After Maruzensky finally let Eternal Meteor go, the two of them fell into a bizarre, suffocating silence again.
Maruzensky was afraid she'd say the wrong thing—afraid she'd poke at some invisible wound by accident.
Eternal Meteor, meanwhile, remembered their earlier promise… and the fact that she hadn't really kept it at all. So with Maruzensky sitting there in silence, she didn't dare say anything either.
Both of them were silently praying Rudolf would finish explaining things to the staff and come back in already—just to break the atmosphere.
Because awkward aside, Maruzensky genuinely did not dare find an excuse to leave again. She could not bring herself to leave Eternal Meteor alone right now. Who knew what might happen?
Especially after how Eternal Meteor had looked earlier—like those suicide scenes in movies where the only missing prop was a knife in her hand.
Fortunately, just as they were about to start the kind of desperate small talk that begins with "Wow, the weather sure is nice today…", Rudolf finally pushed the door open and walked in.
And then—
All three of them fell into silence.
Maruzensky started frantically signaling Rudolf with her eyes, urging her to say something.
Rudolf, in turn, started gesturing back just as urgently.
Because every time she'd ended up in situations like this before, it usually devolved into her and Eternal Meteor having a huge fight. And after seeing Eternal Meteor like that just now, Rudolf didn't dare open her mouth—she was terrified she'd say something that would set her off again.
And if Eternal Meteor got angry, she'd jump out of bed like it was nothing.
Rudolf absolutely did not want her leg injury getting worse.
So shouldn't this be the moment for you, the one who's good at comforting younger horse girls, to step in? Why are you making me do it?
…Fine, she was good at soothing Teio and other people. But for some reason, whenever it came to Meteor, none of her usual methods worked at all.
So the two of them had a full-blown argument with nothing but eye contact—so intense they nearly forgot Eternal Meteor was sitting right there.
In the end, it was Eternal Meteor herself who broke first.
She burst out laughing.
She couldn't hold it in—she truly hadn't expected Rudolf to have such a childish side.
Seeing her laugh like that, Rudolf and Maruzensky looked at each other again…
…then both of them let out small, relieved laughs as well.
"I'll go grab some food from the cafeteria," Maruzensky said, checking the time. It was already close to noon. She stood and headed for the door.
Why are you leaving now?! I'm not even hungry! Eternal Meteor screamed internally.
Don't leave me in a two-person scene with Rudolf again! That'll be even more awkward than before! And Rudolf's been acting weird lately!
Unfortunately, Maruzensky couldn't hear the screaming inside her head. She simply opened the door and left.
Worried Rudolf might ask more questions, Eternal Meteor grabbed her phone and decided to watch some videos to kill time—
Only to freeze when she saw the chat notifications.
They were completely flooded.
And every single one was from one contact:
Tokai Teio.
Tokai Teio: Meteor, what happened? I saw you get taken away by ambulance.
Tokai Teio: You weren't seriously hurt, right? If you see this, please reply.
Tokai Teio: The media hasn't said anything, but everyone online is talking about you. Are you okay?
Tokai Teio: Everyone's really worried. If you're fine, can you reply?
Tokai Teio: I'm so worried… the checkups should be done by now, right? Can you message me?
Tokai Teio: Meteor, I'm really scared. Please… just reply, okay?
From the moment Teio saw Eternal Meteor being loaded into the ambulance, she'd been sending messages on and off. And because Meteor didn't answer, the worry kept piling higher, heavier, sharper.
At first, every time her phone chimed, Teio would open it with a spark of hope—thinking it was Meteor finally telling her everything was fine.
But every time, it wasn't Meteor.
It was someone else—someone who couldn't contact Meteor directly—asking Teio whether Meteor was okay.
Every "Is she alright?" added weight to Teio's chest.
It dragged her thoughts back to how Meteor had acted at the amusement park… and Teio had to forcibly cut off the memory before it spiraled into something she couldn't bear.
And the TV wasn't reporting Meteor's condition at all.
That… felt wrong. Unprecedented.
Meanwhile, online discussion threads about "Eternal Meteor" were exploding like weeds after rain. There were always a couple of users in most threads trying to calm everyone down—but even they kept repeating the same terrifying line:
She crossed the finish line and was carried away immediately.
So Teio stopped opening any other apps. She just stared at the chat window with Meteor, refusing to give her imagination more room to run.
But her thoughts still spread.
And they always stretched toward endings she couldn't accept.
Even when Teio shut her eyes tight and kept telling herself it was fine, tears still slipped down from the corners of her eyes.
Finally, her phone chimed again.
It was later now—late enough that surely everyone who wanted to ask had already asked. Teio snapped her eyes open—
But the screen had gone black from inactivity.
For the first time in her life, Teio hated fingerprint unlock.
Her hands trembled. She pressed her thumb to the sensor—
And failed.
The tears on the screen kept breaking recognition.
In the end, even when she tried the passcode, she entered it wrong twice before it finally unlocked.
She opened the chat.
Nothing.
"Eh…? No way…"
She dragged the screen down again and again, refreshing like a madwoman, but all she saw were her own messages—no reply at all.
Only when she opened the notification shade did she realize the truth:
It had just been an ad notification.
Hanging there alone like a cruel joke.
"Meteor… sniff… Meteor… please… reply… sob… don't ignore me… waaaah…"
The emotional whiplash, plus the fear she'd been holding in for hours, snapped the last thread of restraint. Teio started crying openly—she tried to swallow the sound, but it lasted exactly one second before breaking into full sobs.
And then—
Her phone chimed again.
Even though she barely had hope left, Teio still grabbed it immediately, her vision blurred with tears, and looked at the chat.
A new message had appeared.
"I'm really fine. Just finished the checkups. Don't believe the online rumors. I'm okay."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
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