Players, Please Board the Train

After the Ting City Research Institute sent people to capture the three Player-Eaters who had been watching outside the residential area, and with no one surveilling them anymore, Xu Huo and his two companions finally began going out to move around.

With less than half a month left before entering the next dungeon, Xu Huo needed to prepare some things in advance.

Almost none of the dungeons encountered so far allowed players to bring self-purchased weapons into the instance, but some daily necessities were fine.

The disposable gloves bought earlier were almost used up, so Xu Huo went to buy some more, along with some backup items, attempting to store them in the Stingy Suitcase.

Previously, besides potions, this suitcase had stored Evolver blood, earphones, and other items, all of which were brought into the dungeon intact without damage.

But after opening the case again, the suitcase spat out both itself and the newly purchased backup items. Except for the few syringes originally inside, nothing else could be stored.

”This item is really capricious,” Yuan Yao said while eating watermelon. ”Brother Xu, can it store other items?”

Xu Huo gestured with his chin toward the Adult Fairy Tale Book nearby. ”No.”

”This book is an item?” Yuan Yao’s eyes lit up, and he quickly wiped his hands before picking it up. ”I thought it was adult entertainment material...”

Before he finished speaking, the opened book began bleeding. He let out a yelp and threw the book away, shrinking into the corner of the sofa. Staring at the book that started telling a story in a sinister tone, he suddenly covered his ears and shouted, ”Brother Xu, save me!”Xu Huo went over and closed the book. Seeing Yuan Yao looking as if he had suffered a mental attack, he raised an eyebrow. ”That scared?”

Yuan Yao’s hands were trembling. ”Way more realistic than watching a 4D horror movie! Didn’t you see it just now? Something crawled out of the book!”

Xu Huo showed slight surprise, then opened a page. However, the fairy tale book didn’t tell a story but instead displayed a line of black text: ”Temporarily closed.”

Yuan Yao, seeing he had no reaction, moved closer to look, then said angrily, ”This book is utterly shameless! It bullies the weak and fears the strong!”

Xu Huo then called Painting Woman over and had her flip through the book.

Painting Woman randomly flipped through several pages, and the fairy tale book remained as well-behaved as plain white paper, neither pretending to be supernatural nor passively resisting.

Yuan Yao’s gaze shifted back and forth between Painting Woman and Xu Huo’s faces a couple of times before he sat back down on the sofa dejectedly. ”I’m the only weakling here.”

”This is a mental attack-type item. If you’re brave enough, it doesn’t work,” Xu Huo said.

Yuan Yao shook his head. ”I’m hopeless for life.”

Xu Huo put away the fairy tale book and the suitcase. Just as he picked up his phone, he received a message from Liu Jia: Professor Han has passed away.

He paused slightly, then immediately replied asking about Professor Han’s funeral arrangements.

Liu Jia replied quickly too, saying Professor Han died in the hospital, and she was present. His family had already taken him away. Because the cause of death was special, he had already been cremated accompanied by official personnel and would be buried in the next couple of days.

Xu Huo rubbed his phone. Professor Han was injured on the Preliminary Trial Train and had been receiving official treatment after getting off. Actually, two dungeon cycles had passed in between. Given the condition Liu Jia described, it was absolutely impossible for him to successfully survive two dungeons and then return to the hospital to die.

This person might not be dead.

He declined the invitation to attend the funeral and searched online for information about injuries caused by Mutants.

There was almost none domestically, but neighboring Country B had plenty of news, some of which had leaked onto the internet. Besides dying from weakness, the rest involved going berserk, with no survival cases.

”Maybe Mutant transformation also has variables.”

Xu Huo himself was also one such variable.

If Professor Han wasn’t dead, it meant the country had made breakthroughs regarding antidotes, which would be good news.

Now there was a call for everyone to become players, and with the experience of players who survived the train previously, the survival rate on the Preliminary Trial Train should improve.

”Brother Xu, are you planning to enter the dungeon in the next couple of days?” Yuan Yao asked him. ”Don’t you still have over ten days?”

”Sooner or later, I have to go. A few days difference doesn’t matter,” Xu Huo said, glancing at Painting Woman.

Painting Woman walked over to him and held up her phone: ”I want to go play too.”

Xu Huo nodded in agreement. If he achieved a B-grade evaluation in this E-level dungeon, he could smoothly upgrade to a D-level player upon exiting. It was even better if Painting Woman was willing to go.

After resting for two more days, he used the train ticket to enter the station. This time, he didn’t encounter anyone trying to steal tickets but instead met a player also heading to the Hundred-Person Art Gallery.

”What a coincidence!” A man with an honest-looking face said delightedly. ”Meeting at the station is fate. I’m Fan Shiji.”

”Xu San,” Xu Huo said, shaking his hand and offering him a cigarette. ”Which dungeon attempt is this for you?”

Fan Shiji leaned in to light his cigarette from Xu Huo’s hand, looking ashamed. ”The seventh one. No other way, my ratings are always too low, can’t level up.”

”How about you?”

”This is my fifth one too,” Xu Huo said with a sigh. ”Who knows when I’ll ever level up.”

Fan Shiji reached out and patted his shoulder. ”Seems we’re brothers in hardship. We must look out for each other in the dungeon.”

”No problem,” Xu Huo readily agreed.

The train arrived quickly, and the two chatted pleasantly until the train reached the station three hours later.

[Player Extra has entered the Hundred-Person Art Gallery territory, default participation in E-level dungeon ”Thirty Days”.]

[Background Introduction: The Hundred-Person Art Gallery is a historical collection museum. Unlike other art galleries, the Hundred-Person Art Gallery provides accommodation and food, allowing every visiting tourist to enjoy themselves thoroughly. Therefore, large numbers of tourists flock here every month. However, the gallery can only accommodate fewer than twelve people at a time, so there are still many tourists who have applied multiple times but failed to enter.]

[However, over time, rumors spread outside about staff members stealing from their own workplace, as guests discovered counterfeit pieces inside the gallery. Yet the gallery curator repeatedly guarantees that before the end of each month, he personally inspects every painting and only closes the gallery after confirming all artworks are genuine.]

[But over time, the curator has also become very troubled, so he has invited twelve art professionals to authenticate the paintings’ authenticity over seven days.]

[Special note: The art gallery turns off lights after 9 PM. To protect the artworks, please do not wander around randomly after lights out.]

[Dungeon Task One: Find one counterfeit painting]

[Dungeon Task Two: ***]

[Dungeon Task Three: ***]

[Dungeon Time: Seven days.]

After the countdown ended, Xu Huo and Fan Shiji stood at the entrance of a magnificent palace. The first thing they saw was a cylindrical pillar three meters in diameter, at least fifty meters high, coated with gold powder. Glancing sideways, behind this giant pillar stood at least a dozen identical giant pillars, collectively supporting an oval-shaped dome.

”This art gallery is excessively huge,” Fan Shiji said after his mouth opened and closed several times.