Emily
Standing by the window, Charlie looked at Batman with his cloak flying across the street and felt unreal for a moment.
At this point, there was no longer any doubt. Somehow, all the heroes he plays in this game are mirrored in reality. Those legendary superheroes are like his agents, his clones, who can replace him, doing things he can't.
Although he can only play Batman for now, sooner or later, new heroes will be unlocked: Spiderman, Iron Man, Green Lantern, Doctor Strange, Superman, and other top-level characters.
But at this moment, he immediately realized one more thing.
Unless necessary, he'd better keep the hero he controls as far away from him as possible.
This is a precaution against similar scenarios in DC and Marvel original comics; Spiderman is always swinging around the school he attends, leading to the guess that he may be a teacher or student there.
Some rich folk track Superman's flight trajectory on a map with high-tech instruments, only to find that this guy is always wandering around the Daily Planet.
"..."
With these lessons learned from comic predecessors, Charlie immediately realized that the heroes he controlled should stay away from him. If someday in the future, a bored guy chasing after superheroes decides to plot dots on a map, finally discovering that heroes from all walks of life love to wander around this acre of land, he risks exposure.
As long as he hides well and stays behind the scenes, all the heroes from Marvel and DC will become his powerful thugs and the foundation for him to settle down in this strange world.
Maybe he can develop into a super black and evil force, becoming the leader behind the scenes.
Thinking of this, he sat back in front of the computer and manipulated Batman to turn around and leave. His thoughts didn't stop while he wandered through the night.
It was only yesterday that he applauded the freedom this game gives to the player, but now, he feels it is a bit too free. Aside from the tutorial, the game hardly provides any guidance; there isn't even a main mission, and he has yet to learn what the game wants the player to do.
If you think about it, even yesterday's first task cannot be accurately called a task.
There is no clear concept of "mission" in the game; a bat mark is placed on the roof of the Klein Group to remind players that there may be a situation. But Charlie thought that if he ignored this sign and manipulated Batman to go shopping in the city, it wouldn't be impossible.
He felt like he had opened a Batman simulator, able to go wherever he wanted, with no missions and no main line, and the story unfolding entirely up to him.
Just as he was thinking about what to do in the game, a small exclamation mark suddenly appeared on the game screen. The GPS location had updated the destination, which was not far from Batman.
Is there a "mission" coming?
Charlie had a thought, so he manipulated Batman to walk toward the exclamation mark.
...
Emily felt that today was her unlucky day.
In the morning, the alarm clock didn't go off and she overslept, she rushed to the office on a small electric scooter. She didn't eat breakfast but was still five minutes late.
Unfortunately, she happened to bump into the boss in the elevator, who scolded her harshly. While completing her assignment, she realized that, in a hurry to leave, she had forgotten the materials she rushed to complete last night on the table. The boss once again gave her another harsh reprimand.
Initially, she wanted to go out with her two girlfriends for a free meal and have a good time to change her mood, but she tripped over nothing, chipped her teeth, and twisted her ankle.
Walking on the road, she met a group of sleazy street thugs who approached her to strike up a conversation. She ignored them and quickened her pace to leave, but she didn't expect them to drag her back.
"Why you being so rude, stupid b*tch."
"Let go!" Emily tried to get away, but one of the thugs punched her in the head.
This punch made her eyes blur, and she became a little dazed.
"You Fcking B*tch?" the thug cursed.
Although there were not many pedestrians on the road, those present were stunned by this group's arrogance. Many stopped, but no one dared to intervene.
Someone in the back took out his mobile phone and seemed to want to call the police, but a blond thug ran up to him, snatched the phone, and smashed it to pieces on the concrete floor.
"You like to be brave, don't you?" The blond boy slapped the man gently on the face.
The man, pale in fear, repeatedly shook his head.
"Good," the blondie continued with a smile. "I hate brave idiots."
Seemingly about to leave, the blondie turns around, causing the man to heave a sigh of relief. Then...
Swoosh
With a twist of his waist, the blondie rotates his torso,
Smack
He threw a backhand slap at the man, sending him sprawling on the floor
"but I hate cowards even more."
Emily lay on the ground, half her face hurting. She waved her hands and tried to stand up but was pushed back down.
The group surrounded her in a circle, and she smelled a strong scent of alcohol. One thug was still yelling something, but her dizziness made it hard for her to focus.
She gave up trying to get up and could only protect her body. She fantasized this was just an incoherent nightmare and hoped she would wake up in a cold sweat and find herself still in her warm bed, and this unfortunate day hadn't started at all.
The thug raised his fist again while cursing and about to swing it down.
Snap.
The lights went out.
Not only the street lights but even the lights in the buildings and the hanging electronic signs, as if an invisible hand cut off the light source, dragging everything into eternal darkness.
Everyone was shocked by the sudden change.
The thug stopped his fist, frowning: "What the f*ck is going..."
A spherical object drew a parabola and was thrown at their feet, exploding softly. The smoke screen quickly dominated the entire venue of darkness.
A shadow then spread its pitch-black wings, like a demon descending from the sky, and fell into the smoke.
The thugs didn't see anything clearly, only vaguely seeing a shadow flash before them.
Crack
The bridge of a thug's nose broke, causing a scream the next moment.
The severe pain hit him like a tide, and he howled like a pig, sobering up.
"Brother!"
His companion waved to disperse the smoke while trying to approach but felt his arms sink after two steps as if clamped by something. Before he could struggle, pain caused him to almost faint, accompanied by the sound of dislocating bones.
The darkness and smoke blinded them. No one knew what happened; only the screams of their companions echoed in the smoke, weaving a symphony of despair.
The first thug recovered from the severe pain of his broken nose, raised his head, and immediately froze.
He wasn't afraid of getting hurt or dying. He often got bruised and swollen from fights.
He is the kind of person who has nothing to worry about, and fear is a distant word for him.
After all, he doesn't even care if he dies, so what is there to fear?
It was not until today that he realized he was wrong.
He saw the looming shadow in the smoke, and his mind automatically turned it into a hideous and frightening image. Huge black wings, blood-sucking fangs, and sharp claws seemingly born for killing, things only seen in the deepest nightmares.
Then he saw the thing coming towards him again.
He froze, stuck in place like a meek schoolboy. He stared wide-eyed in horror, watching the bat-like monster cutting through the smoke, feeling his heart almost jump out of his chest, the fear paralyzing him...
The creature give him a punch to the cheek making him spit blood mixed with a few teeth. The next punch made him feel like three of his ribs were broken.
The following shots were equally ruthless; the severe pain spread all over his body under the impact—
Finally, a forward kick nearly stopped his heart and lungs. The thug broke through the smoke and flew out, landing on the opposite sidewalk, causing passers-by to scream.
At this moment, he felt like a fragile glass bottle smashed to pieces. Blood poured down his throat, nearly choking him.
The smoke cleared, and all the lights suddenly came back on.
Panting, Emily sat up and looked around blankly, seeing a group of street thugs lying on the ground. She didn't know if they were dead or alive, still muddled from the punch.
The onlookers ran far away in surprise, leaving this half of the street empty except for her.
Clutching her head, she felt dizzy and couldn't digest what she was seeing.
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