Chapter 170
Chapter 170: Leaving the Nineteenth Platform – Trial of the Grey Mist
[Weather: Grey Mist]
[Grey mist from beyond the horizon pours into the wilderness~]
[Please be careful not to get lost in the grey mist.]
[This weather, no danger?]
[This weather only exists in the wilderness~]
This really is one thing after another.
Just after leaving the Platform, another special event arrives.
Whether it is the Station World or the wilderness.
It’s always like this.
“No danger, but with a question mark?”
The same prompt as back when he was at the Forward Station where the Smiling Man was…
So, could this grey mist be related to the gods?
In the sky of the wilderness, the bright moon that should have been there was shrouded by the grey mist.
The grey mist gradually surged from beyond the horizon toward the Train.
Until it completely enveloped the Train.
The world outside the Train window fell into darkness and dead silence.
It was as if they had entered an endless underground tunnel.
The Psychedelic Monitor and Boundary Sentry were all turned on.
The Hunting Mechadragon was summoned directly, hanging on top of the Train in its normal state.
The Raven Demon stood at the rear of the Train on guard.
The concept of time seemed to be disappearing in this darkness.
The never-erring pocket watch played its role once again.
From the moment he returned to the wilderness, one minute, two minutes…
Aside from silence, there was only silence.
It seemed as if nothing would happen in this grey mist.
Three minutes…
Thump—
Thump—
A heartbeat?
He heard a sound coming from outside the Train.
He looked out of the Train window.
In the darkness, at some point, a tiny white dot appeared.
The white dot was rapidly approaching.
In just the blink of an eye, its full appearance could be seen clearly.
Was that… an eye?
An eye with greyish-white wings?
Buzz~
Suddenly, an item automatically flew out of the Train’s storage unit and fell into Ye Qiyan’s hand.
“This is…”
[Dream Eater’s Dream Crystal]
Dream Eater?
Why would it appear here?
No, wait… this feeling is very familiar!
Ye Qiyan’s pupils contracted. He subconsciously opened his palm, and the anchor manifested in his hand, but…
“As expected!”
Before leaving the previous station, he had cast the anchor once, leaving a coordinate in Ten-Cang Rice City.
But now, the anchor’s coordinate had no response!
No, it wasn’t that there was no response, but rather…
This is not reality!
This place is a dream!
This wasn’t the first time he had experienced this! This feeling was exactly that of a dream!
“Could it be that the Dream Eater is here again? Let me wake up first…”
The illusory crystal he had obtained from the giant’s corpse in the Don Quixote world also surfaced at this moment.
The crystal shattered, turning into a stream of light that enveloped him.
He woke from the dream!
Buzz!
Dream Eater!
That dreamlike and wondrous creature, resembling a jellyfish, appeared before him.
It gently touched Ye Qiyan’s cheek~
The surrounding gloom vanished without a trace.
Everything returned to peace.
“Phew… Ha…”
Opening his eyes.
Outside the Train window, the bright moon hung high in the night sky.
The Red Tear Demon and the Raven Demon stood quietly by his side.
Wall-E quietly stayed by the bed, absorbing electricity.
Opening his palm, the blasphemy card surfaced in his hand.
The coordinate reacted.
“What was that just now?”
Ding—
The system’s voice rang out at this moment.
[Congratulations, you have completed the Grey Mist Trial—]
[When the Train’s docking time reaches 24 hours, you will be able to enter high-level Platforms above Level 8. Wishing you… continued progress… Next, clearing memories related to the Grey Mist…]
[Error?]
[Unable to clear the memories of the Grey Mist Trial for Train Captain No. E-3-1102, Ye Qiyan?]
[Error! Error!]
[“…”]
[“Trial memories cannot be cleared. Issuing quest.”]
[Quest Name]
[Shh~ Please do not mention the Grey Mist]
[Shh~ This is very important!]
[Quest Reward: 30 Train Coins]
“…Huh?”
The Grey Mist was not fake.
But this baffling trial was not fake either.
To enter a Level 8 Platform and become a higher-level Train Captain, is it mandatory to complete this trial?
But he had never heard of this from anyone’s mouth before.
And their memories regarding the Grey Mist were cleared?
What about him?
What the hell did ‘unable to clear’ mean?
“System, what would happen if I couldn’t wake up from that dream? And when did I start entering that dreamland?”
[“…Due to this severe error event, the Train System will answer three of your questions regarding this trial.”]
[“Nothing would happen, because you would wake up eventually. The trial is not meant to devour or kill the Train Captain, but to test whether the Mental Power of those with Talent is firm, and whether they can realize it is a dream faster. However, if the time taken to wake up is too long, it will cause a reduction in the maximum limits of Mental Power and Stamina. The time of entering the dream was the moment you returned to the wilderness; the Grey Mist noticed you then.”]
[“Ding—Since the beginning of the Train world, you are the second Train Captain to wake up within a single day.”]
“Is there no reward?”
[“There is none.”]
“Tch, stingy.”
[“…”]
“What about that winged eye? What was that?”
[“That is… the Grey Mist.”]
“?”
A baffling answer that made no sense at all.
With only one last question remaining, Ye Qiyan furrowed his brows and thought carefully. He suddenly noticed that by his feet, the Dream Eater’s fantasy crystal had developed a few cracks.
He reached out to pick it up and gently caressed it. Before he could even feel distressed, the cracks actually grew larger and larger.
Crack—
The crystal shattered.
A dreamlike creature resembling a jellyfish, only the size of a baby’s palm, landed in his palm.
“???”
[Dream Eater (Juvenile)]
[The Dream Eater species likes the aura on you. They cannot stop, but their child perhaps can…]
“So this was actually an egg?”
Touching the tiny Dream Eater, it felt soft and somewhat cool.
It affectionately clung to Ye Qiyan’s finger and, as if tired, slipped directly into his collar.
Looking down.
This little guy actually pressed itself directly against his chest; when he reached out to touch it, it felt as though it had completely merged into his body.
“Although I don’t quite get it… System, last question. Why is there such a trial? Is it related to the gods?”
The system quickly replied:
[“That is the choice of the Grey Mist. The gods have no right to interfere.”]
[“Answers complete. Quest issued, reward distributed.”]
Dark golden spots of light condensed into thirty Train Coins in front of Ye Qiyan.
Immediately after, the system’s voice vanished completely.
It was as if everything just now had never happened.
“This day really has been strange enough… I clearly feel like I know a lot now, but why does it also feel like there are still so many things I can’t wrap my head around at all…”
“Ha~”
He stretched in relief, lay on the bed, looked up at the ceiling, and curled his lips upward.
Instead of thinking about these troublesome matters…
…it was better to have a good rest and wait for his Stamina and Mental Power to recover.
It would soon be time for the next Sublimation of the Train.
He had gotten thirty Train Coins for nothing.
Hopefully, the options for the next upgrade…
…would not disappoint him.
