chapter 42

In a flurry of panic, Du Sanying stumbled into the carriage at the very last second. The air inside was stifling, yet not the lethal inferno he had imagined; the corpses swaying from the handrails and the other cadavers scattered throughout the compartment remained motionless, making no move to attack him. The flames licked at Du Sanying's hair, singeing it slightly, but the sensation lacked the true agony of fire.

Bai Liu greeted him with a gentle smile. "Hello, I'm Bai Liu, one of the players in this game."

Du Sanying, somewhat embarrassed, extended his hand. "Um, hello, I'm Du Sanying…"

Mu Sicheng regarded Du Sanying with a look of surprise, as though he hadn't expected to encounter him here. But the astonishment quickly faded, replaced by a cold snort and a derisive smile. He folded his arms and averted his gaze, as if Du Sanying were invisible, offering not so much as a greeting.

Du Sanying seemed to have anticipated this, his smile growing even more awkward as he shrank into a corner, silent and withdrawn. At last, unable to contain himself, he ventured, "Bai Liu, how did you know we wouldn't be attacked upon boarding?"

"These are likely nothing more than a simple cutscene," Bai Liu analyzed. "Since we haven't yet received our first point-scoring task, the game hasn't truly begun. These things are probably just here to startle the players and establish the story's backdrop—they won't actually kill us."

Having finished, Bai Liu cast a curious glance at Mu Sicheng and Du Sanying, clearly sensing the discord between them. He turned to Mu Sicheng, who had fallen silent since Du Sanying's arrival. "What's the matter? Do you and this little friend Du Sanying have some old grudge?"

Mu Sicheng's eyes flashed with hostility as he shot Du Sanying a cold look. Under that gaze, Du Sanying seemed to shrink even further, awkwardly hiding behind a burning corpse, peeking out at their conversation.

Du Sanying appeared rather short—half a head below Bai Liu. His thick, square glasses and slender frame gave him the air of an overworked high school senior, exuding an intense, harmless bookishness. It was no wonder that someone as worldly as Bai Liu would refer to him as "little friend."

"Play a game with Du Sanying and you'll understand," Mu Sicheng said, as if recalling some particularly vexing memory. The lollipop in his mouth cracked between his teeth. "This guy's luck stat is a hundred. No matter how hard you try, he'll always end up first, snatching victory from your grasp in ways you'd never imagine."

Du Sanying's viewers erupted with laughter:

"Is Mu God remembering the time our little parrot snatched first place from him in that multiplayer game?"

"That wasn't luck, that was fate delivering the prize! He didn't even have to bend down to pick it up—Mu God brought it right to him. You have to admit, Mu God's delivery service is top-notch."

…

"So, even though Du Sanying is ranked third among the rising stars, he doesn't even understand something as basic as a cutscene," Mu Sicheng sneered. "He's coasted to the top on pure luck, completely lacking any real game sense. I'd advise you to steer clear of him—otherwise, any items or intel you painstakingly collect will somehow end up in his hands."

"He's lucky, but those around him are not. Every player who ends up in the same game as Du Sanying finds their own luck stat mysteriously diminished."

Though Mu Sicheng spoke with disdain, mocking Du Sanying's hesitation to board the train, the truth was that he himself had been startled when Bai Liu calmly pulled him onto the burning carriage. Only after Bai Liu pointed out that they hadn't yet received a points task—and that this was likely just a cutscene—did Mu Sicheng regain his composure.

Most players would never consider the possibility of a cutscene, and even if they did, few would dare to board so confidently. Only Bai Liu would gamble so boldly.

Bai Liu was a natural-born gambler; were it not illegal, he might have made a career of it. If he estimated an eighty percent chance of success, he would commit to it with absolute certainty.

If this were the Mu Sicheng of the future, he would never have followed Bai Liu so obediently onto the train. But at this stage, he had yet to grasp Bai Liu's nature, and was easily swayed by his unwavering confidence.

Returning to the topic, Mu Sicheng continued his explanation of Du Sanying to Bai Liu.

"Look." Mu Sicheng opened his game manager and showed Bai Liu his luck stat panel, his expression darkening. "My luck has dropped from 56 to 43. Tsk, Du Sanying's effect is getting stronger. Bai Liu, your luck will be affected too…"

Bai Liu met Mu Sicheng's gaze. "Wait, your game's luck stat can go negative?"

Mu Sicheng: "…"

Damn, he'd forgotten Bai Liu's luck was already at zero.

Du Sanying, seeing Mu Sicheng explaining his luck-draining ability to Bai Liu, seemed aware of how unpopular this made him. He scratched his face uneasily and shrank further into the corner—only for the sudden closing of the train doors to startle him.

All at once, the burning corpses in the carriage transformed into ordinary passengers. In unison, they turned their heads and fixed Bai Liu and the others with eerie smiles, then crumbled into ash and vanished. The carriage's PA system chimed sweetly: "Dear passengers, welcome aboard Line 4. Next stop—Mirror City Museum."

Bai Liu glanced at the LED countdown in the station. After reaching zero, it reset to [60:00].

An hour's countdown, Bai Liu mused—about the time it would take for a train to travel from the starting station to the terminus. It seemed the explosion would occur in an hour.

Bai Liu recalled the "Mirror City Bombing"—the real-life case that inspired this game, "Explosive Last Train." In that incident, the explosion had taken place at the Mirror City Museum station. He remembered that he had disembarked at the previous stop, though in reality, the previous station was not "Antique City," nor was the subway line a circular route.

He had also been on the last train, accompanied by Lu Yizhan.

He had intended to get off a few stops after Mirror City, but Lu Yizhan had dragged him off early due to an unexpected errand. Otherwise, Bai Liu—unlucky both in and out of the game—would have been blown to pieces in the Mirror City Bombing.

The bombing had been triggered by two thieves who stole a priceless antique mirror, posing as its owners and claiming they wished to donate it to the Mirror City Museum, but insisting on personally escorting it inside.

The mirror was said to be worth over a hundred million. The museum, rarely the recipient of such lavish donations, acquiesced to their peculiar demands.

Bai Liu's city was called Mirror City, and the museum was the Mirror City Museum. The thieves' true aim was to use the process of delivering the mirror to the museum's back rooms to smuggle in a bomb hidden within the mirror, and then use it to threaten and rob the museum's collection.

For reasons unknown, the thieves refused to transport the mirror by car, insisting on the subway. The museum had no choice but to assign staff to accompany them. During the subway journey, something went awry—the bomb concealed in the mirror detonated, killing nearly everyone in that carriage, including the thieves and the museum staff.

Shortly after their deaths, the truth of their theft and attempted robbery came to light. The case was ultimately classified as a terrorist theft and faded from public attention.

Afterward, Bai Liu and Lu Yizhan discussed the bombing, agreeing that there were still many unresolved mysteries, chiefly:

First: How did the thieves manage to smuggle enough explosives to destroy an entire carriage through security, hidden inside the mirror, and onto the subway?

Second: If the thieves' motive was profit, why would they so generously "donate" a mirror worth a fortune to the museum?

As far as Bai Liu knew, none of the museum's other artifacts were more valuable than the mirror. If the thieves were after money, they could have sold the mirror privately, rather than going to such lengths to bring it into the museum and then attempt a heist.

Such a plan was inefficient and needlessly risky, especially using a bomb. Even if no one was harmed, escape would have been impossible.

When discussing the case, Bai Liu remarked that if he were to rob a museum, he would simply sell the mirror, use the proceeds to bribe a guard for entry, then kill the guard and frame him, buying himself time to escape abroad and fence the goods. Using a bomb was sheer idiocy.

Lu Yizhan was left speechless by Bai Liu's analysis. "I wanted you to help me solve the case, not devise a more perfect crime!"

Bai Liu apologized insincerely, "Sorry, I can only think from the perspective of whoever stands to gain the most."

Lu Yizhan, exasperated, warned, "With thinking like that, you're bound to get into trouble one day!"

Now, the problem was at hand. Trapped within the game "Explosive Last Train," Bai Liu needed to understand why those two foolish thieves had acted as they did.

Bai Liu narrowed his eyes, his mind racing. The thieves had refused to use a car—a confined space—unwilling to be alone with the mirror. They preferred the crowded anonymity of the subway, and had no qualms about hiding a massive bomb inside a priceless artifact.

They would rather exchange the mirror for other museum treasures than sell it outright, a contradiction to any thief's instinct for profit.

From this, Bai Liu drew an inescapable conclusion: the thieves were afraid of the mirror.

They dared not be alone with it. Perhaps they had tried to sell it before, only for it to return to their hands. In desperation, they pretended to be its owners, seeking the authority of the museum to "donate"—or rather, imprison—the mirror.

They even tried to destroy it, packing it with explosives. Yet, despite all their efforts to rid themselves of the mirror, disaster still struck—the mirror exploded on the subway.

Therefore, if Bai Liu's deduction was correct, the key to this game was not the soon-to-explode last train, nor the charred passengers, nor the jumble of subway station names Du Sanying was peering at—

—but the mirror itself.

[Congratulations, player Bai Liu, for being the first to trigger the main quest: Collect the shattered fragments of the last train's mirror (0/ )]