Chapter 2832: A-Class Train
The man remained composed. "I'm not a member of the Holy Sword Society, but I do have some connections within it. If you two are heading to Area 033 to complete an instance, my connections might come in handy. A-Class instances aren't easy to clear."
The middle-aged woman was silent for a moment before speaking to Xu Huo. "A49-033 is the only A-Class wormhole point that recognizes the Holy Sword Society as legal. Although most Holy Sword Society members keep a low profile, anyone who knows about it understands that this district has a very good relationship with the Society."
"Given the Holy Sword Society's style, the chance of them helping someone clear an instance is very small. The odds of them dragging you down are much higher."
This was clearly a threat.
Xu Huo nodded slightly. "I've heard something of the Holy Sword Society's ways."
"I've dealt with Holy Sword Society people before. I wonder if every Gold Disciple is so unreasonable."
Gold Disciples were among the top-tier members of the Holy Sword Society, both in strength and status.
The man's expression shifted slightly. He then said, "The Holy Sword Society has many members, so inevitably there are good and bad among them. If you have an old grudge with the Society, you can settle it when you reach Area 033."
"I'm not a Holy Sword Society member, so don't mistake me for one."
The woman sitting beside him shoved him. "I knew you were this cowardly, I never would have followed you. Both of us are A-Class players, and you're this scared? Aren't you ashamed?"
The man ignored her entirely, taking the opportunity to put distance between them. He said to Xu Huo and the others, "This has nothing to do with me."
With that, he left the carriage directly.
At other levels, the gap between the upper and lower limits of player strength wasn't that large. If a player had talent and worked hard, they wouldn't stay at any given level for long. That's why players of the same level didn't seem too different.
But A-Class was different. Below Super Players, the vast majority of players in all these years of the game could only ever stay at this level. So the upper limit of A-Class was very high.
Of course, because of game guides and family backgrounds, reaching A-Class wasn't an insurmountable challenge, so the lower limit of A-Class was also very low.
And this upper and lower limit couldn't be compared to the same-level gaps at B-Class or below. The strongest among A-Class were close to Super Players in strength!
Seeing the man leave so decisively, the woman grew somewhat alert. Facing Xu Huo and the others, she backed away to the rear door of the carriage and silently slipped out.
The carriage returned to calm. Everyone restrained their usual habits, trying not to disturb others.
Xu Huo looked out the window again.
The train for A-Class players was much more luxurious and spacious than the B-Class one. The train's length had increased, but the number of players per carriage had decreased significantly. Besides the areas for conversation and activity, each carriage had rooms corresponding to the number of players, ensuring everyone on board had a place to stay—and these rooms were free.
In addition, besides the dining car, the train had some transition carriages for resting and provided some entertainment facilities. Players who couldn't stand their own carriage would usually rough it in the transition carriages.
Two people had left Xu Huo's carriage, leaving only six people including him. Each could have a separate viewing seat by the window.
The sky near the A-Class train tracks was also completely different from before. The space around tracks below B-Class sometimes looked like a patchwork, but the space outside A-Class tracks was complete. It looked like passing through an ordinary space. Sunlight streamed in freely outside the window, flowers bloomed wildly, and fish occasionally leaped in the flowing water, stirring up faint rainbow light.
It looked like a perfect leisure spot for a walk.
"This is my first time going to an A-Class district." A male player around thirty struck up a conversation with the middle-aged woman. "I read on 'Under Dimension' that the area around A-Class train tracks is usually calm most of the time. They don't even turn off the lights at night?"
"Most of the time," the middle-aged woman said warmly, warning the male player. "If something does happen near A-Class tracks, it's no small problem. Dimensional Storms most often appear on A-Class tracks. Once you encounter one, the chance of survival is very small."
"Look outside. It looks pretty, but I think it's worse than B-Class."
"They really don't turn off the lights at night?" the male player asked again.
"Most of the time they don't. But players have gotten used to turning off the lights when the sky around the tracks gets dark," the woman said. "No matter what happens, everyone maintains this understanding."
"There's another situation: when the train suddenly forces the lights off."
"Encountering a Xenomorph?" the man pressed.
The female player nodded. "The Xenomorphs near A-Class tracks are all kinds of strange. The best way is to avoid direct conflict. Although A-Class trains are of better quality, they're still just trains. If they get overturned or damaged, everyone will be stranded on the tracks."
"You need to be careful about that."
Compared to suddenly appearing Xenomorphs, most players were more worried about unruly newcomers. If a fight broke out and someone didn't know their own strength and damaged the train, everyone would be doomed.
"If you don't understand, ask more questions and do less," another middle-aged male player said. "If something unexpected happens, watch what others do. Don't try to show off."
The young man wasn't annoyed. He nodded seriously.
No one took the initiative to warn Xu Huo. Everyone assumed he was an A-Class veteran.
Soon, in the blink of an eye, the sky that had been fine suddenly plunged into complete darkness. The train's lights weren't turned off, but at high speed, it was impossible to see anything near the tracks. The light did shine outward, but just looking at it made people uneasy.
The middle-aged woman was the first to turn off the lights in the carriage. She lowered her voice. "The day-night cycle near the tracks is chaotic. Maybe it'll get bright again in a while. Everyone, stop talking."
Other carriages also turned off their lights, even the locomotive.
Under this heavy silence, the train traveled for about three hours. Then, in another blink, the sky brightened again. The area around the tracks became filled with birdsong and floral fragrance again.
But this lasted less than half an hour before the sky darkened again.
The train once again fell into darkness by mutual agreement.
After this repeated several times, an announcement suddenly came over the train's speakers:
"Attention all passengers. The train will be subjected to a Xenomorph impact in thirty seconds. All passengers are requested to protect themselves while using items and devices cautiously to avoid damaging the train."
The announcement only played once. But immediately afterward, all players felt the train's speed increase. In the span of a breath, dense impacts sounded against the windows of every carriage. It sounded like small, swarming mutated birds. But no one expected that such small things could actually break through the windows!
The mutated birds crashed against the windows one after another until they finally broke through. When bat-like creatures began slamming against the defense barriers in succession, every player on the train silently cursed the Dimensional Rift Game in their hearts.