Episode 177

When Su Jin opened his eyes again, he found himself in a moving train carriage. He looked around at who else was part of this Challenge and his heart sank.

The not very large train carriage was fully occupied. Su Jin saw that there were actually 15 of them. The most number of owners in a Challenge he had ever experienced was the Level A Challenge, All Have Sinned. There were 14 of them spread across three teams.

As far as his experience went, the more owners in a Challenge, the tougher the Challenge would be. Fifteen owners was the highest number of owners in a Challenge he had ever come across, so this Challenge had to be at least a Level B one. Also, it most likely would involve the supernatural, the type where anybody could die at any time.

The other owners looked around and they were also clearly stunned by how many owners were involved. Su Jin became even more uneasy now. The other owners were stunned, but they didn’t look frantic and helpless, which meant that everyone here was probably an old timer.

Everyone immediately whipped their Handbooks out and their faces fell.

Su Jin stared at his Handbook. Besides the introductory text that the voice that sounded like it came from a demon hiding in the depths of hell, the next line read: Challenge “Supernatural Train”, Level A Challenge.

His heart skipped a beat in horror. It was a Level A Challenge. It was yet another Level A Challenge. Worse still, it involved 15 owners, so it was going to be even more terrifying than the previous Level A Challenge.

“The only mission is to stay alive until the last stop.”

Just like All Have Sinned, there was only one mission, which was to stay alive until the very end. But where was the last stop in this Challenge? How long would it take for them to get there? Nobody had answers to these questions. And since this was a supernatural train, it meant that besides them, there had to be other passengers on the train. Those passengers were probably going to be their source of danger.

Kano Mai and Chu Yi had equally dismayed looks on their faces. They looked toward Su Jin with some fear in their eyes. They had gone through All Have Sinned with him and knew exactly how terrifying a Level A Challenge could be. After all, the three of them were the only survivors of the last Level A Challenge.

Furthermore, that was because Su Jin had managed to understand the relativity of the Original Sins early on. If not for that, they would probably all have perished in that Challenge.

This time around, there were even more people and it was probably going to be even harder. Besides, there were no restrictions on their powers or weapons or anything like that, so it was hard to say how this Challenge was going to end.

The other owners had gathered together by this time. They were clearly split into two groups, which meant that there were a total of three groups in this Challenge.

Wu Chen looked strangely at Su Jin and mumbled, “This shouldn’t be happening. Your team went through a Level A Challenge not too long ago. Why are you in one again?”

“Is there supposed to be a fixed period of rest between Level A Challenges?” asked Su Jin.

Wu Chen shook his head. “There isn’t any I know of, but the chance of a Level A Challenge happening is already very low to begin with. I wouldn’t say that it’s exactly like winning the lottery twice, but… getting a Level A Challenge so quickly after the last one is something that doesn’t really happen.”

Su Jin really had no confidence in his own luck. Ever since he was chosen to become an owner, he had only gone through a Level D Challenge once, while the rest were pretty much all Level B Challenges. And now, he was going to go through more Level A Challenges than Level D Challenges. Seriously, nobody had worse luck than him, in his opinion.

Wu Chen paused to think for a moment before suddenly pulling a flower out. It was a pink flower that looked like it had just bloomed. One could even see the dew drop on the petals. There were a total of five petals, and they gave off a faint fragrance.

He looked like he couldn’t bear to do this, but he plucked each petal and gave one to every member. He said solemnly to them, “Everyone gets one. Eat it now!”

Chu Yi stared puzzledly at the petal in his hand and frowned. “What’s this?”

“It’s good stuff. If this Challenge didn’t look like it was going to be so hard, I wouldn’t bear to take this out.” Wu Chen had a pained look on his face again.

Since they were teammates and their lives depended on each other, they trusted the older man and ate the pink petal he had given them.

“There isn’t much taste. It’s not nice to eat.” Chu Yi shook his head in displeasure.

Wu Chen glared at him. “If you want to eat something tasty, find yourself a fancy restaurant next time! I’m not here to throw you a banquet!”

Su Jin swallowed his petal and asked Wu Chen, “What’s good about this petal?”

“Well… I can’t say for sure now, but… it might save our lives,” Wu Chen murmured in a shaky voice. He didn’t seem too sure either.

Su Jin didn’t probe further since Wu Chen didn’t seem to have a clear answer. The team leaders of the other two groups seemed to have completed their discussion as well. They were going to go through the Challenge at the same time, so it was a good idea to get to know one another. Regardless of whether they decided to go through the Challenge on their own or join hands and work together, it was best to get to know each other.

“Hello, I’m the team leader of Team High Mountains, Liu Bowen. I’m a veteran.” A studious looking man in glasses pushed his spectacles up his nose and introduced himself very naturally.

“Hello, I’m the team leader of Red Dragon, Tai Shan. I’m a veteran too.” The man who just spoke was as muscular as a mountain, like his name suggested. It was comforting to see someone strong like him on the team.

“Hello, I’m Su Jin, team leader of Team Boning Knife.” Immediately after Su Jin introduced himself, the other two team leaders stared strangely at him.

“Team Boning Knife? Wait, I remember there was a team that completed a Level A Challenge perfectly not too long ago. I think that team’s name was Team Boning Knife!” Tai Shan spoke with such disbelief, as though he could hardly believe that the ordinary young man in front of him was the team leader of the team that completed a Level A Challenge perfectly.

Su Jin nodded. “That’s right. We were the ones who completed that Level A Challenge perfectly.” Su Jin was not trying to boast or anything like that, but confirming that his team was the one that accomplished this feat helped to ease the fears of other owners, which gave them the false impression that they could get through this Challenge for sure.

But this was only a false impression. The team had managed to complete this difficult Challenge perfectly thanks to a series of coincidences. Besides, only three out of 14 owners survived that Challenge, which was a terrible result. That was why Su Jin was actually not very confident of getting through this Challenge.

At the same time, this fact would help the rest of the owners to remain calm. That was also helpful for increasing their chances of getting through this Challenge.

“Well, I guess we got lucky! We’ve actually managed to be in the same Challenge as a team that completed a Level A Challenge perfectly. I suppose this Challenge is going to be easier than I expected.” Liu Bowen smiled and looked like he had just breathed a big sigh of relief.

Su Jin groaned inwardly and quickly said, “Everyone, listen. If you’re going to let your guard down just because I’m here, then I’m afraid you’re going to die very tragic deaths. This is a Level A Challenge. My team might have completed one perfectly last time, but… that Challenge started with a total of 14 owners and only three of us survived. Those who died included two of my own teammates.”

Not being so tense was a good thing, but being too relaxed was definitely a ticket to hell. This was a Level A Challenge. One wrong move could cost you your life.

Just as he expected, Liu Bowen and Tai Shan had grim looks on their faces immediately after they heard what Su Jin said. Su Jin was relieved to see their reactions. If the two teams were to feel overly relaxed because they thought they could rely on his previous experience, the consequences would be disastrous.

“Since that’s the case, why don’t we discuss what we should do next? We’re facing a Level A Challenge, after all,” suggested Liu Bowen.

Su Jin and Tai Shan agreed. Tai Shan suggested that Su Jin share his previous Level A Challenge experience with the rest.

“Well, here’s how it went. The last Level A Challenge we went through was a Challenge called ‘All Have Sinned’, so it was a Challenge related to the seven original sins. There were also three teams involved in that Challenge and a third of us were veterans. We were afraid that there might be a secret mission to kill other owners, so we did not join hands at first.”

“In the end, we were attacked individually. By the time we regrouped, there were fewer than half of us left. The enemies in that Challenge were really powerful. They were basically the type that made it impossible for the owners to defend themselves, so it’s probably really difficult to use brute force to get through such a Challenge. The most important task is to think of a way out.” Su Jin did a quick summary of the previous Level A Challenge. If he hadn’t found a way to outsmart the Original Sins, he wouldn’t have managed to get through the Challenge with his physical strength alone.

The two team leaders had nasty looks on their faces. If there was no way to fight the enemy with brute force, then this was a very difficult situation indeed. Not everyone was the thinking or analytical type, so if they were faced with an opponent they were unable to fight, they would start panicking easily. Thinking of a way out in such circumstances was practically impossible.

“A mission to kill off the other owners?” Tai Shan fell into deep thought with a grim look in his eye. His team had run into owners with such a mission before. He had suffered great losses back then, so he was very wary of this possibility.

“Mr. Su, what do you think of this Challenge then?” asked Liu Bowen with a frown.

Su Jin paused to think for a while, then said, “This entire Challenge is probably contained within the train. I observed the carriage for a while and it seems our carriage is the one in the middle. It’s possible to move between carriages, but… I’m afraid that there are other passengers on this train besides us, and based on the name of this Challenge, those… those passengers will be tough to deal with.

They couldn’t help but shudder when they recalled the name of the Challenge. It meant that the other passengers on the train were probably supernatural beings.

Most owners agreed that the most difficult type of Challenge was one that involved the supernatural. This was the sort of Challenge that resulted in the greatest number of deaths. Nobody knew how many such supernatural beings were involved in this Challenge.

“I think it would be best for all of us to work together. This Challenge doesn’t require us to kill anything or find anything, so if we can coordinate our efforts well, our chances of surviving should increase,” said Su Jin with a sigh, since cooperation meant very little if the enemy was a supernatural being.