Players, Please Board the Train

”Maybe they believe eating people aids evolution, or perhaps they’re simply psychologically abnormal.” Xu Huo added from the side, ”Wasn’t Pan Siming’s blood completely drained?”

”Doesn’t that mean everyone becomes a suspect?” Li Weiran looked around at the others.

”Let’s not stray that far.” The gloomy man said, ”I trust my judgment—the killer is among the three people from the left corridor.”

”So you’re saying it’s me!” Fan Shiji shouted, ”There was clearly a door opening sound, and I didn’t lock my door! Why would it be me?”

”Sound can be easily faked.” Xie Man said hesitantly.

”If it can be faked, why couldn’t it be someone else?” Fan Shiji argued indignantly, ”Are you really going to kill me based on this alone?”

Just as the gloomy man prepared to step forward, Li Weiran blocked his path, ”Without concrete evidence, it’s better not to act recklessly. More people mean mutual restraint. If anyone among us is hiding their true strength, fewer people means higher risks.”

”Moreover, the sound wasn’t necessarily created by Fan Shiji.” She looked toward Gao Jun, ”Last night, he left his room, and it was around the time of the first notification.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Gao Jun, but he remained calm, ”I never left my room.”

”You did leave.” Li Weiran stated, ”My profession is hairdresser, so I can simply manipulate hair.”As she spoke, she plucked two strands of hair, lightly twisted the ends together, and the two hairs connected seamlessly.

”Before returning to my room yesterday, I tied a strand of hair to your door. I clearly know whenever you opened or closed it.”

Li Weiran discarded the long hair and looked directly at Gao Jun, ”Either you killed Pan Siming and created this mystery, or you’re the first clearance player—the Concealer. Choose one.”

Gao Jun smirked slightly, ”So you didn’t actually see me leave the room. What’s strange about opening the door? I just wanted to check the commotion. Pan Siming is dead, but Da Xiong’s whereabouts are unknown—why couldn’t he be the first clearance player?”

Players who hadn’t completed the first task might be fooled by this explanation, but Xu Huo, having also passed the first stage, knew clearly that Gao Jun was indeed the player ”Concealer.” Da Xiong had entered the painting and been obtained by him. If Pan Siming had been the first to obtain a painting, he could have exited the game when attacked. The fabricated door opening and closing sounds had actually revealed flaws, indirectly proving that Pan Siming never reached the exhibition hall. Therefore, Gao Jun was the one who cleared the stage, and the timing matched.

”Da Xiong and Deng Yu both disappeared without trace—they likely died to the monsters. With no evidence to the contrary, of course you can say that. But you did leave your room, making you the prime suspect.” Li Weiran pressed.

”Fine, let’s say your suspicion has some merit. But Xu San left his room last night—why aren’t you suspecting him?” Gao Jun pointed at Xu Huo.

”I never left my room.” Xu Huo stated.

”I can vouch for him.” Ni Tian immediately added.

”You’ve already teamed up—can we trust mutual vouching between partners?” Gao Jun shifted tactics, ”Anyway, you share a room—if it wasn’t Xu San, then it must be you!”

”You!” Ni Tian was left speechless with anger.

”You have no evidence that I went out, but Li Weiran essentially testified that you left,” Xu Huo glanced at him coldly, ”Dragging others into this won’t help you.”

”Can we be sure she’s telling the truth?” Gao Jun retorted, ”It’s just a few strands of hair! She stays alone in the corner—can she prove she never left? Only she knows what’s real and what’s fake!”

”Wait,” Xie Man interjected, ”Why couldn’t Pan Siming have cleared the stage? He might have been killed after completing it.”

The gloomy man glanced at her, ”As long as he wasn’t killed instantly, Pan Siming could have chosen to exit the game. At that time, monsters were chasing them, and Da Xiong, also fleeing for his life, wouldn’t have had time to kill anyone. Moreover, the interval between the door sounds and the monster knocking was extremely short. If the purpose of fabricating the sound was to frame someone, that person must have been in the left corridor or the exhibition hall.”

”But I lean toward Pan Siming never leaving the left corridor.”

”After all this talk, you still suspect me.” Fan Shiji said, ”Since the sound was fabricated, why couldn’t it be you?”

He pointed at the gloomy man, ”You stay in the first room on the right—you’re closest to the exhibition hall! You could easily create the illusion and then kill Pan Siming. I think you’re the first clearance player!”

”And you!”

Fan Shiji turned and pointed at Xie Man, ”You’re not far either! Stop playing dumb and acting innocent.”

The group argued back and forth, each accusing others—it seemed anyone could be Pan Siming’s killer, and anyone could be the first clearance player.

”Enough!” The gloomy man suddenly raised his voice, ”Arguing further won’t resolve anything, but one thing is certain.”

”Even if Da Xiong cleared the stage and left the dungeon, at least one clearance player remains in the art gallery.”

”Mutual verification won’t convince anyone. Let’s set aside Pan Siming’s murder for now and stop targeting each other. Let’s focus on finding paintings—any objections?”

Everyone looked at each other and ultimately accepted the proposal.

”Then let’s each search for paintings.” Li Weiran said, shooting a pointed look at Gao Jun.

The players dispersed. Li Weiran and Fan Shiji teamed up, the gloomy man went alone, Lu Gang and Gao Jun paired up, leaving Xie Man without a partner, so she approached Xu Huo and Ni Tian nearby.

”Have you noticed any connection between the two missing paintings?” she asked quietly.

Xu Huo looked at her, ”Not yet. Do you have clues?”

Xie Man thought for a moment, ”I only know both paintings were damaged, but that group photo has already disappeared, so we don’t know if it was actually broken. If it was broken, it’s very likely that damaged paintings during the day turn into counterfeit paintings at night.”

”As you know, we can’t find counterfeit paintings during the daytime.”

”Beyond that, I really have no leads.”

”Following your logic, if we tear a painting during the day, we’ll have a counterfeit painting at night?” Ni Tian said with a faint, mocking smile, ”How clever of you. But what if tearing the painting fails and instead attracts monsters?”

Xie Man also smiled, ”Whether tearing paintings is correct, we’ll find out tonight.”

She pointed toward Li Weiran and Fan Shiji in the distance, ”They’ve already damaged paintings. If we still can’t find the key to clearing the stage, this method is worth trying.”

Xu Huo glanced over—Li Weiran and Fan Shiji were examining the painting ”Still Time.”

”Still Time” and a sketch were the paintings they had respectively damaged.

Clearly, Xie Man wasn’t the only one who thought of the ”damage” commonality, but these two were the most desperate to verify it.

”That Gao Jun has been staring at you.” Ni Tian warned.

Xu Huo looked back—Gao Jun had already averted his gaze and was watching the two people ahead.

Though he didn’t know how Gao Jun guessed he was the second clearance player, they couldn’t expose each other. Currently standing on the same starting line, their priority was to create a counterfeit painting.

Like him, Gao Jun had also set his sights on these two players targeted by the monsters.