Death Train: SSS-level talent right from the start!

The night was as dark as ink, and a blood moon hung in the sky.

A steam train with a retro industrial feel sped through the gray fog, its chimneys spewing thick smoke that billowed above the carriages.

Chen Ye was awakened by a bone-chilling cold inside the carriage.

He struggled to open his eyelids, feeling as if he had been hit on the back of the head with a club, his temples throbbing.

The dark metal roof is the first thing you see, and the hard seats are underneath. The whole carriage is vibrating slightly and rhythmically, a swaying sound unique to trains traveling at high speed.

He sat up abruptly.

There were people sitting in the seats all around him. He recognized some of them and didn't recognize others, but they were all about the same age.

Sitting next to him was his roommate Qin Zhaoyang, and in the row in front of him, snoring with his head tilted to the side, was their class monitor Zhou Yating. Across the aisle, curled up, was Zhao Hai from the school's basketball team.

There were four boys from the same class lying in the two rows behind them.

They were wearing their own pajamas, T-shirts, and underwear, as if they had been dragged directly from their beds and thrown here.

"Zhaoyang, Zhaoyang! Wake up!"

Chen Ye pushed Qin Zhaoyang, who was sitting next to him, forcefully.

Qin Zhaoyang was huddled in his seat in an extremely contorted position, drool dripping down his chin. After being nudged a few times, he groggily opened his eyes.

"Hey~ what are you doing... I was dreaming about having sex with a third-year female student!"

Stop dreaming! Look where we are.

Chen Ye slapped Qin Zhaoyang on the forehead.

Qin Zhaoyang reluctantly rubbed his eyes and sat up straight, his expression changing from dazed to confused, and then from confused to bewildered.

He stared blankly at the swirling gray fog outside the train window, then looked down at the seat beneath him, his mouth agape: "What's going on? Wait... isn't this a train? How did I get on a train? I was sleeping in my dorm room!"

The other passengers in the carriage gradually woke up as well.

"Holy crap, where am I?"

"Have I been kidnapped? Or have I traveled through time?"

"Call the police! Call the police immediately!"

"Oh no! My phone is gone! And I haven't deleted my browsing history yet!"

"Kidnapping! It's definitely a kidnapping!"

Panic spread like a virus throughout the entire carriage within three minutes.

Someone tried to smash the window, but the car window didn't budge, not even leaving a scratch.

Someone frantically pounded on the iron door connecting the carriages, their palms turning red, but there was no response.

Some of the girls had already started crying.

Chen Ye did not move.

He sat in his seat, forcing himself to calm down, and scanned the entire carriage, roughly counting that there were about forty people.

The gray fog outside the window was abnormally thick, like some kind of almost solid grayish-white substance, wriggling against the car window like a living thing.

This isn't right.

Something is very wrong.

Just then, a piercing electrical noise came from the loudspeaker on the roof of the carriage, and everyone fell silent at the same time.

"Dear passengers, welcome aboard the G5002 Death Train. We will now be announcing the train rules. Please listen carefully. The rules will only be announced once."

The voice on the radio was a standard electronically synthesized female voice, devoid of any emotion.

The carriage was deathly silent.

"First, this train has eight carriages, each with forty passengers. Passage between carriages is not permitted. Please do not attempt to enter other carriages. It is forbidden to harm other passengers inside the carriages."

"Second, after the train arrives at the station, all passengers must disembark to participate in the survival trial. Those who do not participate will be eliminated by the rules, and must return to the train within two hours after the trial ends."

"Third, the trial adopts a point system. Surviving safely until the end of the survival trial will earn you basic survival points. Killing monsters in the trial scene will earn you additional kill points, and there is a chance that items will drop when you kill monsters."

Fourth, after each trial, passenger performance will be evaluated, and level experience and points will be awarded. Points can be used to redeem food, water, and other daily necessities.

Fifth, each passenger will receive a system panel. Please silently repeat "panel" to view it.

The broadcast paused, as if giving everyone time to process, before continuing, "Now, please draw your talents. Talent ratings, from highest to lowest, are SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, and D. Please silently repeat 'Draw Talents.' The results will be linked to your personal system."

"The train will arrive in Corpse City in two hours. The Corpse City Survival Trial lasts for 24 hours. Have a pleasant journey, passengers."

The loudspeaker clicked off, and the carriage was silent for a full three seconds before it erupted.

"Have a pleasant journey, you alpaca! I'm going home!"

"What does that mean? What death train? What trial?"

"It's a prank! It must be a prank!"

"I got a D-rank talent! There really is a system panel!"

"Mine is a C-rank talent... Damn, what on earth is this?"

Upon hearing that someone had successfully drawn a talent, others also began to open the system panel and draw talents.

Chen Ye's breath hitched slightly, and he silently uttered two words in his mind: panel.

A translucent, pale blue light screen instantly unfolded before his eyes, hovering in the air, with text on it so clear it looked as if it were engraved there.

Name: Chen Ye

[Level: Lv1 (0%)]

【Stamina: 100/100】

Energy Level: 100/100

【Strength: 5】

[Agility: 4]

[Physical Fitness: 5]

【Spirit: 3】

[Talent: Not drawn]

[Skills: None]

Points: 0

He stared at the "not extracted" mark for two seconds, his heart starting to race.

Then he silently recited "extract".

The text on the panel flickered violently, and a golden light flashed, so bright that he could barely open his eyes.

After the light faded, a new line of text appeared in the talent bar.

[Talent: Supernatural Strength]

He shifted his gaze to the description of the talent and read it word by word.

【Supernatural Strength (SSS Rank): Strength and Constitution growth values ​​are increased fivefold. Each level increases Strength by 5 points and Constitution by 5 points.

Chen Ye read the description three times, his heart pounding in his chest.

SSS level.

Dual attributes, five times the growth.

In other words, while others gain 1 point per level, he gains 5 points per level, which is also a 5-point increase in both Strength and Constitution attributes.

But the problems are also obvious.

He is currently at Lv1 with 0% experience.

At level one, this talent provides zero boost to his combat power.

The train will arrive at the station in two hours, and he needs to survive for twenty-four hours in that place called "Corpse City".

However, his SSS-level talent was of no help in the first survival trial.

"Hey bro, bro! I got a B-grade talent! It's called '100% Accuracy,' which says I'll hit my target 100% of the time when I throw things or use ranged weapons! What did you get?"

Qin Zhaoyang's voice pulled him back to reality.

Chen Ye turned off the control panel and looked at his roommate.

Qin Zhaoyang's face showed both the excitement of drawing a B-level talent and the fear of the unknown situation. The two expressions were twisted together, making him look particularly comical.

The other passengers in the carriage were in similar situations. Some cheered for drawing an A-level talent, while others cursed for only drawing a D-level talent. Most were still in a daze, unable to accept reality.