Chapter 112

The Silver Heart Badge holder.

A good person with a badge-shaped item that could sway the masses.

A pivotal figure in the Tamna-Bound High-Speed Train Incident, but one who only came into focus near the very end of the short-story-style post.

So perhaps it was only natural that I couldn't remember their seat number or exact name.

'I mostly read the wiki for ways to beat ghost stories...!'

After landing here, the things I'd read over and over as my lifeline were mostly ghost story entries and Exploration Records. In other words, I'd focused on wiki entries that provided information for clearing ghost stories.

'The extra content went on the back burner.'

Prose as long and emotional as a short story, essentially a wiki side story? That had been far down my list of priorities.

Besides, the Silver Heart Badge holder's personal details had only been mentioned once or twice there.

Accurately recalling those numbers and letters a month or two after reading them...

... Apparently, that really had been asking too much.

*'I'm screwed...'

No!

I swallowed.

'I can still make an educated guess.'

And even if I couldn't get that person under control early on, I would find a way to deal with this.

'I remember the other wiki entries about the Tamna-Bound High-Speed Train Incident.'

The urgent bulletins and documents filed with the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau, for instance.

I knew how this incident unfolded in each loop. I could do this.

I could do this...

...

'All right.'

I decided how to proceed.

'It's a little extreme, but there's no other choice.'

Of course, all of this had raced through my head in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, the Elite Team employees beside me were chatting away nonchalantly.

"Wow, a time loop! I've read loads of sci-fi short-story collections like this."

"So we can keep trying until we meet the conditions? A little annoying, but convenient."

"..."

What an extraordinary conversation...

Fortunately, no one paid attention to our hushed conversation. The whole train was filled with shock, panic, and sobbing.

"Haaah, hah!"

"It's a dream. This is a dream, a dream..."

But there was always someone who couldn't stand by and watch a situation like this.

"Hold on. Everyone, calm down! Calm down!"

... There it was.

Second Loop:

Individuals began emerging in each carriage of the high-speed train to soothe the passengers' fears and build a consensus.

-Ah, who was it who said a crisis is an opportunity? In times of turmoil, someone always volunteers to lead!

Right.

And in our carriage, that someone was the bespectacled office worker.

The very man whose opponent had lunged at him during an argument about closing the window in the first loop, only to fall out of it.

"Still, isn't the important thing that none of us are dead? ... Let's all calm down and piece together what happened."

"Ah... ah."

"D-do you have an idea?"

With someone willing to take charge, people did at least pay attention.

"I think time seems to be repeating itself."

The bespectacled office worker began doing his best to calm everyone and take stock of the situation.

"We've certainly been caught up in something strange, but I think there's a reason we've been given another chance. Maybe we're supposed to find the right answer to get out."

"Oh..."

"Let's believe that and give it a try. Calmly."

I would have thought things were heading in a fairly decent direction.

If only he hadn't turned toward my seat at the very end.

"Look, some people are already sitting calmly."

"...!"

"Let's take a page from their book and assess the situation."

'Damn it.'

The three of us, the Daydream Inc. employees, had been singled out.

'Were we too quiet...?'

... No, this was actually a good thing.

It was time to establish a foothold. I needed to step forward early, while we were still in the second loop.

"Oh, n-no. We're not calm... We're just confused."

I immediately shook my head, forcing what looked like a frightened smile.

"It just... it just doesn't feel real. We're on a business trip, and we'd all been dozing off."

I doubted anyone would be suspicious. My face was already pale without any effort on my part.

Deputy Jin Nasol did raise one eyebrow slightly when I took the initiative, but she let it slide for now. I quickly pressed on before I lost momentum.

"Then suddenly there was an ocean outside the window, and all that talk about sacrifices... You're saying all of that was real?"

"Well, um. It seems that way."

I swallowed as though I were a little nervous.

"Then the man who fell out the window earlier..."

"..."

Everyone froze for a moment, then slowly turned to look.

The middle-aged man who had been sitting right beside the window where the 'sacrifices' were offered. His seat, left empty after he'd picked a fight and accidentally fallen out the window...

Was occupied.

"...!!"

I could see the silhouette of a passenger sitting motionless.

... It was indeed the man who'd fallen out.

"H-he's alive!"

"Oh, thank goodness..."

That was when it happened.

The passenger sprang up and lunged at the bespectacled office worker.

"...!!"

"You goddamn son of a bitch! Because of you, because of yooou!"

"L-let go of me!"

It was pandemonium.

The middle-aged man, dressed like some nouveau riche upstart, sprayed spit as he stared at the other man with strange eyes.

"Die, die! I fell because of you... Ah, it hurts! It hurts so much...!!"

Madness streamed from his eyes.

"Y-you can't fall down there! It hurts! It's wroooong! Urk, bleeegh!"

"Eek!"

The middle-aged man staggered and trembled, then began vomiting strange, dark-red lumps onto the floor.

"Urk!! Uuuurgh!"

The bespectacled office worker backed away, his face stricken.

'Ha.'

Those who fell out the window as 'sacrifices' exhibited delirium bordering on insanity and symptoms of bizarre supernatural illnesses in the following loop.

They stated that after falling out the window, they suffered endlessly amid terrible burning pain and inhuman whispers.

... Seeing it in person, the sheer instability of his condition was truly overwhelming.

The bespectacled office worker, apparently completely overwhelmed, quietly retreated on trembling legs.

-Hmm, a voluntary withdrawal! We might call that a brief but meaningful stint of leadership! In any event, the position of leader is now vacant.

-Perhaps my friend intends to guide them with a brilliant display of skill... Hmm, apparently not. That's perfectly fine, too! Let us provide commentary on the situation together, with yours truly, Braun.

'Right.'

I deliberately took a step back.

And at that moment.

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The carriage display changed again.

"Th-there it is again!"

"Uh, so, last time, I'm sure..."

When someone fell out the window,

the train had made it safely through the tunnel and kept going.

"..."

"..."

Perhaps because there was still time, people deliberately ignored that fact and kept talking.

"... What counts as a sacrifice?"

"W-wouldn't it have to be something alive? Like, when you watch horror stuff on Wetube..."

I cut in.

"No. It could be an object. The food offered at ancestral rites counts as an offering, too."

"Oh...!"

"That's right. Let's stay calm, think of a few things, and try throwing them out..."

But fear, agitation, and anxiety still swirled in their eyes...

"..."

"Th-then. Does anyone have any food on them?"

Before long, passengers carrying snacks voluntarily pooled whatever food could be thrown outside.

Fruit, eggs, meat, bread, and so on...

And just in the nick of time, the scenery outside changed.

Entering the First Altar

This time, people were a little calmer.

"Let's throw it out."

"Okay...!"

SPLASH, SPLASH.

In silence, the food disappeared out the window.

Distance Remaining: 4

The display showed no change. Only the number continued to drop.

"It's not working! It won't end!!"

People screamed.

In fact, the countdown had continued to the very end even when the sacrifice had been accepted, but I deliberately didn't correct them.

... Because I'd known from the start that food wasn't the answer.

Distance Remaining: 3

And it seemed the passengers had finally accepted it, too.

The answer.

"It really does have to be a person. A person..."

"Ah..."

"No, how could we do that to someone..."

"We'll all die if we don't! The train's going to sink!"

"But who..."

Distance Remaining: 2

"..."

"..."

Their gazes shifted.

This was what they meant.

'He's already lost his mind anyway. Couldn't we just drop him out again?'

An unspoken, unconscious impulse brought to the surface by an emergency.

Under their stares, the 'first-loop sacrifice' went into hysterics.

"Help me, heeelp me! I don't want to! No! No!!"

"C-calm down. It'll be all right..."

Distance Remaining: 1

"No! Noooo!"

"First, move away from the win—huh, wh-whaaat??"

WHOOOSH...

SPLASH.

0

The tunnel ended.

The blue sea came into view again, bathing the train in light.

The chilling purple words, 'An offering has come. Open the sea passage,' filled the carriage display.

And in front of the window...

A broken pair of glasses lay on the floor.

"..."

"..."

And the 'first-loop sacrifice' who had pushed him out.

"The fucker who made me fall's dead! I'm not dead! I'm not dead! I'm nooot deeead!"

Drooling, the middle-aged man flailed his way down the aisle, then buried his head in a corner and began to sob.

A pale silence settled over the carriage.

The atmosphere was enough to drive anyone mad.

-The former leader becomes a sacrifice! Hmm, how typical. Though it is a little early.

Then.

"Hey, there was another one after this, wasn't there?"

An incongruously cheerful voice rang through the train.

Supervisor Dolphin.

"Wh-what did you say?"

"The second altar showed up pretty soon after this, remember? I think we need to get ready for it."

"Just stop it!!"

"Aah!"

People lashed out under the stress. But Supervisor Dolphin spoke as though she didn't mind.

"Let's make no mistakes this time. We'll find the worst person and have them fall out!"

She pointed ahead.

"Including everyone in the other carriages!"

"...!!"

"Well, and... there's no guarantee they'll die, right? He came back alive earlier. So wouldn't it be better to find a bad person and let them suffer?"

It was insane.

But in an incomprehensible disaster, sometimes comforting insanity could win people over.

With a little distortion, that is.

"That's right! So far, everyone who's fallen out has been from our carriage! The carriages up front should do it, too!"

"Exactly!"

Why should our carriage alone have to suffer like this and wrestle with these decisions?

Seized by a sense of injustice and a strange anger, the people in our carriage, Car 7, surged toward the front.

The Elite Team employees and I headed forward among them. Actually, Supervisor Dolphin was right near the front of the group.

"Excuse me! You've got an open window here too, right?? When the train plunged into the water last time, I think it was because nobody fell out of it..."

But sure enough, the farther forward we went, the more people we found who had no idea what was happening.

"Wh-what the hell are you talking about?"

"Who are these people?"

"Hey, get lost unless you want a beating. I swear..."

"Oooh."

"... Let's move along and tell the others."

Supervisor Dolphin was eyeing that last speaker as though his wonderful character made him an excellent candidate, so I hurried us into the next carriage.

But the moment we entered Car 3.

Entering the Second Altar

It began again.

"Aaah!"

"Someone, anyone, fall out already!"

"The train's going to crash, waaah, waaaaah..."

"Throw someone out! We have to throw someone out the window!"

I could hear the shouts of the people from our carriage, Car 7, their stress pushed to its limit.

And the voices of those from the other carriages, who still hadn't grasped exactly what was happening.

Distance Remaining: 5

"Who are these people?! Where did they come from??"

"Are they fucking crazy?!"

"If you don't want to die, hurry up and volunteer! Pick a volunteer!"

"Then why don't you fall out yourselves!"

"Someone from our carriage already fell! Find someone from another carriage!!"

"So, right now, a volunteer..."

Distance Remaining: 4

A clear voice cut through the pandemonium.

"No one?"

Deputy Jin Nasol reached out.

'... No!'

She was about to pick out the least cooperative person here and throw them out.

'And if it starts over again, she'll keep using the people she's picked as sacrifices...!'

Efficient, but unacceptable.

Deputy Jin Nasol was certainly capable, but she had clearly lived her life without giving the battle for public opinion a second thought.

I immediately raised my hand.

Distance Remaining: 3

"I'll volunteer!"

"..."

Deputy Jin Nasol turned toward me.

"What?"

I repeated myself.

"I'll fall out."

"...!!"

"Why..."

Distance Remaining: 2

"I won't actually die, so I'll try to endure it."

Then I whispered quickly to Deputy Jin Nasol.

"I think we need to check what exactly happens down there."

"Why bother?"

"I don't trust civilian testimony. I've prepared measures to protect my mind, too."

"Hmm..."

Distance Remaining: 1

"Suit yourself."

"...! Thank you."

I quickly finished our whispered exchange, turned to the passengers, and shouted.

"There's not much time left! I'm going to the window, so everyone, please move aside!"

"Uh, uhhh..."

Unable to stop me, people slowly backed away. Those from our carriage and the others reacted alike.

'... Good.'

I'd spoken as though I were calm, but my hands were shaking.

Still, I had no choice.

'For this plan to work, I have to go through this at least once.'

If Plan A, immediately finding and securing the Silver Heart Badge holder, had failed...

'I'll have to use a more extreme approach.'

"Everyone, be careful!"

As I clung to the window, I pulled a painkiller from inside my jacket.

It might not work.

'But it'll still be better than nothing...!'

I plunged the Happy Maker into my forearm. At the same time, I threw myself out the window.

Into the red tunnel.

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