Gilbert and Jimmy did not dwell on the silver credits taken from their cards.
For the two grown men who had endured the apocalypse for years and countless bloody fights, if the credits were spent, they could later earn them again.
However, if only they knew how many silver credits they would need next time and how hard they were to earn, they would not think the same way again.
On their side, Aria was deep in thought, lost in her own musings about how payments at this station worked. Silent Fluff Ball trailing quietly behind her.
Was it because this was the Heavenly Train Station?
Or was the Destiny Gate Station simply very different from the Train Mall Stop Station?
That was the only idea she could come up with for now. In order to find out, she would have to open the Destiny Gate doors.
"Eh, why won’t it open?" Aria muttered, tapping her card again on the red door with the number 1 on scanner.
She expected it to open immediately, but it didn’t even budge, nor did it show any sign of unlocking.
Frustration rising, Aria slammed her palm against the next door.
She jabbed her card at another door. Still locked. Moving from one door to the next, she scanned, tapped, and pressed, each one stubbornly refusing to open.
"Fluff Ball, what’s happening? Why won’t it open?" Aria asked her floating system, but there was no answer.
Whenever she needed it most, the system stayed silent. Aria grumbled in her heart but forgot her complaint the moment Jimmy’s words reached her ears.
"Miss Aria, this door can be opened using my card."
Walking on her heels beside Jimmy, Aria wanted to see what was on the other side of the door.
When it opened, the three of them saw only a dark, floating surface that shimmered like mercury liquid, and looking like an unknown portal straight out of an ancient drama.
"What is this—ouch!" For the second time, she was electrocuted. Aria remembered the pain from yesterday in the Food Hall and felt a surge of frustration. Thɪs chapter is updated by novelFɪre.net
Why did this keep happening to her?
Next time, she would make sure not to touch any of the station’s things without somebody trying it first.
After all, it really burned her skin and seared through her from the inside.
"Are you okay, Miss Aria?"
Gilbert walked closer to see the door itself, which had stunned him and his friend.
At the next moment, their line of sight fell on Aria, and somehow, their view of her had shifted.
Once their eyes met, both men shared a tacit understanding to investigate this place further.
"I’m fine. This door can’t be entered by just anyone, only other than Jimmy." Aria made sure to say exactly what was written on the system’s screen and never dared to forget to mention that fact.
"Okay, then I’ll try this green door. Let me go in first." Gilbert said, tapping his card on the door. It unlocked and slowly creaked open.
Just as he was about to step inside, Jimmy had already moved beside him, entering his own door without a hint of hesitation.
Gilbert sighed weakly, reassuring himself that his dear friend would be safe. So he didn’t waste any more time and simply stepped through his own door.
Aria was left completely alone, with no one at her side, neither left nor right.
"They actually just left me here? Very well, very well, I’ll remember this! Anyway... what am I supposed to do now, huh? How am I supposed to know how these doors work!"
Aria huffed, hands on her hips, glaring at the dark, eerie platform energy where she had been left alone.
"Fluff Ball, what’s my next task again?"
"Hire two helpers for the Heavenly Train, get five new passengers, and open the next station to the next city!"
"Oh, that sounds like a challenge. Let’s head back to Wishing Stop first. Wait—what’s that? Door number eleven?"
Aria exclaimed, her eyes settling on the door beside the ticket attendant. She was certain it hadn’t been there before. This door almost felt like it had been deliberately placed there to stay hidden.
"That’s for the Stationmaster to use as they please." Fluff Ball explained.
"Why didn’t you say that earlier, ah! Let’s go, I’ll try it!" Aria said, eager to experience the Destiny Gate doors herself. Only then could she truly understand the whole essence of this Destiny Gate station.
When Aria tapped her pink card, the digital machine accepted it, allowing her to open the door. A familiar portal-like glow spread before her eyes, and with a burst of joy, she stepped inside without hesitation.
Aria never expected that the moment she stepped through, there would be nothing beneath her feet.
"Ah—System! Help me! I’m falling! I swear I’ll hate you for this!" Aria’s scream tore through the air as her body plunged from the sky. Her heart hammered in her chest, panic rushing through her veins.
When she finally dared to glance below, her breath caught, the glittering blue surface of a swimming pool awaited her crash.
"No... no..." Aria kept thinking, but there was no escape. The water swallowed her whole, the surface erupting into frantic splashes.
Instant panic tore through her chest, Aria couldn’t swim. Her arms flailed uselessly as the weight of the pool pulled her deeper, the world above slipping further from reach.
Is she going to die this time? She hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. At least let her have one last meal first.
When she looked through the water, her stinging eyes seemed to catch sight of a large figure swimming toward her.
Moments later, a well-built man in a black shirt emerged. His bandaged arms bled anew with every movement, but he ignored the pain as he carried out the young woman in the pink uniform from the water and laid her gently on the pool tiles.
Before the man could offer first aid, Aria had already caught her breath and forced herself to sit up, water spilling from her lips.
"Argh... arghhh... it hurts." Her eyelashes trembled as she tried to glare at Fluff Ball system floating beside her, not even saying a word. That only made her more annoyed at what had happened.