The Short-Haired Woman finally realized what she had overlooked.
It was already the evening of the fifth, with only a few hours left until midnight.
If the system automatically assigned her that day's personal mission after she boarded, she might not have enough time to complete it.
Even if the penalty for failing a personal mission wasn't particularly severe, nobody would invite trouble for themselves.
To be safe, boarding right at midnight was obviously the best choice. She would meet the boarding deadline while neatly avoiding the personal mission for the fifth.
Once the Short-Haired Woman understood, she said nothing more and waited patiently outside the train door.
With nothing else to do, Zhao Xun opened his personal panel with his mind.
[Player: Zhao Xun] [Points: 187] [Rank: --] [Special ability: Devour lv1 (Upgradeable), currently devoured special ability: [Blade Transformation]] [Special items: Lively Long Rope, Scorching Blood]
He hadn't been aboard the Endless Train for several days, so it was perfectly normal for his rank not to appear. He wasn't surprised.
Zhao Xun first selected his special ability.
A small window appeared.
[You may spend 100 points to upgrade the special ability [Devour lv1]. Would you like to upgrade?] [Yes] [No]
Zhao Xun immediately selected [Yes].
[Congratulations to player Zhao Xun on successfully upgrading the special ability [Devour] to lv2. Please select Details to view more information.]
Zhao Xun selected Details.
[Devour lv2] Rarity: Unique Ability details: After selecting a target, bite down on any item belonging to the target for three seconds to obtain their ability. Current level restriction: You can only obtain 100% of the target's ability. You may possess two abilities at a time. If you devour a third ability, you must choose one of your existing two abilities to overwrite. Obtained abilities will not disappear until overwritten by a new ability. Note: The selected item must have been on the target's person for more than 24 hours. Once an item has been removed from the target's person for more than one hour, it can no longer be used for "Devour."
Zhao Xun's eyes lit up.
The upgraded ability was even better than he had expected.
He had thought the system would be stingy, upgrading either the percentage of the target's ability he could obtain or the number of abilities he could possess at once, while leaving the other unchanged until the next upgrade.
This outcome was excellent.
It looked like he needed to scout out some better abilities.
After all, the [Blade Transformation] he possessed had been weakened by half. Now that he could "Devour" 100% of someone else's ability, that would naturally be more useful.
Hmm, until I find a more suitable ability, I'll use No. 019's [Strength Enhancement].
Zhao Xun looked at the points on his personal panel, which had dropped to 87, and considered his situation.
Only three of the players who had left the train to participate in the game had returned alive. All the other players had earned their points through daily personal missions aboard the Endless Train.
Those players also had to spend points on food and water, and some would have lost points for failing missions.
His current points probably wouldn't put him in last place.
But his rank would certainly drop considerably.
With that in mind, Zhao Xun spent another ten points to unlock a second Storage Slot, just in case.
Time flew by.
There were only thirty seconds left until midnight.
Zhao Xun and the other two had already separated, each standing outside their own carriage door with their eyes fixed on their phones.
Only five seconds remained.
5
Zhao Xun grabbed the handrail with one hand.
4
Zhao Xun held one foot just above the step.
3
Zhao Xun slipped his phone back into his trouser pocket.
2
Zhao Xun gripped the handrail with his other hand as well.
1
Zhao Xun pulled hard with both arms, launching himself into the train like a stone from a slingshot.
[Welcome back to the Endless Train, player Zhao Xun.]
The notification appeared briefly before vanishing, and then the familiar, sweet electronic voice rang out over the train's speakers.
[Congratulations to all passengers on successfully making it through another day.] [The points rankings for all passengers are now available. Please check your rankings.]
As Zhao Xun walked toward his seat, he opened his personal panel.
[Player: Zhao Xun] [Points: 77] [Rank: 430] [Special ability: Devour lv2] [Special items: Lively Long Rope, Scorching Blood]
As Zhao Xun had expected, his rank had dropped considerably.
But he wasn't in last place.
Although he didn't know how many more new players had died or how many remained, their numbers couldn't have fallen below half so quickly.
[The passenger ranked last in points on September 5 is No. 001 in Carriage 16, who will receive the assistance and encouragement measure.] [The train will arrive at the second station at 9:01 a.m. on September 7. Passengers who need to disembark should prepare in advance.]
After that announcement, the electronic voice fell silent.
Zhao Xun sat down and glanced at the others.
Apart from No. 013, who had violated the Train Rules at the very beginning because his ticket had gone missing, everyone else was still there.
The four of them were also studying Zhao Xun.
They were eager to know what Zhao Xun had experienced in the game and how he had cleared it.
But none of them asked.
It wasn't just because it was best to keep conversation to a minimum after midnight. More importantly, none of them thought Zhao Xun was someone who would enthusiastically help others without asking for anything in return.
They would certainly have to offer him something in exchange.
The fat woman, No. 015, thought of her agreement with Shen Yalong. She could find him tomorrow morning and get firsthand information, so there was no need to bother asking Zhao Xun.
After weighing his options, the scorpion man, No. 018, also decided it would be easier to force answers out of that coward Shen Yalong, so he left Zhao Xun alone for the time being.
As for the two women, No. 019 and No. 020, neither wanted to stick her neck out, so neither intended to speak first.
And so, everyone merely exchanged glances without saying a word.
Soon, they closed their eyes and fell asleep.
Once his surroundings had quieted down, Zhao Xun took another look at his personal mission for the sixth.
The personal mission notification had appeared the moment he sat down.
[Player Zhao Xun's personal mission for September 6: Obtain any kind of food from any veteran player.]
For a new player, the hardest part of this mission was finding a veteran player willing to interact with them. The next obstacle was that food was scarce, making it difficult to obtain from someone else.
Even if they resorted to stealing, the other person had to have food on them in the first place.
Besides, if the theft was discovered, there was no telling what would happen once the other person was angered.
If they had a bad temper, getting killed would be nothing unusual. A beating would be getting off lightly.
Fortunately, Zhao Xun had already figured out what to do.
He guessed this personal mission wouldn't award many points, either. In his eyes, it wasn't even as difficult as stealing someone else's train ticket.
Zhao Xun closed the notification, adjusted his sitting position, and began settling down to sleep.
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