Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!

Chapter 2460: Memory of the Forest

This is a very peculiar state, as if Xu Huo and Bubble Bean are in a transparent space. It seems they are still in the forest, but the forest they see is different from the one seen by the Yin Yang Master and others. Thus, Bubble Bean within doesn’t know there’s someone behind him, and although the Yin Yang Master and others can see Bubble Bean, they can’t discover Xu Huo.Fragments of past events captured by Time Force can be observed, although such observation is one-sided and not real-time. Now, however, the space of this forest has overlapped, forming an observable window.

The Yin Yang Master and the others can see Bubble Bean releasing props forward. His behavior seems somewhat similar to that of the middle-aged man earlier, the only difference being Bubble Bean did not use the teleportation prop to escape this predicament.

There’s no clear indication, but when they were trapped in the same space, Xu Huo felt some kind of force pulling him. He turned and walked towards the direction of that force, occasionally calling Bubble Bean.

In Bubble Bean’s view, he had already gotten lost, fumbling around without finding anyone, not even able to distinguish directions, let alone know where the village is. Meanwhile, a large area of Bubble Beans appeared beneath his feet; as he stepped on it, numerous bubbles flew up with a crackling sound, quickly filling the forest... This plant seemed to form a path leading far away.

"What is he actually doing?" The eyebrow-pierced man frowned, staring at the person ahead because his aimless release of props made them too afraid to get too close. The Yin Yang Master intended to move forward and stop him, but every time they approached, Bubble Bean’s figure would be shrouded in mist, couldn’t hear them calling, not even turning his head.

"Our props seem to have no effect on him." Chi Cai discovered this issue. "Could he have been located by the Hidden Friend? Where is he going now?"

The two exchanged glances. If Bubble Bean was indeed found by the Hidden Friend, he might be being led elsewhere now. Although they could see Bubble Bean, the difficulty of their props taking effect made them cautious. If this situation persists, they can’t protect themselves, let alone explore the Hidden Friend’s site of murder and burial.

And from Bubble Bean’s state, it’s evident once locked in, it’s difficult for the player to escape the illusion. He couldn’t even discover the players behind him.

Danger ahead, can’t follow anymore.

Not only them, Yang Tian, brought over by a robot, also kept a distance, only the Yin Yang Master persisted, "Don’t you want to know if the one ahead is truly the Hidden Friend or a player in disguise?"

"Do you think there are people ahead?" The eyebrow-pierced man countered his question.

At least they did not detect the presence of other players; whether it’s that there’s fundamentally no one or due to the instance’s influence, this has exceeded their ability range. Is it really that important to determine if it’s a real person?

"Cowards!" The Yin Yang Master couldn’t waste time arguing with them and quickly followed into the mist.

In fact, it might not be that difficult to distinguish whether it’s true or false. At least before Bubble Bean entered the forest, Xu Huo wasn’t hidden by the instance forces. If not for the assistance of the Spiritual World, his location and voice would be hard to hide. Let alone calling out to others, appearing near the village alone would attract attention from all players.

Previously, the missing Deng Guang was an example, so forget trapping others; appearing alone might make one considered a fool.

Of course, whether he is a fool is hard to say. He clumsily disguised as the Hidden Friend but mysteriously left later, indicating the instance might not be that simple.

If the instance doesn’t allocate acting opportunities, then masquerading as the Hidden Friend should logically fulfill part of the passing conditions. Thus, if one successfully tricks someone into entering the forest, two people might be separated by special forces soon.

However, Bubble Bean’s state shows that although players lured out are not out of their minds, they still possess normal cognitive abilities. The reason Bubble Bean keeps following is that Xu Huo used props to restrict his space teleportation, affecting his judgment with mental interference.

Thus, it seems the disguised person was simply hidden by the instance and couldn’t easily kill players through it.

Such a situation is somewhat similar to Granny Yi’s granddaughter. Though she followed, she wasn’t forcibly restricted; otherwise, she wouldn’t have ended up in the tree hole sleeping by herself. She wasn’t taken away by the Hidden Friend.

The entire process does not hold much coercive meaning for ordinary people. It can be interrupted by outsiders or reversed by oneself, and the shadows calling to others can even be seen by a third person.

According to the interaction possibility between two spaces, the fact that the Hidden Friend can have a certain chance to be seen by a third person might possibly be due to both people witnessing the shadow having similar inclinations, like hearing familiar voices or assuming it’s someone familiar. This to some extent implies that the Hidden Friend actually can call multiples at once, but chooses not to, or due to someone discovering it having a similar interruption behavior as Granny Yi or her granddaughter.

Actually, if we remove the disappearance of those who killed random people in the forest and focus solely on the feeling of the masquerader Xu Huo, the instance is quite humane in essence.

The forest is so large, Xu Huo doesn’t know exactly where he’s supposed to go, but the vague force that seemed to expand is disappearing. Just as he planned to find a spot to deal with Bubble Bean, a string of melodic laughter suddenly appeared ahead.

Two figures suddenly ran out of the mist, passing by him, passing through his arm — they were a young couple, the woman was Toto, whom he’d seen in a photo, the man was a face he hadn’t seen before. The two playfully chased each other and then disappeared into the mist.

Soon after, Granny Yi appeared ahead; she looked much younger, bending over to pick wild greens from the ground, with a basket placed by her feet.

Xu Huo approached, attempting to touch the basket, but the next moment it disappeared, Granny Yi aged, the wild greens before her turned into a vine, she desperately wielded a sickle cutting, and then dug the wet soil with her bare hands, eventually despairingly screamed and cried, tears rolling down her cheeks into the soil...

The mist slowly moved, creating many faces, those he’d seen and those he hadn’t, locals, players, some passing by simply, some relieving themselves behind trees, others fighting to the death — everything that has happened in the past has been recorded by this land.

Yes, Xu Huo also saw the figure of Bubble Bean.

Looked no different from a real person.

Finding a hidden tree hole, he went back and knocked Bubble Bean unconscious, then relocated him into the tree hole, even covering him with a few pungent leaves.

Brushing off the soil on his hands, Xu Huo nodded with satisfaction, "Well hidden."

Then, his personal panel popped out two messages.