it is Arknights!

Although saying there was no problem, in reality, by the third hour of the journey, Li Lin discovered a major issue with his calculations.

He forgot. Forgot something crucially important. For an otaku, staying indoors for too long made him overlook many things, so his perception had an unavoidable loophole. A very fatal error. This error could even be said to have ruined the entire trip.

Li Lin forgot to bring entertainment devices.

Unlike Croissant, who was slumped over in the passenger seat, wishing she could sleep twenty-four hours a day, and Texas, who could maintain silence just by listening to music, Li Lin looked at the scenery outside the window with considerable interest for the first three hours. But after three hours, with the scenery outside already becoming monotonous, to say he still had any special feelings about the long journey would be utter nonsense and bullshit .

The dull and tasteless scenery, the muffled roar of the engine, the dull music that had already looped and he completely didn't want to listen to anymore, the snoring companion, and the air inside the car that had even become somewhat strange due to the smell of engine oil; even with the ventilation system on, the atmosphere inside the car became increasingly drowsy.

But even if one wanted to sleep, the vibration of the car on the road and that strange smell would always jolt one awake.

In the end, one could only suffer miserably in the car, eyes looking out the window at the scenery, feeling the real world continuously distancing itself from one's spirit and body, heading towards a seemingly forever unreachable destination on an endlessly miserable and long journey. Of course, all the above description aims to convey that, during a long journey, not having any entertainment facilities is truly a catastrophic consequence. Feeling as if one's entire spirit has been hollowed out, unbearably uncomfortable.

And even Sora's singing voice, which might be incredibly beautiful to others, was just so-so for Li Lin, who had been filtered through the information age's vast market and music environment of seven billion people. It wasn't like he hadn't heard similar, better-sounding music. Listening a few times was enough. Dozens of times was simply torture.

Li Lin had absolutely no idea how Texas managed to endure this kind of brainwashing melody . And what made him feel even more terrified was that this melody seemed unreliable only to him, because everyone else could be happy just listening to the music, only he couldn't achieve it. Especially seeing Exusiai playing with markers beside him while listening to the music, and Texas humming along too, the sense of alienation in Li Lin's heart became increasingly apparent.

What's going on? This atmosphere where only I can't fit in. Is it because I'm too unsociable?

Slouching like Ge You in the back seat, Li Lin looked at the flashing building villages and scenery outside the window, his face etched with loneliness and sorrow. Like a person full of stories, but not knowing how to tell this story to the people around him. Wearing an expression waiting for someone to strike up a conversation.

Seeing Li Lin's deliberately sorrowful posture in the rearview mirror, Texas, who had somewhat come to understand Li Lin's personality these days, pursed her lips with a subtle expression. Then looked towards Exusiai, whose gaze drifted over from time to time. Casually popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth to perk up, she said somewhat slowly:

"Exusiai…"

"Hm?"

"Don't bother with him, okay?"

"Ahaha, sorry, Prophet."

Exusiai smiled somewhat awkwardly, waving her hand at the eager-faced Li Lin.

"Even bullets jam sometimes, it's okay, it's okay. It only takes three days to reach Chernobog. If the journey is smooth, maybe we can even buy some souvenirs in Chernobog to bring back. So endure, just endure for a bit and it'll be fine~"

"Three days… My god, is the infrastructure here that bad?"

"It's not exactly like that, just many places need to bypass areas affected by Catastrophe remnants, so inspection and sorting take some time. Driving itself only takes about ten hours. In other words, we've already covered one-third. Stay a bit longer and we'll reach Chernobog quickly. In about two more hours, we'll reach the first checkpoint. We can rest a bit then."

"Ah… In other words, two more hours of torture… Why is Croissant sleeping so soundly? Maybe we should wake her up…"

"You really can't stand seeing others well off , huh. Too twisted."

"It's not that I can't stand seeing others well off, it's that I really feel itchy all over right now…"

Staring blankly at the ceiling, Li Lin suddenly laughed, recalling scenes of arguing with idiot netizens (抬杠 - tái gàng) in his original world.

"Back where I came from, there would always be contrarians saying, this isn't logical, that isn't logical, the story shouldn't develop like this, etc. Then someone else would jump out saying, if a beautiful girl fell from the sky or something, it would be a masterpiece . Or if someone died, it would be a masterpiece. If we had that kind of development here now, it would be a masterpiece—Woah!!!"

Just as Li Lin was running his mouth , Texas suddenly looked at the scene ahead and slammed on the brakes. The entire car lurched forward due to inertia. Li Lin, who was in a bragging posture, didn't even react and directly hit the seat in front.

"Texas! What are you doing?"

Rubbing his sore nose, Li Lin almost felt like he bit his tongue off.

"Are you trying to murder me? Before braking, at least give a heads-up, let me mentally prepare, okay? I feel like my tongue is about to break off."

"…The masterpiece you wanted, it's here."

"Huh?"

"The beautiful girl falling from the sky, the dead person, the masterpiece you wanted, it's all here."

Looking at the scene on the road, Texas looked expressionlessly at Li Lin, as if looking at an ultimate destroyer.

"Ahead is the corpse of an Oripathy-infected individual dealt with by Originium Arts. We need to call the highway police and wait for support. The first checkpoint we reach next will probably become very lively."

"…Ah?"

"Prophet, sometimes it's really better if you don't talk."

Croissant, who had woken up at some point, looked at the tragic scene on the road ahead and shook her head helplessly. Exusiai tilted her head, glanced over, and also clicked her tongue in wonder, shaking her head.

And Li Lin, swept along by the others, found a gap in the seat and looked over. He only saw a huge frost crystal lying across the middle of the road. A beautiful girl, looking quite pained, had her hand and thigh encased in pitch-black crystals, sealed within this enormous block of ice. Looking gorgeous yet eerie.

Almost at the same time Li Lin saw it, the Originium radiation detector inside the car also started screaming. Warning everyone about the danger posed by the beautiful ice sculpture ahead.