Chapter 163: Everyone Dies
After receiving Shen Yu’s shirt, Meilin promptly shut the bathroom door.
Click.
One minute passed.
Then three.
Still, there was no response.
Shen Yu sighed and knocked lightly on the door.
"Hey, are you done yet? We’re going down to find the transfer card."
From inside came Meilin’s muffled voice.
"You guys go ahead."
Shen Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Take your time, then."
There was nothing else he could do.
He turned and followed the others out of the carriage.
For some reason, this time everything felt unusually smooth.
Far too smooth.
And the moment Shen Yu disappeared from the carriage, the barrage of comments exploded again.
"Your boy can’t hold on anymore!"
"Millions of netizens are here to help!"
"Can you guess how everyone else spent the time during the carriage change?"
"I was watching Menlo’s livestream the whole time. I can only say that kid suffered."
"He rushed into the restroom and drank several gulps of cold water before his livestream went black."
"Captain, my captain, it lasted for so long!"
"Sakura, I don’t know what happened either."
"Matsumoto Kika’s livestream went dark too!"
"Interesting. Meilin’s livestream didn’t go dark, but Matsumoto Kika’s did."
"What does that mean?"
"What else could it mean?"
"Now Meilin’s livestream has gone dark too."
"666."
"Is there still time to enjoy this?"
No one knew.
And no one was going to get an answer anytime soon.
Twilight Station
The waiting hall of Twilight Station was cold and desolate.
When Shen Yu entered, Menlo and Matsumoto Kika were already standing in front of an abandoned automatic ticket machine.
The machine was covered in a thick layer of dust.
Its screen was completely black.
Matsumoto Kika pressed the buttons repeatedly.
Nothing happened.
She hit the machine.
Still nothing.
"Damn it!"
She stomped her foot, kicking the machine hard enough to make it shake.
A cloud of dust fell from the top.
Cough! Cough!
Menlo hurriedly stepped back.
"Careful."
He glanced nervously at the machine.
"If it suddenly spits out a ticket, wouldn’t you explode?"
Matsumoto Kika glared at him.
"Then where are we supposed to find the transfer ticket?"
Shen Yu ignored their argument.
His attention had already shifted toward the abandoned service counter.
"Maybe there are old tickets there."
Menlo followed his gaze.
"Right."
He hurried after Shen Yu.
"But where’s Meilin? Didn’t she come with you?"
Before Shen Yu could answer, Matsumoto Kika let out a cold laugh.
"That woman has been holding it in for a long time."
Menlo blinked.
"What are you talking about?"
"I think even after we finish this station, she still won’t be finished."
"Huh?"
Menlo stared at her blankly.
Matsumoto Kika rolled her eyes.
"If you don’t understand, don’t ask."
She turned away.
"Let’s find the transfer tickets."
Shen Yu climbed over the shattered service counter.
Menlo followed.
The two searched through cabinets, drawers, shelves, and piles of abandoned paperwork.
They found plenty of old station tickets.
But none of them were transfer tickets for the next destination.
"Damn it."
Menlo scratched his head.
"Where the hell are we supposed to find the ticket?"
Shen Yu stopped searching.
His eyes slowly swept across the waiting hall.
The gray station was small.
Rows of abandoned seats occupied most of the room.
Cracked floor tiles stretched beneath their feet.
There were two restrooms at opposite ends.
The checkpoint leading into the waiting hall was directly behind them.
That was all.
Shen Yu narrowed his eyes.
Could it be...
This time, the transfer ticket wasn’t inside the waiting hall?
Could it be hidden in one of the restrooms?
Or perhaps outside the station?
But then—
A cold electronic announcement suddenly echoed throughout the station.
"The Twilight Train is preparing to depart for the next station."
"Passengers who have not boarded, please prepare immediately."
"Estimated departure time: ten minutes."
Shen Yu’s expression changed.
"What?"
"Ten minutes?"
Menlo’s face turned pale.
"That short?"
The three exchanged glances.
There was no time to waste.
Shen Yu immediately began giving orders.
"Three places."
"Matsumoto Kika, check the restrooms."
"Menlo, search the platform."
"I’ll check outside the station."
He looked at both of them.
"If none of those places have a ticket, then we’re in serious trouble."
Menlo hesitated.
"But what if she finds it and deliberately hides it?"
He pointed toward Matsumoto Kika.
Shen Yu glanced at her.
"She won’t."
"How can you be sure?"
"There are still two more stations."
Shen Yu’s eyes narrowed.
"She wouldn’t dare sabotage us here."
Matsumoto Kika smiled faintly.
Then she winked at him.
"Good answer."
She immediately turned and ran toward the women’s restroom.
Shen Yu sprinted through the checkpoint.
Outside Twilight Station was an entirely different world.
A dim yellow light covered everything.
Cars moved along the streets.
Pedestrians walked past.
Stores lined both sides of the road.
But none of them looked real.
Every person was blurry.
Every vehicle seemed pixelated.
Even the buildings appeared to be incomplete projections.
Shen Yu frowned.
"What the hell...?"
Was this really the mental world of Sandy’s father?
His eyes swept across the street.
Where was the ticket booth?
Could it be outside the station?
Perhaps one of those shops contained a clue.
Shen Yu took one step down the stairs.
Then stopped.
His expression suddenly darkened.
"No."
Absolutely not.
There were only ten minutes before the train departed.
Even if the ticket were somewhere outside, traveling through the streets, searching for it, and returning to the station would take far too long.
The dungeon wouldn’t create an impossible objective.
Therefore—
The outside world had to be a trap.
Shen Yu immediately turned around and ran back inside.
"Matsumoto Kika! Menlo!"
He hurried back into the waiting hall.
Matsumoto Kika emerged from the women’s restroom at almost the same moment.
Her expression was grim.
"Nothing."
"I checked both restrooms."
"There isn’t a ticket."
Shen Yu nodded.
"Menlo?"
The sound of hurried footsteps came from the other side.
Menlo rushed back into the hall, breathing heavily.
His expression was filled with disappointment.
"Nothing!"
"I searched the entire platform."
"There isn’t even a ticket counter."
The three stood there silently.
How was this possible?
There was no ticket machine.
No ticket booth.
No counter.
No ticket in the restrooms.
Nothing on the platform.
Nothing outside.
Then—
Vrrrrrrr!
The Twilight Train suddenly vibrated.
The entire station shook.
Shen Yu’s pupils contracted.
"No..."
The train had started moving.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
The familiar metallic rhythm of the train tracks echoed through the station.
The three stared in disbelief.
The train was leaving.
They had failed.
Slowly, the door at the rear of the train opened.
A familiar figure stood there.
Sandy.
She held the door handle with one hand.
A regretful smile appeared on her beautiful face.
She looked directly at Shen Yu.
"Oh dear."
"It seems you still lost by one move."
Shen Yu’s expression hardened.
Sandy smiled softly.
"But it’s okay."
"It’s okay."
She tilted her head.
"Who told me that I like you so much?"
Her gaze became strangely affectionate.
"I’ll have Dad make you a new attendant."
"In the future, we’ll serve Dad together."
"Clang."
"Clang."
"Clang."
The train accelerated.
The distance between them widened.
Shen Yu remained frozen on the platform.
"Sandy!"
But the train continued moving.
Faster.
Farther.
Until it finally disappeared from sight.
Then—
RUMBLE!
The entire platform began to shake.
Shen Yu’s expression changed.
"What’s happening?"
Cracks spread rapidly across the ground.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The gray platform split apart.
The surrounding buildings trembled.
Then their surfaces began to crumble.
Not into rubble.
Into sand.
White sand poured from the walls and drifted into the air.
The entire station was disintegrating.
Matsumoto Kika looked down.
Her face instantly turned pale.
Her thigh was becoming transparent.
Fine white sand was escaping from her body.
"No..."
She desperately grabbed Shen Yu’s arm.
Her fingers trembled.
"Shen Yu!"
Her voice cracked.
"It can’t be..."
The white sand continued rising from her body.
Her legs were already beginning to disappear.
"It’s over."
Shen Yu stared at the collapsing world.
His mind raced.
There had to be something.
A clue.
A rule.
Something they had missed.
But nothing came.
They had been one step too late.
Matsumoto Kika’s body continued to dissolve.
Menloa looked at Shen Yu with a strange calmness.
"Brother Shen Yu..."
"To get this far, we’ve actually done pretty well."
She smiled faintly.
"So it’s fine."
"Just promise me one thing."
"When you become an attendant..."
"Don’t forget about me."
Menloa stood nearby.
His expression was eerily calm despite the sand consuming his body.
The three survivors stood helplessly on the collapsing platform.
And Shen Yu finally understood.
Twilight Station had never been a station they were supposed to leave.
It was a station designed to make them realize that they had already arrived too late.
The train was gone.
The transfer ticket had never existed.
And now—
The entire world was beginning to disappear.