Chapter 181: We Are Here To Bring You Home
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
Ever since she evolved, this was the first time Lin Sanjiu doubted her eyesight. But, no matter how many times she looked at the route map, the next stop was still Mausoleum Elementary Station—the stop which was originally after Kisaragi Station had now been changed to 'Home'.
"What does this mean? Is it forcing me to alight at this station?" Lin Sanjiu stood still in the same spot while she thought about the situation. When she looked up again, she discovered that, somehow, once again, it was dark outside the train. It looked exactly like the previous part of the track before she arrived at Mausoleum Elementary.
Even though she didn't know how the train managed to operate in this manner, Lin Sanjiu decided that she would clench her teeth and alight at Mausoleum Elementary Station if she really did not have a choice. No matter how normal this train was compared to that elementary school, she knew she couldn't possibly stay on this train for fourteen months without eating or drinking.
Lin Sanjiu did not know what to make of this situation as she walked back to sit in her original seat, feeling a little confused and perplexed. Thinking about it rationally, she would feel better if she sat down, as it would help her preserve some energy, but she couldn't explain why she didn't feel like sitting. Previously, she faced the same situation. She took quite a while to convince herself to sit—Lin Sanjiu looked around at the other seats. Regardless, she didn't want to go near any of the seats.
"Nevermind. I should search for some clues in this train... If it doesn't work out, I will smash open the door to the driver's compartment." However, given the circumstances, Lin Sanjiu figured out that the driver's compartment was probably empty. She grumbled and dragged her feet through all train carriages and started inspecting every detail.
The fluorescent light in the train carriage flickered. Lin Sanjiu was all alone. The train was traveling through a seemingly endless dark tunnel. Occasionally, the train would swerve left or right, and Lin Sanjiu would hold on to the train handle to maintain her balance. This time, she found many details she failed to notice previously. But they seemed almost useless...
"A flatten cigarette butt proves that there were other people here in the past, right? Why is there an advertisement leaflet here..."
Finding these items, which reminded her of her previous normal daily life, meant that there was some sign of human activity. This calmed Lin Sanjiu's anxiety quite a bit. Once she relaxed a little, she found it funny that she felt an aversion for the train seats. She shook her head and forced herself to sit down in a seat beside the train door. She actually planned to sit down to reserve her energy and compose herself. But seconds after she sat down, before she could think about the unusual aspects of this world, she heard a soft screech from the train brakes. The train slowed down almost instantaneously—she looked up and saw the train gradually driving toward the station platform.
[It has been less than 20 minutes, isn't this a little too fast compared to the previous time?]
The dot which represented 'Home' and the dot which represented 'Mausoleum Elementary' were still very far apart, so she assumed that it would take at least a few hours before the train arrived at the station again. She stood up to alight from the train, feeling very uncertain, but her heart froze for a second without warning.
When she saw Mausoleum Elementary the previous time, the position of the school was directly outside the very carriage she was in. Oddly, when she moved down another five train carriages, the position of the elementary school was still directly outside, such that her field of vision was still in line with the gates of the elementary school. This was the same scene she experienced previously.
It was almost as if the gates of the school were moving according to her position. When the teachers and children saw her, they smiled even more brilliantly. This time, Lin Sanjiu could even see the mole on the teacher's cheek very clearly.
This was because... the road had disappeared.
Previously, there was definitely a narrow road from the train station to the school. Without this road, Lin Sanjiu couldn't imagine how people would actually walk to the school. On the other hand, without the road, the entrance to Mausoleum Elementary was almost right outside the glass wall of the train station. It was as though the entire school had shifted one large step forward.
Naturally, the people standing at the gates of the school were now closer to the train station. The boy who was standing at the foremost position was so close to the glass wall of the train station that he was squishing his face against the glass, showing her his oddly flatten, misshapen face. Yet, he didn't even consider moving back one step. Lin Sanjiu could still see the smile under his squished, crooked nose.
"If I don't alight here, are they coming over to receive me?" A terrifying thought surfaced in Lin Sanjiu's mind. She had made a firm decision to alight just a few minutes ago, but right now her determination had faded like melting snow in spring. She turned her head back and watched the cigarette butt, lying on the floor of the carriage, silently. She immediately felt that it was safer staying on the train. [Anyone else would also refuse to get off the train, right?]
[If I don't get off the train, those people might not... come to get me... Maybe, I am overthinking about this?]
The train door beeped twice almost like it was urging her to quickly make a decision. Lin Sanjiu clenched her teeth and was about to take an irrevocable step forward when she caught a glimpse of a ball of paper stuffed in the seat she was sitting previously, it was sticking out from the crevice between the back support and the cushion of the seat. She thought she saw someone's handwriting on the piece of paper as well.
When she was sitting, she didn't noticed it because of its angle. If she didn't hesitate for some time at the door, she would have missed that item...
Lin Sanjiu's heart thumped loudly, she felt like a student who had finally found an excuse not to go to school. She retreated from the door, as if escaping. When she stuck her hand into the crevice of the seat, the door closed once again.
Meanwhile, the teacher and students standing outside the glass window did not look even one bit disappointed. Their smiles were still the same. But now, each and every pair of eyes followed the train as it moved until their pupils reached the corners of their eyes.
Lin Sanjiu only let out a sigh of relief when the school disappeared out of sight. She pinched the ball of paper with her fingers and pulled it out hurriedly. As she was a bit careless, she tore the paper a little.
The paper was very thin, and it appeared to be a torn corner of a newspaper without any print. There were indeed some hand-written words on the piece of paper. Lin Sanjiu quickly unraveled the paper. When she saw the words, she couldn't help heaving a sigh of relief, as it was Chinese.
Concentrating, Lin Sanjiu read the note again and she felt a chill all over. She felt fearful as she remembered what just happened.
"Do not alight from the train! You must not alight from the train—"
It looked like a female's handwriting. It was quite messy, as if the person had scribbled this note in a hurry. Half of the second 'train' on the note had been torn. There was definitely words on the other half of the paper but Lin Sanjiu didn't know where it was.
[Do not alight from the train!] Momentarily, this was the only sentence which echoed in Lin Sanjiu's mind. Cold wind continued blowing at her. Shivering and at a loss as to what to do, she looked up. If it was up to her, she didn't want to get off this train either. She might have limited food supply, but with that [Vending Machine], it wasn't really a pressing problem.
The real problem now was...
Lin Sanjiu stared fixedly at the train's route map. The next stop was still Mausoleum Elementary Station. [What should I do if that teacher and her students come even closer the next time around.]
And... she couldn't help thinking about a horrible thing. If the girl who wrote the note didn't alight from the train... where was the girl now?