Players, Please Board the Train

After the initial chaos, the gathered players found no trace of the intruder following an extensive search. They began to disperse their forces, and aside from securing the safe area’s key positions, they started a floor-by-floor sweep of the conference building from the top down—until some players suspected the scurrying office workers of being the intruders and resorted to violent arrests.

Because after all that fuss, these people actually discovered the building had collapsed!

Once cracks or gaps appeared, the entire floor began to cave in. Accompanied by piercing screams, the building collapsed from the upper floors downward. The weight of the crumbling floors and the massive roof above crashed through the next level below. After that new floor gave way, the accumulated weight destroyed the one beneath it, and so on, until the entire building was reduced to rubble!

The players who escaped were utterly stunned, especially those who had started the fight: What kind of shoddy construction was this!

Yet the safe area’s higher-ups knew this was far from normal. When designing the safe area, every single structure in this zone—including the walls and public facilities, and even the underground sections—had been reinforced with a metal layer to guard against players who used water or fire. How could such a building collapse naturally?

”Hurry up and catch him! This is definitely the work of that intruder!” a core government official shouted, slamming his fist into a nearby trash can.

The large metal trash can toppled over, clattered along the ground, and rolled to the base of a lamppost. Then, the entire lamp post began to powder!

And it didn’t stop there. The bases of all the lampposts on the streets outside the building began to powder. As the lights went out, the field of vision suddenly dimmed. But that wasn’t the end. Nearby buildings also started to collapse—as the public area lights continued to go dark, this powdering effect spread outward from the conference building in all directions across the safe area!

”It’s the metal that’s powdering! Block off the safe area!” Players who had discerned the situation sprang into action. They initially assumed the effect of this item had restrictions, like an inability to bypass barriers, or conditions involving ”line of sight” and distance. But when they tried to protect a single metal object or a single building individually, it didn’t work—the metal powdering simply bypassed them to affect more metal.

This safe area hadn’t been built under extreme emergency circumstances, so it was large and contained many buildings. When the government personnel of Country Y realized they couldn’t stop the metal from powdering, they shifted their goal to preserving the buildings. As long as they didn’t collapse immediately, at least they could reduce casualties.Unfortunately, under the wave of panic, no one wanted to stay inside the buildings. And in crowded areas, once people started running and created resonance, the buildings were just one step away from collapse!

All that could be seen was devastation, all that could be heard was screaming. A long-haired player stood before the ruins of the building, his eyes blazing with overwhelming hatred. ”The item’s effect is centered on the building. He must still be inside! Find him for me!”

A chorus of players shouted in agreement and dove into the rubble.

But the building had already collapsed. There might have been a few small gaps inside, but unless they blew up the top, there was no way they could dig him out even if their hands wore down to the bone. And how much could their items move when so many people were still buried?

”Surround this place! I don’t believe he can sprout wings and fly!” the long-haired player roared in fury.

Although everyone else thought the intruder was alone and more likely to just fire off a shot and then hide in the game, they still followed his orders.

But before the armored vehicles could surround the area, a figure lightly brushed past a player who was rescuing the wounded.

”He’s out!” A player intercepted the figure at lightning speed, clapping his hands together as collapsed buildings on either side came crashing toward the center!

The figure leaped into the air to evade the attack, moving as if weightless as he sped through the sky and dashed out of the safe area!

”After him!” the long-haired player commanded. A large wave of players swarmed after him, leaving behind only a small number of those not adept at combat to assist the regular personnel in rescuing the injured.

”There’s still someone here!” A player pulled up Xu Huo, who was lying face-down. Seeing the blood all over his head, the player immediately called for a stretcher and instructed his companion to carefully send him to get treatment.

The temporary treatment point was nearby. Many seriously injured people were waiting for care. The doctor briefly questioned Xu Huo, who had ”just regained consciousness,” and handed him a sticker for light injuries, telling him to wait outside.

In disguise, Xu Huo followed the bustle of people away from the treatment point, blending into the crowd as they moved toward the main gate of the safe area.

The main gate of the safe area was no longer there. It had turned into a pile of powder along with the fence. Rescue vehicles and armored cars had crushed the ground as they entered, with many vehicles stuck on the road, causing a brief traffic jam.

The safe area already had ordinary people living in it, and now even more were fleeing outward.

After shaking off the Country Y players, the Painting Woman doubled back. The two hid in a concealed spot. Xu Huo changed his clothes, slung the paperized Painting Woman onto his back, and easily made it to the main gate.

It was then that he unexpectedly spotted Nix rushing back in a hurry. Without using any items or characteristics, and having put away ”Three Seconds of a Life,” he pushed through the people ahead of him, urging them along impatiently.

”Too late.” Nix first glanced at the no-longer-existent safe area, then swept his gaze over the crowd passing by him, and asked, ”Where is he?”

”Philip went after him,” a player said.

Nix didn’t let his guard down at this. His hawk-like eyes scanned the pressing crowd around him. ”Be careful—he might have help from the inside. Spatial items can’t be used. If he hasn’t entered the game yet, he might still be nearby. Set up checkpoints. No one leaves.”

Xu Huo realized that Nix had probably arrived near the safe area while using a spatial item to track him, which was why he was one step behind. Because after arriving first, Xu Huo had used ”Three Seconds of a Life” to seal off all spacetime items in this area. There was no way Nix could have returned so quickly after receiving news of the attack on the safe area.

Feeling the other man’s gaze lock onto him, Xu Huo smiled slightly and used ”The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is a Straight Line” a second time.

Nix followed again.

The second location was still a safe area. This time, Xu Huo’s luck was clearly better. He landed in a small square with a bronze sculpture—a bullfighting statue was right within arm’s reach!

Resting one hand on the sculpture, he simultaneously activated ”Like Repels Like” and ”Beautiful Rays.” Nix, charging at him at full speed, dodged the rays and leaped over his head. He threw down three black pellets and grabbed the head of a rubber doll hanging from his waist!

Xu Huo, who was about to dodge, suddenly felt an excruciating headache, and his movements froze for an instant. Just as the pellets were about to hit him, the Painting Woman flew out from his collar, caught the pellets, flicked them, and sent them toward Nix, who had landed behind him.

The pellets exploded with a powerful surge of electricity mid-air. The dazzling flash forced both Xu Huo and Nix to retreat simultaneously, but as they separated, each made their own move!