“I see…”
Mu Bai muttered softly to herself.
If 2.6 billion people had entered the survival game, it would have inevitably caused massive panic.
Effectively, one out of every three or four people would have suddenly vanished.
Such a change would be impossible to hide.
She searched for live streams in public places, hoping to check for signs of unrest to determine if a large number of people had gone missing, only to find that the dates displayed in the corners of the streams were wrong.
Exactly twenty-odd days had passed since the day she crossed over—the exact same amount of time she had spent on the Train.
Checking the news yielded no reports about the abrupt disappearance of over two billion people.
In other words, this was merely a world similar to Earth, but it definitely wasn’t Earth.
While browsing the news, Mu Bai noticed the term “Blue Star” being used, and the outlet publishing it was an official state media source.
Tsk…
Back at the Trading Station, she had told Talina she was from Blue Star.
To think there actually was a parallel world of Earth called Blue Star.
Now she wasn’t entirely lying.
After all, she even had an “account” here on Blue Star…
She opened the System Interface to check her private messages.
Mu Bai intended to contact the others, but she suddenly noticed that one contact in her list had turned gray.
It was quite jarring.
It was Su Wan.
‘Gray… does that mean I can’t contact her?’
Mu Bai fell into thought.
Someone in the Chat Room had mentioned that if a private message contact died, their name would disappear from the contact list entirely.
So, the current situation was likely an indicator similar to “User Offline.”
She tried sending a message, and as expected, it wouldn’t go through.
She remembered that while at other stations, including the Trial Station where the return time was unknown, she had never encountered this situation.
Could it be that this Vacation Station was fundamentally different from the others?
Mu Bai gave up on thinking about it.
There was almost no relevant information available; even if she were Sherlock Holmes, she couldn’t deduce the specific reason.
Rather than wasting time, she might as well regroup with her teammates early.
A three-day vacation… was hardly a real vacation.
It was a precious opportunity to gather resources!
Mu Bai: [Yuan, what’s the situation on your end?]
Ye Yuan: [I’m at home… it seems like I’ve returned to the time and space from before I crossed over.]
Mu Bai: [Not exactly. This is a parallel world called Blue Star… but that’s not important. Where do you live?]
Ye Yuan: [Tan Palace.]
Mu Bai felt like she recognized that name.
She looked it up online.
Holy crap, wasn’t this one of the top luxury residential areas in the country?
It wasn’t far from her current location—just a thirty-minute trip by high-speed rail.
Mu Bai: [Is anyone else at your house? Or should we meet up somewhere outside?]
Ye Yuan: [No one’s home… how about I come find you? I’m a little worried about you being out by yourself.]
Mu Bai: [?]
Mu Bai: [My place is too small for four people. I’ll check with Tang Shifu and Mo Cha in a bit. If it’s inconvenient for them, we’ll stay at your place. What do you think?]
Ye Yuan: [Okay.]
After reflecting on the fact that this was actually her first private chat with Ye Yuan, Mu Bai immediately found Tang Shifu and Mo Cha.
The two had no objections to the suggestion of gathering at Ye Yuan’s house, so the matter was settled.
Perhaps because they were from the same initial Chat Room, their locations weren’t far from each other.
Tang Shifu and Mo Cha lived in the same city, while Mu Bai and Ye Yuan were in two other cities, but all were within an hour’s reach by high-speed rail.
Gathering would be very convenient.
Furthermore, she wasn’t sure if it was a correction by the Train System, but her identity information in this world matched her current appearance.
Even the portrait on her bank card was that of a white-haired girl with a heavy anime aesthetic, which saved her a lot of trouble.
Otherwise, being an undocumented person would have been a massive headache.
Checking the railway app, the fastest train was in two and a half hours, and there were exactly two adjacent seats left.
Mu Bai was quick enough to snag one, grabbed her phone and charger, and left the house.
She took a taxi to the high-speed rail station.
Along the way, Mu Bai felt uneasy.
In just the short time she spent downstairs waiting for the car, she had attracted the gaze of at least a dozen people.
Passersby were stealing glances at her, and some girls were even staring openly, stopping in their tracks as if trying to come over and strike up a conversation.
Mu Bai had no experience handling such advances, so she had to pretend to look at her phone with a serious expression, acting as if she had urgent business.
This allowed her to avoid them and wait safely until the taxi arrived.
Even the taxi driver wasn’t his usual cold self.
He chatted idly and even turned off the loud, tacky music he was playing, seemingly afraid she might be uncomfortable during the ride.
Attributing these encounters to her Charm Value made it feel a bit eerie.
If her three teammates encountered this sort of thing, it would be normal.
But she clearly looked like a young girl—something she had to admit to herself—yet she still attracted so much attention, even across genders.
If the majority of society were lolicon… this world would be doomed.
Entering the high-speed rail station, she predictably drew even more attention.
Helpless, Mu Bai finished the check-in process and waited in a seat near the boarding gate, pretending not to notice the stares from those around her.
Whenever someone’s gaze inadvertently swept past, they would be instantly captivated by her, making Mu Bai feel as if she were the one who was out of place.
She checked herself; she hadn’t forgotten to wear any clothes, and everything was normal.
Only then did Mu Bai realize that, aside from her facial features, perhaps this off-the-shoulder dress was too eye-catching.
It was almost like wearing a cosplay outfit on the subway in a small third-tier city.
However, thinking about it now was pointless.
She was already at the station and had no choice but to wear this to meet up in Ye Yuan’s city.
“Sigh…”
Being cute is a sin in itself.
There were mirrors in the restrooms on the Train, so Mu Bai had long ago accepted the fact that “she was very cute,” but she only felt the direct impact of it now that she was back in modern society.
Now, Mu Bai understood why Ye Yuan was worried about her taking the high-speed rail alone.
After a while, a stylishly dressed girl with blue hair sat down beside her.
Curious, Mu Bai turned her head to steal a glance.
The other girl was a beauty on par with Ye Yuan and the others, with refreshing, shoulder-length aqua-blue hair and deep blue eyes that looked like clear lake water.
Within that transparency lay a certain depth, making it impossible to read her thoughts.
The blue-haired girl clearly noticed Mu Bai.
When their eyes met, she simply nodded, her gaze softening for a moment as a polite gesture, but she didn’t initiate a conversation.
Mu Bai naturally had no intention of striking up a chat either.
After nodding in response, she went back to scrolling through her phone in peace.
The girl beside her didn’t lose out to her much in terms of charm.
With the other girl’s presence, much of the attention she was receiving was diverted, which made Mu Bai feel a faint sense of gratitude.
About two hours later, it was finally time for Mu Bai to check in.
To Mu Bai’s slight surprise, the blue-haired girl beside her had also waited for two hours.
She stood up at the same time; they were taking the same train.
Arriving two hours early and waiting the entire time…
The girl looked like she should be in school.
It wasn’t a long holiday or back-to-school season, so waiting that long was quite rare.
Then, Mu Bai became increasingly shocked.
From entering the platform to finding her carriage and even sitting in her seat, the other girl had followed her the entire way.
Finally, she sat down next to her again.
They had adjacent seats.