Under the watchful eyes of Yuki Suou and the other person to their right, the transparent passengers boarded the bus one by one.
Logically, the entire front half of the bus had been turned into a complete mess, with most of the seats sliced to bits, which should have alerted and confused these transparent passengers.
But what happened next defied common sense—the transparent passengers didn't seem to care about the terrible condition of the bus at all.
Four of them sat directly down in the few seats at the front that hadn't been destroyed. As for the rest, they headed straight for the middle and rear of the bus.
When the foremost one reached the aisle of Fumiya Jin's row... everyone couldn't help but hold their breath, their nerves stretched to the limit, terrified that this group of unknown beings would suddenly notice their presence and attack.
However...
"Thud, thud..."
The footsteps passed by them in the aisle, one after another.
They were clearly aware of the presence of Fumiya Jin's group of four—because none of them tried to sit in the four seats they occupied.
But, despite being aware of them, these unknown beings seemed completely unconcerned.
Their footsteps didn't even pause for a moment because of the four of them; they just walked straight to the back.
Then, they sat down in the rows behind them.
About seven or eight of them sat in the back rows.
After sitting down, they remained quiet and still.
This left Fumiya Jin and the others slightly stunned, but they also slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
A few minutes later.
The bus resumed its smooth journey.
Whether they were in the front or the back, the transparent passengers all sat quietly in their seats without any unnecessary movements.
This allowed the tense hearts of Yuki Suou and the others to gradually relax.
Especially Yuki Suou.
She was already holding the clearance ticket.
As long as no accidents occurred and they could wait safely for the final station, they would naturally clear the instance.
And from the current looks of it, as long as she held onto Fumiya Jin's mischievous head, she indeed wouldn't be targeted by those transparent passengers.
So... it should be a sure thing.
Yuki Suou let out a long sigh, her mood relaxing a bit.
Although she was still secretly observing the state of those unknown beings behind them, her relaxed hand began to stroke Fumiya Jin's hair, intentionally or not, as if she were petting a cat.
"Don't you know the saying, 'Don't touch a man's head or a woman's feet'?" Fumiya Jin said in a muffled voice.
"You have the nerve to say that?" Yuki Suou retorted, annoyed.
"What's wrong? I didn't touch your feet," Fumiya Jin said righteously.
"But what you're doing right now is way worse!" Yuki Suou shot him a glare, lowering her head fiercely, but it was obviously ineffective, as Fumiya Jin's face was completely buried in her chest, making it impossible for him to see her scornful look.
Just then, the sound of light footsteps approached.
Yuki Suou looked up and saw that it was the expressionless girl from the other side of the same row. She had stood up, entered the aisle, and was now beside Fumiya Jin.
It was worth noting that although everyone had discovered by now that these unknown beings wouldn't show any aggression while the bus was moving, allowing them to relax a little, they still mostly avoided talking loudly or getting up to make any big movements during the ride.
After all, it was better to be safe. If they could avoid trouble, they would.
So, the expressionless girl's sudden act of leaving her seat and approaching Fumiya Jin immediately caught the attention of Yuki Suou and Hasaka. Both of them looked at the expressionless girl with confusion.
"The ticket..." the expressionless girl began, her voice not loud, but since there was little other noise on the bus, it wasn't hard to hear, "can I see it?"
Fumiya Jin also sensed the expressionless girl's arrival by his leg. However, he didn't feel any hostility, so he didn't move or speak for the time being.
Hearing this, Yuki Suou instantly understood what the other girl meant.
But she had no intention of agreeing.
"Unfortunately, we don't know each other well, so I can't possibly hand over an important clearance pass to you, not even temporarily," Yuki Suou said politely but firmly. "Besides, the rules state that the ticket cannot leave your person."
After listening, the expressionless girl shook her head. "You don't have to give it to me, I just want to look... I can't see it clearly from this far away."
Hearing this, Yuki Suou recalled the expressionless girl's strange drawing behavior from earlier.
That must be some kind of class skill.
Can't see it clearly from far away...
Is that a limitation of the skill?
If she can't see it clearly, she can't successfully draw it?
"If you want to draw it, can't you just copy your own ticket and change the color?" Yuki Suou voiced this doubt again.
"That won't work," the expressionless girl shook her head. "I have to be looking at the original... Changing the color, using my imagination—neither is possible."
Yuki Suou was taken aback for a moment, then she understood.
Thinking about it, it made sense. If she could create things just by imagining them, the skill would be far too overpowered and shouldn't appear in an instance full of rookies like them.
If she had to stare at the original object, and at close range, to replicate it... then that was within the realm of understanding.
Yuki Suou pondered for a few seconds.
Then she raised her head and glanced at the back rows.
After confirming that the unknown beings in the back were sitting quietly without any unusual movements, and had not reacted to the expressionless girl standing up and speaking...
Yuki Suou felt reassured. She took out the ticket, looped the cord around her wrist, then pinched the tag and held it up above the back of Fumiya Jin's head. "This is the only way I can show it to you..."
Now the expressionless girl could indeed see it.
But the distance still wasn't close enough.
This plastic tag seemed to be a special item, with particularly high requirements for activating a skill on it.
Right now, Yuki Suou was in the window seat, and Fumiya Jin was in the aisle seat.
The expressionless girl was standing in the aisle, so she could only look from about a meter away, which was still not very clear.
If only she could get a little closer...
As the expressionless girl thought this, she looked at Fumiya Jin, who was like a beached fish—his lower body in his seat while his upper body was slumped over toward Yuki Suou...
"Does... he have to be like that?" the expressionless girl asked Yuki Suou.
"Emmm..."
Yuki Suou gave a helpless smile. "It's hard to explain, but... it is sort of necessary."
"Then... how about we switch?" the expressionless girl thought for a moment and asked.
"Switch?"
Yuki Suou was baffled.
She didn't understand what "switch" meant at all.
Switch what?
How do we switch?
She looked at the expressionless girl in confusion, about to ask what she meant.
But the expressionless girl's decisiveness was somewhat astonishing.
Seeing that Yuki Suou didn't object, she had already taken action.
She carefully stepped over Fumiya Jin's outstretched right leg and stood in the space between his legs, facing him.
Fumiya Jin sensed something was wrong. Why was this girl squeezing in front of him?
He had no choice but to lift his head to see what was going on, but just as he started to sit up...
The expressionless girl hugged his head and pressed it into her own soft chest—just like he had been with Yuki Suou moments before.
Fumiya Jin: "???"
______
✅ Until 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories!
✅ Exclusive content and updates!
Help us hit our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 55 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
Claim your 40% OFF spot and unlock everything now:
👻 P - Walnutchan