Chapter 17: Seeing the Dawn

It was an illusion, a delusion that appeared on the level of the soul.

Zhao Kuo felt as if everything about him was being drawn in by an unknown substance, along with the surrounding space and everything around him, as if he had fallen into a terrifying vortex.

Eventually, he plunged into an abyss of darkness.

A strange laughter echoed.

"If I take, I must first give. Welcome to the abyss."

A strange language entered Zhao Kuo's mind, understood by him in an incomprehensible way.

[Congratulations, player has acquired the trait: Fate Manipulation]

[Fate Manipulation]

[Every time a choice is made, a certain amount of manipulation points will be accumulated. When the manipulation points meet the condition, a gift will be received]

[0/10]

Fate Manipulation, what does it mean... When Zhao Kuo came to his senses, he found himself kneeling in the darkness, the surroundings eerily silent, as if nothing had just happened.

The refresh time of the safe zone had ended. As the black fog swallowed the last non-safe area, a beam of light suddenly pierced the silent darkness.

Zhao Kuo looked up to see a "sun" slowly rising between the towering buildings, its dawn light illuminating the entire city, as well as the ubiquitous slaughter and bloodshed.

Behind the sun was the enormous face of Yole.

"Congratulations on completing my trial. Each of you will receive a gift from Lushan Station."

"What a pity, only 36 people survived. If you hadn't killed each other..."

"Alright, I have other matters to attend to. Disperse."

After hurriedly finishing, the light went out.

When Zhao Kuo opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a presidential suite, the soft bed giving him an unreal feeling.

"Wow!" Tang Yingying burst through the door: "Zhao Kuo, are you okay?"

Zhao Kuo was momentarily stunned, touched his face, and said, "I should be fine... It's great that you're alive. What about Brother Gushan?"

Gushan walked out holding a drink: "We're fine. After Tengtiao went after you, we didn't encounter any trouble."

"It seems now that this game could have ended peacefully," Zhao Kuo sighed.

Usually, in a battle royale game, the last survivor is the ultimate winner. Unexpectedly, this game didn't follow that rule.

But thinking about it, this was only the first station; it didn't make sense to wipe out so many people at once.

"Did you receive your gifts? I got an electric treadmill, it's so frustrating," Tang Yingying pulled them out of the heavy topic.

"Electric treadmill, let me see?" Zhao Kuo said.

Tang Yingying displayed the properties of the electric treadmill.

[Electric Treadmill]

[Requires electric power to operate. If you run 10 kilometers daily for seven consecutive days, you can increase 1 point in constitution or strength, up to a maximum of 3 points in constitution or strength]

Zhao Kuo's eyes lit up, this was a good item.

Attributes determine a person's upper limit, especially the constitution attribute. Each additional point means an extra 100 health points, and you can never have too many of those.

"Not bad, Tang. You're a fragile class, having more constitution might save your life sometimes," Gushan also said.

Tang Yingying pouted, "Ten kilometers, I can't keep up with that..."

This girl... Zhao Kuo smiled helplessly.

"What did you guys get?" Tang Yingying asked.

Zhao Kuo checked the train warehouse and indeed found a package, [Gift from Lord Yole], but he wasn't planning to open it now.

His luck points were only at 20, so he wouldn't get any rare items.

Gushan, however, had no such concerns and directly performed an unboxing on the spot.

As a green light flashed, a helmet appeared in Gushan's hands. The helmet looked heavy, seemingly made of a special metal.

[Energy Field Helmet (Second Tier)]

[Constitution +5, Speed -3]

[A helmet crafted with special energy, it can significantly reduce damage from headshots and also mitigate special damage from energy fields]

Special damage from energy fields? Could it be a special attack method, similar to Professor X's abilities in X-Men?

Too bad Gushan isn't Magneto, but overall, this is a pretty good defensive gear.

"Brother Gushan is going further down the path of a tank, haha," Zhao Kuo joked.

Tang Yingying looked envious: "Just wearing it increases constitution by 5 points, I want one too."

Then she turned to Zhao Kuo: "What about you, what did you get?"

Zhao Kuo shook his head: "I won't open it for now, I'll wait a bit."

"Ugh, why wait? Open it now, I want to see if you're lucky," Tang Yingying sat cross-legged on the bed.

Gushan also smiled, "The trial is over, I believe a new journey will start soon. What are your plans next?"

Zhao Kuo put away his smile and looked around the luxurious presidential suite.

"Honestly, I really want to stay here forever. Alas, who knows what will happen next. But let's keep in touch and exchange resources. Getting to the next station shouldn't be too hard. What about you, Tang Yingying, your train should be pretty fast too, right?"

Although Tang Yingying always claimed to be a newbie, she was among the top 100 to reach Lushan Station.

Zhao Kuo always felt that her acting like a newbie was just a disguise.

But he didn't want to expose her. Playing the fool is fine as long as it's not at his expense, and he might even benefit from following her.

Both turned their gaze to Tang Yingying.

Tang Yingying, who was eating a can of yellow peaches, was startled and pointed at herself: "Me?"

"I'll go with Zhao Kuo, don't you remember my card?"

With that, Tang Yingying pulled out a card from her pocket.

[Binding Card]

[Can bind two players' trains together, sharing glory and disgrace from then on!]

Gushan looked at the two and gave a mysterious smile.

"Youth is wonderful..."

"Giggle, I think so too," Tang Yingying giggled, seemingly oblivious to the deeper meaning in Gushan's words.

Zhao Kuo rubbed his forehead: "Wait, you didn't ask for my opinion."

"I can provide you with charcoal and water," Tang Yingying extended a finger.

"I can afford it."

"My train has two carriages, can carry more stuff, and has a higher load capacity."

"Mine has two carriages too."

"I, I also have a hand-cranked engine! It gives a speed boost!" Tang Yingying gritted her teeth.

"You know I have a steam engine," Zhao Kuo also extended a finger, mimicking Tang Yingying.

"You... that's too much, fine, forget it then," Tang Yingying spread her hands.

At this, Zhao Kuo laughed and said, "I agree."

Tang Yingying was not simple; she had many unknown tricks up her sleeve and was hiding her true self.

But from their interactions these past days, Tang Yingying seemed trustworthy.

Moreover, what might kill you on this journey isn't the monsters or the darkness, but loneliness.

In the latter half of the night, the three didn't sleep. Instead, they took some beer from the fridge, ordered some barbecue, and sat in the living room eating and drinking.

It cost a total of 3 subway coins, paid by Zhao Kuo.

"Brother Gushan, I hope we can continue to fight side by side at the next station," Zhao Kuo raised his glass first.

He wasn't much of a drinker, but he downed the beer in his glass in one go.

Gushan, coming from a military background, had excellent physical fitness and naturally a good capacity for alcohol.

As for Tang Yingying, she was a little drunkard, downing bottle after bottle without showing any signs of intoxication.

Halfway through, Luo Ping'an sent a video call. Seeing the three in high spirits, Luo Ping'an expressed sincere envy.

"At nine o'clock tomorrow, a new journey will begin. There might be new changes. I got this insider information from a station staff member for 10 subway coins, but it's not necessarily accurate."

"That's great, I hope we can be together at the next station too."

"Here, we're holding an intelligence duel competition. The rules are similar to poker, each starting with 10 chips. Losing all your chips means you fail, but failing doesn't mean death, just no rewards."

"The first station didn't seem intent on killing us, but perhaps the next station will be much more intense..."

Listening to Luo Ping'an's narration, Zhao Kuo sighed.

Indeed, Yole's game was the same. If players didn't kill each other, theoretically, they would only die at the hands of monsters.

But Yole exploited human fear and greed, leading to only 36 survivors at Lushan Station.

Yes, the game even included non-professional players, those ranked lower.

It's a cruel thing, no doubt.

But perhaps it's also because Lushan Station is the top-ranked station, and the quality of players here is higher than at other stations.

Regardless, it once again showed them the darkness of the subway world and the horror of human nature.

The road ahead is even more determined, and so must be their hearts.

The three drank until they were hazy, leaning on each other on the sofa and fell asleep.

What tomorrow will bring, what the future holds, are not questions to ponder now.

In a hidden room at Lushan Station, Yole looked at the man in a black robe before him and slowly spoke: "Letting them escape from the abyss was your failure, yet the station has to bear the cost. Do you think that's appropriate?"

"There's no appropriate or inappropriate, Yole. We're all working towards the same goal," the black-robed man's voice was hoarse, like a broken funnel.

Yole sighed, how annoying. It seems the thing promised to that little guy will have to be delivered later.

Damn it, I really want to make that guy choose now. The longer it's delayed, the greater the cost I have to bear!

The next day, in the biting cold wind, Zhao Kuo slowly opened his eyes.

[The items from Yole's treasure are quite powerful, and there's related plot, so it's placed a bit later]