Chapter 30: The Fall

"What! The ninth stop is not the end of the line?"

[Blade That Quells Mountains and Rivers] was visibly shocked. "That doesn't make any sense! If the ninth stop isn't the terminal, then how is the performance evaluation calculated? It can't just be based on the number of ghosts killed, right?"

The Dusk Game was not a mindless hack-and-slash; its scoring system was far more complex than that. Moreover, ordinary players couldn't even manage to kill a few ghosts.

[Ink-Stained Dust] remained quite calm. "The rules are all interconnected. Since Rule 7 specifies the conditions for clearing the level, then deciphering Rule 3 and Rule 6 must surely provide the clues."

Bai Ming chuckled. "Actually, there's no need to overcomplicate it. Real-world bus routes have multiple shifts running back and forth; this underworld replica should be no different."

"As for how to confirm it..." Bai Ming glanced at the driver's back. "Isn't there an informed ghost right there?"

The severely injured [Cotton Candy and Cat] had lost the ability to fight, so this time, [Blade That Quells Mountains and Rivers] went to do the questioning. As it turned out, this bus driver was even more terrifying and began to mutate after only a few words. However, [Blade That Quells Mountains and Rivers] was significantly stronger than [Cotton Candy and Cat]. Relying on his superior strength, he managed to extract the critical information within the limited time.

Sure enough, the Underworld's 444 bus indeed operated multiple shifts, and there were return trips.

[Blade That Quells Mountains and Rivers] summarized, "The answer is clear. If you want the highest rating, you have to brave the underworld. Only the brave who can return alive from the underworld deserve the top-tier evaluation."

[Cotton Candy and Cat] shook her head weakly. "[Wutian] brother, I won't go to the ninth stop. It gets more dangerous the further you go, let alone getting off the bus to find the return platform. I simply don't have the strength for that..."

[Blade That Quells Mountains and Rivers] thought for a moment and agreed, "Me too. I'll choose to clear the level normally. If I perform well, I can get a B; even at the worst, a guaranteed C-rank rating is safe."

Bai Ming nodded. "I respect your decisions. Thank you for your help along the way."

[Cotton Candy and Cat] offered a grateful smile. "Thank you, [Wutian] brother!" [Blade That Quells Mountains and Rivers] also expressed his thanks repeatedly.

[Ink-Stained Dust] interrupted, "Are you done chatting? We need to study Rule 3. It will be a long time before we reach the Dawn Hospital stop, and we will definitely encounter stops that aren't on the schedule."

Bai Ming said, "Fine. If we encounter one, I will cooperate with you."

Hiss—!

The 444 bus stopped again without warning, with no announcement broadcast. Bai Ming was already guarding the rear door, but he kept his eyes closed. His task was to wait for [Ink-Stained Dust] to call for help, notice abnormal movements, or hear the sound of the other person getting off the bus before taking action.

Creeak—!

The rear door swung open suddenly, and the incoming cold wind was so biting that even Bai Ming, who possessed the 8-point toughness immunity from [Bloody Resilience], felt a chill. This anomaly shocked him; if he felt cold, he could only imagine what it was like for the other players.

Thump, thump, thump—!

The sound of ghost footsteps boarding the bus was accompanied by the sound of a katana cutting through the air. Based on the sound, Bai Ming judged there were six of them, but with the strength [Ink-Stained Dust] had displayed, he should be able to handle it.

After all, this was a spontaneous stop, not a designated station; logically, Rule 1 should not trigger an attack on [Ink-Stained Dust]. This conclusion was the result of their collective analysis—if it weren't for this, with Rule 3 ahead and Rule 1 behind, ordinary players would have no chance of survival. They had even specifically asked Bai Ming, but Bai Ming, using [Lawless], could only awkwardly say "maybe." After all, immune to punishment, he had no way of knowing the true mechanics.

It seemed that stopping the bus did indeed bypass the punishment of Rule 1. Given [Ink-Stained Dust]'s strength, he would normally only face four "Teacher Wang" entities. With his hidden cards, he should be enough to cope.

"[Wutian]! Save me!"

[Ink-Stained Dust]'s cry for help exploded suddenly. "My body is being controlled; I'm walking toward the rear door."

Bai Ming did not hesitate and swung his club at [Ink-Stained Dust]. Pull him? Push him? Don't be ridiculous—pulling and tugging would be too troublesome. In the Dusk Game, touching someone else's body for no reason—was that suicide?

However, [Ink-Stained Dust]'s figure flickered, and he actually dodged the blow. His voice sounded strained: "No! My will is failing! [Wutian], help me!"

Bai Ming's expression darkened as he swung his club again to pursue. But [Ink-Stained Dust] was now impossibly agile, and all of Bai Ming's attacks missed. When he thought about it carefully, it made sense. If a player didn't have sufficient agility and relied only on brute force, they would stand no chance against ghosts that didn't fear death and could trade injuries, especially with their various unpredictable attack methods. Therefore, those who could effectively damage ghosts were often highly agile players. And they were usually faster than the ghosts themselves.

Bai Ming could hit ghosts with precision, but against [Ink-Stained Dust], he appeared clumsy. Ghosts had low evasion, medium damage, wide attack range, high health, and low defense. Players had high evasion, high damage, small attack range, low health, and low defense. Simply put, PVE and PVP were two completely different things.

"Sorry, [Wutian]." [Ink-Stained Dust]'s voice became increasingly distorted. "Be careful, I can't hold on much longer!"

At this moment, Bai Ming finally experienced the frustration of being attacked by a ghost. He couldn't hit anything! Especially since he was keeping his eyes closed and could only judge positions by sound. Of course, [Ink-Stained Dust] couldn't do much to him either; they only had weapon clashes, with no real physical contact.

Still, a stalemate wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As soon as the bus started moving, [Ink-Stained Dust] should recover. Therefore, he just needed to stall.

Suddenly, a surge of overwhelming malice erupted from in front of him—it was malice coming from [Ink-Stained Dust]!

Damn it! This guy was too useless; he'd been completely controlled by the ghost in such a short time! This wouldn't do! If this continued, he wouldn't even have room to dodge!

Bai Ming quickly realized that [Ink-Stained Dust], possessed by the ghost, stopped dodging and instead used his body to compress Bai Ming's space, forcing him to fall out of the rear door. He could dodge, but if he did, he would never be able to stop [Ink-Stained Dust] from getting off the bus. Should he take the hit and block him anyway?

"Woof—!"

A sudden dog bark exploded, followed by an invisible force field slamming into him! Bai Ming couldn't use [Coward's Instinct] to dodge this kind of wide-range attack. Even if he tried, it would be useless; there was simply no way to dodge it. The good news was that the force field didn't deal much damage. The bad news was that the push was incredibly powerful!

Bang—!

Bai Ming was slammed out of the bus!

Snap—!

The bus doors closed instantly!

Bai Ming didn't care about the rules anymore. He opened his eyes wide and reached out, trying to grab the bus, but he only grasped at empty, void air!

Through the bus window, [Blade That Quells Mountains and Rivers] and [Cotton Candy and Cat] looked at him in horror, their faces filled with panic.

As for [Ink-Stained Dust]...

The corners of his mouth slowly curled upward. His lips moved silently, clearly articulating four words:

"Goodbye, [Wutian]."