Following the on-screen prompt, Chen Sha quickly shook his mouse and clicked the left button to initiate a struggle.
The protagonist cried out in pain while desperately trying to break free—finally kicking the zombie aside and stomping its head in!
Of course, the camera subtly turned away at the critical moment to avoid showing anything too graphic.
Even though ESRO already functioned as a content rating system in this world, Bao Xu and Huang Sibo didn't want Ocean Fortress to be classified as "Not Suitable for Teenagers," which would shrink their player base.
So, for scenes like this, they made some mild visual adjustments to keep things from looking overly explicit.
The protagonist collapsed to the ground from the pain, and in first-person view, Chen Sha could clearly see the wound: the right leg had a deep bite mark, with torn camouflage pants and exposed flesh gushing blood.
The protagonist groaned and slowly stood up again, limping toward the final door.
He finally reached it.
The door was slightly ajar, and a sliver of light glowed through the gap. Faint sounds could be heard beyond.
The protagonist pushed it open with both hands—
But just as the door creaked open, a blood-covered zombie suddenly lunged from the other side, slamming the protagonist to the ground!
"Shit shit shit shit—!"
Chen Sha was utterly terrified—the zombie's grotesque face filled the entire screen. He could even make out the blood and rotting flesh between its teeth.
Though the zombie's model wasn't hyper-detailed or photorealistic, its sudden appearance was enough to make Chen Sha jump out of his skin.
This one wore a mercenary uniform. Unlike the previous zombie, it was intact and muscular, with no signs of decay or damage.
The mercenary zombie pinned the already injured protagonist down and snarled, forcing its head toward his neck, teeth gnashing, trying to tear out his throat!
The protagonist gripped the zombie's neck tightly with his right hand while his left groped for something at the zombie's waist.
BANG!
A gunshot rang out.
Through a blood-blurred screen, the zombie was shoved off. Its body slumped to the floor beside the protagonist.
There had been a pistol on the mercenary zombie's belt. The protagonist had pulled it free and fired—headshot.
Due to the visual effect simulating blood loss, Chen Sha couldn't clearly see the moment the head exploded—but that blurry vision combined with the protagonist's heavy breathing and tense voice acting only heightened the tension.
Chen Sha was seriously spooked.
What kind of scam is this?!
He thought he was playing an FPS—but this felt more like a horror game!
Technically, both encounters had been scripted events.
As long as you had a hand and could shake the mouse, you'd get through them.
But even so, Chen Sha broke into a cold sweat.
Mainly because both zombies—the one that bit his leg and the one that ambushed him from the door—appeared without any warning, maximizing the scare factor.
After that, the game entered a more traditional tutorial phase.
The system began explaining how to aim, shoot, reload, crouch, and perform other basic FPS actions.
The controls were standard for the genre, and Chen Sha picked them up quickly.
As for the story, the protagonist found a medical kit in a cabinet and used it to bandage the wounds on his abdomen and right leg.
He also found a keycard on a nearby corpse.
With basic treatment and supplies handled, the real story mode finally began.
At first, Chen Sha encountered a few weaker zombies. They moved slowly, and a headshot was all it took to drop them.
At the beginning, the protagonist has very limited ammo, and zombies often lurch out from the most unexpected places—if you're not careful, you'll get bitten or knocked down instantly.
Chen Sha's aim was solid, but he still got the crap scared out of him.
The game didn't directly spoon-feed the player any exposition about the protagonist's identity or goals.
But as the early plot unfolded, Chen Sha was able to piece together a rough idea.
The protagonist seemed to be trapped inside some kind of secret facility—one where a mysterious virus outbreak had turned a large number of humans into zombies.
Not only was the protagonist being hunted down by the facility's mercenaries, he'd also been bitten by a zombie himself.
Although he managed to patch up the wound and stop the bleeding using the medkit, the virus was still in his body.
It was only a matter of time before it took over.
There were no allies.
No way to contact the outside world.
The protagonist had to navigate this dangerous base alone—scavenging supplies, fighting off zombies and hostile mercenaries, doing everything he could to survive.
Along the way, players would encounter various challenges:
Combat against zombies vs mercenaries required entirely different approaches.
Zombies had highly sensitive hearing. If you fired a gun recklessly, it could draw a whole horde.
Unless your aim was god-tier, getting swarmed meant game over.
Even worse—killing zombies rarely yielded more ammo.
Run-and-gun long enough, and you'd be left with an empty chamber.
The best way to deal with zombies? Melee weapons, stealth kills, and careful resource management.
Mercenaries, on the other hand, patrolled in squads. If one disappeared, the rest would immediately raise the alarm, shouting for reinforcements and locking down the area.
Stealth wasn't as effective against them.
Instead, the player was encouraged to go loud and fast—gun them down and loot them for bullets and occasionally new weapons.
In some levels, zombies and mercenaries appeared at the same time.
You could even use that to your advantage—lure zombies toward the mercs, let the two sides fight it out, and pick off the survivors afterward for an easy win.
Occasionally, the player would get access to special tools or weapons, like mounted machine guns for clearing out zombie hordes. But most of the time, resource management was key.
Every bullet counted.
Though the facility maps shared a visual theme, their layouts had a definite maze-like feel:
Some doors were blocked or jammed.
Others required keycards.
Some could be breached with special tools…
And the deeper you went, the stronger the enemies got—and the more varied they became.
Even worse, the protagonist's mental state started deteriorating.
This was reflected through in-game effects:
Random screen blurs that faded in and out
Hand tremors causing crosshair drift
Slowed movement, difficulty walking in a straight line…
Eventually, Chen Sha encountered the first mini-boss:
A large, mutated zombie—physically massive and significantly tougher than the regular ones.
Still, it was just the first boss, and Chen Sha had saved up plenty of weapons and ammo.
After an intense fight, he managed to bring it down.
Afterward, the protagonist collapsed—exhausted, vision growing dim.
He'd lost too much stamina. The virus was eating away at his consciousness.
Finally, his eyes closed, and the screen faded to black.
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 102: A Low-Key Grand Opening[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/129254813?collection=1399284[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/129254813?collection=1399284
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/129254813?collection=1399284
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded