Pass the Level

The young priest's curse was that as long as no one deciphered it, Jack the Train Conductor and Mary's personalities would be trapped forever in the Death Train.

And Jack was human, just an ordinary person.

Even after being cursed and living in a loop, it was only him alone in the loop, not the passage of time.

As time passed, Jack would eventually grow old and die.

Unfortunately, even when Jack reached the end of his life, the curse had still not been broken.

If he were allowed to grow old and die, the curse would be broken...

But without external force, the curse could not be broken.

This was also a rule!

Thus, Jack and Mary's personalities, at the end of their lives, merged into this unholy abomination.

This was why the monstrous thing before them wore a red skirt and could not make a sound when facing her.

This was a personality flaw of Mary's; she had always been criticized for her attire.

Thus, a rule was formed: no speaking.

But it still held a hunting rifle, adhering to Jack's patrol rules by attacking fleeing players.

Hoo hoo hoo—

The shadowy figure had now arrived before Qin Shang, mere inches from the young man.

A foul stench mixed with the smell of blood assailed his nostrils...

But as Qin Shang spoke, it was as if something intangible blocked the distance between them, and El's shadowy form could not advance another inch.

[Ding! Congratulations on completing the main quest of the Death Train]

[Exploration Progress: 100%]

[Generating game rewards for you...]

Hearing the prompt for completing the main quest in his mind, Qin Shang's flushed cheeks relaxed slightly.

He dared to rush out and report his guess because of his own conjecture about the Path of the Gods.

Balance!

That's right, balance.

This boss, 'El after being resurrected,' was not something ordinary players could handle.

Although she had restrictions based on rules, as long as Qin Shang and the others didn't move or make a sound, she wouldn't attack the players.

However, the players also lost the ability to communicate.

The Path of the Gods dungeon was like an exam; didn't students need a chance to hand in their papers?

The rules didn't restrict early submission, so as long as the Path of the Gods knew that he, this student, was going to submit his paper!

The next moment, an electronic prompt sounded in his mind...

[Rewards: Experience Points 25%, Cursed Red Skirt, Holy Cross (Consumable) *3, Rename Card (Consumable) *1, Points *25]

[Level: Level 1, 25% Experience]

[Congratulations on becoming a Level 1 Con artist]

[Class: Con artist]

[Skills: Inheritance, Decipher (05:22 minutes remaining), Heal (05:22 minutes remaining)]

Only five hours left?

Qin Shang saw the remaining usage times for the two inherited skills, his expression showing a subtle hint of relief.

Time really flew by in this bizarre dungeon...

[Cursed Red Skirt: A skirt cursed by a depraved young priest in medieval Europe who lost his girlfriend, sacrificing his life. As it is an item not belonging to his class, using it requires a price]

[Skill 1: Can summon the red skirt's vengeful spirit to fight for one minute. Remember its rules: do not make noise, do not move, and do not try to attract the red skirt's attention, otherwise the summoner will also be hunted]

[Skill 2: Wearing the red skirt allows the wearer to enter a 'void' state comparable to the shadowy figure for five seconds. During this time, they cannot receive physical attacks]

[Note: This item inherits the Priest's basic skill, {Night Vision}. The wearer can briefly use the {Night Vision} ability]

[Passive Skill: Rollback]

[Description: Due to the priest's curse, two decomposed souls are trapped within this skirt, enduring an endless cycle. After the wearer dies, they can perform one rollback through the cursed red skirt]

[Note: This skill is a passive item skill and cannot be actively triggered]

[Price: Using it for more than five minutes will result in blindness for one day]

Actually, the entire situation had now become completely clear.

Initially, Jack the Train Conductor was reassigned as a deserter to the train to maintain order and serve as the train conductor.

However, due to his experiences on the battlefield, he would have nightmares every night about his teammates' disappearances.

He began to fear and suspect whether passengers would go missing.

He detested his own cowardice, and so one day, a weak personality was born, inheriting her nightmares.

From then on, the main personality, Jack, began to fantasize that he was actually a war hero.

This split personality, Mary, had a cross-dressing fetish and enjoyed parading in women's clothes in front of passengers during the day.

Although the passengers noticed something strange, they all pretended not to see it.

The only one who dared to bring it up was El.

She found Jack, the Train Conductor, and told him the truth, but Jack didn't believe her until one day he discovered El had a habit of writing letters.

And that she had been continuously planning to report this matter to the outside.

Jack's personality lost control, feeling that he, a 'war hero,' had been insulted.

After he killed El, this personality couldn't bear it and hid away.

Mary's personality awoke and began to act like a colleague who had gone missing, appearing extremely panicked.

She openly appeared before people, but the passengers remained as if blind, ignoring her.

No one noticed even when another staff member went missing.

Then, El's ex-boyfriend boarded the train to investigate El's disappearance.

He realized that the sealed-off third carriage might hold some secrets, and after discovering Jack's personality's diary, the young Priest completely lost control.

He blamed everything on the passengers. El had tried to send messages outside, and Jack had cross-dressed in public more than once.

But the passengers, to protect themselves, all turned a blind eye, adopting an attitude of "it's none of my business," which was the cause of El's death.

So he cursed the train, cursing Jack's personality and Mary's personality to endlessly relive the events after the third day in Mary's diary.

Then Jack's actions became a cycle...

Each time the train departed, Mary's personality would transmit a message to Jack's personality.

El is missing!

Then Jack's personality would begin patrolling at night, indiscriminately attacking passengers.

Mary's personality would wake up to find people missing every day, falling into deeper fear.

Afterward, it would be logical to gather the passengers to seek refuge, lead them into the third carriage, and seal it off.

Finally, they would watch helplessly as El killed all the passengers, and then return as Jack's personality.

Then, the next time the train departed, it would be the same cycle.

Only Jack and Mary's two personalities endured endless fear, doing the same things day after day.

That's why the diary entries repeated day after day...

Of course, the logic within this couldn't be deeply scrutinized, as it was just a game instance. For example, why Jack could still be appointed as the Train Conductor after passengers went missing, or how this cursed carriage returned...

Well, perhaps it was a bug in the Path of the Gods instance?

After all, this instance was previously called [Train Exploration], but due to the source of pollution, it directly became [Death Train].

The content of the source of pollution might be related to the Priest's curse. It's unknown whether the instance would refresh after completion or if time would continue to flow forward.

If the Path of the Gods had a concept of time, then perhaps the Train Conductor Jack, after growing old and dying, was forced to comply with the curse's rules and merged with El's non-human, non-ghost form.

Thus forming the source of pollution.

Of course, all of this was Qin Shang's speculation. Unless he met the developers of the Path of the Gods and personally inquired about this instance.

Otherwise, the minor bugs of [Death Train] couldn't be further investigated.

"Com... completed?"

The Sheriff and the Elder Priest on the other side also heard the electronic notification sound at the same time.

Both of them stared at Qin Shang, who was not far away, with faces full of shock. They watched the young man's upright figure staring intently at the shadowy figure, but the shadowy figure had no intention of attacking the young man.

The Sheriff and the elder knew that this instance had definitely been completed.

Otherwise, the NPCs would have continued to attack 'Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet.'

Damn it?

Did they win by lying down?

The Sheriff was somewhat taken aback.

This contaminated A-rank instance was completed just like that?

Before entering the Path of the Gods this time, he had even prepared himself to die.

Who knew that after a night of terror, he had inexplicably completed the main quest!?

Surprise and shock filled his face.

I can't believe... I was led to complete an instance that was never officially recorded by a novice player?