Arc of Fire

Chapter 1

When Wang Zhong saw the silver-haired beauty in a military uniform before him, his first thought was that she must be cosplaying a character from some hardcore, non-otaku military-themed anime game.

Normally, he would take a second look, but the shaking of the floor and walls interrupted his appreciation.

"What the heck?" he asked loudly, only to get a mouthful of dust falling from the ceiling.

The beauty in front of him hushed him, lowering her voice to say: "Tank!"

Wang Zhong was stunned: "Tank?"

He scratched his head, trying to figure out what was going on. He first tried to recall something, but apart from getting drunk, he couldn't remember anything-well, it was almost New Year, so he had a few drinks with some acquaintances.

Could it be that after getting drunk, his friends dragged him to a murder mystery game shop?

And then he just happened to team up with this beauty for a game? Hey, what a stroke of luck! Better add her on WeChat first.

Wang Zhong reached into his pocket, but instead of his phone, he pulled out an ID card.

The cover of the ID felt very thick, like leather. Wang Zhong marveled, this place is pretty good, the setting is realistic, and the props are top-notch.

Then he opened the ID and froze when he saw the photo inside.

What's going on? That's not my photo!

Only then did Wang Zhong belatedly realize that everyone around him had one thing in common: they were all blond, blue-eyed foreigners.

Where are my friends?

Did they just leave me here to play a murder mystery game with foreigners?

Could it be that this isn't a murder mystery game, but... but I've actually transmigrated?

Wang Zhong briefly entertained the thought but quickly dismissed it. People should believe in science; this must be a prank by those lousy friends of mine, damn them for messing with me.

The resentment that had just flared up dissipated the moment he glanced at the beauty in front of him. Damn, this is even better. I've got to add this foreign beauty on WeChat.

Those lousy friends of mine are probably hiding somewhere, laughing at me. I'll add this beauty on WeChat and make them stop laughing!

At that moment, the rumbling sound grew closer, and the shaking of the walls and floor became more pronounced.

Wang Zhong noticed two small windows near the wall he was leaning against, positioned high up, with sunlight slanting through them.

They seemed like the kind of light wells you'd find in a basement. One of his classmates, who had moved to Beijing after graduation, lived in a basement like this, always posting photos on social media and occasionally joking about various prison-like scenarios.

He tiptoed slightly, getting closer to the light well to peek outside.

He saw a pair of military boots stepping near the light well.

For a murder mystery game, isn't this a bit too realistic?

As he puzzled over it, more pairs of military boots appeared, and it felt like an entire company was marching outside.

What the hell?

The next moment, Wang Zhong saw the source of the shaking and rumbling-tank treads.

Not only did this murder mystery shop hire an entire company of actors, but they also got a tractor? This doesn't seem right.

Wang Zhong's breathing quickened; he vaguely felt that he might have really transmigrated.

And just like that, the relaxed, carefree, indifferent mood he had moments ago vanished completely.

He shrank back and scanned the basement once more.

Besides him and the beauty, there were four men in the room, all with Nordic features.

Everyone was wearing the same style of military uniform, primarily khaki, with a greenish tint at the collar.

Three of the men were holding rifles, which Wang Zhong thought looked a lot like Mosin-Nagants.

The rifles were fitted with bayonets, and one of the bayonets had red stains on it.

Wang Zhong took a few extra glances at the red. Could it be that it had already stabbed someone to death?

The remaining man carried a weapon that looked a lot like a Finnish Suomi submachine gun. His uniform was slightly different from the others, with two V-shaped insignias on his sleeve.

"Sergeant?" Wang Zhong asked tentatively.

The man with the submachine gun looked at Wang Zhong: "What, sir, do you need a diaper?"

The other men laughed but quickly stifled their voices.

The girl turned her face away, looking embarrassed.

Wang Zhong: "Diaper?"

The sergeant glanced at Wang Zhong's crotch.

Wang Zhong looked down and realized he was also wearing a khaki uniform, but the crotch area was noticeably darker, with a radial stain spreading out.

He touched it, and sure enough, it was wet!

"This isn't my pee!"

It really isn't! I'm freaking out!

Although Wang Zhong had never been on a battlefield, he didn't think he was the kind of coward who would wet his pants the moment he got there-probably.

No, definitely!

This pee had already dried a bit; it definitely wasn't fresh. So-who peed this?

Wang Zhong suddenly remembered the ID in his hand and quickly flipped it open.

The photo on the ID showed a young, handsome man with a frivolous smile, obviously a European face. Next to the photo were words Wang Zhong had never seen before, somewhat resembling Cyrillic letters. Yet, somehow, Wang Zhong understood their meaning.

Only then did Wang Zhong realize that since earlier, no one had spoken Chinese. He had just understood them and assumed it was Chinese.

Wang Zhong found his name next to the photo: "Alexei Konstantinovich Rokosov," with a prefix before the name that, translated into Chinese, might mean something like "sir" or "your excellency"?

By now, the tank's rumble had faded into the distance, though gunfire could still be heard far off.

At that moment, the sergeant with the submachine gun spoke up: "The gunfire is about one or two kilometers away. It must be Duke Vladimir's troops still resisting. We should cross enemy lines and rendezvous with the Duke."

After saying that, the sergeant turned to Wang Zhong: "Sir, what do you think?"

One of the soldiers mocked: "Why ask him? Be careful, or he'll wet his pants again! From now on, his nickname will be Rokosov the Pants-Wetter."

"Shh! Be careful, or the Count will settle accounts with you later and throw you in confinement!" another soldier said. Though the words were meant as a warning, the tone was undoubtedly sarcastic.

The sergeant said sternly: "The Count is our commander; of course, we need his approval. Count, what do you think of what I just said?"

Wang Zhong thought to himself, what can I think? I've only ever commanded troops in games; I'm a complete amateur. Apart from nodding, it seems I can't do anything else.

Normally, this is the moment when a cheat system would kick in.

Come on out, Deep Blue.

The next moment, Wang Zhong's perspective shifted to a bird's-eye view.

What's happening? Have I turned into a satellite spirit? Is there really a cheat system?

Unfortunately, most of this satellite view was blacked out; he could only see the basement they were in clearly.

Then he realized this was the familiar top-down perspective of a real-time strategy game. Relying on years of playing RTS games, he immediately understood that the highlighted figure in his view was likely himself.

This satellite view even had an interface. In the upper right corner of the screen, there was something that looked like a unit card-probably the emblem of the troops under his command.

Right now, there was only one lonely unit in the unit card. When Wang Zhong focused his consciousness on it, he saw the description: "Lieutenant Colonel Alexei Konstantinovich Rokosov."

Great, so the only unit is me? And I'm supposed to be the commander?

At that moment, Wang Zhong heard the girl speaking and quickly switched his perspective back to himself-switching seemed to be just a matter of thought.

The girl said: "I think Sergeant Semyon is right, Alyosha. Let's do it this way."

Alyosha was the nickname for his body's name, "Alexei." Russians usually only called each other by nicknames if they were close. For acquaintances, they'd use the patronymic, that long middle name, Konstantinovich.

Wang Zhong: "Hold on a moment! The enemy just passed by; acting rashly isn't wise. Let's wait here for a bit."

In truth, Wang Zhong wanted to buy time to figure out this cheat system. If they started moving now, who knows what dangers they'd encounter along the way? He wouldn't have time to study the system properly.

The sergeant seemed about to say something but ultimately nodded: "Then we'll wait for a while. Be careful not to be spotted by the Prossenians."

Prossenians-that must be the name of the enemy.

There's definitely no country called Prossen on Earth. I'm probably not on Earth anymore.

Wang Zhong switched back to the bird's-eye view. He first tried focusing his attention on the girl in the same room, and sure enough, her name popped up: "Lyudmila Vasilyevna Merekhovna, Captain, Prayer Hand."

Huh? What's a Prayer Hand?

Wang Zhong had originally thought this girl was a medic.

He focused on the term "Prayer Hand" for a second, but no further explanation popped up.

What the heck? This cheat system is defective.

Although Wang Zhong could see Lyudmila's description, she didn't appear in the unit card list.

Wang Zhong reluctantly turned his attention to the other four men.

Sergeant Zakayev, followed by a long string of names; Private First Class Semyon, followed by a long string; Private Second Class Ivan, followed by a long string; Private Second Class Yuri, followed by a long string.

The sergeant was a submachine gunner, while the rest were riflemen.

Wang Zhong had hoped to check their ammo status, but unfortunately, there was no such information.

After confirming he couldn't glean more from this group, Wang Zhong turned his attention to the neighboring house.

The house they were in was transparent in this view; Wang Zhong could see through the roof and the floors of the first and second levels down to the basement. He wondered if he could switch the displayed floor to check the first level.

However, it was no use.

He also tried to see the situation of his allies fighting in the distance, but that didn't work either.

Could it be that this cheat system is just for switching perspectives, and the information I see is still limited to what I can observe with my own eyes?

To test this, Wang Zhong switched back to his own perspective, stood up, and moved closer to the light well to look outside.

While maintaining this position, he switched to the overhead view and found that the outside terrain appeared.

He saw a street-no, half a street, because he could only see the row of houses across from the basement they were in.

Still, compared to his naked eye, this was much clearer. With his own eyes, he could only see the first floor of the houses and didn't even know how many floors they had. But in this overhead view, he could see even the rooftops clearly.

This cheat system does have its merits, after all.

As Wang Zhong was marveling at it, he heard footsteps.

Hearing footsteps from the overhead perspective, it felt as if the sound was coming from the heavens themselves.

Wang Zhong realized this was because the footsteps were coming from above his head, and his sense of hearing hadn't switched to the overhead view.

No wonder the gunfire still sounded so distant even after switching perspectives.

He switched back to his normal vision and noticed that several people in the room were looking at the ceiling.

Wang Zhong also looked up and saw that the ceiling was made of wood, and now someone was stepping heavily on it with big boots, making a loud thumping noise.

Then someone spoke in an unfamiliar language, and this time Wang Zhong couldn't understand it.

If he had to guess, it sounded a bit like German, but Wang Zhong wasn't sure.

Lyudmila whispered softly: "Prossenians!"

At that moment, Wang Zhong noticed a crack in the ceiling, and a bold idea came to him.

Just now, with my own eyes, I could only see the first floor across the street, but after switching perspectives, I could see the second and third floors, even the rooftops. So, could it be that......

He decided to give it a try.

(End of Chapter)