Where Is Your Ticket?

Early morning.

Six o'clock sharp.

Soft footsteps and quiet voices sounded in the silent carriage.

Zhao Xun immediately opened his eyes.

He never slept deeply in unfamiliar surroundings. Any unusual sound was enough to wake him.

A middle-aged woman in a dark blue train uniform entered carriage 14, quietly asking each passenger to show their ticket.

Zhao Xun glanced out the window.

There was still no scenery visible outside, but the pitch-black darkness had turned into a vast expanse of white.

Day must have broken.

The female college student, No. 019, woke up as well. Hearing what the attendant said, she hurriedly took out her ticket and held it ready to show her at any moment.

Nos. 015, 018, and 020 were also roused by the noise and took out their tickets.

Only when the attendant reached their group did the soundly sleeping No. 013 finally wake up.

Hearing the attendant's request, he groggily reached into the inner pocket near the hem of his jacket.

After feeling around a few times and finding nothing, he abruptly sat upright, fully awake.

He pulled open the bottom of his jacket and turned the inner pocket inside out.

It was completely empty.

His face instantly went deathly pale.

By then, the attendant had checked the tickets of Zhao Xun and the other four. She looked at No. 013 with a broad smile. "Please show me your ticket."

"I might have left it in the restroom. I'll go look!" No. 013 said, running toward the restroom.

Perhaps his ticket had fallen out while he was using the toilet last night.

He had hurried back afterward without paying any attention to the floor.

The attendant stood quietly where she was, neither following No. 013 to supervise his search nor moving on to check the other passengers' tickets.

With nothing else to do, Zhao Xun took the opportunity to ask, "Are tickets checked at six every morning?"

The attendant turned to Zhao Xun, maintaining her professional smile. "Ticket checks happen at random times, and they don't necessarily happen every day. In any case, keep your ticket safe, and you won't hold things up like No. 013."

Zhao Xun nodded, then asked, "Are you a player? Or an NPC?"

The attendant turned her head toward the restroom, as though she had not heard Zhao Xun's question.

Zhao Xun was not annoyed, but he did not press her either.

It seemed she would only answer questions that fell within the scope of her duties.

She would not respond to unrelated questions.

Asking any further would get him nowhere.

About ten minutes later, No. 013 finally emerged from the restroom.

His face was so pale it had a bluish tinge, as though he were on the verge of suffocating. He dragged his feet weakly, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.

Just then, Zhao Xun noticed a slight change in the attendant's expression.

She still wore the same professional smile, but it looked considerably more genuine than before.

She seemed delighted from the bottom of her heart.

Before No. 013 could reach his seat, the attendant asked, "Passenger No. 013, where is your ticket?"

No. 013's lips trembled slightly as he stammered nervously, "It was in my pocket before..."

"So you don't have a ticket." The attendant gave No. 013 no chance to explain. "Without a ticket, you cannot prove this seat belongs to you. You cannot continue sitting here."

No. 013 swallowed with difficulty and cautiously asked, "Then... where am I supposed to go?"

"Just follow me," the attendant said as she continued checking the remaining passengers' tickets. "All passengers without tickets must be dealt with according to the fare evasion rules."

No. 013 dared not disobey. He followed close behind the attendant, his face filled with anxiety. "What are the fare evasion rules?"

The attendant did not respond. She simply maintained her professional smile and checked all the remaining passengers' tickets.

Zhao Xun also wanted to know what the fare evasion rules were, so he followed the attendant toward the carriages farther back.

It was daytime now, after all, and he could move around freely.

By the time she finished checking every passenger's ticket in carriage 16, four passengers without tickets were trailing behind her.

Clearly, Zhao Xun was not the only person who had received a Personal Mission to steal someone else's ticket last night.

All four passengers looked nervous and panicked. They kept asking what the fare evasion rules were, but the attendant never responded.

The attendant led the four passengers toward carriage 17.

Only after the last passenger had entered did the attendant turn to look at Zhao Xun. "Is there anything I can help you with, sir?"

She still wore her professional smile, but her gaze had grown noticeably colder.

Zhao Xun immediately understood that he could not follow any farther.

Otherwise, the consequences would be more than he could handle.

At least, as he was now, he most likely could not handle them.

Zhao Xun looked disappointed and shrugged. "No, I'm just looking around."

With that, he turned and headed back.

He had hoped to use this opportunity to find out what the fare evasion rules were.

Now it seemed only those who violated the rules would have the chance to find out. For the time being, he had no way to learn them.

One thing was certain, though: the fare evasion rules would not kill players immediately. Otherwise, the attendant could have disposed of the passengers as soon as she discovered they had no tickets, rather than wasting so much time.

If he had another chance to see No. 013, perhaps he could ask him.

Although he was curious about the fare evasion rules, Zhao Xun felt that losing his ticket would be rather inconvenient, so he had no intention of deliberately triggering them.

[Congratulations to player Zhao Xun for completing your Personal Mission for September 1. You have earned 20 points.]

Zhao Xun stopped in his tracks, watching the notification fade away with a thoughtful expression.

These points... aren't much.

It probably had something to do with the difficulty of the Personal Mission.

His Personal Mission had not required him to risk his life, so it was only natural that the reward was small.

Of course, he would have to check the prices on the train before he could determine exactly how much those points were worth.

With that thought, Zhao Xun headed toward the dining cars.

A diagram was posted in the middle of each carriage, detailing the purpose of every carriage on the train.

Zhao Xun had looked at it last night and knew there were two dining cars, in carriages 08 and 09.

Carriage 08 housed an upscale restaurant, while carriage 09 housed an ordinary one.

Zhao Xun went to carriage 09 first.

The furnishings and layout inside were simple: rows of metal tables and chairs without so much as a cushion. Still, the place was fairly clean and tidy.

A huge menu was posted above the checkout counter.

Tea egg: 1 point, vegetable bun: 2 points, red bean paste bun: 2 points, shumai: 2 points, meat bun: 3 points, mock chicken noodles: 4 points, steamed dumplings: 4 points, flaky flatbread: 4 points, chicken leg rice: 5 points, pork chop rice: 5 points, Yangzhou fried rice: 5 points, rice with tomato and scrambled eggs: 5 points, pork liver noodles: 5 points, noodles with pickled mustard greens and shredded pork: 5 points.

Beer: 5 points, soda: 4 points.

Beer and soda were indulgences rather than necessities, so they cost more points.

As for the prices of the actual food... whether or not they were reasonable, judging by these prices, the 20 points he had earned were not much.