Players, Please Board the Train

The explosion injured all three of them. Since Whale had thrown Hugo out first, Hugo was the least injured. He leaned against the wall to stand up, his arm scraping against the wall surface. The pathogens that were gradually corroding his body began to spread wantonly along the wall.

Xu Huo, who had already changed his appearance, glanced at the time on his watch. Holding the item ”Director’s Prerogative,” he called out through the slightly opened door to the people ahead, ”Cut!”

”Director’s Prerogative” was a memory-erasing item that could make people forget the events of the previous ten minutes without them noticing. He had timed it precisely, activating it just before he made his move to seize Hugo’s severed hand. The subsequent battlefield had shifted too quickly, and despite the intense fighting, the actual time consumed wasn’t much.

This item wasn’t high-level. It could fail if players carried items that countered its effects. However, the battle had already reached a fever pitch, and these high-level players had consumed too many of their items, especially Hugo and Whale. In the heat of combat, they might not have replenished the corresponding counter-items. He was betting on that possibility, a safety net measure.

After using the item, he opened the door again and appeared behind Hugo, swinging his sword at his neck.

But a sudden change occurred at this moment. Hugo seemed to have sensed it in advance. The ”Dirty Syringe Needle” appeared in his hand again, and he turned to shoot it in his direction!

That thing carried a virulent poison that could even contaminate metal. Xu Huo feinted an attack and retreated. Bai Kou, who had moved in from the rear to fill the position, cleanly snapped Hugo’s neck.

”Hugo!” Whale roared from not far away, charging toward them frantically. At this moment, Xu Huo picked up his pen and used his characteristic ”The Power of Writing,” capturing everyone’s attention before saying, ”You can come to me for any difficulty.”

After saying this, he immediately judged that the present individuals had cleared the dungeon. After banishing them back to the ship at the first opportunity, he nodded to Bai Kou. ”I’m leaving first.”

Bai Kou smiled faintly, and her figure also vanished from the hospital.As for the other surviving players in the hospital, he had already been sending them away one after another.

Of the three clearance tasks, only the second task was deceptive. As the dungeon holder, he needed an identity to participate in the game, hence he was the only real doctor at the Seventeenth Hospital. Players could only judge through details.

The first and third tasks were flexible, especially the first one. He only needed to judge that psychological treatment had been conducted. The hospital’s main door could also appear or disappear according to his will. Naturally, the dungeon also had constraints on the holder. The three tasks were divided by difficulty; he couldn’t make it too obvious. At the very least, the players had to meet one of the criteria. Most of the surviving players had entered the treatment room, so letting them pass was easy.

As for these high-level players, if he didn’t act soon, the dungeon would probably be torn apart. Moreover, Hugo was already dead. He had successfully obtained the item Hugo had sewn under his skin. With his goal achieved, there was no need to linger.

As soon as he reclaimed the dungeon, he pulled out the train ticket for Clown City. Immediately after, his consciousness spun. In an extremely short time, he found himself in a noisy environment. A blindfold was roughly pulled over his head, and at the same time, the game prompt sounded:

[Player Extra has entered the Clown City Arena, default participation in E-rank dungeon ”Evil Contest.” Please note, this dungeon is low-level; players cannot bring non-game items into the arena.]

[Background Introduction: Clown City is a city full of passion and laughter. Its developed tourism industry and rich mineral resources make the land here flow with golden blood. The economic prosperity gives every person living here extraordinary courage and fighting spirit. Therefore, arena combat has become an inherent city-wide project, praised by everyone who leaves here.]

[However, this originally auspicious and grand event turned into a test for selecting warriors after Clown City was invaded by Mutants. When over half of the city’s land fell and the surviving people established a protective wall along the eastern front, every adult living here must shoulder the responsibility given by the government: go beyond the protective wall, clear the Mutants outside the wall, until the city’s land is reclaimed.]

[Dungeon Tasks: ① Kill ten targets.

② Contaminate the water source outside the protective wall.

③ Plant the battle flag at the designated target location.]

[Dungeon Time: Seven days.]

[Players must pass through the protective wall before 12 PM tomorrow. Failure to clear the dungeon will result in inability to obtain the return ticket.]

Glancing over the game prompts in one look, Xu Huo gave up on stopping the blindfold. As his visual field switched to a small screen with data analysis, he was pushed out of a hatch by a mechanical arm.

Ahead was a massive, enclosed arena, densely packed with people wearing blindfolds just like him. Most of these people wore distinctive protective suits. The others looking around nervously were probably players like him, unclear about the situation, their clothing slightly different.

Looking back toward where he came from, Xu Huo saw the edges of the arena lined with oval-shaped pods. From time to time, people wearing blindfolds were pushed out. When the pod doors opened, one could see they were completely mechanized operations inside, with no staff members.

A young woman was shoved out roughly. A man next to her pulled her close. The two probably knew each other. The woman nestled against the man and cried, repeating, ”I don’t want to go... I don’t want to die...”

The man patted her shoulder in comfort but didn’t speak. At this moment, a person in a protective suit nearby interjected, ”It’s precisely because of timid people like you that Clown City lost half its land.”

”Killing Mutants for Clown City, reclaiming land for Clown City, even dying in battle is an honor. Don’t you even have that sense of honor?”

”Don’t forget, the reason you and your family can live safely in this city is because of those sacrificed warriors. Without them charging forward one after another to kill the Mutants, I’m afraid even the remaining half of the city wouldn’t be preserved. You’ve enjoyed the benefits and advantages; you must also shoulder the corresponding obligations!”

The man’s words gained approval from the surrounding people. Even with blindfolds hiding their eyes, the body language of those around gradually conveyed pressure.

It was a very impassioned speech, but it didn’t convince the woman. She suddenly turned back to the man and said, ”What does Clown City’s past have to do with me? I only settled here three years ago! If it weren’t for my brother dying in a dungeon, I would never have come to this godforsaken place!”

”If you’re all so righteous and eager to go die, then go! Why force those who are unwilling? I’ve never had any military training!”

”You haven’t had military training?” The speaking man called over a nearby mobile robot. ”Why would an ordinary person without training appear in the arena?”

The robot scanned the woman and said, ”Upon verification, the data recorded when this warrior settled in Clown City mentioned systematic firearms training.”