Players, Please Board the Train

The authorities moved quite quickly, having already figured out the dungeon situation so fast.

”You’re talking about Zhang Biao and the other one, right?” Xu Huo poured some water into the flowerpot. ”They didn’t complete the game task.”

”The task required staying in the Little Flower Red Red Building for a full ninety hours, not just surviving ninety hours in the dungeon. They left the building midway.”

Team Leader Wu fell silent, only speaking again after several seconds. ”It was so obvious! To lose their lives over something like that!”

Without clearing the dungeon, the best outcome would be getting stuck there, but if the dungeon had some mandatory punishment, Zhang Biao and the other guy died for nothing.

”You really can’t afford to be even slightly careless in the game.” Team Leader Wu sighed with emotion.

Xu Huo put down the watering can and suddenly asked, ”Did Dai Wenqian join you guys? Has he gone to Tang Guangbo’s place now?”

After receiving two affirmative answers, he hung up the phone.

Dai Wenqian was a clever self-interested individual. People like him weren’t easily persuaded or hypnotized—the methods Tang Guangbo used on him might not work.

But such people made excellent collaborators—sufficient benefits would get them moving.Organizations like the Free Players group that Gu Yu belonged to had only narrowly escaped this disaster by luck. But after experiencing two or three dungeons, they would understand that if they wanted to team up, it was best to stand with the nation. Relying solely on a D-level player couldn’t shoulder the main responsibility, and besides, the D-level player Gu Yu mentioned might not be the real deal.

Tongtong came knocking on the door. After Painting Woman opened it, he stood outside without entering. ”Brother, Auntie asked me to call you to come downstairs.”

Xu Huo gave him Painting Woman’s lollipop, and the child ran off happily.

Xu Huo went downstairs with Painting Woman.

The entire Xu family was there. Yu Qingqing’s mother was wiping her tears and stood up immediately upon seeing him. ”Xu Huo, Qingqing listens to you the most. Please talk to her, tell her she absolutely must not become a player. What’s a girl like her doing getting involved in such dangerous matters?”

”How many days has she been missing?” Xu Huo asked.

”It’s been three days,” she said. ”She ran out not long after you left. I thought she went out to play with friends, but then her phone was unreachable. She just sent me a message saying she went to sign up for the Evolver test.”

”Xu Huo, she’s my only daughter. I don’t want to bury my own child. Please hurry and talk her out of it.”

”She’s an adult who knows what she’s doing.” Xu Huo’s expression remained calm.

”She doesn’t know!” Ms. Yang became agitated. ”She’s always been impulsive since childhood, getting wild ideas and acting on them immediately. She’s bold and doesn’t take herself seriously. Once you become a player, there’s no turning back! Once she experiences the dangers out there, it’ll be too late to change her mind!”

”Even though you’re not blood-related, she still calls you cousin. Think about her!”

”Back then she dropped out of school to follow you to Ting City to become an actress. Now you’re becoming a player, so she’s doing it too. She learned all this from you!”

Ms. Yu, seeing her words becoming increasingly inappropriate, quickly pulled her back and glanced at Xu Huo’s expression before speaking. ”Didn’t Qingqing tell you? No one can talk her out of it.”

”She’s not thinking clearly!” Ms. Yang covered her face. ”I should have sent her to a mental hospital for treatment back then, only letting her out after she was cured. Then she wouldn’t be sane one moment and crazy the next like she is now...”

Xu Huo gave her a cold look, turned around, went back upstairs, closed his door, and called Yu Qingqing.

Yu Qingqing didn’t answer, only sending him a message informing him that she was already an Evolver now.

”I won’t eat people. How disgusting—how could anyone eat that?”

Looking at the words in the text message, Xu Huo pressed his fingers against his brow, then suddenly looked up at Painting Woman who was devouring snacks. ”Do you know where Yu Qingqing is?”

Painting Woman nodded.

”Go hang her up and beat her. Be careful not to expose yourself.”

Painting Woman’s eyes lit up, and she jumped out the window under cover of night.

Having not rested properly for several days, Xu Huo set all matters aside for now and lay down for a full night’s sleep.

The next day, after waking up refreshed, he began browsing the various information on the Pioneer Forum.

Details about the Dimensional Rift game and players had been disclosed to the entire population. Compared to other countries that stubbornly refused to acknowledge the situation, plus the performance of official players during the recent incident, the public response was relatively positive, with people gradually participating in Evolver testing.

After Country B suffered Mutant attacks, they quickly followed suit by publicly acknowledging players’ existence and increasing their player numbers.

Notably, three safe areas had been established one after another. Small countries with limited populations and weak strength were banding together for warmth, beginning to resist Country Y, which was trying to ignite conflicts everywhere.

Country Y had suffered infectious disease outbreaks and started wars with neighbors, experiencing massive population declines in an extremely short time. After their southern regions were ravaged by war, they were attacked by a sudden emergence of Mutants, leading them to establish a temporary safe area headquarters in the north. While seeking aid from major powers, they were testing the limits of surrounding small countries—anyone watching would call them fools.

But at this point, everyone was too busy with their own problems to worry about others. After the Harbor City incident, Nation X’s border defenses needed reinforcement—not just against Mutants, but also against people from other countries.

In short, the world was in chaos, though the domestic situation was relatively better.

However, from the increasing number of discussion posts on the Pioneer Forum, one could sense that Zone 014 was accelerating its gamification process. In just three months, development was moving toward making everyone potential players.

”This could be considered a good thing.”

After resting for two days, with half a month remaining until the next dungeon time limit, Xu Huo planned to return to Ting City.

Before leaving, Gu Yu arranged to meet him, informing him that under Dai Wenqian’s persuasion, two-thirds of the Free Players who had originally joined them had now joined the official player organization. Their side was back to just the original few people again.

Brother Qiao wanted to invite Xu Huo to join, but Zheng Liang disagreed, so the matter had to be dropped.

”Are you still going back to Ting City?” Gu Yu couldn’t quite understand—if he stayed in Capital City, his prospects would surely be good, so why go it alone?

”I’m used to it there.” Xu Huo said casually.

Gu Yu immediately knew he was brushing her off and said jokingly, ”Then you’d better do well in Ting City. Maybe someday I’ll have to come seek shelter with you.”

Xu Huo didn’t respond to that, instead saying, ”Just focus on staying alive.”

Gu Yu showed an awkward smile.

After briefly informing his family and saying goodbye to Team Leader Wu, Xu Huo took a flight back to Ting City.

Painting Woman came back with him. Just before getting off the plane, she poured tears and snot all into the flowerpot, using red characters to protest to him, ”My house is gone!”

Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. After all, the national hero ”Painting Woman” had sacrificed herself. Not just to avoid minor disputes, but more importantly, through this incident, the nation had realized that laws could unexpectedly function within the game too. To prevent players from unexpectedly exploiting loopholes, it was normal for them to reclaim the land and house.

Painting Woman followed behind him like a soulless shell, occasionally wiping her tears and sneaking glances up at him.