Players, Please Board the Train

Ten hours of rapid forward progress, the high-intensity physical exertion was starting to take its toll on some of the players. What’s more, after walking for so long, the space alongside the tracks hadn’t undergone any drastic changes. On top of that, from morning to night, and now reaching the time when it should be getting dark again, the sky had never once brightened.

”Let’s stop and rest for a while.” Baseball Cap suggested, ”I think there shouldn’t be any danger for now, but if we keep going, that might not be the case.”

With several dozen players, once someone started falling behind, internal conflict was inevitable.

However, the Train Operations Director didn’t approve of stopping to rest. He had no obligation to look after the players. After a brief exchange, he directly informed the others of his decision to continue on alone.

Several players gathered around him, ”We’re not saying we won’t go, we just want to rest for a bit. That’s not too much to ask, is it? Besides, if there’s a problem with the space, what difference would ten or twenty minutes make?”

But the Train Operations Director let out a cold laugh, ”Don’t forget, you only survived because you were hiding inside a train carriage less than fifty meters long!”

In the face of a Dimensional Storm, life was life, and death was death. There was no room to struggle. Everyone present was alive purely by luck.

”If we go, we all go together. If you don’t want to go, then we all rest together.” A burly bearded man stepped forward, ”Everyone votes. Majority rules.”

”Raise your hand if you’re in favor of resting.”

Looking around, those who raised their hands already exceeded half the total number, close to two-thirds.”I know you staff members are pretty capable, but the few of you going up against this many players isn’t going to be that easy.” The bearded man said to the Train Operations Director, ”Besides, the space around here is unstable. Surviving isn’t easy, but dying is still pretty simple.”

That was squeezing the Train Operations Director’s throat. However, the other party didn’t get angry. Instead, he nodded to the staff members, signaling them to rest where they were.

”See, that’s better.” The bearded man smiled.

Xu Huo glanced at the several players centered around the bearded man, then his gaze swept over the Train Operations Director who was drinking water, before he returned to the edge of the group.

After sitting down, he said to Yan Jiayu, ”We’ll take the rear when we move out.”

Half an hour later, the group started moving again. But they hadn’t even covered five hundred meters when several staff members appeared like ghostly shadows behind the bearded man and his group. As the Train Operations Director stood at the front with a solemn expression, hands folded over his abdomen, and spoke the words ”The Conductor’s Authority” to the crowd, the bearded man and his companions all froze in place, their throats slit!

After death, they were immediately laid flat on the ground. The staff members poured a potion over them, and within a single minute, the few corpses were dissolved into liquid, flowing onto the tracks.

A strange fragrance permeated the air.

The Train Operations Director unclasped his hands and smiled at the others, ”This is a mandatory kitchen waste cleaning solution for train staff. Any living organism can be dissolved by it. No pollution, no residue, no odor. Proficient use of the cleaning solution is also a skill that every staff member must learn.”

”I’m getting PTSD just from hearing the word ’skill’ at this point.” The Curly-haired Female Player grumbled.

Having easily killed the players who challenged him, the Train Operations Director didn’t threaten anyone else. He turned around and continued on his way. Over the next two hours, at least three players attempted to ambush the staff members ahead, but without exception, they were all killed in retaliation.

Similarly, the Train Operations Director didn’t really care about the other players. Anyone who tried to ambush was killed on the spot; everyone else was left alone.

To certain players, this was undoubtedly a signal.

The players began killing each other as well, especially those who didn’t have much in the way of food and water reserves.

Not every player had come to the station fully prepared. Plenty of people had been forced from one dungeon straight into the next. The Train Operations Director’s promised three days had fallen through, and with no idea how much longer they’d have to run at high speed on the tracks, they needed to make their move while they still had strength to spare.

Injured players, female players, and elderly players became the primary targets. The pink-haired player who was walking alone at the front without any companions was ambushed three times, suffering a severe back injury. However, after successfully killing three of her attackers in self-defense, no one bothered her again.

Others had mixed results, some succeeding and some failing. Xu Huo’s group also came under attack once, but the attacker had targeted the Unlucky-Looking Man. However, because Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu didn’t hesitate to act, the ambusher didn’t press the matter after their failed attempt.

”Thank you both so much.” The Unlucky-Looking Man expressed his sincere gratitude.

”Don’t mention it.” Yan Jiayu patted his shoulder, ”We’re from the same carriage. If we all help each other out, we can hold on until the rescue train arrives.”

”Well said!” The Middle-aged Woman who had been keeping her distance ran back over, grinning as she said, ”Let’s all work together to get on that train safely!”

The others didn’t acknowledge her, but they didn’t chase her away either. Aside from her, several other players had also moved from the middle of the group to the rear, including the injured pink-haired player and Baseball Cap.

Another full night passed without rest, and even Yan Jiayu was starting to feel the strain. Xu Huo used the kite string to lift her up, ”As long as I keep the line short, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

”No problem, no problem!” Yan Jiayu said happily, ”Flying like this is way too comfortable!”

The players had all used some energy-saving items to varying degrees, but mechanical tools were hard to put to good use. Advanced technology used different energy sources, which might not work near the tracks, and even when they did, there was a time limit.

The elderly man had a small mobility cart that could barely fit the Unlucky-Looking Man as well, but every so often he had to let him off to walk for a while, because the cart would sound an alarm if overloaded.

The Knitting Woman was quite generous, giving two female players and the male player with the severed hand from the earlier carriage each a knitted object shaped like a big dog. These things could only move for ten minutes every two hours, but even being able to rest for a bit was a nice bonus.

Looking at Xu Huo, who hadn’t rested at all throughout the journey and showed no signs of fatigue, the Unlucky-Looking Man said enviously, ”You must have gone through some special evolution, haven’t you?”

”My profession is athlete, and I have a characteristic on my feet. Walking doesn’t tire me out.” Xu Huo said with a smile.

”Old Xu, how about you come up here and I’ll pull you along?” Yan Jiayu called out from behind and above.

”No need.” Xu Huo said, ”I’ll say something when I’m tired.”

Yan Jiayu wasn’t one for false politeness. She simply pulled out a cushion and set it up in front, complete with a soft tray on top. She loaded it with snacks and dried meat, then covered it with a windproof item, and contentedly munched on melon seeds while flying.

Everyone around looked on with green-eyed envy. Everyone wanted to stop and rest, to have a proper meal, but daring to stop meant falling behind, and the Train Operations Director wasn’t going to wait for them!

It wasn’t until nine in the morning that the sky brightened.

Having been in darkness for two days and three nights, seeing the light of day again put everyone at ease. Coincidentally, the Train Operations Director also stopped at that moment, explicitly stating that they could rest now, and that there was no danger. The only catch was that the rescue team might arrive a bit late.

The players all indicated that it was fine, no problem at all. The fact that rescue was still coming at all was already great. Really.