“I am not an angel.”
Zhao Weilai shook her head.
“My name is Zhao Weilai. I'm just an experienced player who entered the Instance earlier than you. What I showed you just now was the system inventory, which everyone has a chance to unlock. I awakened the class 【Butcher】. My strength is far greater than that of ordinary people, and I have a chance to trigger weakness detection on ghost-type monsters.”
Zhao Weilai was not foolish enough to pour out all of her personal information at once.
She hid several key pieces of information:
First, this Pig-Slaying Knife was a system item, granting a 5% damage bonus against supernatural monsters.
Next, she also had five 【Corpse Oil Candle】s, 【Zhao Weilai's Clay Doll (Liu Guilan's New Work)】, and a modified handgun in her inventory.
The candles had been traded for with Fine Gold Ingots from other players.
The clay doll was just Liu Guilan's practice work.
The handgun had been modified by the Special Investigation Bureau; the bullets had cinnabar added to them, and the tips had been soaked in black dog's blood.
—The authorities were currently in the trial-and-error stage of everything, so no one knew if this stuff was actually useful.
It could be said that if she could bring this information back alive, it would be worth a Second-Class Merit.
But when facing strange players, one must never show all their cards.
This was a survival rule taught by her instructor.
...
“I have a unique veteran player quest.”
Zhao Weilai stared at the text in her field of vision, giving the others some reassurance:
“In this Instance, the more players who survive, the higher the points I will receive. So I won't just abandon you. Our goals are aligned—we both want as many people to survive as possible.”
As soon as she said this, several of them visibly relaxed.
Margaret, in particular, looked at Zhao Weilai as if she were a savior.
If not for the social distance, she probably would have rushed forward to passionately hug, kiss, and hold her hand in prayer.
...
“Sister Zhao, what do we do now?” Mu Xiao asked in a low voice, her tone entirely dependent.
Zhao Weilai didn't answer. Instead, she swept her gaze over everyone and posed the most critical question:
“Have any of you awakened a class? That is, after entering, did any extra information appear in your head, like a class name or skills? Speak up now so we can coordinate later. Don't hide it; hiding it benefits no one.”
The group exchanged looks, staring at one another, but no one spoke.
After a few seconds, Father Koleva spoke up on his own initiative:
“Ma'am, I just discovered that some information indeed appeared in my mind. It says my class is 【Believer】, of Yellow quality. The skill is 【Forced Contemplation】, which can release a calming aura. Players within a two-meter radius have a chance of obtaining a 'calm'... uh, buff? I think it should be similar to some kind of mental suggestion? Under the 【Calm】 state, a player's movement speed increases by 0.5%, intelligence is slightly increased, and the cooldown is six hours.”
Zhao Weilai's eyes lit up slightly.
A group support class was incredibly precious in a newcomer match.
Panic was contagious.
Once newcomers panicked, they were prone to making mistakes. The Calm buff could increase movement speed and minimize panic to the greatest extent.
...
“A very good support class, and highly useful.”
Zhao Weilai nodded in affirmation. “I know that similar status-type classes are positioned as the core of a player team.”
Players could learn about class types through an internal app. Currently, Zhao Weilai knew of three support classes:
【Physician】, 【Shepherd】, and 【Pill Master】.
Oh, and perhaps 【Believer】 had to be added to that list.
These were classified details, so Zhao Weilai didn't say much.
The Indian man stared at the priest, muttering something under his breath.
The expressions on the Korean couple's faces were clearly much more complex—half envy, and half of an indescribable, slight dissatisfaction.
Just then, Mu Xiao also raised her hand. “Um... I think I awakened one too.”
The eyes of the remaining few people all focused on her.
“My class is called 【Druid】, of gold quality.”
Mu Xiao said with a tearful face:
“The passive is understanding beast language, allowing me to comprehend what animals say. The active is summoning nearby animals, with a chance of commanding them to help... but there are no animals on the subway.”
Gold quality?
Zhao Weilai quickly noted down this important piece of intelligence.
Among the class qualities currently recognized by players, there seemed to be only one gold-quality Class User.
She hadn't expected to encounter a Huaxia international student who had awakened a gold class in a foreign Instance.
How could this not be considered a stroke of fate?
...
“Are you sure it's gold?” Zhao Weilai confirmed once more.
“Yes, the system prompt said gold.”
Mu Xiao nodded, her face then filling with despair.
“But where are there any animals? Right now, there isn't even a single rat. I can't use this skill at all right now...”
Where were the rats of the London subway?
Usually, when they weren't needed, those fellows would strut proudly around the carriages.
Sometimes, she would even encounter ravens in the carriages.
Yet now, there wasn't a single animal in sight.
“Don't think like that.”
Zhao Weilai immediately comforted her:
“Gold classes are highly useful. Protect yourself well. The 【Druid】 class is extremely precious.”
In an Instance, like the 《Old Lady Huang's Birthday Celebration》 Instance, if there were a 【Druid】 who understood beast language, wouldn't the players have been able to clear it much faster?
As for subsequent Instances, if one could truly command animals, whether it was for scouting or pinning down monsters, it would be an excellent asset.
The remaining passengers all indicated that they had not awakened a class.
Margaret felt a bit of regret, saying she only had her faith in God.
The Indian man, Ravi, was full of envy.
Kim Myung and Park So-na's faces grew even uglier.
Not awakening a class meant their probability of survival had dropped by another notch.
Even a fool could see that Zhao Weilai clearly favored the two players who had awakened classes.
To state a cruel fact, if they encountered mortal danger later on, they had no doubt that Zhao Weilai would make a judgment based on priority.
The high-probability order would be:
Her own life > the lives of players with classes > them > bystanders.
...
Just as everyone was harboring their own thoughts, the lights on the ceiling of the carriage suddenly made a harsh, buzzing current sound.
“!”
Zhao Weilai's hairs instantly stood on end.
When the people died earlier, the carriage lights had also flickered.
She whipped her head up, only to see the cold white lights overhead beginning to flicker frantically.
The entire carriage alternated between light and dark, dazzling their eyes until they hurt.
“Don't make a sound! Sit down, everyone!”
Zhao Weilai realized something and warned in a low voice, “Don't move around, and don't go near the carriage doors!”
The group of people all held their breath, clutching each other's hands as they huddled together, shivering.
—The temperature inside the carriage was dropping at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The subway carriage, which had felt stuffy and warm just moments ago, instantly became bone-chillingly cold, as if the train had entered an icehouse.
Zhao Weilai could clearly see her own breath, exhaling a plume of white mist.
Beside her, Father Koleva nodded slightly, then activated his skill.
【Forced Contemplation.】
A gentle, invisible white light instantly enveloped the several people nearby.
Zhao Weilai could clearly feel her tensed nerves relax significantly, and her wildly beating heart steadied.
In the upper-right corner of her field of vision, a line of small characters floated:
【Calm Buff: Movement Speed +0.5%, slight increase to maximum intelligence (Duration: 15 minutes).】
Beside her, Mu Xiao patted her chest and spoke in a low voice, “I'm really not that scared anymore. It's so magical.”
Margaret crossed herself again, murmuring her thanks to God.
Meanwhile, the Indian man and the Korean couple looked dejected.
Clearly, they were not the lucky ones and had not received the buff.
Father Koleva's skill managed to stabilize everyone's emotions, but the lights flickered more and more violently.
...
Clang—
The entire train suddenly shuddered violently, as if running over some hard object.
Everyone swayed, and someone almost fell off their seat.
Immediately after, the sliding subway doors on the side of the carriage suddenly slid open slowly and silently to both sides.
Outside the doors was a pitch-black darkness so thick it couldn't be dissolved.
There was no platform, no lights, no tunnel walls—nothing.
It was as if the train had stopped somewhere inside a tunnel.
Two bystander players stood up in fright, instinctively wanting to look toward the carriage door.
Zhao Weilai immediately warned in a low voice, “Don't go near them! Absolutely do not get off the train!”
—The Instance had only just begun. How could an escape route be provided now?
The two of them instantly froze and sat back down, trembling.
A dead silence fell over the carriage.
Soon, sounds came from outside the doors.
First were chaotic footsteps; many people were running.
Then came all kinds of exclamations and cries for help—the sounds weren't far, seeming to come from the entrances of other carriages.
“Oh my God! Where is this?!”
“Send me back! Damn it, send me back! I want to go back!”
“I can't see anything! So-na, where are you?”
These voices sounded as if they were muffled by a thick layer of cotton, blurry and drifting from far away.
Then, they abruptly stopped.
Just like that, everything was gone. The cries for help, the screams, and the running footsteps vanished at the exact same instant.
How could so many sounds vanish all at once?
Everyone in the carriage turned pale, clutching the seat armrests so tightly that their knuckles turned white.
The unknown was far more despair-inducing than visible terror.
Margaret closed her eyes, her lips moving continuously:
““Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me...” (Psalms)”
Father Koleva clutched the crucifix in both hands, praying in a low voice in Russian.
After about half a minute, the doors remained wide open, so quiet that there wasn't even a whisper of sound.
In the next second, an ink-wash text announcement floated before everyone's eyes:
【Player Edward Hawke has died.】
【Player Susan Miller has died.】
【Player Tom Reed has died.】
【Player Jack Cullen has died.】
...
Death announcements frantically flooded the screen.
As more than a dozen death messages flashed by one after another, the temperature inside the carriage seemed to drop several degrees colder.
Zhao Weilai stared intently at the words, her nerves extremely tense.
She was terrified of seeing a familiar name.
Fortunately, after a dozen or so seconds, the announcements stopped.
【Current Instance Total Players: 102/150.】
The two who had been about to check earlier had faces full of relief at surviving a disaster.
—Fortunately, Zhao Weilai had warned them not to get off the train just now, or else there would definitely have been two more unlucky bastards on that death list.
But before they could even catch their breath, the overhead lights suddenly groaned and went out completely with a pop.
The entire carriage plunged into a pitch-black darkness where one couldn't even see their own hand in front of their face.
Nothing could be seen.
Zhao Weilai's heart suddenly clenched.
And then, she heard it.
Thud...
Thud...
Thud...
Heavy, slow footsteps.
The sound drew closer from afar, stepping from the open carriage door, step by step, into the carriage.
Invisible.
Absolutely nothing could be seen. There were only the footsteps, echoing one after another in the pitch-black carriage, drawing closer and closer.
Rate on N.U.
