You Can Trust Me

Just then, the beautiful woman named Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green spoke;

"Eagle of Justice, is there something you haven't told us?"

"Actually, you're the God Slayer hiding among us, aren't you? That's why you deliberately concealed the key information, including the fact that each of us has an individual mission."

"And I quietly asked you just now how many times you'd entered the Divine Road."

"You said only twice..."

"If you've only entered twice, then even as a veteran player, you'd probably be completely clueless about a place like this, right?"

"Classes, class skills, and character information aren't things you could learn from just two short gaming experiences. Yet you were able to explain so much to us so clearly."

"You're not a player at all. You're the God Slayer hiding among us, aren't you?"

Clearly, this atmosphere of mutual distrust was taking its toll.

The first player unable to endure it any longer finally appeared.

Actually, it had been from the moment Little Loli finished explaining her hidden clue and side quest, when Eagle of Justice's indifferent gaze turned back and then withdrew.

The beautiful woman who had been following closely behind him immediately and silently put some distance between them.

Although she was still sticking close to Eagle of Justice, she was clearly no longer as enthusiastic as she had been at the beginning.

This showed that she had also begun to distrust the officer.

Qin Shang, however, was slightly stunned when he heard this.

It seems I underestimated this woman after all.

He had not expected that, while passing through a carriage on the way forward, she had also been actively gathering clues!

Qin Shang had actually considered doing something similar: chatting briefly with every player in an attempt to identify the God Slayer among them.

But after thinking it over, he gave up.

First, his identity was too sensitive. If he talked too much, it would be easy to reveal that he was not a priest.

Second, in such an unfamiliar environment, he did not want to show off before he had figured out the situation.

If he acted too conspicuously and took the initiative to chat too much with the other players, he might provoke everyone's resistance and make them suspect that he was the God Slayer.

"If you don't trust me, you can leave the group and explore on your own."

The next moment, the officer slowly turned his head, his face cold;

"Besides, are you all truly innocent? None of you have anything to hide?"

"I never said there were side quests, but did any of you mention them?"

"Other than that girl, Grandpa Niu, Cosplaying as a Maid to Seduce Zhuangzhuang's Mom, who volunteered her side quest, every one of you should have your own side quest."

"But have any of you mentioned them?"

Qin Shang frowned. The smell in this carriage was even stronger than in the previous one.

He had no idea where the stench of decay was coming from. It filled his nostrils completely.

After taking two more breaths, Qin Shang felt as though he was about to vomit. His stomach churned violently.

This was clearly supposed to be a virtual-reality game, yet the nausea caused by the stench irritating his nasal passages and making his stomach spasm felt completely real. For now, he tried not to breathe, inhaling once and holding it for a while.

Only when he could no longer hold his breath would he breathe again.

He was actually the person who most wanted to leave this carriage...

According to the Background Story's hint just now, it seemed that every carriage had a new Background Story.

The clues to clearing the stage might be hidden within these Background Stories, so arguing here was completely meaningless!

The carriage was filled with HelloKitty cats. In the gloomy surroundings, their button-like black eyes reflected the scant light beside the few tables in the carriage, shining with a strange gleam.

It made everyone uneasy and inexplicably frightened.

Qin Shang even had the illusion that these little pink dolls would rush over and tear him apart at any moment.

Even Qin Shang, a grown man, did not dare meet HelloKitty's eyes in this dim environment.

Just then, a steady voice came from the very front of the group.

"Stop arguing. We're about to enter the tunnel. You all heard the Background Story's hint. Let's set aside our individual side quests and their hidden clues for now and focus on getting through this stage."

"This isn't the time for infighting. There's only one God Slayer, and throwing ourselves into chaos is exactly what the God Slayer wants!"

"Since the Background Story gave us such a hint, it means it also gave us a strategy for passing through the tunnel."

"There won't be any light once we enter the tunnel. The God Slayer will definitely take the opportunity to act. The Background Story's hint just now may be the key to getting through this round."

"Let's hold hands and take turns calling out numbers. In the Background Story, Miss Mary got through this part in exactly this way. If the person beside you lets go, that person is the God Slayer!"

The speaker was the elderly priest, Buddha Saves the Predestined.

Aside from Eagle of Justice, he had the highest prestige in the group. After all, his age and steady demeanor, combined with the Priest class on his Character Card, made it easy for him to win people's favor.

Hearing this, none of the others objected.

The punk, So Handsome They'll Chop Me, was the first to extend his hands toward the two women;

"Ladies, there's no need to avoid suspicion at a time like this, right..."

The beautiful woman, Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green, frowned and glanced at him.

Her gaze shifted back and forth between Eagle of Justice and the punk.

If this had happened earlier, she would definitely have decisively chosen to hold Eagle of Justice's hand.

But now, after hesitating for only a moment, she chose to place her hand in the hand of the punk, So Handsome They'll Chop Me.

Qin Shang walked at the very back of the group, with Little Loli directly in front of him.

The girl did not hesitate. She held the punk's hand with one hand and extended the other toward him.

In Qin Shang's view, the two safest people at a time like this were actually the officer at the front of the group and himself.

After all, if either of them were stabbed, the killer could only be the sole person holding their hand.

Little Loli was in front of Qin Shang, and no one was behind him...

The same applied to the officer. The elderly priest was beside him!

There were still so many people in the group.

If Qin Shang or the officer died, then once the light returned in the next round, the God Slayer's identity would be exposed in an instant!

As long as the God Slayer had any brains, they would not stand beside the two people at the very edges of the group!

Even so, Qin Shang could not help feeling his heart pound violently.

After all, everything he had just thought was merely speculation. Who knew what was going through the mind of the God Slayer, an NPC transformed from a former player?

What if this idiot stubbornly insisted on stabbing him or the officer?

By then, his funeral feast would already be underway, and there would be nowhere to seek justice...

After two or three rounds of probing and testing, it was obvious that the God Slayer possessed independent thought.

They might even be another form of life!

They were definitely not like the NPCs in traditional online games, which were merely strings of simple program code capable of nothing more than basic dialogue and guiding players...

"Big Brother, we'll make it through this round, right?"

The next moment, Little Loli to Qin Shang's right suddenly looked at him nervously, her eyes reddening.

Her palm trembled... Was she afraid?

For some reason, seeing this scene made Qin Shang subconsciously think of his wife.

His wife had a lively personality and sometimes liked wearing outfits full of girlish charm.

His own ID, Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet, had also been chosen by his wife.

It was somewhat similar in spirit to that girl's ID, Grandpa Niu, Cosplaying as a Maid to Seduce Zhuangzhuang's Mom.

"I'm not the God Slayer. I'm a priest."

"You can trust me!"

"The only comforting thing I can think of right now is..."

"If you're stabbed after we pass through the tunnel, then I can be certain that the person who attacked you was So Handsome They'll Chop Me."

"I think that if he were the God Slayer, he wouldn't be that stupid!"

Qin Shang did not know why, but he had insisted on showing off at a time like this.

Actually, he could have said these words at any other time.

But the prerequisite would have been to eliminate some of the players first.

That's right, eliminate some of the players first.

Even with the advantage of the Swindler class, Qin Shang did not think the clues currently in his possession were enough to deduce the God Slayer's identity.

So this argument would remain useful later, after the God Slayer had eliminated several players.

At some point, such a statement might become his trump card for staying alive, making the God Slayer in the group hesitate to act.

Qin Shang was no saint. He did not think he was obligated to save these ordinary strangers he had met by chance.

But when he met Little Loli Grandpa Niu's innocent, harmless gaze, it struck something deep in his soul.

At that moment, Qin Shang thought of his wife. Jiang Qiqi also liked pink and liked wearing skirts.

She often ran up to him, spun around sweetly, and then asked her husband in an unreasonable tone;

"Do I look better in this one or the other one...?"

Of course, that was a ridiculous question with no correct answer.

It was much like when a girl said before dating, "I only know how to cherish you, gege."

If you said she looked good in this one, she would say she also liked the other one. Otherwise, why would she have bought the other one? If you said the other one looked better, she would respond the same way.

If you said, "As long as you're the one wearing it, you'll look good," she would say you must have brushed off your ex-girlfriend that way too, and then a new question would appear.

"What? You think I look good in both? So you're saying your ex-girlfriend didn't suit pink, huh? Then what color did she suit?"

"What? She looked ugly in every color?"

"So I look good in everything I wear, while your ex-girlfriend looked ugly in everything she wore?"

Did you think a woman would be satisfied at that point?

No, no, no!

"Then why did you fall for your ex-girlfriend back then? If you thought she was ugly, how could you still fall for her? You can only be blind once or countless times, so does that mean that one day you'll think I'm ugly too? You'll think falling for me was another time you went blind!"

Whenever this happened, Qin Shang genuinely felt as though he had two heads and wanted to kick his wife out.

But after his wife had been missing for three months, he suddenly began to miss that woman who occasionally threw little tantrums and was sometimes adorably tsundere.

It was precisely because he missed his wife that, when faced with Little Loli Grandpa Niu's uneasy and frightened gaze, Qin Shang inexplicably blurted out those words.

If the Character Card he had received belonged to his wife, had Qiqi once come to the Death Train as well?

Had she also schemed against her companions like they were doing now?

Grandpa Niu, Cosplaying as a Maid to Seduce Zhuangzhuang's Mom, had clearly caused a huge commotion with what she said just now.

Mentioning the side quests and hidden clues had shattered what little cohesion this group possessed.

If Qin Shang were the God Slayer, she would definitely be the first person he removed!

After all, who knew whether this woman would continue sharing information after they entered another carriage in the next round?

The less united the players were, the easier it would be for the God Slayer to make a move!

Perhaps the core of the team mission was that everyone had to share resources and information in order to clear it together?

Sure enough, So Handsome They'll Chop Me's expression darkened beside him, and he roared furiously.

"I'm not the God Slayer! Stop slandering me here! I could just as easily say that if she dies, you're the one who killed her!"

Qin Shang merely lifted his chin, noncommittal.

After this interruption, the others quickly joined hands.

Everyone was equally anxious. As Qin Shang held Little Loli Grandpa Niu's hand, he could feel it trembling faintly.

She was afraid!

Clang--clang--

Just then, the light before everyone's eyes vanished completely.

The echo of the train pressing against the tracks came from every direction.

The next moment, darkness completely enveloped the carriage.

Everyone's hearts tightened.

They had entered the tunnel!