[Rule Sequence Two]1. During any mid-journey stops, you're free to leave the train and do whatever you want. But you must return before the train departs.2. A demon will never be one of your compartment passengers.3. The passengers in your compartment have an intense aversion to mangoes.4. Neither angels nor demons can interfere with the train's scheduled departures.5. All train attendants wear blue uniforms. Remember, there are no attendants in red.6. Once asleep, you cannot be awakened by outside sounds—only a fellow passenger from your compartment can wake you.
After reading these six new rules, Chi Mu braced himself, expecting the system's familiar ding signaling an incorrect rule.
But no sound came.
He blinked in confusion.No warning?That meant... all six rules were true?
Pulling out his phone, Chi Mu quickly snapped a photo of the text scrawled behind the bathroom door for future reference.
As he exited the restroom, a wave of drowsiness suddenly swept over him—abrupt, overwhelming. Just minutes ago, he'd felt perfectly fine.
His eyes widened as he remembered Rule 10 from Sequence One. Without hesitation, he rushed back toward his compartment.
If there was one thing he was certain of, it was this: falling asleep on the train was not normal. Rule Two, point two, had just confirmed that no demons would be in his compartment. So if there was any safe place on this train, it was that tiny room with three other strangers.
Thankfully, the restroom wasn't far. The moment Chi Mu collapsed onto his bed, exhaustion crashed over him like a tidal wave.
"No... not good... if I fall asleep, I'll lose track of time... Zhang... Zhang Dada... wake... me..."
Before he could finish his sentence, darkness swallowed him whole.
He wasn't the only one.
All around the world, Chosen Ones from different nations—having just discovered the second rule sequence—succumbed to the same mysterious fatigue, falling asleep one after another.
Some of the weaker ones didn't even make it back to their compartments. They passed out in the corridors.
"There has to be a sleep demon on board! This is its doing!"
"We're doomed. Once they fall asleep, they'll have no idea how much time has passed. That's fatal in this scenario!"
"Is this what an S-level horror instance looks like? This is insane!"
Six hours later, the Chosen Ones began to awaken.
Chi Mu sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. The very first thought on his mind:How long had he been asleep?
"Zhang Dada, how long was I out?" he asked urgently.
Still glued to his phone, Zhang Dada shrugged. "Huh? I didn't really check... Maybe one or two hours?"
Chi Mu frowned and turned to the elderly man on the upper bunk. "Sir, do you have any idea how long I slept?"
The old man responded, "Hmm... I'd say around six hours."
"No, it was ten hours," the middle-aged man on the lower bunk interjected, sounding confident.
Chi Mu's heart sank. Three people, three different answers.Who was right?Or worse—were they all wrong?
Cold sweat rolled down his back. Maybe it had only been a few hours... or maybe an entire day. He had no way of knowing.
A small error—one or two hours—might not matter. But if he really had been asleep for ten hours, it could mess up his count and ruin his chances of completing the instance.
And the situation was the same for Chosen Ones across the globe. They woke in confusion, clueless about how much time had slipped by.
In a panic, the advisory team from the Pickle Nation (Kimchi Nation) made their move, using up their first hint opportunity.
"Lee Shiba, you were asleep for exactly six hours."
Other nations quickly followed suit, activating their own hint privileges as they saw their Chosen Ones flounder.
In the Dragon Nation's operations room, Qin Jianghe's face was grim. He hesitated.
This was an S-level horror instance. Every hint was precious. Ideally, you used them only at critical junctures. If they wasted one now, Chi Mu would be at a disadvantage later.
But after observing Chi Mu for a while and seeing that he couldn't deduce the time on his own, Qin finally gave the order:"Use our first hint."
A moment later, Chi Mu heard Qin Jianghe's voice echo in his mind.
"Chi Mu, you've been asleep for exactly six hours.
You must figure out a reliable way to track time. Even after waking up, it must give you an accurate sense of time passed.
If you can't solve this, you'll lose your only chance to disembark on the correct day.
We only have one hint left. We can't waste it on something like this again."
The voice faded.
Chi Mu fell into deep thought. So it had been six hours—neither Zhang Dada nor the middle-aged man was right. The old man had been correct, but maybe that was just a coincidence.
One thing was clear now:He had to find a way to track time. Immediately.Otherwise, the next time he fell asleep, he'd be flying blind again.
Just then, a female voice rang out from the hallway outside the compartment.
"Ticket check, ticket check! When your name is called, please respond!"
Chi Mu's eyes widened.
Rule 7:When the conductor calls your name during a ticket check, DO NOT respond.
Soon, the conductor arrived at Compartment 520.
"Zhang Dada."
"Here!" Zhang Dada replied cheerfully.
"Meng Dehai."
The old man coughed. "Yes, I'm here."
"An Changlin."
The man on the lower bunk grunted an acknowledgment.
Then came the final name:
"Chi Mu."
Chi Mu stayed silent. He didn't flinch, didn't blink—pretending he hadn't heard a thing.
"Chi Mu?"
"Chi Mu, are you here?"
The conductor repeated his name several times, standing just outside the door.
Chi Mu held his breath. He assumed she would give up and move on.
She didn't.
Instead, the woman stepped closer, her voice sharpening into a shriek:
"Chi Mu! CHI MU! ARE YOU IN THIS COMPARTMENT?!"
The conductor's voice turned into a piercing scream, jolting Chi Mu upright. He stared at her in terror.
But the others in the compartment showed no reaction—as if they couldn't see or hear the conductor losing her mind right outside their door.
Chi Mu's heart pounded. There were only four people in this compartment. The other three had already responded. Obviously, the last person had to be him.
Was this woman an idiot?
Still, Chi Mu said nothing.
Breaking the rule could mean death.
Then Zhang Dada casually pointed at him and said to the conductor,"Miss, the one on the lower bunk—that's Chi Mu."
The conductor's neck twisted unnaturally. She turned to Chi Mu with a chilling, unnatural smile.
Chi Mu broke into a cold sweat.
He was doomed.Zhang Dada had just sold him out.