Chapter 511 - 452: Mai Mingle: A Seamless Match

Chapter 511: Chapter 452: Mai Mingle: A Seamless Match

Mai Mingle sat in the darkness. A rustling sound slithered past her and stopped.

Something turned, leaned in close, and sniffed at her, its nostrils twitching. Air flowed in, but she couldn’t hear it being exhaled.

"Not very fresh. A little old," the thing commented before leaving.

’What a rude unidentified individual.’

Mai Mingle relaxed considerably. If all the unidentified individuals on the bus found her unappetizingly old, that would be wonderful.

After all, there were just way too many ways to die on this bus.

Besides breaking the rules by not sitting in a proper seat or not having the fare, getting off rashly, getting off at the wrong stop, or riding all the way to the final station... none of those would likely end well.

But as if that weren’t enough, the bus had now let on "unidentified individuals."

"The bus has come to a complete stop. Passengers may now rise and move about freely. However, please pay close attention to all announcements."

When the lights came back on, Mai Mingle squinted and scanned her surroundings—and in that instant, she almost understood Ashley.

Just moments ago, there had only been a few scattered passengers on the bus, with most seats empty. Now, in the blink of an eye, it was almost half full—and all the occupied seats were regular ones. Several "unidentified individuals" were swaying and wandering in the aisle, as if still picking out a desirable seat.

Ashley was sitting far in the back, apparently having given up on being friendly, and was now pretending to be asleep.

’Does that trick work? Maybe I should also—’

Before the thought could even finish, her chance to copy Ashley and feign sleep was gone.

A middle-aged man who looked like an office worker slowly bent down toward Mai Mingle.

"Hi,"

He had eyes like a praying mantis, and his mouth was just a small cluster of wrinkled skin. When he spoke, the wrinkles fluttered outward with each puff of air. "Do you want to see what’s in my briefcase?"

’Maintaining a smile and a friendly demeanor is certainly a challenge.’

Mai Mingle was afraid it was a trap, but a flat-out refusal clearly wouldn’t be friendly enough, wouldn’t show enough "social enthusiasm." She could only tilt her head, force a smile, and ask, "What’s in your briefcase?"

"You’ll know when you see it. It’s good stuff."

"...Why do you want me to see it?" Mai Mingle asked, trying to sound as gentle as possible.

"Because it’s good for you," the office worker said, sizing her up. "You’re probably a... 188th generation mass-produced crude basic model, 2.957HGB, place of origin Chapter 1?"

She didn’t understand a single word, but it didn’t sound like a compliment.

"What?" Mai Mingle barely maintained her smile. "I don’t understand."

The office worker shook his head, exasperated by her denseness, and tapped his briefcase. "You don’t want to look? Really? I won’t force you, you know, but it would be a huge benefit to you."

"Let me think about it... I might take a look later. I’ll call you over then." Mai Mingle left herself some wiggle room, not forgetting to be polite. "Th-thank you."

The office worker walked away, then stopped next to another newly boarded "unidentified individual." They began whispering to each other, occasionally glancing back at Mai Mingle.

’Will these things ever get off the bus?’

Across the aisle from Mai Mingle, a seat waved at her.

For a moment, she wondered if she was losing her mind.

"Why are you sitting over there?" the seat said with a laugh. "Why not sit in a special seat? The special seats are so much more comfortable."

Mai Mingle stared at it, feeling as if her brain were a pomelo being split in half, pried apart until the wind could whistle right through the empty space.

One half of her brain thought that it was clearly just a seat, no different from any other; the other half knew perfectly well that a seat was sitting in the seat, and that it could not only wave but also talk.

"I’ve worked part-time on this bus many times. I’m a special seat," the seat said, being overly familiar. "Some special seats you shouldn’t sit in, but some you must."

"Is... is that so? And if I don’t?"

"It’s not a big deal if you don’t, you’ll just miss out on a lot of benefits," the seat said enthusiastically. "If you don’t believe me, come on over. Sit on me, and you’ll see just how many benefits there are."

Mai Mingle opened her mouth, but words failed her.

’In a situation like this, what was a person supposed to say?’

"AHAHAHA you have to look even if you don’t want to I’m gonna make you look just look at my thing quick LOOK!"

A shrill cackle suddenly burst right next to her ear. As a shadow swept toward the back of her head, Mai Mingle, startled, leaped to her feet and whipped around—the office worker slammed into her seat with a THUD.

His eyes were wide and staring, drool trickling from his wrinkled-skin mouth down his chin. His whole body was draped over the seat, one hand pressed firmly against the seatback.

His briefcase had fallen to the floor, wide open and completely empty.

That was probably because its contents had already been taken out.

The office worker ground what was in his hand against the seatback with all his might before pulling his hand away.

A large text label had been stuck to the seatback.

"Mobile Special Seat"

"This special seat is a non-seatable special seat"

"This special seat moves"

"During times when passengers cannot stand up, this special seat will randomly roam between the regular seats of public transport such as buses, subways, and trains, and will then stop."

’...What does that mean?’

"Does it... does it move? Whichever seat it moves to becomes a non-seatable special seat?" Mai Mingle asked, stunned.

"Correct," the office worker said enthusiastically. "Because the first body heat it came into contact with was yours, it will now follow only you for the next fifteen minutes."

"And you call this good for me?" Mai Mingle said angrily. "Take it off!"

The office worker suddenly fell silent. He watched Mai Mingle with his mantis eyes, his head slowly tilting until his ear touched his shoulder.

"You don’t seem very friendly... Your tone with me is a bit aggressive. I must be mistaken, right?"

’No, no, stay calm.’

Even if she didn’t know what to do next, she had to at least survive the immediate crisis.

Mai Mingle took a deep breath.

She could only be thankful that she had reacted quickly, leaping from her seat before the office worker could stick the label on it.

"You’ve misunderstood," she said stiffly. "I... I have no problem with you. Is this the thing you said was good for me?"

The office worker seemed pleased. "Yes."

"It turns any seat I’m in into a non-seatable special seat... If that happens during a period when we’re not allowed to stand up, what happens to me?"

"Either you break the rules by sitting in an inappropriate seat, or you break the rules by standing up,"

The back of a head in one of the regular seats at the front of the bus, which hadn’t moved or turned around at all, suddenly spoke up. "Is that even a question? You’re breaking the rules either way."

’Can a special seat not designated by the bus itself still trigger a penalty?’

But even with her doubts, would she dare risk her life to find out?

For the moment, Mai Mingle could only bite her tongue, afraid she would start cursing if she opened her mouth.

"Making me break the rules... how is that good for me?" she finally managed to ask.

The office worker gave a cheerful smile, his wrinkled-skin mouth stretching wide to reveal two dense rows of fingernails that served as his teeth.

"To be human is to suffer endlessly. This allows you to be freed from the torment, anxiety, and unfulfilled desires of life. How is that not good for you?"

Fortunately, once he finished speaking, he lost interest in Mai Mingle and walked away. Otherwise, she really didn’t know how much longer she could have maintained her polite and friendly facade.

’...What do I do?’

The traffic jam would last for ten minutes. For these ten minutes, she could remain standing and keep the "Mobile Special Seat" from ending up under her.

But what about after those ten minutes?

Every time the bus started or stopped, it would enter a pitch-black period where no one could stand or walk. When the bus started moving again and the announcement told passengers to be seated, where was she supposed to sit?

Mai Mingle walked quickly to the driver’s cabin and knocked on the glass.

"I want to apply for a standing permit," she shouted while peering through the glass. "How do I apply? What do I need? Hey!"

But just like before, the shadowy figure behind the glass remained motionless, giving no response, as if it were just a decoration.

Mai Mingle walked back into the aisle step by step, her heart turning to ice.

She read the text label one more time.

’The "Mobile Special Seat" can only move to regular seats. Does that mean if I sit in a special seat, it won’t be able to follow me?’

After the bus stopped, the number of special seats inside had increased to nine—it seemed that regardless of whether it was at a station or not, the number of special seats increased whenever the bus stopped.

Excluding the Pregnant Woman Special Seat and the Stalked Person Special Seat, every one of the remaining seven looked like her own tombstone.

The Sick-and-Frail Seat, the Child Seat, the Didn’t-Sleep-Well Seat, the Menstruation Seat, the Mental-Patient Special Seat, the Pledges-of-Eternal-Love-and-Inseparable-Sweethearts Special Seat, and the All-Natural-Organic Special Seat.

No matter how she stretched the logic, no matter how tenuous the connection, none of them had anything to do with her.

She stood between two rows of seats filled with "unidentified individuals," not daring to make eye contact with any of them. With nowhere to go, she was momentarily lost, with no idea what to do next.

The bus was full of people, but not a single one was of her kind.

"Sturdy, sensual, full of life..."

Mai Mingle, her mind adrift, found her gaze drawn by the voice.

A new advertisement had appeared on the in-bus screen. A male model who looked like a normal human was showing off the jeans he was wearing from all angles.

Mai Mingle looked at the screen, then at a seat in the middle of the bus—the very same male model, wearing the very same jeans, was sitting in a regular seat, smiling as he watched his own ad.

From beneath his rear, the jeans let out a series of faint groans as they were squashed.

Because those pants were true "cowboy" jeans.

Countless miniature living people dressed in full cowboy getups, each only the size of a thumb, were clinging to one another, their arms and legs twisting and tangling together, their bodies woven into a pair of airtight pants.

"And when you get hungry, you can just pluck one off and eat it!"

The handsome model said this with a wink at the screen, smiling as he plucked a tiny, living cowboy from the cuff of his pants.

’...Thank goodness he didn’t eat it.’

Like a wandering spirit, Mai Mingle turned her head, her gaze falling on the seat that was sitting in a seat in front of the screen.

The seat-on-a-seat grinned at her.

"Well, look at that. I don’t know whether to call it a cruel twist of fate or say we were destined to be together," it said. "You have no other choice besides me. And as it happens, I’m a ’Living Person Special Seat’... just right for you to sit on."