Unlocking the Inventory

A chilling, cold wind blew past, deepening the fear in Qin Shang's heart.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of his chest. If it weren't for the fact that there was another living, talking person beside him to share his fear.

He would have been too terrified to move.

The bodies were gone.

When did they disappear!?

Where did they go...

Where did those two bodies go?

Could it be that the 'Eagle of Justice' and his companions took them when they left?

Impossible!

Although I'm not a priest, in dark environments, human senses subconsciously heighten.

When vision is obstructed, hearing acuity increases significantly.

The footsteps of those three people never changed.

I didn't hear anyone's footsteps suddenly become heavy.

If they were carrying bodies, two of those three people's footsteps would have been significantly heavier.

Bodies aren't living people. It's easy to pick up a hundred-pound girl, but it's as difficult as ascending to heaven to move a hundred-pound stone block.

Let alone bodies, which are long, limp, and lifeless, making them hard to even lift.

Qin Shang had been to jail before. The warden there had been convicted of manslaughter and was sent in for rehabilitation.

The warden often said:

"Friends who have killed should all know, killing is easy, hiding a body is hard. If I hadn't been seen while moving the body, I wouldn't have been caught so quickly."

"We country folk can easily beat a thief weighing over two hundred pounds to death, but I can't move his body..."

What the hell!?

Qin Shang took a deep breath, suppressing the fear in his heart.

The little loli, 'Grandpa Niu,' seemed to notice Qin Shang's unease and quickly turned her head to ask:

"Brother, what's wrong..."

Qin Shang's gaze fell on a group of HelloKitty figures, and his tone was grave:

"The bodies of those two people are gone!"

"Ah! There's a ghost!"

A piercing scream immediately rang out from beside him. Qin Shang felt like his ears were about to be shattered by the little girl, and he glared at her:

"If there's a ghost, won't you just attract it by yelling like that?"

"Brother, I, I'm scared..."

"Let's go!"

"To carriage number three. Once we reach carriage number three, the mystery should be solved."

Qin Shang didn't bother teasing the child:

"Stop shaking. Do you think continuing to shake will help?"

"Even if these HelloKitty figures are a bit strange, can they stand up and attack us? This is just an element of the instance..."

Saying this, he pulled the little loli and quickly walked through carriage number two. Nothing strange happened during their passage.

The moment they entered the next carriage, a prompt sound echoed in both their ears simultaneously.

[Ding! You have entered Carriage Number Four]

[Exploration Progress: 9%]

Does the exploration progress increase just by moving forward?

This makes sense, as it aligns with the main quest, but... why carriage number four?

After carriage number two comes carriage number four. Where did carriage number three go?

According to the split personality's diary, it seems the final mystery should be revealed in carriage number three.

But why did we pass through carriage number two and arrive at carriage number four?

This is messed up!

Qin Shang frowned and, without further ado, dragged the little loli forward.

Carriage number four, like the initial carriage number one, was empty. The diary entries were still pasted on both sides of the windows.

Jack seems to have some peculiar habit, printing so many copies of his diary.

The carriage was still filled with the rotten smell emanating from the leather seats.

"Brother, my mission is to assist the Team Leader. Do you have doubts about the Team Leader's identity?"

"Why didn't the Team Leader in the group admit their identity just now..."

The little girl had been quiet, but after the incident where the corpse vanished into thin air, her fear had likely resurfaced.

She could no longer stand the eerie instance.

Qin Shang said, his voice hoarse, "It should be related to the mission!"

If the Team Leader was the Sheriff, he wouldn't have abandoned the two of us so readily just now.

He hadn't considered what would happen if the two people he was with turned out to be werewolves.

What would his fate be?

"Side quest, what is the Team Leader's side quest?"

The Assistant's side quest is to cooperate with the Team Leader to ensure everyone survives as much as possible. The Team Leader's side quest should also be related to protecting players, right?

Just then, the Background Story's prompt sounded, a cold female voice devoid of emotion.

[Upon reaching Car No. 4, the passengers were all dead or injured. There was no time to catch their breath. As the sky gradually darkened, everyone's mood was exceptionally heavy. After all, there were no lights in the train. If that madman made a move after dark, no one would be able to escape.]

[Just then, Miss Mary proposed a solution. The train couldn't stop while it was moving, so what could be done? Amidst everyone's urging, Miss Mary suggested that everyone could hide in Car No. 3 and cut off an arm to survive, severing the connection between Car No. 3 and Car No. 4...]

Boom—

At these words, Qin Shang was stunned.

No wonder there was no Car No. 3. Miss Mary had the passengers hide in Car No. 3 to cut off their arms and survive, meaning Car No. 3 was abandoned on the railway!

The murderer was Miss Mary herself, which was Train Conductor Jack.

In his deranged state, he began killing people without reason.

Entering the tunnel was like nightfall; the secondary personality, Jack, quickly awakened and, in his own words, judged these passengers.

However, as soon as they exited the tunnel and the light returned, the initiative was in the hands of the Miss Mary personality.

Qin Shang frowned. The train of thought that had just become clear was suddenly blocked again, like a dammed river. After thinking for a moment, he grabbed the little loli and quickly traversed the carriages, soon entering a new one.

[Ding! You have entered Car No. 5]

[Exploration Progress: 16%]

[Ding! You have entered Car No. 6]

[Exploration Progress: 21%]

[Ding! You have entered Car No. 7]

[Exploration Progress: 30%]

The exploration progress was increasing, but Qin Shang found nothing in the subsequent carriages. Cold sweat broke out on Qin Shang's forehead in his anxiety.

The two biggest questions remained unanswered.

What happened after Miss Mary brought people to Car No. 3? A massacre?

And where did the bodies of those two players go?

Could someone have gone to Car No. 2 while Grandpa Niu and I returned to Car No. 1?

Who was it?

Was it one of the trio: the Sheriff, the Doctor, or the Elder Priest?

Or was it some ghostly entity on the train?

'That thing' mentioned in the diary?

From Car No. 4 onwards, there were no more story prompts from the Background Story in the subsequent carriages.

This meant that, according to the Background Story, these passengers returned the way they came after reaching Car No. 4, going back to Car No. 3.

Therefore, they hadn't come to Cars No. 5, 6, or 7, which was consistent with the instance's rules.

Only by reaching the corresponding scene in the Background Story could one obtain clues and hints.

Time ticked by. Qin Shang spent the next four to five hours traversing the entire train.

However, he didn't find any useful clues. The same things were still pasted on the windows.

Most importantly, those three people had not reappeared since they split up in Car No. 2.

Qin Shang's expression grew increasingly grim.

The moment they stepped into Car No. 13 again.

Qin Shang's pupils constricted. He smelled an unusual scent.

Gunpowder!?

He stopped halfway and turned his head to observe the row of seats on both sides of Carriage 13, discovering a hole in one spot.

The area around the opening was festering and smelled of burnt material.

But the trace was fresh, and his expression froze.

There were guns in this instance?!

Or, were there other NPCs?

Did those three disappear because they encountered an NPC!?

If NPCs have guns, isn't that too overpowered…

At that moment, an electronic prompt suddenly sounded in his ear.

[Ding! You have entered Carriage 13]

[Exploration Progress: 50%]

[Nightfall Unlocked; Night has fallen, all passengers please hide in Carriage 3 and explore the final instance!]

[Con Artist Hidden Mission Unlocked; Please find the God Slayer within the team!]

As expected, as expected, it's this…

But what does that phrase "Nightfall" mean?

Could it be that something strange happens at night in the instance?

Night…

Qin Shang's expression stiffened, and he turned to look. The outside was as if wrapped in a thick fog. Originally, there was still a trace of light shining through the diary pasted on the wall.

But now, it was as if day had instantly turned into night.

Day and night changed, completed in an instant!

So, the subsequent plot would only be unlocked when the exploration progress reached 50%.

I'm so stupid, I should have thought of this earlier.

Carriage 3 is a crucial part of the mission. Without finding Carriage 3, it would be impossible to complete the full exploration of the Death Train.

[Ding! Congratulations on completing 50% of the Death Train exploration progress]

[Time Taken: 15 hours]

[Investigating the Mystery of the Disappearing Passengers on the Death Train; Mission Progress 1/2, Saved]

[Unlocked! Inventory]

[Reward Item: El's Letter! (Placed in Inventory)]

[Rest Time: 24 hours, Next Entry into the Path of the Gods]

[In 12 hours]

Qin Shang's expression changed, and he suddenly found himself unable to move.

What the hell!?

Completing 1/2 of the exploration progress counts as completion.

No, I have to come back next time?

Is the Path of the Gods sending me back to reality for a mid-game rest to recuperate?

He turned to look at the Little Loli behind him, and her pretty face was also filled with surprise.

Soon, Qin Shang found that his vision turned into shimmering waves, and he couldn't see anything. It was as if reality was rippling. The dark train carriage gradually brightened, and a large incandescent light, like a sword cutting through the night, hung overhead. Immediately after, it was replaced by a familiar bedroom, a bright room, and a clean white bed.

A big bed, a sofa, a cabinet…

And the air freshener unique to the room!

The next moment, Qin Shang numbly snapped back to reality. I'm home!?

Was I teleported out by the Path of the Gods?

The feeling of surviving a disaster didn't appear. In fact, Qin Shang hadn't felt anything particularly terrifying during the previous exploration.

It was just full of doubts. Based on the existing clues, it was basically certain that the passengers were killed by that cross-dressing dude, Jack!

As for why all the passengers disappeared, the reason was also very simple.

It was that they had all entered Carriage 3 together, so after the carriage was cut off, they all disappeared!

Then, what else is there to explore in the remaining 50% of this mission?

A Carriage 3 filled with corpses?

Could it be that there really is "that thing" in Carriage 3?

What is "that thing"?

Qin Shang frowned, his gaze falling on the small silver-white card in his hand, his expression solemn.

At this moment, he was completely certain of one thing.

His wife's disappearance was indeed inextricably linked to the Path of the Gods game!