Players, Please Board the Train

”Surely no one would be that foolish,” Yan Jiayu said. ”There are no marks on the hats, so how would they know the hats they leave behind would form a matching set? What if the hats obtained from different game locations are duplicates? The plush toys never said visiting one location guarantees getting a new hat either.”

Tang Xiao replied, ”Of course normal people would think that way, but precisely because there are no marks on the hats, everyone defaults to assuming that collecting hats from all fifteen game locations is the key to clearing the dungeon.”

”Has anyone successfully cleared it?” Xu Huo asked.

”Not that I’ve heard since I entered,” Tang Xiao shook his head. ”The main issue is that the five question-and-answer triggers aren’t fixed locations, and the game’s amusement park area is too large. Sometimes you just have bad luck and can’t encounter them.”

Xu Huo fell silent for a moment, then turned to look at the two plush pig toys that had been standing near him since earlier.

”Would the guests like to buy hats?” one of the pigs said. ”My shop has hats in all sizes.”

”Would the guests like to buy candy?” the other pig said. ”My shop has lots of delicious candy, cheap and tasty!”

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu each bought a pink hat, then went to the candy shop and directly purchased the most expensive candy available.

The plush pig seemed to radiate happiness from head to toe, and after packaging their purchases, it even gave them a free new edition bubble machine as a bonus.

Seeing Xu Huo spend twenty thousand White Bills on candy without batting an eye, Tang Xiao momentarily showed regret on his face, but when he noticed nearby players watching them, he quickly lowered his voice and said, ”We should still go queue up outside the Mirror Tent first.”The three headed toward the tent, and just as they reached the end of the line, another pair of young players approached—the woman youthful and beautiful, the man tall and handsome.

The man spoke first, showing Yan Jiayu an elegant, refined smile. ”Hi, we just entered the dungeon recently too. How about we team up to watch each other’s backs?”

Yan Jiayu chewed her candy and stared at him without speaking.

Seeing she showed no reaction, the man continued, ”I heard this question-and-answer game is quite difficult—you don’t get a hat every time. More people means better chances. Compared to players who’ve been here a long time without progress, newcomers like us grouping together would make clearing easier.”

Tang Xiao, who’d been indirectly criticized, didn’t take offense and said with crossed arms, ”Even if four people go in, you won’t get four small hats. Whose would it count as if you answer correctly?”

The female player beside the man chuckled lightly. ”Weren’t you trying to recruit them too? But you’ve already collected so many hats—it’ll take forever for you to clear at this rate.”

After speaking, she batted her eyelashes at Xu Huo and extended a finger trying to poke Yan Jiayu aside. However, Yan Jiayu remained completely still, just staring at people without speaking. The female player had no choice but to ask Xu Huo across the distance, ”Big brother, what’s your name?”

Xu Huo ignored the female player and instead looked at Tang Xiao.

Tang Xiao said, ”I did want to find partners, but I’m not asking you to carry me through the dungeon. How about this—we can talk after you come out.”

After speaking, he left the line and walked several meters away, leaning against the nearby candy shop while watching them.

”No need,” Xu Huo withdrew his gaze and rejected the pair’s proposal. This game clearly seemed better played alone. As for information exchange between players, that could be achieved through increases and decreases in small hat counts.

What he was more curious about was what standard the dungeon used for ”voluntary” actions.

Noticing from his peripheral vision a plush pig looking in their direction for the third time, Xu Huo waved it over.

The plush pig that had sold him lots of candy earlier immediately came running.

Xu Huo gave it a handful of candy. ”Uncle wants to ask you—if I have extra small hats, can I give them to others?”

The plush pig eagerly accepted the candy. ”Of course you can! But you can’t force small hats on others. Even children know you shouldn’t give people things they don’t want.”

So even if you stuffed small hats onto others, the hat count would still be tallied to yourself.

”Then do you know how many small hats that person has?” Xu Huo asked again.

”Piggy knows how many small hats everyone has, but Piggy won’t tell you,” the plush pig spun in place and ran off.

Only then did some players realize they could communicate with the plush toys, so some went to buy candy with money, then used it to bribe the plush toys.

At first quite a few people bought candy, but after discovering the information obtained from the plush toys was all trivial clues—even things they already knew—no one wasted White Bills playing with them anymore. After all, you couldn’t spend money that recklessly.

However, this interruption reduced the attention focused on Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu, and the two players who wanted to team up with them were pulled away by other players.

People who entered the tent ahead of them all quickly left the camp area afterward. It was unknown if anyone obtained small hats, but since the question-and-answer game reportedly had different content each time, no one questioned those who came out earlier.

Soon it was Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu’s turn. They paid two hundred White Bills and entered.

Inside the tent, which was clearly larger than its exterior appearance suggested, the lighting was dim. Once the door flap closed, it felt like entering a planetarium—in the faint light, shimmering stars floated everywhere around them, front and back, left and right.

”They move,” Yan Jiayu reached out to touch them, but the nearby ”starlight” quickly retreated.

”They’re mirrors,” Xu Huo saw clearly what was moving—irregular mirror fragments of various sizes suspended in midair. When they approached, the mirrors automatically moved backward.

Reaching the center of the tent, a large mirror advanced from the darkness until it stopped before them. However, the mirror didn’t reflect Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu’s images. Instead, a clown emerged from the side of the blank mirror surface, making funny faces at them and emitting strange laughter. ”Hey, can you see me?”

Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu looked at the mirror without speaking. The clown inside stretched its head forward against the mirror, forcefully prying its eyelids open as if trying to pop its eyeballs out. But separated by a layer of glass, it could only rub its eyeballs against the surface, producing uncomfortable sounds.

”Stop squeezing—your eyeballs are getting flattened,” Xu Huo interrupted the clown’s bizarre antics. ”We’re here to answer questions. Are you staff?”

The clown retreated, rubbing its eyes. ”Of course I am. If I weren’t staff, why would I be here entertaining you?”

”Aren’t clowns supposed to entertain?” Yan Jiayu touched the mirror surface, casually wiping off some candy residue stuck to her hand.

The clown in the mirror let out a horrified scream. ”You’re so dirty!”

”Oh? You don’t self-clean automatically?” Yan Jiayu seemed quite surprised.

”I’m not a washing machine!” the clown roared.

Yan Jiayu looked somewhat embarrassed and took out a handkerchief to wipe the mirror for it. ”Sorry about that. We who’ve left monastic life are accustomed to not sweating the small stuff.”

”Is that ’not sweating the small stuff’? That’s poor personal hygiene!” the clown spat, ”Don’t you dare smear the reputation of those who’ve left monastic life!”

Yan Jiayu’s face reddened at its words. After wiping off the candy residue, she tried to wipe the water spots. ”These won’t come off.”

The clown fell silent, then rubbed the area where the handkerchief had been with its sleeve—the water spots disappeared.

Their eyes met, and silence spread through the tent.