Players, Please Board the Train

Xu Huo, who was almost forced to watch the entire live reality show, was finally freed close to the game time of midnight.

The Skinner had given up the bedroom to him and went to sleep on the sofa.

After it became quiet outside, Xu Huo sat up, wiped away his earlier drunkenness, contacted Peng Fengnian to confirm the Skinner had indeed gone to the office, and then quietly slipped out of the bedroom.

He went to the skin and fur room outside, put on the Skinner’s gloves, and began inspecting every single hide.

During the day, Tang Pei and the others had also checked here, and it was the same as what he saw: all the hanging hides were animal skins, but the Skinner insisted there was human skin here.

If the human skin wasn’t hanging outside, then it had to be hidden among these animal hides.

Why would the Skinner hide human skin among the animal hides? The answer was obvious.

He inspected every hide thoroughly. At least three had hidden layers inside. Unsure whether they contained human skin, he didn’t open them but simply memorized their locations and the distinguishing features of the hides before leaving.

In the small room next to the workshop, several players were anxiously waiting. Hearing the sound of a window latch, they hurriedly opened it.

Xu Huo jumped inside and nodded at them as a greeting. “Remember to call me Mr. Wang when outside.”“Then, Mr. Wang, what did you find?” Zou Weichang crossed his arms, watching him intently.

Xu Huo pressed the paper phone to his ear, allowing Peng Fengnian to hear everything he said.

“The way to open the secret room is by pushing the entire wall backward,” he said. “It’s not difficult; two players can do it.”

The expressions of the others changed slightly. Qin An blurted out, “You really got into the secret room? How did you manage that? How did the Skinner believe you?”

Xu Huo glanced at him calmly and said, “There’s a radio on the office desk. The Skinner’s dungeon has had major personnel changes recently. I pretended to be an administrative staff member about to be transferred here through connections. At least for the next day or two, I’m safe.”

“I heard Peng Fengnian mention that every station is connected to a much larger place. The dungeons inside are independent, but the areas between them should be connected. It’s just that our levels are too low—we can only enter closed or semi-closed dungeons and can’t leave the dungeon range,” Qin An said. “We can only speculate that each station city has managers, but how exactly it operates is completely unknown.”

He stared at Xu Huo as he spoke. Since Xu Huo could bluff the Skinner with this trick, he should know quite a bit of inside information.

“Is Mr. Xu a B-level player?” he probed cautiously.

“No,” Xu Huo lit a cigarette but didn’t put the lighter away. “Peng Fengnian knows the details.”

He didn’t explain clearly, only revealing the impersonation to coax more information out of them.

“You’re really brave. What if the Skinner didn’t believe you and took action?” Yang Can said admiringly, his face still showing the imprint of five fingers. Though he was a D-level player, after getting slapped, he now felt intimidated by the Skinner.

“There’s no way to avoid all risks,” Xu Huo repeated what he had said before.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s quickly find the Skinner’s rare items,” Zou Weichang said, his eyes burning. “There must be a lot of good stuff in the secret room. Just taking one should let us clear the dungeon.”

Qin An frowned and glanced at him but said nothing. Instead, he looked toward Xu Huo. “What counts as a rare item must at least be something the Skinner considers important.”

“If there are too many targets, it’ll be harder to find anything,” Tang Pei added. “Do you have any clues?”

“Peng Fengnian told you something about the Skinner before,” Xu Huo said, flicking ash into a cup of water.

“The Skinner’s knives can’t be used during the day. Is this related?”

“The Skinner’s rare items probably aren’t in the secret room,” Xu Huo said. “The factory owner Carl and the Skinner Carl are two different identities. The first mission corresponds to Skinner Carl, and his rare items are those hides in the skin and fur room.”

“When I came over just now, I found a few hides that might be rare items, but I don’t recommend you take them now.”

“Skinner Carl and factory owner Carl, what’s the difference? Aren’t they the same person?” Xian Dazhi gripped his hair in frustration.

Qin An responded quickly, “That makes sense. The game description also mentions the Skinner’s identity. He used to be the Skinner, but his main identity now is the factory owner. Since the third mission targets the factory owner, it’s logical that the first mission corresponds to the Skinner identity.”

“What if we get it wrong?” Tang Pei worried. “The time we have to access those things is already limited.”

“I’ll arrange to go fishing with the Skinner tomorrow,” Xu Huo said. “Then you can take action. The daytime risk is relatively low.”

“But I still think the key to the first mission lies in those hides,” he said, naming the locations of the three hides before adding, “I have a request: if you can leave the dungeon by taking the hides, you must get the other two hides and hand them over to me before leaving.”

“You don’t want to leave?” Tang Pei asked in surprise. “As long as the ticket-holding players clear the dungeon, the random players from the same period can also leave the dungeon. There’s no need to take more risks.”

“You want to save the people in the pigpen, right?” Xian Dazhi immediately said. “Count me in!”

“You’re crazy. Acting like a hero?” Zou Weichang said with a dark face. “How do you plan to save them? Unless you can make the Skinner release them voluntarily. Do you really think holding two hides will make that killer compromise?”

The others thought that possibility was slim. Xian Dazhi muttered softly, “We have to try.”

Xu Huo didn’t have a better way to save the people. To act, he had to rely on these players’ help. He didn’t try to persuade them further but said, “There’s an order in two days. The Skinner must skin the entire hide from those six piglets while they are still alive and deliver it fresh to the dining table.”

Tang Pei and the others’ faces immediately darkened. They all knew those six piglets were actually six children!

“I’m in!” Xian Dazhi said. “We can’t let those beasts eat children alive!”

“I agree too,” Qin An said. “Once we get the return tickets, we can take a chance and maybe really save the people. If not, at least we tried.”

Tang Pei and Yang Can nodded simultaneously.

“Of course, I’m fine with it. The operation is scheduled for tomorrow.” In the paper phone, Peng Fengnian’s voice paused, then suddenly said, “The factory looks a bit strange.”

“What’s strange?” Xu Huo immediately became alert.

“Suddenly it’s getting closer...” Peng Fengnian’s voice cut off before finishing.

“What happened?” Tang Pei and the others hurriedly asked.

“I don’t know either. Remember the agreed time is tomorrow. I’m leaving now.” Xu Huo finished quickly and climbed out the window. Looking up, the tree shadows that were faintly visible moments ago had completely merged into the darkness. That darkness felt tangible, as if some solid substance was surrounding the factory from all four directions!