◎ Obtaining Player Status, Seizing Player Talent Abilities ◎
Jiang Qi returned to the lower level once again, leading everyone to continue seizing the panels of Player No. 2 and Player No. 3.
Because the pressure on their shoulders had increased, everyone became more silent, and their movements were sharper and more efficient.
By the end of the day, all 20 player identities had been successfully seized.
These 20 freshly created fake players immediately entered the training phase. They had to attend various performance classes, practice pronunciation using incomplete player language textbooks, mimic the words, actions, habits, and lifestyle of the original players based on their pre-death videos, and also practice shaping the original players’ faces and appearances using player masks.
Once they had more or less mastered these courses, they would take the scripts written for each of them by the writing team, leave the command center, and, under the identity and appearance of players, carry out their survival games throughout Spring City.
They would then deliberately or inadvertently make contact with real players, allowing the real players to grow familiar with their current selves, while they themselves became accustomed to the presence and aura of real players, gradually blending into their environment.
Watching them salute and leave, Jiang Qi finally relaxed a little. Killing 19 players in a row and helping seize 19 panels hadn’t been easy for her.
Dong Shengfeng came over and softly asked, “Do you want to rest, or leave immediately?”
They had to return to deal with Mi Fei and the others.
Jiang Qi lowered her head and looked at her hands. From today onward, the number of people she had to kill each day would likely exceed the total from her previous life. “Let’s go now.”
Seeing how exhausted she was, Dong Shengfeng couldn’t help but say, “Actually, others could take action too. The commander didn’t insist you had to do it alone…”
Jiang Qi looked up and replied, “I know. But now that we understand how tense the situation is, and that every single player can help me accumulate strength, then I have to maximize their value.”
For now, only players she personally killed could be converted into train coins, which also allowed her to gain related project experience points. How could she pass up such an opportunity?
Dong Shengfeng didn’t argue further.
…
From then on, Jiang Qi ran to different places each day, helping seize identities, and occasionally engaging in other practice projects.
For example, she would fight players with talent abilities, mediate conflicts between players, or practice skills with them. Then, once the other party sensed her train conductor aura, she would kill them.
Every day she killed many players, and soon her hands were stained with numerous lives. Her backpack gradually filled with semi-finished train coins of various values.
She also noticed that carrying too many train coins affected her a little.
Sometimes, it felt as though she wasn’t holding coins, but a pouch full of players’ relics.
Looking at those train coins, it seemed to her that countless ghostly eyes were staring at her, with spirits angrily and unwillingly screaming at her.
Yet she did not avoid interacting with the train coins. Sometimes she could stare at them for a long while, using them to stimulate her nerves, attempting to awaken more memory fragments—though unfortunately, she did not succeed.
…
May 15: A new project was triggered.
May 16: Three more projects were triggered.
May 18: The [Precision Strike on Passenger Vital Points] project was maxed out.
May 20: Two projects were maxed, and three more projects were triggered.
May 21: Another project was triggered…
May 23: The [Being Addressed as Train Conductor by Players] project was maxed out.
May 24: After killing a cumulative total of 1,000 passengers, the [Killing Passengers] and [Producing Train Coins] projects were completed. Her combat strength against players rose to another level. Against weaker players, she could take their lives with barely any effort.
…
May 25: On the 16th day of the dungeon’s arrival, Dong Shengfeng’s entire team obtained player identities, and Jiang Qi did as well.
The process of obtaining the player panels was still difficult for Jiang Qi, but her endurance was much stronger than in her previous life; she no longer fainted from the pain.
She rested in her private room for a while before recovering, leaning lazily against the table, unwilling to move. She placed two piles of train coins on the table: one of Cunning Snake train coins, the other her own, and quietly stared at them.
After staring for an unknown length of time, Dong Shengfeng arrived with a new face, leaning against the wall mischievously. “Darling, did you miss me?”
Jiang Qi looked up and saw a face that was both unfamiliar and familiar. The features were sharply androgynous, with spiky blond hair and exaggerated eye makeup, resembling a delinquent youth.
It was unfamiliar because it was someone else’s face, and familiar because not long ago, the true owner of this face had died by her hand.
Jiang Qi silently withdrew her gaze, feeling that her eyes had been assaulted.
Dong Shengfeng said, “Ah, why so cold? Don’t forget, our new identities are lovers; we’re supposed to be affectionate! Come on, try on the new face too, let me get used to it.”
Jiang Qi pressed her forehead. She really did not want to play the role of a lover, but the players the command center had matched for them happened to be a same-sex couple.
The type who would go mad if separated, yet act completely normal when together. When things were good, they were extremely good; when they fought, they could strangle each other. Half-crazed and ruthless characters.
Based on these two character profiles, the scriptwriting department removed the overly deranged and brutal traits and gave them new personas: “Individually overwhelming in combat, together mutually enhanced,” and “Bound by love, defying fate.” They said it suited them very well.
In fact, it did suit them. Mainly because this type of persona had an extremely high potential ceiling. After all, once love was said to defy fate, any kind of explosive performance for the sake of love could be considered normal.
So although it was very cringeworthy, Jiang Qi accepted it.
She said helplessly, “Isn’t it written in your script? Your current identity is a pitiful person who got separated from their lover, going mad everywhere looking for me. Affection can wait until you ‘find’ me first.”
“That doesn’t stop us from rehearsing early,” Dong Shengfeng said, plopping across the table. “The script says I must frantically search for you, harassing other players, visiting all the funeral homes to lift corpses’ veils in case one is you. Then, I must cause a scene at the northern city funeral home, showing players the corpses firsthand, providing real witnesses.”
“I know, that’s the plan for the day after tomorrow. When it happens, it’ll help me max the [Home Field] project. I’m looking forward to your performance.”
Dong Shengfeng laughed. “Playing a half-crazy character? No problem!”
Only then did she notice what was on the table, and her expression turned strange. She leaned back slightly. “I didn’t feel it before, but now that I’ve obtained player status, looking at your train coins makes me really uncomfortable. It feels like countless voices are shouting in my ears.”
“That’s because these are semi-finished, they still carry the aura of the deceased. You can think of it as their resentment and unwillingness, so it affects other players more.”
Jiang Qi pushed the pile of Cunning Snake coins toward her. “What about this pile of finished coins? Do you still feel that way?”
Dong Shengfeng compared them. “That’s true. But carrying so many semi-finished ones daily, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Jiang Qi said indifferently as she picked up her own train coins one by one. “These train coins are a bit timid against the strong. When I face them as a train conductor, at most they’re just a little noisy.”
She placed the last train coin in her palm; as she clenched her hand, all the coins disappeared, stored in her backpack.
Dong Shengfeng’s ears were finally free of disturbance. She looked at Jiang Qi’s indifferent gaze and felt a chill in her teeth.
Being with Jiang Qi every day, she had witnessed all her changes, watching her grow more detached day by day.
Having done too many internship projects and killed too many players, Jiang Qi was visibly becoming stronger, but she also seemed to be gradually losing her sense of humanity.
Seeing Dong Shengfeng’s strained expression, Jiang Qi asked, “What’s wrong?”
Dong Shengfeng shook her head. “Nothing at all. You’re finally getting a rare break—what could possibly bother you? By the way, aren’t you supposed to start low-temperature adaptation training? It’s been several days already, hasn’t it?”
Just mentioning it gave Jiang Qi a headache. She was busy to the point of exhaustion every day, and adapting to low temperatures carried the risk of frostbite or illness, which would seriously disrupt her work.
So far, she had basically been working in normal-temperature environments, traveling only in well-heated vehicles, and wearing nothing but high-tech gear with built-in climate control.
But in the future, as a player acting independently, she obviously couldn’t expect such meticulous care in every aspect. The thought of having to endure that hellish frozen wilderness on her own filled her with resistance.
Even though she had gone through this in her previous life, she had probably been spoiled too much over the past half-month… It’s true what they say: it’s hard to go from luxury to frugality.
To prevent her from getting frostbite, the command center had specially scheduled relevant training courses for her.
In short, they had arranged all sorts of exercises in subzero environments with highly skilled instructors.
But because she couldn’t find the time, she kept postponing it.
Pushing out her lips, she said helplessly, “No more delaying—class starts in half an hour.”
Seeing her like this, Dong Shengfeng felt she seemed more lively again and said with a smile, “If you could trigger a project that enhances your physique or frost resistance, you wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble.”
Jiang Qi would have liked that, but unfortunately, “Such projects aren’t related to the train conductor work, so how could I trigger one? I do hope to gain a corresponding ability as a player.”
Like, maybe a fire-based talent…
Thinking of those players with innate talents who were currently imprisoned, Jiang Qi’s eyes narrowed slightly.
At that moment, the overhead lights flickered.
Jiang Qi looked up.
Dong Shengfeng said, “The voltage is unstable.”
At present, the outside temperature had already dropped below minus seventy degrees. Many lines and pieces of equipment were damaged, and most of the city’s communications had collapsed. Even the power supply in this small underground base had become unstable.
Sure enough, not long after, the person in charge came over: “Team Leader Jiang, the voltage here is unstable. There are still more than ten players being held. They need to be dealt with quickly, or we might not be able to contain them.”
Jiang Qi immediately said, “Got it. Let’s postpone the low-temperature training for now and deal with these players first. I’ll come over shortly.”
All the people held in this base had racial talents. Jiang Qi had already cycled through them to gain experience, and keeping them now was for the purpose of trying to seize their innate abilities.
Dong Shengfeng teased, “You’re just avoiding it.”
Jiang Qi replied firmly, “It’s called prioritizing. You go ahead; I’ll get ready.”
“Get ready for what?”
“Of course, to put on my player identity and go over there.”
…
After Dong Shengfeng left, Jiang Qi brought up her panel.
On the left was the Train Conductor panel, now glowing a faint purple.
Name: Jiang Qi
Identity: Train Conductor
Level: Intern (30.86/100)
ID: ?
Train Number: ?
Note: You have triggered 34 internship projects, 29 completed. Keep up the effort.
On the right was the player panel, showing the same light blue as everyone else.
Name: Sando
Identity: Passenger
Train Number: Cunning Snake 270144
Carriage: Third Class Carriage, Car 19, Seat 58
Wealth: 273 Train Coins (10,000 Train Coins needed to upgrade to Second Class)
…
Pretty poor, all things considered.
But at least in many aspects, it was much stronger than what she had acquired in her previous life.
She hid the Train Conductor panel and put on the Player mask.
She first shaped Sando’s face, then put on a skeleton-printed outfit, covered in fine chains, with a gloomy and emo vibe, carrying a stylishly exaggerated “chuunibyou” aesthetic. She added some big, depressing-style nails and bold eye makeup similar to Dong Shengfeng’s.
That was Sando’s personal aesthetic.
It was said that after coming to Spring City, Sando had become obsessed with doing her own nails. Because the salon’s work didn’t meet her standards, she took drastic measures—if it weren’t for the presence of official elites at the shop, it would have been a massacre.
Player masks weren’t as advanced as the Train Conductor mask. You could only create five faces and five body types, and the results weren’t particularly natural.
But this wasn’t a problem, because all players were like this. Many didn’t even show their real faces at first, wearing stiff fake masks every day. No one commented on anyone else.
Jiang Qi looked in the mirror and, satisfied, saved this appearance setup in the Player panel so she could use it directly next time without re-customizing.
Then she created another face.
As “Sando,” wearing a mask while doing tasks was normal.
The outfit didn’t need to change, nor did the nails need hiding—after all, Sando wouldn’t think about or bother with such details.
She went to where the players were held.
The first person she saw was Wolf Sai.
She called out in a teasing tone, “Yo, still alive, huh?”
Wolf Sai’s hair had grown significantly compared to more than ten days ago, his face was covered with stubble, and his cheeks had sunken in, making him look quite desolate.
Wolf Sai glanced up at Jiang Qi. Because Jiang Qi didn’t hide her aura as a player at all, and her dark, bizarre style was clearly not that of a native, Wolf Sai immediately recognized her as a player.
He said in a hoarse voice, “Who are you? Where’s that guy?”
The “guy” he referred to was, of course, Jiang Qi herself—the alter ego of the “top player who infiltrated the NPC high ranks.”
In recent days, Jiang Qi had frequently used that alter ego to spar with Wolf Sai and gain experience. Each time, Wolf Sai was overwhelmed, growing furious but powerless.
Jiang Qi, admiring her nails, said casually, “Our master says you’re getting worse at fighting. I can take you down in one round—it’s boring. You’re no longer worthy to be his opponent.”
Wolf Sai glared at her fiercely.
Jiang Qi flicked her hair. “Why are you glaring at me? Isn’t that the truth? You’re supposed to be one of the top players in the Special Carriage, and yet, this is all you’ve got. Now, you have two choices: die here, or serve our master.”
Wolf Sai sneered, “Serve as your lackey? Dream on!”
“That’s a shame, but it doesn’t matter. There are plenty of people eager to work for our master.”
She clapped her hands, and Dong Shengfeng, along with a player who had already joined their squad, both wearing black helmets that completely hid their faces in a mysterious manner, brought over a red-haired player.
Jiang Qi said to the red-haired player, “If you kill Wolf Sai, you’ll serve our master. Oh, and Wolf Sai has the Shadow Wolf bloodline. If you strip it and make it your own, the top seats in the Special Carriage will be yours in the future.”
The red-haired player immediately breathed heavily, his eyes glowing green as he looked at Wolf Sai like a fat piece of meat.
Wolf Sai sensed danger immediately and was shocked by Jiang Qi’s words. Bloodline talents could actually be stripped?!
The red-haired player asked, “Bloodline talents can be taken? How do you take them?”
Jiang Qi thought, How would I know?
But it was indeed possible. In her third dungeon, she had heard that a player from the Special Carriage had done this, though she didn’t know who it was. Since it was someone from the Special Carriage who had pulled it off, now she could have two of them demonstrate it for her.
At a life-or-death moment, maybe they’d even have an epiphany.
She said, “Try it yourself, and you’ll find out.”
Leaning slightly forward, she said in a menacing tone to the red-haired player, “Of course, you also have a bloodline talent. If you fail to take theirs, yours might get taken instead…”
Seeing the red-haired player’s eyes widen, she smiled and waved her hand.
The prison door opened, and the player was pushed in.
In the next moment, thick alloy walls descended around the cell, leaving only a small observation window to see what was happening inside.
Jiang Qi collected her expression and stood by the window, watching the two test and maneuver against each other. Then Wolf Sai transformed into the Shadow Wolf, and the red-haired player’s skin turned metallic. They began to viciously tear into each other.
Dong Shengfeng removed her helmet and watched from the window.
“Can they really take each other’s talent bloodlines?”
Jiang Qi shook her head. “I don’t know. Just record everything they do; we’ll use it as a reference.”
She whispered, “In the last few days of the month, the dungeon randomly drops Easter eggs. Some of these contain rare things like bloodline talents. If we can’t take the bloodlines from players, we’ll grab the Easter eggs instead. But there are very few.”
So, if they could steal a few bloodline talents directly from players, that would be ideal.
More than ten minutes later, the fight ended. The Shadow Wolf bit off the red-haired player’s throat, while the metallic layer on the latter’s skin gradually faded.
Then, the Shadow Wolf suddenly opened its massive jaws and tore off a piece of the red-haired player’s skin, eating it greedily.
Both Jiang Qi and Dong Shengfeng were stunned.
Jiang Qi noticed that the Shadow Wolf was eating the metallic skin. As it consumed the skin, its fur began to show subtle metallic signs.
Was this… stealing a talent?
It actually worked! That smoothly?
Was Wolf Sai some kind of chosen one?
Jiang Qi and Dong Shengfeng exchanged a glance.
This development was beyond what her current player identity could handle.
She quickly took off her coat and shoes, removed her nails, grabbed another outfit from the Train Conductor panel, and put it on. At the same time, she switched to the train conductor mask. Her body immediately became taller and broader; her face, hands, skin tone, and hair rapidly changed.
In the blink of an eye, she became a man—the “top player”—and put on black contact lenses.
Seeing that Wolf Sai was about to finish devouring all the metallic skin, she shouted, “Open the door!”
As the door opened, she rushed in and pinned the Shadow Wolf’s neck.
[Precise Strike to Passenger Vital Points] skill activated: When you control a passenger’s vital point, they are very likely to temporarily lose all ability to act.
The Shadow Wolf instantly froze, pinned to the ground.
Jiang Qi tore a bloody piece of metallic skin from the Shadow Wolf’s mouth.
[Ding! You’ve obtained a passenger’s talent ability “Metallic Skin” (1/3)…]
Jiang Qi punched the Shadow Wolf in the stomach.
[Kill Passenger] skill activated: Your attack deals burst damage to the passenger.
The Shadow Wolf howled, vomiting out the piece it had just eaten.
Jiang Qi picked up the blob of metallic blood and flesh.
[Ding! You’ve obtained a passenger’s talent ability “Metallic Skin” (2/3)…]
Jiang Qi stomped on the Shadow Wolf’s stomach, forcing it to keep vomiting, and reached in to grab the last piece.
The pile of blood and flesh in her hands rotated and transformed. Bits were separated, leaving a silver alloy ball, perfectly round, like a solid yet also liquid, spinning slowly and emitting a faint glare.
[Ding! You’ve obtained a passenger’s complete talent ability “Metallic Skin.” Train Conductors cannot directly strip a passenger’s talent ability, but you clearly found a loophole. Congratulations, you’ve mastered more of the art of cunning and deceit, gaining 1 Internship Experience.]
Tip: A conductor can be despicable, sinister, shameless, and cruel, but don’t be petty—otherwise you’ll be despised. Even these tiny things on the passenger, you didn’t let them go?
Jiang Qi: “…”
This Train Conductor panel is starting to feel more and more annoying.
Back when it was messing around with that sneaky [Passenger Offering] skill, why didn’t it say it was petty? Why didn’t it say not to just focus on the trivial stuff on the passengers?
She checked and didn’t gain any abilities from this project; she still didn’t know how to strip someone else of their talent.
Looks like this panel really doesn’t encourage the train conductor to do that kind of thing.
Jiang Qi felt a bit frustrated.
Those trivial scraps were exactly what she needed right now.
She asked the panel, “You said before that rules are meant to be broken. Shouldn’t a train conductor have no restrictions? And now you suddenly have principles—isn’t this a bit out of character?”
Lately, she often talked to this panel, and eight out of ten times it ignored her.
This time, it responded.
[A train conductor still needs some sense of dignity. Passenger Offering is fun, but gnashing your teeth and ruthlessly tearing a player’s abilities is just ugly.]
After saying this, it went silent again.
Ugly, my foot! I’m petty, so what!
Jiang Qi had no choice. She released Shadow Wolf and kicked him away. Shadow Wolf returned to human form, collapsed on the ground, vomiting non-stop—but all that came out was blood.
Wolf Sai, writhing in pain, glared at Jiang Qi with hatred, “It’s you! It’s you! Again, it’s you!”
Every time he faced this person, he couldn’t use his skills at all, and this time he couldn’t move even a bit.
What kind of person is this? Are there hidden experts in the Special Class Carriage?
Jiang Qi got up, holding the metal sphere in her hand, examining Wolf Sai.
In the past few days, she had seen players kill other players, even eat them—but never had anyone been able to steal someone else’s talent just through the act of “eating.”
This person really is something!
Suddenly, as she looked, the messy-bearded face before her overlapped with the face of someone in one of her memory fragments—a figure who seemed like one of the suspected train conductors…
Jiang Qi’s heart skipped a beat. Could this person become a train conductor in the future?
The fastest way to become a train conductor is to replace the current train conductor of the train you are on.
In other words, if she didn’t intervene, this person might very well replace Cunning Snake.
Interesting.
If she couldn’t confront Cunning Snake directly, could she find someone else to cause trouble for him? Like this person in front of her…
The thought flashed through her mind but was quickly dismissed.
Only half a month remained, and she herself was still struggling to figure things out. How could she possibly have the energy to help Wolf Sai gain the corresponding abilities?
She spoke in a calm, male voice, “Thank you for helping me gain a talent. Truly worthy of being an elite of the special-class carriage.”
Wolf Sai realized he had been used for free and trembled with rage. “You’re despicable and shameless!”
“More compliments,” she added.
Jiang Qi stepped in front of him, looking down, and said, “Wolf Sai, you really are stronger than the average player, and more useful. I’m even a bit reluctant to kill you. So, how about it? Want to join me?”
Dong Shengfeng, already back in his helmet, glanced at her.
This persona Jiang Qi used was that of a mysterious and powerful player—able to mobilize NPCs and commanding a group of secretive players.
There were plenty of players forming alliances, and Wolf Sai had been one of them, but Jiang Qi’s persona was executed to the extreme, showcasing the strongest power.
So it was perfectly reasonable in the eyes of players for her to recruit Wolf Sai.
Sure enough, Wolf Sai didn’t doubt her, but still resisted, “In your dreams!”
Jiang Qi sighed, “What a pity.”
Although she said “pity,” her eyes showed no emotion. A gun appeared in her hand, and she raised it to Wolf Sai’s head.
Wolf Sai’s pupils shrank as he activated Shadow Wolf mode in a thousandth of a second.
Almost simultaneously, the bullet passed through the head of Shadow Wolf and struck the ground.
Wolf Sai rolled quickly, escaping from his original spot, gasping. His wolf face was full of terror. Just a little closer and he would have really died!
He looked up at Jiang Qi.
She stood there, holding the gun, her pure black eyes showing no trace of human emotion—like an ice-cold machine. Her gaze was like looking at a piece of meaningless trash.
She was truly going to kill him, unwilling to waste even a single word.
…
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