Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 1240 - 1241: The Circulating Cards

Chapter 1240: Chapter 1241: The Circulating Cards

Eight players ganging up on one wasn’t going to work, nor would the scenario of mutual destruction between Xu Huo and the middle-aged man occur, so the players began to seek out their own opponents.

This wasn’t particularly difficult. Some were willing to strike first, while others preferred to hold back and let others fight it out, ready to swoop in during the chaos like a hidden predator.

Xu Huo’s first target was the middle-aged man. When the other players deliberately stepped aside, Xu Huo decisively drew his "Cake Cutter" and slashed toward him!

The vertical angle with the ground was just right to maximize the "Cake Cutter’s" effect—a fan-shaped slice landed squarely on the middle-aged man’s face, slicing through two of his Defense Props in succession.

The middle-aged man narrowly managed to block the attack using one of his Defense Props. Driven back against the maze wall by the impact, he immediately prepared to counterattack, but Xu Huo—who had already refined his control over Spatial Rays—quickly opened a small spatial barrier in front of the man’s hands. Though small, the barrier was sufficiently thick.

Naturally, Xu Huo had considered crushing his opponent’s prop directly, but for now, he could only manipulate props to a limited extent and had to settle for this alternative.

After his props failed three times in a row, the middle-aged man looked at Xu Huo with a mix of shock and suspicion. He held a detection prop himself, but it had failed to indicate the presence of a spatial barrier ahead. Flustered, he abandoned defense for offense and teleported to Xu Huo’s left, executing a swift sneak attack!

However, Xu Huo had already anticipated not just the direction of his actions but also the minute physical details of his movements beforehand. Compared to before, his perception had sharpened considerably. As the middle-aged man passed through the air—through Xu Huo’s Spatial Rays—it was as if his every movement slowed down, like a stuttering frame in a movie.

Xu Huo didn’t reveal his advantage outright. They exchanged over twenty moves back and forth with the "Cake Cutter" before he finally killed the middle-aged man.

Several cards that had been floating above the man’s head flew toward Xu Huo. The game prompt appeared:

"You may choose one or more cards from the defeated player or discard any cards."

The middle-aged man’s cards were white 15, black 3, and white 7.

The number 7 card was a Draw Card, which hadn’t been used for drawing yet. Numbers 15 and 8—like Xu Huo’s current possession of white 8—were Counter Cards, while the number 3 was inferred to be an Exchange Card.

For someone unfamiliar with the card types, these were merely numbered cards, but given their classifications, all three were undoubtedly valuable.

Xu Huo used the white card 8 to counter the black card 2, freeing up two card slots and claiming all three of the middle-aged man’s cards.

"When you clearly know the card face of your opponent’s cards, you can propose an exchange. The other party cannot refuse and can exchange their first card or someone else’s first card with your designated card. Once the exchange is complete, the Exchange Card will return to the maze."

This was the first time Xu Huo had obtained an Exchange Card—remarkably timely, saving him the effort of searching for one.

He immediately used the Draw Card on-site, but luck wasn’t on his side this time—he drew a Trap Card.

While Xu Huo was inspecting his cards, two other players started fighting. One player’s profession appeared to involve taming animals—he carried poisonous snakes with him, sneakily releasing three into the maze walls. During combat, these snakes played a crucial role—when his opponent was cornered against the maze wall, the snakes suddenly darted out and sank their fangs into the opponent’s face.

Players generally wore protective suits at all times, but for ventilation, they didn’t always wear face shields, leaving their faces as a relatively weak spot if they lacked props capable of instant defense in emergencies.

In evenly matched battles, hitting this exposed area might be rare, but mutated animals had no such constraints.

After being bitten by the snakes, the poisoned player immediately killed the snakes and administered antidote medication, but his opponent wasn’t idle, shouting at him, "Choke to death before you drink it!"

The bottle in the poisoned player’s hand suddenly shattered on its own. The Antitoxin, along with shards of glass, spilled onto the floor. The Snake-Controlling Player seized the opportunity and delivered another swift stab with his sword.

The poisoned player, overcome by the effects of the toxin, failed to dodge the strike and was killed on the spot.

Satisfied, the Snake-Controlling Player took the cards but didn’t bother reclaiming his snakes.

The other players watched coldly, saying nothing.

Next came a chaotic group battle. It started as one-on-one, but others quickly joined in. Ultimately, Mu Yan and Li Cheng were drawn into the fray as well. No specific targets emerged—everyone became a target.

Xu Huo retreated to the maze wall, ripped a snake swimming toward him off his side, and motioned Chen Chou to lend a hand.

In crowd fights, the advantage inevitably lay with those who could amass numbers.

Without the "Heart of the Deceased’s" assistance, Chen Chou wasn’t exactly weak; paired up with Mu Yan and Li Cheng, they quickly gained the upper hand, killing two players in swift succession.

Mu Yan and Li Cheng were granted the opportunity to draw cards.

Mu Yan picked a black card 20, while Li Cheng claimed a black card 21.

The number 20 card was a Location Card, capable of providing the position of a Flower Card. The number 21 card, meanwhile, was a Draw Card.

The Location Card was self-explanatory; the indicated position seemed to point toward Chen Chou’s Flower Card.

Li Cheng’s luck proved relatively good—she drew a Clue Card. With a trace of excitement, she informed the group, "This is the card we’ve been searching for."

What they currently sought most was a Direction Card.

Xu Huo nodded and shifted his gaze toward the remaining players.

Out of nine players, four had died, leaving just one Snake Controller.

Four-on-one—clearly, the Snake-Controlling Player wasn’t looking to fight them directly. He quickly expressed his stance, "How about we figure out a way to get out? You already outnumber me; having me with you won’t make much of a difference either way."

For now, the card exchange came to an end. Xu Huo gestured for the Snake-Controlling Player to retrieve all the snakes he had unleashed before dispersing alongside Mu Yan and the others to explore the maze walls.

Half the players were dead, yet the maze wall remained unresponsive—indicating the game’s completion criteria hadn’t been met.

After combing through the area and failing to find any mechanisms, and attempting to attack the walls with no results, silence fell over the group.

Being unable to escape meant the game had to continue.

Xu Huo could deduce that the instance creator likely designed this phase to facilitate card circulation—allowing them to be redistributed to newly arriving players. He now held six cards; Mu Yan had an equal amount, while Li Cheng and Chen Chou possessed relatively fewer cards combined. But between the four of them, they accounted for a considerable share—not to mention there was still the lone Snake Controller.

Xu Huo’s peripheral vision caught the Snake-Controlling Player, who had intentionally distanced himself from the group.

That fleeting glance seemed to trigger something in the Snake Controller. With a sharp whistle, the poisonous snakes he had hidden in the grass during the group’s maze inspection suddenly sprang to life—small as worms, green as grass, and adept at camouflage. Their substantial numbers made them nearly impossible to detect; even upon discovery, no one would expect such a vast swarm.

"He really does treat these snakes like worms," Xu Huo muttered, raising a Spatial Barrier to scoop the snakes into a massive bundling sphere before hurling them back.

As the torrent of snakes rained toward him, the Snake-Controlling Player didn’t panic. He casually opened an umbrella. When the umbrella unfolded, a hemispherical barrier expanded around him, perfectly shielding his body. Yet in the next instant, the barrier—along with the umbrella prop—was pierced straight through!