chapter 43

The system notification resounded from the subway's broadcast, making it clear to all that Bai Liu had triggered the main quest.

Both Du Sanying and Mu Sicheng were momentarily stunned, their gazes converging on Bai Liu, who sat slouched against the subway seat, absentmindedly toying with a coin in his hand.

Bai Liu had been sitting in a daze for some time, while Mu Sicheng and Du Sanying busied themselves searching the carriage for clues. Bai Liu, with a placid expression, had simply declared, "I need to organize my thoughts," and remained motionless, much to Mu Sicheng's exasperation.

Bai Liu had already shared all he knew about the bombing case with Mu Sicheng, but Mu Sicheng hadn't given it much thought, focused as he was on scouring the carriage for clues to trigger the main quest.

"Explosive Last Train" was a collection-based horror game. According to Mu Sicheng's experience, the main quest would only be triggered upon finding the first collectible item.

What Mu Sicheng did not realize was that, as long as one could deduce the key object to be collected from the game's backstory, the main quest could be activated as well.

It was not entirely Mu Sicheng's fault—this was the inertia of habit. Typically, newcomers, lacking information, could only trigger the quest by stumbling upon the first collectible.

But Bai Liu was an anomaly—a newcomer, yes, but also a game designer, unbound by such conventions. He was accustomed to deducing level design from the game's narrative, and, armed with ample background knowledge, simply worked backward to identify the object of collection.

And, with characteristic boldness, he had guessed correctly.

Upon hearing the system chime that Bai Liu had triggered the main quest, both Mu Sicheng and Du Sanying turned in unison to look at him, still seated in repose.

Du Sanying, unfamiliar with Bai Liu, dared not approach, but his eyes brimmed with curiosity—how had this man managed to trigger the main quest without moving a muscle?

Mu Sicheng, unburdened by such reservations, strode forward and voiced the question on everyone's mind: "How did you trigger the main quest? You haven't even moved!"

This was the sentiment echoed by the audience as well. When the system notification sounded, many were left dumbfounded. In a multiplayer horror game featuring the third and fourth place rising stars and the Puppet Master himself, it was a motionless newcomer who first triggered the main quest—utterly inconceivable!

"What the hell! How did he do it? I swear he hasn't moved an inch!"

"Did he just happen to sit on a shard of glass and trigger the quest? Oof, my own seat suddenly feels sharp…"

"Isn't this sort of luck usually reserved for our little parrot? How did it fall to this newcomer?"

Mu Sicheng, without ceremony, hooked his arms under Bai Liu's and lifted him bodily from his seat, peering beneath. "Did you just sit on a mirror shard and trigger the quest?"

Bai Liu, expressionless, clenched his fists. "Mu Sicheng, put me down."

At one meter seventy-six, Bai Liu loathed being manhandled in this way. As a child, he had once dreamed of hacking off the ankles of anyone taller than himself.

Anyone who dared lift him like this would soon learn that height was a crime—if not for the fact that Bai Liu still needed Mu Sicheng for what was to come—

He reined in his more violent imaginings. Mu Sicheng, sensing the chill, hesitated and set Bai Liu down, turning to him. "There's no shard here. How did you trigger the quest? You didn't even move."

"Who says I didn't move?" Bai Liu dusted off the imaginary dirt from where Mu Sicheng had touched him, then looked up with a benign smile. "My mind was moving, Mu Sicheng."

Mu Sicheng: "…" The look Bai Liu gave him, as if regarding a simpleton, was deeply insulting.

After straightening his clothes, Bai Liu lazily lifted his eyelids and said, "Besides, didn't I already tell you the key information? Couldn't you figure it out yourself? What's your intelligence stat, anyway? You can't even deduce something this basic?"

Mu Sicheng: "…"

All you told me was that the mirror was worth a hundred million, and that if it were you, you'd kill the guard, steal the mirror and the artifacts, and make a fortune. How is that key information?!

And Bai Liu, stop looking at me like I'm some lower life form!

Bai Liu clapped his hands and, as he walked, explained to Mu Sicheng. Du Sanying followed at a cautious distance, listening in with growing astonishment—so it was possible to deduce the quest this way.

The audience, too, was amazed:

"What's this newcomer's name? His logic is fascinating—I want to watch his stream."

"I've never seen anyone trigger the main quest faster than Du Sanying in a collection game… This newcomer is incredible, even quicker than someone with a 100% luck stat…"

…

"The main quest is to collect mirror shards, but we don't even know how many…" Mu Sicheng, lollipop in mouth, shot a sidelong glance at Du Sanying, who was pretending to search behind them, and irritably licked the sugar from his lips. "You just told him everything? He'll end up finding a ton of shards."

"That guy's luck is off the charts—he's a natural at finding things. Even if we find the shards, they'll probably end up in his hands through some bizarre twist. Aren't you worried?"

Bai Liu gave Mu Sicheng a curious look. "Why should I be?"

Mu Sicheng's expression darkened. "Didn't I tell you? Even the shards we find could…" end up with Du Sanying…

"Who said we're going to look for shards?" Bai Liu shot him a sidelong glance, his gaze briefly flicking over Du Sanying before returning, unperturbed. "Let Du Sanying look. Isn't he good at it? Let him take his time. If he manages to collect them all, so much the better."

"You mean…" Mu Sicheng was taken aback. "You plan to just take them from him once he's done?"

Bai Liu: "Exactly."

Mu Sicheng ran his tongue along his back teeth. "As much as I'd like to try your plan, it's impossible, Bai Liu. You have no idea what a 100% luck stat really means."

As he spoke, Mu Sicheng seemed to recall some humiliating memory, his jaw clenching with the effort, his face contorted. "If you try to steal from Du Sanying, your luck will plummet. You'll run into endless misfortune. Even if your hand is already in his inventory, something will interrupt you—a monster, a mishap, anything. In short, you'll never succeed."

"Oh." Bai Liu remained unbothered. "That's your problem, not mine. Maybe I'll manage."

Mu Sicheng was genuinely irked by Bai Liu's obstinacy. "I'm telling you, with Du Sanying's luck, no one can take his things—not even Spade."

As the system had said: [Du Sanying is the darling of the god of fortune.]

"You said Du Sanying's luck works by influencing the fortune of everything around him, right?" Bai Liu finally deigned to look at Mu Sicheng directly, his gaze tinged with a sighing pity. "But I can't be affected. My luck is zero—it can't go any lower. His luck can't make me any more unfortunate."

Mu Sicheng was momentarily stunned. Bai Liu's eyes remained calm as water, his lips curving into a faint smile. "Perhaps my misfortune will end up making him less fortunate. What do you think, Mu Sicheng?"

Trailing furtively behind them, Du Sanying felt a chill run down his spine, goosebumps prickling his skin. He glanced at Bai Liu in confusion—

—that strange, paradoxical sense of impending misfortune and luck had returned.

Mu Sicheng, at last, was intrigued. "If you're not going to look for shards, what will you do in a collection game? Just sit there like before?"

"Of course not." Bai Liu smiled, his gaze fixed on the empty carriage ahead, his expression one of delight, as if he beheld a trove of gold and jewels. "You told me this game allows robbery, didn't you? Do you think the Puppet Master is wealthy?"

Mu Sicheng snorted. "You talk big. You might be the one who ends up dead."

"Perhaps." Bai Liu was noncommittal. "But if I were him, I'd make sure I survived. I'm too valuable to waste. If he wants to make me his puppet, he must have realized that by now."

"We'll see who becomes whose puppet," Bai Liu said with a soft laugh.

——————

Zhang Gui swept his gaze across the carriage, eyes narrowed. All ten of his fingers were entwined with transparent threads, each one piercing the nape of another player.

With a flick of his finger, the threads quivered, and one of the players, who had been crawling on the floor searching for something, was jerked upright as if pulled by invisible strings. Zhang Gui's tone was impatient as he questioned, "Li Gou, have you found any mirror shards?"

Li Gou replied, "No."

Zhang Gui clicked his tongue in irritation, the painted features of his puppet mask contorting into a deep frown and a downturned mouth, a vivid display of his displeasure.

"We've searched nearly half the carriage and found nothing."

The three puppets stood together, heads bowed, enormous blue beads of sweat cartoonishly rolling down their foreheads. Li Gou, trembling, stepped forward and repeated in a low voice, "Master, we truly haven't found any shards."

"Stop searching." Zhang Gui's fingers danced, and the three puppets snapped to attention before him, as if on parade.

Li Gou, standing in the center, ventured timidly, "Master, are we not searching anymore? Isn't collecting shards the only way to clear this game? If we stop, how will we finish…?"

"Fool." Zhang Gui cast a disdainful, self-satisfied glance at Li Gou. "Never question the decisions of someone with an intelligence stat of ninety-three, understood?"

"We didn't trigger the main quest, but we were the first to start searching. With our numbers, we've scoured half the carriage and found nothing. Don't you get it?" Zhang Gui shot Li Gou a sidelong look.

Li Gou broke out in a cold sweat, but his confusion only deepened. "I understand, but… what exactly am I supposed to understand?"