Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 238: Brothers, Let’s Talk It Out

Chapter 238: Chapter 238: Brothers, Let’s Talk It Out

[The Hunger-Themed Napkin: A napkin that loves gourmet food, it is especially fond of anything but soup. However, please be mindful that it tends to spit out excess juice when eating, which can easily stain clothing.]

[The Appraisal Fork: The birth of new ingredients often requires boldness and courage. In order not to lose one’s life to the pursuit of taste, a senior foodie from Yongxing Restaurant invented this utensil. It simply needs to be poked into an object, and it will identify the food’s components and suggest ways to consume it.]

The napkin looked like an incredibly ornate piece of embroidery, while the Appraisal Fork appeared to be a normal piece of cutlery made of black metal.

Xu Huo toyed with the Appraisal Fork for a bit before casually tossing it to Wei Da. The fork pierced Wei Da’s shoulder, and before it was even pulled out, the patterns on the fork projected a beam of light, and a holographic projection appeared in front of Wei Da.

A cartoon character with a chef’s hat pulled both hands apart, and subtitles emerged in front:

"Muscle deficient, fat excessive and consistently unhealthy lifestyle in a thirty-year-old male, containing trace amounts of toxins, basically harmless if consumed."

"However, cannibalism is against human morals and gastronomic professionalism, consumption is not recommended."

Wei Da yanked the fork out, his apprehension deep, "You’re not a Cannibal Player, are you?"

"No," Xu Huo indicated for him to throw the fork back, and after wiping it clean, he stood up with the two paintings and said, "See you tomorrow."

Wei Da felt the pinch as he watched his entire savings being taken away, but for the sake of his life, he could only offer them up with both hands, hoping Xu Huo wouldn’t go back on his word.

Xu Huo went to the next room, placed the paintings against the bed, and gently pierced his palm with the Appraisal Fork. The holographic projection appeared again:

"A healthy male with balanced body fat and no toxins, has a history of long-term medication use, harmless if consumed."

"However, cannibalism is against human morals and gastronomic professionalism, consumption is not recommended."

Long-term medication use?

Xu Huo frowned slightly. Both he and Wei Da were Level E Players, and using Evolution Potion shouldn’t be considered long-term medication. But he had no memory of taking medication for an extended period.

Casually putting away the Appraisal Fork, he lay down on the bed, feeling down.

The Girl in the painting slipped out from his clothes, and using the read-aloud feature, she said, "I want to eat something."

Xu Huo pointed to a cupboard nearby, "Look in there."

The Girl in the painting rummaged through the cupboard, took out all the food items, but Xu Huo sat up and asked her, "Do you know of any ways for someone to lose a period of memories without the person realizing it?"

"You can use props," the Girl in the painting tapped on the screen, "and there are thieves who specialize in memory theft."

"Memory-stealing thieves?" Xu Huo repeated her words.

"Yeah," the Girl in the painting stuffed a cookie in her mouth, "I had an owner who had his memories stolen. He died not long after. He told me about it before his death."

"Did you have your memories stolen as well?"

Xu Huo shook his head instinctively; he remembered everything from his childhood, including his time in the mental hospital and when his elder brother, Xu Zhi, died.

There were no memories of him taking medications for more than two consecutive months, but this was inconsistent with the conclusion given by the Appraisal Fork. If it was just about using Potions after evolution, he hadn’t used them many times, nor in large amounts.

His finger gently rubbing, he beckoned to the Girl in the painting, "Come here."

The Girl in the painting approached as instructed, then the Appraisal Fork was jabbed into her arm, but there was no reaction.

Xu Huo raised his head to look at her, "Don’t resist."

The Girl in the Painting’s arm was pierced a second time:

"Common aged paper with mold and the smell of sweat, inedible."

The torn arm healed itself, and after the Girl in the Painting pushed the fork out and took it in her hand, she found it very interesting, "I want to go stab that person outside."

Xu Huo didn’t stop her, and after a while, an angry roar could be heard from outside. Soon, the Girl in the Painting came back, but the fork was bent.

She carefully placed the item by the bed and silently began to clean the food pouch and debris.

Xu Huo just glanced at her, tested the fork on the sheets to see if it was still usable, and then put it away.

A night passed, and when the lights came on the next day, Xu Huo appeared in the exhibition hall on time, Wei Da a little later. He reflexively looked at the picture frame in Xu Huo’s hand before saying, "How do you plan to get through the third challenge?"

Xu Huo passed through the exhibition hall, sparing a bit of attention for the sculpture missing a piece of its ear, and then went straight to the pillar blocking the door, standing in front of "The Time of Stillness" and knocked on the painting, "Stop playing dead, come out."

Wei Da first looked at him in surprise, "There is someone in the painting?"

"Most of the paintings in the art gallery are living paintings," Xu Huo said. "Didn’t you guess that too? As long as someone touches the paintings at night, they will be consumed by them."

Wei Da nodded, "Right, the game background mentioned that the curator always confirms that the paintings here are genuine before the gallery closes, so there were no fake paintings here before the players arrived."

"Some paintings indeed became living paintings after consuming players," he glanced at Xu Huo’s hand and added, "But not every painting is alive."

"How likely is it for a player to discover a living painting if the person in the painting doesn’t move?" Xu Huo asked.

"Did you realize this painting was a living painting long ago?" Wei Da suddenly understood, "No wonder, right when we entered the instance, the way you picked up the painting for Fan Shiji was a bit odd. So, Deng Yu and Big Bear must have seen living paintings, but Deng Yu thought living paintings were fake, which is why he disappeared on the first night. He didn’t vanish; he actively went to fetch the painting and was drawn into it."

"Big Bear was scared by the living painting and the monster, and when he realized he couldn’t escape, he came to try his luck."

He paused and then asked, "Is the one you have Deng Yu or Big Bear?"

"Big Bear," Xu Huo replied.

"So that means Gao Jun indeed took Deng Yu." Wei Da shook his head, "Everyone is hiding their cards pretty deep."

"The paintings that gave themselves away during the day are actually trying to draw players’ attention on purpose," Xu Huo took out a lighter, "But it seems that the daytime paintings aren’t anything special, not sure if they can be burned."

The person in the painting still gave no response, but on the flat face seemed to hang a hint of scorn.

Xu Huo lit the lighter and placed it beneath the frame of the painting. Seconds later, the person in the oil painting changed color violently, "You dare to burn the painting, aren’t you afraid the curator will get angry?"

"No matter, if the curator comes, I can leave the game." Xu Huo smiled and pointed his chin towards the sculpture behind him, "Besides, the curator can’t move during the day anyway."

The oil painting person shifted left and right within the painting, becoming even angrier after discovering the flame was following, "Who told you that it’s the curator? It’s just a security guard of the art gallery!"

"If you want to say it’s a security guard, that’s fine. Anyway, it can’t move," Xu Huo didn’t argue with him.

At this point, Wei Da pointed to a figure painting not far away, "There are still so many living paintings around. Why not burn this one, kill the chicken to show the monkeys, so the other paintings don’t try to act up either."

As soon as he finished, he started to take down the painting frame, but the oil painting person then hurriedly said, "Brother! Don’t be so aggressive, let’s talk this out!"