Foggy Town

"Okay, boss."

"Holy shit, a psionic item this powerful is going for just 10 Red Coins?"

"I'm heading to the trading area to grab one!"

"No! Save one for me! I'm a student!"

"Even being an animal wouldn't help you!"

"Ah, I got one. I'm an animal."

"You really are an animal! They were gone before I could even get a good look!"

"You bastards deserve to die!"

[Nighttime activity begins]

[Tonight's activity: Site Mission]

[Join?]

"Join."

[09:59]

"I probably won't be coming back tonight."

Lin Ye reluctantly stroked Gugu's feathers. Compared with his previous card creatures, Gugu was practically a model worker.

"Goo goo."

"All right, see you next time."

[00:01]

[00:00]

When Lin Ye regained awareness, he found himself sitting in a compartment on an old-fashioned train. He had only ever seen trains with compartments like these in movies.

Through the window, he could see only an enclosed tunnel, with no way of telling where they were outside.

There were four people in the compartment, matching the profile pictures in the chat room exactly.

The other three were Zhou Wen, a cute-looking high school student; Xu Changnian, a stubble-faced man of forty; and Hu Tingting, a thirty-year-old woman in revealing clothes.

Lin Ye: Zhou Wen, are you male or female?

Lin Ye frowned at the high school student opposite him. He could actually use his mental power to sense the other's sex, but that would have been far too rude.

Zhou Wen: Do you prefer men or women?

Lin Ye: If you're asking about my sexual orientation, women, of course.

Zhou Wen: Oh, then I'm female.

Hu Tingting: He's male, though he certainly is cute.

Zhou Wen: How do you know?

Hu Tingting: How many men do you think I've slept with?

Zhou Wen: ...You certainly have plenty of experience, sis.

Hu Tingting: Heh, I've never had any experience pretending to be a man to seduce women.

Xu Changnian: Stop arguing. It'll be time to choose a site soon. I suggest we pick a captain first.

Zhou Wen: I vote for Lin Ye.

Lin Ye: Do you know me?

Zhou Wen: No, but my senses are pretty keen. You could absolutely use your mental power to confirm my sex, actually. I wouldn't mind.

Lin Ye: I would.

Lin Ye sent the Psionic Energy Circulation pathway diagram to the chat room.

Xu Changnian: Is this a pathway diagram for absorbing psionic energy?

Lin Ye: I collected all the Mutation Cards. This is a simplified version of the pathway diagram the system customized for me. I've already posted it in our regional group, and I hope you can help me post it in yours.

Zhou Wen: Sure, Captain.

Xu Changnian: Sure. As long as you don't give us stupid orders, I agree to you being captain too.

Hu Tingting: I agree too. Can I charge a few coins before posting it in the group?

Lin Ye: Suit yourself. Of course, you'll have to bear the consequences yourself too.

Hu Tingting: ...Then forget it.

[Choose any site to disembark at, survive there until the train arrives tomorrow, and board the train to leave the site]

[Note: After ten sites, the train will enter the Shallow-Sea Region]

Lin Ye: All right, let's choose a site first. We can think about the rest afterward.

Zhou Wen: The captain is right.

Hu Tingting: You'd make a fortune in our line of work.

Zhou Wen: I can tell you're certainly good at it, sis. I couldn't do it, though. My family is strict, and my grades aren't bad either. I probably wouldn't have a chance to get into that sort of industry.

Amid their friendly exchange, the train stopped at the first site.

Unlike last time, they couldn't see the conditions outside. All they could see was an introduction to the site, resembling a movie poster, pasted on an interior wall of the station:

An exploration team enters the Endless Wasteland in search of a lost relic. Can they make it out of that deadly wasteland teeming with aberrant creatures alive?

Below the text was a picture of a black wasteland. Four abstract figures stood in the center, surrounded by monsters baring their fangs and brandishing their claws.

Lin Ye: Shall we check the next one?

Zhou Wen: Yeah, this one looks dangerous. The next one will definitely be easy.

Hu Tingting: I don't want to go exploring in the wilderness either.

Xu Changnian: So-so. We can keep looking.

Ten minutes later, the train arrived at the second site.

Site introduction:

The Deep-Sea Mine comes under attack from undersea beasts, leaving a team trapped on the ocean floor. Can they return to the surface alive?

Below the text was a picture of a mine deep in the sea. The mine had lost contact with the surface, and four abstract figures were trapped inside, with faint shadows drifting around them.

Lin Ye: Rule it out.

Zhou Wen: Agreed.

Hu Tingting: Agreed.

Xu Changnian: Agreed.

No one wanted to risk an adventure in the deep sea.

The train set off, and ten minutes later, it stopped at the third site.

Site introduction:

An extremely dangerous, mysterious relic finds its way to Mingting City. As a team belonging to Mingting City's law enforcement department, can they prevent the impending disaster in Mingting City?

Below the text was a picture of a city packed with people. Four noticeably more abstract figures were squeezed into the crowd, swept along with the flow.

Lin Ye: Too complicated. I suggest ruling it out.

Zhou Wen: That's what I was thinking too.

Hu Tingting: But we have limited options. At this site, wouldn't we just need to find that mysterious relic? Besides, we'd be law enforcement officers, so we should be able to get official help.

Xu Changnian: I think this site looks pretty good too. As long as we can find that relic ahead of time, this site should be very safe.

Lin Ye: Do you know what a relic is? An extremely dangerous relic wouldn't find its way to Mingting City out of nowhere. There must be a chain of cause and effect behind it that we don't know about. Mingting City probably has a lot of people, and a nighttime mission lasts one night at most. We'd have to distinguish allies from enemies in an extremely complicated environment, while also finding a dangerous relic we know absolutely nothing about. I can agree to getting off at this site, but are you prepared to put your lives on the line? If we're unlucky, the entire city could become our enemy.

Hu Tingting: Uh, I admit I was hasty earlier.

Xu Changnian: You're describing the worst-case scenario...but you do have a point.

The train set off again and stopped at the fourth site ten minutes later.

Site introduction:

A remote town is shrouded in an eerie fog, and a team is dispatched to investigate. Can they leave the town alive?

Below the text was a picture of a fog-shrouded town. Four abstract figures were surrounded by the fog, lost within it.

Lin Ye: Let's go with this one. It isn't an extreme environment like the deep sea, and there's no troublesome relic. Zhou Wen and I both have decent mental power, so we won't lose our bearings easily in the fog.

Zhou Wen: Agreed.

Hu Tingting: If you're confident you won't get lost in the fog, I agree too.

Xu Changnian: Agreed. It's a shame the rewards here might be a little less.

Lin Ye: Just making it out alive would be good enough.

The four left the compartment. There were no other passengers in the corridor; perhaps they were all in their compartments.

After getting off the train, they found that the station had an entrance and an exit. There was nothing at the entrance, while the exit was a pale green gate of light.

The four stepped into the gate of light one after another and arrived at Foggy Town.