NOVEL NEXT Chapter 119: Instance: Train Race
"Yes, I understand!"
The head conductor responded repeatedly, listening to the voice on the phone.
After hanging up the phone, she quickly picked up the walkie-talkie at her waist, "All attendants, please be advised, once the train has stopped, immediately arrange for everyone to disembark, do it quickly!"
After saying this, she immediately contacted some train conductors. After notifying them, she finally turned her head to look at Zhou Yingting.
"Sir, thank you so much!"
To be honest, at this moment she didn't really know what had happened, only that they were instructed to complete the transfer work as quickly as possible.
It seemed like something serious had occurred, and she had to complete the transfer as soon as possible.
Facing this situation, she could only follow the emergency evacuation procedures she had been trained for.
"No need to thank me, start the evacuation immediately."
By now, the train had almost come to a complete stop.
And after the recent announcement, the passengers on the train began to move towards the exit. They too didn't know exactly what had happened, but the content of the announcement sounded quite serious.
For safety reasons, they dared not linger any longer on the train.
With groups of passengers jumping onto the tracks, Zhou Yingting glanced at the entry in the train.
"Train racing?"
A racing-type instance?
This type of instance seems relatively safe, right?
Zhou Yingting pondered the difficulty of the instance and the severity of the consequences of failing it.
Just then, the woman in the business seats ahead picked up the large barrel beside her and started chugging the liquor inside.
"You can't leave, the coverage area of this entry instance is so large. If you don't stay, when the instance closes, it'll randomly pull people in from nearby."
"I understand."
Listening to these words, Zhou Yingting replied while giving the other a surprised look; he hadn't expected the woman to truly be an Extraordinary.
When an entry instance appears, it always pulls some people in.
The number of people pulled in depends on the area that the entry instance covers.
The larger the area covered, the more people it will pull in. However, if there are Extraordinary present, they can use a few of them to trade off, preventing others from being pulled into the instance.
"I needed to find some entries in an instance anyway, and this one doesn't seem particularly dangerous. I should go in and take a look."
After pondering for a moment, Zhou Yingting decided to enter this instance.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yingting turned his head towards the woman who had just spoken; she seemed like a seasoned veteran player, who knows how many instances she had entered.
"Did you specifically come for this instance?"
Zhou Yingting contemplated, and asked tentatively.
Seeing her sit still from the beginning, it did seem like she came specifically for this instance.
"Of course not, I originally planned to go home and see my parents, but unexpectedly ran into this instance that was about to open, so I had to check it out."
Upon hearing this, the woman stretched lazily and replied, reeking of alcohol.
Upon hearing her words, Zhou Yingting nodded, "You really have a sense of responsibility, entering the instance for the sake of those outside."
"I'm with the 14th Bureau, this is what I should do, I can't help it," The woman replied, shaking her head, and subsequently looked at Zhou Yingting, "But you, you actually stayed, is it because of the influence of the entry's side effects?"
"This entry instance doesn't seem particularly dangerous, I figured I'd go in and check it out."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yingting didn't deny it, only glancing at the entry.
At this moment, the entry had already completed the coverage of the train.
With the flickering of the light on the entry, the next moment, the two of them disappeared from the train together.
...
"Where is this place?"
Before Zhou Yingting could examine the surroundings, an instant later, he heard the noisy sounds around him.
The noise was abundant, suggesting a large crowd.
Zhou Yingting opened his eyes to look around, and saw people densely packed all around.
Seeing such a large crowd, Zhou Yingting couldn't help but click his tongue.
"Wasn't I riding the bus? Why did I suddenly come to this place, did I die?"
"I was just taking a nap on the bus, how did I end up here?"
The continuous clamor around, some voices even sounded somewhat terrified.
"Shut up! Is there anyone with a Gentleman's entry? Come out and entertain the guests!"
Unable to tolerate the noisy uproar, a seasoned player shouted loudly.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming!"
As this voice fell, a familiar voice immediately rang out from not far away.
Zhou Yingting instinctively turned his head toward the sound, and soon saw Song Qingyun squeezing through the crowd not far away. He then saw him waving at the people.
"Come, if you're confused about what's going on—basically newcomers, those entering this space for the first time—come over to me, and I'll explain what's going on."
With Song Qingyun continually waving, a large group of somewhat bewildered newcomers were led aside.
Then, Song Qingyun's intermittent voice began speaking.
"Have you heard of infinite flow novels? Yeah, it's kind of like that."
"And does anyone know about playing strategy games? Hex?"
"Yep, it's kind of the same idea. You'll draw your corresponding Hex."
...
"He's really learning."
Zhou Yingting stood in place, listening to the voice in the distance, and couldn't help but laugh silently.
He had heard Song Qingyun say before that he wanted to learn this method of explanation, and he really had learned it this time.
"This instance is strange. Where's the alcohol I brought? They didn't let me bring it in?"
Zhou Yingting turned back, wanting to check the specific task of this instance when the woman who entered with him muttered to herself.
"The food and other supplies I prepared to carry with me are also gone. It seems this instance doesn't allow us to carry these items."
"From my experience, being allowed to bring food and supplies means they're not needed, and not being allowed means these resources are needed in this instance."
The newcomers were led away, leaving only the experienced players.
Zhou Yingting glanced around; there were about twenty people left here.
"Hey, what's up with that header above your head?"
As everyone discussed some details of the instance, someone suddenly noticed Zhou Yingting.
When they saw the header above Zhou Yingting's head, they stared at him intently.
"Commander Header, commanded an epic battle victory? Such an impressive description?"
"The header seems to say to execute him quickly? If he's really that formidable, we definitely can't let him live!"
"Let's first see how this instance is set up. If it's against each other, then we'll kill him first."
Although they weren't quite sure about the header on Zhou Yingting's head.
The way it displayed made it seem imperative to kill Zhou Yingting first if they didn't want things to go wrong.
"Can these guys all see my header?"
Watching this scene, Zhou Yingting thought about the side effect of his header and just let it go.
The side effect was revealing his existence, even though this instance had just begun, uncertain whether friend or foe, the idea was to highlight Zhou Yingting's existence first.
Once the instance begins, if someone becomes an adversary, they'll naturally try their best to eliminate Zhou Yingting first.
It seemed he was completely targeted.
"Well, let's look at this instance task first."
Everyone withdrew their gaze and looked at the instance task in front of them.
"Train Race Challenge."
'Pilot your train to reach the terminal station as fast as possible. You can team up or go solo, with a maximum team size of 10.'
'Supply stations are set on the track. Please collect various items along the way to equip your vehicles. Each person on a train expands the header slot by six.'
'Newcomers receive a newcomer buff.'
'Players living to reach the top ten will receive passing rewards, while those placing below the top ten will face a penalty of losing 3-20 attribute points; if there are no attribute points to deduct, Life Quota will be deducted.'
"Newcomer buff? It seems this instance doesn't disable our attributes."
Someone, upon seeing the appearance of the newcomer buff, immediately said in a deep voice.
"Team or solo, how should we choose? It seems like teaming up has advantages. According to this, each person can equip the train with six headers, so gaining an extra person allows for six more headers."
"As for headers, the more, the better, right? But one train probably can't utilize that many headers. I think three people should be enough. Too many might lead to bad outcomes."
"Anyone want to team up? Let's have two more people and work sincerely together!"
Seeing the instance description in front of them, everyone hurriedly began forming teams.
Luckily, they had just taken all the newcomers away, leaving only the veteran players here. Naturally, it's more reliable to collaborate with experienced players.
"Any veteran players willing to take me along? I'm a newcomer, but I'll definitely listen. I have the newcomer buff and won't be a drag!"
Just as the veteran players began forming teams, the newcomers finally digested the information. Upon seeing the punishment for failing this instance, they immediately panicked.
The highest penalty could be a deduction of 20 attribute points. Without points, it would mean deducting 20 years of Life Quota.
How could they endure that?
Thinking of this, seeing the veteran players forming teams, a large group of newcomers quickly ran over.
In their view, trailing behind the veteran players' teams significantly increases the odds of reaching the top ten.
Several veteran players nearby witnessed this scene, but without even acknowledging the newcomers, they swiftly picked their teammates and left. Why bother with newcomers when experienced players are around?