Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 1230 - 1231: The Frenzied Player

Chapter 1230: Chapter 1231: The Frenzied Player

Mu Yan turned her head to look at him, her face full of a "Are you serious?" expression.

The trio eavesdropping nearby had the same look — the master of the maze, the holder of the Rank-C Copy, would he actually grow fruits to sell for money?

It seemed far more believable to say he was growing them for fun or to satisfy his appetite.

"Why not?" Xu Huo, as if reading their thoughts, replied leisurely, "Such a large space left empty is a waste. Don’t you ever want to grow something here?"

"Absolutely no such idea." Mu Yan, following his gaze toward the maze wall in front, thought for a moment and then said, "If used as a laboratory, it could actually be divided into several isolated compartments."

After finishing the fruits, the two returned to the vicinity of the shelter.

The masked man and the scar-faced man had already tended to the short-haired woman’s wound. Watching the ever-wriggling maze wall, the former spoke, "This maze wall seems to be pressing toward the space."

The trio quickly went over to inspect and found that the mucus left behind by the Mutant Plants on the ground had already been covered — this indicated that the maze passage they were in had been continuously narrowing all along.

"What do we do?" The trio asked their companions.

"How would I know?" The black-shirted player lying on the ground shrugged. "Panicking won’t help. Let’s just wait. Perhaps a passage will emerge soon. The maze couldn’t possibly kill us all, could it? I believe we’re not the only ones encountering this situation. If everyone died, who’d play the instance?"

Once he finished speaking, Mu Yan and the scar-faced man’s expressions became visibly gloomier.

Because the number of players in the instance wasn’t fixed, the maze’s sudden change might very well signify a card redistribution. Those who entered earlier claimed most of the cards, leaving the ones who came later cardless.

"Looks like this is where the maze’s difficulty ramps up in the later stage." Scar-faced man said, "The maze can easily kill players randomly."

It wouldn’t even have to kill them — it could simply trap them here. Unable to break through the maze walls, they’d be forced to wait out the instance timer.

"Isn’t that just cheating?" Mu Yan muttered under his breath, "How would anyone clear it at this rate?"

Xu Huo didn’t see it that way. The maze was almost certainly designed to reduce the number of players in the latter stages, but not necessarily randomly, nor to wipe out the majority entirely. This might have something to do with the cards in their hands.

Anyone holding a card and breezing through the maze too quickly would ruin the game’s intrigue, so the maze naturally sought ways to remove those individuals.

If he were in charge, he’d do the same.

The players who touched the maze walls mid-way or killed others to acquire playing cards seemed to align more with the instance’s goals. These types of players might continue killing even after obtaining six cards to collect special numeric or crowned cards. Before clearing the instance, such players would likely become the ultimate obstacle.

Unfortunately, the cooldown for Little Mushroom Cloud wasn’t over yet. Otherwise, they could have tried blasting the walls.

Although the maze walls were slowly converging toward the center, their movement was sluggish. Seeing that the maze wasn’t outright intent on killing them all instantly, the players relaxed somewhat.

Under the black-shirted player’s lead, the trio engaged in some casual entertainment — they happened to have playing cards in their hands.

Xu Huo glanced over, walked toward them, and after learning the rules a bit, remarked, "Is this a specialty of Card City?"

"Yeah, Card City has tons of card-based games." The black-shirted player replied. "When I bought these cards, the seller mentioned they were most similar to the ones in the maze."

Among Xu Huo’s cards were numeric cards, flower cards, and even a crowned card.

"The maze doesn’t seem to have crowned cards though," he said.

"I told you it’s just the most similar, not identical." The black-shirted player responded. "In Card City’s version, you’re supposed to ignore five cards, so the crowned card is an extra element. It can act as either a flower card or a numeric card."

Xu Huo nodded slightly, then played his crowned card.

The black-shirted player looked at him in surprise, "Starting out with such a good card? You shouldn’t play that big right off the bat."

But Xu Huo simply smiled, "Good cards should be used upfront to establish dominance. If you play poorly, even good cards won’t save you — wouldn’t that be a waste?"

Apparently, it was the first time the black-shirted player’s group had heard such a perspective. Finding it fresh, they exchanged glances and deliberately cornered Xu Huo while playing.

A few minutes later, the black-shirted player threw his cards down in frustration, "Makes no sense — all you’ve got are small cards, yet you still won!"

"Thanks to Card City’s card game rules," Xu Huo remarked.

"Impossible! I don’t believe you can keep winning every round. Let’s go again!" The black-shirted player was already picking up his cards, when suddenly a sound of movement came from the maze walls — playing cards scattered across the ground, and everyone present became highly alert.

Moments later, the previously disappeared passage reappeared.

The merging walls slowly opened, dragging out two long streaks of blood. The short-haired woman’s two companions remained embedded in the maze walls, their twisted bodies lifeless.

The short-haired woman’s group paused briefly as they passed the corpses. Scar-faced man initially wanted to close the two’s eyes, but the masked man stopped him, "If we trigger another maze disturbance, it’ll put Xiao Qing in danger."

The scar-faced man lowered his hand.

The eight of them — the short-haired woman’s trio, the black-shirted player’s trio, and Xu Huo and Mu Yan bringing up the rear — passed through the corridor under the corpses’ dim, lifeless gaze.

"The fruits you just ate might have grown by absorbing nutrients from the dead," the black-shirted player said teasingly. "Feel grossed out yet?"

Mu Yan was utterly unaffected and revealed a disturbing truth, "Most of the vegetables and fruits on the Card City market are grown using second-cycle nutrients. Do you know what second-cycle nutrients are? Alien feces."

"Didn’t you guys eat when you arrived?"

"Oh, and besides alien feces, there’s also—"

At this, the black-shirted player turned green, covering his ears and raising his voice, "I didn’t hear anything! I didn’t hear anything! I didn’t hear anything!"

Mu Yan expressionlessly replied, "What’s the big deal about eating things grown among corpses? You can eat corpses too."

It wasn’t the best topic, as they saw someone eating a corpse just as they exited the passage. It was a Cannibal Player, but his bloodshot eyes and bulging veins on his face and neck made him look clearly abnormal.

"Are there plants here that trigger insatiable appetite?" Xu Huo asked.

"Of course there are..." Mu Yan sidestepped the approaching Cannibal Player and continued, "But they wouldn’t drive someone mad like this. Plus, most players wouldn’t even touch the Maze Walls’ plants!"

The walls were lined with many toxic Mutant Plants, so players normally wore gloves or protective suits when handling them. Even a slight touch should not cause one to lose sanity.

As Xu Huo also avoided the man, he noticed two more Cannibal Players being driven over from the front of the passage!