The rumbling sound of an engine.
The seat beneath him was constantly bumping and trembling.
A familiar foul odor, a mixture of gasoline, formaldehyde, and various other chaotic smells... enough to make one carsick just by smelling it.
Fumiya Jin opened his eyes.
This is...
A bus?
The current environment was clearly the interior of a bus.
But this bus had no side doors, only a single door on the right side at the front.
Inside, there were four rows of padded seats—two on the left and two on the right, separated by a half-meter-wide aisle.
And Fumiya Jin was currently sitting in a middle seat of the second row on the left.
A row of lights on the ceiling was fully illuminated, serving as the only source of light inside.
Why?
Because within his field of view, all the windows, including the front windshield visible when looking forward through the aisle, were sealed shut with dense, black, opaque tape. It seemed they had applied more than one layer just to be safe.
Fumiya Jin was slightly startled.
Sealing the side windows didn't matter.
But with the front windshield sealed, how could the driver see the road?
Just as he was thinking this, with the high seatback in front of him obstructing his view, Fumiya Jin prepared to stand up to check the driver's seat... but he suddenly felt something pressing on his left shoulder.
Her body was leaning gently against him, her head resting on his shoulder.
A faint fragrance wafted over, different from Nijika's scent—less fresh, more alluring.
At that moment, however, she seemed to be waking up. She rubbed her eyes and lifted her head. "Has it started?"
"Yeah," Fumiya Jin nodded and stood up to scan his surroundings.
First, the driver's seat...
Well now, the driver's seat was completely empty.
Unmanned vehicle?
But the bus seemed to be moving quite smoothly, showing no signs of being out of control.
Fumiya Jin then glanced over the entire passenger area.
Although the seatbacks were quite high and many people were still leaning against them, Fumiya Jin's view was significantly obstructed.
But the countdown timers were a great help; like beacons, they instantly showed him where people were—besides the two of them, there were four other timers.
Fumiya Jin and Yuki Suou were currently in the middle section of the bus, occupying two adjacent seats on the left side.
Three rows ahead, on the right, two people were sitting together. From the back, they looked like a middle-aged man and woman.
One row ahead of them, also on the right, a handsome young man with black hair, green eyes, and wearing a butler's uniform was sitting by the aisle.
He turned his head and saw Yuki Suou.
Two rows back, sitting directly in the column behind Fumiya Jin, sat a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, as exquisite as a porcelain doll.
Her skin was snow-white and translucent, so fair that she didn't look like a full-blooded Asian; she was likely of mixed European descent.
Her golden-blonde, waist-length hair was spread out behind her, and her slightly slanted, phoenix-like eyes gave her a somewhat mature look.
But her slender figure, her expressionless face, and the faint, dull, and cute feeling between her brows combined to give her the fragile air of a kitten.
Fumiya Jin had no recollection of any of these people's faces.
However, their countdowns caught his attention.
The middle-aged couple's timers weren't long. The man had only over seven hundred seconds left, about a dozen minutes, while the woman had a little over half an hour.
As for the others... they all had a little over an hour, and their times were nearly identical.
It seemed to suggest that everyone except the middle-aged couple had a chance of clearing the instance.
But after the lesson from the previous instance, Fumiya Jin knew better than to think the countdowns revealed everything.
It was best to remain cautious.
"What's the situation this time?" a somewhat gruff voice came from the front.
Fumiya Jin looked back and saw the man from the middle-aged couple stand up and glance toward the back.
Fumiya Jin took the opportunity to get a clear look at him. He was a middle-aged man with slightly dark skin and a balding crown. Though not large, his frame looked solid. His face had an honest, simple look, and he was wearing an old-fashioned gray tracksuit.
However, the moment he stood up...
[Welcome to the Samsara Game. A new game is about to begin.]
A sinister notification sound chimed.
Fumiya Jin, who was standing, and the middle-aged man who had just stood up were both forced back into their seats against their will.
[Instance Name: Heartwarming Bus.]
[Clear Condition: Reach the final station.]
[Instance Tips:]
[1. Do not look outside.]
[2. You must not actively harm other passengers.]
[3. Your ticket is the only proof that you belong on the bus. Do not let it leave your person.]
[The game... officially begins.]
"Hiss..." A series of sharp intakes of breath proved that everyone had heard the instance notification at the same time.
As the voice in their minds faded... everyone regained control of their bodies.
But no one spoke at first.
They all looked at one another.
Then, they all turned their gazes to the driver's seat at the front of the bus.
"No driver?" the middle-aged woman stood up and said in astonishment.
Fumiya Jin now got a clear view of her. The middle-aged woman was wearing a white lab coat, like a doctor. The coat was spotless, pure white, looking brand new rather than used or washed.
The middle-aged man got up, entered the aisle, and cautiously took a few steps toward the front of the bus. He took a glance... and quickly retreated.
He said to the middle-aged woman, "There's no one driving, but the steering wheel is moving... Also, there's a set of clothes on the driver's seat and the one next to it. Looks like a driver's uniform and a conductor's uniform."
Hearing this, everyone was slightly alarmed.
No one was driving, yet the steering wheel was moving...
This might be normal for a modern self-driving car, but this bus was clearly not one.
It could only be attributed to some strange force operating the vehicle.
After all, this was the Samsara Game; anything bizarre could happen.
"Right, the tip just now mentioned... a ticket?" Yuki Suou said in confusion, looking down at her hands before patting her pockets...
She quickly felt something.
Taking it out of her pocket to look...
It was a nylon bracelet with a round, green plastic tag strung on it.
"This is the ticket?" Yuki Suou asked, intrigued.
Seeing this, the others immediately began searching their own clothes and pants...
Soon, they all found something in their pockets.
They were all plastic tags of the same shape with a string attached, but each person's was a different color.
Fumiya Jin's was yellow.
He immediately stood up to check the colors of the others' tags.
The handsome butler's was purple, and the expressionless girl's was cyan.
When the middle-aged couple saw him approaching, they subconsciously tried to hide theirs, but he moved too quickly. By the time they realized, he had already seen them—they were blue and orange, respectively.
Everyone's tag was a different color.
______
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