Players, Please Board the Train

Chapter 288: Methods for Differentiating Geniuses from Mortals

The park's lights had been broken at some point, and with the dense tree planting, it inevitably looked eerie and ghostly at night.

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept through the woods toward the merry-go-round, causing the hanging decorations to sway and make noise. The doll placed to one side began glowing inexplicably, and then two figures appeared out of thin air.

"Ahhh!!! Ghosts!" Several young people screamed, stumbling and staggering as they frantically ran out of the park.

Glancing at the fleeing figures, Xu Huo withdrew his gaze and reached out to catch the shrinking doll.

"During these special times, there are still people daring enough to come out and test their courage—truly commendable bravery," Yan Jiayu muttered while stretching her arms, then looked at the doll in his hand. "Did the Dungeon Boss give that to you?"

Xu Huo nodded. "We agreed on it beforehand."

Yan Jiayu probably guessed why he wanted this thing and added, "I thought dungeon rules were always clear and straightforward. I didn't expect they would deceive players. Since she gave it to you so easily, she might have other plans in mind."

Xu Huo naturally understood. While this amusement park dungeon wasn't highly difficult, the corresponding Dungeon Boss had tampered with the game tasks. Although she appeared as a child, she wasn't actually one. Of course, she knew that a Random Dungeon's entrance channel was equivalent to a backup escape method. Her willingness to give him the doll at least indicated that this transaction was mutually beneficial for both parties.

"Let's find a place to settle first," he said, putting away the doll.

The two walked out of the park and entered the old city district. Although no one was walking outside, every household in this area was brightly lit, with large lamps used throughout the streets and alleys, making the visibility clear."There were many vicious murder cases in Flower City recently, so the Special Defense Department came up with this method. After 9 PM, lights must be kept on everywhere. With everything brightly lit, Evolvers can't kill under cover of darkness. If someone actually encounters an attack, pulling the alarm will quickly bring help."

Yan Jiayu had been here for several days and was basically familiar with these situations. "No shops are open in the old city district at night, but there's a small inn ahead where people can stay."

Xu Huo followed her into a very small storefront. There was no one inside, and a sign on the counter instructed guests to take keys and toiletries themselves.

"I come here every day," Yan Jiayu said, dropping several red bills into a metal box, then taking two keys and giving one to him with a smile. "But tonight we can finally sleep well."

The rooms were on the first floor. Xu Huo and Yan Jiayu chatted until they reached their doors, then entered their respective rooms.

After closing the door, Xu Huo first took a shower and checked his wounds.

He had injuries on his arms, legs, and back. The D-level healing potion could make wounds heal faster than normal, but it couldn't achieve instant recovery. The wounds still throbbed with pain.

After applying medicine and bandaging the larger wounds, he changed into clean clothes and sat on the bed to check his game panel.

The rewards from this Random Dungeon weren't plentiful. Besides the "Silent Coin" won in the game and the "Awakening Doll" given by the Dungeon Boss, there were only a "Clown Set," thirty thousand White Bills, and some potions.

[Clown Set: The perfect tool for any non-clown professional's side job. Just put it on and you'll look like a real clown, bringing joy to others while fattening your own thin wallet.]

The potions weren't worth much attention—the usual three types: evolution agent, healing potion, and cleaning solution, with the healing potion and cleaning solution being D-grade quality.

Up to now, Xu Huo possessed over thirty E-grade items.

Besides rewards he obtained from dungeons like "Super Running Shoes," "Dual-color Magic Cube," and "Adult Fairy Tale Book," about twenty others such as "Omnipresent String" and "Ox Shield" came from other players.

The "Seven-Color Gloves" were taken from Wang Chaoqing, "Hungry Napkin" and "Identification Fork" were obtained in the Hundred-Person Art Gallery, and "Deteriorating Gloves" were gifted by Zhou Ning.

"Muscle Switcher," "Expanding Dumbbell," and "Beauty Needle" came from the players killed in the Capital City underground market—at that time, there was also a bowling ball item he didn't retrieve before leaving.

The rest mostly came from players killed in this amusement park dungeon, including "Tangle-Free Thread," "Note Launcher," and others.

As for D-grade items, besides his original "V. Fanxiao's Tool of Crime" and "World Within the Painting," he gained three more this time: the female player's "Target-Specific Chainsaw," the twins' "Cold Butcher Knife," and the game reward "Clown Set."

Currently, he only had one C-grade item: "Peeping Eye."

Then there were special items like "Twisted Mask," "Crimson Sword," "Angel's Teeth," etc. The "Awakening Doll" given by the Dungeon Boss this time also fell into this category.

He didn't have many high-quality items, but he had quite a few. E-grade items were the most numerous, though most had limited usefulness. Since D-level players could only upgrade one item per month, the progress was slow. These numerous items would have to wait until he entered the dungeon world again to find trading opportunities.

Of course, the several players he killed this time had decent assets, collectively adding nearly two hundred thousand White Bills to his wealth, plus many potions. However, compared to this, their items' grades weren't high, and the quantity was somewhat lacking. The real prize naturally lay with Brother Tu, who had been transferred into the painting.

Xu Huo took out the "World Within the Painting."

The person who had turned into an abstract painting couldn't control the distortion of his face upon seeing him.

"Stop contorting, your face looks awful," Xu Huo reminded him, placing the painting on the bed. He took water and food from his luggage compartment, eating and drinking while saying, "You've fallen into my hands. No matter how unwilling you are, you have to accept your fate. My item is with you, right? Let's have a proper chat."

The abstract person's mouth twisted. "Too bad you don't dare let me out, and you don't dare enter the painting either. If you want information from me, you need to offer appropriate bargaining chips."

Xu Huo laughed at this. "Don't worry, I won't keep you around for the New Year."

The abstract person's eyeballs trembled slightly before he said after a moment, "What do you want to ask?"

"The method of Super Evolution," Xu Huo said. "How did you evolve?"

"I thought you were a novice, but I didn't expect you to know about Super Evolution," the abstract person expressed surprise, but quickly added, "I can't help you with this matter. I don't know the method to induce Super Evolution. As for me personally, it was completely by chance."

"So you're saying Super Evolution cannot be artificially interfered with and can only occur naturally?" Xu Huo understood the implication in his words.

"If all Evolvers can continue evolving through potions, then when everyone becomes an Evolver, what difference does evolution make?" the abstract person said. "Super Evolution beyond regular evolution is the only method that separates geniuses from ordinary people. Whether one can reach the heights of Super Evolution depends entirely on personal talent."