A Conscious Fate-following Item

Carriage No. 1 was a business-class carriage. There were only 28 seats in the entire carriage, and it was not even full. There were just 12 passengers in the whole car, each minding their own business. It was extremely quiet.

Shao Lin entered the carriage and, with an exceptionally elegant bearing, walked toward the driver’s cab at the very front. The thin high heels beneath her feet stepped steadily, without the slightest risk of twisting an ankle.

As a Fate-Defying player, Shao Lin had experienced far too much already. Becoming a woman was a trivial matter; she quickly adapted to her current identity. The most miserable experience Shao Lin had ever had was being transformed into a cat, with the ability “Sweet Talk” completely sealed.

Even so, in that world, Shao Lin still relied on his fluffy physical advantage, rolling on the ground and acting cute, to win over other players and complete the mission.

Shao Lin deeply despised those players who lost confidence as soon as the difficulty increased slightly and then passively waited for failure. He never admitted defeat. Even when trapped by Xing Ye in the casino world, he never became discouraged. That was why he made it out in the end and obtained a chance to kill Xing Ye.

Just as she reached the middle of Carriage No. 1, a passenger called out to him: “Attendant, pour me a glass of water.”

Shao Lin: “……”

Fine. This was a privilege of the business-class carriage. Passengers in the other carriages had to get up and fetch water themselves at the drinking station, but business-class passengers could enjoy attendant service.

“Of course.” He smiled and took the passenger’s cup, continuing to walk forward.

Shao Lin had no intention of getting him water at all. Upon reaching the junction near the driver’s cab, he planned to throw the cup away. His response just now had been nothing more than surface-level compliance.

Unexpectedly, after he had taken only two steps, the passenger said, “Attendant, hot water isn’t in that direction, is it? I remember the water dispenser being the other way.”

Faced with his questioning, the battle-hardened Shao Lin did not panic. He revealed a sweet, professional service smile, turned back, and said, “Sir, ahead is the staff-only drinking area, which also has a water dispenser. Please don’t worry.”

“That doesn’t seem right,” the burly male passenger scratched his head and said. “Up ahead is the front of the train. I’ve been there before—how could there be a water dispenser?”

As he spoke, Shao Lin felt something was amiss. Why would an ordinary passenger have gone to check the front of the train?

Alarm bells rang in his mind. Sensing danger, he tried to drop the cup in his hand, but it was already too late.

There was actually water in the cup. The water shot out in a transparent stream, like vines, binding Shao Lin tightly and rendering him completely unable to move.

This cup was actually a Fate-Following item. Only after the burly man handed the Fate- Following item into Shao Lin’s hands did its ability take effect!

Fate- Following items must be activated by the touch of a Fate-Defying player in order to function. The only exception was Fate-Following items that retained player consciousness, which could be used without manipulation—but only if their intimacy level with the Fate-Following player exceeded 80%!

Shao Lin knew this rule well. However, he did not believe that anyone could preserve the consciousness of a Fate-following item while also siphoning off part of their QR codes, points, and initial skills. In all the high-level worlds she had encountered, every Fate-following item had been completely mindless!

After seeing that the water in the cup had restrained Shao Lin, the burly man stood up, took out his phone, and said: “When I completed a task earlier, the system hinted that one of the identities of the Thirty million player was a beautiful female attendant. Considering it might be a decoy option, I deliberately tested things a bit. Who would’ve thought you’d be this suspicious—you’re definitely the Thirty million player.”

The burly man was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, with half of a tattoo exposed on his arm—a dragon’s tail. At a glance, he didn’t look like a good person at all. Still, he was actually quite handsome, just with a villainous face, the kind of handsome full of sinister energy.

There was also a knife scar at the corner of his eye. When he smiled at the beautiful female train attendant, he looked even more dangerous, and the scene became especially unpleasant to look at, as if something not suitable for children were about to happen.

“Even if she isn’t the Thirty million player, she’ll still be another player. Killing her would at least get me some player points. That way, even if three quarters of my points get deducted, I can still recover a bit,” the tattooed man muttered, as if talking to himself and at the same time discussing with someone else. “But if I just kill her so openly, the train police will arrest me. What should I do?”

At that moment, the thermos cup in Shao Lin’s hand spoke: “I can pour the water into her trachea. Once the airway is blocked, she’ll suffocate to death very quickly. You only handed her the cup, that doesn’t count as murder. The train police won’t be able to find any evidence.”

The tattooed man chatted casually with the thermos cup, while the remaining nine passengers in Carriage No. 1 seemed as if they hadn’t heard anything at all—those who were sleeping kept sleeping, and those playing on their phones kept playing.

Something was wrong with this situation. When incidents had happened in other carriages, the passengers had cooperated by screaming, and some had even been taken away by the train police as witnesses. So why did the nine passengers in Carriage No. 1 all seem as if they couldn’t see them at all? Shao Lin frowned inwardly.

“That doesn’t seem right,” the tattooed man suddenly showed an almost honest, simple smile. “I’ve heard that players killed by Fate-following items also die in the real world. This isn’t just a game.”

“What, are you feeling sorry for this woman? She’s pretty and has a good figure, hmph!” The voice from the cup turned out to be that of a young woman.

“How could that be!” the tattooed man hurriedly waved his hands in panic. “Wife, I only have you in my heart, you know that! I’m not feeling sorry for her, I’m feeling sorry for you! You have to remember, you’re still human. If you really kill someone, how will you ever return to your body? That won’t do. My wife is a little angel—she can’t kill people.”

The thermos cup said shyly, “You’re the only one who knows how to say sweet words. Are you stupid or what? Then what do you think we should do?”

Listening to their conversation, a plan formed in Shao Lin’s mind. He immediately said, “I’m not the Thirty million player. I’m a hunter. Look at my phone—I can form teams.”

Shao Lin knew very well that in negotiations, the first sentence was the most important. The first thing he needed to do was to show that he was harmless; next, he had to demonstrate his value.

Before the burly man and the thermos cup could speak, he hurried to continue: “After completing a side quest, the hint given on the phone said it was a decoy option. My teammates and I have already ruled out the little girl eating a lollipop, the blind woman, Chaoyang aunt, the female office worker, the actress, the female doctor, and so on. All of these are traps set by the system. Do you really think us Fate-defying players can still trust it? Just because of my identity as an Fate-defying player, the system has tricked me so many times!”

He denied the other party’s judgment while at the same time establishing a common enemy—the “system”—using the shared misfortune of Fate-defying players to create a sense of shared suffering and draw closer.

Sure enough, the burly man said, “That’s really that nasty? Why are all the identities given by the system women?”

“So I suspect that the Thirty million player’s identity on the train is actually male,” Shao Lin continued, revealing useful information. “The sheer number of interference options from the system already proves it. Look at my phone—I’ve already added six temporary teammates. We’re a large group, searching everywhere for the whereabouts of the Thirty million player. There are too many people on the train, and Thirty million is hiding too deeply. Do you want to team up with us?”

“Liar! Pretty women are all liars!” the thermos cup suddenly said. “Husband, don’t go soft just because she’s pretty. She’s trying to trick you into using your phone so he can attack us with a QR code!”

Shao Lin: “……”

In order to avoid being recognized by Yan Hebi, he hadn’t eaten any candy, so the sweetness level in his mouth was insufficient to activate the “Sweet Talk” ability, greatly reducing the persuasiveness of his speech. The burly man had more or less been placated, but the thermos cup was extremely vigilant—and seemed to harbour hostility toward pretty women.

Shao Lin rapidly thought of countermeasures. He didn’t want to use “The weak are prey to the strong” on these two. The burly man’s ability and the thermos cup were both highly valuable assets. Xing Ye was a formidable opponent, and Shao Lin needed even greater power.

Moreover, “The weak are prey to the strong” still had to be saved for dealing with Tan Feng. Shao Lin didn’t want to waste this one opportunity.

He continued, “Miss Thermos cup, I’m not a woman. I’m a man.”

“Huh?” the thermos mug exclaimed in surprise. “The system can even do something like that?”

“Of course—otherwise, do you think it would be possible for me, as an Fate-defying player, to be this good-looking? Having high looks is a trap!” Shao Lin said.

“Well, that’s true…” The thermos cup glanced at the burly man’s knife scar and tattoos. “He’s pretty ugly. I like refined men, the kind who wear gold-rimmed glasses.”

“Most importantly, you can check the distance information to Thirty million on your phone!” Shao Lin reminded them. “When I came over, I was more than ten carriages away from Thirty million, so it definitely can’t be me.”

“Huh?” the burly man said. “But the phone refreshed the information two minutes ago, and it didn’t show any distance. That proves Thirty million is in Carriages 1, 2, or 3. Otherwise, why would I bother handing you the cup?”

“What did you say?!” When Shao Lin heard the burly man’s words, a chill ran down his spine.

Could it be that Xing Ye was within these three carriages? When did he get here?

 

Translator : DarNan