Deep in the Living
Chapter 378 - 366: Red

Chapter 378: Chapter 366: Red

The six ’Corner Coins’ earned as a reward were split half with Luo Di.

Miss Youzhen refused because she didn’t contribute to this event, and she already accumulated quite a few coins, so there was no need to scramble for the newcomers’ first pot of gold.

While waiting in line, Luo Di held a coin in his hand.

Copper-nickel plating, 35mm in diameter, sawtooth-shaped edges etched with warnings.

The front depicts a three-dimensional corner structure symbolizing the Corner.

The back is engraved with an ellipsoid structure, a perfectly proportioned pituitary, encased within rings.

The coin’s edge is also engraved with the inscription "FEAR FEEDS THE CORNER".

Luo Di pinched the coin between his fingers and looked at Youzhen at the back of the queue, wanting to ask about the coin’s purpose, but she preemptively asked:

"Hey~ you two have already experienced a lot in the connected world, haven’t you even unleashed havoc in the Otherworld?

Although other newcomers are also capable of resolving surface-level incidents, they accumulate a certain amount of Fear within, affecting their mental state.

Yet you two basically don’t need my help to restrain your Fear and clear the Fear Entity within."

Luo Di indeed didn’t feel any difficulty, at least compared to the journey to Hell, this was much simpler.

"I’ve spent several months in my connected world, experiencing a lot, and the incidents happening now aren’t difficult at all.

By the way, what can these Corner Coins be exchanged for, and where?"

Facing the question, Youzhen merely pointed ahead.

Luo Di turned around, and what had been a long queue now had almost no people left; this checkpoint’s efficiency was unbelievably high.

The Corner Coin issue could be dealt with later, Luo Di quickly followed up.

At the checkpoint, the loudspeaker hanging on the plastic mannequin hand gave another announcement: "Please board the train at platform four!"

The squad mingled with hundreds of travelers, heading to the deepest platform, number four.

The platform passage was underground; reaching the platform required ascending a staircase.

At each staircase entrance were huge and conspicuous numeric signs.

Following the crowd’s normal pace,

Luo Di maintained a high level of focus, prepared to strike any strange movements among the travelers around him.

As he passed platform two, he suddenly felt something and instinctively turned his head.

Through the gaps between people, he looked up the staircase leading to platform two.

A hint of red was captured by his sight,

floating at the top of the visible staircase was a red balloon.

The instant this red balloon entered his sight,

Luo Di’s attention was immediately seized by another emotion, diverting his focus from exploring the Corner.

He took several steps across the flowing crowd and climbed the staircase to platform two.

Halfway up the staircase,

with no crowd obstruction and the distance to the balloon shortened, Luo Di realized it wasn’t a balloon at all, just red paint left on the wall due to painting issues, appearing as a balloon.

"Hmm?"

Luo Di’s strong emotions were temporarily suppressed, and he quickly realized something.

He turned around to look at the staircase’s lower end.

Yu Ze and Youzhen, who were supposed to be moving together, were already nowhere to be seen,

even those travelers with faces coated in fluorescent green had vanished from the passage, not a single footstep was heard.

Luo Di quickly returned down the staircase to the internal passage intending to meet his teammates at platform four.

The situation inside had changed.

The station that was clearly marked with numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 now all transformed into [2].

Even the passage leading back to the train station was completely blocked, becoming a wall.

Upon witnessing the scene,

a fear unlike before swept through his body.

Caw!

A crisp crow’s caw accompanied by gray ripples, Fear seepage was blocked, a slight smile appeared on Luo Di’s face.

"Now, this is the pressure corners should have.

However, the change in the current situation doesn’t seem caused by ’Fear Entity,’ fundamentally different from previous ’events.’

Meanwhile, a severely distorted, sharp-tuning voice came from the passage’s loudspeaker.

≮The train to... death... is about to arrive at the station, please wait at platform 22222. During the wait, you can choose to stand inside the yellow line or directly lie on the tracks (error sound)... please stand outside the yellow line awaiting.

Board one by one after the train stops and doors open.

Those not boarding will forever be trapped at the platform (error sound)≯

Luo Di didn’t rush to find his teammates,

or try to search for other exits between the passages.

Although unfamiliar with Miss Youzhen, he knew Yu Ze’s caliber and knew that after such circumstances, Yu Ze would definitely find him.

Rather than waste time, he preferred to face this sudden unknown situation directly, and explore some useful clues in advance.

...

Five minutes earlier.

The squad passed through the checkpoint and followed the crowd into the passage.

Luo Di was at the front,

Yu Ze in the middle,

Youzhen at the back,

with a distance of no more than a meter apart, following the crowd to the deepest platform, number four.

Just as the squad turned to ascend the stairs, Yu Ze suddenly sensed something and calculated with his fingers.

"Hmm?"

He quickly reached out and grabbed Luo Di’s shoulder, pulling him around.

The person turned around was not Luo Di,

but an ordinary traveler.

His face without features was painted with green fluorescent resembling Luo Di’s face, including his physique, height, and attire identical.

Looking at the traveler disguised as Luo Di, Yu Ze showed rare surprise.

"I didn’t notice it, at what point was he swapped? Miss Youzhen, is this an event? The difficulty seems different from before."

His question received no reply, only a green light shining on his shoulder answered.

Turning around,

there was no Miss Youzhen, just another traveler with a painted fake face.

"Something feels off... No matter how high the randomness of the Corner is, such a huge gradient change shouldn’t happen suddenly."

Yu Ze didn’t dare to slack off, realizing the situation somewhat exceeded his control.

He immediately calculated Luo Di’s situation with his fingers.

This time, his nails didn’t crack, but... his peripheral view caught something approaching from the side.

Red,

like a bloody living corpse,

even the scent of blood seeped from its mouth could be smelled.

Yet, such interference didn’t interrupt Yu Ze; he continued focusing on his calculations even though his thumb was cramping and straining.

Finally, his fingers landed on an important position, getting the result.

Yu Ze swiftly turned around with a piece of talisman paper between his palms.

There wasn’t a fresh blood corpse, just a balloon painted with a human face.

However, upon seeing such a balloon, Yu Ze showed a nastier expression than looking at the blood corpse.

Stepping swiftly with the wind, distanced himself quickly from the balloon,

and simultaneously threw out a Wind Talisman to blow the balloon away, rather than popping it.

"Could it be a monster from the Corner Depths has come here? Why... Few monsters visit the surface layer.

What attracted it?"

Yu Ze didn’t dare slack off, using the calculation from earlier, hurriedly ascended to platform two.

Up there, still no sign of Luo Di, seeming like both weren’t even in the same space.

When he wanted to calculate again, his thumb was already filled with blood, the entire nail was even pulled off.

"You like to play, huh..."

Yu Ze removed his sunglasses,

took an unfolded table from the pouch at his waist, laid out an Eight Diagrams Cloth, all kinds of ritual tools were fully equipped.

Commence the ritual!