Outside the compartment was a station platform. Zheng Zha paused, his mind racing through the scenes of the movie Resident Evil, realizing this must be where everyone was meant to enter the Hive, the entrance to the underground laboratory.

The group moved up along the platform, and soon, between the station landing and the lab entrance, a sealed steel gate barred their way. The gate was marked with a set of peculiar symbols, indicating the company operating the lab and the inherent danger of the location. Zheng Zha and his companions stayed close behind the mercenaries. As they reached the gate, a stunning beauty in a long, high-slit scarlet dress suddenly addressed the Black mercenary, Matt Addison, asking, "I want to know who you people are, and exactly what has happened here?" Matt Addison turned to her, waved off the other mercenaries, who quickly pulled out some equipment from their packs and began working on the gate to bypass the lock. He continued speaking to the beautiful woman: "We are employed by the UMBRELLA Corporation, and that includes you... This gate leads to the 'Hive.' You are registered personnel guarding this entrance, which is why we brought you along."

Zheng Zha recalled this scene; it was the heroine, Alice, questioning the origin of the entire incident. Although he had seen the movie and knew the complete truth, witnessing it firsthand left him momentarily disoriented and dazzled.

Hearing this, Alice looked confused. She traced the wedding ring on her finger and murmured, "Then what is this?" Matt Addison nodded. "You aren't married. This is just a disguise, a marker signifying your role as a Hive guard."

"And what exactly is the Hive?" a nearby non-mercenary man suddenly asked. Zheng Zha recognized this man too; he was the catalyst for the entire event, the corporate spy, Ryan, who intended to steal the T-Virus, the main protagonist of Resident Evil.

Matt Addison instructed another mercenary, "Show them."

The man nodded and began rapidly tapping on a computer keyboard. Moments later, images appeared on his laptop.

"This is the passage into the Hive... The depths of the Hive are located beneath Raccoon City. This is the building where we found you. From here, we boarded the underground train, which brought us to the Hive entrance—the very spot where we are standing now."

The images on the screen cycled continuously, finally settling on a structure resembling a massive beehive.

"This is the Hive, a highly secret research facility buried deep underground, owned and supervised by UMBRELLA. The Hive houses five hundred scientists and other staff who conduct proprietary research crucial to the company. Of course, these secrets are so vital that even we are not privy to them. This is our current location, displayed via the thermal sensors."

Matt Addison continued explaining. Indeed, the screen showed their position, standing on the train platform atop the Hive. Zheng Zha knew this was absolutely safe for now; in a few moments, this area would become a zone of absolute death.

"What about them?" Alice suddenly pointed toward Zheng Zha and his group.

Zheng Zha and the others were instantly alarmed. They had always believed themselves to be external observers, people existing outside the reality—meaning the horror movie plot wouldn't intersect with them, and they only needed to avoid the terrifying monsters. They never expected the heroine of Resident Evil to point directly at them while speaking.

Matt Addison stated, "They are also guards here; the company has their records... But I strongly suspect the instructions from the upper command were flawed. Except for that Asian male, the others appear to be mere civilians."

This must be the identity assigned to them by the 'Main God,' Zheng Zha and the others realized with a jolt.

Ryan asked again, "Why have I lost my memory? I can't recall anything from my past."

Matt Addison explained, "The Hive has its own defensive system, controlled by the central computer, the Red Queen. When the Hive detects an attack, the central computer releases a neurotoxin that induces unconsciousness for about four hours. Upon waking, subjects experience a range of side effects, one of which is the loss of memory."

Ryan inquired, "Memory loss? How long does this state last?" Matt Addison shook his head. "It depends on individual constitution—it could be an hour, a day, or even a week."

Another young non-mercenary nearby suddenly asked, "Are you saying the Hive has already been attacked? Are there terrorists inside?" Matt Addison looked at him, "...Perhaps something worse."

Zheng Zha also knew this young man—he was Matt, a non-company employee searching for his sister, a high-level researcher inside the Hive. His sister had discovered the company was developing the T-Virus, recognized its horror, and tried to report the situation to the government. The external contact she made was none other than the heroine. Before the virus could be stolen by the heroine, it was stolen and leaked by Ryan. Subsequently, Matt's sister was infected and turned into a zombie.

Zheng Zha felt immense gratitude toward fate. Due to boredom in his former life, he had watched countless movies, favoring sci-fi and horror. Knowing the plot progression and the main characters drastically increased his chances of survival. The 'protagonist must survive' rule was common sense in both novels and films.

At that moment, a sound came from the gate above the platform. A mercenary with long hair announced, "Sir, the door is breached; we can enter now."

Matt Addison nodded to the group, then sighed as he looked at Zheng Zha and his companions, before leading the mercenaries toward the entrance.

The gate gradually opened under computer control. Looking inside, they saw only pitch darkness; nothing was visible beyond the void. Matt Addison spoke to a mercenary beside him, "JD!" The man nodded, donned night-vision goggles. Matt Addison hesitated, then turned back to the dark-haired youth, "Zhang Jie!" Zhang Jie didn't waste words; he grabbed a Desert Eagle and strode boldly inside. Zheng Zha figured this dark-haired youth must also be familiar with the plot. In Resident Evil, as long as the main computer wasn't shut down, they would be safe here, at least for the next three hours. Once the main computer was deactivated, this place would become the hunting ground for zombies and Lickers.

Soon, Zhang Jie found the internal light switch, and gradually, the room brightened. The windows, in particular, revealed a breathtaking view of the city skyscrapers. Outside, the sun shone brightly under a brilliant blue sky—a vista Zheng Zha was too accustomed to even notice in his everyday life.

The mercenaries and the group entered the room. A female mercenary used a sensor, scanning for a while, and confirmed, "The gas has dissipated; it's safe here."

Zheng Zha knew the entire plot: this underground laboratory was researching a bioweapon called the T-Virus, which could infect and animate human flesh, turning people into zombies who lost all consciousness and thought, retaining only the singular instinct: to eat! Earlier, the plot character Ryan, while stealing the T-Virus, destroyed one sample within the laboratory. The virus spread throughout the Hive via the ventilation system, infecting all researchers and staff. However, they were unaware of this until the Hive's central computer detected the contamination. It then severed all external communications and flooded the facility with gas. By the time the mercenaries and the heroine arrived, the entire lab was populated only by zombies... and Lickers.

It seemed Resident Evil was indeed a blockbuster movie; Zheng Zha and everyone around him had seen it. Thus, including Zheng Zha and the girl with glasses, the others also crowded by the window, looking out at the brilliant sunshine. It looked so real, and they felt no immediate fear of attack because they all knew this location was currently very secure.

Matt, the youth searching for his sister, suddenly spoke from the side, "This installation is designed to improve the working environment underground. Nobody wants to stare at dead, monotonous steel walls all day. If they could see the sunlight, they might imagine they were living on the surface."

Zheng Zha hesitated for a moment, then extended his hand. "Zheng Zha... uh, I might be a guard here."

Since Matt had no company records, the mercenaries had restrained him upon his appearance. He turned back with a wry smile, "Being restrained like this, I can't exactly shake your hand... and I've forgotten my name too."

Zheng Zha smiled kindly. Matt was a good person in the film; he was perhaps the most innocent one, only looking for his sister. Even at the story's conclusion, he protected the heroine, and he was one of the survivors who would go on to fight for the heroine in Resident Evil 2.

Meanwhile, Matt Addison and several mercenaries pried open the elevator doors. It was pitch black inside. Out of options, one mercenary twisted a flare and tossed it down the elevator shaft. As the light receded into the depths, the group finally saw the elevator car... the steel cable had snapped, and it rested smashed at the very bottom. There was no doubt the occupants were long dead.

The mercenary turned back. "Sir, looks like we have to take the stairs."

Matt Addison's face grew pale. He turned to the assembled group, "Stairs. We need to reach the bottom floor within ten minutes. Everyone keep up!" The quality of the mercenaries was, naturally, not in question. The heroine carried an evolved T-Virus strain, giving her physical capabilities far superior to ordinary people. The two other male protagonists, Ryan and Matt, were also quite capable. As for Zhang Jie, he had survived three horror scenarios already; even using only a fraction of his rewards for physical enhancement meant his stamina certainly surpassed that of a regular person.

Of the remaining six people, Zheng Zha, although an office worker, had always enjoyed working out, spending at least one full day a week at the gym. As he often put it, this was necessary to manage the desires of those office ladies, so his stamina was slightly better than average.

The bespectacled girl looked delicate, and her physical stamina wasn't her strong suit; moreover, being female, she was naturally weaker than the men. However, she was intelligent. As soon as they started descending the stairs, she grabbed the hem of Zhang Jie's jacket, transferring some of the strain to him. Zhang Jie merely glanced at her, said nothing, and led the way forward.

The overweight, stout young man, probably around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, was covered in flesh that jiggled with every movement. After running only a short distance, he was already panting heavily, his speed continually dropping.

There were three others: a middle-aged man who seemed accustomed to physical labor. Though not fast, he kept pace behind the main group and never lagged.

A middle-aged woman was slower than the chubby young man; eventually, she could only shuffle downward step by painful step.

The last person was a teenager, appearing utterly unremarkable, with seemingly average stamina—the kind of person who vanishes in a crowd. His speed mirrored the middle-aged man's: neither fast nor slow, just keeping tight behind the main body of the group.

After running for a short while, the chubby man and the middle-aged woman were no longer visible. Zheng Zha, running near Zhang Jie, suddenly heard him murmur, "Two out."

"What two out?" Zheng Zha asked curiously. Zhang Jie gave a cold laugh. "Them! Don't treat my words as noise. This is the real world; we can die here. You probably haven't grasped that yet, just thinking this is like a movie, right? If you move a hundred meters away from him, you explode—that's one of the rules. They... are finished!" "BOOM!" As soon as Zhang Jie finished speaking, two violent explosions echoed from the staircase above. Zheng Zha and the others were stunned, looking up, but they could see nothing above them except the stairs overhead.

Two out!