Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo did not touch that painting, heading instead in the opposite direction towards the dining room.

A group of players wearing white wristbands were dining in the restaurant. One of them seemed to recognize him, frequently sizing him up from the moment he entered. Xu Huo turned to look back and asked directly, ”Is there something?”

Everyone at that table turned their heads. The player with the slicked-back, shiny hair who had been eyeing him snorted with a laugh and said to his companions, ”Weren’t you just asking who Ran Ying brought? It’s him.”

”Who is this? Never seen him before.”

”Most likely an outside player. Pretty lucky to latch onto Ran Ying right after arriving.”

”Compared to those fat, pig-like sows, sleeping with Ran Ying would be considered a free treat.”

The group spoke with undisguised jealousy. The shiny-haired man said, ”A freeloader still cares about face? Why hide the wristband? Show it off boldly. It’s not like we’ll laugh at you.”

Xu Huo had tucked his wristband into his sleeve when he left his room. He could now guess these people’s identities: players from District 011, but those not doing very well.

The gamification of District 011 had reached a level where everyone could become a player. Some from the bottom rungs of society, hoping to change their fate, often actively chose to become players. However, due to lacking sufficient talent and not having thick enough wallets, they struggled within the game. Coincidentally, District 011 retained its aristocracy system, so some chose the shortcut.

Players like Xu Huo, who were invited or purely here to hitch a ride and broaden their horizons, would hide their wristbands after stepping out to avoid unnecessary trouble.According to Ran Ying, the white wristbands were merely to restrict less important guests from entering core areas. He believed many who received white wristbands were told the same story. But now, with the shiny-haired man’s words, the identities of the white-wristband wearers in the dining room instantly changed. Many people’s expressions turned ugly.

”Am I wrong?” the shiny-haired man said, scanning the dining room. ”I just can’t stand some people freeloading yet being afraid others will talk. If you have the skill, freeload with backbone. Coming here is just about accompanying someone to bed, isn’t it?”

The white-wristband wearers included both men and women. One lady said indignantly, ”Don’t project your own filthy deeds onto others just because you engage in such shady business! I came with my fiancé. We’re already engaged!”

”Then why didn’t you get a black or red wristband?” the shiny-haired man retorted.

”I can only join my fiancé’s family after a legal marriage. We’ll get married after this trip.” The lady stood up. ”I may just be an evolved person, but I look down on players like you. Clearly having ability, yet you idle around waiting to die. The atmosphere in District 011 is ruined by people like you!”

This really stirred up a hornet’s nest. The people at the shiny-haired man’s table stood up, ready to fight, hands already raised to strike. The woman screamed, covering her head and trying to dodge, but how could she evade a player? A man wearing a black wristband from a neighboring table blocked the hand. ”A player bullying an ordinary evolved person. You think that’s something to be proud of?”

Black and red wristbands belonged to invited guests, people the shiny-haired man and his group couldn’t afford to offend. So, they awkwardly withdrew their hands, turning back to shoot a warning glance at Xu Huo before leaving.

Xu Huo stood up and walked over to the woman, offering a towel. ”Are you alright?”

The woman hesitated before accepting it. ”Sorry, I wasn’t targeting all white-wristband wearers just now. It’s just that those people’s words were too unpleasant.”

”It’s nothing. I’m just here with a friend to broaden my horizons,” Xu Huo said with a smile. ”Though I didn’t expect competition to be so fierce in every walk of life.”

The woman couldn’t help but laugh. ”Actually, people like them can’t even be considered real players. They became players just to claim government subsidies, then use connections to get into those safe dungeons. They can return without taking much risk. Many from poor backgrounds who love ease and hate work choose this path.”

”Next time you encounter such people, don’t argue with them,” the black-wristband man said. ”You’ll only lose out. Your fiancé can’t protect you either.”

”He went to meet friends. I was a bit hungry, so I came to grab something to eat.” Mentioning her fiancé, a blissful smile spread across the woman’s face. ”He’ll come find me soon. Besides, he’s considered nobility to some extent. Those people wouldn’t dare do anything to me.”

”What color wristband does your fiancé have?” the black-wristband man asked.

”Red,” the woman said.

Hearing this, the black-wristband man’s gaze shifted slightly. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he ultimately swallowed his words, turned, and left.

The woman looked at his retreating back in confusion, quickly calling out, ”Thank you for earlier.”

The black-wristband man quickened his pace and was out of the dining room in a few steps.

”Maybe he had something urgent,” Xu Huo said to the woman with a smile.

Just then, a brown-haired man walked in, waving at the woman. ”Laura.”

”Excuse me,” the woman said with good grace, bidding Xu Huo farewell before walking towards her fiancé. The two embraced. The woman, full of affection, straightened the man’s collar. ”Weren’t you meeting friends? How come you’re back so soon?”

”I missed you terribly,” the man said, lowering his head to take a deep breath of her hair. ”Your scent intoxicates me. I simply couldn’t bear it and left early.”

The woman blushed, lightly hitting his chest. ”Stop saying that.”

The man, holding the woman, walked away.

Watching them leave, Xu Huo took out a cigarette, lit it, and walked in the direction the black-wristband man had gone.

Wearing his glasses, he carefully observed the path the other man had taken. Before long, he found a miniature camera hidden among the flowers in a vase. Just as he pulled the device out, someone silently appeared behind him. Grabbing the dagger thrust towards him with a backhand, he kicked the person back, holding the camera. ”You’re too tense. That easily arouses suspicion. And the camera was placed too conspicuously.”

The newcomer was indeed the black-wristband man who had left earlier. He stared warily at Xu Huo. ”Who are you?”

”Probably the same as you? Someone seeking the truth?” Xu Huo shook out his own wristband.

The man remained silent.

Xu Huo paused, then added, ”Anything placed within easy scanning range isn’t hard to find. See, I found your camera with just a casual look. Do you think the staff on board wouldn’t discover it?”

”Either place things somewhere you’d normally never scrutinize closely, or use an item. But then again, this type of camera is easily destroyed by detection instruments. You probably wouldn’t capture much anyway.”

The man didn’t react to his words, instead asking, ”What do you want?”

”Black wristbands, red wristbands, white wristbands. What a coincidence that the wristbands given to guests correspond to three types of player identities.” Xu Huo’s expression turned grave. ”I saw that woman’s fiancé just now. Wearing a red wristband. What a coincidence. He’s also a Player-Eater.”