Heart-to-Heart Sister's Hint

It's crazy!

It's absolutely, goddamn crazy!

Run!?

No time, how could I possibly be faster than a gun?

Just then, he remembered something from Jack's diary.

Jack would hunt down passengers who ran after seeing him. After going mad, he believed that anyone who ran upon seeing him patrolling was the murderer of Mary.

So...

No running!

Qin Shang's Adam's apple bobbed violently. He grabbed the little girl, stopping her from running, and held her down tightly.

If they didn't run, there might be a slim chance of survival. If they ran, they were definitely finished.

The next moment, Qin Shang met the gaze of the pale face, his lips pressed together. The shadowy figure hadn't lowered the gun.

Qin Shang's heart sank.

Did I guess wrong?

The little girl in front of him was almost scared out of her mind, her body trembling uncontrollably. It was clear she had lost all courage.

However, the little girl didn't scream. Only her trembling showed her inner fear.

Qin Shang was also very scared. His hands barely had the strength to cover the little girl's mouth anymore.

"Demons and monsters, go away, demons and monsters, go away..."

A fine sheen of cold sweat broke out on Qin Shang's forehead, his lips trembling.

He repeated a sentence frantically in his mind.

Just then, although the shadowy figure didn't lower the hunting rifle, it truly didn't attack them.

Instead, it stared at Qin Shang for a long time with its pale eyes.

Finally, it suddenly turned its head and slowly walked past them.

Qin Shang could hear the little girl beside him breathing heavily.

Thump—thump—thump—

The next moment, the shadowy figure arrived at another bedroom door and repeated its mechanical knocking.

Qin Shang's back was completely soaked in sweat. He almost fell to the ground.

And 'Grandpa Niu Cosplays Maid to Seduce Zhuang Zhuang's Mom' in front of him was still trembling madly. Even though the terrifying entity seemed to have left, it couldn't take away the fear in the girl's heart.

Qin Shang grabbed the little girl and mouthed words to her:

"Let's go!"

Seeing this, the little girl's entire body stiffened, and she looked at the young man numbly. Her lips were purple, and she shook her head, also mouthing words:

"Brother, I can't move..."

Qin Shang hesitated for a moment, his expression showing a trace of apology.

[Freeze Response] A common stress reaction in humans.

It usually occurs when facing danger, threats, or extreme pressure. It's an evolutionarily unnatural behavior, lacking normal voluntary motor control.

The brain is trying to figure out how to resolve the threat, and cannot control the limbs through nerves.

This is very common in life. For example, when you see a speeding car or a basketball coming at you, your hands and feet feel like they're out of control and you can't move.

This stems from the animal instincts within human genes.

Many people often ask why women don't run when facing sexual assault; it's precisely because of this.

Often, because the danger comes too suddenly, adrenaline surges, and the person instantly enters a freeze response.

Lacking subjective thinking ability, the brain loses the ability to communicate with nerves, so the limbs can only be stiffly manipulated.

It was probably because the little loli was scared, and on top of that, he had suddenly covered her mouth and held her down, preventing the girl from moving.

This made her subconsciously believe she was doomed, thus triggering this stress response.

"Ah!"

Just then, a sharp scream rang out from the next room.

A figure darted out of the room rapidly. The voice was high-pitched and thin, very much like a woman's voice.

However, Qin Shang could be sure that in the last instance of the Death Train, all the female players, except for the little loli in front of him, had already died!

Hmm, it seemed that only the person with the most feminine ID fit the criteria...

Since he wasn't a Priest, Qin Shang couldn't see the other person's face clearly.

As expected.

The next moment, 'Heart-to-Heart Sister' ran out of the adjacent berth, her face deathly pale and filled with terror. In the blink of an eye, she reached Qin Shang and the little girl, seeing them standing motionlessly in the corridor.

The [Doctor] was clearly taken aback as well;

"You guys..."

He was probably wondering why these two weren't being pursued by that thing in the carriage.

Logically, they should have encountered that shadowy figure before he did.

Why did the shadowy figure only attack him and not them?

Ignoring Qin Shang's frantic winks and shushing gestures, he shouted, still shaken.

"Is it possible that thing selectively attacks players? Or are you two actually the God Slayer and the Accomplice?"

"No wonder, no wonder it didn't attack you. You're in cahoots, you two bastards, may you die a horrible death..."

Bang!

The moment the gun fired, 'Heart-to-Heart Sister' suddenly collapsed.

Blood gushed out, splattering all over Qin Shang.

The spark of life in 'Heart-to-Heart Sister's' eyes dimmed.

Dead!

He had died right in front of Qin Shang.

The smell of gunpowder from the red-clothed shadowy figure's hunting rifle drifted over from not far away, mixing with the scent of blood and gradually filling the carriage. The little loli, 'Grandpa Niu Cosplays Maid to Seduce Zhuang Zhuang's Mom', nearly screamed.

Qin Shang quickly covered the little girl's mouth.

He thought to himself how great it would be if she were mute!

Qin Shang wasn't a saint or a savior; he had no obligation to save everyone.

In an environment with supernatural phenomena like the Path of the Gods, the law was just a piece of paper.

It was already good of him not to have killed them and cleared the game alone.

Moreover, who knew what 'Heart-to-Heart Sister's' identity was on the Death Train, whether he was a passenger or an assistant.

Or perhaps, he was that disguised 'Green Grass by the River'?

After the first player death in the previous round, 'Heart-to-Heart Sister' was the first to jump out, clamoring to disrupt the team's balance.

Qin Shang had analyzed it before.

For the God Slayer, it was best if the players were suspicious of each other and chaotic.

Chaos was the perfect opportunity to strike.

As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot, or rather, strike when they're down to finish them off...

'Heart-to-Heart Sister' was on Qin Shang's list of suspects.

He had spent the entire afternoon browsing the forums and had roughly summarized a few points.

The situation within a corrupted instance was uncontrollable; even NPCs might not be able to provide constructive help, referring to normal NPCs here.

Of course, the God Slayer was also a type of NPC.

In other words, it was possible that the God Slayer himself might perish at the hands of the originator of cross-dressing from over two hundred years ago, after the instance became corrupted.

After all, once an instance was corrupted, even NPCs couldn't fully grasp all the rules.

'Heart-to-Heart Sister's' death had clearly instilled a degree of panic in both of them.

This was the first time Qin Shang had personally witnessed someone die before his eyes.

The loss of life, the final look of unwillingness before death, and the faint trace of malevolence were all striking.

Malevolence!?

The malevolence on his face in his final moments was probably directed at the two of us?

'Heart-to-Heart Sister' didn't understand the rules of the Jack the train conductor's killings, so he suspected we were in league with that thing?

A brain is a good thing; if you don't use it, you can donate it!

Qin Shang sighed silently.

Rest in peace, my friend. Your mission and exclusive hint are now mine.

With the experience of 'So Handsome They'll Chop Me's' body mysteriously disappearing last time, Qin Shang had learned his lesson.

The clues from the previous round weren't enough for him to solve the mystery of the disappearing passengers.

So he intended to inherit 'So Handsome They'll Chop Me's' mission, only to be shocked to find... the body was gone.

This time, he immediately looked at 'Heart-to-Heart Sister', afraid the body would disappear unexpectedly.

At the same time, he subtly reached into his pocket and touched his Character Card.

[Inherit!]

[Ding! You have obtained a hidden side quest; please find the Accomplice within the team. If the Accomplice has already died, please also find the Accomplice within the team (this quest comes from the Doctor, and in this game round, you will receive this player's class skills.)]

[Hint: NPCs do not lie]

[Your identity this round: Passenger]

Qin Shang's breath hitched, and his brow immediately furrowed.

His breath hitched because of a hint from 'Heart-to-Heart Sister'.

No wonder this guy dared to provoke everyone so fearlessly after the first God Slayer killed someone, throwing them into internal strife.

If NPCs don't lie, wouldn't it be enough to just ask them, 'Are you the God Slayer?'

With this most useful piece of information, no wonder this guy was so calm before.

His hint made him think he had the situation completely under control!