The Safe Zone Was No Longer Safe

Route 444 Last Bus, current passengers: 7.

On its return journey, an ordinary bus would travel from the terminus back toward its starting point. In other words, after leaving Ghost Village, its next stop should have been Lovers' Lake.

But when the Route 444 Last Bus left Ghost Village, it did not turn around. Instead, it drove straight ahead into the fog.

The bus traveled through the fog for a long time. When it finally emerged, what awaited them was not Lovers' Lake Stop, but a casual announcement from the Driver-

"Next stop, Community Hospital Stop."

Wan Shasha turned to look at the others in confusion. Su Bai could understand the other players' surprise, too. After all, Community Hospital Stop was the first stop they had learned about after entering this nightmare game.

To them, "Community Hospital Stop" was the starting point.

After leaving the terminus, the Route 444 Last Bus had actually returned to its starting point after passing through a stretch of fog.

Everything was starting over.

No, it was not starting over.

Among the novice players on the bus, perhaps only Su Bai, the cheater, knew that the second round of this game was nothing like the first round's "relaxing, leisurely bus tour."

"Something's wrong." The first to notice the change was Qin Ge, who was sitting in the row behind Su Bai. His voice was strained, with an edge of nervousness.

Su Bai glanced back along with the others. The paper figure beside Qin Ge still looked as unnerving as before. An exquisite white qipao wrapped its thin, coarse paper body. The White Qipao Paper Figure's once-delicate, vivid makeup had long since become crooked, crude daubs of paint. The paint at the corners of its mouth stretched all the way to its ears, forming a grotesque, eerie smile.

What had changed was that, at some point, the paper figure's thin paper arm had settled against Qin Ge's shoulder. Its hand consisted of five crudely cut strips of paper, their tips painted with scarlet fingernails. Without a breath of wind, they gently stroked Qin Ge's shoulder.

The paper was so very thin that it looked as though a casual tug would tear it apart.

Yet in the few seconds Su Bai and the others watched, the paper figure's five thin fingers inflated like balloons. They were still made of paper, their surfaces just as rough, but they had become three-dimensional.

Traditional paper figures were never merely flat sheets. Funeral craftsmen first fashioned frames from bamboo or wooden strips, then pasted paper over them before painting on facial features and makeup. They were more lifelike, and far more chilling.

"Driver, we're safe on the bus, aren't we?" Although Wan Shasha had only known Qin Ge for a short time, this Mr. Qin from the Relevant Authorities had given them a sense of security while Su Bai remained silent. If possible, she did not want anything to happen to Qin Ge.

But this time, the driver gave no answer.

"Hee-hee."

As they spoke, the White Qipao Paper Figure's head began taking on depth as well. Its laughter grew clearer, sounding closer than ever.

"We can't wait any longer." Su Bai could no longer afford to hold back. With a plan already in mind, he dropped his casual expression and said solemnly, "We said earlier that the fog in this game environment protects beginners. But that also means this bus is the only place in the entire game scenario where there are humans."

"Evil spirits love eating humans, so naturally, they're drawn to us. Other evil spirits are bound to follow our scent onto the bus."

"The reason the evil spirits didn't readily attack before wasn't because there was anything special about this bus or the Driver. It was simply because the Ghost Bride's power suppressed those special passengers who were weaker than her."

"But what happened back in Ghost Village..."

Su Bai did not finish, but judging by Qin Ge's expression, he had already understood some of what Su Bai meant.

Evil spirits ate humans, so they would be drawn to the humans on the bus and choose to board it. But they feared the Ghost Bride's power and knew that the bus was her "personal ride." However eager they were to feast, they ultimately did not dare attack on board.

That had made the Route 444 Last Bus a relatively safe environment.

But after they passed through Ghost Village, everything began to change.

The Ghost Bride's behavior in Ghost Village had been enough to show the evil spirits on the bus that, powerful as she was, she was merely a vengeful spirit bound to this decrepit bus by shackles of her own making.

Even if they did something on the bus, the Ghost Bride might still be unable to break free of the invisible chains and shackles in the back row!

It was as though an expensive, exclusive club with terrible food had suddenly become an all-you-could-eat buffet!

That meant the White Qipao Paper Figure could attack at any moment!

If more man-eating evil spirits boarded at the next stop or the one after that, they would attack too once they saw the White Qipao Paper Figure make its move!

This was the biggest change in the game's second round. Even the inside of the bus was no longer safe.

Su Bai let out a long breath and stood up right in front of the transforming White Qipao Paper Figure. He glanced at it, and its newly three-dimensional head instantly turned toward him. He could discern nothing in its distorted eyes painted in red, but the grotesque smile stretching to its ears was even more unnerving than when it had been flat.

But Su Bai only gave the White Qipao Paper Figure a glance before walking over to the other side.

On the right side of the bus, the nurse who had boarded during the previous round had been sitting very quietly. Apart from the Ghost Bride and the White Qipao Paper Figure, she was the only special passenger who had not yet gotten off.

Just as when she had boarded, the nurse wore a nurse's uniform and cap, but her white clothes were covered in grime, mixed with bloodstains of unknown origin. Her bare feet were caked in mud as well.

Unlike the relentless crying when she first boarded, however, the nurse was now utterly silent. A closer look revealed that she had kept her head lowered, covering her mouth as she sobbed soundlessly.

She had never stopped crying.

The white nurse's cap sat crookedly on her head. Her hair looked terribly disheveled, hastily pinned up and tucked beneath it. But even that hurried attempt to tidy herself could not hide the blood seeping through her hair, which had already stained the edge of her cap red.

As someone who had died, the nurse seemed to have suffered a wound to her head.

When Wan Shasha had questioned the Driver earlier, he had said that the things lurking in Community Hospital were all vicious, ruthless characters. The nurse must have been tormented by those things.

Su Bai even suspected that she might be a ghost who had escaped from a group of vicious spirits.

This was not a groundless guess. During his earlier meditation, Su Bai had vaguely recalled a certain Community Hospital he had cleared in the Nightmare World, along with some information related to it.

Besides, their next destination was Community Hospital Stop again. Before any changes he could not anticipate occurred, he had to give it a try.

And it was worth trying.

"Miss Nurse." Su Bai walked softly over to the nurse, then sat down beside her.

Hearing his voice, the nurse raised her bowed head. Two ghastly trails of bloody tears marked her face, but no bloody tears were flowing. There was not much sadness in her eyes, either. Instead, she looked somewhat puzzled that Su Bai had spoken to her.

Su Bai turned to look at the nurse, a perfect smile on his face-

"Miss Nurse, could I ask you to have a good, hard cry?"