Volume 1, Chapter 23: A Hint from the "Big Sister"

Madness!
This is absolutely fucking insane!
Run!?
There’s no time. How the hell could I possibly be faster than a bullet?
Just then, he remembered something from Jack’s diary.
Jack would hunt down any passengers who fled upon seeing him. In his madness, he had convinced himself that anyone who ran away at the sight of his patrol was the murderer of Mary.
Therefore...
Must not run!
Qin Shang’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently. He grabbed the girl, stopping her from fleeing, and pinned her down firmly.
If we don’t run, there might still be a sliver of a chance. If we run, we’re definitely finished.
The next moment, Qin Shang pursed his lips and met the gaze of that pale, ghastly face. The phantom did not lower the gun it was holding...
Qin Shang’s heart sank.
Did I guess wrong?
The young girl in front of him was nearly driven mad with terror, her body trembling incessantly; she was clearly scared out of her wits.
Yet, she didn’t scream; only the shaking betrayed the fear in her heart.
In truth, Qin Shang was panicking just as much. By now, he barely had the strength in his palm to keep covering the girl’s mouth.
"Go away, evil spirits, go away, evil spirits..."
A fine layer of cold sweat broke out on Qin Shang’s forehead, his lips quivering uncontrollably.
He was repeating the words frantically in his mind.
Just then, although the phantom did not lower the shotgun, it truly did not attack them.
Instead, it stared at Qin Shang with those pale, dead eyes for a long moment.
Finally, it suddenly turned its head and slowly walked past them.
Qin Shang could hear the girl’s heavy, ragged breathing beside him.
Thump—thump—thump—
The next moment, the phantom reached another bedroom door and began the mechanical action of knocking.
Qin Shang’s back was soaked in cold sweat; he nearly collapsed to the floor.
Meanwhile, the girl—whose username was ‘Grandpa Ox Cosplaying as a Maid to Seduce Zhuangzhuang’s Mom’—was still trembling violently. Even though the terrifying entity seemed to have moved on, it couldn’t wash away the fear gripping her heart.
Qin Shang pulled the girl closer and mouthed a single word:
"Go!"
Seeing this, the girl looked at the young man, her body rigid and numb. Her lips were purple as she shook her head and mouthed back:
"Brother, I... I can’t move..."
Qin Shang hesitated for a split second, a look of apology crossing his face.
[Freeze Response]: A common human stress reaction.
It typically occurs when facing danger, threats, or extreme pressure. It is an unnatural evolutionary behavior characterized by a lack of voluntary motor control.
The brain is busy analyzing how to neutralize the threat, making it unable to control the limbs via the nervous system.
This is common in everyday life—like seeing a speeding car or a basketball flying toward you, yet your hands and feet feel as if they are paralyzed and refuse to budge.
It is an animal instinct rooted in human genetics.

This is the very reason why, as people often discuss, women sometimes fail to run when facing sexual assault.
Often, because danger arrives so suddenly, a surge of adrenaline causes the person to instantly enter a freeze response.
Lacking the ability to think subjectively and having lost the brain’s ability to communicate with the nerves, the person is left with stiff limbs, at the mercy of the situation.
It was likely that the little girl had been so terrified, combined with him suddenly covering her mouth and forcefully pinning her down to prevent her from moving, that she subconsciously assumed she was doomed, triggering this stress response.
"Ah!"
Just then, a sharp scream rang out from the room next door.
A figure darted out from the room. The voice was high-pitched and shrill, sounding remarkably like a woman’s.
However, Qin Shang was certain that among the players participating in the Death Train in the previous round, all the female players except for the little girl beside him had already perished!
Hmm, it seems only that guy with the most feminine ID fits the description...
Since he wasn’t a Priest, Qin Shang couldn’t see the person’s appearance clearly.
Sure enough.
The next moment, ‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’ ran out from the neighboring berth, face deathly pale and eyes full of panic. In the blink of an eye, he reached Qin Shang and the girl, only to find them standing motionless in the corridor.
Clearly, this [Physician] was also incredibly stunned.
"You two..."
He was likely wondering why these two were in the carriage yet hadn’t been hunted by that thing.
Logically, they should have crossed paths with the phantom before he did.
Why did the phantom only attack him and not them?
Ignoring Qin Shang, who was frantically making faces and gestures for him to be quiet, he shouted, still shaken.
"Could it be that the thing is selective in its attacks on players? Or are you two actually the God-Slayer and an accomplice?"
"No wonder, no wonder it didn't attack you! You’re on the same side! You two bastards deserve to die..."
BANG!
The moment the gunshot echoed, ‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’ collapsed to the ground.
Blood sprayed out, splattering Qin Shang.
The flicker of life in ‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’s’ eyes faded away.
Dead!
Just like that, he died right in front of Qin Shang.
The smell of gunpowder drifted from the shotgun of the red-dressed phantom nearby, mixing with the scent of blood that gradually filled the carriage. The little girl, ‘Grandpa Ox Cosplaying as a Maid to Seduce Zhuangzhuang’s Mom’, almost screamed.
Qin Shang quickly clapped a hand over her red lips.
He thought to himself, how wonderful it would be if she were a mute!
Qin Shang was neither a saint nor a savior; he had no obligation to save everyone.
In the supernatural environment of the God’s Path, laws were nothing but scraps of paper.
It was already generous enough that he hadn’t killed them himself to clear the level.
What’s more, who knew if ‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’ was a passenger or an assistant on the Death Train?
Or perhaps, he was that incognito traitor, ‘Green Grass by the River’?
After the first round of player deaths, ‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’ had been the first to jump out, clamoring to disrupt the balance of the team.
Qin Shang had analyzed it before.

For a God-Slayer, the more suspicious and chaotic the players were, the better.
Only in chaos could they make their move.
As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot—or in this case, strike when your enemy is vulnerable.
‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’ was already on Qin Shang’s list of suspects.
He had spent the afternoon scouring the forums and had summarized a few points.
The situation within a contaminated instance is uncontrollable; even NPCs cannot necessarily provide constructive help—and by that, he meant normal NPCs.
Of course, a God-Slayer is also a type of NPC.
In other words, it was quite possible that even the God-Slayer could kick the bucket at the hands of this cross-dressing pioneer, who had been dead for over two hundred years since the instance was contaminated.
After all, even NPCs don’t know all the rules once an instance is contaminated.
The death of ‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’ clearly caused a certain level of panic for both of them.
This was the first time Qin Shang had witnessed someone die right before his eyes.
The fading of life, that final expression of unwillingness, and a lingering, faint trace of resentment were all quite eye-opening.
Resentment!?
The resentment on his face in those final moments was likely directed at us, right?
‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’ hadn’t figured out the rules of Jack the Conductor’s killing spree, so he suspected we were in league with this thing?
The brain is a wonderful thing; you should use yours instead of letting it go to waste!
Qin Shang sighed silently.
Brother, rest in peace. I’ll be taking your task and exclusive hint.
Having experienced the mysterious disappearance of the corpse of ‘Handsome Enough to Get Hacked’ in the last round, Qin Shang had learned his lesson.
The clues from the last round hadn’t been enough to solve the mystery of the missing passengers.
So, he intended to inherit ‘Handsome Enough to Get Hacked’s’ task, only to be shocked to discover... the body was gone.
This time, he immediately checked on ‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’, terrified the corpse would vanish unexpectedly.
At the same time, his hand slipped into his pocket to touch his character card without a trace.
[Inherit!]
[Ding! Hidden side task acquired: Please identify the accomplice within the team. If the accomplice is already dead, please identify the accomplice within the team (This task originates from the Physician; in this round of the game, you will acquire this player’s professional skill).]
[Hint: NPCs do not lie.]
[Your identity in this round: Passenger.]
Qin Shang’s breath hitched, followed by a deep frown.
His breath hitched because of the hint from ‘Kind-hearted Big Sister’.
No wonder this guy dared to act so brazenly after the God-Slayer’s first kill, provoking everyone and plunging them into internal strife.
If NPCs cannot lie, then wouldn’t it be as simple as asking them, "Are you the God-Slayer?"
With this most useful piece of information, no wonder he had been so calm before.
His hint had made him believe he held the winning hand!