◎ Triggering Five Projects in a Row; You Are a Player! ◎
Somewhere in the warehouse area, a team of players from the Special Class carriage moved like phantoms through the wind and snow, silently slipping past the NPC guards.
One player threw a series of ice balls, disguised as hail, smashing the lights and surveillance cameras around the warehouse.
“Good, keep moving.”
“Not good, we’ve been spotted!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The players faced the NPC guards’ bullets head-on. Rain-like volleys forced them to fall back; some players couldn’t dodge in time or lacked defensive tools, and blood sprayed instantly from their bodies!
“Damn NPCs! Weren’t they supposed to be on shift change? How are they reacting so fast?”
“Deploy the hallucination grenades!”
“Move this way!”
Under the NPCs’ fire suppression, the team had to change their route and abandon the warehouse they had targeted.
From the other direction, people from the First Class Carriage were sneaking forward as well.
Suddenly, the leader stopped. “Did you hear that? Gunfire!”
The wind and snow were heavy, hail pounded down, and the others admitted they couldn’t hear anything clearly.
“Where’s Mi Fei? We can’t contact them! Without Mi Fei’s aerial view, we have no idea what’s happening!”
The leader looked serious, glancing up at the sky—they really couldn’t see Mi Fei’s owl anymore.
Something must have gone wrong!
The leader hesitated between continuing forward and cutting losses. Suddenly, several beams of light shone from behind, followed by the NPCs shouting, “Who’s there!”
Damn it, they’ve been discovered!
Seeing the black-clad NPC ranks and their glinting long guns, the leader had no intention of fighting them head-on.
“Run!” The team sprinted, chased by the NPCs into a narrow alley.
At the same time, a third player team was being pursued in utter chaos, stumbling and running for their lives.
“Holy crap! Do these NPCs never sleep at night? Damn it! The NPCs in the last dungeon weren’t this strong!”
…
From above the dock warehouse area, one could see three groups of players running along dimly lit paths among rows of neat warehouses, with fully armed NPCs behind them, occasionally firing shots or throwing grenades to prevent them from turning back.
At some intersections, one or two robots with blood-red eyes would suddenly appear, raising two arms that revealed Gatling-like barrels, ready to fire.
The players screamed as they ran.
The scene resembled a flock of sheep being driven by a pack of shepherd dogs.
The sheep could only be driven into the pen, and likewise, the players were quickly pushed into a large warehouse.
The first wave to enter were players from the Second, Third, and Fourth-Class carriages. They ran into the warehouse, gasping, and looked up—ah, several shipping containers and various boxes.
There were supplies!
Although it didn’t seem like much, at least they wouldn’t leave empty-handed.
Before they could rejoice, another wave ran in.
Damn, players from the First Class carriage!
They immediately grew anxious. “Hey, brother, you know the rule of first come, first served, right?”
The first-class players glanced at the containers and disdainfully drew their weapons. “First come, first served? We only believe that the strong dominate.”
Just as a fight seemed imminent, the warehouse door was slammed open again—another wave entered.
The two groups inside looked green with anger.
Players from the Special Class carriage!
Seeing the supplies, the special-class spoke bluntly. “You can leave now. These supplies are ours.”
The lower-class players looked indignant, and the first-class players frowned. This was far too overbearing.
No one was willing to yield. Soon, the three waves formed a three-way standoff.
Everyone was soaked, muddy, and bleeding, their clothes dripping onto the floor. Though they looked miserable, their eyes were filled with danger.
In the Special Class carriage team, the leader, Wolf Sai, suddenly smiled. “We’re all players. Why fight among ourselves? Our real enemies are outside. Let’s take them out together. If we kill those NPCs, all the supplies in the docks will be ours.”
The First Class leader smiled, “True. Why don’t you lead, then? After all, the Special Class experts are much stronger than us. Dealing with the NPCs outside should be easy for you.”
The lower-class carriage players looked around, silently cursing. One side was the cunning Special Class players; the other, the wealthy First Class players—both were not to be trifled with.
Just then, both leaders turned their gaze toward them.
The lower-class players: “…”
Damn it, they’re treating us like easy targets.
The leader of the lower-class group could only swallow his anger and force a smile. “How about we first divide the items in this warehouse? We did find it first, but we’re willing to share. You can take the larger portion, we’ll just take a small share.”
They thought they were being generous, but Wolf Sai from the Special Class carriage waved his knife dismissively and laughed, eyes narrowing like a wolf. “Trash from the lower-class carriage dares to talk about ‘sharing’ with me?”
As soon as he spoke, several people behind him swept forward, creating a gust of wind. The few lower-class players in front were thrown into the air, crushing those behind them.
…
Outside the warehouse, a team fully armed from head to toe stood silently in the rain, surrounding the entire building.
Jiang Qi stood within the protective circle, rain streaming down her explosion-proof helmet, obscuring her eyes. Through her headset, she could clearly hear the activity inside the warehouse, and on the small screen strapped to her wrist, the scene was playing out.
A conflict had broken out inside.
But it was only a minor scuffle—the people from the first-class carriage were pinning down and beating those from the lower-class carriage, who dared not fight back, while the people from the special carriage watched idly.
This was far from what she wanted.
Seeing that the lower-class carriage people were close to breaking under the assault, Jiang Qi raised her hand and pointed forward.
Immediately, smoke grenades and flashbangs pre-placed inside the warehouse were remotely triggered, falling from above and detonating upon hitting the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang! Clouds of smoke exploded alongside blinding flashes of light.
“What the hell!”
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
“My eyes!”
The warehouse instantly descended into chaos.
At the same time, a violent, ferocious voice rang out clearly: “Damn it! Kill these golden pigs and silver dogs! Strip their skin, squeeze their fat! Show them not to look down on us!”
The words acted like a signal. In the next moment, bullets, arrows, and hidden weapons flew out from who knows where, striking the people from the special and first-class carriages. Amid the chaos came the sounds of bodies being hit and the screams of the wounded.
The special and first-class carriage people were enraged.
These low-class carriage punks dared to ambush them! And they had the audacity to call them pigs and dogs!
They were asking for death!
The lower-class carriage people had nicknamed the special carriage folks “Golden Pigs,” referring to wealthy, stupid, and ugly prey, and the first-class carriage folks “Silver Dogs,” meaning externally fierce but internally servile, slavishly bringing bones to curry favor with their masters—essentially, first-class people barked at the lower-class ones but fawned before the special-class ones.
Both nicknames carried the jealousy, hatred, and covetousness of the lower-class carriage toward the two higher-class carriages.
Just as the higher-class carriage people used all sorts of filthy terms to refer to the lower-class carriage, the moment “Golden Pigs” and “Silver Dogs” were shouted, everyone assumed it was someone from the lower-class carriage. Even they believed one of their own had said it.
The three groups were immediately fired up. With smoke swirling, visibility low, and weapons flying, they threw themselves at one another.
Even those unwilling to fight couldn’t stand idle—standing still without retaliating was a death sentence.
The sounds of fighting and killing echoed through the warehouse doors. Jiang Qi knew it had worked: the phrase she had recorded had indeed produced the desired effect.
Hearing “Golden Pigs” and “Silver Dogs,” the special and first-class people could not remain indifferent, and the lower-class carriage people, realizing they had touched a nerve, abandoned all hope for luck and attacked with the mindset of “killing one is no loss, killing two is profit.”
In the darkness, the special and first-class people also turned on each other, taking advantage of the chaos, fueled by mutual disdain and rivalry.
She knew these players’ temperaments all too well.
So, inside, things ended up totally messed up, exactly how she wanted.
Of course, the chaos would last only a while, as the special-class carriage people would soon suppress the other two groups.
Jiang Qi brought up the train conductor’s control panel and increased the number of simultaneous projects to ten.
“Let’s see what surprises you can give me.”
She turned toward Cui He and nodded.
Cui He understood and made a gesture.
One person stepped out of the formation, shouldering a single-barrel rocket launcher, and fired decisively at the warehouse doors.
The next moment, the two massive, sturdy doors of the warehouse burst open, sending the players inside flying as the shattered panels smashed through.
A squad charged in boldly, one hand holding a gun, the other wielding a high-powered flashlight bright enough to turn night into day.
Jiang Qi, flanked by Dong Shengfeng and the others, took a large step forward, raising a megaphone and shouting a warning: “Spring City Security Force! Surrender now!”
The players inside froze at the sound of the broken doors, then squinted against the flashlight beams, remaining in their crouched positions like stunned deer.
Jiang Qi continued to warn through the megaphone: “We are the Spring City Security Force. You are surrounded! Drop all weapons, hands on your heads, and squat!”
Someone among the players shouted: “Damn NPCs! It’s a trap!”
“Damn it! Let’s fight these NPCs to the death!”
One charged at Jiang Qi.
Bang!
A bullet hit him.
Several more rushed forward.
Bang bang bang!
They fell instantly.
Jiang Qi shouted again, “Stop resisting! Drop your weapons!”
“Shut up! You damned NPC!”
Another group charged.
Without hesitation, Jiang Qi pressed a remote control in her hand.
Immediately, electric currents surged up from the ground beneath the players, passing through the wet floor and their legs, forming closed circuits that convulsed their bodies, eliciting screams of pain.
After a few moments, Jiang Qi turned off the remote; the players collapsed one by one.
She coldly watched them, waiting a moment, but there was no notification from the train conductor panel.
No project triggered?
She looked at the remote in her hand. It wasn’t that simple.
Was it the method that didn’t work, or had she relied too much on external force?
Indeed—aside from shouting a few words, she hadn’t exerted herself. It seemed she had to confront the players directly.
Dong Shengfeng looked at her.
Jiang Qi raised her right hand above her head, fingers spread, palm flipping twice.
A clenched fist would indicate success and that she had achieved the desired result, ready to wrap up.
Her current gesture indicated failure—Plan B would be needed.
Plan B: abandon the overwhelming numbers and weapons advantage and engage in a more dangerous close-quarters fight with these players, with Jiang Qi personally contributing combat power.
Jiang Qi reached out; Dong Shengfeng handed her the pistol from her waist.
Though she wasn’t familiar with firearms, and her aim was poor, the moment the gun touched her hand, a strange sense of familiarity washed over her. Instinctively, an impulse to raise and fire the weapon surged through her.
A faint voice echoed in her mind: “Can’t shoot? Then just practice more—I’ll be your target.”
Scenes of her training at targets flashed before her eyes.
Bang bang bang—the shots hit the targets dead center, from static targets to moving ones, even falling leaves, soaring birds, and ghostly-emerging enemies fell beneath her gun.
Jiang Qi’s body stiffened, her pupils trembled. What memory was this?
Dong Shengfeng had thought she didn’t know how to use a gun and was about to give her an on-the-spot lesson, but Jiang Qi had already returned to normal. She efficiently removed the magazine to check it, confirmed it was fully loaded, reinserted it, and switched off the safety.
Seeing her smooth, practiced movements, Dong Shengfeng relaxed considerably.
She whispered, “It’s fine if you can’t aim well, just don’t shoot our own people.”
To prevent friendly fire—and also in case there were any restrictions on her that prevented killing players—this gun had reduced ammunition. As long as she didn’t shoot for the head, it couldn’t kill anyone.
Even so, with so many players around, she could injure a few even with her eyes closed, which was a contribution to their combat power. Dong Shengfeng felt slightly relieved.
Meanwhile, Cui He received Jiang Qi’s signal and immediately issued orders over the team channel: “Execute Plan B!”
Some people quickly switched to other weapons—either less powerful guns, tranquilizer Qs, stun Qs, or even drew knives, preparing for close combat.
At this moment, the players who had been electrocuted staggered to their feet one by one.
Jiang Qi raised a megaphone again and shouted, “Final warning! Everyone in the warehouse, you are surrounded! Stop fighting, stop resisting, put down your weapons, surrender…”
“We’ve got numbers—kill them!”
“Ahhh! I’ll fight you to the end!”
As expected, the players charged again, tossing out all sorts of bizarre items:
Hallucinogens, paralyzing tools, itching agents, immobilizers, energy-draining tools…
Of course, some players had no skills or items, and were quickly restrained in a few moves or even thrown like punching bags by their companions.
The scene descended into chaos.
Both sides clashed fiercely.
Jiang Qi raised her gun and fired without blinking.
Bang!
A player raising a knife to strike was shot in the right shoulder and fell.
At the same time, a buzzing sound rang in Jiang Qi’s mind.
[Ding! You have injured a passenger, violating the principle of [Caring for Passengers]. You will be punished.]
Jiang Qi’s expression darkened. Why? Do other train conductors treat passengers like treasures?
Why can they crush passengers left and right, while she has to “care” for them just because she triggered the [Caring for Passengers] project?
She wants to control the field. She wants passengers to obey. She wants absolute authority in front of them. Can that really be achieved with mere “care”?
She also has to compete with other train conductors. She wants her own train. Can that be achieved by being nice?
No. She wants to be strong. She wants to carve her own path.
She continued shooting.
Bang!
A player attempting to throw something was shot in the arm and fell.
[Ding! You have injured a passenger, violating the principle of [Caring for Passengers]. You will be punished.]
Jiang Qi gritted her teeth. “Shut up!”
Bang!
A player leaping to kick was shot in the leg and fell.
[Ding! You have injured a passenger, violating the principle of [Caring for Passengers]. You will be punished.]
Jiang Qi sneered. “This is me caring for them! I’m stopping them from fighting—isn’t that care?”
Bang!
A player screaming as if about to transform was shot in the abdomen.
[Ding! You have injured a passenger…]
“As long as they all submit to me, as long as all passengers obey, they won’t cause trouble. If they don’t cause trouble, they’ll be safe. This is a one-time method to teach them to behave. How is this not care?”
Bang!
A player plucking strings on some musical instrument, producing grating sounds, was shot in the wrist.
Protected by Dong Shengfeng and others, Jiang Qi ignored the surrounding danger, conversing with the train conductor panel in her mind while mechanically emptying magazines, using her superb marksmanship to defy the panel’s warnings.
Then she quickly loaded another magazine and fired again.
[Beep…]
[Beep…]
The train conductor panel sounded repeatedly. At first, she argued with it, but soon she stopped speaking and kept shooting.
Afterward, she entered a strange state—a state where holding a single gun allowed her to control everything, where she no longer cared about whether players lived or died, a state of looking down on all and slaying all.
Screams were born under her gun. Splattering blood painted the air. Bullets pierced flesh as if sharp blades cut through hearts, stealing life and blood, intoxicating and consuming.
Her blood boiled, her innate ferocity was awakened, and she trembled with it.
[Beep. You have injured a passenger… Beep, beep, beep…]
The train conductor panel seemed to malfunction, buzzing endlessly.
Dong Shengfeng watched in surprise as Jiang Qi never missed a shot. Was this really just average marksmanship?
Looking at her expression… well, with helmet and mask, only her eyes were visible—cold, cruel, merciless, like a predator choosing its prey.
Dong Shengfeng shivered, unsure if Jiang Qi was acting or real.
Just as she hesitated to warn her, a new announcement sounded in Jiang Qi’s mind:
[Ding! You have achieved a twenty-passenger streak of injuries. Your ruthlessness proves you are preliminarily qualified to become a Train Conductor.]
[Yes, a Train Conductor should have absolute life-and-death authority over passengers. True care is not small favors but complete control over their lives. Hitting them awakens them, punishing them teaches them, killing them ends their suffering. Ruthlessness is care; lovelessness is great love. Congratulations, you have comprehended the true meaning of being a Train Conductor and gained 1 Internship Experience.]
Jiang Qi almost staggered, shocked by the absurd declaration, and her boiling ferocity gradually faded.
Unexpectedly, the Train Conductor panel even had a yandere-dark-side attribute. No wonder the mental states of all train conductors were often abnormal… Huh, why did she say ‘all’?
Her hand shook slightly, but the fired bullet still pierced a player’s arm.
[Ding! You have injured a passenger. Hitting vital points to disable them with minimal cost is a basic train conductor operation. Congratulations, you gained 0.001 Internship Experience.]
Good. Back on track. Finally, she triggered a proper project .
At that moment, a commotion erupted from the side.
A player leapt high like a whirlwind, sweeping everyone aside and lunging at Jiang Qi.
The speed was impossible for a normal human.
Dong Shengfeng immediately fired at him, but the bullets passed right through and hit the wall.
Dong Shengfeng panicked.
She reached out to grab Jiang Qi: “Watch out!”
In Jiang Qi’s eyes, the high-flying figure transformed mid-air into a densely furred wolf.
This must be from a previous dungeon, where the player gained a bloodline-related potion or inheritance, obtaining wolf-kind abilities.
The bullets couldn’t hit him, and his wolf form emitted a faint, illusory glow—was this a Shadow Wolf?
Shadow Wolves possess both shadow and wolf traits. Their forms are dreamlike, can ignore many physical attacks, and move incredibly fast.
Jiang Qi immediately thought of something she had heard in her previous life: in the first-class carriage, there was a very powerful person who possessed the Shadow Wolf bloodline—someone not to be provoked.
That person was originally called something like Local Sai, but after obtaining the Shadow Wolf bloodline, he had renamed himself Wolf Sai. When Jiang Qi first heard of it, she had even internally criticized, wondering why he didn’t just change it to “Local Wolf.”
So it’s you!
The person who had seemed like a mere fantasy in her previous life now appeared right in front of her, ragged yet fierce, in a desperate stance aimed at taking her life!
But what arose in Jiang Qi’s heart was not fear, but calm—perhaps because she had just “comprehended the ruthless and loveless truth of being a train conductor,” perhaps because of the confidence gained from injuring over twenty people, or perhaps because the aura of domineering superiority had not yet fully faded.
In any case, she was unusually calm at this moment, even carrying a hint of the gaze of someone in power, watching the other party while capturing their movement trajectory with her eyes.
Then, the other party’s speed seemed to slow down in her sight.
[Ding! A passenger has unleashed their racial talent to attack you, but as an intern train conductor, you remain indifferent and calm. In the eyes of a train conductor, a passenger’s so-called full-power burst is as laughable as a cat stretching its claws and meowing fiercely. Congratulations! You have triggered the [Train Conductor’s Contempt] and gained 0.001 Internship Experience.]
[Ding! A passenger has unleashed their racial talent to attack you. His speed is so fast, yet you still track his trajectory and see his speed slow at this moment. Congratulations! You have triggered the [Train Conductor’s Mystic Eye] and gained 0.001 Internship Experience.]
The two alert sounds rang almost simultaneously, but Jiang Qi had no time to listen carefully—the Shadow Wolf was already in front of her.
Dong Shengfeng shouted as countless bullets struck the Shadow Wolf, but they had no effect.
As the massive claws of the Shadow Wolf were about to swipe Jiang Qi’s face, a Zerg Carapace Blade appeared in her hand out of nowhere. She swung it, and the blade collided with the Shadow Wolf’s claw with a sharp “clang.”
The Shadow Wolf froze.
A look of disbelief appeared in its fierce eyes.
Jiang Qi curled the corners of her mouth.
Although the Shadow Wolf bloodline was powerful, it was still relatively fragile in its early stage. At this moment, the Shadow Wolf had a major limitation: it could not be forcibly materialized.
A shadow is formless and should not be captured or blocked by anything. Once restrained, it loses its ability, is forced out of its shadow state, and reverts to physical form.
Jiang Qi continued to apply force with her arm. The sharp Zerg Carapace Blade sliced through the wolf’s claw, splitting it in half, spraying bright red blood.
“Ah!” Amidst the piercing scream, Jiang Qi reversed her blade and stabbed it into the Shadow Wolf’s neck.
In the next moment, the Shadow Wolf was flung to the ground, transforming back into a human.
A man with his right hand cut in half and a gaping wound on his neck—the leader of the first-class carriage, Wolf Sai.
He rolled in agony on the ground, screaming in a way that sounded less human—not only because of his injuries, but also because the Shadow Wolf’s failed state triggered a backlash, a pain directly affecting the soul.
[Ding! You have injured a passenger with a precise strike to a vital area, disabling their actions. Congratulations! You gained 0.001 Internship Experience.]
Jiang Qi lowered her eyes and flicked the blood off her blade.
Her back molars clenched silently—damn, her arm had exerted too much force; it felt like it might break.
At this moment, the whole place fell silent.
The players were dumbfounded.
The lay players saw a spectacle—they only knew that the strongest among them had been easily defeated, and it was clear he had been badly injured.
The more experienced players, however, understood exactly how difficult that Shadow Wolf was to deal with. Wolf Sai had gained his high status in the first-class carriage precisely because of this bloodline talent.
Yet, in just an instant, his power was broken, and he had materialized—clearly, the one who defeated him was even stronger.
They looked at the figure standing upright, watching the blood-dripping blade in her hand, and shivered.
Looking again at the Shadow Wolf player on the ground, ice crystals gradually formed around the wound, tinged with a dark blue hue.
The blade carried ice and poison attributes!
A player’s blade!
An NPC got a player’s blade? And such a powerful one!
Wolf Sai gasped for air, glaring at Jiang Qi: “Player! You’re also a player!”
Everyone else was shocked, staring at Jiang Qi in disbelief.
This person is a player too!
But how could he mix with the NPCs?
A player had infiltrated the NPC camp, and seemed to have risen to a high rank!
No wonder the NPC camp was so strong.
No wonder the NPCs ambushed players.
No wonder their actions were constantly blocked—there was an insider! What the hell is this game!
Jiang Qi neither confirmed nor denied it. She stepped forward calmly, scanning the expressions of the surrounding players, finally resting her gaze on Wolf Sai.
“Shadow Wolf bloodline…nothing special.”
This statement effectively confirmed, indirectly, that she was indeed a player.
Wolf Sai’s eyes widened in rage.
Jiang Qi then looked at the others: “Drop your weapons, crouch, and cover your heads. Who still wants to resist?”
The players looked at each other, glanced at the NPCs holding guns around them, then at the pitiful Wolf Sai on the ground, and finally back at Jiang Qi.
This person was definitely a super-powerful player. Losing to a player, but not truly begging the NPCs for mercy, somehow didn’t feel entirely shameful.
After a moment of inner conflict, they dropped their weapons and crouched, covering their heads.
[Ding! You successfully resolved a conflict among players and made all players feel intimidated, fearful, and submissive to you. Indeed, a train conductor should have absolute authority. Congratulations! You have triggered the [Train Conductor’s Home Field] and gained 0.001 Internship Experience.]
Jiang Qi exhaled slowly.
Having triggered five projects in a row, all of high quality, tonight’s efforts had not been in vain.
…
You can grab the full book now on my Ko-fi page, available in both PDF and EPUB formats! 🖤
📎 Here’s the link to the full novel