In Virtual Reality 3 ☆ The Eternal Bus (3/4)

"— Riverside Station is here! Passengers disembarking, please bring all your belongings and disembark through the back..."

"— Riverside Station is here! Passengers disembarking, please bring…"

"— Riverside Station is here! Passengers disembarking…"

"— Riverside Station..."

......

Wang Zhou Zhou closed his eyes and finally opened them after listening to the sixth electronic announcement.

The bus was now full of stiff-looking 'people'.

The bus was dead silent.

The girls in the rear seat were too afraid to cry, but their hearts were quivering.

The last stop.

The bus wobbled to a halt.

"— Rising Signs Mansion Station is here! Passengers disembarking, please bring all your belongings and disembark through the back door."

At that moment, Wang Zhou Zhou seemed to hear the sound of fireworks bursting into bloom next to his ears, which made his ears ring a little for a while.

Here we are.

Rising Signs Mansion had arrived.

The hoodie simply got up and turned his head sideways to the dumbfounded Wang Zhou Zhou, "I'm getting off first, buddy."

Wang Zhou Zhou woke up as if from a dream and subconsciously shouted, "Wait! I'm going too!"

They yanked Wang Zhou Zhou's hands away.

"......"

"I'm not deaf, and keep your cold hands off." The hoodie had an odd tone as if they were very disgusted.

The two people, one in front of the other, stood in the back car doorway, intending to get out.

Suddenly, the hoodie turned back.

"Are you getting off at this stop too?"

He asked the girls who were silently following behind.

"......."

The hoodie spoke with a smile and a gentle tone, "This bus is quite small, so if you get off early, the next one might be full."

"It's better not to get off early."

They gave a good natural reminder.

Not intending to hear back from the girls, the hoodie got off the bus by themself.

Wang Zhou Zhou, following them, paused for a moment and turned his head to whisper to the pale girls.

"It's better for you to get off at your station. Ask the driver how far it is."

His gaze was unflinching. After closing his eyes, Wang Zhou Zhou finally got off the bus.

"......"

The girls had to return to their original seats, and one of the calmer-looking girls asked loudly while the car was still at the station, "Driver!"

"How many more stops are there for Richmoor (茂银Guang-Mao) Bank..?"

After a long silence, a low male voice came from the front.

"Two stops."

The girl gritted her teeth and boldly returned, "Okay, thank you, driver!"

The bus closed its doors and swayed onward.

**

— Rising Signs Mansion

As soon as Wang Zhou Zhou got off the bus, his legs bent, and he fell to his knees.

Wang Zhou Zhou: "!"

Shit, did his legs turn into empty skin husks like that man?

He was a little horrified and hurriedly went to touch his leg.

…. Ah, nope, just scared soft.

Wang Zhou Zhou covered his face and secretly spat at his own guts.

"Little brother, are you all right?"

Others waiting at the station asked Wang Zhou Zhou hesitantly. They just saw the tall, leggy little brother drop down and cover his face.

He remained silent till he found what to say.

"Brother, listen to me, don't take the bus today. I just got back from the shenanigans."

Passerby: "... fuck."

He didn't care if his statements cast a psychological shadow on the pedestrian. Wang Zhou Zhou sat on the ground and took out his mobile phone to dial "110".

After coming out of the shenanigans, the mobile phone signal also came back.

"Hello? Uncle police, I want to call the police. It's about the Eternal bus shenanigans, I have a clues to offer."

***

Qin Yue Qing (秦月倾) pulled Shen Xi's (沈溪) sleeve. The two sat on the plastic seat stiffly.

Shen Xi touched the back of her cold hand to soothe it. She turned her head and watched the two people who had gotten off the bus disappear when they stepped into the station.

They must have returned to the real world.

The bus rattled along for maybe five or six minutes before returning to the station.

"— Rising Signs Mansion Station is here! Passengers disembarking, please bring all your belongings and disembark through the back door."

This stop was a repeat of the previous one, they didn't make it back to Riverside Station, but they were also stuck at Rising Signs Mansion Station.

'The next stop will be here.'

Shen Xi swallowed nervously. Qin Yue Qing's face was pale as she bit her lower lip to death and didn't make a sound.

...... Someone got on the bus.

They were two children.

Shen Xi's pupils tightened.

As soon as they got inside the bus, the two youngsters, who appeared stiff and walked weirdly, went directly to the rear.

They came to a halt in front of the seat where the hoodie and Wang Zhou Zhou had previously sat.

Two pairs of hollow black pupils peered at Shen Xi and Qin Yue Qing. The two ghostly youngsters paused for a time before settling onto the empty seat.

"......"

Shen Xi reached out involuntarily to touch her heart. Her heart nearly leaped through her chest.

The bus would have been full if Wang Zhou Zhou and the hoodie hadn't gotten off just now.

On the bus, you have to give up your seat for the old, the weak, the sick, the disabled and the pregnant. Small children need seats more than two adults like them.

But what will happen to those without seats on this bizarre bus?

Shen Xi forced herself to calm down against the immense pressure, and after five or six minutes, the next stop finally arrived.

"— Richmoor Bank Station has arrived. Passengers getting off the bus, please bring all your belongings and get off through the back door."

In exactly the same mood as Wang Zhou Zhou, Shen Xi stood up with a trembling body and pulled Qin Yue Qing, who had to get off at the same stop as her, to the rear car door.

Her legs were shaking.

She took a deep breath.

Qin Yue Qing tightened her grip on Shen Xi's shaking arms, her face pallid but resolute as they exited the vehicle together.

Is it finally...... over......?

"They're out!!!"

Shouts could be heard from nearby as soon as they stepped out of the vehicle. The next second, a tall guy shielded them behind him with one hand while holding the blaster on his chest and directing it forward with the other.

Shen Xi reluctantly turned around to see police officers encircling the number 25 bus.

The boys who had jumped off the bus had phoned the cops for them.

The officer at the front of the group gripped their gun securely and moved fast to the driver's side.

"There's no one on..."

They muttered.

Nobody was in the driver's seat of bus number 25. The strange bus had appeared out of nowhere at the Richmoor Bank station!

The bus appeared to be unaware of the surrounding officers. It slowly closed its doors and shook a few more times, trying to drive away.

Before the policemen could think of a way to stop the bus, the unmanned 25 disappeared into thin air as it had come.

...... No, it would be better to say that it drove on the road once again out of sight of everyone.

Shen Xi and Qin Yue Qing fell to the ground softly, unable to get up for half a day.

The surrounding police officers did not come forward to disturb them for a while. They silently watched the two young girls for a good half day before they broke down and cried out from their suppressed emotions.

‘If it's one-stop later if it's one-stop later...’

Qin Yue Qing hugged Shen Xi and bawled.

They would really die on this bus that was on a perpetual loop!

"Are you guys okay?"

A familiar male voice came from the side. As one of the people who experienced the [Eternal Bus Shenanigans], Wang Zhou Zhou followed them to the Richmoor Bank Station.

He crouched by the side and looked at Shen Xi guiltily, "I'm sorry I couldn't help you guys at that time."

"...... No," Shen Xi patted Qin Yue Qing, whose sobs gradually subsided, "I want to thank you for that, for not giving up on us and for reporting to the police on our behalf."

"What's more, if you and that little brother hadn't gotten off the bus, we would have really been in trouble."

Seeing the girls' emotions gradually calming down, one of the officers came to them and said to them in a gentle tone.

"The general situation has already been told to us by Mr Wang. If you don't mind, we'll go back to the police station and do a more detailed investigation. Is that alright?"

The officer added, rather humanely, "Of course, call your family first to report your safety."

**

[The Eternal Bus Passed!]

A girl removed her VR glasses and smoothed her somewhat frizzy long hair.

Xu Jin Yi was quite satisfied with the realism of the game.

Although turning a single-player oriented RPG into a VR game was strange, she liked it.

Especially after adapting it into a VR game, Eternal Bus added many interactive NPC characters.

It was cool to play.

A tall, leggy, and handsome guy showed a shocked and pale face.

—That's too realistic.

Xu Jin Yi gave the nod to the VR game and Eternal Bus.

She flung her VR glasses onto the soft bed and propped herself up.

Most of the RPG single-player horror games she had played before had been made into VR, and Xu Jin Yi decided to check out the others tomorrow.

The holiday was quite long anyway.

——— Translators Notes ———

Mini spoiler = As you can see, Xu Jin Yi is a girl, but the character she plays is default one given by VR. She hadn’t changed its face, body or clothes. Since she hadn’t specifically picked gender for her player character and her character looks ambiguous, I chose to use gender natural pronouns when POV is from other characters. Meanwhile, when the chapter is from her POV, she will have female pronouns since she herself isn’t role playing a boy. I did so, because in later chapters some people will see her player character as a boy while others as a girl. The author themselves also affirmed that the game avatar is genderless.

Qin Yue Qing

秦月倾: character approximate name meaning, Qin= Just Surname, Yue = Moon, Qing = to overturn / to collapse / to lean, Leaning Moon?

Shen Xi

沈溪; character approximate name meaning, Shen = liquid / to pour, Xi = creek / rivulet, Running Creek?

Xu Jin Yi

许金艺 : character approximate name meaning, Xu = To Permit/Allow, Jin = Gold/Respected, Yi = Skill/Art, Allowed Golden Skills?]

Richmoor Bank

茂银Guang-Mao: Guang = wide / numerous / to spread; Mao = luxuriant / (chemistry) cyclopentadiene