Chapter 332
The subway train came out to the outside.
It ran along maintenance tracks, passed through a narrow ascending approach toward high-speed rail... and slipped out onto the surface.
Sunlight poured in through the window.
But instead of warmth, a freezing tension and silence dropped over the Driver’s Cab.
Right now,
we had come out into the middle of a catastrophic disaster.
-Mom!
-Uuuhhh? Uuhhh?!?!
A commotion began from behind the Driver’s Cab, too. The people riding this Train Shelter had noticed the anomaly.
Of course they had. If sunlight was pouring in outside the door, no matter how much you patched it with newspaper, it would seep in.
I staggered upright.
The Driver’s Cab front window.
“.......”
Blue sky.
But when I lowered my gaze under it... it was strange.
Ah.
The tracks were visible.
But everything around them that should have been there—every surrounding landscape—was warped into grotesque shapes, like a fully burned film being projected.
My stomach felt wrong. It was just grotesque, wasn’t it? And yet, strangely, as if I’d seen something that must not exist, unbearable anxiety made my heart pound and a chilling tension surged up.
And—and....
Blue sky was visible even beside the tracks.
“...Huh?”
Sky, even though this was the train’s floor.
What is this.
What kind of structure is outside, exactly?
Reflexively, I tried to grasp the situation by staring again at those warped surrounding shapes I’d just seen.
That is... what
Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh...
Something shoved me.
“Do not stare.”
“...!”
I jerked my head up. My body had been shoved under the control area by Section Chief Lee Jaheon, pulled away from the window.
When I lifted my head, now I could only see blue sky and sunlight.
Only the sharp sunlight remained, visible in its unwarped, intact form.
“Do not look outside.”
Section Chief Lee Jaheon’s vertical pupils watched me.
“Leave it unseen, as it is.”
“...Yes.”
Breathing hard, I nodded.
Kiiiiiing!
The sound of the train running over tightly packed tracks rang out.
I focused on the sound of it running over rust, until the afterimage of what I’d seen would fade.
When I turned my head, the people packed into the Driver’s Cab were averting their eyes from the window with expressions like they might break into cold sweat, just like me.
With difficulty, I opened my mouth.
“...The train tracks seem to be floating in empty air.”
“Wh-why, why is the train in the sky....”
“...Maybe.”
I swallowed.
“I think the terrain of Se-gwang Special City that used to have the tracks has already ‘disappeared.’”
“.......”
Ko Yeongeun’s face went pale.
I tried to stay calm, too.
What we can do.
First, first... we need to confirm the environment properly, but—
“Noru. This... feels like hardcore darkness where ‘if you look out the window you die,’ but.”
“.......”
“Inside seems safer than I expected. The train isn’t suddenly melting down yet.”
Was it the agents’ arrangement?
But how, in the middle of a catastrophic disaster, could the train be running this normally just by “not looking outside”—ah.
“This train may still be judged as belonging to the subway ghost story.”
“......!!”
A subway train running on tracks.
In the end, the essence hasn’t changed.
It was already connected to the separate ghost story called the subway. And so it seemed to peel off by a layer from the catastrophic disaster ruling Se-gwang Special City.
Like the subway stations that had been relatively safe enough for survivors to exist.
“By extension, it seems we inside this train are also still judged to be inside the subway ghost story....”
The agents must have struggled fiercely to devise this gap.
Ko Yeongeun nodded with a stricken face.
“Then maybe the reason you can’t see outside properly right now is because of that, too. The outside and inside of the train are different darknesses, so you can’t see well.”
“Good guess. Either way, it’s already started running, so all we can do is hope it arrives safely.”
With Deputy Eun Haje, I gathered around the control area monitor.
Remaining Distance: ■■■■■■■■□□
Remaining Fuel: ■■■■■■■■■□
The bars shrinking in real time weren’t displayed as proper numbers, but they were perfectly intuitive.
“It feels like we’ve already covered 20%. At this speed, it really seems like we’ll leave Se-gwang Special City.”
But if that happened, those two...
.......
Yet as if accepting what had already been set in motion, the two of them didn’t say a word to the others.
As if they didn’t want to cause a commotion when there was no solution.
“What do you think, government worker?”
Deputy Eun Haje and the others’ gaze turned to Bronze Agent.
“...I can’t be certain, so I’ll verify.”
Bronze Agent kept staring at the talisman that continued to burn black, speaking without taking his eyes off it.
“I will keep watching the talisman. It could be dangerous, so everyone should go out of the Driver’s Cab and wait.”
“...Mm. Fine.”
Deputy Eun Haje swept an odd look over Bronze Agent, then patted Ko Yeongeun’s shoulder and moved.
“I should go find your aunt. We need to check what people are doing.”
“Ah... ah! Yes.”
Ko Yeongeun snapped to herself and left the Driver’s Cab immediately with clear eyes.
And the moment even Section Chief Lee Jaheon went outside—
I was about to leave... then stopped.
“Agent.”
Bronze Agent was still staring at the talisman.
“Right now, even though we haven’t put in fuel, remaining fuel is displayed... and the train is running.”
“.......”
“How do you think that’s possible?”
“I will find out now.”
“Then I’ll tell you my guess.”
I looked at the talisman.
Unlike at Se-gwang High, the strokes were boiling up, burning in a sinister black.
“Earlier. I read the sentence on the sign that appeared after the tracks switched....”
Safety First During Maintenance
Two Workers Per Team Required
Two workers per team required.
“Maybe—like that—this Driver’s Cab also required two agents. So the moment two agents stood close to the talisman and the control area, the talisman’s effect activated.”
Why would it be like that.
“Maybe it was so that even if one died, the other could continue the role.”
What role?
“.......”
“Agent.”
I spoke in a trembling voice.
“Could it be... that this train uses the agents in the Driver’s Cab as fuel?”
A last method, in case you searched and searched and could not find a will-o’-the-wisp.
But a method that became unusable once only one person remained—only Agent Choi.
“Agent, you... when you saw the talisman, you had already guessed that far, didn’t you.”
The agent wasn’t surprised at all.
They just answered like this.
“I don’t know.”
“......!”
“But the fact that the strokes are burning like this usually has a negative effect on the caster.”
“Then please get out qu—”
“Agent Podo.”
Bronze Agent abruptly reached out, then with calm movements found a notebook beside the control area.
And as they spoke, they copied the talisman strokes into the notebook.
“If the train stops on this, we all die.”
“...!”
“And if one of the agents has to remain in this car... it should obviously be the person who’s already dead.”
“There might be another way. If we look from now—”
“Agent Podo. Taking care of the people who can live is the path where more people live and get out.”
What are you saying?
“Then if both of you stay in the Driver’s Cab—”
“No. You must live.”
Bronze Agent checked the pattern of the strokes they were copying as they spoke.
“Agent Podo has to go out and deliver this reproduction to the Disaster Management Bureau.”
“.......”
“That way... my work has meaning.”
For the first time, Bronze Agent lifted their head to look at me.
There was a faint smile on their face.
“It’s a more rewarding end than I expected. At least it isn’t a meaningless death.”
No.
The Disaster Management Bureau didn’t seal Se-gwang Special City in the way you think!
Someone higher up who planned this might not welcome these citizens coming out, and then it really could become a meaningless death....
The words surged up to my throat, but my judgment stopped me from saying them.
In a situation where they’d already human-sacrificed all these train citizens, what meaning would it have to say they might just send us right back if we got caught?
I’m going insane.
“Leave. Quickly.”
“No—”
“Everyone! We have been chosen!”
...!
I turned my head.
The Rabbit-Doll Worship Religion was marching in, entering Car 1.
And at the very front, strutting while carrying the perfect complete form of the rabbit doll, was—
the Station Master.
“See?! I mean, this train running out under the sunlight is all~ proof that I, that, the Stuffed Body, gave me permission? Huh? A blessing—that’s what I’m saying!”
An alarm bell rang in my head.
What is that bastard doing?
“We’re escaping!”
“Really?”
“Oh my god!”
Cheers, questions, voices raised with anxiety and hope—all of it swelled and echoed through the car.
I met the Station Master’s eyes, and I saw a look like he’d finished calculating something, a vile excitement settling in—and then he pointed at me.
“The one who’s supposed to be enshrining this rabbit doll! He threw it away and was holed up back there, resting like that!”
This bastard.
I understood what he was doing.
He knows I found the escape method.
And since we were escaping anyway, he was trying to solidify his position by playing to public opinion.
For example, so that the moment we escaped, he could kill me and silence me.
You....
“But even a person like that was blessed thanks to this train. Rabbit doll! Huh? This is the one who saved us. So—”
“Excuse me!”
At that moment, someone pushed through the crowd.
Ko Yeongeun.
She’d shaken off her aunt—the Station Attendant’s—attempt to hold her back and stepped forward.
“Are you the Representative?”
“Y-you—Representative? Yeongeun, where did you learn those manners, huh? So cheeky—”
“No, I’m just asking if you’re the Representative.”
Instead of flushing and backing down the way she had when she’d spoken with the Station Master in the front cars before, Ko Yeongeun replied calmly.
“I guess you aren’t. Looking at how angry you’re getting.”
“What?”
“Usually people get angry because something hits a nerve.”
Ko Yeongeun looked around at the people as she spoke.
I saw cold sweat bead on her forehead.
“If you’re not the Representative, why are you in front holding the doll? I heard this person here is the Representative.”
And Ko Yeongeun pointed through the crowd at the college student I’d chosen.
“No, right now I’m— I mean— the Stuffed Body chose me! I’m getting everyone out of here!”
“Is that so.”
Ko Yeongeun crossed her arms.
“Then it feels like the rabbit doll should strike me with divine punishment for arguing with you like this, but nothing is happening.”
“It’s not that kind of being!”
“Then what kind is it?”
The Station Master’s words choked off.
“Do you actually not know? You’re just... people keep talking about the Stuffed Body, so you’re talking like you did it, aren’t you?”
“You little—!”
“You’re very violent. The Stuffed Body doesn’t look violent at all, just from looking.”
“...!”
At Ko Yeongeun’s words, the Station Master faltered.
“Station Master.”
The “Rabbit-Doll Worship Religion Representative” college student quickly stepped in.
“You keep doing things that look bad in the eyes of the Stuffed Body.”
“N-no!”
“It seems the rabbit doll opened a new path for all of us, yet you were using it again for selfish gain.”
The college student clicked his tongue.
“Someone who’s never even met the Stuffed Body in a dream wouldn’t suddenly be able to move the train.”
Then, looking at the Station Master like he pitied him, he snapped his head around and declared.
“This is the chance the Stuffed Body gave to all of us!”
“That’s right!”
“According to the Station Attendant, last night the Stuffed Body told us not to look outside. We must meditate and sleep until this train arrives at the place the rabbit doll guided us to!”
Leaving the Station Master behind, the people began pouring out of Car 1 in a rush. They were clearly going to gather in the center and truly meditate.
The Station Attendant and Ko Yeongeun followed after them.
The Station Master, staring at the scene like he’d lost his mind, went red then blue, and tried to follow like he might grab Ko Yeongeun by the hair.
“You—”
Thud.
I punched the Station Master.
And tossed him roughly in front of the Driver’s Cab.
Crazy bastard.
The Station Master slumped unconscious in a corner.
I let out a relieved breath as I followed the crowd safely, watching Ko Yeongeun trying to calm people down again, talking quickly.
...I’m so grateful.
And it was incredible.
I need to think of something, too.
I was the only one who properly understood that if those two went out, they might become corpses.
I have to find a way.
As I pulled back the hand I’d extended to drag the Station Master, still thinking—
.......
The tattoo on my wrist.
...Inventory Tattoo!
Wait.
“Deputy!”
“Huh?”
I ran over to Deputy Eun Haje, who hadn’t followed the crowd and was watching the situation.
“Deputy, in the Hungry Hangman darkness—”
“Yeah. Everything after that has basically been a bonus. Thanks—”
“No!!”
I ended up shouting almost like I was scolding them.
Deputy Eun Haje lifted their eyebrows as if startled.
“I mean the method I used to bring out Chief Badger!”
“......!”
“I’m going to try using that on the two of you.”
Put them into the tattoo.
Put both of them into the tattoo, and then—wait, if I put them in and I go out, would it be judged as “they went out,” too?
No. I could come back into Se-gwang Special City and open it and take them out, couldn’t I? Inside my tattoo is another ghost story—no, then would it count as “outside,” like Brown’s talk show—
No!
Because there’s a pop-up store in the Se-gwang subway, it might be judged differently...!
“I don’t know what will happen, but we can at least try once, can’t we.”
“.......”
Deputy Eun Haje smirked.
“Hey. Yeah. If we can live, we have to try everything.”
“...!”
“Let’s do it.”
“Yes.”
I was about to grab Deputy Eun Haje and shove them into my wrist immediately, but I was stopped.
The deputy nodded toward Bronze Agent in the Driver’s Cab.
“You putting that one in, too?”
“.......”
I nodded.
“When the work’s done, catch him off guard.”
“...! Thank you.”
“Yeah.”
Right there, I put Deputy Eun Haje into my tattoo.
It felt strange, and some eerie sense that I was making a wrong judgment rose up—but I endured it.
I can do it.
I can. There’s space inside—if I cram it in. That’s all. I pulled almost everything I’d brought out of the tattoo, mainly food and bulky items.
Then I went back to the Driver’s Cab.
“Leave.”
“.......”
I deliberately complied with those words.
Instead of worrying about the commotion outside, Bronze Agent sat quietly in place, steadfastly copying the talisman pattern.
As if it were the calling assigned to them.
Remaining Distance: ■■■■□□□□□□
Remaining Fuel: ■■■■■■□□□□
Distance and fuel decreased.
The strokes were completed.
I watched them with mounting impatience.
Hurry, hurry....
“...It’s done.”
Done.
Bronze Agent lifted their head and nodded to me outside the Driver’s Cab seat area, smiling.
I smiled back.
“Take it.”
I looked at Bronze Agent holding out the paper to me, and still smiling, I reached out—
And grabbed their whole arm and yanked.
“...!”
I shoved them as I entered the Driver’s Cab seat area.
In the instant the startled Bronze Agent lost their balance and stumbled, I shoved Bronze Agent into my tattoo, too.
It was almost a scuffle. But maybe they hadn’t expected me to strike first—so I succeeded in getting their arm into the tattoo first, and then I could force the rest in as well.
My grip throbbed, and I think I scratched Bronze Agent’s arm or shoulder pretty badly too....
But it’s done.
“Huff.”
I collapsed down.
Leaning against the side door of the Driver’s Cab, I breathed out. My head felt like it was burning from tension, but anyway—I did the best I could....
It’s okay.
First, first... when this train runs out safely, I’ll think about what to do. If we escape, a method will appear.
Remaining Distance: ■■■□□□□□□□
Remaining Fuel: ■■■■■□□□□□
We’re almost there already.
And fuel was fine. If I stayed here, it seemed like we’d arrive before I died, unless something extreme happened.
And using up agents as fuel was just a guess anyway.
It’ll be fine. I let out a breath and leaned my back again, easing the tension a little—
Click.
“.......”
A small sound rang out in the Driver’s Cab.
I reflexively lifted my head.
In the control area.
Someone was pressing a button.
The Station Master.
“Eheh!”
The moment I met that face—drooling, grinning at me with bizarre satisfaction—
The space behind my back disappeared.
The side door of the Driver’s Cab opened, and my body dropped into the cold air outside.
I tried to scream, but before that I threw out my hand to grab the edge of the opened train door—and slashed empty air. My body, tipping backward...
began to fall.
“...!!”
The inverted view from my flipped head showed the city’s wide-open panorama, and—ah—uh—th-that—ah—one—being—ar—th-what is that—why one?? why?
A gigantic sphere—mass of people?
The end has come!
There is paradise!
We have failed!
Bigger than traffic lights, bigger than street trees, bigger than houses, bigger than buildings, bigger than towers—under the blue sky that enormous thing rolled in its round shape, crushing Se-gwang Special City, gripping and rolling, tens of thousands of eyes, tens of thousands of mouths.
Heaven?
In the beautiful panorama of the special city under pouring sunlight, a giant mass? A perfect hymn? A music-box sound?
That enormous spherical—thousands, hundreds of thousands, tens of millions—intelligent body opened its mouth.
The end has come!
There is paradise!
We have failed!
It’s getting closer.
My-my-my body is getting closer—my head falling upside down toward the city—
The end has come!
There is paradise!
We have failed!
My head slams in.
The end has come!
There is paradise!
We have failed!
The train floating in the air leaves
far away
a point disappearing as it heads out beyond the city, along tracks that pierce the sky, far away
Something drops from the train door—falling straight down toward me—white scales glittering
Paradise!
My vision disappears.
Failure!
Into someone’s mouth—shattering, fragmenting, my spine smashed, falling somewhere below—aaah—aaah—
Chewed
Crunch
.......
Blackout.
Death.
***
[Death confirmed]
[End]
[Would you like to restart?]
***