bad. If he could stabilise the virus within him he could pass for a standard human than an infected but I wasn’t expecting the anti-viral boost to cure him.

  If it operated the same as the other gifts like the adrenalin drop I had received it would work for a short time and delay at best.

  I was thankful though so I made a cute pose and changed the neon lights on my [Fright Night Mask] to flash blue and pink in a heart shaped pattern as I waved at the air and smiled underneath the white mask.

  Sometimes, not talking was a good option. I did appreciate the gesture but I’d need to take care of Zen sooner than that. There were threats here. Serious threats. Infected and [Player Killers] in addition to worse.

  Either way he would draw attention and if this situation was anything like I had seen in the few science fiction horror films I had watched there would be paramilitary forces getting involved soon.

  I spoke to any [Viewers] paying attention to me as I bent my knees and placed one hand on my stomach in an effort to settle it a little. The virus or infection was trying its best to take over my body but I was no longer human.

  Who knew that becoming a serial killer would have come in so handy. I needed to save Zen and the [Verified Viewer] who had upgraded their status through some payment mechanism was my best hope.

  ‘Hey there [Viewers], [Guests] and those who choose to follow me. Wow, I uh, I wasn’t expecting this. A cross-over event! Wow. So, I have a different idea in mind. This is something I’ve never done before but I need to get that NPC out of this [Zone] once conditions for the scenario are fulfilled. I’m open for a team-up. Any takers? Some of you [Viewers] must have connections with other [Player Killers]?’ I said while I forced down the head of the infected older woman with a single military style boot.

  She was beginning to struggle more this time as her consciousness or what passed for it made her move. Her teeth opened and a dark liquid dropped out from rotten gums as the black veins on her skin bulged upwards.

  Her hands and feet were reaching for me so I opted for another solution to my problem. Trying to rescue Zen before had been possible, difficult but possible. I was going to resort to two things which I didn’t want to do. The anti-viral boost from the [Verified Viewer] had helped but didn’t fix my immediate solution.

  Just because I could talk to [Viewers] directly in the open didn’t mean they couldn’t send private messages which only I could view. Yes, for most of them the cameras focused on my exact location, for the ones who had paid a higher subscription to the [Management] they had a much wider view.

  The odd thing was that I’d never experienced the upgrade process to more than one [SuperViewer]. My one helper, one of the older [Player Killers] who had been stuck here for decades [Miss Valentine the Heart Eater] had given e the advice to build them up and treasure them.

  She herself had emphasized to start small, build up a good audience and stay consistent. Considering that she was the major celebrity equivalent of a serial killer, in the same way that Jaja Swag was one, if not, the most popular singer back on Belphus her words made sense.

  In this situation, I had watched a handful of biological horror films but I was aware of one simply biological fact which this landscape chose to ignore. The laws of biology reality were altered here, namely the rate of infection and conversion of a human body.

  I checked out my current [Viewers]. My [Kill Count] was small but could grow rapidly in this situation. I wasn’t concerned about that but for my plan to work I needed a little flair.

  <[Player Killer] Hell_ScutzScream: Number of [Invisible Viewers]: (96) [Verified Fans]: (3) 80s_Film_Fan8, GutzGutzLiver_23, Ville_DemGutzm Guests Viewing (41) Invisible Guests Viewing (280) [SuperViewer]: (1) Ville_DemGutz>

  My numbers had grown. For not doing a whole lot I had increased numbers in spite of not increasing my [Kill Count]. I’d made my decision. I hefted my [Blooded Machete] which appeared to be sated at the moment and turned the neon lights on my [Fright Night Mask] to a deep red as I stabbed it into the lower back of the infected older female NPC.

  Lifting up up into the air with two hands I threw her back so her head was facing away from me. There was an audible crack on the asphalt of the road but she continued to move and tried to sit up towards me. I left my [Blooded Machete] in place but stopped it from draining her energy or what passed for it in her infected form.

  Grabbing one of her feet I began to drag her towards Zen. If I wasn’t going to make it out of the [Suburbia Zone] then I’d need to do the next best thing to survive this place. I’d get Zen to kill her with his own two hands, at least to kill the infected creature she had become.

  Then I’d ask directly the [Viewers] and specifically the [SuperViewer] what he wanted from me to turn Zen into an [Assistant Killer]. Or even a [Player Killer].

  The one reason that my younger brother had become an NPC in this place hadn’t been the fact that I’d lost track of him. I would have heard of other brand new [Player Killers] through the old ones living in the [Cut Zone].

  The woman screamed and reached up towards me but having a machete stuck in her spine was stopping her from bothering me. The black veins on her face bulged again but thankfully she didn’t vomit.

  My younge brother Zen who had a passion for horror movies back home, the one who had a good group of friends and studied hard in his high school. He’d never be able to kill someone even if he was forced.

  A shame that I was going to make him into a killer.

  ‘Hey Zen...are you awake? My name is...call me [The Griefer]. There are some very, very bad things happening here and I would like to help you survive.’ I said as I dragged the infected woman to him.

  Part of his clothing had somehow gotten caught on the chain link fence and he’d been unable to rip it off, either due to his lack of physical strength or the anti-viral fighting off the infection in his blood stream.

  Either way, how convenient for me. He’d stayed there because he had to, not because I’d kept him safe. His eyes widened at the sight of my mask but I wasn’t going to remove it. Not yet.

  I hoped that the [Viewers] had decided to mess with me and engage his memories as a non-NPC.

  I dragged the infected older NPC woman as a thump came came from the pick up truck and I glanced over to see an impact on the side door which I had unlocked previously. The smears of blood and cracked windows made it hard for me to see but another audible thump caused the truck to rock.

  Infection it appeared, even worked on those with their throats cut. Or he hadn’t died before the virus hit him. More reason for me to push forward with my plan.

  ‘I’m going to say two words. A name. Beauty. Vee.’ I said as his eyes showed clear recognition and he stopped struggling trying to remove his clothes wrapped up in a broken link on the metal fence.

  ‘Yes. You know that name. I want you do to something bad for me. And if you don’t then..I’m going to find your older sister and do truly horrible things to her. Do you remember if you had a big sister? I’m going to turn her into a meat puppet if you don’t do exactly what I say. That’s right...take the blade and cut off her head. I’ll hold her down. Good. Good effort. Zen…’ I said.

  I was thankful for the [Fright Night Mask] disguising my face as tears this time streamed from my eyes. The itchiness had stopped a while back but my chest hurt so much as my younger brother tried to take the machete with reluctance from the lower spine of the woman.

  I ended up sitting on her and pushed her head onto the ground keeping it facing away from my little brother as he raised the [Blooded Machete] and tried and failed to cut it off.

  Thankfully no blood flowed but black liquid did as tears continued to stream down my face under my mask and I sat there with my back to him. He continued to swing, this time he was shouting my name. Over and over.

  ‘Welcome to the . Please confirm your destination to your chosen Seed world or Variant of the planet Belphus.

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