Players, Please Board the Train

The ancient castle was too large, and ”The Vanished Guests” could be hiding anywhere. Searching alone made it difficult to cover every corner of the castle, and with limited mission time, player cooperation was the best solution.

However, players couldn’t trust each other, and cooperation had its pros and cons.

”Wouldn’t it be great if everyone could leave after completing the task?” the Baby-faced Player said with a smile. ”If I clear the stage first, I’ll definitely tell each of you the answer.”

No one took the bait. The young man sitting next to the Dark-Faced Man said impatiently, ”Do you think this mission is easy? When we entered the villa, all our suitcases were taken away. I’ve searched the rooms on the first and second floors and haven’t seen any suitcases at all. Who knows where they’ve been hidden?”

These players had all brought some ”practical tools” before coming, but once the servants took them at the door, they were gone, and asking didn’t get them back.

”That mute butler seems quite formidable,” the tall, thin man said. ”He and the castle master are both likely key to the mission.”

”Isn’t it obvious the castle master killed and hid the bodies?” the Burly Man said, holding two bottles of wine, his breath reeking of alcohol.

The only female player who had stayed in the hall last night, the refined-looking woman, moved away from him in disgust. ”If it were that obvious, would they create a dungeon for you to solve? If you don’t believe me, you can try submitting the task.”

The Burly Man actually went to do just that. The refined female player rolled her eyes and looked at the Dark-Faced Man. ”You Qiwen, stop beating around the bush. We’re all here to complete the task. You’re excluding Mr. Xu and the Ma couple, which doesn’t exactly scream cooperation either.”

They had already introduced themselves to each other. The Dark-Faced Man, namely You Qiwen, said bluntly, ”The Ma couple met the castle master He Pu alone. Why would He Pu meet them separately? Fang Min, you saw that Mr. Xu last night too. He reeked of the smell of corpses. He’s probably not someone to mess with.”The refined female player, Fang Min, frowned. ”Forget about Mr. Xu for now. Are you suspecting the Ma couple of colluding with the castle master?”

With guests disappearing from the castle, the castle master was naturally a suspect.

”That doesn’t necessarily prove anything,” the tall, thin man, Fleischer, said after a moment of thought. ”The castle master might be deliberately sowing discord among us. On the surface, this dungeon’s task seems simple: the vanished guests are in the castle, so the killer must also be in the castle.”

”Regardless, I don’t recommend cooperating with these three people,” You Qiwen said sternly, his dark face serious. ”The Ma couple haven’t even come out to look for clues; they’ve been staying in their room the whole time.”

”Maybe these three are waiting to pick the low-hanging fruit,” the long-haired female player sitting in the corner said as she combed her jet-black, long hair, slowly raising her pale face. ”That’s why they’re not anxious at all?”

”That’s possible,” You Qiwen said. ”In short, besides the people in the castle, we need to be wary of these three as well.”

The topic returned to cooperation. Although they excluded Xu Huo and the Ma couple, the remaining nine couldn’t let their guard down either. After some back-and-forth, the tall, thin man Fleischer said, ”I have an item. You write the agreed-upon terms on it. No matter what form the signature takes, if someone violates the terms, the words ’Breach of Contract’ will appear on their forehead. Only the signatories can see these words, and they won’t disappear until the promise is fulfilled or the time limit expires. It has basically no side effects.”

As he spoke, he took out a piece of parchment and proactively wrote a highly restrictive clause on it, specifying the time, content, and possible penalties, then signed his own name. ”You can inspect it.”

”Who wants to try?” he asked.

Items in the game came in all sorts of strange varieties. Who would dare sign their name recklessly?

”I’ll do it,” the long-haired female player said. ”Will a pseudonym work?”

Fleischer nodded. ”Yes.”

The long-haired female player wrote the three characters ”Wei Landeng.”

The others watched and waited.

A few seconds later, the signed characters seemed to sink into the paper, and the contract officially took effect. The content was:

”Tell the others a secret within three minutes, or lose a characteristic or item, or die.”

The three minutes passed quickly. In each other’s eyes, the words ”Breach of Contract” appeared in white font on Fleischer and Wei Landeng’s foreheads, but only the signatories could see these words.

Wei Landeng took out a small mirror to look at her own forehead.

”Each person can only see others’ breach, not their own. This contract is called ’Spirit of Contract.’ It mainly embodies the spirit, so even though I wrote the penalty, you won’t actually be punished even if you breach it,” Fleischer explained. ”And this contract’s effect only lasts for one month. Whether the terms are fulfilled or not, the contract will disappear after a month.”

Now that both he and Wei Landeng had breached the contract, the penalties stated in the contract didn’t materialize. Wei Landeng also told the others, ”You can indeed see the words ’Breach of Contract’.”

”Now let’s fulfill the contract,” Fleischer said, then paused before continuing, ”When I was a kid, I stole my dad’s money and framed my brother.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the two words on his forehead disappeared.

Wei Landeng nodded. ”I like peeping at people while they sleep.”

As her words fell, the contract on the parchment showed as completed, and then the writing disappeared.

”That’s a rather unique hobby,” the Baby-faced Player laughed and said, ”Alright, I think this method is pretty good. I agree.”

After some thought, the others agreed as well. This method could prevent anyone from taking all the credit for themselves and saved everyone from mutual suspicion.

Before formally writing the contract, they tested its effect again with a simple instruction. Everyone participated, confirming they could indeed see the words ”Breach of Contract” before fulfilling the terms and writing the real contract content.

The contract was quickly written. The players signed or stamped it, leaving their mark on the contract.

This contract wasn’t very binding; it didn’t even specify penalties. It only required that any player who found ”The Vanished Guests” must inform the other players of the method to complete the task within two hours.

Fleischer held the contract, his gaze lingering on it for two seconds before putting it away. He smiled and said, ”Then let’s discuss what to do next.”

After the cooperation was formally established, they divided up the areas to search.

They would spend one day cross-searching the first and second floors, the botanical garden, and the garden again. If they still hadn’t found ”The Vanished Guests,” they would have to go to the third floor and the maze.

”Also, there are the servants’ quarters and the kitchen. However, Butler Dong said we can’t wander around the third floor freely. To avoid alerting anyone, it’s best to inform others before going to the third floor,” You Qiwen said.

The others nodded in twos and threes. Just then, Xu Huo came down from the second floor, and everyone’s gaze involuntarily turned toward him.

Facing the group, Xu Huo smiled slightly. ”Guessing whether the next person to enter will be male or female again?”

Fleischer stood up. ”That was just a misunderstanding yesterday. We have more important matters here. We hope Mr. Xu won’t hold a grudge.”