Players, Please Board the Train

”Isn’t that obvious?” The burly player by the window immediately spoke up. ”Weren’t we just discussing who made the move in the first place?”

The player with the severed fingers glanced at him through the darkness before speaking. ”What I mean is, since that’s the case, there’s no need to figure out exactly who did it.”

That was the normal protocol for riding this train.

”But we nearly got killed in our sleep just now,” Xu Jinfeng said. ”What if the same thing happens again later?”

Not every time would they be lucky enough to wake up in time. They might end up like the two corpses in this carriage, decapitated without making a sound.

”How about we check the carriages ahead and behind us?” Xu Huo suggested. ”If their situation is the same as ours, we can just close the doors and stop suspecting each other.”

”Who dares to go out?” Xiao Xianglin asked.

”I’ll go take a look.” The smoking player stood up, his tone impatient. ”All this fuss over such a trivial matter, bickering endlessly.”

Without waiting for anyone else to respond, he pulled the door open and stepped out, thoughtfully closing it behind him.

Everyone ”watched” as he entered the opposite carriage. Soon they heard two more door openings, followed by footsteps returning.Xiao Xianglin, standing by the door, opened it for him. The man said directly, ”A few more dead in there too. Same kind of deaths.”

”Oh, the killer moves fast.” The female player remarked.

The players in the carriage all felt the gravity of the situation. Xu Jinfeng said, ”There’s no one extra in our carriage. If we just close the door, won’t we be safe?”

”What if it’s someone from our carriage?” The female player countered.

”Are you all missing the point?” The smoking player said. ”Putting an entire train full of people to sleep isn’t easy. Ordinary items can’t achieve that kind of effect.”

”What if the other party is a high-level player?” Xiao Xianglin asked.

The smoking player grew more irritated, but his cigarette had gone out before the lights dimmed. He instinctively brought it to his lips, took a dry drag, then lowered it. ”Then you just wash your neck and wait to die.”

Xiao Xianglin was left speechless. Xu Huo, standing beside him, spoke up. ”Maybe it was done through other means, like poisoning the air or the food and drinks.”

”That’s right!” Xiao Xianglin clapped his hands. ”Didn’t that woman not order a meal set? Maybe that’s why she was killed first. And besides, if an entire carriage was asleep, why wouldn’t the killer go through and kill everyone one by one? Why only pick a few from each carriage?”

”By your logic, the train attendants are the most suspicious?” The female player said.

Xiao Xianglin was stumped. The staff on the train didn’t receive wages, but the game still had requirements for them. They could be regarded as neutral NPC characters. The yellow-haired female player’s actions weren’t welcomed by the attendants, but they didn’t violate any rules either.

”This old man ordered a meal set.” The burly player was referring to the other corpse.

”So the theory about not spending enough money getting killed doesn’t hold up.” Xu Huo said flatly.

”But I agree with his point.” The female player said. ”Poisoning through air and food is more plausible than using items or characteristics.”

”It’s hard to poison through food and drink. The dining car is right under the attendants’ noses, unless they’re blind.”

”But the air is different.” The female player said slowly. ”Just open the carriage door.”

The target of suspicion shifted to Xiao Xianglin.

He was the only one who fit this theory, having gone to other carriages to peddle potions.

”How could it be me!” Xiao Xianglin was quick to defend himself in alarm. ”If it were me, I wouldn’t have fallen asleep earlier either. Yu Cong was the one who woke me up. If you don’t believe me, ask him!”

”That’s correct.” Xu Huo gave a perfunctory confirmation.

The female player’s reasoning sounded somewhat plausible at first glance, but in reality, it was even less feasible than directly poisoning the meals delivered by the attendants. Not to mention whether the train had an early warning system, releasing such a large-scale hypnotic agent or poison would first and foremost raise concerns of hijacking the train.

Moreover, with so many players on the train, it was unlikely that not a single one would notice someone releasing a sleeping agent.

On the contrary, the possibility of it being an item or characteristic was higher.

Xu Huo glanced successively at the smoking player who kept rubbing his pants leg and the raincoat man in the corner.

Only the smoking player had gone to the rear carriage. Whether the players killed in the back were in the same situation as this carriage, only he knew. And no one had gone to verify the front carriages either, so whether the entire train had fallen into sleep was still up for debate.

The smoking player’s words carried a hint of misdirection.

But whether the whole train had been affected would be clear once daylight came.

As for the raincoat man, the shadow he’d seen upon waking bore some resemblance to his attire.

He withdrew his gaze and turned to look at the player with severed fingers beside him.

His hands, feet, and neck were all covered by his clothing, and his palms were mostly hidden too. Only when he moved could one tell his fingers were severed. However, his injuries were fresh, and his other fingers showed signs of electrical burns.

It made one wonder about the coincidence, that player from the Holy Sword Society had also boarded this train.

”I was just speaking casually, no need to get so worked up.” Facing the agitated Xiao Xianglin, the female player said with a light laugh.

”Come on, it’s clear you don’t have that kind of skill.” The burly player added.

Xiao Xianglin couldn’t help but feel wronged. After a pause, he asked Xu Huo again, ”Did you see clearly earlier? Didn’t you say the other party was about to make a move?”

”It was too dark to see clearly.” Xu Huo deliberately blurred his vision. ”I only felt someone standing in front of me, but before we could exchange blows, the other party vanished.”

”I didn’t hear the sound of the door opening.” The player with severed fingers said.

”Right, I didn’t hear it either.” Xu Huo said. ”So I think it’s also possible we saw an illusion.”

”No matter how you spin it, isn’t it still possible the culprit is in our carriage?” The smoking player said irritably. ”You can’t even come up with a solid conclusion. Since we can’t find the person, then everyone looks out for themselves. If someone’s unlucky enough to die, they’ve got no one to blame!”

The others more or less accepted his words and returned to their respective seats.

To avoid falling asleep again, everyone kept their eyes wide open.

”I’m starting to doze off.” Xiao Xianglin was the first to give in, suggesting, ”Let’s play cards.”

With that, he took the initiative to lend two pairs of glasses to Xu Huo and Xu Jinfeng.

The three of them sat together playing cards. Before long, the female player in front started listening to a ghost story on her smartwatch. The eerie soundtrack added to the already heavy mood of everyone present.

But given the player with the black mole who died outside, everyone wisely kept their mouths shut and didn’t interfere.

Before long, the smoking player started tapping on the table.

”Buddy, if you really can’t hold it in, I’ve got some liquor here.” Xu Huo said.

The harsh ”screech” didn’t stop. The smoking player said breathlessly, ”A real man quits drinking when he says he will!”

”Why would you quit all of a sudden?” Xiao Xianglin muttered. ”With a player’s physique, you could drink however much and never get seriously ill. Just drink freely.”

The smoking player fell silent, his fingernails scraping across the table with another long ”screech.”