Chapter 129: Outside Assistance
Even if the other person deceived him, someone who understood him this deeply could fool him once and again. Besides, he still had hints left in his palm, right?
"Do you believe it now?"
"I believe it, but what does it matter?"
Shen Yu still didn’t move.
"Can you make me fly with five heads growing out of nowhere?"
A tearing pain suddenly throbbed through his skull.
Puff.
Puff.
Puff.
A wriggling mass of flesh pushed out from the top of his head, slowly transforming into the face of a bear-like man.
The severed head looked strangely polite.
After appearing, it merely stared at Shen Yu with pity.
But Shen Yu remained unmoved.
"Flying is out of the question."
The voice in his ear continued.
"However, I just saw what you were doing. You should have discovered it already, right?"
Shen Yu narrowed his eyes.
"This head balloon is preventing you from going back to the station."
"Or rather, have you noticed that the heads only started growing on you after you left the station?"
"Right."
Shen Yu’s expression changed slightly.
"I guessed that much."
"So, I thought about going back."
"You’re really something."
The voice sounded slightly impressed.
"You can still think of a way out in this situation."
"Now, pay close attention to yourself. Or carefully look toward your blind spots."
"Do you see two skill icons?"
Shen Yu’s eyes shifted slightly.
"Choose one of them and activate the illusion ability."
"Create the appearance of yourself running away from the station."
"Once the head balloon follows the illusion away, you’ll have a chance to return to the station."
"Remember, be quick."
"Get back inside the station and find the magnetic card to reboard the train."
"Your greatest strength isn’t your skills..."
A brief pause.
"...it’s your ridiculous luck."
Zzz...
Suddenly, the voice cut off.
Shen Yu smacked his lips.
His expression was still dazed.
"What?"
"My greatest strength isn’t my skills?"
"It’s luck?"
"Luck?"
He grumbled under his breath.
But as the voice faded away, his gaze suddenly sharpened.
His attention focused on his surroundings.
Indeed.
He hadn’t noticed them earlier.
At the edge of his vision, two inconspicuous symbols had always been floating there.
One was a colorful, circular mirror.
The other was a black-and-white clock.
Shen Yu focused on them.
The information immediately appeared.
[Mirage]
[Perfect Timeline]
Their effects were displayed beneath the icons.
Shen Yu’s eyes widened slightly.
"Ha."
"So I still have this thing."
"Good."
"Very good."
His gaze settled on the first skill.
[Mirage — One-Time Use]
Behind him, the voices of the heads grew increasingly chaotic.
"Shen Yu, come down and keep me company."
"Poor little guy."
"Come clean my shoes."
Shen Yu ignored them.
"Child’s play."
Through the crowd of grotesque heads, he could see the head balloon still writhing.
It seemed to be preparing to grow a seventh head.
He couldn’t determine what the seventh head would look like.
But he had a strange intuition.
If the seventh head appeared...
He would probably die instantly.
"Then let’s not give you the chance."
Shen Yu activated the skill.
[Mirage]
Buzz—
The moment the ability activated, the empty mist around him twisted violently.
Space distorted.
A mirror-like flash suddenly appeared.
Then—
Another Shen Yu materialized.
The illusion that looked exactly like him immediately stood up from the ground and began running wildly into the distance.
In the blink of an eye, it disappeared into the white mist.
"Huh?"
The head balloon froze.
"He’s still able to run?"
"Is this his final struggle?"
The grotesque heads rotated in midair.
The seventh head, which had been wriggling between the masses of flesh, suddenly stopped growing.
All six heads turned simultaneously toward the direction where Shen Yu’s illusion had disappeared.
Whoosh!
The head balloon plunged into the mist.
"Hoohoo!"
"Woohoo!"
The laughter rapidly faded into the distance.
Shen Yu’s eyes narrowed.
"Now."
His real body shifted.
He was still awkwardly hunched over, dragging six grotesque heads attached to his neck.
Like a dog, he crawled slowly toward the station.
Every movement was painful.
Every breath was heavy.
But he kept moving.
One meter.
Two meters.
Three meters.
He crawled persistently through the mist.
At last, the entrance to the station appeared.
Shen Yu dragged himself toward the underground elevator.
Ding!
He pressed the button.
The elevator doors opened.
Shen Yu froze.
All six heads hanging from his body had mysteriously closed their eyes.
They were motionless.
As though they had fallen into a deep sleep.
His eyes narrowed.
"So..."
"The farther I am from the station, the faster these heads multiply."
"The closer I get to the station..."
"They enter dormancy."
He finally understood.
"No wonder that thing was desperately trying to stop me from coming back."
The voice had told him to find a magnetic card and return to the train.
"Does that mean I really have to take the high-speed train?"
Shen Yu entered the elevator.
The doors closed.
The heavy heads dragged behind him as he returned toward the station platform.
The white mist still lingered.
As Shen Yu emerged from it, he looked toward the bright sunlight on the horizon.
A huge sign shone brilliantly.
TWILIGHT EXPRESS
His eyes narrowed.
Inside the train window, a blonde woman with blue eyes was staring directly at him.
She raised her hand.
Then pointed toward the waiting hall.
Shen Yu paused.
A glowing heart symbol floated above her head.
[Favorability: 40]
He stared at her for several seconds.
Then, after a brief hesitation, chose to trust her.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Shen Yu entered the waiting hall.
He casually searched the area.
Unexpectedly, he found himself standing in front of a ticket vending machine.
The machine scanned his face.
A moment later—
A new transfer card appeared.
[Twilight Express]
[Destination: Future Station]
Shen Yu grabbed the magnetic card.
The moment it entered his hand—
The six sleeping heads attached to his neck suddenly trembled.
One after another, they turned to ash.
They crumbled to the ground.
Shen Yu stared at the remains for a moment.
Then he looked at the magnetic card in his hand.
"Interesting."
Without wasting any more time, he left the waiting hall and headed toward the Twilight Express.
As soon as he boarded—
"Oh, darling."
A soft figure suddenly leaped into his arms.
Shen Yu barely had time to react before Sandy wrapped her arms around him.
Then she kissed him deeply.
"You!"
Shen Yu’s eyes widened.
Sandy pulled him into the carriage.
The corners of her lips curled into a wicked smile.
"Darling..."
"There’s no one here now."
Her arms tightened around his neck.
"What do you think about having a little fun in the carriage?"
Shen Yu stared at her.
"..."
Meanwhile, outside the station—
Six grotesque heads shaped like balloons continued swirling through the sky.
They searched desperately for Shen Yu.
They chased him for a while.
Then—
They lost his trail.
At the center of the six heads, a fleshy tumor that had been preparing to grow remained trapped between the gaps.
It couldn’t take shape.
And strangely enough...
It had Shen Yu’s face.
"Damn!"
"Where is that guy?"
"Where is he?"
Puff.
Puff.
Puff.
The fleshy tumor writhed violently.
It desperately tried to push through the gap.
But it couldn’t.
Perhaps it needed Shen Yu to be present before it could completely break free and form itself.
"Just one last step."
"Just one last step!"
The furious tumor floated through the clouds.
"Where is he?"
"Where did that human go?"
"That human!"
Puff.
Puff.
Puff.
Then—
Something strange happened.
The six head balloons suddenly shriveled.
As if someone had punctured them.
Their grotesque faces collapsed inward.
The balloons rapidly lost their shape, fell from the sky, and burned away.
The fleshy tumor widened its eyes.
Its pupils contracted violently.
"How is this possible?"
"How is this possible?!"
"How could he have returned to the train?"
"No!"
"No!"
At the same time, inside the United Nations broadcasting studio...
Because the contestants had been scattered throughout the station, the studio had divided the live broadcast into multiple windows.
Each screen showed a different contestant.
The moment the changes surrounding Shen Yu appeared on the main screen—
The entire broadcasting studio erupted into chaos.