Chapter 3

A very faint electric crackle sounded, and just as the bus had driven deep into the tunnel, the cabin lights suddenly went out without any warning.

Immediately afterward, the bright lights along the ceiling of the tunnel began to go dark, one after another. Starting from behind us, row after row of lights rapidly went out.

Endless darkness surged forward at a terrifying speed, swallowing everything behind us and instantly engulfing the entire bus.

"Why did the power go out?"

"It's dark outside too!"

The lively cheers inside the bus instantly turned into a chaotic clamor of shock and confusion.

Just then, several muffled mechanical clicks rang out in quick succession. The pneumatic doors of the bus were automatically locked, and every window lock was forcibly cut off and jammed tight.

We were completely sealed inside a speeding iron coffin.

Mr. Turner pounded frantically on the seat in front of him. "Mr. Porter! Turn on the lights! And why are the doors locked?"

From the driver's seat came Mr. Porter's voice, thick with terror and on the verge of tears. "It's not me! The bus is out of control! All the dashboard displays have gone black, the accelerator is stuck all the way down, and the steering wheel is locked! Help!"

At that moment, the engine let out a roar, and the bus began accelerating wildly through the pitch-black tunnel. The wind howled outside the windows, and the entire vehicle shook violently.

The people who had been mocking me just now completely broke down.

"Help! Save us!"

"Open the door! Smash the windows, quick!"

Hugo had lost all his earlier composure too. He crawled desperately toward the window, grabbed the emergency hammer, and smashed it against the glass like a madman.

Clangs rang out, and sparks flew everywhere, yet the glass remained completely intact.

"It's bulletproof glass! It won't break!" Hugo shouted in despair.

Mr. Turner pulled out his phone. The screen's light illuminated his pale face. "There's no signal! Not even one bar! We're completely cut off!"

Just as everyone on the bus descended into absolute panic, a sharp burst of radio static came from the bus' onboard speakers, and the previously black displays faintly lit up again.

Then, a monotonous voice delivered a news broadcast through the speakers.

"Breaking news—at 3:00 pm today, a horrific and major traffic accident occurred inside the abandoned air-raid shelter tunnel on the outskirts of the city.

"A bus carrying 35 freshmen of Newhaven University mistakenly entered this abandoned tunnel after losing its way. The vehicle crashed into the concrete wall at the end of the tunnel at high speed, causing a violent explosion.

"According to search and rescue personnel, all 37 people inside the vehicle perished on the spot."

The announcer's voice echoed through the dead-silent bus, sending chills down everyone's spine.

My watch displayed the current time as 2:50 pm, while the time of the accident predicted by the broadcast was 3:00 pm.

"Impossible… This is impossible…" Hugo collapsed in the aisle, gripping the emergency hammer tightly in his hand as he trembled uncontrollably. "Wasn't this tunnel supposed to go to the campus? How could it be an abandoned air-raid shelter?"

Mr. Turner desperately pulled at his hair as tears streamed down his face. "We're doomed… In ten minutes, we're all going to crash and die right here!"

The entire bus devolved into a living hell, echoing with cries, prayers, and grief-stricken yells.

Everyone pounded against the doors like lunatics, while at the front, Mr. Porter repeatedly slammed his foot against the unresponsive brake pedal, cursing helplessly.

On the other hand, I was the only one who pinned myself to my seat, my hands gripping the armrests so hard that my knuckles were white.

Bulletproof glass, a tampered GPS, automatically locked doors, a pre-recorded "broadcast of our deaths", as well as the abandoned tunnel disguised as a dedicated campus route… Every single thing was…

In my previous life, we had plunged off a cliff in the fog. In this life, we were going to crash into a wall in the tunnel.

No matter how the process changed, the ending was still the same—everyone on this bus had to die today.

However, who was behind this?

Mr. Porter was wailing for help, Mr. Turner was having a breakdown, and Hugo was smashing the windows.

They all looked like innocent victims, filled with fear of their impending deaths.

If none of them were the killer, then who exactly had set up this deadly trap, one that had even calculated my rebirth into the plan?

Time ticked away second by second until it was 2:58 pm. There were only two minutes left until we slammed into the concrete wall at high speed as foretold before.

I turned to look at Mr. Turner bashing his head against the door like a madman, then at Hugo, who was huddled on the floor and muttering to himself.

Finally, my gaze fell on the dead surveillance camera above the driver's seat.

Deep in my mind, a detail I'd completely overlooked in both my lives suddenly clicked, cutting through my confusion like a lightning bolt.

"I finally understand what's going on!" I exclaimed.

Everyone instantly fell silent and turned their gazes toward me in unison.