Stellar Train: I Open a Small Shop on the Train-Chapter 151

Sorry, guys. I've been really busy at work lately because two of my coworkers suddenly resigned, leaving my team and me overwhelmed with a big project. I'll try to continue translating this novel when I have time.

***

The next day arrived.

Ye Yun and the others were eating breakfast.

Kiana held a small bowl and gulped down the century egg and lean pork congee.

After finishing, Kiana stuck out her tongue and licked the corner of her mouth.

"My god! So tasty! Mei, your cooking has improved again!"

Mei smiled.

"No, it's thanks to Xiangling. She taught me a new method."

After breakfast, Kiana and the others were about to head over to Rimuru's place to continue their adventure, but Ye Yun stopped them.

"Don't rush over today. The dungeon rewards today are pretty generous. You should check them out."

Upon hearing that, Kiana jumped up from her chair.

"What dungeon? I gotta see it~"

Kiana walked to the dungeon entrance and looked at the wooden sign.

[Today's Dungeon: Goose Goose Duck]

Description:There will be 3 rounds today, each round allowing up to 16 players.

Players will be randomly assigned identities. In each round, three players will become Ducks (killers).

The rest will be randomly assigned Goose identities.

Duck Win Condition: Kill all the Geese.Goose Win Condition: Identify and vote out the three Ducks.

Victory Reward: The winning side will receive a Golden Treasure Chest, which may contain resurrection cards, senzu beans, Herrscher cores, and other rewards.

March 7th looked at it.

"Isn't this a deduction game? And the rewards are this good?!"

When Stelle saw the reward section and the Golden Treasure Chest, her eyes lit up. A treasure chest! And it can give out resurrection cards too!

Stelle took out her phone, snapped a picture, and sent it to the big group chat.

A few minutes later, Zhongli, Venti, Ei, and Theresa appeared at the shop simultaneously.

The group rushed straight to the dungeon portal and signed up—clearly, their target was the resurrection cards in the golden chest.

Stelle and the others saw this and followed suit to sign up as well.

Soon, the first round's 16 players were decided and transported into the dungeon.

Everyone found themselves in a garden.

The system voice spoke up.

[Goose Goose Duck Round 1 is about to begin. Now announcing the rules.]

Players must play seriously. Match-fixing or other violations will result in disqualification.

Roles are assigned randomly.

The map is a castle.

The game is about to begin. Please get ready.

3!2!1!Game Start!

The system voice disappeared. Everyone's vision went black, then they found themselves inside a spooky, eerie castle.

Ei checked her role: Birdwatcher, which gives her the ability to see through one wall.

Without thinking much, Ei drew her Musou Isshin.

In her mind, if she killed everyone, she'd win.

After surveying her surroundings, she realized she was in a graveyard.

Looking into the distance, she saw a door leading into the castle.

Ei entered the castle and immediately ran into Stelle charging toward her.

Seeing this, Ei placed her right hand on her Musou Isshin.

Stelle looked at Ei and checked the name above her head. Hmm, white color—not an ally.

After confirming no one else was around, Stelle excitedly dashed toward Ei.

Just as Stelle was about to reach her, Ei made a move to draw her sword.

Suddenly, Ei realized something was wrong—she couldn't draw her sword!

Stelle, wielding the Duck-exclusive knife, slashed swiftly. Ei's body turned into smoke and exploded, leaving behind a big drumstick. Next to it was a sign with Ei's name on it.

Now a ghost, Ei was completely dumbfounded. What just happened? Why couldn't she draw her sword?

After taking Ei out, Stelle quickly fled the scene.

Soon after, Zhongli arrived, saw the drumstick, and pressed the report button.

A bell rang throughout the castle, and everyone was teleported to a conference table—including ghostly Ei.

Ei found she couldn't move and could only stare blankly at the others.

Yae Miko saw that the victim was Ei and held her forehead.

Ei! Where did your alertness go? You didn't even check their role and just stayed with them. Who else would get killed if not you?

Of course, Miko didn't know what really happened. If she did, she'd be speechless.

Ei! You were the Birdwatcher! Your role doesn't even come with a weapon!

Zhongli described the scene. Everyone had a personal map showing area names.

"I came up from the auditorium. The killer must've fled the scene. The only escape path leads to the lab. Did anyone see someone go that way?"

After Zhongli finished, it was Stelle's turn to speak.

As the killer, Stelle went straight for misdirection.

"I have a theory—what if you reported your own kill, Zhongli? You've lived for so long; surely you've got a mind for strategy.

Maybe you thought that being the one to report would clear you of suspicion? Anyway, that's my view."

Stelle's comment got everyone thinking.

Yae Miko looked at both Stelle and Zhongli and marked them as dangerous.

From their statements, it was clear they weren't on the same team. But which one was the killer remained unknown.

After Stelle, March 7th and Firefly gave their statements. They just mentioned where they were to clear themselves of suspicion.

Then it was Yae Miko's turn.

As soon as Miko opened her mouth, everyone looked at her in surprise.

Miko was also shocked.

Her voice had turned into quacking sounds?!

Stelle silently chuckled to herself.

That's right—it was her doing. Her role was Party Duck, which could both kill and make one player's speech sound like duck quacks during meetings.

Miko was stunned. No one could understand her, so she had to skip her turn.

Next up was Theresa.

Theresa glanced at Miko.

"Miko's clearly affected by an ability. Check your roles—some come with skills.

As for me..."

After everyone finished speaking, since no one saw anyone flee to the lab, they chose to skip the vote to avoid a mistake.

After voting, everyone was teleported out of the meeting room.

In the Lab.

Stelle and Lumine were teleported together.

Looking at each other's names above their heads—both red—they exchanged a look and beamed.

Confirmed. They were allies.

Lumine smirked.

"Was that you?"

Stelle raised an eyebrow, replying smugly.

"Yup. Shall we go? Double kill?"

Lumine agreed without hesitation.

They exited through the lab's left door, heading down toward the altar, storage, and underground tunnel.

As they turned a corner, they ran straight into March 7 and Kiana.

March 7th and Kiana were about to greet them when Stelle and Lumine rushed forward.

One on each side—double strike—taking out March 7 and Kiana. Their kill skills went into cooldown.

March 7th and Kiana were stunned.

March 7th gaped.

"Wait—are killers this bold now?! You just start stabbing?!"

***

At the entrance of the altar, Zhongli, Yae Miko, Venti, Theresa, Sunday, Himeko, and Welt were all waiting.

Zhongli was pulling people into the altar one by one to verify their information. Since the altar only had one entrance, this could prevent sneak attacks.

Yae Miko leaned against the wall chatting with Himeko—they had both revived together in the previous round.

They exchanged information honestly and revealed their roles to each other.

One was a Justice Enforcer, and the other was a Sheriff.

The Justice Enforcer can make one kill per game, while the Sheriff can kill as long as their cooldown is ready.

However, if the Sheriff kills a good person, both the Sheriff and the good person will die.

Of course, whether the other believes it or not is another matter.

Himeko said,"I tested it earlier. My kill only works if I get close to someone. I suspect that in the last round, when someone used their skill on you, it was because they got close."

Yae Miko followed that logic. In the previous round, the only people who had gotten close to her were Himeko and... Stelle.

They had just brushed past each other, without much interaction.

Thinking back to how fiercely Stelle reacted during the meeting, Miko grew very suspicious of her identity.

Just then, she heard a burst of hurried footsteps.

Miko turned to see Stelle and Lumine running toward her.

She immediately became alert."You two! Stop! Don't come any closer!"

Stelle grinned and charged straight ahead.

Seeing this, Miko didn't hesitate—she attacked!

Quickly, she struck Stelle with her knife. Stelle dropped instantly.

Lumine, seeing Stelle fall, gave Miko a quick slash, and Miko collapsed right after.

Himeko witnessed the whole scene and understood instantly. She rushed toward Kiana to attack—

But out of nowhere, Hutao jumped out from around the corner!

Himeko's knife struck Hutao instead.

Hutao dropped instantly, turning into a drumstick (signifying death).

At the same time, Qingque, Silver Wolf, and Firefly suddenly popped out on the spot.

They were ecstatic.

"Nice kill! Beautiful!"

"Great job, Hutao, you pelican! So aggressive—you just swallowed all three of us!"

Hu Tao's role was a Neutral Pelican.

Her ability was to swallow people. During meetings, those inside her would be digested and removed.

Seeing this, Lumine quickly tried to escape.

Himeko rushed to Miko's fallen body and hit the emergency button.

An alarm rang out, and everyone was teleported to the meeting room.

As the one who called the meeting, Himeko spoke first:

"Let me explain what just happened.

In the previous round, I swapped info with Miko—she was the Justice Enforcer, I'm the Sheriff.

We were talking at the altar entrance when Stelle and Lumine suddenly rushed us.

Miko struck first and killed Stelle. Lumine then killed Miko.

I tried to kill Lumine, but Hu Tao popped out of nowhere and took the hit.

Hu Tao was the Pelican and had eaten Qingque, Silver Wolf, and Firefly.

I suggest we all vote for Lumine."

Himeko's explanation was detailed and convincing.

With Qingque, Firefly, and Silver Wolf confirming her story, everyone trusted her.

Just as she was about to finish her speech, Himeko suddenly turned into smoke—she became a ghost.

Everyone was shocked.

Qingque, who was sitting beside her, jumped out of her chair.

Zhongli said,"Don't panic. That was the Sniper Duck's skill. If they correctly guess someone's role, they can snipe and eliminate them. They can shoot twice per game, once per meeting.

This confirms Himeko's story. I support voting for Lumine."

Everyone else followed suit.

Seeing that the outcome was set, Lumine didn't even try to argue. She stood on her chair, hands on her hips.

"Hmph! Go ahead, vote me out! I already made a profit—I killed two!"

Lumine was unanimously voted out and dragged away by NPC guards. She reappeared as a ghost at the new round site.

Ghosts can hear each other.

March 7th and Kiana immediately flew over to Stelle and Lumine.

"You two! Just wait, I'm going to get revenge next round! Arghhh!!! So angry!"

Stelle and Lumine just giggled and went to do their wolf tasks.

"I bet you won't get a killing role next time!"

Back in the game—

The final killer, Silver Wolf, was thinking about how to break the situation.

Too many people were around; it wasn't safe to make a move. She decided to blend into the crowd for now. As the Sniper Duck, she still had one shot.

After searching, she found the group at the altar.

Zhongli saw her and called her in.

Zhongli asked,"Silver Wolf, be honest. What's your role?"

Silver Wolf shot back,"You're asking me? My role's rock solid. What about you?"

Zhongli didn't reveal his identity.

"I can't tell you mine. Didn't I call the first meeting? Stelle tried to frame me back then.

And later, it turned out she was a killer. So I must be good."

Silver Wolf realized she wouldn't get anything out of him and replied casually,"I'm the Engineer."

Zhongli took note of that and dismissed her from the altar.

As soon as she left, he rang the emergency bell.

Everyone gathered again.

Zhongli was the first to speak:

"Everyone, I just talked to Silver Wolf. She claimed to be the Engineer. But March 7th already told me she was the Engineer.

Explain yourself, Silver Wolf."

Silver Wolf replied,"I am the Engineer. Just because March 7th said she was, doesn't make it true. There are still neutral roles, pigeons and dodos.

And what about you, Zhongli? You say you're definitely good but won't reveal your role. You're always asking others about their identities.

I now suspect you're the Sniper Duck, trying to get our roles and snipe us."

Some others agreed. Zhongli had indeed never shared his role, while Silver Wolf's story involved living people.

In the end, the vote count was 5 to 4, and Zhongli was voted out.

After becoming a ghost, Zhongli gave a slight smile.

Everyone who saw the smile immediately realized—

"Oh no! Dodo Bird!"

The Dodo Bird wins immediately if voted out.

[Congratulations to player Zhongli for winning. Reward: Golden Chest x1.]

Everyone was teleported back to the in-game shop, all looking at Zhongli with pure frustration.

He actually won as the Dodo Bird! How annoying!