Players, Please Board the Train

”What use is it knowing when the Origin started?” said the Unlucky-looking Man. ”Wormhole points are already lined up to E. With that many wormhole points before this, it’s got to be at least a hundred or two hundred years old. Even if we knew, it wouldn’t do us any good.”

”Not necessarily,” said Yan Jiayu. ”Maybe we can travel through time and space.”

The Unlucky-looking Man gave a laugh. ”Come on, time travel doesn’t exist at all. If it did, don’t you think those super players and high-level players would want to turn back the clock?”

”That’s true,” Yan Jiayu said with an easygoing air. ”But thinking that way doesn’t hurt us at all. If we can turn back time, then we can return to before the game started. If we can’t, at least we get to hold onto hope during the process before we know the final outcome. So no matter what the answer is, we don’t lose out.”

The people nearby fell silent for a moment, then the elderly man was the first to laugh heartily. ”Well said, well said! Hope is better than no hope!”

”Finding joy in misery,” the Knitting Female Player muttered under her breath with her head lowered.

Xu Huo remained silent.

Under the lights, the players chatted for a while before each settling down to rest.

As it neared midnight, a few people walked off along the tracks one after another. Two men and two women.

They walked beyond the reach of the light, and everyone knew full well what they were up to. Two male players rose with keen interest, intending to join in the fun. But they hadn’t taken more than a few steps when they suddenly turned on a nearby player. That player had been drawing in his feet to make way, when he was suddenly ambushed and slashed across the arm. He flipped over and unleashed an item at the two of them - a pair of balloons slipped over their heads and swiftly tightened!”Pfft-pfft!” The balloons burst quickly, and the two players lunged at the man, their own items already flying at him!

There were quite a few people around, and it was inevitable that some would get caught in the crossfire. What had started as a three-person brawl quickly turned into five. Before those five could even settle their fight, the ones who had left earlier also ran into trouble. A woman’s shrill, furious shout echoed back, followed by the sounds of a scuffle breaking out.

”Don’t tell me they got halfway through and found the goods didn’t match the sample!” someone let out a lewd chuckle.

A few minutes later, two people came back. They were the two female players, the young pair from Xu Huo’s carriage. Each was carrying a severed head, blood splattered on their clothes. The Curly-haired Female Player tossed what she held to the ground and sneered, ”Anyone else who keeps their brain in their pants, I’ll dig out their brain matter and feed it back to them!”

The two players who had been about to tag along stopped dead, their expressions turning rather sheepish.

Someone clapped. ”Now that’s how you fish! Classy execution!”

The Short-haired Player was so furious her face changed color. The Curly-haired Female Player pulled her over to where Xu Huo was.

The two of them didn’t want to sit near the male players, so they settled down beside the Knitting Female Player instead.

Yan Jiayu sat up and said, ”Those two followed you over. You were only a few meters apart from them.”

”What are you trying to say!” The Short-haired Player could no longer hold back, and said furiously, ”Even if I wanted a man, I wouldn’t look twice at those two sleazebags!”

”What she means is, since you were on guard, why didn’t you warn those two off even after walking a hundred meters away?” Xu Huo said. ”Not everyone out there has bad intentions.”

The two of them froze for a moment, then the Short-haired Player ground her teeth and said, ”They died way too easy!”

”They must have used items. We didn’t feel anyone behind us at all. They only gave themselves away when they reached for us!” The Curly-haired Female Player said coldly, ”Shameless bastards, using items for something like this!”

”Isn’t buying lipstick to sleep with your dream guy the same kind of thing?” The Unlucky-looking Man cut in.

”Consenting on both sides and forcing someone are the same thing to you? Is your head filled with brains or water?”

The Unlucky-looking Man waved his hands frantically. ”Can’t mess with that, can’t mess with that. I’ll shut up now.”

The two of them were absolutely livid at his attitude but couldn’t find a way to argue back. But just then, Yan Jiayu stomped down on the Unlucky-looking Man’s foot with lightning speed, making him yelp ”Ow!”

”You have a really weird way of screaming,” Yan Jiayu said.

The Unlucky-looking Man’s face flushed red, and he said with barely contained anger, ”You want to throw down?”

”No way,” Yan Jiayu said. ”I stepped on it by accident. So sorry. Who told you to put your foot right under mine?”

”I put my foot under yours?! Just because you’re a woman, you think you can lie through your teeth?” the Unlucky-looking Man roared.

Yan Jiayu looked helpless. ”I already apologized. Why are you so petty? Making such a fuss over nothing.”

”I’M making a fuss!” The Unlucky-looking Man kicked off his shoe and stood up. ”Half my foot is swollen from your ’accident’? I’M the one making a fuss!”

”Buddy.” Xu Huo rose and placed a hand on his shoulder. ”Be a bigger person. She did use a bit too much force, sure, but didn’t she already apologize? Besides, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. You’re in pain, but she feels it too.”

”How is that the same?!” The Unlucky-looking Man instinctively tried to shake him off but failed. He turned to meet Xu Huo’s eyes and suddenly choked on his words. After a pause, he looked around at the people nearby. The card players, the elderly man, Yan Jiayu, the Knitting Female Player - all of them were staring at him with cold eyes.

”Fine!” the Unlucky-looking Man said through gritted teeth. ”I started this. My fault.”

Xu Huo released him, and Yan Jiayu also smiled and said, ”Don’t be mad. I’ll treat you to something tasty as an apology.”

The Unlucky-looking Man genuinely seemed to be in dire need of food. After a brief standoff, he still accepted it.

The Curly-haired Female Player couldn’t help but laugh, handing him a bottle of healing potion. ”You’re actually kind of cute.”

”Don’t flirt with me.” The Unlucky-looking Man scooted farther away.

The elderly man chuckled. ”Young people sure are full of energy.”

”You guys are the nicest people I’ve met.” The Short-haired Player gently stroked her own hair with affection.

But the Curly-haired Female Player said, ”What’s the point of cutting your hair? For some people, it doesn’t matter if it’s long or short hair, pretty or ugly, fat or thin. As long as it’s something that breathes, they’ll get worked up.”

”Girls do tend to run into bad situations more easily.” The elderly man reminded them. ”But you two should still be careful. Something about what just happened doesn’t sit right. If those two players really intended to force themselves on you, they should have chosen to subdue you first, not just grab at you directly.”

The two exchanged a look, their expressions turning serious.

In the game, the strength gap caused by physical differences between men and women was diminished. Those two male players certainly wouldn’t have been reckless enough to completely ignore the possibility of the women fighting back. Besides, when the four of them had left earlier, it looked more like they had arranged to meet.

If the women hadn’t deliberately given misleading information to bait people in, then someone had meddled in the middle.

But based on the current situation, the possibility of the two female players luring them was higher.

However, leaving the group alone to answer an invitation didn’t fit normal logic in Xu Huo’s view. Even if two women stripped naked and called out to them, those two male players shouldn’t have followed so easily.

The specifics weren’t clear, and they were out on the tracks with so many people around. Anything was possible. But a trick like that wouldn’t work a second time, so there was no need to dig any deeper.