Chapter 154: More Fabricated Memories
Malin’s figure was surprisingly slender beneath the layers of clothing.
Shen Yu stared for a moment before finally speaking.
"Why are you wearing bandages instead of a bra?"
Malin’s face immediately turned red.
"Because..."
"They’re more comfortable for me."
She lowered her head, embarrassed.
"Can you help me unwrap them?"
Shen Yu awkwardly looked away before carefully examining the bandages.
There were no bite marks.
No fresh blood.
No signs of infection.
He shook his head.
"No need."
"Just from this, I can tell you weren’t bitten."
His gaze moved over the rest of her body.
There were several old scars around her abdomen, but none looked fresh.
The wounds appeared to be at least a week old.
"They have nothing to do with the zombie."
Shen Yu frowned.
"These wounds..."
"They look like they came from repeated injuries over a long period of time."
Something felt wrong.
According to the memories currently inside his head, he, Malin, Bill, and Menloa had spent four years together at university.
They had supposedly been extremely close.
Yet during all those years, he had never known Malin to have such strange injuries.
Something didn’t add up.
Then Malin suddenly looked up.
"Shen Yu."
"Can you hold me?"
Before he could respond, she stepped closer, took both of his hands, and placed them around her waist.
Shen Yu froze.
Malin’s body trembled slightly.
The heart above her head suddenly flickered.
58.
59.
62.
The number began climbing rapidly.
Shen Yu stared in astonishment.
What is happening?
It was almost as though simply touching her caused the affinity value to rise.
Malin leaned closer.
"Don’t stop."
"Use more strength."
Her voice was strangely breathless.
Shen Yu stared at her.
What kind of personality did my memories give this woman?
The supposedly cold goddess of his fabricated memories was behaving completely differently.
The heart above her head continued climbing.
69.
70.
72.
It had already surpassed Sandy’s affinity.
Malin looked up at him with misty eyes.
For a moment, it seemed as though she wanted to move even closer.
Then—
"Shen Yu!"
Bill’s sharp voice suddenly came from outside.
"Where’s the wound?"
"I’m asking you, where’s the wound?"
Shen Yu immediately snapped back to reality.
He quickly picked up Malin’s coat and covered her again.
His expression became cold.
He walked back toward the carriage.
"I checked."
"She doesn’t have any zombie wounds."
Bill narrowed his eyes.
"Are you sure?"
"You didn’t secretly heal her?"
"Are you favoring her now?"
Shen Yu shrugged.
"Believe it or not."
"I’m still telling you the same thing."
"If Malin really had been bitten after we’ve supposedly been classmates for four years, then we should find a way to save her."
Bill’s expression darkened.
"Four years?"
"Have you spent four years with these people and developed no feelings at all?"
Shen Yu stopped.
The question struck him strangely.
Four years.
They were supposedly his closest friends.
Yet why did he feel such detached indifference toward them?
Even worse—
There was an inexplicable sense of superiority.
As if he were looking down on them from somewhere above.
That isn’t right.
I’m supposed to be their friend.
So why do I feel like I’m above them?
Bill clenched his teeth.
"Forget it."
"I don’t care anymore."
"I’m going to the next carriage by myself."
"No one follows me."
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
Bill leaned on his crutch and limped toward the rear carriage.
Bang!
He slammed the door shut.
Then he leaned against it and glared at Shen Yu and the others through the glass.
The carriage fell silent again.
Everyone looked toward the windows.
The thick red fog still covered everything outside.
There was no way to see beyond it.
Meanwhile, inside the United Nations live broadcast room, the comments erupted again.
Wild Boar Peppa: Tsk, tsk, tsk.
"So even after his memories were altered, Shen Yu is still trying to win over girls."
"What a walking succubus."
Leo Snail Noodles: Honestly, disasters reveal people’s true nature.
"Four years of friendship can reveal someone’s character."
"Look at Bill."
"Everyone considered him a friend and willingly boarded the high-speed train with him."
"But the moment something went wrong, he immediately started blaming everyone else."
Kowide Ball: If Bill didn’t have an SS-Rank talent, someone would’ve beaten him up already.
Another viewer quickly replied:
"Forget that."
"Time is the real problem."
"At least an hour and a half has already passed, right?"
"If they don’t leave to obtain their transfer cards, won’t they be eliminated?"
"We’re finished."
"All we can do now is watch their four-person apocalypse drama."
"They’ve completely immersed themselves in the roles of doomsday college students."
"With zombies outside and official broadcasts confirming the outbreak, there’s no way they’ll dare leave."
"The Memory Train’s trick is too sinister."
"Who would willingly go outside now?"
Despair spread throughout the ordinary live-stream comments.
But among the hidden comments from Beautiful Country—
The mood was completely different.
Strict Farmer: You’ve reached the kill line.
"Excellent."
"I’ve never seen such a perfect start."
"If they continue hiding like this, Dragon Country, Iron Tower Country, and Bear Country will be eliminated automatically."
Kissan’s Mysterious Shop: We won.
"Everything is settled."
"They won’t leave."
"Shen Yu was still suspicious at first."
"But Sandy has already mutated."
"Who would dare go outside now?"
Defense Headquarters
Ho Yong dropped back into his seat.
His expression was grim.
"This is over."
The other participants from State Poolool City sat silently.
Nobody knew what to do.
Yaning remained quiet.
Lucian frowned.
Her fists repeatedly tightened and relaxed.
She had already considered this possibility.
If she had entered the instance alone, perhaps things would have been different.
Her ability to return scattered memories seemed particularly suited to this dungeon.
But there were seven participants inside.
And none of them seemed to possess a time-related or memory-related ability.
Then Lucian suddenly froze.
"Wait."
"Seven people."
Her eyes suddenly brightened.
"Seven people..."
"There might still be a way."
Ho Yong looked at her.
"What way?"
Lucian’s gaze sharpened.
"This isn’t necessarily about Shen Yu alone."
"It could depend on Malin’s ability."
"She has never revealed her talent."
"That makes her one of the unknown variables in this instance."
Then another thought struck her.
"We’ve also forgotten someone."
"Who?"
"Matsumoto Kika."
Everyone in the room froze.
Lucian continued.
"She isn’t dead."
"She hasn’t entered the instance openly."
"If she wants to clear this level, she has to act soon."
"Otherwise, the entire team will be eliminated."
The meeting room fell silent.
Indeed.
Matsumoto Kika from Cherry Blossom Country had apparently died at the beginning.
But had she really?
If she had survived...
Then perhaps she was the final variable.
The train would depart in one hour.
At that moment—
[The train will depart in one hour.]
[Passengers without transfer cards are requested to proceed to the station and obtain one.]
The electronic announcement echoed through the carriage.
Shen Yu and the others barely reacted.
To them, it was simply another routine announcement.
Then—
Shen Yu’s stomach growled.
"Huff..."
"I’m hungry."
Menloa suddenly sat upright.
He glanced toward Sandy, who was still pounding against the glass.
"Why don’t we figure out a way to get that zombie outside?"
"At least then we can get some food."
Shen Yu hesitated.
He looked toward Malin.
She was biting her lip nervously.
Everyone was hungry.
Finally, Shen Yu spoke.
"I’ll lure her away."
"Menloa, you go get the food."
Menloa stared at him.
"Are you crazy?"
"I say we each grab a fire extinguisher and beat that thing down."
"How can it survive that?"
Shen Yu shook his head.
"No."
"That thing is too strong."
"I don’t know if we can kill it quickly."
"And if we fight it directly, someone could get scratched."
He touched his helmet.
"I have this."
"And these gloves."
"More importantly..."
His eyes moved toward Sandy.
"The zombie seems to like me."
"So I should be able to lure her away without getting injured."
"If I can lead her into the fog, you can quickly close the door."
Menloa frowned.
"You want to go alone?"
Shen Yu didn’t answer immediately.
His fingers slowly rubbed the strange engraving on his gloves.
What you see might all be fake.
The sentence had initially seemed like a strange joke.
But now—
The fabricated memories.
The affinity system.
The strange behavior of his classmates.
Sandy’s impossible transformation.
The official broadcasts.
Everything felt wrong.
Too wrong.
What exactly is fake?
His intuition kept telling him the same thing.
He needed to go outside.
He needed to see what was really there.
Menloa hesitated.
"Shen Yu."
"Why don’t we go together?"
"At least we can watch each other’s backs."
Shen Yu shook his head.
"No."
"If both of us leave, Bill and Malin will be left behind."
"I’m worried about what Bill might do."
"You understand what I mean, right?"
Menloa instinctively scoffed.
"Bill?"
"That lame guy?"
But then he remembered Bill’s recent behavior.
His expression slowly became serious.
He glanced toward the rear carriage.
Bill was already staring back at them through the glass.
Menloa was silent for several seconds.
Then he nodded.
"All right."
"I’ll go with you."
Shen Yu took a few steps forward.
Malin immediately stood.
"Shen Yu—"
He pointed toward her helmet and gloves.
"Stay here."
Then he turned toward the front door.
Menloa followed.
The two reached the carriage entrance.
Shen Yu grabbed the handle.
Bang!
The door swung open.
A figure immediately lunged forward from the blood-red mist.
"Ha!"
Sandy grinned.
She rushed straight toward Shen Yu’s face.
As expected—
Her blood-covered teeth snapped toward the visor of his helmet.
Her fingers clawed wildly at his chest.
Shen Yu didn’t retreat.
His eyes narrowed.
He had finally decided to test one thing.
Was the apocalypse outside the train real...
or was the entire world being fabricated around them?