Players, Please Board the Train

Finally, Xu Huo bought two items from Deng Xuan. One was the ”Self-Producing Weaving Loom,” and the other was the ”Strobe Dance Ball.”

As the name suggests, the former was a not-too-large loom that could spit out a one-meter length of cloth each time. How much it spat per day depended on fate. The Strobe Dance Ball was a magical partying artifact. Just stick it anywhere, and it would immediately emit the kind of multicolored disco lights you’d find in a nightclub, capable of impairing vision.

The price he offered wasn’t low, but Deng Xuan seemed a bit embarrassed to keep trying to sell him other things. So, he left his contact information and hinted, ”If you want to buy other things, you can contact me privately. However, dungeons exist separately within the station; they might not be something you can bring inside.”

Xu Huo waved him off and boarded a low-altitude public transport vehicle.

This small vehicle was also driverless, with only six seats inside. Each seat was a sealed, independent pod. When a person sat down, the spherical glass door would automatically close. The curved inner surface displayed menu buttons, offering a brief introduction to Garden Castle Station.

He listened to it from start to finish.

The city where the train entered was called Central City, the most avant-garde city in Garden Castle Station. The Game Government had an administrative outpost here, which brought technology from other worlds, leading to rapid development.

Simultaneously, this was also a world with relatively high acceptance of players. Players could engage in any profession, and there were people willing to hire players. The better-paying companies even offered safe train tickets—tickets for dungeons with higher clearance rates and lower risks—as part of their employment packages.

Both White Bills and the local currency were accepted. Every street had intelligent service terminals. If currency exchange was needed, one could complete it independently at the terminal—foolproof operation.

Furthermore, within this station, the trade of stimulants was legal. Unlike the kind of drugs Xu Huo originally understood, the potions here were also by-products developed from evolution potions. They could stimulate the brain to secrete happiness hormones without causing harm to the human body.Additionally, there were various player-specific fighting tournaments, competitions, and adventure activities that also enjoyed considerable popularity.

There wasn’t much information here about the Game Government itself. However, both ordinary people and players lived in this city. The government had also established several handsome male and beautiful female player images, specifically attending various events and celebrations, existing like mascots.

In short, in this city, players and ordinary people were pretty much the same.

Naturally, there were also stringent laws targeting players, especially regarding harassment of ordinary people.

Under the condition of highly developed technology, everyone in the city was under comprehensive, all-around surveillance. The slightest hint of trouble would be reported.

”If you violate the laws and regulations of Central City, the first offense is a warning. The second offense will result in arrest by the Duty Squad. Please be aware of this, players.”

At a glance, this seemed like a very livable city.

Xu Huo soon got off the vehicle. He casually found a service terminal and checked rental and property purchase information. The prices were prohibitively high, enough to make one hesitate. Even renting a small house on the outskirts of Central City cost as much as five thousand White Bills per month. The closer to the government base buildings, the higher the rent.

He also searched for information on dungeons in Garden Castle Station. However, the results were numerous and messy. And without reaching the dungeon location first, he wasn’t sure exactly which dungeon he would enter. Furthermore, the location given by the game might not define the dungeon’s boundaries, as the activation and closure of dungeons followed no discernible pattern. Simply put, coming back to the same place next time wouldn’t necessarily mean the same dungeon.

So, he randomly picked a few D-level dungeon strategy guides that seemed relatively close and bought them to take a look.

Having a rough idea, Xu Huo followed the route provided by the game to the city where the dungeon was located.

Taking the fast car took only a few minutes. After getting off, the first thing he saw was a modern landscape not much different from where he lived. At the same time, he received a game prompt:

[Welcome to Garden Castle Station, a city famous for its garden castles. According to incomplete statistics, there are over ten castles of varying sizes within the city. Each castle has been tempered by history, with the oldest being over five hundred years old—mysterious and ancient.]

[Many famous figures have rated this place as a prime destination for tracing the past, claiming that coming here makes one unconsciously immerse in the ancient years.]

[However, ancient means transportation and communication here are relatively backward, becoming a breeding ground for crime...]

[Player Extra, please proceed to the Rose Castle to complete the dungeon ”The Vanished Guests.”]

[Dungeon Task One: Find the vanished guests. (Any one)]

[Dungeon Task Two: Uncover the truth behind the guests’ disappearance.]

[Dungeon time limit: five days (game time). Players must arrive at Rose Castle with the invitation before midnight tonight (game time).]

An invitation was attached below. Not far away was a bus stop sign where one could see the bus schedule directly to Rose Castle.

Not in a hurry to leave, Xu Huo found a small snack shop and struck up a conversation with the customers inside.

He learned that Rose Castle was a castle with a two-hundred-year history. The castle’s owner was once a very famous philanthropist, but they had faded from public view in recent years.

Now was the time when the roses were in bloom. If it were a few years ago, the castle would be open to the public during this season, and people from all over the city would go to admire the roses. But nowadays, the castle owner rarely appeared due to illness, and the castle no longer received guests.

”Haven’t any strange things happened at the castle?” Xu Huo asked. ”Usually, such old buildings come with accompanying legends.”

”Young man, you speak so interestingly,” an old woman laughed. ”There really weren’t any before. But in the last two years, I heard that when people secretly climbed the wall to pick roses, they saw bones in the soil. Oh my, they described it so vividly, even a human skull!”

”When I was young, I went to play at the castle every year and never saw anything happen. Those young people are all scared out of their wits by Evolvers and players.”

The other customers joined in the laughter.

However, a middle-aged man in the corner sighed. ”My neighbor had a niece who came specifically during summer vacation to see the roses. Who would have thought she just disappeared like that.”

”Did she disappear at Rose Castle?” Xu Huo asked.

”Not exactly. Someone found her bag in the southern part of the city. They reported it to the police, and it was returned.”

”The southern part of the city is precisely the necessary route to Rose Castle. That area is really chaotic,” the customers clicked their tongues, also saying one must never linger outside after dark because the security in this old city was okay during the day, but Evolvers and players might appear at night.

Noticing their attitude towards dungeons and players was one of being accustomed to but not fearful, Xu Huo paid and left. He found a place nearby to access the internet and only then discovered that this small city had no information about random dungeons.

Random dungeons that could directly threaten the lives of ordinary people simply did not appear in this city!

Could it be because the Game Government built a base at this station?