Cold. Shaking.
In the darkness, Ji Jue opened his eyes.
Who am I? Where am I? What the hell am I doing?
"Not bad. You're the best of this batch of newcomers."
A reflective voice sounded, jolting him awake from his daze. He looked around in alarm.
A bench, a platform, lights, and a portrait hanging across the tracks. In the portrait, an old man in a station uniform held a signal lamp and waggled his brows at him, delighted as though watching a spectacle.
Before Ji Jue could react, he heard the lamplighter in the portrait ask, "Do you remember what happened before you came in?" Ji Jue opened his mouth instinctively, but no sound came out.
He froze.
As his memories returned, he only recalled hugging Youngest and taking two steps toward Doberman. Then the shadows surged like a tidal wave, opening their jaws and swallowing him whole in an instant.
Then... then...
What happened after that?
Vague, shattered images surfaced from his consciousness, but he could not piece them together. He could not remember, and even the faint remnants of an impression were rapidly fading.
Like waking from a fragmented dream, everything in it vanished into thin air.
Oh no, Youngest!
He sprang up and was about to speak when the lamplighter's portrait said, "The kid has already been sent to the hospital room. It's nothing serious, so don't worry."
The lamplighter shook his head with a sigh. "Damn, this is rare. I've worked in this shitty place for so many years, and this is the first time I've seen a living [Temporary Worker]. And one who's an Ember, too. Heh...
Do you think I should say that, Ji Jue?"
"Huh?"
Ji Jue hesitated, feeling light and comfortable all over but having no idea what had happened.