Within moments, the bus and the fog seemed to merge. The instant it turned onto Provincial Highway 417, Zhou Qi’an’s phone vanished. Before he could react, the system’s prompt appeared:
[Instance: Provincial Highway 417 — Huagu Bus Station]
[Instance Difficulty: Four and a half stars (?)]
[Main Quest: Figure it out yourself]
[Instance Time: The duration of one game]
[Number of Participating Players: As you wish (All trades have their masters)]
[Tip: You can explore any location within this instance, but you must return to Huagu Bus Station before midnight every night.]
This was the first time Zhou Qi’an had encountered such a concise game quest, so concise that his expression turned grim. Usually, the main quest was clear, allowing players to establish their goals from the start.
No main quest meant an additional exploration process, and that question mark after the difficulty level looked ominous. The most absurd part was how casually they entered this instance.
“They said it was hard to get in!” he muttered, looking outside. The highway was deserted, with no other vehicles, let alone other players besides them.
About ten minutes passed, and they still hadn’t seen any sign of Huagu Bus Station.
The college student, for some reason, felt like they were in another world, with nothing but this road stretching endlessly.
He shivered. “Brother Zhou, something’s not right.”
Zhou Qi’an looked at the monotonous scenery outside, his fingers stroking his chin.
There was only one possibility left.
“It seems the previous players didn’t die before entering the instance; they already went in. Most likely, they didn’t find the bus station before midnight.”
Zhou Qi’an could only imagine their despair before dying.
Time ticking away, no rule hints, the entire world just an endless highway.
Once midnight passed, they had no chance to struggle, only to wait for death.
The college student shivered.
“So, a wave of people has already died?”
Zhou Qi’an smiled.
“No.”
It was several waves.
Shen Zhiyi had been silent.
A wisp of black thread emerged from his fingertips, floated out the window, and after a moment, his gaze shifted.
He glanced at Zhou Qi’an in the opposite seat, pondering how to warn him.
As he was still considering, Zhou Qi’an suddenly stood up and walked directly to the driver’s seat.
Mother Zhou was about to brake, not wanting to waste fuel. A slender hand reached from behind, firmly grasping the steering wheel. Zhou Qi’an smiled. “Mom, accelerate and hit the guardrail on the side of the road.”
Mother Zhou was displeased.
“Why hit the guardrail?”
The college student in the back was equally confused.
Shen Zhiyi suddenly looked up, a hint of a smile in his eyes. He had skipped the process of finding the entrance entirely.
“Just a slight bump. We’re lost, and we need someone to pick us up.”
Zhou Qi’an remembered that in the ‘Endless Sea of Blood’ instance, the files mentioned Mr. Si’s continuous violation records, proving that even instance worlds had traffic regulations.
Since driving rules were similar, Mr. Si must receive notifications for every violation, otherwise, how would he pay fines? Thinking of this, Zhou Qi’an’s smile deepened.
The original owner of this bus, seeing where the bus violated the rules and finding it back in this world, would surely be thrilled. Thrilled enough to… come looking for the bus immediately.
But Ying Yu had said that the biggest advantage of a free entrance was avoiding staff.
This created a paradox. Tsk, who knew what kind of chaotic scene that would be.
“Regarding your third failed review.”
The Minotaur was helping his colleague summarize his last foolish act:
“You had the upper hand. If you had kept your composure and played the role of class monitor as I designed, you wouldn’t have lost everything in the end.”
Mr. Si’s rabbit eyes were so red they looked like they were bleeding, his ears drooping to the sides.
“Just a little more, and I could have refined him into a puppet.”
The Minotaur said faintly, “You weren’t off by a point, but by two circles.”
Infinite.
Mr. Si’s expression turned sinister.
“Don’t worry, next time I will…”
The system suddenly sent a message:
[Your bus has bravely returned to this world.]
[Your bus damaged a guardrail near instance 44814 on X year X month X day, and has been recorded.]
He had grown accustomed to fine notifications during this time, so at first, he didn’t react much. After half a minute, Mr. Si bounced up.
“Good, good! They dare to drive in here?”
He finally caught them!
The Minotaur frowned, about to say something, but Mr. Si was gone in three bounces.
In the silent space, the Minotaur paused, closing its eyes and remaining seated. It had great confidence in its colleague; it was almost time for the fourth failed review.
The bus stopped after hitting the guardrail.
Zhou Qi’an and the others were prepared, having buckled their seatbelts.
Apart from a momentary lurch forward, no one was injured.
Mother Zhou was even calmer, lowering the window for air.
Her writhing hair tried several times to probe into the gift box Shen Zhiyi had given her, but she skillfully coiled it, her cold, corpse-like fingers brushing against the scales of her hair. The strands, warned, reluctantly quieted down.
Her hands, in the act of styling her hair, suddenly paused. She looked at a spot ahead.
In front, a giant rabbit appeared on the highway without warning.
“Caught you.”
The rabbit-person looked at his bus with a pained heart.
The next second, when his gaze shifted from the windshield to the people inside, his grim face lit up with excitement.
He had already planned it on his way here; at worst, he’d be suspended for a while, but he would casually dig out an eye from the bus thief. No one could pass an instance while completely blind!
Mother Zhou felt even more heartache for the bus, estimating the repair costs.
Both had their own intentions. Mr. Si’s two-meter height allowed him to fully scrutinize the bus interior, and at the same time, he eagerly revealed his sharp claws.
Zhou Qi’an walked a few steps forward, got out of the bus, waved at him, and revealed a smile that was surprisingly benevolent. Mr. Si was stunned, inexplicably feeling a sense of foreboding from that smile.
[Warning.]
A sudden system prompt froze the shadows in Mr. Si’s eyes. He hadn’t even moved yet, so why the warning?
[Scanning…]
[Scan confirmed,Rabbit Character Staff member, you have violated a rule.]
[44814, this instance is a non-staff operated area.]
The moment Mr. Si’s expression solidified, Zhou Qi’an actually stepped out of the bus and slowly walked towards him.
Non-staff operated, a “free instance”?
It was like a bolt from the blue. It wasn’t until the young man stood before him that Mr. Si finally reacted.
No wonder. No wonder these people dared to drive the bus in. Then this bus crash… wasn’t it also their intentional violation?
“Motherfcker.” Mr. Si looked at Zhou Qi’an and cursed more precisely, “You… mother… fcker.” He squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: “You really have guts, after scheming against me, you dare to come back and mock me.”
Zhou Qi’an corrected him, “No, it’s a cold joke.”
It wasn’t that funny, yet he was determined to make it into a joke.
The culprit who had stolen his bus, stolen his fuel, stolen his sacred artifact, and even pierced him with the sacred artifact was right in front of him, and had even brought him a new fine. Even a saint would lose their composure. Mr. Si’s face suddenly became devoid of expression, and one hand, without warning, shot out towards Zhou Qi’an’s throat.
The gleaming, sharp claws were just extended when a snake, descending from the sky, wrapped around them. A mere thin snake was no match for Mr. Si, but it successfully bought Zhou Qi’an time to retreat.
His body hit a solid chest.
Zhou Qi’an was momentarily stunned, looking back to see Shen Zhiyi standing behind him, utterly devoid of presence, his greyish-white eyes subtly flickering.
Zhou Qi’an’s eyes widened. When did this person get out of the bus?
Unsuccessful in his first strike, Mr. Si did not attempt to kill Zhou Qi’an a second time.
He looked in the direction from which the snake had appeared.
In the driver’s seat, Mother Zhou’s recently coiled hair had all come undone, and the hiss of snakes was incessant.
This was the first time Mr. Si had truly looked at Mother Zhou, and his blood-red pupils suddenly constricted into pinpricks.
This woman had a familiar, yet strangely repulsive, aura about her.
He even forgot about killing Zhou Qi’an, focusing intently on the woman in the driver’s seat.
Where had he smelled a similar aura before?
Zhou Qi’an had retreated to a safe distance.
The moment Mr. Si attacked him, his goal was thoroughly achieved. He clutched his chest and said in a sorrowful tone, “The meaning of a free entrance is to avoid the risks brought by staff members, and now I’ve taken on those risks. Where’s the fairness in that?”
Mr. Si’s recently stabilized mood was swept away like a hurricane by that single sentence.
[Please leave instance 44814 as soon as possible.]
[Please go to the relevant department to claim your fine and pay the penalty.]
[Due to your prolonged stay in a restricted area, forced teleportation will commence shortly.]
“Wait, my bus—” Mr. Si immediately tried to leap through the open window into the driver’s seat. In that split second in mid-air, time seemed to stop. The rabbit’s face, with its bloodshot eyes, was frozen, slowly blurring, and finally, it was forced to disappear from everyone’s sight, an unwilling expression on its face.
“No—” The lingering echo was drawn out.
The college student finally dared to speak, softly asking, “What was it here for?” It suddenly appeared, yelled a few words, and then painfully departed. What was the point?
Just as the college student was puzzled, his expression suddenly changed.
He saw that where there had only been utility poles and trees on either side of the guardrail, the mist had gradually thinned, and through the fog, another open space was vaguely visible.
Many buss were parked in the open, and on the main building’s entrance stood a striking blood-red sign: Huagu Bus Station.
From the moment the bus station was noticed, everything within it gradually became clear. Backpackers came and went, and people could be seen rushing with suitcases, seemingly in a hurry to catch a bus.
There were vending machines, restaurants, and more on the roadside.
Even from a distance, the bustling crowd inside the bus station could be felt.
However, suddenly seeing their destination, the college student felt his scalp tingle.
There had been nothing there before.
“Get out.” Zhou Qi’an knocked on the bus door, urging them.
The college student quickly ran over. “Brother Zhou, this…”
Zhou Qi’an interrupted him.
“Don’t think about it. It’s the game’s compensation.”
He shook his head. Mr. Si was only worth this much “money,” just saving them the trouble of finding their own way.
He had thought there would be more benefits.
Zhou Qi’an looked up at the seemingly nearby bus station, a similar question in his heart.
Had it been there all along? Why couldn’t they see it just now?
“It might be a cognitive issue,” Shen Zhiyi said softly.
“Hmm?”
Shen Zhiyi explained, “You believed there was a bus station here, but there wasn’t one in reality. You were looking for something that didn’t exist, so you couldn’t find it.”
“…” This profound theory made Zhou Qi’an raise an eyebrow faintly.
At any rate, one of his main goals had been achieved. His mother hadn’t left immediately; she must have received the game’s prompt, which meant she finally had player status. As he had hoped, Mother Zhou left a few snakes to watch the bus, then came down and casually asked, “Where to?”
Then, led by Zhou Qi’an, the group passed through the guardrail. After walking a few steps, the entire world underwent an earth-shattering change.
The front was bustling with activity, the clamor infusing the bus station with an indescribable vitality. Only the cold system prompt confirmed that this was not reality.
[Welcome to instance 44814.]
[Please choose your evolved organ for this game.]
“Waist.”
Zhou Qi’an tried to avoid internal organs, to prevent the game’s difficulty from escalating.
Because the five-star ‘fish eye’ could drive the evolution of other parts, he wanted to see if his thigh could automatically evolve from intermediate to advanced.
After choosing, Zhou Qi’an quietly observed his mother.
Her expression was the same as usual when she went grocery shopping, as if there was no difference between here and the outside world for her.
[Selection complete. Please proceed to the waiting hall rest area for assembly.]
To enter the main gate, they had to go through security.
Zhou Qi’an perfunctorily raised his arms to cooperate, eager to observe the interior.
He had only walked a few steps when a rapid beeping sound came from behind.
Zhou Qi’an turned around just in time to see Mother Zhou being searched, and a cleaver was pulled from her waist.
“…” The security guard was clearly startled. Mother Zhou gently smoothed her hair.
“It’s for self-defense.”
This statement lost all its effect when the second weapon was discovered.
The security guard’s expression darkened.
“Please come with me.”
Mother Zhou was led to a small room on the side, presumably for a separate registration and inspection.
The college student nervously said, “Brother Zhou, your mother…”
Zhou Qi’an quickly made the sign of the cross over his chest.
“May the Lord bless the security guard.”
“?”
Not waiting around, Zhou Qi’an continued walking. The college student had heard of Zhou Qi’an abandoning his wife, but abandoning his mother was a first.
By this point, Zhou Qi’an and Shen Zhiyi were already walking ahead, so he could only swallow his questions and follow.
There was a second gate after the main entrance, also requiring security checks.
More people gathered here, and after a few more scans by the detector, they finally entered the interior of Huagu Bus Station. Looking around, the bus station felt very old.
There were no self-service ticket machines, only a single ticket window, where the ticket seller was yawning.
Besides the walking passengers, to the right were several rows of rusty seats, with only a few people sitting on them, looking in their direction.
Players.
Zhou Qi’an made the judgment immediately. Only players would pay attention to every passerby, and none of them were busrying luggage like the others.
The closest was a girl with pigtails half-kneeling on a seat, her head resting on the backrest, seemingly to keep an eye on the main entrance.
At this moment, the pigtail girl tilted her head, her gaze like a scanner, sizing up the approaching people from top to bottom. Finally, she quietly turned to a composed man and said, “Evolution less than forty percent.”
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
“?”
The pigtail girl quickly glanced at Shen Zhiyi. “That one’s not certain, but the dummy at the very back only has twenty-something percent evolution.”
The college student, seeing the girl staring at him, instinctively said, “Hello.”
The people on the seats frowned. Such low evolution, how did they get in?
“Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?”
“My skill won’t make mistakes. Even if one was wrong, it couldn’t be all three.”
The pigtail girl said, “It’s normal. Maybe the game lowers the entry difficulty for different players, or they were directly randomly matched to this instance.”
The rest of her words were unspoken, but everyone understood that high-star instances would always have rookies to buffer the difficulty. In fact, she underestimated Zhou Qi’an’s evolution level.
His heart was in a state of ‘closure,’ and as one of the most important evolved organs, it couldn’t be detected.
Having likely determined Zhou Qi’an’s group’s position, none of them initiated a conversation, only occasionally glancing at the wall clock.
Midnight was the dividing line; players could still enter anytime before midnight.
It was almost ten o’clock when more players arrived. The leader was a tall, handsome foreigner, accompanied by a man and a woman.
The woman was tall, with short hair and tanned skin, and the man was strong and sturdy.
Both looked like seasoned combatants. The composed man’s eyes turned cold upon seeing the foreigner, clearly knowing something about him.
The pigtail girl scoffed, “Is the foreign instance poisonous? Not enough for you to wander through?”
No one wanted their local treasures to be preempted by foreign interlopers.
The foreigner was calm, though the occasional sinister glint in his eyes was unsettling.
He didn’t speak, but the short-haired woman beside him gave a busefree smile.
“This instance isn’t simple. Let’s all be civil; civility brings wealth.”
The three then went and sat on the other side.
During this time, the short-haired woman quickly used a peculiar mirror to scan Zhou Qi’an’s group, then said a few words to the foreign man: “Pathfinders.”
Colloquialisms for new players who can be used to test the rules.
Zhou Qi’an watched their small movements, feeling a little sorry for the square-faced man in the last instance.
If that foolish older brother had had a device to assess other players’ abilities from the start, he wouldn’t have died so buselessly at the hands of the young girl.
However, the square-faced man might have underestimated Zhou Qi’an’s side and died by his hand.
Having sat for a while, Zhou Qi’an also tried to use his skull ring to scan others, but to no avail.
Finally, he yawned and summarized the current situation: Apart from them, there were currently seven players.
The first four were a small team led by the composed man, all wearing identical wolf tooth pendants. The latter three had undoubtedly formed a team as well.
The two groups sat facing each other, looking as if they were ready to eliminate the other at any moment.
As it approached midnight, Zhou Qi’an mused, “Something’s off.”
Bus stations were different from train stations; many places closed down and stopped selling tickets at night. Here, there was no sign of closing, and the number of passengers hadn’t decreased at all, as if it were still as bustling as during the day.
“Excuse me, excuse me, I’m almost late.”
A clumsy figure suddenly ran in, out of breath. The moment he entered, the clock reached exactly midnight.
The digital clock flashed: 00:00.
The four blood-red zeros blinked prominently, like electronic eyes, staring at the faces moving back and forth below.
After midnight, the expressions on the passengers’ faces seemed to change slightly, then they continued moving as if nothing had happened.
The last player to enter looked around, then walked towards the rest area, his face terrifyingly pale.
“That sbused me, I almost couldn’t find this place.”
His hands and feet were trembling, but neither of the two teams dared to underestimate this last player. Zhou Qi’an guessed that his evolution level was very high.
Mother Zhou, taken away by the security guard, was still missing, but Zhou Qi’an wasn’t too worried.
Huagu Bus Station had a sign at the main entrance, and entering through the first door meant they had arrived at the bus station. The check-in before midnight was completed.
After midnight, no more players would arrive.
The relatively talkative pigtail girl took the initiative to speak.
“I’m sure everyone can see how strange this instance is.”
As her words fell, everyone’s expressions varied.
With no clear mission, waiting at the station all afternoon, and no NPCs actively approaching them, ‘strange’ was an understatement.
The second to speak was the short-haired woman. She looked at the hall.
“The first day of the instance is the most suitable time for activity. We can’t just sit here and wait. Right now, the only option is to actively talk to NPCs.”
Her words were logical, yet she remained perfectly still. The entire bus station, from inside to out, exuded an eerie feeling, and actively seeking out NPCs busried obvious risks.
At this point, someone was naturally needed to test the waters.
Multiple gazes began to linger on Zhou Qi’an and his group. As someone was about to speak, the last player who came in hugged his arms, trying to smooth out his goosebumps, and suddenly said, “Oh, by the way, when I just came in, I saw a very strange scene outside.”
“What scene?” Everyone was immediately drawn to his words.
“Hard to say, you’d best go take a look.”
Acting together could at least ensure safety, so everyone followed him out.
“It’s right there.”
The last player was very cautious, initially wanting to point, but ultimately just gestured with his eyes.
Between the main entrance and the waiting hall, there were some colorful lights strung on trees. Many passengers were gathered there, dressed strangely, their faces pale and pasty, looking quite terrifying.
Everyone cautiously walked a little closer, and quickly understood why the man said it was strange. In the bustling bus station, there was actually a blind date corner?
Zhou Qi’an vaguely guessed whose handiwork this was.
As if hearing footsteps approaching, the woman at the center of the blind date corner looked up.
Her face was very small, and under the small colorful lights on the tree, it had a faintly translucent, eerie glow. A few strands of her snake-like, slightly curled hair were blown loose, appearing to slither onto the branches.
The woman, who had been chatting animatedly with the passengers, locked her gaze on Zhou Qi’an, her smile gentle yet terrifying, and called out, “My darling son.”
__
Author’s Note:
Mother Zhou: I can’t be idle even in a game.
Zhou Qi’an: …
