Darkness swirled around Jason, faint noises reaching his ears and growing louder each passing second.
He felt himself suddenly sitting in a rather noisy environment, Vehicles revving, heavy thuds of people running around and shouting voices all over the place.
Gradually his vision began to return. Hazy at first, but soon it became clearer.
Da-ba! Da-ba! Da-ba! Da-ba! Whoooo!
As soon as his vision cleared, a military chopper immediately flew overhead, stirring up wind and dust.
Looking around, he found himself sitting on a metal bench in what looks like a military location.
"All Driftbounds please report to GEC command center immediately for briefing." A female voice came through a loud speaker.
'This place is a military base of operation.'
Feeling a sudden itch on his ankle, Jason reached down to scratch and then froze.
Like a rusted robot, his gaze slowly lowered to his feet.
There, replacing the familiar sight of an empty space after his knees was a long camouflage trousers and polished black boots.
He tried to wiggle his toes, an endeavor he had tried many times before with no success. But this time, the military boots actually twitched in response.
'I...it... it really is possible.' His breathing turned heavy with anticipation.
For several seconds he just sat there, the sound of his heavy breathing drowning out every other sound.
Then slowly he began to stand.
Shakily at first, but soon enough he was standing again, tall and straight.
He reached down and touched the trousers, feeling the calf muscles beneath them. He then rolled the trousers up, revealing the olive colored calfs hidden in them.
Taking a deep breath, he gently raised his leg and he took a step for the first time in a long time.
A rare smile immediately blossomed on his face as he watched the foot land.
Then he took another step, then another. Soon he was walking forward at a steady pace, his lips curled upwards in a genuine smile.
If anyone from the military rehabilitation home were to see him right now, they would definitely be shocked by the thought that he could actually smile.
Jason kept walking until he found himself in a large open area, occupied by a bustling crowd of hundreds of people, both men and women were all gathered in the area.
The lack of order and discipline, along with clothing style that matched his—black t-shirts, camouflage trousers and black boots—Jason could already guess who these people were.
"All Driftbounds, please report to GEC command center immediately for briefing." The voice came through the loud speaker again.
In front of the crowd, one could see a huge tent with, GEC vanguard command center boldly written on it.
'If my guess is right, then these are the players. It's not difficult to distinguish civilians from military, even if they are dressed identically.' Jason's eyes wandered back to the noisy crowd.
"Hey, is this the safe zone?" A guy shouted.
"This game is gonna be a breeze man, I'm really good at FPS you know what I mean." Another was chatting with his friends.
"When can we activate the livestream option?" A lady asked.
'Yeah, it's not difficult at all.' Jason shook his head. Soon he sighted a guy close-by, standing quietly in a corner.
'Let's see if we can get some intel. Weasel would've chewed my ear off if he knew I went into a situation without sufficient intel.' A bespectacled face with messy hairs and a stupid grin flashed across his mind, making Jason chuckled sadly.
"Hello." Jason greeted as he approached the young man.
"Hi there. Can I help you?" He asked Jason.
He was a lanky-looking young man, with messy brown hair and a face that can be easily forgotten except for his hazel eyes.
"Yes I was wondering if you knew what was going on?" Jason asked.
"Didn't look up the game before logging in huh?" the young man asked to which Jason nodded.
"Well according to the forum it's different sometimes, But we'll have to get to the safe zone somehow." The young man replied.
'So this isn't the mainland, that explains the vanguard on the tent.' Turning to the young man again, he asked.
"Do you know what we're up against?"
"That's general knowledge man, what are you? A super newbie?" The young man said and began laughing.
But seeing Jason unmoved, he cleared his throat and answered.
"Zombies, lots and lots of them. And other players too."
"Last question please, Do you know anything about full Synchronization?"
"To answer you in one word, Hell. In partial Synchronization, you can play this game as a game adjusting what suits you and what doesn't, especially the pain. But once you go full Synchronization, the only difference between you and the locals here is that you don't die in reality." The young man replied grimly.
"A word of advice, do not try it."
He was still speaking when a beam of light shot out from the tent and opened into a massive holographic screen in the air.
An elderly man dressed in full military regalia appeared on the screen, his presence radiated power and authority and the entire place instantly fell silent.
"Welcome to Gato, Driftbounds. The name's Lieutenant Brigs and this is Gato Expeditionary Command's third continent vanguard Sector—9." He paused for the information to sink in before continuing.
"Gato is in crisis which I won't go into much detail about due to time constraints.We are currently deep within a dead region, temporarily cut off from the mainland and we're in the middle of a siege."
As soon as he said that, an explosion immediately went off in the distance startling many people, even causing some players to duck.
"What we fight are mutated humans and animals, beings hell bent on eating us alive." He paused again.
"The GEC Synchronization device will be distributed to you now, initiating your registration. However to complete the registration, you'll have to get back to a safe zone. We would have transported you back, however, supplies and reinforcements troops have been destroyed en route to here." Hearing this some of the players gulped, fearing what might come next.
"As a result, we are stretched thin on personnel and resources. So you all will have to make it back on your own." As he spoke, some soldiers were already distributing a device that looked like a wristwatch except slightly wider.
"The city north of here is the direction to the closest safe zone, go through it and you'll reach extraction point Echo on the other side. This Synchronization device is equipped with features to aid you through your trip, including a map of the city."
"We can spare some weapons, take what you can and head for the hangar, our dropships will get you as close as possible. Good luck."
After that the holographic screen powered down. The players were all shocked by the turn of events, but there was no time to dawdle as they were already being instructed to power up the GEC device and strap it on their wrist.
Jason powered it up and it projected a little holographic screen with a selection that only players could see.
[Initiate Synchronization:
Partial Synchronization
Full Synchronization]
Looking around, most were already clicking the partial Synchronization without hesitation, including the guy he just talked to.
Yet remembering what the old guy Frank said, Jason thought for a moment before clicking on Full Synchronization. After which he strapped the device to his left wrist.
The device immediately covered his wrist up to his mid-forearm. Feeling pains from tiny needles poking into his arm, the words on the device also changed.
[Synchronization in progress...
Mission Update.
Mission Objective:
Survive and make your way to extraction point Echo. Good luck soldier]
The soldiers then brought out crates filled with Glock 19 pistols, magazines and military knives.
"Only one pistol and three magazines per person then head for the hangar." They instructed and pointed at the distant aircraft hangar as the players approached.
Jason immediately headed for the nearest crate, moving with speed and experience. He picked a holstered knife and strapped it to his left thigh, then he picked up a Glock 19 in a holster and strapped them to his right thigh.
Drawing the pistol, he pulled the rack back and inspect the chamber which was empty. After which he pulled the trigger several times.
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
He proceeded to pick a magazine, inserted it and racked the gun then returned it to its holster.
Picking up two extra magazines, he started jogging towards the hangar.
The efficiency of which he performed those actions made both the players and instructors turn to his retreating figure.
"Who the hell is that guy?" Someone asked.
"Probably one of those pro-players who died and got another account, ignore him." Another replied.
But the guy he talked to earlier couldn't ignore him cause unlike the others, he knew that Jason was also a newbie.
'Just Who the hell is that guy.'