Players, Please Board the Train

Although Xu Huo didn’t eat candy, Yan Jiayu loved it, stuffing one piece after another into her mouth while sharing the delicious experience with the Stuffed Rabbit.

The Stuffed Rabbit went from initially sitting on the sofa to gradually kneeling at the table, leaning over the edge and staring at her with eager eyes.

The time had long exceeded ten minutes, but the Stuffed Rabbit didn’t forcibly snatch the candy.

”Anyway, we’re definitely going to lose this game, so why don’t you just declare us defeated,” Xu Huo said at this point. ”It’ll save time.”

The Stuffed Rabbit wasn’t willing. ”The game hasn’t been played yet, how can I casually declare visitors defeated?”

”That’s too bad.” Xu Huo shook his head. ”You can’t play ’paper,’ and you’re unwilling to declare us defeated, so you can only watch us finish all the candy.”

The Stuffed Rabbit slammed the table and stood up, glaring at him angrily. ”Then hurry up and play the game with me!”

Xu Huo smiled. ”I think staying in the cabin is safer than going out now. After all, you can’t casually declare the game over either.”

”You’re infuriating me!” The Stuffed Rabbit twisted around and ran to the fireplace, grabbed the decorative axe from above, rushed to Xu Huo in three quick steps, raised it, and chopped straight at his face!

Xu Huo sidestepped to avoid it. The axe smashed a large hole in the floor, then was pulled out with extreme ease, continuing relentlessly to chop at him.The man and rabbit chased each other around the room. The Stuffed Rabbit was quite skilled with the axe, smashing almost everything smashable inside the cabin. After failing to injure Xu Huo for so long, it seemed somewhat frantic, its voice growing more irritable. ”I’m going to kill you!”

A Stuffed Rabbit carrying an axe flew through the cabin leaving afterimages, but Xu Huo, though he had drawn his sword, didn’t attack, only blocking when necessary.

”The dungeon rules say you can’t harm staff during visits, but it doesn’t seem to mention during games.” Yan Jiayu remained at the table, with Xu Huo and the Stuffed Rabbit tacitly avoiding her area.

Hearing her words, the Stuffed Rabbit paused its movements, then took a step back with less confidence. ”If you don’t follow the game rules, you’ll face serious punishment!”

”It’s lying!” Yan Jiayu picked up her stone staff.

But Xu Huo said, ”How can we do something so violent in an amusement park?”

He put away his sword and said to the Stuffed Rabbit, ”How about this: you voluntarily admit defeat, let us win, and I’ll give you candy. How does that sound?”

This method was feasible. The Stuffed Rabbit hesitated where it stood, taking a long while before saying, ”How much candy will you give me?”

”Five Jar Jar Candies,” Xu Huo said.

”No, at least ten,” the Stuffed Rabbit refused.

”Four,” Xu Huo reduced the number.

”Then nine!” the Stuffed Rabbit quickly said.

”Three,” Xu Huo reduced again.

”Eight... no, seven, can’t go any lower...” Before the Stuffed Rabbit finished speaking, it was interrupted again. ”Two.”

The Stuffed Rabbit screamed angrily, jumping up and down while cursing Xu Huo. ”You’re a dishonest adult, specifically bullying children! You said five then changed to two, you’re a bad person! Bad person bad person bad person!”

Accompanied by the shrill screams, an invisible force surged outward from the cabin. The objects inside merely trembled, but the giant rabbits surrounding the house outside instantly exploded into clouds of blood mist, not a single one escaping.

”You made the game rules yourself, and you don’t want to follow them either?” Xu Huo completely ignored the Stuffed Rabbit’s screams.

The Stuffed Rabbit immediately shut its mouth. Its doll body couldn’t make more expressions, but it still stamped its feet in frustration. Only when Yan Jiayu grabbed a handful of candy and gave it to it did it calm down.

Stuffing the candy into the pocket on its belly, it took out several finger-sized small hats. ”Sister, I like you, I’ll give you a few more.”

Yan Jiayu first glanced at Xu Huo, and seeing him shake his head, said, ”I only want two.”

”But these small hats are all different. Which two does sister want?” The Stuffed Rabbit tilted its head, asking innocently. ”Every small hat is different.”

Yan Jiayu looked at the pink small hats it held out. They were indeed all different—there were top hats, bowler hats, baseball caps, berets. Apart from their shapes, there didn’t seem to be any noticeable differences.

”Do the fifteen hats have to be different types?” she asked, both to Xu Huo and the Stuffed Rabbit.

”I’m just a bunny, how would a bunny know so much?” The Stuffed Rabbit giggled.

Xu Huo walked over and patted the rabbit’s head, casually picking two, then asked, ”Are there any other places selling candy?”

The Stuffed Rabbit escaped from under his hand, bouncing around as it opened the door, pointing at another path that appeared in front of the cabin. ”You should go check out the Mirror Tent over there.”

After saying this, it jumped out of the cabin itself, and not far away, candy wrappers began floating out from its side.

Yan Jiayu put away the remaining candy, walked to Xu Huo’s side, and looking at the differently shaped hats in his hand, said, ”Is the key to clearing unrelated to the hat shapes?”

”Not clear yet, but judging from the rabbit’s behavior, getting small hats isn’t difficult. If we only needed fifteen hats, we wouldn’t need ten game points.” Xu Huo raised the small hats, checking them inside and out, but found no marks or similar things.

After a pause, he said, ”But taking fewer is safer than taking more. The game’s main premise is not to damage the Pink Hat, so extra hats can’t be destroyed and probably can’t be discarded either.”

Yan Jiayu nodded. ”I noticed that rabbit was practically drooling but still didn’t forcibly snatch the candy. Forcible seizure probably isn’t allowed in this dungeon. It has to be given voluntarily for things it wants.”

This was the hidden rule—not explicitly stated but fitting children’s logic quite well.

If the dungeon was based on ”voluntariness,” then forcibly making someone accept extra small hats would be considered invalid or rule-breaking, which was why that player who tried to deceive them when they first entered left after failing.

Xu Huo shared the same view. He said, ”The Mirror Tent isn’t on the Travel Guide’s route map, but since the rabbit pointed us there, we might as well check it out first.”

”No problem with me,” Yan Jiayu said cheerfully.

The two left the small cabin and followed the jungle’s directional map to the ”Mirror Tent.”

From a distance, they could see a small amusement park scattered among the trees. Besides stuffed animals moving around and hawking their wares, there were quite a few players lingering around.

”Why so many people?” Yan Jiayu wondered.

There really were quite a few people. Besides the three players lingering at the entrance, there were also many players walking around inside the amusement park. The largest crowd was at the innermost giant tent, where some players outside were queuing up, while others were simply watching the people passing by.

But without exception, they all displayed their small hats prominently outside, even deliberately showcasing their presence by walking back and forth.

”You’re newcomers, right?” Before they even entered, two players immediately approached them, smiling broadly. ”Want an upgraded version Travel Guide?”