Chapter 171: The Final Station — Annihilation
What would happen when favorability became too high?
Shen Yu had already experienced it once.
The last time Yang Jin and another powerful entity had developed excessive favorability toward him, their affection had crossed the line into something twisted.
Possessiveness.
Obsession.
The desire to kill him so that he could belong to them forever.
There was a name for that kind of behavior.
Yandere.
And Shen Yu was certain Sandy had now reached that state.
The problem was that her favorability had risen too quickly.
So quickly that the system’s usual collection prompt had failed to appear.
Shen Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead and narrowed his eyes.
"Damn it."
This woman’s possessiveness is completely out of control.
He couldn’t collect her.
He couldn’t manipulate her through the usual means.
And now, with the final station approaching, Sandy had become the greatest obstacle between him and survival.
Beside him, Menloa nervously glanced around the Golden Palace.
"Shen Yu..."
"What should we do now?"
"Should we wait until the breathing disaster ends, then come out and head directly to the final station?"
Shen Yu shook his head.
"The final station..."
"It’s probably not that simple."
At the same time.
Sakura Country — Matsumoto Kika’s SS-Rank Instance, Memory Train.
Challenge failed.
The moment Matsumoto Kika died, the entire Sakura Country live broadcast went completely black.
The comments exploded.
"NO!"
"Why?!"
"Matsumoto Kika should have chosen Shen Yu from the beginning!"
"If she had possessed him, none of this would have happened!"
"What good is saying that now?!"
"It’s over."
"It’s over!"
"Our representative is going to fail!"
"My bubble bath is gone!"
"Damn it! Why didn’t Dragon Country and Bear Country save her?!"
"Save her? You saw what the train became. How were they supposed to save anyone?"
The anger gradually gave way to confusion.
"I don’t want to lose my memories..."
"Huh?"
"What did I just say?"
"Why am I crying?"
The comments abruptly became strangely quiet.
Then a crimson notification appeared across the United Nations live broadcast.
Sakura Country’s original population: 291,000.
Current survivors: 31,000.
The number stunned everyone.
More than 260,000 people had already disappeared into the Memory Train.
"Damn..."
"That’s too many."
"Compared with America, they’re still doing better."
"Who has time to care about that now?"
"Is the Memory Train reaching its final station?"
"And Sandy... she’s completely lost it."
"Can Shen Yu still clear the dungeon while hiding inside that Golden Palace?"
At this point, only two perspectives remained on the United Nations broadcast.
Dragon Country.
Bear Country.
Inside Dragon Country’s City Defense Department.
Yong stared intensely at the Golden Palace displayed on the enormous screen.
His fists repeatedly clenched and loosened.
"Hold on."
"Just hold on until the final station."
"Maybe..."
"Maybe we’ll finally be able to leave."
"Come on."
"Come on!"
He whispered continuously.
But beside him, Lu Xian unexpectedly sighed.
She slumped deeper into her chair.
"It’s over."
Yong immediately turned toward her.
"What?"
"Chief, what do you mean?"
"There’s still a chance!"
"As long as they reach the final station, won’t the dungeon end?"
Lu Xian gave him a strange look.
"The final station?"
"Think carefully."
"After the memories of the past, present, and future disappear..."
"After false memories are inserted..."
"After reality and fiction become impossible to distinguish..."
"And finally, after the brain recognizes reality..."
"What is the final step of memory?"
Yong’s hopeful expression froze.
"Isn’t that recovery?"
"Someone suffering from amnesia eventually remembers who they are."
"Wouldn’t that mean..."
Lu Xian shook her head.
"No."
Her voice was quiet.
"It’s the flash of light before death."
"Memories return."
"And then..."
"They disappear."
She looked at the screen.
"The final stage of memory isn’t recovery."
"It’s annihilation."
"Extinction."
"The ultimate fate of every memory is the same."
"Death."
Yong’s face turned pale.
"What?"
"You mean..."
"If they wait until the final station..."
"They’ll die?"
Lu Xian didn’t answer.
But her silence was enough.
Yong’s throat tightened.
"Then..."
"This dungeon has no way out at all."
Lu Xian smiled bitterly.
"I don’t even know whether they’ll survive this moment."
"It’s no longer about how long Menloa can endure."
"It’s about whether Shen Yu..."
"Can find a way out."
The room fell silent.
Every gaze returned to the live broadcast.
Buzz...
Buzz...
Buzz...
The Golden Palace suddenly trembled.
Menloa looked around.
"What the hell?"
A layer of black, glass-like cracks suddenly appeared throughout the empty space.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
The cracks spread rapidly.
The Golden Palace distorted.
Its walls twisted.
Its space warped.
Then—
BOOM!
The entire S-Rank talent domain shattered.
The black fragments dissolved into nothingness.
Behind them appeared the interior of the Twilight Train.
The train was violently shaking.
And this time, it wasn’t merely traveling through the dungeon.
It was affecting space itself.
The Golden Palace had been unable to withstand it.
The S-Rank talent collapsed in a single breath.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The sound of the train accelerating thundered through the carriage.
But the once-new train had changed completely.
The walls were covered in rust.
The seats were rotten.
The windows were cracked.
The metal frames were warped.
Hot wind poured through the gaps.
Then something even more terrifying happened.
The train suddenly tilted upward.
It was no longer following the railway.
It was flying.
Straight toward the sun.
Shen Yu gripped the edge of his seat.
The train climbed higher and higher.
Outside the windows, the sky gradually turned red.
The sunlight became blinding.
The heat became unbearable.
Menloa held onto the seats as his body swayed violently.
"Have you ever seen a train fly toward the sun?"
"Why is it getting hotter?"
"Shouldn’t it be colder up here?!"
Shen Yu narrowed his eyes.
"You’re trying to discuss temperature differences with something that has dementia?"
"Who knows what the sun looks like to it?"
He closed his eyes.
The soles of his shoes began smoking against the floor.
The heat continued rising.
Then—
A cold mechanical voice echoed throughout the carriage.
[Welcome to the final station.]
[Annihilation Station.]
[Humans live toward death.]
[The end of all things is unavoidable.]
[Memories are no different.]
[Past.]
[Present.]
[Future.]
[Fiction.]
[Chaos.]
[Reality.]
[Annihilation.]
[Congratulations.]
[You have experienced the complete journey of the Twilight Train.]