Chapter 856: The Head Chef's Birthday

"What a coincidence, I didn't expect we'd end up in the same carriage." The player peddling potions happened to be seated right next to the strikingly beautiful female player, and he struck up a conversation with a grin.

Before the female player could respond, another player with a large black mole on his cheek cut in, "We're all on the same train, what's so coincidental about that?"

As he spoke, he sat down across from the female player and said enthusiastically, "The dining car has a nice atmosphere. Would the young lady be willing to grace us with her company for a meal?"

The female player gave a polite smile. "I haven't rested in two days, I'd like to catch up on some sleep."

She lightly touched her own face. "Women age visibly fast when they don't get enough sleep."

The man let out a hearty laugh. "Well, I certainly can't tell. You rest easy, I guarantee no one will disturb you."

He made a point of glancing at the people around him.

The potion-selling player snorted but didn't continue trying to chat with the female player. Instead, he gave up his seat and moved to a carriage further ahead.

Counting those who had come out of the station with Xu Huo and ended up in the same carriage, there were seven people in total.

The female player, the handless player, the smoking player, the potion-selling player, the mole player, and a backpack-toting male player who had just bought some potions.

Everyone's condition was about the same as before boarding. After the potion seller left, the backpack player who had bought the potions switched seats.

Next to his original seat sat someone in a thick raincoat, the wide brim of the hood obscuring most of the person's face. Only the mouth and chin were barely visible, and even that small patch of skin was covered in scars—several jagged marks running crosswise, distorting even the lips.

That probably wasn't the reason the backpack player had moved. Xu Huo's gaze dropped lower, catching sight of darkened bloodstains on the rain boots. Though the blood had dried, a foul stench was still seeping out.

No one was sitting in front of or behind the raincoat man.

The backpack player took a seat across from Xu Huo and gave him a small nod by way of greeting.

The train traveled on under the sunlight, and the broadcast began to announce:

"Welcome aboard the 792 train. This train departs from a three-dimensional D-Level Station and will arrive at the D-level terminal station after passing through five multi-dimensional stops."

"Please observe the following boarding rules."

"One: Non-game items must not be brought aboard the train."

"Two: Consumption is mandatory."

"Three: Do not turn on the lights."

"Please note: As long as passengers do not interfere with the train's operation, staff will not interfere with any entertainment or leisure activities. In fact, we encourage everyone to indulge in reasonable recreation to add to the enjoyment of the journey."

"Finally, here's some exciting news—today is the birthday of this train's head chef. To celebrate this wonderful day, the staff encourage every passenger to spend at least five thousand White Bills."

"Wish you a pleasant journey."

After the broadcast ended, the faces of several players in the carriage changed. The backpack player couldn't help but mutter, "It used to be just a hundred White Bills a day, now it's five thousand? Might as well just rob us!"

Consumption on the train was mandatory, but there was no limit on the amount.

Players who managed to survive in the game weren't so poor that they couldn't scrape together a few thousand White Bills, but for those living on tight budgets, spending that money on food was worse than just buying potions with it.

"I'm not spending that five thousand!" Another player, an older woman with yellow hair, declared. "We haven't violated any train rules, so they wouldn't dare throw players off!"

"Why don't you try it then?" the mole player said coldly. "Unless you think you can take on the staff!"

The yellow-haired female player fell silent.

"Have you ever seen the staff use force?" Xu Huo asked the backpack player across from him.

The backpack player shook his head. At that moment, the potion-selling player, who had just returned from another carriage, cut in immediately. "I have, I have!"

"Let me tell you," he said, lowering his voice mysteriously. "Anyone who can become a train attendant is no pushover. They've got plenty of high-grade items in their hands. And what you don't know is that the train itself has built-in items specifically designed to protect the attendants. Ordinary players don't even get a chance to fight back."

"I've been through this dungeon plenty of times, and I've seen players cause trouble twice."

"The fights didn't even break out before they were taken care of. That should tell you how formidable the attendants are."

Seeing that everyone else in the carriage was all ears, the potion-selling player continued, "I once saw a compilation of train conflicts in a certain game partition. Everyone else treated it as a joke."

"That's because your player rank is too low," the mole player said. "If it were a high-level player train, the attendants definitely wouldn't dare force sales so aggressively."

"Do you think the game is stupid? High-level player trains would obviously be staffed with high-level players too!" the potion seller said matter-of-factly.

That made the mole player laugh. "You think any high-level player would consider being an attendant a promising career?"

"Wouldn't high-level players rather be doing dungeons? Who'd want to come serve tea and water?"

The potion seller opened his mouth, then paused before saying, "So by your logic, B-rank and A-rank players could just tear up the train whenever they want, kill whoever they want, with absolutely no restraint?"

The mole player couldn't answer that either. After a moment, he waved a hand dismissively. "Why are you asking me? Go ask a high-level player."

Unfortunately, everyone in this carriage was more or less the same rank.

Xu Huo had come across information about other rank trains while at the Game Government base in District 011. Generally speaking, the game would always assign staff whose strength matched the train's grade—often even stronger than the passengers aboard—in order to keep players in check.

The higher the player's rank, the bolder and more reckless they became. Never mind fighting or killing on the train—if leaving the train weren't so dangerous, they'd probably hijack the whole vehicle.

As for where the players on these trains came from, or what they used to do before, that was anyone's guess.

Looking at the composition of train personnel alone—the head chef, the train operations director, and other key members—there was always one or two exceptionally powerful players among them.

That's right, even a head chef could be a player.

Without absolute certainty of winning, no one would dare mess with the staff.

But Xu Huo had seen the Skinner before. The game absorbed players of all kinds without discrimination, and quite a few wanted to leave the dungeons behind and secure themselves a proper staff position.

The train attendant soon arrived at their carriage, cheerfully presenting each passenger with a small piece of cake and handing out the day's special set meal priced at five thousand White Bills.

After looking it over, Xu Huo said slowly, "The set meal is quite generous."

The attendant smiled. "The food on this train has always been excellent value for money."

The phrase "excellent value for money" drew stares from many players, but the attendant maintained an unchanging smile, standing in the aisle with an almost robotic presence that pressed down on everyone. Passengers who had ordered or hadn't yet ordered were silently compelled to pick that exact set meal—not a White Bill more, not a White Bill less, precisely five thousand.

Xu Huo slowly took out his money, counted out five thousand White Bills plus five hundred as a tip, tucked them into the menu, then wrapped up an additional two thousand as a gift. "Consider this a small token of appreciation. I hope the head chef won't refuse it. Happy birthday to him."