A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

The train whistled three times and slowly started moving.

Zhou Lang propped his feet up on the opposite seat and pulled a half-empty bag of potato chips from his pocket. No one knew when he'd brought the chips in. Zhao Qiang sat next to him, his eyes constantly darting between the two ends of the carriage.

Han Yingying introduced Su Mian and Ye Cheng: "This is Zhou Lang, very...reliable. Zhao Qiang, his classmate. You've met Lu Han before."

She deliberately didn't mention Zhou Lang's game ID.

Su Mian forced a smile: "Thank you."

Ye Cheng nodded to Zhou Lang. Zhou Lang, who was stuffing potato chips into his mouth, casually replied with a "Mm".

"Let's go over the rules first." Lu Han crossed his arms. "All three rules start with 'don't'. S-rank dungeons usually have hidden clauses in their rules, and the surface meaning may differ from the actual meaning."

"First rule: don't get off the bus during stops," Han Yingying added. "This should be a hard and fast rule; getting off means certain death."

"Second rule: Don't talk to 'passengers'." Lu Han pointed to the armrest of the seat. "'Passengers' is in quotes. Those who board the bus are not people."

"The third one..." Zhou Lang munched on potato chips, "A door that's not allowed to be opened, we definitely have to open."

The entire carriage fell silent for a moment.

Zhao Qiang was the first to react: "Brother, calm down!"

"I'm very calm." Zhou Lang folded the bag of potato chips and put it away. "Think about it, there are seven carriages, and the last one isn't allowed. There's a specific rule prohibiting it, indicating that there might be something in there. It could be the key to getting through."

Lu Han looked at him without saying a word for a long time.

Han Yingying was used to his way of thinking. It was the same thing at the manor last time—while everyone else was avoiding danger, this person went straight for it and actually managed to take care of it.

"But not now," Han Yingying said. "Let's observe a few stations first, figure out the patterns of the 'passengers' before taking action."

Zhou Lang did not object.

The train traveled in darkness for about twenty minutes before its speed began to decrease. The kerosene lamps in the carriages flickered violently, their light flashing intermittently.

We've arrived at the first stop.

System notification: [The train is about to stop at the first station: Kujing. Stop time: three minutes.]

The absolute darkness outside the window began to fade, revealing a desolate little station. The platform was made of stone, with black grass growing from the cracks. A crooked street lamp stood on the platform, its bulb emitting a dull yellow light.

A person was standing under the light.

No—it was an outline. The features were blurred, as if sanded away. It wore an old-fashioned train conductor's uniform and carried a suitcase.

The car door opened.

The "passenger" boarded the train, his footsteps dragging as he walked from the first carriage to the back. With each carriage he passed, the lights in that carriage dimmed by one degree.

It slowed down as it passed the door of the third carriage.

Han Yingying held her breath.

The "passenger's" head turned towards them—or rather, the blurry, featureless face turned towards them. It stood at the carriage door for three seconds, then continued walking towards the back.

Three minutes later, the doors closed and the train started moving again.

Su Mian let out a long breath. Ye Cheng's hands were trembling, but he remained silent.

"Did you notice?" Lu Han lowered his voice, "It's picking and choosing people."

Han Yingying nodded. The "passengers" would pause at each carriage, but the pause duration varied. In their carriage, it was three seconds, and judging from the sounds coming from the next carriage, some pauses were longer.

"The next stop will be even more dangerous," Han Yingying said.

The train continued its journey, and the carriages shook more and more violently.

Just then, a commotion arose from the direction of the fourth carriage. Someone shouted loudly, the voice carrying across the carriage connection: "What the hell are you blocking the way for? I want to change carriages!"

Zhou Lang and Han Yingying exchanged a glance.

"Those people over there." Han Yingying was referring to the trio she had seen on the platform earlier, the ones who were judging their prey.

A tall man burst from the fourth carriage into the third, followed by two men. The tall man looked around and his gaze settled on Su Mian.

"You," he gestured with his chin towards Su Mian, "give me your seat."

Su Mian shrank closer to Han Yingying.

Ye Cheng stood up and blocked the way: "There are plenty of empty seats here, you—"

The tall man shoved him aside. Ye Cheng was pushed so hard he bumped his head against the back of the seat.

"I told you to give up your seat, can't you understand human language?"

Han Yingying stood up.

But Zhou Lang was faster than her. He didn't stand up, but just tilted his head and glanced at the tall man with the kind of look one would give a roadside stone.

"Quarrel."

One word.

The tall man paused for a moment, then laughed. "What did you say?"

Zhou Lang finally looked up: "I told you you're being noisy. The creatures in the dungeon haven't even killed anyone yet, and you're already jumping out to bully your own people. Are you out of your mind or tired of living?"

The tall man's expression changed. His two companions behind him also gathered around.

Lu Han calmly reached into his pocket and touched his weapon.

Zhao Qiang swallowed hard, but he also stood up—though his legs were still shaking.

The atmosphere in the carriage reached a breaking point.

The tall man stared at Zhou Lang for five seconds, then suddenly chuckled, "Fine, you're something else. Let's talk about it at the next stop."

He turned and walked away, with his two companions following behind.

When he reached the connecting area between the carriages, the tall man looked back, his eyes conveying a clear message—this wasn't over.

Su Mian's expression wasn't good. Ye Cheng rubbed the back of his head and stood up, but before he could say "thank you," Han Yingying waved him off.

"Don't mention it. Let's get out of here alive first."

The train swayed and rattled forward in the darkness. No one knew how far the second station was.

The second stop is called "Cracked Mirror".

There were two "passengers" waiting on the platform. One was an old woman carrying a woven bag, whose facial features were as indistinct as the first one's; the other was a child, less than a meter tall, with a disproportionately large head.

After boarding the vehicle, the two "passengers" went their separate ways. The old lady walked forward, and the child walked backward.

The child stopped at the door when passing through the third carriage.

It tilted its big head and "stared" at the people in the carriage for a long time. Not three seconds, but a full minute.

Han Yingying noticed a detail: the child was not "looking" at any person, but at—the floor.

Something was seeping out from the cracks in the wooden floorboards of the carriage. It looked like water, but it was black.

One minute later, the child left.

Han Yingying squatted down to examine the floor. The black liquid had disappeared, and the cracks in the wooden planks were clean.

"The things that come on at each stop are different." She stood up and said to Lu Han, "The first one is an observational one, the second one—I'm not sure, but it's more interesting for this carriage."

"It might be related to the number of people," Lu Han said. "Our class has the most people."