Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 1198

Chapter 1198: Chapter 1198

(To edit later) The fleeing player had been using props to move between floors, but unexpectedly stepped onto Shelter 101. Unable to break through this metallic game prop, he caught sight of Xu Huo nearby, raising a crossbow arrow and aiming at him!

What shot out of the crossbow wasn’t a physical arrow but a semi-transparent shard of ice that pierced the wall and quickly melted away!

"You’re not the one I’m after," Xu Huo stated plainly. However, that brief moment of delay allowed the pursuing player to descend from the upper floor. But just as a pair of feet appeared, they were violently flung aside, carving a deep groove into the ceiling before slamming into the wall and coming to a halt.

The next second, two people and a stone lion fell onto the same floor as Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu.

"Da Mao, attack!" Yan Jiayu called out, commanding the stone lion to pounce while slapping a muscular doll sticker onto her face. In an instant, her speed surged explosively, making her as fast as an untraceable cannonball that blasted toward the figure by the wall!

The player clearly dismissed her reckless fighting style and patted his shoulder. A blue arc of light unfolded in front of him. With the arc shielding him, he didn’t even glance at Yan Jiayu, focusing instead on the stone lion jogging in a circle nearby.

But just as he prepared to deal with the stone lion, Yan Jiayu—the human bomb—slammed into him. Whether it’s due to some other invisible defensive prop on her, she drove the player straight through the wall, leaving cracks on the protective light arc in the process!

"What?!" The player couldn’t hide his shock, and the momentum sent him crashing into the outermost wall of the building. He was immediately bounced back by a barrier sealing the wall surface.

In contrast, Yan Jiayu, the one exerting the force, remained composed. She landed steadily in the middle of the room, wielding the Demon-Subduing Pestle, and unleashed a chaotic barrage of attacks!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A few strikes later, a shield prop was left riddled with cracks. The player hastily evaded, using a characteristic ability to temporarily slow Yan Jiayu before heading toward Xu Huo!

His true target was the government player who hadn’t yet escaped. But before he could reach halfway, a streak of icy light swept in from the side!

The pursuing player quickly sidestepped, and as he lifted his arm, dozens of cowhair needles shot out from his sleeve.

With the air barrier temporarily unavailable, Xu Huo promptly placed and withdrew Shelter 101 in front of him, simultaneously activating both the "Extreme Fatigue" and "Progress Bar Disappearance" effects during his attack.

The player immediately felt themselves affected by the prop’s effects. Pressing a button on their cuff, their outfit bristled like scales, shifting in color before returning to normal. Any signs of fatigue vanished from their face!

Yan Jiayu and the stone lion closed in again. The lazy Da Mao took a hit on his backside, which enraged him enough to vent all his fury on the pursuing player. With bites and clawing, the player was forced into retreat step by step.

"The vase’s function!" The player tossed a mat onto the ground in his struggle. Da Mao’s paw slipped on it, pinning one claw to the floor.

But it wasn’t much of an impediment. The violence-prone stone lion simply dug a hole in the floor. Being stuck to the mat wasn’t an issue; Da Mao dragged the floorboard along with him.

Da Mao was tough to handle, and Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu were no less relentless. Yan Jiayu engaged in close combat, while Xu Huo supported with props from the side, occasionally sneaking in a fatal strike. After three minutes of skirmish, both sides had taken damage.

Glancing upward, Xu Huo ascended the stairs. By the time he reached the third floor, he sensed someone descending rapidly through the center of the building and immediately positioned Shelter 101 beneath the office level.

*

The train ride was relatively calm, likely one of the few tranquil trips Xu Huo had experienced in numerous instances. Before reaching Card City, the site of the Poker Card Maze, Liang Shuang shared some information regarding the instance.

"So, the instance entrance used to be fixed, and there would be dedicated maze markers. People from Card City specifically used them to guide visiting players. But after the instance upgrade, the entrance became randomized among five different cities."

"District 001 has ten stations, and the station we’ll disembark at is Card City. Initially, the only way to enter the maze was through this city. After the upgrade, four more cities were added. While these cities aren’t far from each other by District 001 standards, using local high-speed flyers still takes at least half a day to travel between them."

This kind of separation was considered vast for zones capable of extensively using flyers. Given that District 001’s technology was even more advanced than Zone 011’s, with faster flyers, it was evident how massive this district was.

"Each of the five cities has an entrance. How many people can enter the instance at a time?" Xu Huo asked.

"Fifty-four," Liang Shuang replied. "No matter how many enter, those who are eliminated will be ejected before the instance begins. That’s why there are plenty of tickets for the Poker Card Maze, but not everyone gets the chance to complete the instance."

"As for the elimination criteria, you’ll find out once you’re inside."

"I mainly wanted to emphasize the entrance problem. Since we won’t know where the entrance is beforehand, you need to keep your ticket on you at all times. It’s the first identity verification step. But once we arrive, be cautious—there are plenty of ticket thieves. Everyone wants a shot at it."

"Generally speaking, the entrances are related to doors. That means any door in the city could potentially turn into an entrance—sometimes a mall door, other times a restroom door. It’s unpredictable, so we’ll likely be separated when we enter."

"Also, the areas you enter within the maze are randomized. We’ll need to agree on a meeting point beforehand."

"However, if the doors we enter are close together, there’s a good chance we’ll start at the same maze entrance. It’s said the Poker Card Maze has at least fifteen entry points. If we enter different ones, we’ll only be able to meet in the later stages of the maze."

"No communication allowed inside the maze?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "Then how do we coordinate our meeting spot?"

"That’s one of Card City’s specialties," Liang Shuang explained. "They’ve developed a one-time-use prop specifically for the maze, called ’Same Sect Companion.’ If two or more people wear it and are in the same maze entrance, the item will provide color-based indicators. The color changes based on proximity between the wearers."

"I guess scaling the walls inside the maze isn’t an option," Xu Huo remarked.

Liang Shuang sighed regretfully. "It’s all luck. Even if we share an entrance, the pathways might be so complex that it takes ages to meet... At that point, we’ll just have to go our separate ways. As long as we’re on the right track, we should reunite in the maze’s latter half."

What Liang Shuang found worrisome didn’t bother Xu Huo much. It was a basic mechanic. If a Rank-C maze instance didn’t have at least this level of difficulty, how could it hand out such generous rewards?

He had already checked some maze-related information on Beneath the Dimension, though most were from before the upgrade. Since the upgrade altered the rules and gameplay, there were no complete instance guides available.

"Is there anything else we need to watch out for?" Xu Huo asked again.