Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!

"It’s time to enter the instance." Xu Huo said to the Girl in the painting.

The Girl in the painting understood and immediately followed him into a relatively secluded nook.

The Girl in the painting transformed into a painting and slipped into the coat, and moments later, Xu Huo’s figure vanished from his original spot.

A faint light flashed before his eyes, and the surrounding scenery shifted from the street to a restaurant with a classical decor—a glance made it seem like he had entered a fairytale castle. From the windows on either side of the restaurant, one could see snow-capped mountains and partially snow-covered towers. Though the towers’ original features were indistinct, the garden below them, filled with various flora trimmed into small animal shapes blooming in the snow, indicated the owner here possessed a unique sense of whimsy.

Even the twenty-four candelabras on the dining table were soldier puppets dressed in blue.

In fact, the restaurant subtly hinted at the hobbies of the castle’s ancient occupants in other areas as well. For instance, twenty-five sets of tableware adorned with or carved with charmingly simple animal drawings, with cats, dogs, bears, and birds appearing most frequently. The tablecloth unfurled completely, revealing a giant brown bear drawn on it; a significant portion of the bear’s body was obscured by the candelabra on the table, but its head was intentionally visible, its eyes and expression artistically enhanced to look non-aggressive.

The chairs around the dining table were similar, with armrests depicting animals with various expressions, and the chair legs fashioned into animal paws. Though not illustrated, the carpet appeared to be made from animal fur. A low cabinet against the wall held some metal ornaments, and among them were several animal-shaped pieces.

However, what stood out most were the dolls displayed in the low cabinet; three on each side, slightly larger than a palm, their facial features and clothing details vividly realistic and inconsistent in style, unlike the unified animal motifs and ornaments in the restaurant. These dolls seemed crafted after specific people.

Everything here appeared somewhat detached from reality, yet the ceiling’s lighting fixtures, the room’s corners equipped with automatic trash bins, and the floating lights replacing sunshine atop the potted plants on the display cabinet linked the place seamlessly to the outside world.

The lights in the restaurant were off when Xu Huo arrived, and there were already eight players present. Not everyone was directly transported into the restaurant; some emerged from the corridors at both table ends, quickly gathering twenty people.

"Four people are still missing." The instance briefing hadn’t appeared yet, and a well-dressed middle-aged man slightly raised his voice, "Folks, hiding isn’t a solution; the sooner the instance starts, the faster we can clear and leave."

Unfortunately, no one responded. Judging from the spatial layout of the corridors on either side, this house likely isn’t small, making it unrealistic to go searching for people outside. Moreover, having just entered the dungeon venue, it’s advisable not to leave the crowd without a compelling reason.

"Twenty-four candelabras, probably prepared for us," the female player with a High Ponytail glanced at the chair placed alone at the head, "That’s probably for the castle owner."

Everyone had mostly observed the situation in the restaurant; it was unclear if the instance would activate only when everyone was gathered, so for the time being, no one touched anything in the room, including pulling out a chair to sit.

Being in the instance now requires patience despite temperaments, so after the middle-aged man’s attempted negotiations with the missing four proved fruitless, others went silent, quietly choosing spots to stand.

About half an hour passed, and the sky outside gradually darkened. As a series of orderly footsteps approached from the corridor, everyone tensed—here they come!

[Detecting players entering Puppet Castle, default participation in Rank-B Copy "Puppet."]

[Instance Introduction: The owner of Puppet Castle is a puppet maker who loves creating puppets but lacks patience. Thanks to his superb skills, his works are highly sought after in the industry, once reaching a thousand orders a day. However, creating puppets requires patience and time; the impatient yet art-respecting puppet maker simply rejected all orders, retreating to his self-made castle to focus on making his favored puppets and selecting three to place in the display cabinet each Sunday.]

[To stay informed about the latest puppet trends outside, the puppet maker periodically invites players from different zones as guests. As the castle owner, he has absolute control. Visiting guests, please remember three things:]

[First: The puppet maker dislikes people who harbor malice against puppets.]

[Second: The puppet maker dislikes disobedient people and will randomly punish such individuals.]

[Third: The puppet maker can only create three puppets a day.]

[Task for Clearance: Obtain a puppet that pleases the puppet maker.]

[Clearance Time: Unlimited.]

[Note: This instance has no time limit for clearance. Players, please be mindful of the time difference between the zone of the instance and your origin zone.]

After quickly scanning the instance introduction, people saw figures emerging from the corridor—three men and one woman, all dressed as servants—with no presence resembling humans, yet their appearance and movements were indistinguishable from real people. Numbers from 1 to 4 were woven into the back of their clothes. They arrived at the four corners of the table, numbers 1 and 2 took the head; one checked the time, and the other invited everyone to take a seat.

"It is now 5:45 on Sunday evening, today’s dinner will start in fifteen minutes. Please be seated."

"Four people haven’t arrived." The middle-aged man reminded.

"We will remove their tableware for the guests who are late," the number 1 maid answered politely.

The seated guests were filled with their thoughts, and it was then Xu Huo spoke up: "May I ask where the restroom is?"

"Please follow me." Number 3 gestured, leading the way toward a passage at the tail end of the table.

Xu Huo followed, returning to the restaurant just before dinner time. While he was gone, players switched their seats again, all reluctant to be near the castle owner, leaving spaces empty left three, right two at the head.

Xu Huo took the seat left three.

Shortly after, the Girl in the painting emerged from the corridor, seamlessly occupying left two.

Perhaps the instance description had instilled some apprehension toward the castle owner, as the four players who hadn’t shown up finally appeared before 6 o’clock. However, there were only three seats left.

"Please be seated before the owner arrives at the restaurant." Number 1 reminded.

With only three seats remaining, it went without saying that the four hurriedly rushed toward the three chairs.

These four individuals who had been reluctant to show themselves had their reasons, so during the chair struggle, one injured player fell behind—hit by another’s prop strength, crashing into the nearby display cabinet.