Label Express

Five flashes of light flared, followed by the noisy clamor of crowds in the girls' ears and the crisp rhythm of clicking footsteps echoing around them.

They appeared to be in a station, slowly walking toward a futuristic train docked at the platform.

They seemed unable to control their own bodies, moving like characters in an opening cutscene, pulled toward the train by an invisible force.

"Welcome to Asimov Station. The Skyline Special Express is about to depart. The final destination of this trip is Skyline. Have a wonderful day."

A relaxed station announcement drifted from an unknown corner.

Time seemed to slow down infinitely, allowing them to clearly see the subtle facial expressions of every passerby, and... labels popping up from these people?

Akabane Tsubaki's gaze first landed on a woman dressed as a white-collar worker closest to her.

The woman wore delicate but unobtrusive makeup, her clothes were neatly pressed, and the sleeves of her forearm—which held several documents—were rolled up, giving off an air of efficiency.

In the blink of an eye, boxes and lines of information boards introducing the woman's life popped up, arranged and presented clearly before her.

"Name: Delly"

"Gender: Female"

"Occupation: Corporate Executive"

"Android Rating: 97"

"Labels: Emotionally Stable, High-Tier Talent, Intellectual and Wise, Leadership Ability"

"Recent Trends: Greeted others gently 2 minutes ago, purchased a cup of coffee 13 minutes ago, took anti-emotional medication 20 minutes ago. Click to view trends from 30 minutes ago or earlier"

"Disciplinary Officer Comment: A relatively stable android with no potential danger; occasionally exhibits self-harm tendencies when emotions are suppressed."

Akabane Tsubaki's eyes slowly widened.

It wasn't just this woman; every android in the station had a similar information panel!

Xu Xiaoyou's gaze swept around casually and fixed on a youth with a scar on his face and cigarette burn marks on his bare, muscular shoulders.

The information arranged itself in her eyes.

"Name: David"

"Gender: Male"

"Occupation: Street Thug"

"Android Rating: 52"

"Labels: Despicable, Orphan, Sticky Fingers, Lacks Discipline, Impulsive, Low Cognition, Violent Temper, Cultivates Force"

"Recent Trends: Pushed someone 1 minute ago, fed a stray cat on the platform 2 minutes ago, purchased animal-grade minced meat 4 minutes ago, stole wealth from another 6 minutes ago, used force to stop an argument 12 minutes ago. Click to view trends from 30 minutes ago or earlier"

"Disciplinary Officer Comment: Enjoys watching violent crime videos, behavior is extremely prone to losing control, exists as an awakening risk, suggest strengthening control."

"Little Rascal, Elegant Gentleman, Giver, Vegetarian, Sweet Tooth, No Cilantro, Perfectionist, Pessimist, Optimist, Leader, Paranoia, Stockholm Syndrome, INTP Personality type."

Various labels sprouted like mushrooms after rain on different androids, filling the field of vision and making it dizzying to take in.

Xu Xiaoyou shook her head and looked at the girls beside her, seeing red labels followed by capital red exclamation marks on them.

— "Awakened One"

Their rating was 47.

In the New Gospel Book, androids with a rating of 47 or below were defined as Awakened Ones.

At that moment, the system's announcement sounded.

"Both sides, Light-Chaser Garden and the Slaughterers, have loaded into the dungeon 'Label Express'. The rules of this match will now be explained."

"In the 'Label Express' dungeon, both sides will play as awakened androids. While avoiding being destroyed by the 'Label Catcher', you must seek the dungeon's clearance conditions. At the dungeon settlement stage, the team with the higher comprehensive rating wins."

"1. Before entering the Skyline train, please both sides select one member to serve as the 'Label Catcher' for this match to hunt the enemy team. Note: The Label Catcher will receive enhancements, attributes far exceeding the current dungeon average of both sides, and cannot be killed by players."

Xu Xiaoyou looked at everyone thoughtfully.

"Me, me, me!" Akabane Tsubaki's eyes lit up after seeing the rules, and she raised her hand to volunteer. "Yuzu, no matter how you look at it, this rule favors stealth classes specialized in agility. Let me do it, I'll definitely take them down in no time!"

"You're quite optimistic," Xu Xiaoyou said, glancing at her.

The Slaughterers were the ninth-ranked guild with very strong comprehensive strength. They were matched against the opponent's starting team, whose average strength was above grade 4.

After confirming the rules, the weight in Xu Xiaoyou's heart lifted.

This dungeon did not require the players of both sides to fight head-on.

If nothing unexpected happened, they and the Slaughterers would be placed in two Skyline trains on different routes to conduct the dungeon, only having to face the Label Catcher selected by the other side.

Furthermore, the attributes of the Label Catcher would be extremely overpowered and they could not be killed by players.

This rule clearly favored their team with weaker comprehensive strength, greatly narrowing the gap between the teams.

Since both Label Catchers would have broken attributes, it would only test the combat literacy of those two individuals. The only difference would lie in the coping abilities of the players in the escaping teams.

In that case, the choice of this Label Catcher became crucial.

How to seize this rule to narrow the combat power gap between Light-Chaser Garden and the Slaughterers as much as possible was the first thing Dark Gold Rose should consider.

The live stream frame fixed on the red-haired girl's face, and many guild analysts began their deductions in front of the large screens at Oasis Square.

"Unless something unexpected happens, Dark Gold Rose will choose Akabane Tsubaki as the Label Catcher. Her agility attribute is the highest and fits this rule best. When facing pursuit, it's clear Light-Chaser Garden will struggle more, so they need to end the battle as quickly as possible."

"No, you're ignoring a prerequisite," the analyst beside him shook his head.

"The rules only say the Label Catcher cannot be killed; it doesn't say they can't be blocked. Jason, the support for the Slaughterers, is very tanky, with normal damage reduction as high as forty percent and skills that force aggro. If he covers his teammates, it's highly likely Akabane Tsubaki won't be able to break through the Slaughterers' front line."

"That was my mistake. You have a point."

"If you ask me, the Slaughterers are also quite a strange team. It's a team without a buffer or a commander, consisting of one support, two guerrillas, and two main attackers. Freddy and Pennywise, the two guerrillas, are at the top of the rankings, and the two main attackers, Michael and Leatherface, are also ranked quite high."

"If there were a qualified commander to lead these lunatics, their rank would surely be even higher."

"Should we say Light-Chaser Garden is lucky or unlucky to match with these guys? I remember those names; they're all names of slashers from classic old-era horror movies, right?"

"These few are fine. Their range of activity is limited to the Pale Red Battle-Net. At least they don't run around biting people everywhere like those psychos from the Age of the Dead."

"The chairman won't choose Akabane Tsubaki as the Label Catcher," the glasses-wearing man who had been quiet suddenly spoke up.

"Based on my understanding of her, the probability of Bai Youyou or Angelina being chosen as the Label Catcher is much higher than this little family head."

"Why do you say that?"

"Intuition," the man said, pushing up his glasses.

"Is there a possibility it could be Little Blue Bird?" someone asked casually.

The crowd burst into laughter. Just as that person was feeling confused and wanting to find a hole to crawl into, someone patted his shoulder.

"Don't be silly, man. Entrusting the heavy responsibility of Label Catcher to a buffer... do you think Dark Gold Rose has lost her mind?"