"Yo, viewers! Welcome back!" Gyau grinned, pointing his phone camera toward the looming, jagged entrance of the cave. "Today, we're at the infamous 'Ghost Rail Tunnel.' This place has been trending all over the forums lately, and you know we had to check it out for ourselves!"
[Live Chat]
Shadow_Slayer: "No way! I thought these guys quit uploading."
Ghost_Watcher: "Wait, is that the actual tunnel from the urban legends? Are they seriously going inside?"
[Donation Alert: 1,000¥]
"Yesss! Luck is on our side today!" Kawsoki cheered, pumping his fist as the notification popped up on the screen. The extra cash gave him a sudden surge of confidence, but Gyau's expression remained uncharacteristically grim.
Gyau adjusted his flashlight, the beam cutting through the thick, swirling dust of the entrance. He began to recount the dark history he had researched the night before.
"Listen closely, guys," Gyau's voice dropped an octave, echoing off the damp stone walls. "Back in the early 1900s, a massive train derailment happened right here. The tragedy was so horrific they sealed the tunnel for decades. But the story didn't end there."
He took a step forward, the gravel crunching beneath his boots like breaking bone.
"This place became a lawless zone—a battlefield for rival gangs. About twenty years ago, a massive turf war broke out between a notorious biker gang and the city's most dangerous criminal syndicate. It was a massacre. The bikers were completely wiped out right where we're standing. They say if you listen closely to the wind in this tunnel, you can still hear the roar of phantom engines... and the screams of those who never made it out."
Just as the word "out" left his lips, a low, metallic scraping sound vibrated from the depths of the darkness.The shadows inside the tunnel seemed to thicken with every step, the damp walls swallowing the faint light of their equipment.
"Man... this cave is pitch black," Gyau muttered, his voice echoing slightly as he gripped his gear tighter.
Sensing a golden opportunity to mess with him, Tochi leaned in close and whispered in a low, haunting tone—
"Gyau... look right in front of you."
Gyau's heart nearly leaped out of his chest. "W-what is it?!"
"Right there! In front of you!" Tochi urged, his face deathly serious.
Zwoosh! In a blur of motion that would have made a ninja proud, Gyau vanished from his spot and reappeared instantly at Rio's side, clinging to him for dear life.
"AHHH! Is that... Is that one of them?!" Gyau shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at the screen in Rio's hand.
Rio didn't even flinch. He slowly looked down at his phone, then back at Gyau with a deadpan expression. "Is that what?"
"That! Right there!"
Rio turned the screen around. There was no vengeful ghost, no monster—just a high-definition illustration of a cute Anime Girl.
Rio blinked. "So... what about it?"
The silence that followed was heavy. Gyau's face went from pale white to a deep crimson in three seconds flat. He let go of Rio and cleared his throat, trying to regain his "cool" leader persona.
"Haha... yeah. I, uh... I just wanted to come over and take a look. That's all," Gyau stammered, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Tochi couldn't hold it in anymore. He doubled over, clutching his stomach and stifling his laughter behind his hand. "Pffft—Hahaha! I was just messing with you, man! Weren't you the one who told me 'If you're scared, don't come along'?"
Gyau's eyes darted around as he searched for a halfway believable excuse. "I told you! I just... I just wanted to see the phone, okay?! It's a very interesting phone!"
"Looks like this place isn't actually haunted," Kawsoki remarked, his voice echoing with boredom. "I feel like we're just wasting our time here."
Gyau shook his head, looking deeper into the abyss. "We can still push further inside. Let's not give up yet."
"Fine, let's keep moving then," Kawsoki agreed, and the group continued their trek into the darkness.
However, as they reached a certain point ahead, three of them suddenly froze in their tracks—everyone except Tochi. Their instincts screamed that something was wrong. The reason they noticed it so quickly was that the three of them had a basic grasp of Air manipulation, allowing them to sense even the slightest ripple in the atmosphere.
"Something... something is happening," Gyau muttered, his tone shifting from playful to deadly serious as he scanned the darkness.
"Yeah, I feel it too," Kawsoki added, his muscles tensing for a fight.
Amidst the rising tension, Rio remained unfazed, his eyes still glued to his phone screen. He seemed to be scrolling through a car catalog.
"Wow... I'm definitely buying this car in the future," Rio whispered to himself, completely detached from the situation.
Gyau turned around and snapped, his patience finally hitting its limit.
"Hey! We are literally in a haunted tunnel right now, you know?! 😠😠😠"
Without even looking up from his screen, Rio gave a short, nonchalant reply.
"Yeah. I know."
"W-what on earth is that?!" Gyau gasped in disbelief.
As they all looked up, they saw dark, sinister mists seeping from the tunnel's ceiling, swirling downward like ghostly shadows.
"Unn... what exactly is happening here?" Kawsoki muttered, his expression tightening as he stayed on high alert.
Amidst the eerie atmosphere, Rio stared intently into the abyss ahead. "Wait a second... do you hear that sound coming from up ahead?"
On the live stream, the chat was exploding with anticipation.
Live Chat: "Did you guys actually find a ghost?!"
Right at that moment, a 2,000¥ Gift flashed brightly across the screen. The second Gyau saw the donation, his fear vanished instantly, replaced by a wide, mischievous grin. "Hehe..."
"We're heading deeper in!" Gyau declared with sudden confidence.
Tochi's eyes widened in shock. "Are you serious?!"
Gyau simply gave a cocky smirk and began walking straight into the darkness. "If you're scared, stay behind, man!"
Gyau A