First Stop: Don't Let "It" Sit Down!

"Thank you."

"I'll sit right here."

Shen Niannian refused without hesitation.

The conductor stood where it was.

It fell silent for a full three seconds.

[Current status: Even more nervous]

[Current thought: Why won't she go to the private carriage?]

Shen Niannian looked at the new prompt.

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

(¬_¬)

It seemed this fellow really wasn't just trying to trick her.

But the problem remained the same.

Rule one was perfectly clear.

[Please remain in your assigned seat at all times.]

Her ticket said 12A.

Even if the conductor genuinely wanted to upgrade her seat,

Until she understood the rules,

Shen Niannian wasn't going to move.

In the end, the conductor could only bow its head slightly.

"Understood."

"If you need anything, please let me know at any time."

With that,

It turned and left.

An eerie silence settled over the carriage once more.

The other players looked at the conductor.

Then they looked at Shen Niannian.

Their expressions had completely changed.

Especially the young man who had sat in the wrong seat earlier.

He stood with his mouth open for a long time.

In the end, he couldn't hold back.

"Um..."

"Have you ridden this train before?"

Shen Niannian: "No."

"Then do you know the conductor?"

"No."

"Then why did it call you an honored passenger?"

Shen Niannian fell silent for two seconds.

(￣ー￣)

"That's a good question."

"I'd like to know too."

The young man: "..."

Cheng Ye, however, didn't press the matter.

He simply looked over the rules again.

Then he said quietly, "Regardless of why the conductor is treating you differently, there's one thing we can establish for now."

Shen Niannian looked at him.

"What?"

"It didn't force you to change seats."

"That means the restriction in rule one probably takes priority over the conductor's own arrangements."

Shen Niannian's eyes lit up.

This was a lot like the Blood Moon Hotel.

The uncanny beings could favor her.

They could give her extra care.

But the instance's core rules couldn't be violated.

At least for now,

That principle still held true.

"So I can take advantage of special treatment,"

Shen Niannian concluded.

"But I can't count on it to save my life."

Cheng Ye nodded.

"More or less."

The livestream chat immediately came alive.

"These two work well together."

"Shen Niannian has unusual information, and Cheng Ye sorts out the logic behind the rules."

"One keeps the boss from daring to make a move, while the other focuses on clearing the instance."

"Hey, why did you make them sound like some weird duo?"

Just then,

Bzzzt-

The carriage lights suddenly flickered.

Everyone's expressions instantly tightened.

The train's announcement sounded.

[The train will soon enter the first unlit section.]

[Estimated duration: Three minutes.]

[All passengers, please follow the rules for riding the train.]

Cheng Ye spoke almost immediately.

"Everyone, get away from the windows!"

"Don't look outside!"

Those sitting by the windows quickly looked away.

Some even closed their eyes.

Shen Niannian obediently turned her head toward the aisle as well.

Rule two.

[Once the train enters an unlit section, do not look at the windows.]

A rule written that clearly

Wasn't worth testing.

Soon,

The last trace of dim yellow light outside the windows vanished.

Click.

The lights throughout the carriage went out at once.

Darkness.

Complete darkness.

Only the clatter of the train's wheels against the tracks continued to echo.

Clack.

Clack.

Clack.

Shen Niannian sat up straight.

Her hands rested obediently on her knees.

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

Three minutes.

She just had to sit through it.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

One minute.

Nothing happened.

Just as quite a few players began to relax,

A girl's voice suddenly came from outside the window.

"Mom?"

The voice was soft.

It sounded tearful.

The middle-aged woman sitting in 7A went rigid.

Because that voice...

Was identical to her daughter's.

"Mom, I'm outside."

"Look at me."

The woman's eyes instantly reddened.

The livestream chat immediately flooded with messages.

"Don't look!"

"It's fake!"

"The train's moving at high speed. How could her daughter possibly be outside the window?!"

The woman kept her head firmly lowered.

But her hands had already begun to tremble.

The voice outside the window drew closer and closer.

"Mom."

"Didn't you say you wouldn't leave me behind?"

A deathly pale hand

Slowly pressed against the glass.

The woman finally broke down in tears.

But she still didn't look up.

Cheng Ye's calm voice rang out in the darkness.

"Don't listen."

"The rule only says not to look at the window."

"The more it wants you to look, the more likely it is that looking will trigger the condition for killing you."

His words were like a shot in the arm.

The woman bit down hard on her lip.

She didn't look up.

Three minutes passed.

Click!

The lights came back on.

The dim wilderness appeared outside the windows once more.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

The middle-aged woman slumped in her seat.

The livestream chat was full of relief too.

"They made it through!"

"This instance is nasty. It uses the voice of someone you know to trick you."

"Cheng Ye's judgment was sound."

"And he didn't make up any extra rules. He only emphasized the one they'd already confirmed."

Shen Niannian nodded silently too.

He really was dependable.

If Zhou Hai was the experienced type who dared to take risks to save people,

Cheng Ye leaned more toward-

Calm.

Cautious.

They didn't treat guesses as rules.

A teammate like that.

Was extremely valuable in an A-rank instance.

But the train didn't give everyone much time to rest.

The announcement sounded again.

[Next stop-Yellow Mud Station.]

[The train will stop for five minutes.]

[Passengers who need to get off here, please prepare in advance.]

Shen Niannian immediately looked at her ticket.

[Destination: Homecoming Station]

This wasn't it.

She didn't need to move.

Cheng Ye also reminded everyone, "Check your destinations again. If yours isn't Yellow Mud Station, don't get off."

Everyone checked their tickets.

None of the players needed to get off here.

Creak-

The train began to slow down.

A dilapidated platform gradually appeared outside the window.

There were no lights.

Only a crooked wooden sign.

[Yellow Mud Station]

The train came to a stop.

The doors opened.

A cold wind rushed into the carriage.

Then.

Figures began boarding from the dark platform.

Elderly people.

Women.

Children.

And a fat man dressed in burial clothes, his skin purplish-blue.

They all clutched tickets in their hands.

Rule four immediately surfaced in everyone's minds.

[Passengers will board and disembark at every station the train reaches. Do not prevent any "ticketed passenger" from taking a seat.]

Cheng Ye lowered his voice.

"Don't block their way."

"Just watch."

The eerie beings who had just boarded began looking for seats.

13A.

14C.

17B...

Everything was normal.

Until the last one.

A little girl holding a cloth doll stopped beside Shen Niannian.

She looked down at her ticket.

Then.

She raised her deathly pale little face.

"Big sister."

"You're sitting in my seat."

Shen Niannian: "?"

(・◇・)?

She looked down at her seat.

12A.

Then she checked her ticket.

It was also 12A.

That was right.

The livestream chat immediately grew tense.

"Here it comes!"

"The seat snatcher!"

"Rule four says you can't stop a ticketed passenger from taking a seat!"

"But Shen Niannian's seat is 12A too!"

The little girl slowly held up her ticket.

Written on it, clear as day, were-

[Carriage 4]

[12A]

Exactly the same!

The carriage fell silent.

The young man's face went pale.

"Two 12As?"

"How is that possible?"

Cheng Ye was already on his feet.

But he didn't come closer.

"First, let's see if she's a ticketed passenger."

Before Shen Niannian's eyes.

The Identity Archive appeared at the same time.

[Target: Passenger who boarded at Yellow Mud Station]

[Danger level: B-rank]

[Identity: Temporary passenger on the Lightless Train]

[Ticket holder: Yes]

Seeing the last line.

Shen Niannian's heart sank.

She really did have a ticket!

The little girl held her cloth doll.

The corners of her mouth slowly split open.

"Big sister."

"The rules say."

"You can't stop a ticketed passenger from taking a seat."

The livestream chat erupted.

"It's over!"

"She really has a ticket!"

"Then what can Shen Niannian do?"

"Giving up her seat breaks rule one, but refusing breaks rule four?!"

"Two conflicting rules?!"

Shen Niannian frowned as well.

No.

The instance couldn't have presented a situation with no solution at all.

Rule one.

She had to sit in the seat that belonged to her.

Rule four.

She couldn't stop a ticketed passenger from taking a seat.

The question definitely wasn't whether or not to give up her seat.

It was-

This ticket.

Shen Niannian was just about to take a closer look.

When Cheng Ye suddenly spoke beside her.

"There's a problem with your ticket."

The little girl's smile froze.

Cheng Ye stared at the ticket in her hand.

"Shen Niannian's ticket has Homecoming Station as its destination."

"What about yours?"

The little girl didn't answer.

Cheng Ye continued, "A complete ticket has at least three pieces of information: the carriage, the seat, and the destination."

"But the part you just showed us..."

"Has no destination on it."

Shen Niannian's eyes lit up.

Right!

Her ticket had [Destination: Homecoming Station] on it.

But the little girl's ticket-

Had nothing of the sort!

The livestream chat finally caught on too.

"Holy shit!"

"Cheng Ye spotted it!"

"A fake ticket?!"

"Not necessarily. She might only have temporary travel rights!"

At that moment.

Shen Niannian's level 1 Identity Archive refreshed again.

[Environment-related information: Temporary passengers only have the right to travel between stations and do not have ownership of a fixed seat.]

The corners of Shen Niannian's mouth slowly rose.

(✧ω✧)

She'd found it.

She looked at the little girl again.

"You do have a ticket."

"So I won't stop you from riding the train."

The little girl smiled again.

But Shen Niannian's next words.

Made her freeze on the spot.

"But-"

"That doesn't mean 12A is yours."

"A temporary ticket."

"Doesn't come with a fixed seat, does it?"

The carriage was deathly silent.

A few seconds later.

The smile slowly vanished from the little girl's face.

And before Shen Niannian's eyes.

Only one new status remained in the Identity Archive.

[Current status: Enraged from humiliation.]

Shen Niannian:

(｡ŏ_ŏ)

Uh-oh.

Although she'd won the argument.

This little thing...

Seemed ready to stop being reasonable.