Players, Please Board the Train

Late at night, two flashlights hung in the gas station serving as makeshift lighting. None of the players were resting, either sitting or standing, occasionally glancing at Wang Chaoqing.

Xu Huo patted his pants and headed outside. Gu Yu quickly called out to him, ”Where are you going?”

”Having a smoke.” Xu Huo didn’t go far, just crossed to the opposite street.

After a while, Shen Yi came over, handed him a bottle of water, and asked to borrow a light.

The two squatted by the roadside smoking.

”That kick you gave me earlier was pretty brutal.” Shen Yi rubbed his ribs, and seeing Xu Huo turn his head, added with a smile, ”Don’t misunderstand—I’m not blaming you.”

”The game is a life-and-death struggle. Doing whatever it takes to survive isn’t strange. Your intention was good, and you didn’t really mean to harm us. On the contrary, if we’d followed Lin Pei, we might have ended up like Wu Qiuyi.”

Xu Huo’s fingers paused momentarily, his gaze falling on the break room across the street. That room had been sliced in half by him, and Gu Yu had already carried Wu Qiuyi out.

”Why bother.” he murmured softly.

Shen Yi heard his muttering and said self-deprecatingly, ”For us, it’s a form of solace.””Before coming to this dungeon, my sister and I joined a local players’ association—formed spontaneously by several players with the aim of sticking together for warmth.”

”To help each other through difficulties, we searched everywhere for same-station tickets. But before we could find any tickets, several companions got dragged into a random dungeon and all died.”

”You didn’t see how they looked—their bodies chewed up without a single patch of good flesh left... Not torn by large animals, but by small creatures like cats or dogs. One of them was still breathing when he came out, falling right into his mother’s cooking pot... His mother thought he’d been out fooling around...”

”We don’t know which day we’ll die too. When that time comes, we hope at least someone can give us a bit of dignity. Not left exposed in the wilderness—that’s the minimum requirement.”

Xu Huo flicked his cigarette ash. ”After players die, they might get eaten by Mutants, devoured by Player-Eaters, canned like preserves, or served on dining tables. Compared to those, being exposed in the wilderness is more dignified.”

Shen Yi choked up, finally saying after a long pause, ”Talking with you is really uncomfortable.”

Xu Huo smiled slightly.

After finishing their cigarettes, Shen Yi went back to rest, and Gu Yu and the others gradually dozed off.

The night passed without any other movements in the town.

”Time to get up.” Xu Huo nudged Wang Chaoqing who was dozing under the clock.

Wang Chaoqing was in the middle of a sweet dream but jumped up immediately upon seeing him, wiping drool as he said, ”Morning, Brother Xu!”

”Found anyone yet?” Xu Huo narrowed his eyes at him.

Wang Chaoqing put on an ingratiating smile. ”Brother Xu, look—the town’s so big. It takes time, you know?”

Surprisingly, Xu Huo didn’t press him, instead asking, ”Did you find anything unusual underground?”

”Unusual things?” Wang Chaoqing looked completely blank. ”No, everywhere was pitch black. Couldn’t see anything.”

”What about Master Nise’s residence?” Xu Huo raised an eyebrow at him.

Wang Chaoqing didn’t dare admit he hadn’t gone there. ”It was just turned upside down inside. Didn’t see Lin Pei.”

Xu Huo nodded, then turned to Gu Yu and the others. ”Let’s check the east gate first.”

”Both gates have been quiet. The game hasn’t announced anyone clearing the dungeon, so it seems Lin Pei hasn’t left the dungeon yet.” Shen Xin said with visible relief. After resting through the night, her spirits had improved considerably.

”Random dungeons don’t have rankings. Besides, none of us are ticket holders. Even if someone clears it, the others might not know.” Gu Yu had broad connections and understood random dungeons relatively well. ”If ticket holders clear it, random players can follow through, but random players don’t seem connected to each other—they can only clear it on their own.”

”So we can’t be sure if Lin Pei has already left. Better be cautious.”

The group set off for the east gate.

To guard against possible Mutant appearances, the six split into two groups maintaining some distance between them.

The town’s outskirts were piled with abandoned vehicles. Ke Liang went ahead to find usable cars while Wang Chaoqing and Shen Yi buried Nian Hong’an.

Although the gas station was relatively close to the east gate, they still had to pass through a sizable forest. Using vehicles would save time and be relatively safer.

”This one works.” Gu Yu found a small truck that started when ignited.

Working together, they cleared the road. Ke Liang drove with Shen Xin in the passenger seat while the others rode in the truck bed.

The familiar engine sound echoed through the small forest. Gu Yu looked around nervously, occasionally startled by sudden noises from the vehicle.

Seeing the others watching her, Gu Yu smiled and said, ”After being here a few days, I’ve grown unaccustomed to sounds. I’m just afraid loud noises might draw out Mutants.”

”If there were still Mutants wandering in town, they wouldn’t wait until now to appear.” Shen Yi comforted her.

”I’m afraid Lin Pei might release the Mutants.” Gu Yu said.

”He wouldn’t dare.” Ke Liang rested one arm outside the window, his tone mocking. ”As long as he still has to hide from us, he won’t dare release the Mutants. Fighting alone, he wouldn’t last long enough to warm up against Mutants.”

The vehicle soon passed by the scrapped bus and reached the wall gate.

They jumped down one after another. Shen Xin gazed up at the cloud-piercing wall. ”No matter how many times I see it, it always feels breathtaking.”

Xu Huo stopped five meters from the gate. His crimson sword descended carrying dark red light, a semi-transparent rectangular cutting surface emerging from the blade edge, yet dissipating like dust upon touching the gate.

Gu Yu rushed forward to touch the struck area, disappointment in her voice. ”Not even a mark left.”

”Try other spots.” Xu Huo attempted areas beyond the gate, even directly hacking at it with his sword. Several strikes later, only cat-scratch-like marks remained on the gate wall.

The others tapped and knocked on the wall surface for a while but found no hidden doors or secret mechanisms.

”Seems we still need to search back in town.”

This was within Xu Huo’s expectations. He appeared less disappointed than the others. ”Let’s go to Master Nise’s residence first.”

The vehicle chugged back to town. Master Nise’s residence was indeed as messy as Wang Chaoqing had described—fine display pieces smashed to fragments, even the clocks not spared.

”He really was searching for something.”

”At this point, it can’t possibly be just for an item, right?”

”Could there really be something like a key? Or is the gate mechanism here?”

”Split up and search.” Xu Huo said.

His understanding of Super Items wasn’t comprehensive, and he wasn’t clear what information Lin Pei possessed. Whether Lin Pei was risking everything for a Super Item or to escape the dungeon remained uncertain.

But since Lin Pei was so fixated on this place, he would definitely come back for them.

They repeatedly crisscrossed the room, searching every corner but found no mechanisms, hidden passages, gate openers, or key-like objects.

”Really strange—so many doors in this house yet not a single key.” Gu Yu complained. ”Does this town never lock its doors at night?”

”These doors don’t need keys to open.” Shen Xin pushed a door. ”The keyholes are just decorations.”

”The keyholes are just decorations.” Xu Huo repeated these words, suddenly realizing the wall gate fit together seamlessly, appearing like embedded components different from ordinary doors. The method to open it could also be unconventional.

”We’ve fallen into a misconception.”