Players, Please Board the Train

”Then let’s assign rooms,” Xie Man said. ”I already checked earlier. The deepest part of the art gallery, on both sides of that largest Madonna painting you can see from here, there are rooms. Twelve in total.”

”However, the room layout is a bit strange,” she continued. ”Looking at it together with this exhibition hall, the entire art gallery resembles the letter ’T’ in artistic font. Horizontally there are four rooms on each side, with a corridor parallel to the exhibition hall at both ends, each containing two rooms. All room doors face the murals on the inner wall of the art gallery.”

Her description wasn’t vivid enough, so everyone went to check the room layout themselves. Fan Shiji complained, ”Doesn’t this look like a standing person stretching out their arms then letting both hands hang down? If the central part of the large mural extended forward a bit more to stick out, the shape would be exactly like a dead person nailed to a cross.”

Xu Huo glanced at him. ”Really know how to say auspicious words.”

Seeing everyone else staring coldly at him, Fan Shiji said awkwardly, ”Pretend I never said that.”

”There are twelve rooms total, how should we arrange them?” Deng Yu looked around at everyone and shrugged. ”To be honest, nobody wants to stay in those four rooms at the two ends, right?”

The corridor was about ten meters wide, but the rooms on both sides were recessed inward, so the distance from the door to the mural was over twenty meters, completely trapped dead in the corners.

”Do as you please, I’m definitely not going there,” the Gloomy Man said. ”Also, I won’t share a room with anyone.”

”Who would want to share with you anyway?” Xie Man said discontentedly. ”Nobody wants the two corner rooms, leaving only eight rooms. You want to monopolize one room, what gives you the right?”

The Gloomy Man touched the flesh dimple on his chin and gave a sinister smile. ”I don’t mind if someone wants to squeeze into a room with me, just not sure if they’ll be able to walk out tomorrow morning.””You...” Xie Man was provoked, but Pan Siming reached out to stop her. ”There are plenty of rooms, why argue over such a small matter?”

”Right, the rooms here are quite spacious, one room can accommodate two or three people without problem,” Ni Tian said. ”If you don’t sleep on the bed, you can sleep on the sofa or floor too.”

After speaking, she proactively walked up to Xu Huo and Fan Shiji. ”Two handsome brothers, can I share a room with you?”

Fan Shiji showed an embarrassed expression, somewhat sheepishly saying, ”The two of us are grown men, that wouldn’t be appropriate, would it?”

Ni Tian looked between them left and right, then grabbed onto the more physically fit Xu Huo. ”Handsome brother, can I stay with you?”

Xu Huo tilted his head to glance at her, revealing a smile. ”Sure.”

”Who would want to share with you anyway?” Xie Man said discontentedly. ”Nobody wants the two corner rooms, leaving only eight rooms. You want to monopolize one room, what gives you the right?”

”Lucky with women,” Deng Yu gave Xu Huo a suggestive look.

Pan Siming, standing nearby, moved his lips upon seeing this but didn’t say anything.

”I prefer quiet, I can stay in the end room,” the Leather Jacket Woman said.

The other players felt somewhat puzzled by her choice, while also growing a bit more wary. However, the Leather Jacket Woman clearly had no desire for conversation, heading directly to the right corridor.

After hearing the sounds of a door opening and closing, the other players began selecting rooms.

Pan Siming took the first room on the left, Deng Yu and Da Xiong the second room on the left, Fan Shiji the third room on the left, You Huanhuan and Lu Gang the fourth room on the left.

The Gloomy Man took the first room on the right, Xie Man the second room on the right, Xu Huo and Ni Tian the third room on the right, Gao Jun the fourth room on the right.

The rooms were temporarily assigned this way.

”What time should we come out at night?” Pan Siming asked again.

”Lights out is at nine, let’s come out at nine,” Deng Yu said. ”My phone is already set to game time.”

”I suggest we wait a bit longer,” Pan Siming said. ”Although this dungeon is about finding paintings, that doesn’t mean there’s no danger. Half an hour after lights out, after confirming there’s no movement outside, then we can talk.”

Xie Man couldn’t help glancing at him. ”Why do you care when anyone comes out? Can you stop people from coming out early or late?”

Pan Siming smiled. ”It’s just a suggestion, my original intention is for everyone’s safety. More people is better than fewer people.”

”I think you make sense,” Xu Huo spoke up at this point. ”The game said not to wander around after lights out, right? Do you still remember on the Preliminary Trial Train, we were also reminded not to turn on lights or go to other carriages. These all have meaning.”

”Exactly,” Deng Yu nodded, showing an expression of sudden realization. ”We should be careful. How about we agree on a secret signal? If we think it’s safe, knock twice on the door.”

”Heh!” The Gloomy Man snorted coldly at this moment. ”You’re afraid others won’t know you’re coming out?”

”Don’t forget, there might not be twelve fake paintings in the exhibition hall.”

After saying this and glancing around at everyone, he entered his room.

Deng Yu couldn’t help feeling somewhat awkward. ”What he said is also right.”

No one responded, and everyone returned to their respective rooms.

Xu Huo closed the door then opened it again, holding the door handle until exactly nine o’clock when the main lights in the exhibition hall went out before firmly closing the door.

At nine o’clock, the main lights went out. The small lights on the pillars still cast some illumination on the murals, though it was quite dim. Only the mural directly facing the exhibition hall was slightly clearer to see. The corridors on both sides were completely plunged into darkness by the second room door, not to mention the rear corners.

The room itself was brightly lit, though it had no windows.

After thoroughly checking every corner, he sat down, playing with his lighter while staring at the woman by the bed.

Ni Tian lay diagonally across the bed, supporting her head with one hand while patting the space in front of her with the other. ”Handsome brother, come up here.”

Xu Huo didn’t move. She gave a charming laugh and sat up, pulling her jacket open on both sides to reveal her shoulders, slightly turning to display her player number. ”Don’t be so serious. We players live precarious lives anyway, why not enjoy the moment?”

Xu Huo’s gaze lingered on her shoulder for a moment, then he stood up and walked toward her.

Ni Tian smiled contentedly and proactively stood up, reaching both hands out to him. But before she could hook them around Xu Huo’s neck, he single-handedly captured them, twisted them behind her back, and pressed her against the bed.

”What are you doing...?” Before Ni Tian could finish her questioning sentence, she saw a cold flash of light from the side. Her right arm jerked violently upward, her shoulder bone making a cracking sound as it dislocated before she slammed sideways, knocking the person behind her over!

Xu Huo was thrown back several steps by the strange strength. By this time, Ni Tian had already leaped up from the bed. When she jumped to the other side of the bed, she quickly reset her arm and cursed, ”You bastard, coming at me with a knife right away! I was originally planning to let you have one last comfortable time before you died, but now, this lady is going to torture you to death!”

Before her words finished, she kicked off from the chair behind her and leaped up, pouncing toward Xu Huo like a wild beast!

Xu Huo shifted his feet but didn’t dodge. Instead, as she closed in, he sidestepped and delivered a kick to her side, sending her flying horizontally into the wall. He quickly followed up with a knee strike, but Ni Tian rolled away to avoid it.

Grabbing the wall lamp, she flipped upward like a gecko, avoiding the attack before pouncing downward again, pressing Xu Huo to the ground and opening her mouth to bite at his neck. But she couldn’t reach despite the close distance.