Players, Please Board the Train

The little girl hugged her doll tightly, ”You’re definitely trying to trick me into giving you the doll.”

Xu Huo kept his smile unchanged and put the candy away, ”Then we won’t clear the level.”

The child’s eyes widened, conflicted before finally making a concession, ”Fine, but you have to promise to buy me candy every month.”

”No problem,” Xu Huo agreed readily.

The little girl took a small hat from her head and gave it to him, looking at him with eager eyes.

Xu Huo gave her all the candy, accepted the small hat, and asked, ”Where are the other children you brought in?”

”They all went home,” the child said while unwrapping candy, ”When children visit someone else’s house, of course they have to go back before dark.”

Xu Huo didn’t say much more and prepared to leave. The child looked at him and added, ”After you go out, you can take that doll. Just knock when you want to call me, don’t poke my eyes.”

Xu Huo patted her head, ”Alright.”

”But uncle,” the child tilted her head, ”If I don’t open the dungeon, you can’t come in. Don’t think about doing anything bad.””I wouldn’t randomly run into random dungeons either,” Xu Huo paused, then suddenly asked, ”You really don’t like that female player who was with me earlier?”

Making her pants dirty and insisting she hold her, then deliberately pulling her hair.

”Because she’s bad, she hits children and pinched me,” the little girl frowned, ”Adults like that should all die.”

”She’s already been punished now.” Having lost her hearing and unable to find the clearance method, the outcome of staying in the dungeon for a long time was predictable.

When Xu Huo walked out of the lighthouse, he couldn’t hear anything again, but that didn’t matter. After leaving Black Maple Valley, he estimated where Yan Jiayu and Tang Xiao should be now and hurried to meet up with them.

On the way, he encountered Jin Chao and Peng Ru who had reunited. Peng Ru gave him an unfriendly look, while Jin Chao came over to politely chat with him for a couple of sentences before politely parting ways.

Before leaving, Xu Huo asked him, ”Have you known Miss Peng for a long time?”

Jin Chao nodded, ”We’re friends.”

Xu Huo bid them farewell.

After he left, Peng Ru complained, ”Why did you bother talking to him? It’s all his fault I ended up like this, having to hold that smelly child, and now I stink all over!”

But Jin Chao looked thoughtful, ”How could a child randomly appear in the game? Even if they came from outside the dungeon, there shouldn’t be just one. That child might be the key. Let’s go check again.”

Seeing she couldn’t stop him, Peng Ru had to follow.

Meanwhile, Xu Huo found Yan Jiayu and Tang Xiao. The three of them worked together to pass the remaining game points, collected all ten small hats, and successfully cleared the level.

When they received the prompt, Tang Xiao said incredulously, ”We cleared it just like that?”

”The game prompt wouldn’t lie,” Yan Jiayu said.

”No, I mean, so quickly.” He felt rather bitter, ”I’ve been in this game for quite a while. If I didn’t get out soon, I might miss the next dungeon.”

”You made it just in time?” Xu Huo said. Actually, the difficulty of this dungeon lay in the misleading information—not only directing players’ judgment in the wrong direction but also arranging fake game points, plus the random locations that only appeared after a long time. Even if players noticed the contradiction between the dungeon requirements and the Travel Guide, and discovered they still hadn’t cleared after visiting all ten game points, their thinking could easily revert to old patterns.

”Thank you both so much,” Tang Xiao said gratefully.

”You’re welcome,” Yan Jiayu said cheerfully, ”Helping others is helping yourself.”

”By the way,” Xu Huo seemed to remember something, ”Under what circumstances would a non-player-eater experience doubled physical strength while also showing some physical changes?”

”Drinking potions?” Tang Xiao scratched his head, ”Can you describe it in more detail?”

Xu Huo briefly described the changes in Brother Tu’s hands during their fight, ”It didn’t look like animal-type characteristics.”

”That should be super evolution,” Tang Xiao immediately understood, ”Ordinary players evolve through potions, and some stamina-boosting potions can temporarily increase physical strength, but they have major side effects—after the effects wear off, the body remains weak for a long time. If the player you mentioned didn’t show this symptom, it’s very likely super evolution.”

”All players are evolving, but super evolution is another special type, more like species mutation.”

”In the situation you described, some researchers say that after super evolution, people can autonomously control components of their body, thus achieving localized enhancement. Unlike characteristics, it normally has no special restrictions—it depends on individual capability.”

Xu Huo remained silent for a moment, then asked, ”Besides physical abilities, are there other aspects?”

”I’ve heard there are many, some people can even directly control objects,” Tang Xiao wasn’t very clear about the details, so he spoke vaguely.

”Telekinesis?” Yan Jiayu became interested, ”How do you achieve super evolution?”

Tang Xiao smiled bitterly and shook his head, ”If I knew, I would have tried it long ago. I guess it might be related to each person’s innate talent—some people experience super evolution, others don’t.”

”But telekinesis is amazing,” Yan Jiayu said, ”You wouldn’t even need items, making fights much more convenient.”

”The characteristics players evolve are extremely varied. Some players’ characteristics can directly affect air, so super evolution might be similar,” Xu Huo said, ”I just don’t know if it requires potions.”

”Have you bought information about this?” he asked again.

Tang Xiao looked embarrassed, ”I’m relatively poor.”

”But if you have money, you can go to specialized information organizations in dungeon worlds to buy information. The messages the game backend provides all come through official channels, you know what I mean.”

Xu Huo nodded slightly, preparing to leave the dungeon.

Tang Xiao said somewhat hesitantly, ”Um, could you tell me how you cleared the level? I have several companions who’ve also been stuck in this dungeon for a long time... I can trade you with items!”

Yan Jiayu praised him as ”a good person” and told Xu Huo, ”If his things aren’t enough, I can add some.”

Tang Xiao was extremely moved, shaking her hand vigorously, ”Thank you so much, Sister Jiayu. If you ever come to my hometown, I’ll definitely treat you well. Here’s my business card.”

”Hundred-Yuan Artifact Shop? Oh, you’re a shop owner,” Yan Jiayu glanced at it.

”Just a small business,” Tang Xiao gave Xu Huo one too, ”Sells everyday small items—pick anything for one hundred white bills.”

”Artifact shop, do you know any artificers?” Xu Huo put away the business card.

”I deal with some artificers, but not those who can create particularly powerful items,” Tang Xiao explained.

Symbolically accepting a small amount of white bills from him, Xu Huo told him the location of the tenth game point, adding, ”Better clear quickly, otherwise the amusement park might change the game locations.”

Tang Xiao repeatedly promised, and the three parted ways. Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu left the dungeon.