Choosing a Stop

When Lin Ye came to, he found himself sitting in the back row of a bus.

Not a single piece of equipment was missing from his backpack or his person.

A few passengers sat scattered throughout the bus. Lin Ye glanced around and counted twelve people, not including the driver.

The bus was traveling along a road, with dense woods on either side.

Just then, a new window suddenly popped up on the system interface. Its contents looked a little like a chat room in a messaging app.

There were currently four people in the chat room.

One of them sent a message.

Li Ji: Hello, everyone. Do you know what's going on?

Each speaker's name had their profile picture beside it. Lin Ye quickly found the passengers who matched those pictures.

She happened to be sitting diagonally ahead of Lin Ye. She was a slender young girl in a Chinese-style school uniform, with almost translucent pale skin, medium-length black hair, and a cute face. Despite her tense expression, she gave the impression of a small animal.

Zhao Yong: I got here after joining the nighttime activity. I assume you did too.

Zhao Yong was a well-built elderly man sitting by the left window in the second row. He looked over sixty but was very vigorous. If not for his wrinkles and graying hair, it would have been hard to believe he was an old man.

Xu Min: Me too. What do you know about this activity?

Xu Min was a middle-aged woman. Of the four, she was the only one with obvious signs of mutation. At the very least, all four of her limbs appeared to have mutated.

Lin Ye: You don't recognize me, so we probably aren't from the same region. Can you tell me about your regions?

Zhao Yong: Huh? Are you saying everyone in your region knows you? That's impossible, isn't it? A region has a million people. Young man, do you understand how many people that is?

Lin Ye: I've been sending everyone strategy guides since day one. As long as you still check the group chat, there's no way you haven't seen my name, so we definitely aren't from the same region. When the nighttime activity started, our region still had 992,341 people. Don't tell me yours had that many too?

Zhao Yong: What? Impossible. Over a hundred thousand people have already died in ours. How could so few have died in yours?

Lin Ye: Because of me.

Zhao Yong: ...

After exchanging information, they discovered that none of them came from the same region. Every region had started with a million people, and the areas outside their shelters were all dangerous. Their nighttime missions for the first two days had all involved exploring mazes, while the third day's mission had changed to a Site Mission for everyone.

Xu Min: I'm looking for my daughter. Have you seen a girl named Li Xiaolu?

Lin Ye: No.

Zhao Yong: I can't remember.

Li Ji: I think there was someone with a similar name, but I don't remember clearly. There are too many people with the surname Li.

As they exchanged information, a system notification suddenly appeared in the chat room.

[Choose any stop to disembark at, survive there until the bus arrives tomorrow, and board the bus to leave the stop.]

[Note: After ten stops, the bus will enter the shallow sea zone.]

Li Ji: So this is the Site Mission?

Zhao Yong: Yes. It looks like choosing a stop is very important.

Xu Min: The notification doesn't seem to say we have to choose the same stop.

Li Ji: You're not thinking of taking the risk alone, are you? We don't know what we're dealing with. It'll be safer to stick together.

Xu Min: No, I'm just pointing out that it's an option.

Lin Ye: Let's see what the stops are like and pick one. I suggest deciding before the ninth stop.

Zhao Yong: Of course. Since the system specifically mentioned it, that means the shallow sea zone is different from the earlier stops. We'd better stay away from it.

Soon, the bus reached the first stop.

It was a dark green swamp filled with all kinds of wetland plants. Thick, dark green fog drifted deep within it.

Xu Min: I don't recommend this stop. Swamps are too dangerous.

Li Ji: Agreed.

Lin Ye: Same.

Zhao Yong: It actually looks all right on the surface, but since none of you agree, let's look at the next one.

The bus would not turn back. They only had one chance to choose each stop, and once they made their choice, they could not change it, so they had to choose carefully.

Ten minutes later, they reached the second stop. It was an unusually clean beach, with fine white sand spread like snow along the coast. It looked hot and deserted.

Li Ji: From a swamp to the coast in ten minutes. Something's wrong with this road and this bus.

Xu Min: Yes, there's something wrong with this bus. The driver and the other passengers look exactly like humans, but they have no human presence at all. It's like something else wearing human skin.

Zhao Yong: So, are we getting off here?

Lin Ye: No. I've never swum in the sea, and the ocean is very dangerous.

Xu Min: A place where you can't see any danger at all really isn't a good choice.

Ten minutes later, they reached the third stop.

The third stop was at the entrance to a sunlit town. From the bus, they could see friendly townspeople smiling inside.

Zhao Yong: This place seems good. Even if something goes wrong, it should be easy to deal with.

Li Ji: I don't have a good feeling about this place.

Lin Ye: I don't like it either.

Xu Min: Their smiles are too fake. They're like mannequins.

Zhao Yong: ...All right.

The fourth stop was a void. One side of the platform was empty, with nothing there at all.

Lin Ye: Next.

Zhao Yong: Agreed.

Li Ji: Seconded.

Xu Min: Same.

The fifth stop was shrouded in fog. They could not see what was inside at all.

Lin Ye: Next.

Zhao Yong: Agreed.

Xu Min: Agreed.

Li Ji: Agreed.

The sixth stop was a gigantic jungle. In the distance, a plant stretched straight into the sky, its top completely out of sight.

Li Ji: It feels dangerous.

Lin Ye: Same here.

Xu Min: Then let's try the next one.

Zhao Yong: There are only four stops left. Maybe we should pick one that's bad, but not that bad.

Li Ji: Then let's try the next one. I have a feeling the next stop won't be particularly terrible.

Lin Ye: All right.

The seventh stop was a field of ruins, with thin mist drifting through them. At the edge of the ruins, Lin Ye spotted familiar Blood Corpses.

But farther away, in the center of the ruins, a huge shadow over ten stories tall was slowly writhing, its movements as rhythmic as a living creature's breathing.

Lin Ye: Let's pick this one. I'm actually pretty confident in my understanding of Blood Corpses.

Li Ji: Agreed.

Xu Min: Seconded. Ruins are good for hiding. Our goal is to stay alive until the bus arrives tomorrow.

Zhao Yong: Agreed. At least I know how to kill them.

Lin Ye: Then let's get off.

The four disembarked one after another. Neither the driver nor the passengers reacted. Just as Lin Ye thought they were all NPC-like beings, the passenger sitting closest to the door suddenly turned and gave them a meaningful smile.

Lin Ye happened to look back and met his eyes.

"Goodbye. Have a pleasant journey."

The passenger spoke.

"...Goodbye. Have a pleasant journey too."

Lin Ye replied, then left the stop with the others.