Players, Please Board the Train-Chapter 26: Interrogation

"I have nothing to say," the woodchopper said with a dark expression. "I don't know anything about players or being stranded. I've lived here my whole life."
Xu Huo made a disapproving sound, his face unreadable in the shadows. But the next second, the sharp edge of his shovel pressed against the man's neck as he spoke coldly: "Players have some peculiar traits. Let's test whether you can still come back to life after having your neck cut off."
Only then did the woodchopper panic, hurriedly saying, "You can't kill me! If you kill me, you'll never complete the game!"
"Oh? I thought you didn't know anything?"
The woodchopper forced a smile. "I can give you hints to complete the game, on the condition that you don't tell other players about this..."
The shovel pressed down mercilessly.
Blood flowed down the man's neck as he made incoherent choking sounds, his eyes glaring fiercely at Xu Huo. After struggling for a moment, he finally yielded: "I... I'll talk..."
Xu Huo released his grip and stuffed the unfinished cigarette butt into the man's mouth. "Talk."
The woodchopper took a deep drag of the cigarette before beginning his story.
He had entered Hot Springs Mountain City Station two and a half months ago, having already cleared two E-level dungeons before this, making him somewhat experienced. However, he never expected the players in this third dungeon to all be abnormal - aside from those killed by the Headhunter Demon, nearly all other players died from infighting. He'd only survived by surrendering all his items.
Though he survived, when the dungeon ended, he received neither a ticket nor a return ticket, and couldn't leave, forcing him to remain stranded at the villa.
To obtain tickets from subsequent players, he disguised himself and lived in this wooden cabin.
With an Evolver's normal physical condition, taking advantage of his early arrival made killing players to steal their tickets easy. But after staying at the villa for half a month, green pustules began appearing on his body, followed by rapid weight loss until his physical abilities nearly regressed to ordinary human levels.
Dozens of players came and went, but he only dared target those who appeared weakest. Yet these people were even worse off than him - forget tickets, they had no items or potions to speak of. Moreover, their corpses didn't disappear when the dungeon refreshed, forcing him to bury them near the cabin.
"Your condition is from missing dungeons?" Xu Huo asked after listening.
"How should I know?" the woodchopper said angrily. "The first time I didn't participate, the game notified me I'd be forcibly transported to a random B-level dungeon after three months. The more dungeons you miss, the higher the danger level. I barely survived E-level dungeons - a B-level would be certain death!"
"But without tickets, there's nothing I can do. Do you think I want to kill people? Everyone was a decent person before entering this game..."
"What was your game mission?" Xu Huo interrupted impassively.
The woodchopper gritted his teeth. "Protect Our Heads."
Xu Huo frowned slightly. Since their dungeon missions were identical, and the woodchopper survived until the end yet received no return ticket, it meant he hadn't actually cleared the dungeon.
Merely surviving until mission completion didn't count as clearing.
"How long since you last took evolution serum?" he asked next.
"Three months..." The woodchopper suddenly understood. "So it's because of the serum! Not taking it causes this strange disease!"
Ignoring the man's wails, Xu Huo considered another matter.
Based on when the woodchopper entered the dungeon, symptoms appeared after at least one month without serum. Players with evolution rates below 10% must take one bottle monthly - was this a side effect of low-grade serum or a weakness inherent to evolution itself?
If it was just a serum issue, finding higher-grade versions could solve it. But if evolution itself created dependence on serum, players might never escape its control.
This game really digs pitfalls for Evolvers everywhere.
But this matter could wait - completing the dungeon mission took priority.
Without clearing to obtain a return ticket, his only options were remaining stranded or proceeding directly to the next dungeon.
After extracting every useful detail about the dungeon until the woodchopper had nothing left to offer, Xu Huo efficiently ended him.
[Congratulations Player Extra for killing a Black Player. You may inherit the deceased player's assets, items, and tickets. Please receive the deceased's belongings.]
The moment the woodchopper died, the game's announcement sounded in Xu Huo's mind. Opening his personal panel, he saw the woodchopper's player information listed:
[Player Nickname: Professional Talent]
[Player Type: Black Player]
[Occupation: Mourning Actor]
[Player Level: E]
[ID: 285471]
[Evolution Rate: 8%]
[Assets: None]
[Traits: Back From The Dead]
[Items: ① Weather Belt ② Floating Balloon]
[Ticket Folder: Empty]
The player information was simplified, with all sections except Assets, Items, and Ticket Folder grayed out and unselectable.
Though Xu Huo was most interested in the Traits section, without detailed explanations or means to acquire them, they weren't particularly important.
Retrieving the items, his inventory immediately displayed two realistic images:
[Weather Belt (Note: More accurate than weather forecasts! Pay attention to the belt buckle's smile - a big smile means big sunshine!)]
[Floating Balloon (Note: A sky-loving balloon that can't stray more than 100 meters from its blower. A perfect item combining passion, dreams, and loyalty!)]
One was an imprecise weather belt, the other a short-range tracking balloon - truly two mediocre items with limited combat use. But even small things had their niche applications.
Storing the items, Xu Huo buried the body properly before returning to the villa.
According to the woodchopper, before players arrived after the dungeon started, the Headhunter Demon had never appeared. Though he was also a player, after several dungeon resets, the Headhunter Demon seemed to ignore him as an outsider, never attacking him proactively.
He assumed this was because he didn't belong to the current dungeon's player group, allowing him to kill outside the rules. But in reality, this merely proved the Headhunter Demon must be among each batch of players.
Most villa deaths involved decapitation, with some victims missing limbs. Huang Junjie believed these were imitation killings by players, with hunters and prey being evenly matched, hence signs of struggle.
While this reasoning had merit, Xu Huo had a different theory: the missing limbs were just another way to conceal identity.
Beyond White and Black Players, there were Cannibal Players. The player acting as Headhunter Demon likely belonged to this group, hiding eaten body parts to cover their tracks. This explained both the cluster of dismembered corpses and why it followed dungeon timing patterns.
He looked toward the villa.
The lights there had gone out once, then relit after Huang Junjie and Yuan Yao returned. If the Headhunter Demon had appeared, there should be signs by now.