Chapter 2023: A Nightmare
The accumulated rain fell from the sky like ocean waves, crashing heavily onto the train. The crushed and deformed train swayed left and right along the tracks with the water currents, then began to float, as if submerged in a boundless sea—yet in reality, the heavy downpour from the sky had formed its own body of water, precisely enveloping this section of track including the train. From the outside, it looked as if a transparent swimming pool had appeared in the space.
Of course, the players inside quickly escaped from the pool. The train had already been invaded by the rain, forcing all players to retreat onto the tracks. Looking back at the vehicle completely submerged in water, everyone felt only shock. It was already absurd enough that bugs could turn into rain, but they could also freely form shapes and reach such a massive scale!
The players stood near the train at varying heights and distances, none daring to remove their defensive items. All focused intently on the still-churning water waves.
"They look so calm," a female player murmured.
It was hard to imagine that this entire body of water was composed entirely of bugs.
"We can't let them keep multiplying," the red headband player decided decisively, immediately hurling all the insecticides and other agents they had purchased in advance toward the train—ordinary insecticides might not be as effective as poisons, but using poisons could backfire, so the players had reached a consensus before acting.
Colorful insecticides exploded in the water, seemingly having some effect, as the side of the water near the players began to collapse. A large amount of water poured outward, gradually flooding the grass on both sides of the tracks.
But before the players could celebrate, more water surged from the ground, rising like a fountain, climbing higher and higher, occupying the space near the tracks. In an instant, it swelled to dozens of feet, crashing down on all the players like a true wave!
Xu Huo quickly stacked defensive items on himself, including "Space Sphere," "Auto Film," and "Unyielding Substitute for the Dead," and also layered several cube barriers around himself with space power. Just as he prepared to withstand the impact of the giant wave, the water rushing toward him suddenly seemed to lose its force. It neither destroyed the space barriers nor made him feel any impact. Instead, the next second, he felt as if an invisible force had seized him, flipping his head and feet upside down. As he grew dizzy and hurriedly adjusted his posture, his feet suddenly met resistance.
He instinctively leaned forward, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself still sitting on the train. Beneath his feet was the intact carpet. The faint sound of the train moving and the light filtering through the window both indicated that the train was still traveling safely.
"...Evolutionary species experiment forced to terminate," a mechanical voice murmured faintly in his ears. He jerked his head up toward the position of the triplets, but only caught a glimpse of them lifting their boxes and leaping off the train!
Then the other players gradually awoke from their slumber. Everyone looked shocked and confused as they surveyed the situation on the train.
The train was perfectly intact, without any damage. The players who had been drowned or even dissected were all still alive. Only the five people carrying the boxes were missing.
The train remained silent for a long time before someone spoke. "Did we accidentally enter an instance, or did we all have a collective nightmare?"
Many instinctively turned their gazes toward the players who had died. Whether they had been drowned, committed suicide, or been killed by other players, they had all experienced a very realistic death!
"What exactly happened?" The fortune-telling female player instinctively wanted to seek answers from Xu Huo, but she stopped as she opened her mouth. If they had only slept on the train, then everything they had just experienced wasn't real. The words spoken and the actions taken were impossible to distinguish as true or false.
Xu Huo was also somewhat confused. In the previous events, he had clearly sensed the interference of spiritual power all around him. But in his view, its intensity was far from enough to cause advanced players to collectively hallucinate. Moreover, "death" was an event with absolute impact. It was very abnormal that the killed players hadn't woken up in time. Even more abnormal was that, throughout this process, he hadn't realized anything was wrong!
Although he had felt a discrepancy between his vision and reality when he finally touched the waves, he hadn't realized that the environment he was in was fake until he woke up.
"Evolutionary species experiment"? What evolutionary species?
His nasal cavity felt hot. He instinctively reached for a handkerchief, only to find that the front of his clothes was already soaked with blood.
Pausing briefly, he wiped away the fresh blood smeared over his mouth and nose, then got up to go to the restroom to clean up.
After washing his face, he looked at himself in the mirror. Plagued by headaches for a long time, he appeared exhausted, with bloodshot eyes. He had probably lost quite a bit of blood, as his face was pale and his lips had lost their color.
"Was it the aftereffects affecting my judgment, or does there really exist in the game an evolutionary species that can cause someone to fall into a hallucination without any awareness?"
This inevitably reminded him of the video material he had received in District 017. Someone had filmed some experimental species, and one of them could even affect the mental state of the viewer.
The experiment was forced to terminate. It must have failed, right...
"Still not coming out?" The fortune-telling female player knocked on the door from outside.
Xu Huo turned off the water and pulled the door open, his face dark as he asked, "Something?"
"You're overreacting a bit." The fortune-telling female player quickly stepped back. "We were comrades in the dream, you know..."
Seeing his grim expression, she quickly added, "Since none of us have lost our memories, our experiences should be more or less the same. You have some understanding of my trait. Although I can't make accurate judgments about how long someone will live, I do have a divination trait. I just did a divination for you. You'd better not go home anytime soon."
"What do you mean?" Xu Huo frowned.
"The divination result is this: going home won't bring good things, and it might even bring disaster to your family." The fortune-telling female player thought for a moment and added, "Divination isn't exactly predicting the future, but the result is related to a person's luck. Luck is hard to pin down, as if it's destined by some unseen force. I can't explain the principle, but since you seem like a decent person, I'm making an exception to tell you."
"This is good advice. Don't take it as a curse."
Xu Huo looked at her, was silent for a moment, then handed over a B-grade item he had grabbed at random. "Thanks."
The fortune-telling female player waved her hand. "I'm not doing this for a reward. I just happen to like you. But if you really want to thank me..."
She stepped forward, closing the distance between them, then extended her index finger and lightly traced it across his clothes. "Don't be so rigid. We could get to know each other better."
Xu Huo grabbed her arm and placed the item in her hand.
The fortune-telling female player didn't seem particularly disappointed. She took the item and stepped back. "I'm getting off at the next station. I hope we meet again in the game."
A few minutes later, Xu Huo was also standing in the station of District 011.