"Her aura hasnât changed much, and her fingers arenât injured."
Wang Zhifan focused on perceiving the situation of this female player, discovering that she might not be the person he suspected, but it wasnât completely certain either.
"Forget it, Iâll look into it later."
He thought for a moment, deciding not to take any further action, and for now, heâd pretend nothing had happened.
The situation indeed became quite calm afterward; no more ghosts appeared in the pitch-black carriage, and no players wandered around carelessly. Everyone sat quietly in their seats, seemingly beginning their sleep time.
"This works too."
Wang Zhifan was actually wary of any ill intentions from the players, but since no one showed such tendencies, he wasnât about to waste his Spirit. He quickly withdrew his perceptive abilities, feigning sleep while cultivating the Great Dream Saber Scripture. This cultivation technique has a significant advantage as it doesnât require the cultivator to wield blades or weapons; training directly in the Dream World can lead to gradual progress.
Half an hour later, the lights suddenly came on, and the pitch-black interior of the carriage became bright again. Almost simultaneously, a pleasant female voice sounded from the broadcast.
"Attention passengers, multiple train doors have been detected as loose. Please ensure the doors are tightly shut to prevent any unforeseen accidents."
"Tch... theyâre deliberately opening doors to let ghosts in, yet they say the doors are loose..."
The young man with dark circles, who had a band-aid on the back of his neck, cursed first upon seeing this, then got up to check the door at the front of the carriage, noticing a gap indeed existed there. Behind the gap, several unidentified entities seemed eager to get through, but without success.
"How are these doors supposed to close? They wonât budge at all!"
He grabbed the handle to test, finding the door wouldnât move an inch, making it impossible to fully close.
"Maybe only the leader can close them?"
The oily-faced middle-aged man who followed also tried, realizing after no effect that this might be the case.
"Heâs already closed one!"
The cold-faced woman pointed to the back of the carriage, where a tall young man had effortlessly closed the back door while others were still struggling up front.
"So, big brother, youâre our leader? Why didnât you say earlier!"
The young man with dark circles realized as Wang Zhifan walked over to close the door, feeling enlightened about the broadcast mentioning a leader. Earlier, he had wondered why no leader had been chosen in their carriage, but now it seemed the position had already been predetermined.
"Just a door-opener role, whatâs with the leader title."
Wang Zhifan wasnât bothered by this, stepping forward to firmly shut the front door. These carriage-related operations seemed to require specific permissions, much like obtaining task information earlier. These odd settings made him realize the leader NPC position was quite significant, providing him certain conveniences without needing to ingratiate himself with other NPCs.
"Eh... the nails on the floor... theyâre from the one that attacked my neck!"
Suddenly, the young man with dark circles noticed two severed nails on the carriage floor, picking them up to realize they were cut by a sharp object, still appearing quite sharp at the tips.
"This thing attacked me as well, but it just happened to help me out of a situation."
The cold-faced woman approached, offering a few comments upon seeing.
"Is this from a ghost? It doesnât seem like it."
The young man with dark circles crouched down, examining the nails more closely, concluding they werenât left by a ghost, as they lacked an evil aura.
"Let me try."
The oily-faced middle-aged man didnât just rely on visual judgment. He took out his red box, aiming it at the nails on the floor, finding out they had no reaction at all.
"These definitely donât belong to a ghost; otherwise, there would be some kind of reaction."
The middle-aged man provided his inference.
"So, does this mean... the attack was actually from one of the players?"
The young man with dark circles understood the situation, glancing suspiciously at the others around him.
But everyoneâs response to his gaze was open, showing no guilt, except for a short-haired, slender woman sitting quietly on the other side, whose eyes flickered, suggesting she might have something to say.
"Miss, did you happen to notice anything earlier?"
The young man with dark circles approached this less communicative player, hoping for some clue.
"Indeed, it was done by one of us, but thatâs all I can say."
This female player immediately responded upon his questioning, yet frustratingly left the answer ambiguous.
"Fine... Iâve been through situations like this before. But I hope whoever it is behaves later, donât let me catch them."
The young man didnât push her to reveal who she suspected, issuing a broad warning instead.
"I must reiterate my strong opposition to internecine behavior. Such chaos only lowers our efficiency in passing the level. Letâs hope it doesnât happen again."
The oily-faced middle-aged man solemnly stated, having urged everyone unity before the lights went out, but it seemed someone disregarded him.
"Heh... whatâs the use of saying that, everyone should just do their best and react accordingly."
The cold-faced woman chimed in, her tone somewhat pessimistic.
Wang Zhifan, standing aside listening to their discussion, didnât participate because he couldnât truly idenfify the culprit yet. He also didnât particularly care about the perpetratorâs actions since their competence was clearly lacking; otherwise, the ambush wouldnât have been fruitless.
After this little incident, the train traveled for a while longer before announcing its upcoming arrival at Platform 15.
"We need to bring some NPCs in, or weâd lack manpower once we reach the building."
Before arriving at the platform, the oily-faced middle-aged man suggested, stealing glances at Wang Zhifan now and then.
"NPCs are too weak, having them would just be a burden."
The cold-faced woman retorted as usual, opposing the suggestion.
"Letâs still bring some people, even if itâs just for triggering traps."
The young man with dark circles pondered for a moment, then leaned towards agreeing with the oily-faced middle-aged manâs proposal.
"Personally, I donât want to recruit more people, but anyone who needs help can go down and look for them later."
Wang Zhifan found it easier to fight alone, so he didnât want to involve more people.
Before they could reach a consensus, the train gradually stopped at Platform 15. It was a rundown platform, not very large, with only a few carriages, around the 666th, stopping nearby. The passengers waiting on this platform looked peculiar, all in hooded black robes, deeply concealing their faces in the dark fabric. They neither conversed nor moved, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
"These passengers are strange; they neither look like human nor ghost, their aura similar to ghosts but distinctly different."
As the side door of the 666th carriage slowly opened, the nearby oily-faced middle-aged man expressed confusion, not quite understanding what kind of beings boarded. It would have been simpler if they were a mix of humans and ghosts, but each of them was oddly both human and ghost-like.
"That aura and attire... why do they seem so familiar..."
Wang Zhifan had a similar reaction, furrowing his brows in contemplation, realizing that he might have seen these people somewhere before.
Within seconds, the peculiar robed figures outside began moving, clearly having specific targets as they split into groups heading toward the front carriages, including the one Wang Zhifan and others were inâthe 666th.
As these figures got closer, the curious players like Wang Zhifan gradually made out part of their appearance hidden under the hoods: awfully decayed blackened facial skin, swollen noses or sunken nose bones, sinister scarlet eyes like demons, yet all exuded an air of calm and restraint, hinting at a valuable trace of humanity beneath the horror.
"Hell Academy?"
With such images before him, past memories flooded back into Wang Zhifanâs mind.