The train's engine ground to a halt, and the deafening roar soon faded from their ears. Stopped on the tracks of Platform 7 beneath a blood-red sky, it sprawled in absolute silence like the corpse of a giant beast.
The door to Car 1 swung open. Steam billowed out as a boarding ladder lowered to the ground.
Ke Mingqing and Kuroki Hitomi descended the ladder, stepped off the train, and took a seat on one of the platform's wooden benches.
[Calculating the rewards for this instance. Please wait 3 minutes.]
"Give me some good rewards," Ke Mingqing complained.
Kuroki Hitomi hugged her schoolbag, keeping her head bowed in silence.
Ke Mingqing turned to her. "Right, didn't you meet the other three players yesterday? What kind of people are they?"
Kuroki Hitomi thought for a moment. "'Paranoia' is androgynous, with a very strange personality. 'Meng Qing' is a punk girl with blue hair, but she's surprisingly quiet sometimes and likes to sketch in her drawing pad. 'Orange Peel' looks like a normal college student."
"Paranoia? The magical boy who applied to work at the Magical Girl Company?"
"Right."
"He sounds dangerous," Ke Mingqing said, shrugging. "If he gets caught, we'll be implicated. Better tell him to keep a low profile. The news about 'players' has already started spreading lately."
"He said he was confident." Kuroki Hitomi paused. "But if you want, I'll try to persuade him."
"Alright," Ke Mingqing sighed. "If you find an urban instance next, you can run it with them. You don't have to always come to me."
"You aren't coming?"
"No. First off, the instance rewards aren't even as good as my main quest, and they don't give attribute points, so it's pointless for me. Second, I can't interact with them, or I'll leave a trail of evidence."
Ke Mingqing spoke casually, though inside he was thinking, 'My main quest offers so much more than yours. Just juggling the freaks around me is keeping me busy enough. Where would I find the time to run instances with you all?'
Kuroki Hitomi nodded. "That's fine."
"What is?"
"That way, I'm the only one who knows you," she said softly.
Ke Mingqing didn't think much of it. Slouching, he pulled a bottle of mineral water from his bag, took a sip, and stared blankly up at the blood-red sky.
"Keep an eye out for crows on the rooftops for me," he said.
"Why?" Kuroki Hitomi asked, puzzled.
"Rain Crow. My old man might be keeping tabs on me lately."
"Oh."
Ke Mingqing set down the water bottle and leaned back, resting his palms on the wooden bench. He closed his eyes for a short nap.
The twilight breeze brushed across his cheeks.
It had been a long time since he'd felt this relaxed. Thinking about how he had to go back to playing house with that bunch of demons and monsters at home—where being exposed meant certain death—he couldn't help but say:
"Why don't we elope? Let's forget about exterminating superhumans and just happily live out these next six months."
"...Huh?" Kuroki Hitomi froze.
"Just a joke."
Opening his eyes, Ke Mingqing casually asked, "Right, you asked earlier if I remembered the orphanage. When was that?"
Kuroki Hitomi fell silent. Just as she was about to speak, a series of settlement panels popped up before their eyes.
Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow. Sitting up straight, he looked at the text on the panel.
[Weekly Instance Clear Rewards Received: 1. Ghost Train Ticket (Once a week, you may use this ticket to board the Ghost Train and travel to any abandoned train station in the world);]
[2. 1,500 Super Coins;]
[3. 1,500 Experience Points.]
[The player has reached the experience cap for their current level. Level has automatically increased by 1.]
[Current Level: LV.07 (600/3,500 Experience Points)]
[The MVP for this instance is—"Ke Mingqing". The MVP player receives an additional reward: A full Conductor Uniform set (includes Conductor's Hat and Work Uniform).]
"A full conductor uniform set," Ke Mingqing said, raising an eyebrow. "Not bad. Now my puppet will have clothes to wear instead of running around bare-assed every day. The legend of the perky white butt ends here."
Kuroki Hitomi watched him mutter to himself, wondering if he was under too much psychological pressure.
Ke Mingqing opened his inventory and checked the description for the clothing set.
[Description 1: When you take fatal damage, the Conductor's Hat will block the attack once. As a price, the hat will be destroyed.]
[Description 2: When this uniform is returned to the inventory, it will automatically clean and repair itself.]
[As a reward for clearing a "Weekly Instance" for the first time, you have received an additional 1,000 Super Coins. Keep up the good work.]
[Current Super Coin Total: 4,000.]
Closing the settlement panel, Ke Mingqing quietly watched Kuroki Hitomi. The face of the girl with the teardrop mole was bathed in a soft halo of light. She raised a finger to tap the air, earnestly checking her own settlement rewards.
"Right, if you were going to die tomorrow, what would your final wish be?" he asked after a moment of thought.
"Why do you ask?"
"Just hypothetically. Our situation is pretty dangerous, isn't it?"
"My final wish..." Kuroki Hitomi pondered. "I want to find the boy who helped me at the orphanage eight years ago, and say thank you."
"How long ago was that?"
"Eight years ago."
"How old was he then?"
"The same as me. Eight," Kuroki Hitomi said. "I was getting bullied by the kids at the orphanage. They all knew I was from Japan, so they targeted me. He was the only one who helped me."
Ke Mingqing sighed. "Come on, you're way too naive. The guy has definitely forgotten all about it by now."
Unbothered, Kuroki Hitomi gently shook her head.
"It's enough that I remember," she said softly.
"Let's go. Time to head back."
He shouldered his bag and stood up from the wooden bench. Hugging her own bag, Kuroki Hitomi hurried to catch up with him.
The platform was deathly quiet. The only sounds were the flow of water and their footsteps.
The boy and girl walked shoulder to shoulder, not saying a word for a long time.
A moment later, Ke Mingqing slowed his pace, falling behind Kuroki Hitomi until he stopped entirely.
With his head lowered, he raised his right hand, aiming all five fingers at the back of her head.
In an instant, pitch-black lightning shot from his fingertips. Violent arcs of electricity danced wildly in the air.
As if sensing something, Kuroki Hitomi stopped walking.
She didn't turn her head or make a sound. Clutching her bag straps, she simply lowered her eyes.
The platform was dead silent as the boy and girl stood there, one behind the other. After a long while, Kuroki Hitomi spoke up, asking without looking back:
"Are you... going to kill me?"
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