Players, Please Board the Train

”Oh? You still have two minutes left.” He Pu listened to You Qiwen’s answer, looking thoroughly bored.

”Two minutes probably isn’t enough,” Xu Huo said. ”We could wrap it up in a simple sentence or two, but that would be rather dull. You went to the trouble of preparing this concert specifically to find some amusement for yourself, didn’t you? I also think clearing the dungeon just like that would be rather boring. We might as well have a proper chat. Who knows, if we talk it out, I might even be able to do you a small favor.”

He Pu’s gaze swept over Mr. Dong before he spoke. ”I can give you that time. If the result doesn’t satisfy me, I will turn you into a puppet while you’re still alive.”

Xu Huo paid no mind to his threat and turned to Mr. Dong. ”Please tidy up the tea room and bring some food. No one ate much earlier.”

”Vegetarian food is fine.”

He Pu nodded to Mr. Dong. ”Fulfill your duties as the butler.”

Mr. Dong left without a word.

Just as He Pu was about to leave, Fleischer suddenly spoke up. ”Since we’re going to chat, let’s all come out and talk together. What’s the point if someone’s missing?”

As he spoke, he took out the contract from before and pointed at several signatures on it.

From this distance, the players could all see clearly. The signatures of the dead Fang Min and the missing Li Chao had already vanished, but the signature of Yu Shuai, who was also missing, remained on the document.”I almost forgot about him.” He Pu turned back, tapped his baton against the wall, and a ripple of energy rapidly spread across the room. Following a sharp, piercing sound, the thud of a heavy object landing came from the direction of the stage. Everyone turned to see Yu Shuai kneeling on the floor, wiping blood from his mouth.

”You’re not dead...!” Liu Zhengping blurted out, but before his words finished, all the players present except Fleischer received the notification for the completion of the first task.

”Calm down!” You Qiwen spoke first to capture everyone’s attention, then gave Xu Huo a complicated look. ”It’s nothing unusual for a player to have one or two life-saving tricks up their sleeve.”

The other players tacitly refrained from speaking. Instead, Xu Huo gloated at Yu Shuai. ”You really are unlucky.”

Yu Shuai, with old injuries compounded by new ones, refused to back down. ”What are you so happy about? I still haven’t found the body.”

”I figured you wouldn’t find it. Let’s head downstairs together.” Xu Huo turned and walked away.

The tea room was on the first floor. By the time the players went downstairs, pastries and tea were already laid out. The other servants seemed completely unaware of the commotion upstairs, as none came out. Mr. Dong stood in a corner as usual, acting invisible. What secretly relieved You Qiwen and the others was that He Pu hadn’t released Hu Shan; otherwise, all their previous efforts would have been wasted.

Even though they might not necessarily be a match for He Pu, it was always better to have one less powerful enemy.

Especially if what Xu Huo said about the truth was correct, they wouldn’t need to risk their lives at all.

”Are you really sure about this?” the Chen brothers, who had been protecting the mirror the whole time, couldn’t help but ask.

Xu Huo didn’t answer that question. Instead, he sat down opposite He Pu and began to narrate the truth he had deduced.

”First, You Qiwen guessed part of the truth correctly. That is, you are indeed not He Pu.”

”Judging from the signs of life in this ancient castle, the real He Pu from five years ago was devoted to art and obsessed with medicine. He was a genuine scholar. From some of the written records he left behind, this man was open-minded and also very humble, not a vain person who liked to show off.”

”But you are different.” He looked up at the man across from him. ”Narcissistic, arrogant, fond of showing off. Food, clothing, possessions, and all those fine items in the rooms upstairs—you want to display them all for people to see.”

”Furthermore, although you claim to love music, you lack the most basic appreciation skills and can’t even play one or two instruments. The real He Pu had the title of Baron and social engagements. Simply wearing a fake skin wouldn’t fool others, so you had no choice but to feign illness. In short, you are an empty, inferior, and not very technically skilled impostor.”

Hearing Xu Huo insult someone was quite satisfying, but seeing He Pu’s face darken, Yu Shuai couldn’t help but say, ”Can you just state your case without adding so much personal commentary?”

”Finding amusement.” Xu Huo’s three words choked everyone. He took a sip of tea and continued. ”So, for someone like you, I don’t think it’s possible for you to become the holder of the Rose Castle dungeon.”

”He’s not the dungeon boss?” You Qiwen exclaimed in shock. ”If he’s not, then who is?”

”Mr. Dong.” Xu Huo gave the answer. ”Although on the surface, the castle’s master should more likely be the dungeon holder, the He Pu before us is not the real He Pu but a later arrival. In that case, it’s not strange that Mr. Dong, who has been here longer, became the dungeon master.”

”That’s not right,” Fleischer interjected at this point. ”The Rose Castle dungeon only started five years ago. That can’t be used as a basis. You’re just guessing blindly.”

”Looking from cause to effect, it might not hold up, but reasoning backward from the result makes it easier to understand.” Xu Huo said. ”Because Mr. Dong is the dungeon holder, He Pu could freely make all the guests and corpses in the castle disappear, completely disregarding leaving a way out for the players, which violates the rules of the game dungeon.”

”But not all players would follow the dungeon rules. If he were dead set on doing this regardless of the consequences, that could barely count as a reason. Unfortunately, that reason doesn’t hold.”

”Why doesn’t it hold?” Liu Zhengping asked instinctively.

”Because of time.” You Qiwen said. ”The Rose Castle dungeon has been around for five years, it’s near the Game Government base in District 011, and it’s a fixed-location dungeon. The game couldn’t possibly not manage the dungeon holder. A dungeon boss can exploit game loopholes to kill people, but they can’t completely disregard the rules given by the game.”

”As you said, I am neither the castle’s master nor the dungeon holder. I impersonated He Pu. So where did the original He Pu go?” He Pu spoke up now. ”If I killed him, why would Mr. Dong still obey my orders?”

The other players had this question too. When You Qiwen exposed He Pu as an impostor earlier, Mr. Dong wasn’t surprised, clearly already knowing about it. That he could coexist peacefully with the fake He Pu made one wonder if they were birds of a feather or if he simply didn’t care about the real He Pu’s life or death.

”The real He Pu is probably already dead. As for whether you killed him or not, that’s hard to say.” Xu Huo said. ”But it wouldn’t be difficult to keep Mr. Dong from acting against you. You could use He Pu’s life, death, or corpse as leverage.”

”Let’s say everything you said is correct. Is this the truth?” He Pu lowered his head slightly but rolled his eyes upward, looking directly at Xu Huo from a lowered angle. ”You’re just repeating what others said.”

”Before the concert started, I thought finding out the truth that you’re not the real He Pu was enough. But the game didn’t accept this truth, probably wanting to know something else.” Xu Huo crossed his hands, his right index finger lightly tapping the back of his left hand. ”Apart from the fact that you’re not the dungeon holder, the rest should be about your identity.”