Players, Please Board the Train

When newcomers first hear those spine-chilling stories circulating through every street and alley, they typically have two reactions. Most probably don’t take them seriously - it’s a tourist city, after all, and making some extra money is normal.

Then there are those like the two burly men, Wang Qiao, and Gao Baimei who actually believe them, becoming so terrified they don’t dare stay anywhere.

Sun Jirou belonged to the former category, so when Xu Huo spoke so seriously about the restaurant incident, she didn’t take it seriously either.

Now, looking at his attitude, she wasn’t quite sure whether he genuinely believed what the locals said or had simply avoided Bear Claw Restaurant by luck.

”Aren’t we all in the same boat now?” Wang Qiao said. ”What good does hiding clues do you? This Fairy Tale City is enormous - do you really think you can complete the mission alone?”

”Well said.” Xu Huo waved his finger smugly. ”Even without you all, I could complete the mission. I’m only here to give you a chance to ride my coattails.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Sun Jirou. ”It depends on whether you know how to play along.”

Though he had ulterior motives, Sun Jirou didn’t get angry. ”Terms can be negotiated.”

The others looked at each other and had no choice but to compromise.

Wang Qiao said reluctantly, ”Provided you guarantee your clues are useful.””Of course,” Xu Huo pointed at the bulletin board, then said to Sun Jirou, ”Go take a look over there, and you’ll know I didn’t screw you over yesterday.”

”It’s just a bulletin board, right?” Gao Baimei glanced over, not understanding his meaning.

Shen Tai, who stood beside Sun Jirou, walked over and circled halfway around the bulletin board before discovering what was inside. He turned back and said, ”The back is covered with missing person rewards.”

Sun Jirou and the others hurried over, only to see the back of the bulletin board densely plastered with palm-sized slips of paper - all different missing person notices. A rough estimate showed nearly a hundred of them.

”So many locals have disappeared?” Tao Chengxin frowned.

”How do you know they’re locals?” Gao Baimei asked reflexively.

”Who would post rewards looking for out-of-town tourists?” Wang Qiao said impatiently. ”Only locals would be looking for people.”

”Exactly right.” Sun Jirou also spotted the problem. ”These people all disappeared near accommodation areas.”

She looked at Xu Huo. ”You discovered this yesterday?”

Xu Huo snapped his fingers. ”So? Is my sincerity enough?”

The group returned and sat down to talk again.

”What do you want?” Sun Jirou got straight to the point.

”You can trade items or pay with money.” Xu Huo said, ”I’m very easy to deal with. If the clues I provide turn out to be useless, I’ll return your things after the mission ends. Provided that if anyone completes the mission, they have to take me along.”

”How can you ensure that someone who completes the mission will definitely tell you the clearance method?” Tao Chengxin said. ”This dungeon might not be a collective one. The first thing anyone would do after clearing it is leave the dungeon - why would they tell you?”

”I’m not ensuring anything.” Xu Huo said carelessly. ”That’s why I need to collect some benefits in advance.”

”But if this dungeon is a collective one where one person clearing means everyone clears, wouldn’t that save us all a lot of time?”

”That seems somewhat reasonable,” Tang Yuan thought about it. ”The mission time is only three days, and nearly one day has already passed without us finding anything.”

Sun Jirou didn’t care about money. ”How much White Bills do you want?”

”You decide how much to give.” Xu Huo chuckled. ”More money gets you more information, less money gets you less.”

”Don’t go too far.” Wang Qiao said discontentedly. ”We have some clues too.”

”You can sell them to me or exchange them.” Xu Huo said. ”But whether I buy is my business.”

The first to pay was Tao Chengxin. She called a car over and immediately turned on sunshade mode to block outside visibility once inside.

”You can name a total price.” She said. ”If I don’t have enough money, I can exchange it with other information.”

”Five thousand.” Xu Huo said.

Tao Chengxin hesitated before giving three thousand. ”I found out some information about the government office. Apparently, aside from the highest levels, all government personnel in Fairy Tale City have been replaced. The replacements are players from other districts, and they all belong to one company.”

”What company?”

”I couldn’t find that out,” she said. ”Aside from transporting and receiving supplies, government office personnel almost never come to Fairy Tale City.”

Xu Huo thought for a moment before saying, ”I’ll count that as two thousand.”

”I have two clues. First, the mission direction should be related to the pollution incident twenty years ago. Second, the storytellers must be at least thirty-five years old or older.”

Tao Chengxin wasn’t surprised by the first clue, but the second one shocked her. ”Why thirty-five?”

”I can’t tell you that.” Xu Huo smiled. ”You’ll have to exchange other clues for that information.”

Tao Chengxin hesitated for a moment before saying, ”If you provide more specific details... I have a trait that can identify the truthfulness of statements. Even if we eventually find the storytellers, someone will need to determine whether what they’re saying is true or false.”

Xu Huo became somewhat interested. ”To what extent can it identify?”

”More than twenty percent falsehood will be judged as a lie.” That’s how Tao Chengxin knew he wasn’t lying.

Xu Huo thought for a few seconds before saying, ”Alright, I can tell you.”

”The pollution incident twenty years ago can be pushed back at least two or three years. Only people thirty-five or older would likely know the full picture of that event. The story required by the mission should fall within this range.”

Tao Chengxin looked at him thoughtfully, remained silent for a few seconds, then got out of the car.

The next to come was Sun Jirou. Before she could speak, Xu Huo said directly, ”Ten thousand White Bills, no bargaining.”

Sun Jirou didn’t bargain at all and paid directly.

Xu Huo similarly shared the two clues, then said with a smile, ”Considering we traveled together, I can tell you some extra information.”

Sun Jirou stared at him.

”This dungeon has more than nine players.”

No shit.

Sun Jiuou curled her lip and left.

Of the remaining three, only two bought half the clues. After agreeing on a time and place to meet again, Wang Qiao and Gao Baimei left while cursing and grumbling.

”Thanks for your patronage.” Xu Huo happily saw them off with a beaming smile, then took a taxi to the largest shopping mall at the center of Fairy Tale City.

He stayed inside for about half an hour before emerging and contacting the tour guide who had given him her business card earlier.

They met up at True Love Square, where Xu Huo spent some money hiring the White-Dressed Girl as his guide to introduce Fairy Tale City’s history and culture.

They spent the entire afternoon wandering around Fairy Tale City. By late afternoon, the city began experiencing a petal rain.

An artificial petal rain.

Several oval-shaped airships hovered above Fairy Tale City, periodically releasing smaller aircraft that carried water and petals, evenly scattering them toward the ground. Within ten minutes, the entire city overflowed with floral fragrance.

The White-Dressed Girl reached out and caught several water-coated petals, putting them in her mouth to chew. Seeing Xu Huo watching her, she explained, ”This is also a fixed program in Fairy Tale City. These rainwaters are specially made sweet water that’s edible.”

”Fairy Tale City’s customs are quite well preserved.” Xu Huo said.

The White-Dressed Girl shook her head. ”They’re just formalities, not comparable to before. I’ve heard elders talk about what Fairy Tale City used to be like - that was the real Fairy Tale City.”

A smile appeared on Xu Huo’s face as he said casually, ”Shouldn’t people in fairy tales be ageless? I haven’t seen a single elderly person on the streets.”