After Luo resolved the disturbance that had unexpectedly appeared, Xiao Lan switched focus and reached out to push open the door of the control room.
When the flashlight shone into the room, Xiao Lan nearly thought he was facing nothingness.
The entire control room, from the ceiling to the walls, was pure black. It was something that didn’t reflect light. He reached out and touched the wall next to the door, and his hand came away with black soot on it.
“This black soot is…” Xiao Lan rubbed his fingers. This familiar sensation… it was the black soot which they had discovered on the back of the poster, and on the train timetable on the bulletin board.
“It’s the black soot we saw before. Not only on the poster and timetable, but also on the janitor’s clothes.” Luo confirmed Xiao Lan’s conjecture.
Xiao Lan swept the flashlight over the environment. The entire control room was unexpectedly covered in this black soot.
It was just like — it had been burnt by a great fire.
At this time, Xiao Lan recalled the newspaper clipping which they had seen in the train — “There was a subway station explosion in the city. Three explosions occurred within 15 minutes of each other and caused a large fire.”
After being burnt by the large fire caused by the accident, it was probably like this ba?
Previously, he had even wondered if both the train and the platform were giving out fake information and there had been no accidents at all; just them purposely spreading a haze of doubt and suspicion. In the end, they were now looking at this control room that had been hidden away and which was full of burn marks.
Was this proof that the newspaper clipping on the train was telling the truth?
Xiao Lan walked into the room. There was also a thick layer of soot on the floor of the control room, and there was even a lot of already carbonised or melted debris among the soot. The air in the room, which had been sealed for too long, was extremely dirty, and there was a burnt odour that hadn’t dispersed despite the years.
Luo fixed the door in place behind him. For one thing, it was for air ventilation and to prevent his master — who may be incredibly strong but was still a fragile human being — from getting hurt. On top of that, it was to prevent the danger of the door suddenly shutting.
Not far away, Xiao Lan found the remains of what seemed to be a row of computers. Although they were already pitch-black from the smoke, they weren’t burnt all the way and still maintained some of their original external appearance.
In the light of the flashlight, he noticed that the monitors of these computers were all very slim and were at least LCD. Computers from the nineties instead had that sort of thick and heavyset CRT monitors.
Xiao Lan sized up the monitors. ”These clearly aren’t from the nineties.”
There were even some charred black blocks on the floor which he suspected were smartphones.
“Sir, there’s something here.” On the other side, Luo found something covered in black soot among the junk in one corner.
After wiping it clean a little, Luo passed the thing to Xiao Lan.
They realised that it was a souvenir from the opening ceremony of the station. Although part of it had melted in the fire, there was still some handwriting on it. The date showed that the station opened in the nineties, but this souvenir had been made recently.
Xiao Lan knitted his eyebrows. “From the clues so far, the train accident clearly happened during the nineties, but we discovered a very recent magazine on the train, while this old-fashioned-looking station is also hiding modern things.”
Luo: “Perhaps this station just looks old. In reality, it doesn’t belong in the nineties, but is from the time of the explosion.”
That was why they could see automatic card turnstiles; because it was a modern station!
Why was this staton disguised as something from the nineties? And also throwing out all sorts of clues to confuse players.
Xiao Lan put together the newspaper about the train accident, the station broadcast telling them not to board the train, and the ghosts that had appeared to remind them that the train was dangerous and shouldn’t be boarded.
Could it be that… the ghosts in the station always maintained the appearance of the nineties to make the news article on the train accident appear more believable, thereby making players believe that the train was the more dangerous place?
There was a train accident, but it wasn’t something that happened during this time period. The present ghosts had actually all died in the station explosion, and for some reason, the ghosts on the platform were constantly trying to make the players stay in the station.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
In reality, the train accident had been from a very long time ago; the case of the station explosion was the genuine background for this game.
Ktf qijaobgw atja kjr atf rmfcf bo atf fzqibrlbc kjr ktfgf atf agef vjcufg kjr ibmjafv!
Ktf yijmx rbba atfs xfqa rfflcu lc atf vfajlir kjr jmaejiis tlcalcu ja atlr.
Ktf akb rtjgfv j ibbx jcv rlweiajcfberis oluegfv bea atlr qblca.
Wljb Ojc rboais rjlv, “Ktf agef kjs ab mifjg atf lcrajcmf lr — ab mtbbrf atf agjlc.”
Perhaps the truth was that, among the ghosts from after the explosion, a portion wanted to leave the station, while a portion was unable to leave, to the point of using the train and the space to obstruct them so that they also couldn’t leave this space. At the same time, the station ghosts also manufactured a nineties facade to mislead players and make them unwilling to choose the train.
“But that isn’t right… We were sitting on the train at the very beginning, but we couldn’t escape this loop.” Xiao Lan sank into thought. “We obtained the ticket after that, but we still couldn’t leave. We must still be missing something.”
Xiao Lan accepted the black and white tickets Luo handed over, and weighed them in his hands.
The white ticket had been found on the platform, and all the NPCs they met on the platform also had this one. But this didn’t necessarily mean that all of them were white tickets.
The white ticket also just happened to be identical to the colour of the station’s exit turnstile, and should correspond to leaving the station.
Conversely, the black ticket had been found in the train. Black made Xiao Lan think of that man in black whom they had briefly encountered. Thinking of the clothes he wore that appeared to be some kind of uniform, as well as his strength that felt dangerous, that person had to have a relatively important position on the train.
And the black train was identical to the colour of the ticket and corresponded to boarding the train.
Xiao Lan thought of the mission he received — 【Longing for the Departed】. Since it was a key task, perhaps the final answer could only be found through it.
Their goal now was to find the brooch mentioned in the task and find another black ticket.
Xiao Lan lifted his head from his ruminations and just happened to meet Luo’s eyes.
As Xiao Lan was contemplating, Luo had kept his silence as he observed their surroundings, not interrupting his train of thought. Seeing Xiao Lan come back to himself, Luo stretched out a hand to point at another corner. “There are many corpses piled up there. Among them is an acquaintance of ours.”
Acquaintance? Xiao Lan went over, a little puzzled.
When he got closer, he realised that the number of corpses piled up here weren’t few.
Some were burnt until they were charred black, and some seemed to have suffocated from the smoke, their corpses still intact. They probably hadn’t died in the same place, and had been moved here after death. These corpses were piled on top of each other, and the scene was a little scalp-numbing.
Looking in the direction that Luo was pointing, Xiao Lan saw a corpse.
It truly could be said to be an acquaintance. Dressed in a janitor uniform, the corpse was still intact, but was missing two fingers. Aside from the janitor uniform that was in a modern style, it was identical to the cleaner they had met at the entrance to the toilets.
Seeing this corpse, Xiao Lan was even more certain that these people had died during the station explosion. The clothes they wore were all in a modern style, while the nineties style was nothing more than a disguise.
Heh, a bunch of film emperors.
There was even a small, closed door behind the corpses; given this group of fellows’ amazingness in hiding key clues, Xiao Lan felt that there had to be something hiding behind the door.
But stepping through this floor of corpses was quite disgusting.
The two picked their way through with difficulty and finally arrived at the small, closed door. The lock was completely stopped up with something, and even a wire couldn’t enter.
Xiao Lan withdrew the wire. “Looks like we can’t pick the lock.”
Luo was just about to ask if Xiao Lan needed help, when he saw Xiao Lan reach out and grab the doorknob.
He then proceeded to directly and efficiently get rid of the entire doorknob. With a crisp noise, the solid knob was lifted up like a pitiful little chick before it was casually tossed aside.
Luo: “…”
Fine, sometimes sir really made him feel like his existence was really unnecessary. It seemed like his greatest function was to just be a chat buddy?
Luo suddenly felt he was in danger of becoming unemployed.
Behind the door was a tiny office. It was still pitch-black from smoke, and its original use couldn’t be made out.
There was only one corpse in the entire office, whose back was to the door as it lay on the ground. The clothes on the body were very familiar; it was the woman from the photograph in the wallet.
Xiao Lan walked to the front and discovered that this was a very beautiful woman. She had exquisite features and supple and beautiful hair. Her death wasn’t bitter; on the contrary, it looked extremely serene. It was like she was asleep, and she was at odds with this room that was burnt black.
The brooch they saw in the photograph was resting quietly on her chest.
Xiao Lan crouched down cautiously and tried reaching out to her chest. At the same time, he also carefully guarded against any possibility of a change in this corpse. After all, it wasn’t just corpses that had had malevolent deaths that were dangerous in the Advent World.
Unexpectedly, taking away the brooch went surprisingly smoothly.
When Xiao Lan took off the brooch, a new system notification appeared:
【Obtained brooch (1/1)】
【Return the brooch to the train marshal (Incomplete)】
“Train marshal? Is it that man in black?” The first person Xiao Lan thought of was him. “He’s probably this girl’s lover, and they died together in the platform explosion. But I don’t know why one would be on the train while the other is hidden in the platform’s control room.”
At the same time, Xiao Lan was a little suspicious. “Looking at the texture of the wallet and the brooch’s appearance, this man in black has quite the family wealth; it doesn’t make sense for him to initially work as a train marshal.”
Luo: “Perhaps the Advent World gave him a new identity. The identities of the ghosts in the games aren’t always the same.”
The powerful train marshal had to issue a mission for players to search for his lover’s brooch, which indicated that he actually was completely unable to leave the train, while the ghosts on the platform hid his lover’s corpse. He was unable to meet his lover, so he wouldn’t help the train leave this station.
Xiao Lan thought this was perhaps why the train was unable to leave.
At that moment, the woman’s corpse dissipated. Like the beauty of her death, her disappearance looked just as good, just like the light of fireflies at night.
The glimmering light hovered in the air before it finally flowed into the brooch in Xiao Lan’s hand.
The moment she disappeared completely, a black ticket appeared where her corpse had been.
Luo stepped over and picked up the ticket on the ground. It was identical to the one they had found in the train. He smiled lightly at Xiao Lan. “We have our train tickets, sir.”
Since he had to pretend to be a player, in this sort of situation where they needed a key item to clear the game, it was naturally safer if each of them had one. Otherwise, a fellow who didn’t need items yet could clear the game would be too conspicuous.
“Let’s go. Our goal now is to return to the train and complete the task,” Xiao Lan said.
The two stepped out of the control room.
They simultaneously sensed the wrongness of their surroundings. It was as if the camouflage was being peeled back. The originally old-fashioned but intact pillars had begun to crumble, and the ceiling also began to fall down from a heavy load. Cracks even appeared in the floor.
Dark patches began to appear on the clean walls. Inside the black spots were signs of burning, and even some sparks.
Because of these sparks, some light appeared in the originally pitch-black station. Although it still couldn’t be considered bright, it was still a lot better than when they could only see things with the flashlight.
With the help of the glow, Xiao Lan realised that everything within sight was going through these changes.
At the same time, a burning smell filled the air. It smelled a little acrid, and started to become stronger.
“Cough… This might be the station’s true appearance.” Xiao Lan coughed, his throat feeling a little uncomfortable, and his breathing was also rough. The oxygen in the air seemed to be decreasing.
It seemed like they had to pick up their speed to leave this place.
Thump thump thump —
At that moment, there were urgent footsteps suddenly in front of them.
Xiao Lan lifted his head and saw a distorted human figure dashing towards him. That person’s limbs looked like they were at unnatural angles, yet he ran exceptionally swiftly.
He stepped on fire and sprinted out from the darkness, looking like a demon.
Xiao Lan raised his hand and took out 【This is a dagger coated in highly toxic poison】 from his storage space and held it horizontally in front of his chest. He adjusted his stance and bent slightly, exhibiting the best posture for attacking at any time.
At the same time, he also prepared 【Introduction to the fundamental principles of Marxism】. Like this, regardless of whether this guy had a material or spiritual body, he could still battle him.
As the other party ran closer, Xiao Lan could clearly see that his face had already rotted and a large patch of his face had peeled off, revealing the muscle and teeth underneath and looking extremely sinister.
His muddy eyes flicked between the two of them, then, seeming to think that Xiao Lan was a little tastier, he showed Xiao Lan a malicious smile. After that, his mouth split to an unimaginable angle, and was full of crisscrossing fangs.
He suddenly sped up and pounced on Xiao Lan, his feet leaving deep cracks in the floor behind him.
Xiao Lan anticipated his attack and sidestepped, already prepared to counterattack with the dagger in his hand.
The next second —
Crash —
Under the other party’s forceful stomp, the floor which was already full of cracks to begin with… collapsed.
Under Xiao Lan’s stupefied gaze, the fellow baring his fangs struggled powerlessly as his twisted limbs drew irregular arcs in the air, like a tortoise that had been picked up.
Then, he helplessly fell downwards, smashing onto the floor below with a splat.
A bit of sympathy had just welled up in Xiao Lan’s heart, when he saw Luo directly move a broken pillar from the side and forcefully toss it down. It just happened to slam on top of the other party, creating an enormous boom.
Seeing that there were no longer any sounds coming from below, Luo revealed a satisfied smile and elegantly patted the dust off his hands lightly.
Xiao Lan couldn’t bear to look straight at him and turned his head away.
Tragic, really too tragic…
Author announced that she created a Weibo acc called @柏瑭呀, feel free to go find her
HAHAHHA, this whole chapter’s alternate title should just be called “Luo’s employment crisis; Must be useful to sir!!”
Also, poor monster. Getting smashed by a pillar even after you already caused your own death by stepping on the wrong spit.
Spot!! ( U︿U) =3
+1 so true, poor Lou he was on the verge between useful to sir and useless to sir! Isn’t that way scarier than death!!!
After wiping it clean a little, Luo passed the thing to Luo. I think it should have been Luo passed the thing to Xiao Lan?
Thank you for the chapter!!! ❤️❤️
Luo : It seemed like my greatest function was to just be a chat buddy? (´༎ຶ ͜ʖ ༎ຶ `)♡
zombies shows up
Luo : folds his sleeve I’m about to do a pro gamer move (ง🔥Д🔥)ง
Xiao Lan : …… Yep. He’s super S
Thank you for your amazing translation!!
WOAH WOAH
But Luo, you are also a surrounding scanning machine lololol
Thx for the ch ٩(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )و
Oh, an explanation for getting Luo a ticket! Though I guess it’s the…advent world, that they’re fooling? There really doesn’t seem to be anyone else around right now, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to be prepared, either. Also, this attacker just…too tragic haha
Thank you so much for translating! <3
Author announced that she created a Weibo acc called @柏瑭呀, feel free to go find her
While what I saw was :Author announced that she created a Weibo acc called @#### feel free to go find her
Thanks for the chapter! ^^)❤
Luo a moment ago: I’m going to be unemployed!
Luo now: Watch me sir, I have done my best~
Thansk for the chapter~
Luo is too handsome, ah! Xiao Lan can really not find a better partner!
thanks for the chapter <3
Lol unemployment 😭😭