Players, Please Board the Train

They planned to stay near the station, but there were no guesthouses nearby, and local businesses refused to rent rooms to them, so they had to follow side streets to keep looking.

From a distance they saw a man of about thirty sitting in a courtyard. Wei Xian went over to ask if there were rooms for rent. The man gave them a cold glance, threw down his wood carving, and turned to go back inside.

The group exchanged looks. At that moment a young woman with a long braid came out of the kitchen. She apologized, “My brother has a bad temper, don’t take it to heart. If you want to rent, we’re not hosting guests these days. Go ask up ahead, or try the hotel by the road.”

She went back inside and locked the door.

Several households in a row behaved the same way: either the house was closed and no one answered, or they saw the group and hurriedly shut the door without a word.

“The people here are weird,” Tian Kunwen said. “Weren’t they supposed to be hospitable?”

They had no choice but to keep walking. After a while they came to another house. Before they could call out, an aunt who came in the same car popped out and waved warmly at Fu Danhong, “Young lady, my room is empty right now.”

A man stood in the doorway behind her. He was rocking a child to sleep, patting the kid’s back at irregular intervals, his eyes sliding over Fu Danhong and Yi Pei.

Fu Danhong looped her arm through Wei Xian’s, “I want to stay with my boyfriend.”

The aunt waved her hand, “We only do Single Rooms, one person per room.”“That won’t do, she doesn’t want to be separated from her boyfriend.” Fu Danhong put on an affectionate act and said regretfully, “Guess we’ll have to look elsewhere.”

The aunt smiled, “One guest per household, that’s the rule in our county.”

“What kind of stupid rule is that? I’ve never heard of anything like that!” You Jun shouted. “Is it about money? I’ll pay you three times the price!”

A man and woman in the yard showed obvious interest, but after a moment they still refused. The aunt said, “If you want to stay together, go to the hotel up ahead... Hey, long-haired girl, you don’t have a boyfriend, right? You can stay here, I’ll cut you a deal.”

Yi Pei didn’t respond, turning her face away with visible disgust.

This house wasn’t an option, so they moved on.

But every household gave the same answer: one person at a time. If two people wanted to stay together, go to the hotel.

You Jun wanted to threaten the homeowner, but Wei Xian stopped him.

“This county is abnormal. If we offend NPCs, not only might we fail to find clues, they could mislead us,” Wei Xian said. “Seven days isn’t something you can safely sleep through in a room.”

“Maybe we should check the hotel,” Yi Pei suggested. “The county folks don’t have good intentions toward us. I think staying together is safer.”

Tian Kunwen pointed with his chin to a nearby house, “That person went in.”

He was talking about the Black-Shirted Player who hadn’t cooperated with them before. He, too, was looking for a place to settle.

“Skillful people are bold,” Wei Xian remarked. “I don’t have the nerve to go alone. Let’s go to the hotel.”

They all decided to go to the hotel, but when they reached the entrance, a strong, irritating smell hit them so hard they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

“Damn, biochemical agents!” You Jun covered his nose and backed away.

“Sorry, sorry. The hotel is being disinfected. The smell is strong right now, it’ll pass in a bit.” An administrator wearing a gas mask came out. “Do you want rooms?”

They hesitated, but Xu Huo had already run out of patience. He put on a protective shield and went into the hotel to book a room.

The others followed. They originally planned to squeeze into one room, but the administrator said with a pointed look, “One person per room, for everyone’s sake.”

In the end each of them took a room: three upstairs, three downstairs. Just as they were about to leave, two people burst out at the stairwell in a panic, slapping their keycards on the front desk. “Checking out!”

Those two were players. They glanced hurriedly at the keycards in Xu Huo’s group’s hands, dropped a quick, “I’d advise you not to stay here,” and left the hotel.

“Earlier-arriving players,” Tian Kunwen and the others exchanged glances. Then another player emerged nearby. He leaned against the wall, watching the two leave, and said, “Those two idiots. Nothing else is different in this county, the hotel’s probably the safest place.”

He smiled at Xu Huo and the others, then turned and went back to his room.

Wei Xian hurried after him, “Hey, friend, talk to us!”

The man stopped, “I know what you want to ask, but I only arrived a day earlier. I don’t know specifics. One thing I can say for sure: staying in a hotel is definitely safer than staying in a guesthouse. Believe it or not.”

Wei Xian took two more steps to ask more, but the man slammed the door as soon as he entered.

“What’s going on?” Wei Xian returned. “Is what they said true or false?”

“Probably true,” Tian Kunwen said. “It’s based on their experiences, but it seems hotel and guesthouse are quite different. Don’t worry, just stay.”

Their rooms were on the second and third floors. The hotel had no elevator, so they took the stairs. During the climb You Jun asked, “If we’re doing the same dungeon, why don’t players enter at the same time? Doesn’t that create information gaps?”

“The dungeon difficulty increased,” Yi Pei replied, walking slowly. “It’s not just the dungeon that’s dangerous. Players who enter earlier might give wrong information to later players. In a survival dungeon, as long as everyone doesn’t band together and die with others, early players can also screw over later arrivals.”

“The Dungeon Boss won’t simply kill everyone. They have to follow game rules.”

“So we don’t even know how many players are in the county now,” Wei Xian shook his head. “Other players might attack us.”

It’s best to have multiple people stay together to watch each other.

“Three is the safest. Or we can form flexible teams?” Fu Danhong suggested.

“Do as you like. I’ll stay alone.” Xu Huo spoke, heading straight for the first room near the stairs.

“Aren’t we going to discuss this more?” Wei Xian hurried, “It’s better for everyone to be together so we can look out for one another. That was the point of cooperating.”

Xu Huo had already opened the door. He paused and said, “Guesthouses enforce one-to-one. Hotels also recommend one person per room. I don’t know why, but dispersing people also disperses risk.”

“Staying alone can trigger danger,” Yi Pei said.

“Both solo and group stays have risks.” Xu Huo didn’t believe that larger numbers automatically meant safety. The county’s rules, plus the woman who invited Fu Danhong turning down You Jun’s offer even though she was tempted, likely relate to religious customs. Whether genuine faith or forced compliance, it shows that single occupancy is an explicit rule in this county.

Game rules aren’t always in the players’ favor, but before judging pros and cons, you have to consider who made the rules.