Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 820: Curved Time

Chapter 820: Chapter 820: Curved Time

"The invincible middle-aged woman had been killed in the blink of an eye, which instinctively made the curly-haired female player, who was planning to rush up and die with her, retreat and watch the surrounding players warily after gaining some distance."

"The scene quieted down, and everyone looked as if they were the one who had done it."

"No player spoke, and naturally no one admitted to killing the middle-aged woman. But she was already dead, and the fight could come to a temporary halt."

"The curly-haired female player placed her companion’s body in a body bag and returned to where Xu Huo and the others were."

"Overnight passed, and the next day dawned as usual, reducing the number of players who survived from the bus to two-thirds of what it had been."

"It had been almost four days since the Dimensional Rift hit, and the Orbital Supply Department had still not shown up, plunging the hopeful players back into despair over potentially not being rescued, with frequent quarrels and fights occurring; some were hurt, some were robbed, but everyone held back during broad daylight to avoid exposing their props and did not kill each other."

""Hey, what is that over there?" Yan Jiayu suddenly said, looking into the distance."

"Following her gaze, Xu Huo saw fluctuations at the boundary of space at the horizon, as if looking through steam, where what should have been straight lines began to undulate."

""That must be an anomalous timeline," the train conductor suggested capturing the distant scenery with instruments."

""A timeline? Can time be seen?" Yan Jiayu asked."

""Time is just a relatively convenient concept for humans; some things within certain spaces don’t change in the ways we understand. The concept of time is not always accurate," the train conductor explained interestingly. "According to the understanding of multidimensional space in science fiction, time and space in each frame can extend into countless possibilities. However, such scenarios do not exist in the Dimensional Rift. The complexity of space and time lines far exceeds human imagination and comprehension. What we see as time can be simply understood as a straight line, but in some spaces, ’time’ is a curve."

""Time is a curve?" Most of those present didn’t understand, but an older person said, "Is it like in cultivation novels where there are deviations in the flow speed of time?"

""That is just a very small part of the model," the train conductor responded. "However, curves are just the appearance we see with our eyes; in reality, the curves are due to the special movements of space, much like observing the variations in terrain and water flows on a planet from a macro perspective, though it’s completely unfelt by those on it."

""So this is a spectacle, the appearance of such curves signifies that a particular space is undergoing a special period."

"Many had already begun recording the scene with their props. Xu Huo, looking at the hazy landscape, said, "Following a curved timeline, does it mean that if someone enters a ’curved time’ space from a ’straight time’ and returns to ’straight time’ at some special moment, they might accomplish time travel?"

"The train conductor smiled at him, "In the game, there’s hardly any chance for that."

"The elderly man, who seemed to know something, said to Xu Huo, "When you first enter the game, the completion time of an instance usually matches up with real months, weeks, and days. As the difficulty of the instance increases, the spans of time crossed become greater. The simple seven-day completion mode becomes impractical, so time inside the instance is correspondingly prolonged, but it’s still converted according to a certain ratio. Generally, it’s impossible to get tickets to the same world for a short time after leaving such an instance world, so verifying time travel is highly unlikely."

"It’s just a small issue anyway, the game would definitely plug such loopholes."

"Moreover, even if both the game and the players meet the conditions, how to safely manage operations in such special spaces is the key."

"Not being an expert in this field, simply gathering scraps of knowledge from others would not help solve the mystery in a lifetime."

""Curved time’ disappeared," the train conductor looked at his watch, "The rescue team is here."

"Just after he finished speaking, an equipped train appeared in the distance. The train, equipped with an automated rail-laying device at the front, repaired the tracks as it moved, slower than a normal train, but still fast in the players’ eyes."

"The train stopped near them, and members of the Orbital Supply Department in uniform greeted the train conductor and invited them on board."

"Back on the train, the players were almost in tears, and someone said, "I never thought I’d see the day when seeing a train felt like seeing a family member!"

"That was a bit exaggerated, but compared to the torment of waiting aimlessly beside the tracks, even fighting on the train didn’t seem so distasteful."

"After the staff boarded, they had separate compartments, while the players were asked to go to the back compartments. No one really cared, but when leaving, Xu Huo heard the train conductor ask the Orbital Supply Department to report the ’curved time’ event."

"He paused thoughtfully, suddenly realizing another thing. The Game Government was looking for Dr. Wu, who had always been moving between different game zones. Was it possible they hadn’t employed some common tracking methods in ’curved time’ before?"

"Was Dr. Wu constantly moving across different game zones merely to spread the S-Version Potion?"

"His successful evasion of the Game Government’s pursuit might not have been solely relying on props and player power, but also his knowledge of the order of time and space."

"However, from this perspective, it was also apparent that time travel wasn’t so easily achievable. Even if it were possible, it would not be as convenient as ordinary people might think. Dr. Wu had a daughter; if time travel were possible at will, surely he would have returned to the past to find his daughter, while the Game Government would have tried the same method to gain leverage over Dr. Wu."

"It was unclear whether there had been such confrontations between them, but from the results, both parties had not made much progress for decades—Dr. Wu had not completely shaken off the Game Government, nor had the Game Government managed to truly capture Dr. Wu."

"Here was another minor issue, in the book-like notes seen among He Pu’s belongings, which carried a sense of foresight, could it be that they bore some traces of ’curved time’ like the ’foreseeing’ and ’cause and effect’ props?"

"If so, did Dr. Wu place the Perfect Potion randomly or purposefully?"

"Like He Pu’s notes, was his acquiring of the Perfect Potion entirely coincidental?"

""What’s wrong?" Yan Jiayu asked, looking at him strangely."

"Xu Huo shook his head slightly, "I was thinking, if there is such a thing as curved time, does everything have a chance for trial and error correction?"

"Yan Jiayu laughed, "Curved time is not cyclic time; curved time should still move forward, right? It can’t be that convenient. What has happened is a fact, how could it be easily changed?""