Event

The ticket area is located at the other end of the train station.

Three old arched windows are arranged equidistantly on the red brick wall. The arched railings above them are peeling and rusted, and the afterglow cannot reach them. The inside of the windows is completely dark.

A brand new sheet of printed paper was pasted on the wall next to it.

During the off-season, only one ticket window is open. Please select the correct window to purchase tickets. If you select the wrong window, you will not be able to purchase tickets.

Seeing this question requiring a choice, Luo Di looked directly at Yu Ze beside him and asked, "Which one do you choose?"

"Let me calculate..."

Yu Ze was about to perform the calculations using the Minor Six Rens method, crack! A crack appeared in his thumbnail, and even wisps of black energy seeped out from the crack.

This unusual behavior made Yu Ze had been relaxed, a little more serious, and he adjusted his glasses with his fingernail that had broken.

"The matter at hand must be chosen directly, without external interference, otherwise it will be targeted by the Fear Entity... Not only my fortune telling, but even trying to peek inside the window with my abilities will not work."

So just make a choice.

"Should you go, or should I go, or You Zhen go instead?"

You Zhen waved her hand. Most of the time, she was just a leader and an observer, and she would only take the initiative to help if there was an unexpected danger.

Furthermore, You Zhen herself wanted to see just how far these two Special Newcomer with the Connector label could go in their first exploration.

"You two go by yourselves. If you make the wrong choice, you might not be able to get tickets, and our exploration of the train station will stall here."

"Then I'll go."

Luo Di volunteered, and in a state of great excitement, he went straight to the leftmost window.

Just as he was about to interact with the window, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the paper pasted on the side wall had changed; a line of small print had appeared at the bottom.

[Note: There is no ticket seller at the middle window. Do you want to select a different ticket?]

Luo Di looked at the left window he was about to select, then at the prompt, and quickly remembered something.

It may seem that the corner helps eliminate a wrong answer, giving a 50% probability of choosing the correct one, but that's not actually the case.

Luo Di immediately abandoned his current choice and headed towards the right-hand passage.

Knock knock knock!

Reach out and knock on the sealed glass window.

The silence lasted for a while, then the window was opened from the inside by a plastic prosthetic hand.

No fees are required, and you don't need to specify which station you're going to or the number of people buying tickets.

Three Train Ticket have already been handed out.

Just as Luo Di pinched the other end of the Train Ticket with his fingers.

Snap!

In the darkness, another plastic arm suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist.

This sudden situation caused the Old Spine to straighten, and the tentacles between its arms began to wriggle, ready to fight back at any moment.

The next second,

An old-fashioned loudspeaker emerged from the darkness.

"Please note! There are security concerns in Waiting Room No. 4 at the train station. Please exercise caution when going there!"

The announcement ended, and the plastic arm released its grip, disappearing into the darkness along with the megaphone.

Luo Di stared in astonishment at the grip marks left on his wrist. The other party clearly had no abilities whatsoever; it was neither a monster nor Hell Demon, just a very ordinary plastic-like object.

But just a moment ago, he actually felt a chilling sense of fear.

Although the fear was quickly erased by the grayness in my mind, the feeling was somewhat... pleasant.

He hadn't experienced fear in a long time, and this fear was so simple, so pure.

Looking at the Train Ticket in his hand,

This was the first time Luo Di had ever seen such an old-fashioned Train Ticket.

The ticket has a pale beige hue, and the edges are always a bit rough, as if it has been caressed by countless hands. The station name and ticket price printed in lead type are slightly raised, and you can feel the grainy texture of the ink when you run your fingertips over them.

[██-██]

The starting and ending stations were completely obscured, and the dates were also unclear.

As soon as he returned to the squad, You Zhen came up to him and gently touched his temple with her index finger.

"You didn't accumulate any fear? An 'incident' clearly happened."

"Event? What do you mean?"

You Zhen moved her finger away and pointed to the window she had just seen. "The exploration in the corner is not free; we can't just go wherever we want."

Many places are closed off and require certain conditions to enter; for example, train stations now require Train Ticket.

The process of obtaining something may require triggering an "event"*.

Within the Exploration Bureau, there is also an academic term for it: "the Event-based expression of Fear Entities".

These ubiquitous Fear Entity are not free and scattered like air; they aggregate under specific conditions and manifest themselves in the form of events.

The fear transmission of an event is extremely efficient. Once it comes into contact with someone, regardless of whether the event succeeds or fails, it will often cause one person in the team to fall into a state of panic, or at least accumulate some Fear Value.

Although the Shallow Layer level of fear wasn't high, and the event itself was quite simple, how come you weren't affected at all?

Luo Di glanced at his wrist, which had just been touched, and replied, "There was a slight Fear Invasion, but it was easily filtered out."

After learning the true nature of the so-called "events," Luo Di's interest in the corners grew. If the Fear Entity could gather to create corresponding "events," then perhaps something else, even more dangerous, could gather Corner Depths.

You Zhen gently patted Luo Di's shoulder and pointed to the window from before. "How did you choose the correct window?"

"Well... when I was doing exercises at school, a friend of mine who was very good at academic subjects talked to me about a Three-door problem during a break, which was the same as the situation I just mentioned."

Miss You Zhen found out the specifics afterward.

Is that so?

You Zhen diligently memorized the information, and when she looked up, she found that Luo Di was already at the front. Yu Ze also immediately joined them, discussing the specific process of getting tickets at the window.

For some reason, You Zhen, who was following behind, felt like she was back in the main team.

It was as if the two young men in front of them were not newcomers at all, but the captain and vice-captain.

The team returned to the train station entrance.

After the three tickets were cut, the plastic arm retracted its windproof strip, and Luo Di's tongue stopped curling.

Lift the cloth strip,

The team passed through the only passage and entered the train station.

The lighting, no longer illuminated by the glow of the setting sun, has become the dominant color.

The station hall remains unoccupied, with the only light source coming from the waiting room entrances (1-4) located on the left and right sides.

Green light emanated from waiting rooms 1, 2, and 3.

Waiting room number 4, on the other hand, was illuminated in red.

Luo Di also recounted the warning he received at the ticket window, coupled with the unusual red light emanating from Waiting Room No. 4, suggesting that danger might be lurking within.

"Waiting Room No. 4 also corresponds to the incident, right? Miss You Zhen."

"Yes, the warning given in response to the previous event may very well correspond to an event with a higher level of fear."

Fear can have a greater impact on us, and correspondingly, we may also derive benefits from it.

"Benefit?"

"That's right. In special areas like these where Fear Entity gather in large numbers, once dealt with properly, you might get ' Corner Coin.' A special currency that can be spent in corners, and it's also the most precious thing. Agents will try their best to collect it during their explorations."

This currency will be able to buy things far beyond what humans can understand.

This is also one of the main reasons why people are unwilling to return to the Nexus.

We were really lucky; generally speaking, newcomers don't encounter such a chain of events.

Considering our team composition and the fact that you two are newcomers, let's explore other areas of the station first, and then decide whether to actively head to the event area later.

As soon as he finished speaking, Luo Di and Yu Ze began to move, quickly heading towards waiting room number one, which was lit up with green light.

One hour later.

The search of all areas within the train station has been completed.

Luo Di was holding a bottle of Rising Sun and taking a short rest on a faux leather bench.

This investigation has confirmed that there is no danger in other areas of the train station, and all food in the shops is within its production date.

While waiting rooms 1 through 3 were illuminated in green, the ticket gates inside were closed, and even the passageway to the platform was blocked with bricks.

Furthermore, no Connection Port was found to leave the current corner area.

All the exploration targets pointed to the Waiting Room No. 4, which was emitting a red glow.

After a short rest,

Without much discussion, the team took the initiative to walk towards the red light. Unlike their previous exploration, everyone was noticeably more focused.

Luo Di's right hand had already fallen to his waist, touching the hilt of the knife he had brought from hell.