Players, Please Board the Train

[According to officially obtained information, when the Eye of the Dead opens, the eyeball will show the despair and wailing of those who have already died. Fear spreads fear. Anyone who sees the Eye of the Dead will automatically bring that emotion into themselves, so they often experience auditory and visual hallucinations. Even people with hearing or vision impairments are not exempt.]

[However, up to now, no one can say exactly what is inside the Eye of the Dead, because in the projection records it is only shown as an open red eye.]

[So far, the Eye of the Dead has had eighteen owners, more than half of whom died by suicide. If you choose to purchase it, you will become its nineteenth owner.]

A sword that combined killing power and hallucinatory ability, its illusion attack did not distinguish friend from foe. In that sense it was somewhat similar to the Murmuring Sphere — a high-risk item, but one worth Xu Huo’s gamble. Used correctly, the Eye of the Dead would be an incredibly strong support tool in combat.

“More than half committed suicide?” Wan Tingfang could hardly believe it. “Even if they see hallucinations, that wouldn’t usually lead to suicide. Players who wanted to use this sword to kill others should stay lucid within the hallucinations. Otherwise, why are there no survivors?”

“Isn’t the other half murder?” Xu Huo said calmly. “Suicide isn’t surprising. Prolonged mental interference changes a person’s psychological state without them noticing. Once it accumulates to a certain point, and the Eye of the Dead affects them, there will always be an outbreak.”

He swiped to take the Eye of the Dead, then continued to look at other items.

After browsing, besides Concentrated Air and the Eye of the Dead, he picked four more C-grade items, but in the end he couldn’t get all of them, because Wan Tingfang was also auxiliary personnel and she didn’t have the Gentleman of Light medal, so applying wasn’t that easy.

Director Sanyang, however, was fairly accommodating. If Concentrated Air met the purchasing conditions, he could buy two B-grade items and one C-grade item. If not, under the circumstance of buying the Eye of the Dead, he could still choose two C-grade items.

To keep the information confidential, the purchase conditions had to be entered by the player.The valuable leads Xu Huo had were basically Suitcase Man and the Paper Artisan. Although he had left the paper airplane in the Shared Eyes dungeon, whether the Paper Artisan would appear was still unknown. There had been no news about these two in the last few days.

One thing was certain: the Shared Eyes dungeon was connected to Suitcase Man.

Regarding Suitcase Man’s mechanical soldiers, several eyewitness players had left alive. Setting the Paper Artisan aside, simply exposing this fact carried relatively low risk.

After deliberation, he filled in Suitcase Man’s whereabouts.

Less than half an hour later, the game sent a notification: purchasing conditions met.

Director Sanyang smiled at him when he learned the news. “Get a few more Gentleman of Light medals, and you can join the Game Government soon, become a grey player.”

Xu Huo shook his head modestly. “Depends on luck.”

The three items were delivered quickly, and he tested them at the government base. Concentrated Air was simpler to use than a defensive item: while wearing it, you only needed to make a single forward hand motion and the air would compress into a transparent protective shield larger than three square meters in an instant. It could last up to five seconds — enough for defense or evasion.

The Eye of the Dead, when not in its “open-eye” state, could cut through simulators made of materials comparable to the item itself. It looked clumsy but was actually light, easy to carry and use, and unlike the Crimson Sword it had no directional limitation. It did not reach as far as the Crimson Sword, but if its hallucinatory function could be used, that alone would make up for the shorter range.

Another C-grade item he picked was a pumpkin headpiece:

[Pumpkin Headpiece: A creepy prop essential to horror films. Wear it and you’ll get an immersive “becoming the ghost” experience. If others scream at your headpiece, don’t be afraid. In this home turf you have an absolute advantage — who doesn’t run when they see a ghost?]

[Note: The above experience-based advice is not 100% accurate. Scaring people can lead to group assault and death. Players should be cautious.]

Back at the ancient castle he finally tried on the pumpkin headpiece. It looked like a carved pumpkin with eye and mouth holes; nothing special appeared when viewed in the mirror.

Xu Huo intended to go outside and test it.

At the doorway he ran into Mr. Dong, who was delivering tea. The butler gave him an impassive glance, then stepped aside and gestured for him to go first.

He walked along the corridor toward the stairs, meeting the grotesque faces painted on the wall with their eyes, then each averted their gaze.

Painting Woman was downstairs ordering a dish; she saw him approach excitedly, poked the headpiece with her hand, then typed: “I want one too.”

The person in front of him held out a hand. A poster shot from the dome to the chandelier then shrank back into place. Mr. Dong, having come and gone, took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and went to hurry the kitchen for dinner…

The vast castle was for a moment filled only with the faint sound of wind.

Xu Huo quietly took off the headpiece and handed it to Painting Woman. “Borrow it to play with.”

Painting Woman grabbed it, put it on her head, and ran to the kitchen. Right now the kitchen was the most crowded place.

But the headpiece didn’t work like an invisibility cloak — it had no effect when not in the wearer’s possession, so it still looked like a pumpkin on her head.

Xu Huo poured himself a cup of tea, sipped it, then murmured to himself, “Maybe I should swap it for something else.”

Painting Woman got hooked on the pumpkin headpiece. At dinner there were several real pumpkin headpieces on the table, plus odd masks carved from radishes and fruit. Aside from the few pumpkins, the other carving skills were clearly excellent.

Mr. Dong enlivened the scene by creatively arranging a skull made of flowers and setting it in front of Xu Huo.

Whatever. Pretend he hadn’t seen it.

After dinner Xu Huo went to the study. The person tasked with tracking Dr. Deng sent a message containing video and photo evidence of Dr. Deng’s contacts that day.

Dr. Deng had met many players that day; he was likely selecting suitable companions. If Xu Huo were still a player, he would suspect Dr. Deng had used items on others. In such a short time his network had expanded very widely.

There was no doubt he was a technical talent and highly intelligent. Xu Huo had only given him a communicator contact channel, and Dr. Deng was able to find the Rose Castle on his own. With this rushed search, he probably believed the news that Dr. Wu appeared in Zone 009 was true. Dr. Deng said he would not intervene, so the other party had to make other plans.

Xu Huo did not think he was Dr. Deng’s first choice. Dr. Deng coming to the Rose Castle also had an element of testing. They had staggered the timing with Deep Blue Laboratory.

The files also included footage of him meeting with Rongxin Group executives. Xu Huo’s expression momentarily froze: surely he wouldn’t be stupid enough to cooperate with Rongxin, would he?