Chapter 18: The Disappearance of Line 5 (2) It’s like wearing a human skin…
[Rule number one: don't take Line 5. If you do end up taking Line 5, stay calm no matter what you see and don't make loud noises or disrupt the order.]
[Rule 2: All carriages will play the game simultaneously, for a total of three games, with random types.]
[Rule 3: The stop time at Line 5 stations is five minutes, which is considered as rest time.]
[Rule 4: Passengers are not allowed to leave the route of Line 5.]
…
"What is this?" The panicked shouting easily attracted the attention of the people around. Bai Bei and Xie Jianshan looked in the direction of their gaze and discovered the abnormality at the connection between the carriages. The extra door tightly blocked the situation of the other carriage.
Big black words appeared on the white door of the carriage. Xie Jianshan walked over immediately, quickly read the four basic rules, and then turned his attention to the second rule.
Three games, what kind of games? Killing each other, decryption, or just a normal game?
"Rules? What the hell? Did the subway station do that on purpose to scare us?"
"I'm not interested in this game! You're forcing me to do this! I'll definitely complain once I get off the bus!"
Some people sensed something was wrong and started to panic, pressing the emergency call button again to try to contact the driver, but there were still optimistic passengers trying to ease the atmosphere.
The two high school students in blue and white uniforms next to Bai Bei were obviously the latter. They had previously joked about whether a copy was going to be dropped, but now they happily said that the subway station was quite fun and saved them the money to play in the escape room.
Bai Bei: “…” In a sense, it is true.
He saw Xie Jianshan on the other side still staring at the rules, trying to dig out more information from them, so he simply walked over.
Not long after, the announcement came back, with the same voice: "Welcome aboard Line 5. Considering some passengers might find the journey boring, Line 5 has specially prepared three games to provide better service."
"The first game is a numbers game. Passengers, please take turns counting. If you encounter a number that includes 7 or a multiple of 7, please say 'pass'. Those who make a mistake will be punished."
Bai Bei and Xie Jianshan coincidentally thought of the same thing. They looked at each other. The punishment for the ghost story would not be as simple as a normal game. It would only take the lives of the passengers.
"The game has begun. Please count within 30 seconds. If no one answers, all passengers will share the penalty. After that, every passenger will have to count within five seconds."
The accumulation of strange phenomena makes it impossible to ignore them. Even if it is just an ordinary numbers game, most passengers will not take it lightly. Who knows what the punishment will be? Those inexplicable rules are already bad enough.
But no one said anything. The rules on the door and the announcement were not clear. If multiple people shouted the same number, would they be punished?
Bai Bei slowly rolled up his sleeves, revealing his watch which he habitually hid in his sleeves. The rotating second hand kept approaching the remaining time limit of thirty seconds.
"...1!" Finally, a clear female voice took the initiative to break the silence, and the anxious atmosphere was relieved a lot. The person sitting next to her took over, and the other passengers also began to count in order.
Bai Bei didn't think things would always be so smooth. In the early years when he was playing the ghost story game, there were only a few or a dozen players in the copy and they would fight openly and secretly for the rules, not to mention that there were quite a few people in this carriage.
Xie Jianshan probably understood this in his heart, and his expression never relaxed. Instead, it became more solemn as the game started.
Most of the passengers were still in shock when the arrival signal sounded.
"The train is about to arrive at the station. Please take your belongings and prepare to get off the train." The pre-recorded broadcast still reminded the passengers as usual, as if what happened just now was just an illusion and this was just an ordinary trip.
The stopped train slowly opened the right door, and the flow of people came into view. The passengers in the carriage subconsciously wanted to escape from here quickly and raised their feet to get off the train.
"The rules say you can't leave the route of Line 5! You can't get off!" The high school student next to Bai Bei grabbed his friend who was running out, and other passengers also began to stop those who wanted to get off. The normal broadcast was obviously a trap.
But it is only one step away from the outside world, how is it possible that all passengers are willing to stay in the carriage.
"I've had enough! If you want to stay, just stay here. What a bullshit rule! It's just something the subway station deliberately put up to scare people. I want to see what happens when I get off the train!"
The middle-aged man sneered, ignoring others' attempts to stop him, and pushed the person in front of him away and ran towards the car door, but when he was very close, he was grabbed by the collar and pulled back.
"What are you doing! Which bastard pulled me?!" The collar was tightening, making it almost impossible for the middle-aged man to breathe. His face flushed red. He turned around dizzy and swore, "Are you looking for death?!"
Xie Jianshan stood in front of him, his cold face making him look particularly powerful and difficult to provoke. He could knock down a middle-aged man who was a whole head shorter than him with just one punch.
"With so many unusual incidents happening, you still think it's a prank?" Xie Jianshan knew that no matter how much he said to this person, it would be useless. He said firmly, "Return to your seat and don't make things worse."
The middle-aged man, who was clearly at a disadvantage, was actually a little scared, but in order to save face, he still had to say a few more words: "It's inexplicable, what does it have to do with you?!"
Only after he was sure that the middle-aged man had returned to his seat did Xie Jianshan prepare to look away. However, when he saw Bai Bei standing there at some point, he stopped looking again.
Bai Bei, who was handing ointment to the kind-hearted girl who had been pushed down, noticed someone coming back. He turned his head and stared at the middle-aged man who showed no apology. "Apologize."
The color of Bai Bei's eyes was far too dark, a rare pure black that was inexplicably creepy when he stared at him, like an unknown monster in human form. The middle-aged man pointed at his hand and trembled uncontrollably, "Did you do this?!"
"You must have done it!" The middle-aged man suddenly went crazy, as if he had lost his mind, trying to cover up his fear with anger, "You damn monster!"
Bai Bei looked at him calmly, letting the man accuse him without any sign of backing down. Before the middle-aged man could do anything violent, Xie Jianshan pulled out the ID used by the Operations Department to conceal their identity at the police station and said, "Don't move!"
Finally, because of Xie Jianshan's interference, the middle-aged man became a little more sober, and he returned to his original position embarrassedly.
Although driven by anger, the middle-aged man, who looked fierce but was actually weak, kept his voice low, and the sound, neither too loud nor too soft, was obviously not considered "loud noise", so nothing happened.
While Xie Jianshan was confronting someone, Bai Bei quietly closed the game panel that was frozen on the prop bar. He raised his head and a barrage of comments revealing Shi Yu's whereabouts appeared in front of him.
[Sister Yuan loves you, luckily Sister Yuan is still here ahhhhh]
【Team Xie has lost contact Team Xie out】
[The problem is that Sister Yuan's message came after the protagonists boarded the subway... There's no Line 5 at the next station!]
【Hurry! Little Fish, go back quickly! ! 】
This ghost story covers the entire Line 5. Even if Shi Yu and his friends board another train, they will enter the realm of the ghost story. The game start time of different trains is different, and the train that enters the game is in a "disappeared" state in the eyes of outsiders.
The doors were completely closed, the train started again, and a silent atmosphere prevailed. Some people couldn't help but think that maybe they should try to get off the train. After all, no bloody incidents had happened from beginning to end. It might just be that they were overthinking it.
"The numbers game has concluded successfully. Congratulations, everyone! No one made a mistake. The second game is about to begin—the cognitive correction game. Please write the number of items in the carriage in the box. If the answer is incorrect, all passengers will share the penalty."
"Please give your answer within ten minutes."
Xie Jianshan glanced around the carriage after hearing this. The question was too ambiguous. There was no mention at all whether the side walls and floors were counted as the number of things. Moreover, the word "things" had completely different definitions in the narrow and broad senses.
One does not contain people, but the other does.
"Everyone, please take out your things so we can count them!" The passengers who had not expected such a profound question had already started to call on others. Some passengers also felt that the question was too vague and expressed their doubts.
"What should we do then...but the announcement didn't say that we can't fill in multiple answers, right?" The passenger who found the loophole pointed to the white door. The box below the rules obviously couldn't accommodate too many numbers. If you want to ensure that the answer is clear, you can only write three or four at most.
Naturally, the broadcast will not answer his question, and it is up to the passengers to make their own judgment.
The others were already engaged in a passionate discussion. Bai Bei, leaning against the handrail, had no intention of interrupting. Xie Jianshan listened for a moment, then tilted his head to consult those around him: "What do you think?"
"I'm hungry and want to eat noodles."
Xie Jianshan: “…”
Xie Jianshan: "Actually, I'm hungry too. I was planning to go out for a meal after completing the task, but this happened."
"Didn't you notify the other team members?" Bai Bei asked in a low voice, as if he wasn't worried at all about being trapped in Line 5 and unable to get out forever. "Who knows, your team members might rescue us before this game is over."
“…Unlikely.”
Xie Jianshan's face was wooden. "According to the time, my team should have arrived at the subway station, but this strange story covers the entire Line 5, so it's difficult to contain it."
Bai Bei responded with an "Oh," and he lazily raised his eyelids, skipping the frivolous small talk and answering Xie Jianshan's previous question: "0 or infinity."
Xie Jianshan did not express his opinion. He thought about it and just said "OK".
While their situation was remarkably peaceful, a fight was on the verge of breaking out over there. Most of the passengers had come up with wildly different answers, and remembering the rules about not making loud noises and keeping their voices down even if they wanted to argue, they eventually lost interest in arguing.
"The calculations are all different, so it's useless no matter what we say! We can't possibly write them all down!"
The passenger suddenly raised his hand and pointed to where Bai Bei and Xie Jianshan were, his eyes seeking help from the person on his right. "Aren't there policemen here? Why not let them make the final decision?"
Xie Jianshan, who was forced to take responsibility for everything, asked: "?"
No, can a ghost story be related to a civil dispute? Is he still in the country?
Wait…he’s not a police officer!
The author has something to say:
----------------------
Captain Xie's intuition is ridiculously accurate, almost to the point of being bug-proof. Although Captain Xie has only known Bai Bei for a short time, Captain Xie has a very high level of favorability and trust towards Bei.
Don't ask me why I mentioned this, it's just to pave the way for the later plot (x)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
