You Have a Ticket, but This Seat Isn't Yours
[Current status: enraged from humiliation.]
When she saw that line,
the corners of Shen Niannian's mouth, which had just lifted, slowly fell again.
(｡ŏ_ŏ)
She had won the argument.
But the other side seemed ready to flip the table.
The little girl hugged her doll.
A smile slowly spread across her deathly pale face.
"Big sister."
"You know so much."
She took a step forward.
All ten of her fingers gradually lengthened.
Her pitch-black nails dragged across the seat.
Screech-
They left five deep gouges.
The other players in the carriage instantly tensed.
The livestream chat erupted too.
"Here it comes!"
"She won the argument about the rules, so now the ghost is playing dirty!"
"That's a B-rank!"
"Shen Niannian can't fight right now!"
"Where's Cheng Ye? Do something!"
Cheng Ye did move.
But he didn't take out the black iron nail at his waist.
Instead, he looked up.
He looked toward the other end of the carriage.
"Attendant."
Quite a few players were startled.
Shen Niannian realized it too.
Right!
They were on a train.
It was a seating dispute.
Why did she have to settle it with the passenger herself?
Get a staff member!
Cheng Ye's voice was steady.
"There's a seating dispute between ticketed passengers here. Please have a staff member handle it."
As soon as he finished speaking,
the door to the carriage ahead slowly opened.
A woman pushing a cart walked in.
Grayish-white skin.
A mouth split in a grin all the way to her ears.
On her chest-
a white badge.
[Attendant: 047]
She matched rule three.
Shen Niannian immediately took a look.
[Target: Lightless Train attendant] [Danger level: B-rank] [Identity: official attendant] [Current status: normal]
Safe.
At least her identity was safe.
When the little girl saw the attendant appear,
the smile on her face visibly stiffened.
The attendant walked over to 12A.
"What happened?"
Cheng Ye didn't answer for Shen Niannian.
He simply said, "Both passengers claim 12A belongs to them. Please check their tickets."
Very clever.
He didn't draw a conclusion for the staff member.
He only asked for the tickets to be checked.
Shen Niannian immediately held out her ticket.
The little girl didn't move.
The attendant turned her head.
"Ticket."
The smile vanished from the girl's face.
After a few seconds,
she finally held out her ticket, moving slowly.
The attendant placed the two tickets side by side.
Soon,
the answer came.
"12A belongs to the passenger traveling to Homecoming Station."
"A temporary segment ticket does not entitle the holder to a fixed seat."
"Temporary passenger, please choose an empty seat yourself."
The little girl stared hard at Shen Niannian.
"But I want to sit here."
The attendant's face was expressionless.
"16C is empty."
"Please take your seat immediately."
"Otherwise, you will be considered to be disrupting order on the train."
As soon as she finished speaking,
the little girl's body abruptly stiffened.
A flash of unwillingness clearly passed through her pitch-black eyes.
But in the end,
she turned and left, still hugging her doll.
As she passed Shen Niannian,
she suddenly lowered her voice.
"Big sister."
"You'd better keep a firm hold on your ticket."
"Once you lose it..."
"This seat will be mine."
With that,
she grinned.
Then walked toward 16C.
Shen Niannian: "..."
(°ー°〃)
Great.
Now she was openly after Shen Niannian's ticket.
The livestream chat, meanwhile, was going wild.
"Nice!"
"That was such a satisfying way for Cheng Ye to handle it!"
"Since it's a seating dispute, just get the attendant to check the tickets instead of taking on a B-rank ghost head-on!"
"Didn't Shen Niannian check something just now too?"
"She visibly relaxed after seeing the attendant. She must have determined that the staff member was fine."
"Her teammate was finally useful this time!"
Shen Niannian also gave Cheng Ye a serious look.
"Thanks."
Cheng Ye sat back down.
"We're just helping each other."
Then,
he glanced at the little girl in 16C.
"From now on, keep your ticket on you."
"That last thing it said didn't sound like a simple threat."
Shen Niannian nodded.
She thought so too.
Rule five specifically stressed keeping their tickets safe.
Now a temporary passenger had appeared who clearly wanted to snatch a ticket.
The danger mechanism ahead
would very likely revolve around the tickets.
Creak-
The five-minute stop came to an end.
The train doors at Yellow Mud Station slowly closed.
The train started moving again.
An announcement sounded.
[The train has departed Yellow Mud Station.] [Next stop: Paper Figure Station.] [Estimated arrival: forty minutes.]
Forty minutes.
It looked like a stretch of safe time.
But after going through the Blood Moon Hotel,
Shen Niannian no longer believed the instance would let them simply sit there for forty minutes.
Sure enough,
in less than a minute,
another announcement came.
[Ticket inspection will begin shortly.] [All passengers, please have your tickets ready.] [During the inspection, please remain in your own seats.]
The atmosphere in the carriage instantly grew tense again.
Cheng Ye immediately reminded everyone.
"Only show them to an attendant with a white badge."
Rule three.
Black badge-close your eyes.
Everyone nodded.
Soon,
footsteps sounded from up ahead.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The first ticket inspector appeared.
A white badge.
Normal.
"Tickets."
The players showed their tickets one by one.
Stamp.
Return.
The process went unusually smoothly.
Shen Niannian almost felt it was unreal.
It was her turn.
The ticket inspector was just about to take her ticket.
But it suddenly stopped.
It had seen the name on the ticket.
[Shen Niannian]
Then it raised its head.
And looked at her face.
[Current status: shocked] [Current status: nervous]
Shen Niannian: "..."
(￣ー￣)
Again?
The ticket inspector fell silent for two seconds.
Then it took the ticket with both hands, extremely respectfully.
Stamp.
It handed it back with both hands.
"Have a pleasant journey."
Shen Niannian took it.
"...Thank you."
The livestream viewers were getting used to it.
"Good, this feels familiar."
"Even the ticket inspector knows her this time?"
"What kind of creepy internal contact list are they sharing?"
"'A-rank instance: one big community of acquaintances.'"
Shen Niannian silently stuffed the ticket back into her pocket.
No matter why these ghosts knew her.
Keeping her ticket safe was the most important thing for now.
A few minutes later.
The regular ticket inspection ended.
Most of the players visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
But Cheng Ye didn't.
He kept watching the front of the carriage.
His brow furrowed more and more deeply.
Shen Niannian noticed.
"What's wrong?"
"They skipped a step."
"What?"
Cheng Ye lowered his voice.
"The ticket inspector only stamped our tickets."
"But it didn't check the passengers who just boarded."
Shen Niannian froze.
Right.
That white-badged ticket inspector.
From beginning to end, it had only checked the twelve players already in the carriage.
The "passengers" who had boarded at Yellow Mud Station-
It hadn't checked a single one!
Just then.
Click.
The carriage lights suddenly flickered.
The door at the front of the carriage.
Opened again.
A man in the same uniform walked in.
He held a ticket punch.
His face was expressionless.
"Additional ticket inspection."
"All passengers, please show your tickets again."
A newcomer instinctively started to pull out his ticket.
Cheng Ye's expression changed dramatically.
"Don't move!"
Everyone was startled.
The next second.
The man slowly raised his head.
On his chest.
Hung a solid black badge.
[Attendant: 013]
The livestream chat erupted.
"Black badge!"
"Rule three!"
"Close your eyes! Hurry!"
Quite a few players in the carriage immediately shut their eyes.
Shen Niannian didn't hesitate either.
Snap.
Her eyes shut tight.
(＞_＜)
The rule was perfectly clear.
Upon encountering a black-badged attendant.
Close your eyes immediately.
Until it leaves.
But after everyone closed their eyes.
The footsteps didn't leave.
Instead, they slowly began moving farther into the carriage.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
In the darkness.
A gentle male voice spoke.
"Don't be nervous."
"The staff member earlier forgot to add the second stamp."
"If you don't have the second inspection stamp..."
"Your ticket will automatically become invalid once we reach the next station."
No one responded.
The footsteps drew closer.
Suddenly.
The voice stopped in front of a newcomer.
"Sir."
"Your ticket is already invalid."
The young man's breathing hitched noticeably.
"I... my ticket was stamped just now."
He'd spoken.
Cheng Ye's heart sank.
The black-badged attendant chuckled softly.
"Then please open your eyes and check."
"You only need to take one look."
"If there's a stamp, I'll leave immediately."
The young man's breathing grew more and more rapid.
He was clearly beginning to waver.
The livestream chat was frantic.
"Don't open them!"
"The rule says to keep your eyes closed until it leaves!"
"It's lying to you!"
But the players in the instance couldn't see the chat.
The next second.
The young man spoke in a trembling voice.
"R-really just one look?"
The black-badged attendant said with a smile:
"Of course."
Cheng Ye spoke up immediately.
"Don't open your eyes!"
"The rules didn't call for a second ticket inspection!"
"It's the only one telling you your ticket is invalid. You can't believe it!"
The player gritted his teeth.
And lowered his head again.
The black-badged attendant fell silent.
A few seconds later.
The footsteps resumed.
Continuing toward the back.
Shen Niannian kept her eyes closed.
But suddenly heard-
The footsteps stopped in front of her.
Immediately afterward.
A voice spoke, noticeably hesitant.
"..."
"Miss Shen."
"How about..."
"I go inspect another carriage?"
Shen Niannian: "?"
(⊙_⊙)
Wait.
You fake attendant...
Why are you asking to switch targets yourself?