Players, Please Board the Train

The one who spoke was Miao Yu. ”There’s only one ghost on the first night. The laboratory is so big. If you just find a random place to hide, the chance of being killed is very small.”

She spoke very bluntly. ”And for a ghost to turn into a human, it has to kill one person. That means at least one person has to die tonight.”

The other players fell silent. After a moment, Zhu Rumin said, ”What if we don’t draw lots to decide who’s the ghost?”

”The dungeon task requirement is to participate in the game. If we don’t draw lots, none of us will be able to clear it,” Miao Yu stated.

”If we find and kill the ghost tonight, the remaining people can win,” Mao Wei said in a muffled voice. ”Otherwise, the ghosts will only keep increasing.”

”Not necessarily,” Chu Yuan said. ”What if the ghost successfully kills someone and turns human on the first day? Then there wouldn’t be any ghost, right?”

”The game requirement states very clearly that humans must catch the ghost,” Xu Huo spoke up, making his presence known.

”Then can’t we just all cooperate to catch the person who draws the ghost lot, and clear it right away?” Wu Xiaonan asked.

”Would the person who draws the ghost lot cooperate with you?” He Chunsheng retorted.

”I’m not great at math. Can someone explain how the ghosts increase?” Wan Yunrong inquired.”One ghost on the first day, two on the second, four on the third, and so on. Unless all the ghosts that appear on a given day are killed, the remaining people will stop turning into ghosts...” Ge Pan trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.

Actually, the best method was to catch the player who drew the ”ghost” lot tonight. That way, they could potentially clear the stage, and the ghost could be killed or spared. But no one wanted to be that ”ghost.”

”If we fail to kill the ghost today, there will be one more ghost tomorrow. But if we kill one ghost tomorrow night, will there still be two more ghosts the day after tomorrow?” Wan Yunrong asked doubtfully. ”Is that what it means?”

”Probably,” Zhu Rumin said. ”The conditions given by this game aren’t that precise. We’ll only understand clearly while playing.”

”So, are we drawing lots next?” He Chunsheng spoke up. ”Choosing an unlucky soul?”

Who the hell would want that? Among the twelve people present, most would definitely demand the drawing results be shown publicly on the spot.

As everyone was at a stalemate, Xu Huo said, ”I think if the results aren’t made public, everyone who draws lots could potentially become the ghost. No one wants to die in the game on the very first day, right?”

”If you’re caught as the ghost, the consequence might not be as simple as just failing to clear the stage. I agree,” Chu Yuan said. ”Everyone must play the game. Running away isn’t an option. Don’t just think about killing others; consider your own life too.”

”How boring is that?” Miao Yu, however, said, ”I don’t care if I’m the ghost or not. If I draw the ghost lot today, you’re all welcome to come kill me.”

Miao Yu appeared slender and tall, but in reality, her body fat was evenly distributed, with a sense of power radiating from her entire frame. It was clear her practical combat ability was good; otherwise, she wouldn’t have the confidence to say such a thing.

”I agree to keep the drawing confidential,” Mao Wei said at this moment.

”I agree too,” Ge Pan chimed in.

Zhu Rumin and Wu Xiaonan beside them thought for a moment and also agreed.

Among the others, except for Miao Yu who held an indifferent attitude, most agreed to keep the drawing confidential.

Finally, they decided on how to draw lots. There was white paper in the laboratory. For fairness, each of the twelve people would take a sheet of paper. Eleven would write ”human,” one would write ”ghost.” Then they would all be placed into the same opaque container, randomly shuffled, and a slip would be drawn from the container one by one. During this process, no one could touch the slips inside the container.

After Qiu Xiangdong finished writing ”ghost,” all the slips were placed into the container. After shaking it, everyone queued up randomly. Then, starting with Wan Yunrong who was first in line, they began drawing.

It was over after all twelve people took their turn. Everyone held their slip and didn’t rush to look. Instead, they tacitly left the room to search for new hiding spots.

Because they couldn’t trust each other, few formed teams. Most went alone. This laboratory had three floors with countless rooms. Hiding alone was safer.

”Looks like more people are afraid of dying. Otherwise, they wouldn’t all have agreed to keep the drawing confidential,” Chu Yuan said.

Xu Huo walked beside him and didn’t respond.

How could players agree to confidentiality just because they were afraid of dying?

One versus eleven might seem disadvantageous for the player who drew the ghost lot. But in reality, as long as the ghost-lot player randomly killed one person, they could regain their human identity. Unless the other players had overwhelming means, it would be very difficult for them to instantly kill or capture the ghost.

The ”ghost” only appears after the lights go out at night. Killing or capturing must be done in the dark, which is inherently difficult. Besides, what if they accidentally killed the ghost? If the ghost was gone on the first day, what would they even play?

Furthermore, even if they successfully caught the ”ghost,” it didn’t necessarily mean everyone could clear the stage. Even for the sake of insurance, the ”ghost” on the first day needed to survive. The increase in the number of ”ghosts” was, to some extent, also increasing the chance of clearing the stage.

The ”Humans Catch Ghosts” game requirement is to kill the ”ghost.” In a situation where the ”ghost” isn’t completely killed, every player could potentially turn into a ”ghost.” If the hidden requirement of the dungeon’s second task must be ”humans” catching ”ghosts,” then players who become ”ghosts” must regain their ”human” identity. To regain the ”human” identity, they must kill ghosts. This would, in turn, reduce the number of people who could potentially clear the stage.

Of course, it would be a different story if ”ghosts” could catch ”ghosts.”

However, Xu Huo felt this possibility was very small. Even the speculation that ”catching the ghost” would clear the stage might not be accurate, because this task requirement contradicted the ”Humans Catch Ghosts” game. He leaned more towards the higher difficulty side, which was that even if they caught the ”ghost” during the game, they wouldn’t clear the stage.

Verifying this wasn’t difficult either. Results might come out today.

”This room isn’t bad,” Chu Yuan found a room near the elevator. It was a large operating room with over twenty operating tables and a corresponding number of cabinets, which could block the line of sight.

Xu Huo just casually glanced around and found a chair to sit down and rest.

Chu Yuan couldn’t go too far. The two of them stared at each other for a while. After a moment, he said, ”You didn’t draw the ghost lot, did you?”

Xu Huo unfolded his slip. The character ”human” was clearly written on it.

Chu Yuan first shielded his own slip with his hand and looked at it, then sighed in relief. ”I’m human too.”

”If we’re both human, then I’m relieved,” he continued. ”Everyone else knows we’re bound together. Even if they want to pick targets, they won’t come for us tonight. On the contrary, we have a certain advantage. We might even be able to kill the ghost by joining forces.”

”I don’t want to go out,” Xu Huo said, sounding very unmotivated.

”Why?” Chu Yuan was puzzled. ”We’re participating in the game. If we catch the ghost, couldn’t we complete the dungeon early?”

”Catching the ghost isn’t that easy,” Xu Huo said. ”Once the lights go out outside, we won’t be able to see anything. The ghost can only appear at night, but that doesn’t mean it can’t see.”