A Piece of Trash Worth Watching

Zhao Xun had not planned to use the ring so soon. After one use, very little poison would remain on the needle.

Even when facing the monster earlier, he had not rushed to reveal this trump card. For one thing, he had wanted to test his special ability. For another, he had not known whether the monster was resistant to poison, or whether the dose was too small to kill it.

He had used it now entirely because the restrictions of his Personal Mission today left him very little time to keep his eyes open.

If he did not kill his enemy quickly enough, he would either fail his task or be killed.

He had to deal with his enemy as quickly as possible, and the poisoned needle in his ring was the best way.

Zhao Xun glanced at the countdown floating in front of him.

00:03:21

A little over three minutes. He still had time.

"Is he dead?" the female college student, No. 019, asked quietly.

Even she did not know whom she was asking.

"He is," the woman, No. 020, answered in a whisper.

Her voice was not entirely steady either, carrying a slight tremor, but she was still much calmer than No. 019.

No. 019 instinctively drew her head back, frightened.

Killing someone... Although she had killed a monster, she saw that as something entirely different from killing a person.

Besides, even killing the monster had left her frightened and uneasy. Killing a person...

Even just watching it, even though she had not killed him herself, filled her with an indescribable distress and fear.

Despite knowing what she would face aboard this train after yesterday's experiences, she was not mentally prepared.

Suddenly seeing a living person die right in front of her sent fear surging uncontrollably through her.

The slightly plump woman, No. 015, had remained silent throughout. She wedged herself into the corner between her seat and the window, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.

"That guy's Personal Mission was to kill you, right?" No. 018, the Bald Scorpion Man, glanced at Zhao Xun and gave a scoffing laugh. "You're pretty damn lucky, dodging an ambush like that. Were you awake the whole time?"

Compared with the three women, No. 018 was much more composed.

It was as though he was used to scenes of fighting and killing.

"I was asleep. I just sensed danger and woke up," Zhao Xun replied briefly.

He had not wanted to answer.

But angering the aggressive No. 018 at this moment would not have been wise-he had little time left to keep his eyes open.

Besides, making it clear that he had a keen sense for danger would also serve as a warning to No. 018 not to try anything behind his back.

Although No. 018 did not currently appear to be his enemy, that did not mean he would not become one.

Especially given how conceited No. 018 was, a warning was in order.

No. 018 said nothing more, merely studying Zhao Xun with a searching gaze.

He seemed to be judging whether Zhao Xun was telling the truth.

Zhao Xun walked over to the bearded man, crouched beside him, and searched his body.

He easily found the ticket in the bearded man's pants pocket.

It clearly read [No. 066, Carriage 12].

He was the passenger who had ranked last today.

Zhao Xun narrowed his eyes slightly.

If his guess was correct.

The bearded man had come to kill him not because of a Personal Mission, but because of the so-called "assistance and encouragement measure."

This was only the second day. The players' Personal Missions should not yet have reached the difficulty of killing other players.

And the bearded man just happened to be in last place today.

The "assistance and encouragement measure" was the more likely explanation.

He just did not know whether this "assistance and encouragement measure" assigned random tasks or always required murder, nor whether the target was chosen at random or designated by the system.

Unfortunately, the bearded man was already dead, leaving Zhao Xun no chance to ask.

But there was one thing Zhao Xun could be sure of.

His Personal Mission today had not been entirely random.

He did not believe in a coincidence like this: just when the bearded man's target was him, his Personal Mission allowed him to open his eyes for only five minutes before dawn.

However, the train rules had explicitly stated that Personal Missions were randomly assigned. That could not be wrong.

Then he could reasonably infer that passengers involved in an "assistance and encouragement measure" would have certain restrictions placed on their Personal Missions, narrowing the pool from which they were randomly selected.

His own case was an example. This Personal Mission had clearly made it easier for the bearded man to ambush him.

If his guess was correct, then once the bearded man's "assistance and encouragement measure" had been determined to be killing him, the pool for his randomly assigned Personal Mission had been narrowed from a large random pool to a smaller one containing tasks that favored the bearded man's ambush.

As Zhao Xun stood up, he saw two people in train attendant uniforms approaching.

No one had notified them, yet they seemed to already know that someone had died here. They even had a body bag and a trolley ready.

They efficiently collected the body without asking any questions, then silently pushed the trolley toward the rear.

Zhao Xun looked at the countdown in front of him.

00:01:44

There was not enough time.

Besides, walking around freely at night was forbidden, so he could not follow the attendants.

Otherwise, he would have really liked to know how the attendants disposed of passengers' bodies.

Zhao Xun returned to his seat and closed his eyes again.

Beside him, Shen Yalong had been too frightened to speak. Only now did he regain the ability to think.

Seeing Zhao Xun calmly close his eyes and go back to sleep left him at a loss for words.

This guy just killed someone. Doesn't he have any kind of stress response?

Even a murderer wouldn't necessarily be this calm, would he?

At that moment, Shen Yalong felt rather fortunate that he had not completely infuriated Zhao Xun. Otherwise, he would probably have been a corpse on the floor too.

A miserable life was better than a good death. Even with all four limbs broken, he still very much wanted to live.

He really, truly feared death.

No. 018, the Bald Scorpion Man, was also somewhat surprised by how calm and composed Zhao Xun was.

Although Zhao Xun was tall, he was not particularly muscular. Coupled with his fair skin and handsome features, he was the very picture of a pretty boy.

By the Bald Scorpion Man's standards, a delicate pretty boy who looked incapable of carrying or lifting anything was beneath his notice.

In his eyes, such a man was no different from trash.

But Zhao Xun's reaction made the Bald Scorpion Man take a couple of extra looks.

Although he still did not think Zhao Xun was particularly capable, Zhao Xun had at least gone from a piece of trash to a piece of trash worth watching.

Recalling Zhao Xun's earlier claim that he had a keen sense for danger, the Bald Scorpion Man guessed that this might be his special ability.

While this ability did nothing to improve his personal strength, it was quite useful for escaping or keeping watch.

If any team-oriented tasks came up, he could grab Zhao Xun and use him as a watchdog.

As the Bald Scorpion Man made these plans, he felt quite pleased with his own cleverness.

He sat back down and soon fell asleep.

Carriage 14 gradually grew quiet, and everyone drifted back into slumber.