Players, Please Board the Train

He was fairly restrained, using a sound-dampening item before asking, “How did you do it? You’re ranked over four thousand!”

Xu Huo noticed the bandaged man pause slightly. Watching the man across from him without changing expression, he said, “Are you sure you read that right?”

“Lord of All Gods” covered his lips with one hand and lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, I understand. Geniuses attract jealousy, so we need to be extra careful until we’ve grown stronger.”

“You must have been at D-grade for quite a while,” he went on. “To rank that high, your dungeon ratings were probably all B’s or A’s. I’m a little behind you. It took me two years to level up.”

His eyes practically sparkled. He seemed to be hinting that Xu Huo should tell him how long it had taken, but Xu Huo ignored the bait and asked, “What’s your name?”

“I nearly forgot.” The other man held out a hand. “Let’s start over. I’m Shangguan Xi, born with the sun, beginning in the light!”

Xu Huo had already given a false name earlier. After shaking hands, he focused on the food in front of him.

“I know a lot of highly ranked players are older. It’s rare to find young players like us. We’ll definitely have a place among the top thousand someday.” Shangguan Xi spoke animatedly as he ate, then casually asked, “Brother Xu, how old are you this year?”

“Forty,” Xu Huo replied without batting an eye.

Shangguan Xi looked surprised, with a hint of delight. “You don’t look it.”

“I have a youthful face,” Xu Huo said.

“Haha, players live a long time. There’s not much difference between twenty and forty!” Shangguan Xi said with a grin.

“You’re different. You’re a true genius,” Xu Huo said politely.

“Not at all, not at all.” Shangguan Xi hurriedly waved his hands. “You’re the impressive senior here.”

After they traded a few compliments, Shangguan Xi offered to treat him and took the initiative to pay the bill.

After they finished eating and returned to the carriage, Shangguan Xi added, “Brother Xu, watch out for One-Eye. He’s no good…”

The restroom door in the connecting carriage suddenly opened. The very player they had been talking about stepped out and gave Shangguan Xi a sinister look.

Shangguan Xi, who had seen One-Eye fight the female player earlier, furrowed his brow slightly. Xu Huo spoke up just then. “You won’t have much chance against us two-on-one.”

One-Eye stared at them, sneered, then turned and left.

Shangguan Xi let out a breath of relief. “What rotten luck. He’s got his eye on me.”

“He’s injured. He won’t act recklessly,” Xu Huo said. “Besides, there are two of us. Even if we can’t kill him, we won’t be the ones to lose.”

Shangguan Xi looked at him gratefully, then declared with great enthusiasm, “Brother Xu, I’ll cover your meals for the next few days!”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll cover your lodging, too!”

“No need for that.”

“Don’t be shy! We could just share a room. Then we can look out for each other!”

Xu Huo smiled at him.

Shangguan Xi coughed lightly. “I’m definitely not afraid, but a thief can’t stay on guard every single day. We’re about to enter a dungeon, so we should save our energy.”

It made perfect sense, but Xu Huo still turned down his offer.

The train remained quiet until lights-out. The people in Carriage Sixteen all went into their single rooms. Xu Huo and Shangguan Xi were next door to each other, and across from them was the player who hadn’t shown his face since boarding.

The player with the dog and the short-haired female player were on the right side of the rear door. One-Eye was on the left.

Before midnight, an announcement suddenly sounded on the train:

“Dear passengers, the train is about to pass through a mutant-infested zone. The duration is unknown. Please avoid bright lights and loud noises, so as not to attract the Mutants’ attention.”

Two minutes after the announcement ended, the train began to sway slightly. Countless Mutants, like raindrops, pounced onto it one after another, soon covering the entire outer wall of the train. Unlike the somewhat sluggish Mutants on the Preliminary Trial Train, these ones clinging to the outside sniffed and cocked their heads to listen. They tapped and scraped at the carriage walls with their hands and feet, as if searching for a gap.

Everyone inside the carriages instinctively quieted their breathing and movements. Sound-dampening items usually had a time limit, and no one knew how long the Mutants would attack the train. Such items were better saved for emergencies.

A sudden turn of events came soon after!

It was unclear whether the players had turned on each other, but a flash of light suddenly streaked through the rear of the train. The Mutants swarmed along the train like a storm, scrambling over one another, followed by a series of heavy blows. The two sounds blended together until it was hard to tell where the Mutants were. Then, two or three seconds later, a sharp scraping sound rang out, like fingernails dragged across a hard surface. In barely more than ten seconds, one carriage was breached!

The players knew the rules, and even their fighting had been silent. But against Mutants that were far more numerous, violent, and savage, the best option was to get to another carriage before it was too late. Once they were surrounded, escaping would be difficult.

The breach occurred in Carriage Twenty. From where Xu Huo was, he could make out what was happening inside. Only four players managed to run into Carriage Twenty-Two before the Mutants got in. The unprotected carriage walls and the players tripping one another up caused Carriage Twenty-One to fall soon after, trapping another six players.

Ordinary defensive items were completely unable to withstand the overwhelming flood. Even an item shaped like a small house was swept right off the train, and the player hiding inside naturally ended up outside on the tracks.

The first player died after holding out for only half a minute.

A minute later, two more died.

The remaining three struggled to reach the rear door of Carriage Nineteen, only to be blocked by the players inside. The two sides were locked in a standoff with their items for about five minutes. In the end, the players outside managed to open the door just before they were gravely wounded and on the verge of death.

Carriage Nineteen was soon packed with Mutants as well.

The players in Carriage Nineteen used items to block the players who had poured in first, then retreated into the connecting carriage ahead and sealed the door with another item. Only then did they stop the Mutants’ advance.

The dead players had long since vanished. The Mutants that had overrun Carriages Nineteen, Twenty, and Twenty-One did not leave at once. They clung to the front and rear doors, repeatedly ramming their heads against the carriage walls, as if waiting for something.

Why weren’t the Mutants leaving?

That was probably what every player on the train was wondering at that moment.

Without any outside stimulus, the Mutants continued probing the train. Compared with those on the Preliminary Trial Train, they seemed a little more intelligent.

“Skree, skree, skree!” That scraping sound rang out again. This time it wasn’t coming from just one carriage. It could be heard outside nearly every carriage, as though the Mutants were passing some kind of information to one another.

The players holding their breath inside the carriages could no longer sit still. Just as they were about to move, a muffled explosion suddenly came from the rear of the train. The sound drew the Mutants’ attention perfectly. In an instant, they all poured down toward the tracks like water being dumped out.

The rumbling faded into the distance, and the train returned to silence.

Ten minutes later:

“Ding-dong! Dear passengers, the train has safely passed through the mutant-infested zone. Carriages Nineteen, Twenty, and Twenty-One have been severely damaged. Please exercise caution when approaching them.”