Chapter 3: The Preliminary Train
"Detected this player's attributes, providing the following three occupation options:"
"A: Gambler; B: Adventurer; C: Passerby A."
"Please choose carefully."
The countdown on the screen began, dropping from sixty to fifty-nine.
One minute to choose.
Xu Huo selected C and entered his nickname. A line of text floated up on the screen:
[Congratulations, Passerby A, on becoming a preliminary player of the Dimension Crack game]
[Player Nickname: Passerby A]
[Occupation: Passerby A]
[Note: As someone forever on the road, his chance of becoming the protagonist is only one in ten thousand.]
[Player Level: E]
[Evolution: 7%]
[Assets: 200 White Notes]
[Note: The Chairman of Stellar Corporation is undoubtedly the most popular man.]
[Note 2: Initial asset amount is converted based on the player's accumulated assets at a certain ratio.]
[Primary Trait: Tireless Legs]
[Note 1: How could a Passerby A, who spends his life on the move, not have a good pair of legs?]
[Items: (Empty)]
The personal information quickly switched:
[Player Passerby A will head to Preliminary Train No. 301. This train departs at 8:00 AM train time and arrives at the terminal station at 8:00 AM three days later.]
[Based on Player Passerby A's asset status, your seat is in Second Class. Wishing you a pleasant journey.]
When the countdown on the screen hit zero, the surroundings lit up again. Xu Huo, who had just been in the hotel, was now sitting in a train seat, the flame on his lighter not yet extinguished.
The moving train emitted a faint mechanical hum. Bright sunlight streamed in and out of the carriage. With just a glance, he could see the scenery outside through the three transparent walls.
Under the azure sky, the train traveling in a straight line cut the space into two halves. On the left was a forest, and on the right was a snowy white ice field. One side was full of red flowers and green grass, the other floating ice and snow, looking very realistic.
The panoramic carriage had a futuristic feel. The scenery, completely different yet strangely appearing in the same scene, brought varying degrees of surprise to the twelve people who had simultaneously appeared in the carriage. But soon, that surprise turned into wariness of the others.
As fellow evolvers, the fragrance filling the carriage was dizzying!
"Gulp!" Someone swallowed their saliva.
Xu Huo immediately felt for the folding knife in his pocket.
"Ding dong!"
At that moment, the electronic announcement sounded:
"Welcome, all evolvers, aboard Preliminary Train No. 301. This train departs from the Three-Dimensional Point, passes through the Dimension Crack, and arrives at the terminal station, Five-Dimensional Station, at 8:00 AM train time three days later. There may be bumps during the journey. Please remain calm, everyone."
"As preliminary players of the Dimension Crack, the train will classify and rate evolvers based on their performance during the journey. Please mind your words and actions."
"The following travel rules will now be announced."
"One: You must spend."
"Two: Please do not enter other carriages casually."
"Three: Lights out at 8:00 PM."
"Four: Conductors have the right to expel preliminary players."
"All preliminary players must strictly adhere to the above rules. Wishing everyone a pleasant journey."
After the electronic announcement stopped, the carriage fell silent. It was a while before someone spoke: "Where is this place? Can't we get off the train?"
The speaker was a young girl with a ponytail, tightly gripping the sleeve of a young man in a shirt beside her.
"Get off?" A man who looked like an executive tapped the transparent glass. "I was just working from home, and suddenly I was brought onto this train. Judging by everyone's appearance, we've all come from different places. This area is definitely not the city we know. Getting off might not mean we can go back."
"Besides, everyone saw that game screen, right?"
"The announcement said this is a game, and we're all players. It shouldn't be dangerous, should it?" said a man in pajamas, still clutching an electric toothbrush, nervously. "Games are virtual. We might still be in our original positions, just with our consciousness in the game."
"Do you think current technology can do that?" A fashionably dressed woman in a spaghetti strap top raised her phone. "I'm more inclined to believe in the spiritual energy revival I've read about online."
"What spiritual energy revival? Miss, can I take a look?" A middle-aged woman in an apron and sleeve covers reached out.
The woman in the spaghetti strap top noticed the bloodstains on her and instinctively stepped back.
The middle-aged woman quickly removed her sleeve covers. "I was just killing a chicken. Didn't have my phone on me."
The woman in the spaghetti strap top curled her lip. "No signal on my phone either."
"Mine neither," said the executive man.
"Can't we go back? Professor Han?" The ponytail girl grabbed the young man beside her.
Professor Han looked serious. "The announcement said the train is going from the Three-Dimensional Point to the Five-Dimensional Station."
"Actually, besides evolvers, many other anomalies have appeared on Earth. Some can no longer be explained by existing scientific knowledge. Perhaps other, more advanced civilizations are invading Earth."
The others in the carriage clearly didn't know much about this and couldn't respond. The woman in the spaghetti strap top, who read more novels, retorted, "Invading Earth like this? Making a game out of it?"
Professor Han was speechless. Just the situation with evolvers was confusing enough, let alone getting to the bottom of it.
While they were talking, Xu Huo had already checked his personal belongings.
Everything he had on him was there: his phone, cigarette case, and folding knife. In addition, there were two thin pieces of paper, similar in texture to ordinary banknotes, with a black human head silhouette printed on both sides and the words "Stellar Corporation Virtual Currency" in the bottom corner.
Stellar Corporation should be the development company for the Dimension Crack game.
He put away the slightly warm lighter and checked the time. The electronic clock in the carriage showed 8:00 AM, while his phone showed exactly 10:00 PM.
The carriage was transparent on three sides, but the front and back had metal doors with glass windows, allowing a view of the carriages ahead and behind. Both carriages had people.
On the right side of the front door hung a sign reading "Second Class," with a light switch next to it.
Inside the carriage were six square tables arranged in two rows. Each table had two seats facing each other. The two seats in the same row were connected but separate from the table.
The woman in the spaghetti strap top sat alone in the first row on the left. The executive man and the pajama man sat in the first row on the right.
Professor Han and the ponytail female student sat in the second row on the left. Xu Huo sat in the second row on the right, next to a young girl in a patchwork robe, across from a heavily made-up woman with a large build.
Behind him sat an elderly man. At the next table was the middle-aged woman who had spoken earlier, with a man and a woman across from her.
Twelve people in total.
"In any case, we're on this train. It's best to follow the rules on board," said the executive man. "Since this train can bring us here, it can certainly make us disappear without a trace."
"Are we really supposed to play the Dimension Crack game according to the prompts?" the ponytail girl said, on the verge of tears. "I don't like playing games."
"It's okay. I believe that as long as we do what the announcement says, nothing will happen," Professor Han comforted her.
"So what are we supposed to do?" the middle-aged woman asked uneasily. "I've never played a game either."
Everyone looked at each other. The announcement only told them to ride the train for three days and follow the rules, with no other hints.
"Maybe we just have to survive these three days," the woman in the spaghetti strap top said with a shrug.
These words silenced everyone again, and they each returned to their original seats.
"Don't be so nervous. I think the situation isn't hard to guess. The preliminary train must be a test for us evolvers. There might be more hints in the next three days. Let's work together and get through this first hurdle."