Upon hearing this gentle female voice, the four girls gathered around the master control computer reacted instantly.
They instinctively stepped aside, making a path for Kagashi.
Kagashi walked forward quickly and arrived at the master control computer.
Without the slightest hesitation, he pressed his palm directly onto the cold screen.
“Zzt~”
A faint sound of electric current rang out instantly.
A pale blue halo rippled across the screen, and the master control computer was successfully powered on.
The moment the screen lit up, a clear interface appeared before everyone’s eyes.
At the top, it clearly displayed Train Conductor: Kagashi.
The names and avatars of Train Crew members Furina, Yoshino, Misaka Mikoto, and Roxy followed.
Below that, it was marked [Train Level: Level 0].
At the bottom of the interface, there was a line of eye-catching large characters clearly showing: [Time until the next train stop: 1 hour].
The Personal Chat System was unlocked simultaneously, allowing everyone to chat within it.
In addition, there were three greyed-out system icons: the Trading System, the Train Warehouse System, and the Construction System.
Beside each icon was the text: “Requires Train Level 1 to unlock.” Currently, only the Train Upgrade System was available for use.
Kagashi clicked on it and discovered:
[To upgrade to a Level 1 Train, please prepare the following materials: Level 1 Train Blueprint, Stone ×100, Iron Ore ×100, Wood ×100.]
Looking at the materials required for the upgrade, Kagashi’s brow furrowed slightly.
He instinctively muttered to himself:
“Level 1 Train Blueprints, stone, iron ore, wood…
I’m afraid these things can’t be found until the train stops, right?
Forget it, I’ll deal with it when the time comes.”
Kagashi shook his head, no longer dwelling on the materials, and his gaze fell on the chat system icon of the master control computer.
Since the system indicated that the Personal Chat System had been unlocked, he opened it out of curiosity.
As soon as the chat system opened, dense messages instantly flooded the screen.
All sorts of posts were flying by, making one’s head spin.
“Can anyone tell me what’s going on?”
“I don’t want to participate in any survival game at all.
As long as you let me back, I’m willing to pay any amount of money!”
“Our carriage is full of men; there’s not even anyone to pair up with.
This is too much of an ordeal.”
“It’s not like you guys can’t pair up.”
Kagashi’s finger slid quickly across the screen.
The chat system contained posts from all kinds of survivors.
Complaining, asking for help, showing off, begging for mercy—everything was there.
But after looking for a long time, he didn’t find a single person like himself whose carriage companions were anime characters.
“Am I the only one who encountered these legendary characters?”
Besides these, many people in the chat box were anxiously asking about train upgrades, repeatedly spamming: “Does anyone know how to get the blueprints for the train upgrade!” Many others were tearfully looking for their relatives, vividly displaying the panic and struggle of the survivors.
Kagashi watched for a while until there were only 15 minutes left before the train stop.
He closed the chat system, took a deep breath, and quickly organized his thoughts.
Fortunately, before he crossed over, he often watched various wilderness survival videos.
Although the current situation was unique, the core logic was much the same.
Food and water are always the primary prerequisites for survival.
Luckily, with an infinite supply of instant noodles, the food problem was temporarily solved.
He would just need to look out for a water source later.
The novice protection period was only three days.
While it was likely safe, he couldn’t afford to be careless.
After all, the system also mentioned that “accidents may occur.” More importantly, the Extreme Cold Apocalypse would arrive in a month.
Cold-weather clothing must be a priority target for collection.
In the middle of his thoughts, he was interrupted by a series of faint movements, accompanied by the low-voiced whispers of several people.
He looked back and saw Furina, Misaka Mikoto, Yoshino, and Roxy huddled together.
In their hands, they held opened instant noodle packaging bags and several long hairs they had pulled from their heads.
They were actually using the plastic packaging of the instant noodles, combined with the long hair they had twisted together, to create thin, makeshift ropes.
Because the system’s white bodysuits were so form-fitting, the girls felt incredibly self-conscious about their silhouettes being so clearly outlined in front of Kagashi.
To ease the awkwardness, they had ingeniously crafted something.
Furina stepped forward first, holding a crude but functional woven apron-like garment.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she shoved it into Kagashi’s hand:
“Here, for you, pervert.
We used the noodle bags and hair to twist some rope and made a simple waist cover.
At least it’ll add an extra layer over that tight outfit.”
Kagashi looked down at the object in his hand, and his whole body instantly froze.
It was a makeshift waist covering made of spliced instant noodle plastic bags, with edges secured by ropes twisted from hair.
He was stunned for a few seconds before he regained his senses.
Looking at the four girls before him—some with heads bowed in bashfulness, others feigning composure—for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
The corner of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch: “You…
you guys actually really made this?
Impressive.”
The train slowed down gradually, the “clang-clang” sound becoming lower and lower.
Kagashi clutched that makeshift garment cobbled together from noodle bags and hair, his mouth twitching for a long time.
In the end, he obediently wrapped it around his waist.
At least it provided a loose layer over the form-fitting bodysuit, breaking the awkward tightness.
The four girls also used the remaining materials to fashion simple outer coverings for themselves to hide their outlined figures.
Furina had opened noodle bags wrapped around her waist like a mini sash, tied at the side with hair ropes, making her waist look astonishingly slender.
Misaka Mikoto had torn the packaging bags open and flattened them, covering the front like a simple mechanic’s apron.
Yoshino was the most bashful, wrapping the plastic layers tightly around herself, revealing only a pair of watery eyes.
Roxy was relatively calm, but the flush on her cheeks betrayed her inner shyness as she adjusted her makeshift skirt.
[3 minutes until the train stops.]
The gentle female voice of the master control computer rang out again.
Kagashi took a deep breath and walked to the window on one side of the carriage.
Outside the window, the originally endless wasteland had disappeared.
In its place was a grey, hazy skyline.
As the train continued to decelerate, the view gradually became clear.
The dilapidated silhouette of a city emerged from the mist.
Broken walls and ruins.
Collapsed buildings.
Rusty vehicle wreckage lay scattered across the streets in all directions.
The streets were overgrown with withered yellow weeds, shivering in the wind.
The entire city looked as if it had experienced some great disaster and then been abandoned for many years.
“This is…” Furina leaned close to the window, her eyes wide.
“Fontaine?
No, this isn’t Fontaine.”
“Of course it isn’t,” Misaka Mikoto frowned.
“There’s no sense of advanced technology here at all; it looks more like some abandoned city from an old era.”
Yoshino timidly poked her head out for a look, then shrank back, whispering: “So…
so scary.
It looks like a place from a horror movie.”
Roxy, however, gently stroked the window glass: “There is no aura of magic here.”
Kagashi didn’t speak, his gaze fixed on the group of buildings getting closer and closer outside the window.
The train was slowly pulling into an old residential community.
[Ding!]
[Train has stopped: Abandoned Old Urban Area · Shuguang Community.]
[Stop duration: 12 hours.]
[Please return to the train within the specified time.
Those who fail to return on time will be deemed to have automatically forfeited their survival eligibility.]
[Good luck to everyone.]