Endless Debt-Chapter 739 - 219: Boarding the Car

After one battle after another, Bologue has gradually gotten the hang of this unfamiliar game. Besides the Identity Card, he has also gained several equipment cards, all won during events.

Now his Swift Wolf Hunter has already swapped out a round of gear, and even obtained a weapon enchanted by an Alchemist.

Bologue’s role is currently the main damage dealer on the field, with Hart taking on the role of the meat shield. He and Bologue hold the front lines, while two Alchemists provide them with rescue and enhancement. The Canary stands at the edge of the battlefield, ready to assist the two when necessary.

As for Ewen... the Minstrel role is indeed rather useless; Ewen is essentially just a dice thrower and a facilitator of game mechanics. But Ewen is quite happy playing.

"I’m just an ordinary person, even in the game. This is truly an immersive experience."

Ewen focuses intently on the board, while everyone else seems bored, but Ewen genuinely enjoys the game.

Palmer mutters, "You really love the Poet profession, don’t you? Not only do you call yourself a Poet, but you write it into books, and even in games you like to play that role."

"You’re overthinking this."

Ewen, while rolling dice, doesn’t miss the chance to shatter Palmer’s fantasy, "I simply thought that in the story of ’Night Hunter,’ there should be a narrator. I happened to think of the Minstrel profession, so I added it into the story... It’s not that complicated."

Palmer is momentarily speechless; he shouldn’t have asked.

The atmosphere feels somewhat stuffy, everyone is deeply engrossed in the game, immersing themselves into their roles, making decisions cautiously, anxiously rolling crucial dice.

At the center of the board is the battlefield where combat events occur. Surrounding the battlefield is the game’s vast map, with railways weaving among them. When the Dawn Train reaches its destination, it resembles a giant serpent entirely engulfing the world’s board.

With Hart drawing an Event Card, the game reaches a critical phase.

"Event Card · Monster Tide."

Palmer narrates the story from a narrator’s perspective, "The night collapses, endless shadows emerge at the edge of sight, swaying like walking corpses, carrying a bloodthirsty desire, completely surrounding the Dawn Train.

You have nowhere to escape."

Hart’s face turns pale, amongst the numerous Event Cards in ’The Journey of Eternal Night,’ Monster Tide is one of the worst, it no longer qualifies as an Event Card but more of a Disaster Card, total annihilation card.

When players draw this card, they face a massive attack of demons, and prior to this, the players’ characters have already been left wounded from the journey, only a few lucky and skilled players manage to survive such an onslaught. Now besides Hart, everyone else is a new player.

No surprise it’s the deluxe version, the demon tokens provided are unexpectedly abundant, Palmer laid out a vast display of them, deliberately taunting Hart, he takes out a specially large token from the wooden box.

That too is a demon token, but clearly, whether in size or the refinement of the token, this demon token is extremely special.

Palmer says, "In Monster Tide, you can still try your luck, but if you draw this, you’re done."

Hart ignores him, focusing on the game at hand, rolling the dice, and it tumbles out a poor value.

Great failure.

The demons swarm, sharp claws rip through Hart’s shield and armor; in an instant, this Hunter, who was like an iron wall, is on the brink of death.

Aimou nervously rolls the dice, this is where an Alchemist’s role shines. If she can again roll a great success, she could rescue Hart, allowing him to break through the encirclement.

Luck doesn’t stay with the same person forever. Aimou rolls an average value, giving Hart a mundane healing. This amount of recovery isn’t enough to let Hart endure the next round of attacks; when the next turn begins, Hart is done for.

Bologue, leveraging his equipment and value advantage, takes down several demons, and the Canary also adjusts her direction timely, deciding Hart can’t be saved, she allocates more points to help Bologue deal with nearby demons.

Palmer gets excited, "Is the first casualty about to appear!"

Not only the first casualty, amidst Cinderella’s wails, she too rolls a total failure, this round of actions is virtually ineffectual.

The demons devour Hart, compressing others’ survival environment under relentless pursuit; even with Bologue’s equipment advantage, he can’t withstand this herd of enemies. Cinderella and Aimou allocate all their points to Bologue without reversing Bologue’s downfall.

When Palmer declares Bologue’s death, Bologue almost feels it unreal. He just wanted to say he is an Undead, how could he die? Then he realizes it’s merely a game.

In the game, he isn’t an Undead.

Unknowingly, Bologue immerses himself into the game; he hadn’t anticipated being so drawn into it.

Now the Hunters blocking the frontline are all dead, only a small part of demons remain, but even this minor group overwhelms them.

The two Alchemists stand powerless against the demons’ attacks, followed by the Canary, even though she kept far from the battlefield from the start, under the demons’ relentless offense, she falls into despair, dismembered by them.

With the last Hunter’s death, Ewen loses the protection of abilities, now he can be killed.

The game’s defeat is certain, yet Ewen persistently rolls the dice over and over, following a marathon around the board, eventually, this breathless mortal is chased down by the demons, torn to pieces.

"The Dawn Train failed to reach the night’s end, the Hunters also returned to dust in defiance..."

Palmer narrates, hands together like closing a heavy book, ending the Chapter’s story.

No one speaks; they’re all empathizing deeply with the story they’ve interpreted, Bologue looks at the board, a few spaces short and the Dawn Train could have reached the next coastal supply point. Without this series of errors, they might have gone further.

It’s just a game; besides personal decisions and abilities, luck also plays a crucial role in the game.

"Shall we continue?"

Palmer reshuffles the deck eagerly looking at everyone, he has ample energy left; others feel quite worn, intensely focused immersion is exhausting for everyone.

"Let’s rest a bit," Bologue suggests, "It’s getting dark."

Looking towards the window, it’s then people notice the sky has darkened, the sun setting on the distant horizon, yet the sky was bright and blue before the game began.

"That’s how this game is; once you get into it, time flies quickly."

Palmer agrees with Bologue, "Generally speaking, to finish ’The Journey of Eternal Night,’ you need at least several days."

"That’s why the Undying Club folks love this game; they’re never short on time, Serey even said he wants to find an opportunity to create a larger board game, ideally one that’s played over decades."

About the board game Serey describes, Palmer really struggles to envision it. After all, he’s not an Undead; it’s tough to comprehend Serey’s distorted sense of time.

After the game washed over them, the unfamiliarity between them dissipated, they’ve become much more acquainted with each other. Aimou and Cinderella chat about stories, Hart packs up the board and tokens, putting them back into the wooden box.

As the host, Palmer likely spoke the most, now his mouth is dry, he just wants some water.

Ewen manages to stand up, still not recovered from the injuries left by the Paradise Train event; he limps as he walks. He too needs some water to swallow the pill.

Suddenly, a warm sensation comes from his chest.

Ewen stands still, his relaxed expression suddenly tightens, nervously looking at the people behind, everyone is resting in their seats, chatting leisurely, no one notices Ewen’s anomaly.

Reaching into his chest, Ewen touches the warm object and takes it out.

The precious ticket has changed; the unpredictable timing on the paper has finally halted at this moment; it no longer shifts, confirming the boarding time.

Ewen glances at the clock hanging at the end of the carriage.

The boarding time is imminent.