Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!

This is an instance with a closed venue, where the castle owner has established rules. Thus, special attention should be paid to certain details. The servants are not real people; they are the hands, feet, and tongues of the Puppet Maker. If ’breaking the rules’ and ’punishment’ require being ’seen,’ then being ’seen’ by the servants is equivalent to being ’seen’ by the Puppet Maker.

It is unknown whether the three middle-aged people did something other players didn’t do last night—but this also doesn’t hold absolute representativeness, because making only three mannequins a day doesn’t mean only three people can be chosen to become mannequins on the first day; perhaps some are arranged for the second day.

The 25th person did not sit in the chair prepared by the servant, which could be the main reason he became the first mannequin. Naturally, he also died early, but it was not at the hands of the Puppet Maker.

The Girl in the painting, although she also finished and went out, and even destroyed the painting of the black cat, is not a ticket player. For the existing ticket players, it’s not important whether the extra person is making the instance or was unintentionally involved. Her biggest role is to test whether going out at night or destroying the painting has suspicion of breaking the instance rules.

However, for Xu Huo, the Girl in the painting’s actions are not very significant. The castle owner must know that there’s an extra person in the instance. But whether they can recognize her as a prop is inconclusive, and it’s even possible that due to the instance’s rule restrictions, they can’t make her into a mannequin at all.

It’s unknown whether the three players who died last night did anything else.

"Knock, knock, knock." Someone gently knocked on the door of the Girl in the painting’s room, and Xu Huo’s attention returned to the guest room area.

The person knocking was Fluorescent Powder. After a while, the Girl in the painting came to open the door. Fluorescent Powder said with a bit of flattery and fear, "Sister, the person living next to me is very fierce. I’m afraid he’ll come and kill me in the middle of the night. Can I stay with you?"

The Girl in the painting hesitated a little, and Fluorescent Powder immediately offered a large bag of local specialties, "Consider these my accommodation fee, okay?"

The Girl in the painting, still eager to try new things, invited her in with joy.

Shortly after, Xu Huo also came out of his room and knocked on the Girl in the painting’s door.

The Girl in the painting could recognize it was him by the sound of his footsteps and quickly came over, passing some snacks to him.

"I don’t eat, thank you." Xu Huo gestured to the room with his chin, "Can we talk inside?"

The Girl in the painting immediately made room for him.

After closing the door, Xu Huo began asking about the details of her outings last night, such as how long High Ponytail and the middle-aged man stayed in the Display Room, where the middle-aged man was during that time, and if other things were noticed where the 25th player was killed by the black cat, and whether there were any servants during the entire process.

The Girl in the painting thought carefully for a moment and then said, "I didn’t find any servants. I went to look for food but couldn’t find any, otherwise I would’ve asked them for help."

Xu Huo inquired about a few more questions, and the content of the Girl in the painting’s answers was not much different from what she told the other players during the day. Some details she had also answered under the questioning of the long-coated man.

The middle-aged man and the 25th player both had encounters with the black cat. Only High Ponytail came out of the Display Room unscathed, never having any conflicts with the things inside the castle from start to finish.

The 25th player died last night, but the Puppet Maker still made him into a mannequin. Does this imply that even if players die for other reasons, the scheduled mannequin-making won’t change?

The introduction of the instance provided very few conditions, with each detail possibly having multiple interpretations, and players proactively obtaining information was limited, making rash attempts too risky.

However, there are currently three pieces of confirmed information.

First, the ’punishment’ by the Puppet Maker typically occurs when both parties are present. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Second, the player mannequins made by the Puppet Maker won’t always be in his possession.

Third, player mannequins can be retrieved.

Each of these three pieces of information also contains a question.

First, if the ’punishment’ requires both parties to be present, then during the Puppet Maker’s ’observation’ of the player, is the player ’breaking the rules’?

Second, broken mannequins are found elsewhere. Does this represent some form of alternative notification? Do the broken parts have other meanings?

Third, will mannequins that return to the Puppet Maker’s hands be repaired and taken out again? If so, does a repaired mannequin count as a ’satisfactory mannequin’?

The process the Puppet Maker uses to select his subjects is too subjective, and without more information to support it, there’s no way to analyze or judge it accurately. We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.

"You know each other?" Fluorescent Powder observed the conversation between the Girl in the painting and Xu Huo, finally speaking after a brief pause.

The Girl in the painting exaggeratedly gestured, indicating she absolutely did not know Xu Huo.

However, Xu Huo glanced at Fluorescent Powder, "Go back to your room."

This was a warning.

Fluorescent Powder smiled lightly, "If I don’t go, are you going to kill me? Aren’t you afraid that tomorrow, it’ll be your mannequin that appears?"

Xu Huo calmly told her, "The 25th player died at the hands of the black cat, yet his mannequin still appeared. This suggests there’s a chance the castle owner won’t care whether a player dies or how they die."

The smile vanished from Fluorescent Powder’s face, but she looked at the Girl in the painting, "Sister, look, he’s so fierce."

However, the Girl in the painting was no longer as accommodating as before and ignored her, instead asking Xu Huo, "Should we kill her?"

Xu Huo did not answer, his gaze resting on Fluorescent Powder.

Fluorescent Powder finally understood, and sneered coldly, "I thought it was easy to fool idiots, but you guys were already working together. It seems... one of you is definitely a non-ticket player?"

A non-ticket player was like the 25th person, occupying a spot originally meant for a ticket player. To see their own mannequins within seven days, and due to her presence, they would need to eliminate one more person.

"I understand now, she’s threatening us." The Girl in the painting glanced around and then raised her communicator.

"A threat?" Xu Huo stood up smiling, "Only if her mannequin appears tomorrow, that can be considered a threat."

Even if the Girl in the painting broke the rules, she wouldn’t have a mannequin appear, indicating that there are restrictions in the instance. Therefore, there’s no question of her occupying a mannequin slot, and since there’s no conflict of interest, the threat doesn’t exist.

"Besides, how can you be sure the non-ticket player is among us?" Xu Huo opened the door slightly, tilting his head to look at her, "Perhaps you are the non-ticket player."

Fluorescent Powder didn’t understand his implication, but just as she was about to walk out, she found herself suddenly off balance. She quickly righted herself and used a prop to shield her surroundings, only to realize that Xu Huo wasn’t trying to kill her, but rather to send her back to her room, where she crashed directly into the mannequin decor!