“Bound for Tamra? What’s that?”
“An error? Wow, that’s kind of creepy.”
Passengers on the high-speed train began to murmur as they saw the footage on the cabin displays change.
Even so, they weren’t particularly serious. It was just the tone of people finding something unusual to break the boredom of travel.
…Until they truly realized what kind of incident this was.
“Hey, I recorded this. I’m going to post it on InHeart… Huh?”
“What is it?”
“…The internet isn't working.”
Classic.
“Hey, turn on your smartphone. Quick!”
“Um, excuse me, mine says I’m out of the service area. Is your phone working by any chance?”
“What? Why is all communication cut off?”
The murmuring of the crowd gradually grew louder.
However, Assistant manager Butterfly, sitting in front of me, didn't budge, and Supervisor Dolphin, sitting in the aisle seat next to me, merely grumbled softly.
“How annoying. We got caught up in this right when there are so many civilians around.”
It was the typical introduction to a Darkness that anyone in a Field Exploration Position at our company could have guessed.
Furthermore, although they didn't know it, this ghost story was actually an Anomaly that the government—not our company—had identified decades ago and left a Side Document about.
The Paradise Test (tentative name) is a phenomenon that occurs very rarely on the Iksan-bound high-speed railway departing from Seoul.
No casualties to date. Disaster classification pending.
But that was all.
‘Because there were no casualties!’
The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau usually only registered a ghost story as a Disaster if people died.
Therefore, the Side Document concluded with: ‘It is presumed that the Anomaly disappeared when the Iksan-bound high-speed railway was extended to Mokpo.’
However… it had started again.
Right now, on this train.
“Hey! L-Look outside!!”
“My god!”
I turned my head to look out the train window. Instead of the city that should have been visible as we left Seoul…
An endless blue sea stretched out before us.
“…!”
The blue horizon meeting the orange sky created a fantastic and eerie landscape.
Splashing water and cutting through the waves, the train was speeding forward across the shimmering ripples of the blue sea….
“Is this train… running on top of the sea right now?! H-How?”
“Wow….”
“Ah, isn't this a graphic? Like a pilot run for some LCD window?”
Forgotten was their confusion as the passengers marveled at the background, which felt beautiful yet transcendental.
Some people tried to take photos with their non-functioning smartphones, only to be surprised when they couldn't save them.
The Tamra-bound High-speed Train Incident.
It was identical to the introduction of the document I knew….
“…….”
Dammit.
If I had focused on the fact itself that I was ‘boarding a Mokpo-bound high-speed train,’ I might have noticed the possibility of this ghost story occurring.
‘But by design, I was meant to overlook this.’
Because another Darkness had been placed before me as the target!
—Go to Mokpo and enter a C-Grade Darkness.
While I was focused on that premise, constantly fixing and supplementing countermeasures for it, a thorn had popped out from an unexpected place.
I interlaced my fingers. My mind raced.
‘…Is this a trap intended for this?’
Or was it a coincidence?
This incident was certainly written in the Wiki as having ‘occurred without anyone expecting it.’
‘But that was written from the perspective of the Disaster Management Bureau.’
Other groups or individuals… might have figured it out by looking at the ghost story occurrence patterns.
……Especially.
‘Looking at my companions, it feels too intentional….’
“Excuse me, Assistant manager. Wake up.”
“……Sigh.”
Supervisor Dolphin woke up Assistant manager Butterfly in the front seat.
“Is it work again? I’d rather it be a high grade. That way we can report it and get more Points.”
“I know, right!”
Two members of the Elite Squad.
In other words, they were people capable of making cold-blooded, decisive choices without a drop of blood or tears to ensure the mission's success.
‘…They are the polar opposite of this ghost story.’
Because this…
Was a ghost story that tested human ethics.
“Hmm. The text on the screen has changed.”
…….
I raised my head with eyes that had turned cold.
A new sentence scrolled across the screen.
To reach Tamra, offer a sacrifice
“…A sacrifice?”
Clatter.
A window at the very front of the car opened.
The people sitting nearby recoiled in terror.
“Oh, shit!”
“This door isn't supposed to open…. Wait a minute. Why isn't there any wind coming in?”
“But why did it open all of a sudden….”
It was as if….
As if telling them to throw a sacrifice in through there.
“…….”
Confusion and a faint dread spread across the faces of several passengers who had left their seats to actively investigate the Anomaly.
“What… sacrifice? Offer a sacrifice?”
“This is too weird….”
But no one wanted to deduce or speak aloud what a real sacrifice or an offering was.
“…Maybe it’s just been hacked?”
“Hey, let’s just find a crew member.”
It was avoidance.
People just clicked their tongues with anxious eyes and sat down, or moved to another car to find a crew member.
They pretended to be composed.
Because they realized the current situation was truly ominous, a chilling silence conversely descended upon the cabin….
Tap, tap.
Just then, Assistant manager Butterfly lightly tapped the handle of the seat opposite her, drawing my and Supervisor Dolphin’s attention.
“Don’t step in. Observe what they do first.”
“Got it for now!”
“Yes.”
Perhaps the Assistant manager wanted to see what happened when someone else tried something first. …It also felt like she was trying to keep me from acting impulsively.
But I had no intention of stepping in from the start.
‘If this really is that incident, it’s better not to act right now….’
I sat quietly and watched to see if the situation would unfold ‘as destined.’
A short while later.
“This is just too weird!”
Screams from people began to erupt intermittently from here and there.
“I found a crew member and they’re in a complete panic! They’re shouting that they don’t know what’s going on either!”
“No, there are people in the front car who brought their kids? They’re all freaking out because their kids have disappeared! It doesn't seem like a normal situation….”
“They say they can't reach the engineer. The door to the driver’s cab is completely locked!!”
As they began communicating with other cars, they learned even more chilling facts.
—Ah, the chaos! What is incomprehensible to human history has always been an object of fear, and there is no exception here.
—Are you going to keep watching where they drift, Friend?
‘…For a while.’
That was the right thing to do.
But since anxiety was unavoidable, I clenched my teeth to suppress the agitation.
And I watched the people standing in front of the car door, talking to everyone as if making a public announcement.
“Everyone, I think we need to come up with some kind of countermeasure!”
“Right, this is clearly a huge problem…!”
Beep!
“……Huh?”
Everyone’s gaze shifted.
New text appeared on the in-flight display.
Entering the First Altar
“……Altar?”
Whoosh.
Outside the window, the dazzlingly blue sea suddenly began to be dyed red….
And then it suddenly turns pitch black.
“Agh!”
Outside every window, instead of the horizon, a wall covered in a bizarre membrane began to be visible.
“T-This is…….”
“Oh my god!”
As if the high-speed train had entered a tunnel or a station, the train continued to glide through that strange and dark space.
Distance remaining: 5
“S-Shouldn't we try something?”
“Look for a button or something!”
“A button? There's no such thing….”
Distance remaining: 4
“Ah, what should I do? What do I do….”
“Hey! You in the window seat! Help me close this window, don't just sit there…!”
“Ugh, so damn loud!”
Thud!
Distance remaining: 3
“A-Are you trying to push someone right now… Huh? Uh, uh, uh?”
Splash.
“Agh! Someone fell out the window!”
“N-No! That person tried to push me and fell out on their own!”
“That’s right! I saw it from the side, the person who fell was acting weird. Like, aggressively….”
“No, anyway, someone died!”
Supervisor Dolphin whispered from the side.
“Hmm. Seeing the screen talk about sacrifices and offerings… I guess the person who fell was treated as an ‘offering,’ right?”
“Isn't it obvious?”
The Assistant manager said dismissively, and as she fiddled with her fingernails which were equipped with gear, she declared:
“We’ll observe just one more and then start moving. Everyone get ready.”
“Yup.”
“…….”
If there was any relief, it was that the people who had judged the person falling to be a case of getting what they deserved had calmed down a bit.
The few people who had come out aggressively questioning the office worker in glasses soon grasped the situation and slunk away, though not without muttering a few more words.
“Are you okay? Don’t take it to heart.”
“Yes…. I’m fine. Everyone’s probably just anxious.”
Supervisor Dolphin was watching that scene intently.
Assistant manager Butterfly and I also checked our equipment and quietly observed the situation.
But that was the end of the relief.
20 minutes later.
“Again!!”
Entering the Second Altar
The outside of the window turned red and dark again, as if entering a tunnel once more.
“What on earth is this?!”
However, thanks to the previous experience, instead of falling into a panic, people quickly covered their heads and crouched down.
“It’ll disappear after some time passes.”
Listening to the people's whispers.
I looked at my superior across from me.
Assistant manager Jin Nasol was now wearing a bizarre-looking monocle, looking around the dark cabin.
Looking for the most useless and appropriate thing.
“…Assistant manager.”
“What.”
“Shouldn't we also observe what happens in a situation where no one is sacrificed?”
I spoke as much as possible in the Assistant manager's language.
“Since we don't know if going to ‘Tamra’ is a good thing. I think it’s a situation worth betting on.”
“Hmm.”
A brief silence.
“Fine.”
Whew.
I held back a sigh and nodded.
‘I shouldn't stand out by sacrificing someone here.’
In the meantime, the numbers on the display in the cabin were rapidly counting down….
Distance remaining: 5
Distance remaining: 4
Distance remaining: 3
Distance remaining: 2
Distance remaining: 1
0
Passed
Whoosh.
Light flooded outside the window again.
The tunnel had ended, and the sea had appeared.
“Ah…!”
The moment the passengers instinctively breathed a sigh of relief….
“I-It’s gone!”
The text on the Electronic Display also flickered and then turned off.
All that remained was the beautiful scenery outside the Train, running over the dazzling blue sea with white spray.
“……Ah.”
As the tension eased, people raised their heads one by one with relieved expressions.
“It’s still the sea, though.”
“But something... feels like it’s over, right? Is it okay now?”
“No matter how I think about it, this feels like some kind of event. Huh? Like an escape room. Darling, did you sign up for something?”
Tap tap.
Supervisor Dolphin whispered softly too.
“It’s surprisingly okay, isn’t it? Is it a clear if we don’t sacrifice others? It’s a bit of a predictable condition.”
“……Let’s just watch for a bit longer for now. There’s also what the Assistant manager said.”
“Yes, yes.”
And then, about ten more minutes passed.
People who had relaxed slightly stood up and moved around the cabin, searching for the missing children, calming the crew, and speaking with the driver.
At the very moment when it seemed that people had adapted to the situation and regained some measure of composure and rational judgment.
Suddenly, without warning.
Thud.
With a lurch, the Train tilted forward.
“…!!”
“Whoa? Whoa, whoa?”
Passengers tumbled from their seats. I gripped the handle tightly and braced myself through the jolt.
And, enduring the fear, I looked out the window.
To be precise, I strained to look as far down as my vision could reach.
The white spray of the Train that had been cutting through the sparkling ripples…
Disappeared.
Boom!
The Train crashed through the surface of the water and plummeted.
“Aaaaah!”
“Aack!!”
Windows shattered, water rushed in, and conscious passengers screamed, trying to swim out somehow or clinging to one another.
Unconscious people floated in the water. It was maddening.
-Isn’t this the moment help is needed, Friend?!
…….
‘Not yet… no.’
-Hmm!
Submerged in the dark, suffocating sea, I followed the quick and accurate instructions of Assistant manager Jin Nasol, who was signaling with her hands to head for the window.
But as I approached the window, I felt my consciousness fading… strangely faster than my lung capacity should have allowed.
The suffocating dizziness persisted….
…….
‘Gasp.’
My consciousness.
It disappears.
“…….”
“…….”
“…Huh??”
I opened my eyes.
Along with the announcement music of the high-speed train.
Trrrring!
Inside the cabin of the high-speed train bound for Mokpo, which had just closed its doors at Seoul Station.
Supervisor Dolphin was sitting next to me, and Assistant manager Butterfly was sitting opposite.
And the perfectly normal Electronic Display.
Bound for Mokpo
I could hear the dazed voices of the passengers in the same carriage.
“Hey, I just had a really strange dream….”
“You too? Hey, me too. Something about a Train Bound for Tamra? Something like that….”
“Huh? Wa-wait a minute. …Me too?”
“What?”
Bound for Mokpo
“……Hey, hey, hey! That, look at that!”
“Uh, uh, uhhh?!”
Bound for Tamra
Departure
The Train started with a roar.
Exactly like the first time.
Just as it was.
“Aaaaah!!”
Cries, screams, and voices filled with horror began to ring out from everywhere.
“Wait! Wait! What on earth is happening, what…!”
“Let me out! Let me out!”
“Mom… what is this?”
What else could it be?
‘……It’s exactly what it looks like.’
I groaned inwardly.
※Urgent Report
A lethal Anomaly has been witnessed in the recent recurrence of the supernatural phenomenon ‘The Paradise Test (provisional).’
It has been confirmed that the passengers of the high-speed train in question returned to ‘the point of initial departure’ the moment the train plummeted into the water.
Survivors stated they were trapped in a loop of the time the Train Bound for Tamra was running.
Yes.
Inside here, everything starts over.
‘…With everyone’s memories intact, that is.’
In this process, all passengers remember what they experienced without exception.
So.
It was the start of the 2nd round.
-A time loop! It’s quite the taste of a typical SF enthusiast. However, the fact that they are more ‘trapped’ than usual is a very interesting point….
-If experience accumulates equally for everyone, even the brave find it difficult to step forward easily. Eternal consequences! Isn’t that a tremendous restriction on action?
Yes.
‘That’s why… I have to be extremely careful about stepping forward.’
I had to be cautious.
Furthermore, I must not be swept away by the panic of this crowd.
Keep it in mind. Only one thing matters to me.
‘Now I can rationally persuade people.’
Now that everyone has truly experienced a proper ‘supernatural phenomenon’ for themselves. They won’t think some crazy guy is talking nonsense; they’ll at least listen.
So, from now on, I just need to move carefully.
‘It’s not… bad.’
I can live.
I can… live.
Yes. That’s what I had to think.
I repeated it to myself, composed.
Now, the first thing I must do is….
‘Finding the person with the Silver Heart.’
Besides myself, the decisive cause that made the conclusion of this situation a perfect hell was inside this Train.
I had to secure that person’s identity first.
‘Let’s find them and control them.’
It was definitely mentioned once or twice in the short story.
I tried to recall the specific carriage number and seat number where that person had been sitting.
It was definitely in the first carriage….
…….
…….
‘Wait.’
A little more, let’s try to remember more calmly.
So, that person’s exact name is…….
…….
“…….”
“Excuse me? Supervisor?”
I can’t remember.
‘Ah.’
It’s been weeks since the Pop-socket was damaged.
Blank spaces in my memory have finally begun to appear.
Discussion