Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!

The players present were shocked by this sudden scene of murder, reflexively turning back to look at the Puppet Maker, only to find that the puppet in his hand had also been crushed.

The face hidden in the darkness under the cloak gently turned, seemingly glancing at everyone at the dinner table, but he made no expression, and after sitting down, he raised his hand slightly.

Everyone followed suit and sat down, as if no one had seen the pile of meat on the nearby table.

Numbers 1 and 2 started serving dishes, while Numbers 3 and 4 silently cleaned up the corpse beside the dinner table, leaving the bright red bloodstains on the table.

The players were unusually silent, even unconsciously slowing their breathing. The middle-aged man died too suddenly, without any warning, and what killed him wasn’t ordinary props or devices, but a power that existed within the instance, which meant that the players’ defense prop might be completely useless — as long as the castle owner wanted to kill them, they absolutely couldn’t escape!

Many people secretly shifted their gaze to High Ponytail.

High Ponytail sat rigidly in her seat, not even daring to look at the Puppet Maker. Her eyes were wide open, staring straight ahead, and her hand under the table quietly slipped her puppet into the luggage compartment.

"Ding!" The crisp sound of a wine glass being touched rang out, the castle owner raised his wine glass to toast everyone, the players dared not move. But just as everyone raised their glasses, High Ponytail at the end of the table, like the middle-aged man before, was suddenly crushed, and because she had used a prop for defense in advance, the players beside her even caught the moment her face deformed under the reverse pressure of the defensive barrier before her body was completely destroyed!

"Pa!"

High Ponytail died.

Almost all the players at the table froze. At this instant, the threat of death seized their brains; puppets and violations were aside, they were more worried about whether the castle owner would indiscriminately kill!

The slight sound of drinking pulled everyone’s thoughts back to the dinner table.

Just like last night’s dinner, Xu Huo tasted a sip of the aperitif and then put down the wine glass, took a seat again, and started to eat after arranging the napkin.

Then, the long-coated man, the sweet girl, Fluorescent Powder, and a thin old man picked up the cutlery.

Other players, though seated, didn’t start immediately.

Girl in the painting was not worried about accidentally angering the Puppet Maker, but curiously searched High Ponytail’s spot. After finding nothing, she followed up with the leader, "Her puppet is gone."

Again, Number 1 spoke on behalf of the Puppet Maker: "A damaged puppet is a scrapped product."

The implication was that finding it back was not necessary.

Girl in the painting’s interest in the puppet did not diminish at all. After returning to her seat, she said again: "I like that puppet. Can you make a puppet of me?"

Now, the other players sitting at the table genuinely thought that Girl in the painting was truly foolish, rather than pretending. Today, the three players who got puppets all died, especially the middle-aged man and High Ponytail, who were killed in a way that was utterly enigmatic and completely unresistable. Didn’t she know fear? How did such a reckless person become an Advanced Player?

The Puppet Maker seemed to glance at Girl in the painting, with Number 1 responding: "I will consider it."

This answer did not satisfy Girl in the painting, who instead said: "If you are going to make one for me, it mustn’t lack hands or legs; I don’t want a broken one."

The bold attitude made the players sitting beside and opposite her want to slap her twice.

Unexpectedly, the Puppet Maker nodded.

Girl in the painting was satisfied, handing over the headless puppet she had picked up in the morning, "Give it back to you."

Number 2 took the puppet away.

Just when everyone believed the dinner would remain silent until the end, the sweet girl suddenly said from the right: "Shouldn’t we not leave our rooms at night? The puppets picked up by those going out last night were all damaged, you should’ve told us earlier, if you want to make my puppet, I also want a complete one."

The Puppet Maker paused his actions, facing toward her position.

The sweet girl did not pause, instead continuing: "I heard you don’t like disobedient people, so what kind of person is considered obedient? Why don’t you tell me, I will try hard to be a good baby."

Zuo Yu, sitting beside her, dared not breathe, secretly tugging her sleeve to signal her to say less.

Although the Puppet Maker was laconic, he still answered the question, with Number 1 facing the sweet girl, speaking in an elusive tone: "You will naturally understand over time."

The sweet girl raised her eyebrows, not continuing the conversation.

At this point, the long-coated man spoke, "Seven days only allows for the making of 21 puppets, clearly fewer than the number of people here."

The Puppet Maker will only select the three most satisfying puppets on Sunday, meaning all players need at least seven days to pass the level. Seven days for 21 puppets, given the current possibility that having one’s own puppet is necessary to clear the level, at least three players have to wait until the next Sunday, which takes a full fourteen days.

The actual elapsed time of fourteen days in the puppet instance may be shorter than in the players’ home district, but the longer the time, the greater the chance of missing the next instance. Solving the problem within the first seven days is undoubtedly best.

The long-coated man’s words successfully stirred the players’ emotions.

The instance is supposed to have 24 people, but there are actually 25 inside, no matter which unlucky one strayed into the instance, it’s occupying their place. To have the Puppet Maker finish all players’ puppets within seven days, at least four people need to be eliminated.

Of course, killing other players is risky because even if successful, one might become the next target for puppet-making.

Currently, the killing rules are unclear, the best approach is still standing idle.

But as soon as someone makes a move, it can verify one thing, that is, whether killing a dungeon player becomes the target for the Puppet Maker.

After the meal, everyone returned to their rooms, each closing the door tightly, seemingly not planning to come out again.

Xu Huo opened up the Spiritual World, entered the Display Room from Mirror Space, and rechecked the puppets in the cabinet, the number hadn’t increased. Elsewhere, in the painting room, the black cat hadn’t come to life again; curiously, someone lifted a few canvases today, revealing a sketch of a puppet, he noticed parts of the puppet’s limbs being repeatedly designed until finished, the complete picture also had traces of multiple modifications and overlays, evidently, the puppet’s design wasn’t an instant success.

The removed parts may not necessarily be targeting players, it might just be the Puppet Maker repeatedly making components, which means the detached parts have no specific significance of rule violation by players, so it wasn’t anything they did or said last night that violated the rules.

Yet when players received puppets, nothing happened, but after the Puppet Maker showed up, High Ponytail and the middle-aged man died. The order of deaths didn’t follow the appearance of puppets, so "violating rules" occurred during their encounter with the Puppet Maker. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Of course, what happened at the dinner table might simply be "punishment," but it also implies that "punishment" needs both the castle owner and the punished player to be present, with an action of "seeing" in between.

Currently, the conditions under which the Puppet Maker selects making targets are unclear, so Xu Huo cannot determine whether both "violating rules" and "punishment" need "seeing."