Chapter 174: Surviving The Final Station
"Meisi... Meisi, please listen to me."
"Let the doctor take care of the baby."
"I... I love children."
"I’ve always loved them."
"So I hope you’ll fulfill my wish."
"If it’s a girl..."
"Let’s call her Sandy."
"Remember..."
"Take her to our favorite place."
"Dad, why do you always bring me here during the holidays?"
The little girl frowned as she looked around the aging train.
"This train is so old."
"And the scenery isn’t even that good."
She tugged at the old man’s sleeve.
"Dad, let’s go find Mom."
"Doctor..."
"What did you say?"
The young woman’s face went pale.
"My father has Alzheimer’s?"
"How is that possible?"
"How could he..."
"Ma’am, please calm down."
The doctor sighed softly.
"This condition can happen gradually. We recommend that you take him to places that are familiar to him."
"Places connected to his past may help him retain his sense of reality."
"Perhaps..."
"Take him back to the Twilight Train."
Sandy stood motionless.
Her father was sitting in front of E05 and E06.
His cloudy eyes stared blankly at the station outside.
Tears streamed silently down her cheeks.
She couldn’t stop crying.
Suddenly—
The old man turned his head.
He looked directly at her.
Then, as though reacting purely on instinct, he slowly stood.
He removed his coat.
And gently draped it over Sandy’s shoulders.
"Dad..."
Sandy froze.
The old man’s expression was confused.
"Miss..."
"I think you might be mistaken."
"I’m not your father."
Sandy’s eyes widened.
The old man looked toward the station.
"I’m just waiting for the train."
"I’m going to pick up my wife from work."
Then he frowned.
"Huh?"
A moment later, panic appeared in his eyes.
"Why am I here?"
"Why?"
"Why am I here?"
He looked around frantically.
His breathing became increasingly unstable.
Then his gaze fell upon the two seats.
E05.
E06.
He slowly walked back.
Something about them felt familiar.
Something buried deep within him.
He sat down.
Then looked at Sandy again.
A gentle smile appeared on his face.
"Don’t cry, child."
"I don’t know why..."
"But when I see you cry..."
"My heart hurts."
Countless glowing orbs suddenly began falling through the burning air.
One.
Two.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
They descended like fragments of stars.
Then they entered E05 and E06.
Shen Yu’s pupils contracted.
The old man’s body trembled violently.
He suddenly threw himself over the two seats.
Protecting them with his entire body.
"I..."
His voice shook.
"I don’t want to live inside false memories anymore."
"I love Liana."
"I love her."
"I won’t allow this..."
"I won’t allow this place to be destroyed."
"I won’t allow it!"
"Dad!"
Sandy screamed.
CRACK!
The flames intensified.
The old man’s body completely collapsed.
His flesh turned to ash.
His final memory shattered.
And as Sandy screamed his name—
The last glowing orb descended.
BOOM!
An enormous wave of light erupted.
The entire carriage was swallowed.
The surrounding flames suddenly froze in place.
Everything became silent.
Many Years Earlier
"Are you ready?"
Inside the Twilight Station, a man dressed in a black robe looked at Sandy.
Sandy pushed her father toward Carriage 07.
Her expression was resolute.
"My father has already lost his awareness."
"I have no choice."
The black-robed man nodded.
"All right."
"I know this plan sounds insane."
"But remember."
"When the train reaches the seventh station, go to the control room and activate the emergency brake."
"At that moment, the violent impact will damage the souls of everyone inside the seven carriages."
"I have already arranged the formations throughout the train."
"The frightened souls will gather around your father."
"Do you understand?"
Sandy nodded.
"I understand."
"Good."
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The Twilight Train raced through the darkness.
Sandy stood outside the control room.
The train was moving at an unbelievable speed.
She suddenly opened the door.
WHOOSH!
Wind tore at her clothes.
She rushed inside.
Then—
Her hand slammed down on the emergency brake.
CLANK!
The braking mechanism activated.
But the train was moving far too fast.
It didn’t stop.
Instead—
SCREEEEEECH!
Metal screamed against the tracks.
Sparks exploded beneath the wheels.
The entire train began shaking violently.
Then—
BOOM!
The Twilight Train flipped.
Carriages twisted through the air.
Windows shattered.
Fire erupted.
And the entire train crashed into the darkness.
"AHHH!"
"Help!"
"Someone help us!"
"What’s happening?!"
Screams filled the carriages.
Inside Carriage 07—
The old man was thrown violently against the seats.
His body convulsed.
His lower body lost control.
But then—
His eyes fell upon the seat numbers.
E05.
E06.
Something inside him changed.
Even in the middle of the disaster...
He crawled toward them.
And wrapped his body around the two seats.
Protecting them.
Just like he had done countless times before.
No matter how the memory changed.
No matter how the story was rewritten.
No matter what false reality surrounded him—
He would always protect those seats.
Because the memory could be fake.
But the love inside it was real.
Chapter 123 — Finally Past
SS-Rank Skill: Memory Manipulation
The flames gradually faded.
Shen Yu slowly opened his eyes.
His memories and the present were still overlapping.
Fragments of the past floated before him.
The young couple.
The train.
The proposal.
The wedding.
The little girl.
The old man.
Sandy.
Everything.
Menloa stared at the fading lights.
Then he let out a bitter laugh.
"So this is the great secret behind the Seven Souls Nourishing Three Spirits?"
His expression became cold.
"What a joke."
"This wasn’t some sacred ritual."
"It was a cult."
"They used a father’s love..."
"And sacrificed an entire train of people to create this cursed Memory Train."
The last traces of fire disappeared.
The old man’s body was completely gone.
But countless glowing memory fragments began gathering around E05 and E06.
They formed a gigantic translucent sphere.
The two seats were completely protected inside.
Menloa stared.
"What..."
"Those two seats survived?"
The enormous bubble slowly floated downward.
Below them was a vast expanse of red, charred earth.
The underside of the train had already been burned to nothing.
The remaining carriages collapsed one after another.
Yet E05 and E06 remained intact.
Protected by the countless memories.
Slowly—
They descended from the crimson sky.
Menloa’s eyes widened.
"Damn!"
"They can actually survive!"
"What the hell is this?"
"Why would that old man sacrifice himself just to protect two seats?"
Shen Yu stared at the seats.
Then smiled faintly.
"Dungeons don’t give people a true dead end."
"Annihilation Station really does allow us to leave the train."
"The conditions are simply..."
"Extremely harsh."
He looked at the glowing bubble.
"If we had followed the normal route, we probably would have needed to fight the old man inside the sea of flames."
"Destroy his memories."
"Force him to reveal the truth."
"But we took a shortcut."
"Through Sandy’s memories."
Menloa stared at him.
Shen Yu gently touched the seat beneath him.
His expression became complicated.
"The daughter nearly went insane because of her father."
"But the father was willing to sacrifice everything for the woman he loved."
"That’s the irony."
"The world may be fake."
"The memories may be fake."
"But as long as the love inside them is real..."
"Then everything is real to the people experiencing it."
Shen Yu looked toward the place where Sandy had disappeared.
"Sorry, Sandy."
"I can’t take you with me."
"Your obsession is too deep."
"But..."
"I’ll keep my promise."
"When I return to the real world..."
"I’ll visit your home."
"I’ll see the place you loved."
"And I’ll remember you."
The two seats finally touched the red earth.
The glowing bubble slowly dissipated.
Then—
A solemn announcement echoed across the world.
"Dragon Kingdom participant Shen Yu..."
"Bear Country participant Menloa..."
"Successfully reached Annihilation Station."
"SS-Rank Dungeon — Memory Train."
"Challenge successfully completed."
"Calculating rewards..."
For a second—
The world went completely silent.
Then the barrage exploded.
"They survived!"
"THEY ACTUALLY SURVIVED!"
"Shen Yu is alive!"
"Menloa is alive too!"
"Annihilation Station wasn’t an instant death zone!"
"The seats were the key!"
"That entire dungeon was built around memories!"
"Memory can be fake..."
"But love is real."
Across countless countries, millions of viewers stared at the final image.
Two ordinary train seats.
E05.
E06.
Sitting alone on a field of scorched earth.
The Twilight Train was gone.
The flames were gone.
The old man was gone.
Sandy was gone.
Only the memories remained.
And somewhere beyond the ruined station...
The final system notification was still counting their rewards.