Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!

Chapter 2448: From Eerie to Awkward

Chi Cai leaned over to look as well, originally thinking there were others with designs on the middle-aged man. However, to his surprise, the person standing outside the wooden cabin was that very man himself. He didn’t appear to be out for some fresh air; after circling the teleportation prop cabin, he headed toward the outskirts of the village."Where is he planning to go?" Chi Cai lowered his voice, "Should we follow him?"

Xu Huo hadn’t replied yet, but on the other side, the green-haired female player and the Earless Man had already emerged, with Bubble Bean and the others not far behind.

As everyone tacitly followed him, strange swallowing sounds suddenly emanated from the forest on the other side, resembling the amplified sound of food passing through someone’s throat during a meal. In the dark night, the noise was particularly prominent, yet all the players knew that there shouldn’t be any people or animals present there.

Could it be sound mimicry?

Imitating various sounds isn’t difficult for many species in nature; the Hidden Friend could be using this trick to attract the living. If it really is them, producing swallowing sounds would be entirely plausible.

The group exchanged glances; the green-haired female player and two others kept following the middle-aged man, while Bubble Bean and his group headed toward the swallowing sounds. Xu Huo and his two companions followed behind the green-haired player.

The middle-aged man didn’t leave Xu Huo’s sensory range, and the sound source was merely two hundred meters away—it wasn’t anything strange, just a mutant plant that was active at night, consuming food. The sound came from the movements of small animals passing through its roots and stems.

As for the middle-aged man, his state was far stranger. He wasn’t quite normal even when he returned during the day, and he seemed even more peculiar after entering the grove. After walking a while, he suddenly stood still, muttering to himself. But his words weren’t part of a normal conversation; it was like reciting, filled with obscure religious content discernible only with difficulty.

While muttering, the middle-aged man’s eyes appeared vacant, staring straight ahead without any discernible emotions, just a slight tremor in his body.

"Has he been controlled?" the Earless Man had already tested the surroundings with a detector. Apart from Xu Huo and his companions behind him, there was no one ahead, not even the expected mutant plants.

"Should we go and wake him up?"

The green-haired female player, mostly hidden behind a tree, coldly watched the scene, "Wake him for what? This way we can see what the Hidden Friend truly is."

Five people in total watched the middle-aged man recite for a few minutes until Bubble Bean and the others came back over.

As the atmosphere shifted from eerie to slightly awkward, the middle-aged man abruptly took off running, swiftly charging into the fog!

"After him!"

The players followed closely, but after chasing for only a short distance, the middle-aged man used a spatial teleportation device and vanished from sight. The direction of teleportation was uncertain, but it was definitely beyond their detector’s range—their target was lost.

Even Xu Huo couldn’t find him; the man’s first teleportation was still within his sensory range, but he quickly performed a second one, completely disappearing.

"What’s going on?" the Yin Yang Master asked, "Could he be just pretending to deceive us?"

Regardless of whether he was deceiving or genuinely in trouble, the individual was gone now, what could they do?

No options left, the group returned to Zhongmu Village, only to find the game population had dwindled to 33 players.

"Better if he’s dead!" the Yin Yang Master retorted with a cold smile.

"Everyone, it’s not a matter of whether he’s dead or not," Chi Cai stopped them, "it’s the fact that there are over thirty people in the instance, but we’ve only seen around ten. No one in Upper Wood Village—if the remaining people formed alliances and are lurking in the shadows ready to act, we’re in trouble."

The instance says players should serve as the Hidden Friend’s actors, but so far, they haven’t had a chance. During the day they operate in the forest, becoming potential targets for others.

"Could they be in Xiamu Village?" the eyebrow-pierced man suggested, "Based on Zhongmu Village’s situation, the Hidden Friend hasn’t taken any locals for a long time. Either external individuals are more likely chosen to play friend roles, or the Hidden Friend requires specific conditions to attack locals—the separated villages have unknowingly cut off these conditions."

Chi Cai previously hypothesized the Hidden Friend mostly sought older friends, perhaps linked to their experiences. The more memories in life, the more difficult emotions to sever, whereas kids and young adults don’t think much on such matters. Over the years, locals might have picked up some insights, hence seniors are more common in Upper Wood Village, while Zhongmu Village has more young people.

"I’ve inquired about Xiamu Village," the green-haired female player said, "It’s similar to Zhongmu Village; occasionally older people move to Upper Wood Village."

"Yet here the disappearance frequency among the elderly isn’t high, likely because instance players are substituting the friend role."

"So, the Hidden Friend we encounter is different from what the locals face."

"Besides, isn’t there something odd?" Bubble Bean noted, "The villagers trust players too much. I can’t believe no player has harmed locals, unless... "

Unless players soon realize after the instance starts, they cannot kill locals.

The instance hints at this point cryptically, but based on deaths over recent days, not all players follow this rule, thus some must have tested the rule using locals. Why such actions don’t occur frequently, or spread out...

"Someone must have tried but immediately suffered consequences," the eyebrow-pierced man proposed, arms crossed, "Local villagers don’t know if players went missing or left on their own, but other players see through it."

"Does anyone here have killed someone after entering the instance?"

Even if they had, no one would admit it. However, Bubble Bean suspects the middle-aged man and the missing Yang Tian—given current circumstances, their likelihood as actors is quite low.

"Hey!" came a rough voice from behind them.

Everyone jumped, clutching various props in their hands. Much to their surprise, out of the fog emerged a nearly two-meter-tall Big Man, carrying someone over his shoulder—none other than the previously missing Yang Tian.

Yang Tian was still alive, with lips and nails darkened, heavily poisoned.

The Big Man dropped Yang Tian to the ground, clapped his hands, and addressed the others, "This young man was asleep in the grove! Had I arrived later, he’d have been eaten by carnivorous plants!"

Chi Cai administered a shot of Antitoxin to Yang Tian, "His breathing is steady now, he’ll wake up soon."

The Big Man placed one palm, like a fan, over Yang Tian’s shoulder, "You Pretty Boy, you look sly, but who’d have guessed you actually have a heart!"