Chapter 114

Running a con is rather like a form of unethical marketing.

1. Earn their trust.

“He cured the guy with glasses? That guy was completely out of his mind.”

“Yeah! But look, he's fine now. And that man fell out the window too, but he's perfectly fine. He says he saw something down there!”

“Wow... I mean, um, are you really all right?”

“Yes. I'm all right. And he's at peace now, too.”

2. Serve up a problem and its cause.

“S-so... you're saying this is some kind of test? And we can leave if we pass?”

“Yes. I'm certain we'll be able to leave.”

“Oh...!”

“C-could this be like one of those hunter stories? Where we awaken powers and...”

“Right! That's what it seems like. They wouldn't have thrown us into this insane situation for no reason!”

“Exactly. There was a reason for all of this.”

Once I'd worked them up like that...

“And for us to escape this situation...”

3. Sell them a magical solution.

In unethical marketing, that “solution” is the product you're peddling. In a cult, it's the doctrine.

And the method I would propose was...

“Every single person must go out the window once.”

“...!!”

“Wh-what did you say?!”

“Don't be alarmed, everyone.”

Smiling, I gestured to myself.

Then to the bespectacled office worker whom the Happy Maker had calmed.

“Those who accept my invitation and go out will be perfectly fine, just like me. This is a kind of test, after all.”

“Oh...!”

“If you have any doubts, well... I'll do my best to convince you. Or I wouldn't mind falling again myself.”

Just then, the informational video began playing again.

You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice. You who wish to reach Tamna, offer a sacrifice.

“Uh...!”

But the mood was a little different this time.

At least in Car 7, where everyone had listened closely to my sales pitch, people began murmuring and glancing at the window.

‘Then does that mean it might be safe to go out there?’

It wasn't all panic and fear anymore. Curiosity and anticipation had begun to take root.

“Ah, how entertaining. How very entertaining... Marvelous work, Mr. Roe Deer!”

“But every great and impressive entertainer faces challenges. Ah, look. There's one now!”

THUMP!

“Th-that's fucking bullshit!! You goddamn moron!”

The person slamming his armrest and shouting was the middle-aged man whose face was turning red, then pale.

The passenger who had fallen out the window in the first loop, then pushed the man with glasses out in the second.

‘Looks like sitting out a round brought him back to his senses a little.’

But he was still far from sane.

“Th-that man pushed someone out the window last time... Gasp!”

“Crazy bastard... G-get lost! You fucking moron.”

His eyes swiveled wildly, the eyes of a madman who looked ready to stab me at any moment.

“Jump?! I'm not jumping! I'm not jumping, you son of a bitch! You jump again!”

I calmly addressed the man as he shoved past a nearby passenger and came right up to me.

“If you don't want to participate, you don't have to do it right now.”

“H-huuuh?!”

“Please rest. You aren't qualified at the moment anyway.”

“Wh... what?!”

“I'm saying that even if you ask for my help going out the window, I cannot grant your request.”

This was another crucial step.

4. Restrict who can have the solution.

Why else would they keep producing tiny batches so things sell out, or tell you to message them for the price?

They exploit the way scarcity makes things seem precious, and difficulty makes them seem more desirable.

That tantalizing sense that it's right there in front of you, seemingly within reach, yet if you miss this chance you might never have it.

That's what you stoke.

“Only those who are qualified can go out the window without pain...”

“Wh-what kind of bullshit...”

“And you are not among them. You are not yet qualified to pass through the trial without pain. Step back.”

“... Uh, uh...”

The middle-aged man mumbled a few more “uh”s, staggered, then sank to the floor.

Well, fighting crazy talk with crazy talk had worked again.

Apparently I'd done an excellent job of grabbing everyone's attention. The entire carriage was now staring at me with wide eyes.

I gave them a gentle smile.

“But don't worry too much. Eventually, everyone will be ready.”

“...!”

“Aaaah! Magnificent!”

Beyond Braun's cheers, the passengers surged forward and began asking questions.

“Excuse me! Th-then, who will be ready?”

“I don't know either. I simply seem to be able to recognize those who are ready.”

“Then is anyone here ready?”

That was when the bespectacled office worker, who had been sitting quietly, raised his hand and asked,

“Am... am I qualified, by any chance?”

Thanks to Happy Maker, he was at peace, free of fear and PTSD, so he hadn't lunged at the middle-aged man who had pushed him.

Still, unable to help his body's nervous response, he swallowed hard.

I smiled and nodded.

“Yes.”

“...!!”

“You are qualified. ... You have already succeeded.”

I approached and took his hand.

“You have proven yourself sufficiently. You needn't go down again. Your peace is proof of that. ... You endured so much, and you were very brave.”

“Ah... aaah!”

Tears streamed from the bespectacled man's eyes.

At the sight, the murmuring subsided.

In its place, something new began to emerge in people's eyes.

Longing, and a sense of shared purpose.

“From now on, I will give a token to those who have their qualifications confirmed and go down, protecting them from as much pain as possible.”

“...!”

“Th-then...”

But there were still no volunteers.

‘I knew it.’

After all, I'd just told them everyone had to jump out the window for us to escape.

No one would rush to be first into a potentially painful situation when there was nothing to gain.

“My friend, do you have a brilliant solution?”

The obvious one.

‘Sway public opinion again.’

I nodded as if I understood completely.

“Of course. I know this must be difficult. In this life, I will go out the window one more—”

“Hey, I'll go.”

Huh?

Supervisor Dolphin raised her hand.

Supervisor! You have my undying gratitude...

“But not alone. Only if you fall out the window with me again, Supervisor.”

“Huuuh?”

“Um, are... are you all ri—”

“Of course. I'm fine.”

I was planning to do that anyway! It's so revolting and disgusting it makes me want to cry, but what choice do I have...

“If there are no other volunteers, I'll demonstrate one more time.”

“Yup, yup. Oh, but I'd like her to go before us.”

Supervisor Dolphin casually pointed with both hands.

At Deputy Butterfly.

“Superiors first!”

Aaaaargh!

“Hey, Deputy, you said you'd do me one favor. I'm cashing it in now!”

“I didn't give you that to use in a situation like this. But whatever. It doesn't matter.”

Surprisingly, though, Deputy Jin Nasol was perfectly composed. It looked as though the two of them had discussed something beforehand.

“Should I go now?”

Entering the First Altar

Right on cue, our surroundings darkened and turned red.

Amid the passengers who had instinctively frozen, Deputy Jin Nasol's quiet, nonchalant voice rang out.

“I don't like having to ask twice.”

Eek.

“Yes. Please close your eyes for a moment. I will give you the token of approval...”

Pretending to shake Deputy Jin Nasol's hand, I secretly passed her a stick under cover of darkness.

‘Just stick it in.’

But before I could even mouth the words, she was already deftly inserting the Happy Maker into her arm out of sight.

She seemed to have deduced it as a matter of course. ... That it was a painkiller item.

“Hmm.”

PFFT.

With a brief sound, the medication drained from the stick inserted beneath her sleeve, and the empty stick slipped naturally out of sight inside it.

“This is pretty good, isn't it?”

Deputy Jin Nasol grinned and immediately fell backward out the window.

“Eek!”

“Sh-she was smiling when she went!”

And so a sacrifice was willingly offered at the first altar.

Excitement had now completely overtaken the carriage.

No one called it suspicious that she was my companion.

They were starting to want to believe.

‘The feeling that things are getting resolved is addictive...’

Enough that, in a dramatic turn, two volunteers came forward afterward.

“M-me!!”

“We'll fall together.”

They were a married couple seated near the window. Having watched who fell and heard every exchange since the first loop, they seemed to have drawn courage from the “value of information.”

But I didn't immediately say okay.

“...”

I silently studied them for several seconds, as if trying to discern their true nature.

Before they knew it, the couple were waiting with nervous anticipation, as if they were taking a test.

Then, a moment later...

“Yes. Both of you are qualified.”

“Ah...!!”

“As soon as we enter the altar, please close your eyes for a moment and hold out your hands. I will give you the token.”

Swept up in a sudden sense of joy, the pair stood before the window amid congratulations from the people around them.

Entering the Second Altar

And so, after secretly receiving the powerful painkiller Happy Maker under cover of darkness, the two held hands affectionately and went out the open window.

Hmm. The con was going smoothly...

‘Still, this is much better than everyone throwing each other out the windows and more than half of them going insane.’

Even so, running a con had cold sweat pouring down my back.

“... Since there are no other volunteers, this lady and I will go out now. Above all, guard your hearts, everyone. I'll see you back at the starting point shortly.”

“W-will you be all right?”

“I'll be fine. I... should have no trouble going one more time.”

“... Oh!”

I really didn't want to, but I'd have to try it once more.

‘I have to set myself apart.’

To keep leading these people, I had to emphasize what made me different. Showing them I could fall out the window multiple times and remain unharmed would be an impressive way to do that.

Fortunately, Supervisor Dolphin hadn't gone back on her word, either.

“Let's go together!”

“Ah, thank you.”

“But...”

Supervisor Dolphin gazed up at me.

“Am I qualified?”

“... Yes.”

There was something subtle about her tone.

Entering the Third Altar

“B-be careful!”

“See you shortly!”

Anyway, having successfully won the passengers over, I fell out the window again with Supervisor Dolphin.

Into that insane tunnel full of rotting flesh.

“Hup!”

Supervisor Dolphin broke her fall as she landed, then recoiled at the ghastly surroundings and dusted herself off, grumbling.

“Ugh, filthy. Wh-what was that? You're noisy. Oh, should we go that way? Toward the light?”

“Yes. It might be a little difficult, but we just have to walk.”

Still, having one other person here was a considerable comfort.

‘... I can't hear the voice, either.’

For some reason, that strange voice telling me to cast away my sins or come to Tamna had disappeared.

‘It isn't crucial to escaping, though.’

I walked on, tilting my head in puzzlement.

Then Supervisor Dolphin spoke up out of the blue.

“Hey, the truth is, I fell with you like this... because I wanted to talk.”

“Yes?”

“What you told those people. You know, about protecting them so it won't hurt and stuff. You said that because you think, strictly speaking, it's not a lie, right?”

“Yes. I just... changed the way I communicate to make it effective in an emergency. Though it's a bit extreme.”

“Hmm...”

She touched her chin as if considering something, then abruptly spoke.

“Listen, Supervisor.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how many people suffer because of cults?”

She didn't frown or anything.

She simply stared at me.

Without even blinking.

“...”

Right.

Supervisor Dolphin was an extremist when it came to putting moral character above all else...

‘C-cult leaders might not meet her standards...!’

Fix this!

I immediately opened my mouth and spoke calmly.

“I'm well aware. In fact, one of my fellow recruits was drawn into a cult, and I've lost contact with him.”

That was true.

“That's why I thought it was all the more important to act first.”

“Hmm.”

“In a situation like this, superstition and cults are bound to flourish. People suffer over and over without knowing why, so they want something, anything, to lean on.”

And a cult really had emerged in the recorded incident.

‘Of course, that isn't the only reason. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get everyone out of the Darkness before they go insane, without any bloodshed...’

But I couldn't logically explain that part, so I finished like this.

“Whatever happens, I chose this method to try to minimize the harm. ... Though I know it's rather extreme and strange.”

“Hmmmm...”

Three suffocating seconds later...

“Well, you do have a point!”

Whew.

“Honestly, you're only phrasing it that way. What you're actually doing is reducing their pain and keeping them comfortable while you look for a way for us all to escape. That's what you mean, right?”

“Exactly right.”

“Great! I'll give you my full cooperation, too!”

Supervisor Dolphin held out a hand as if offering a handshake.

And when I took it,

she yanked me toward her.

“But you mustn't exploit good people.”

“...”

“Because if you do, I'll fight you.”

“Of course. I'll keep that firmly in mind.”

“Yup, yup! Excellent!”

Smiling, I finished shaking Supervisor Dolphin's hand.

‘I-I'm alive.’

Cold sweat ran down my back.

Fight an Elite Team senior who'd joined that insane ghost-story company as the top recruit, amid piles of rotting flesh? Why would I do something so suicidal? I'd rather grovel.

“Anyway, judging by the mood, the people in our carriage will be completely convinced, huh?”

“Right.”

SQUELCH, SQUELCH.

I answered as I walked toward the exit filled with light.

“But I won't stop there.”

The ultimate goal was...

“I'm going to make the majority of this train ‘believe’ me.”

At least seven of the eight cars.

I needed to secure the dominant public opinion.

* * *

Loop Five.

Having died and started over several times, the people aboard the high-speed train were moving past panic and slipping into exhaustion, resignation, and madness.

Their perceptions were warping. It had become difficult to think as they normally would.

And over the course of the loops, there was something they had heard again and again.

“They're saying weird things in the back... Like, we've been chosen, and this is a test? Stuff like that.”

“... Sounds like a cult. But, um, what kind of test?”

“Apparently if we pass it, we can get some kind of transcendent powers?”

“Everyone who fell out the window went crazy, right? But the people in the back car say they fell and they're fine. They even describe what it looks like in there...”

“... Really? Come on, that's ridiculous. They don't have any proof, do they?”

But the very act of responding betrayed a longing for an answer.

An unconscious expression of the wish that it were true.

“They say someone called the ‘Forerunner’ in Car 7 is telling people how to escape.”

“He says he'll help all of us. That we're all qualified.”

As the murmuring among the first-class passengers in Car 3 grew louder...

“...”

The man in the single seat at the very front opened his eyes.

Baek Saheon.

‘Goddammit.’

He'd been heading home for his vacation, only to get trapped in this damned train ghost story and face the prospect of withering away.

‘No, wait...’

Recalling the new eye beneath his medical eye patch, he smiled triumphantly.

He could tell from the way things were playing out.

‘We're supposed to keep throwing people out the window!’

So wasn't this the kind of ghost story that ended when you threw out, oh, about half the passengers and reached your destination?

‘All I have to do is hide and stay out of sight.’

Well, cults running rampant were par for the course in an incident like this.

In a small community, especially during a stressful emergency, humans were bound to do crazy things.

A train that kept returning to its departure point.

In this peculiar situation of inescapable, extreme stress, everyone was bound to listen when they heard something that sounded as if it could solve their predicament.

It was human nature to cling even to lunatic nonsense they would ordinarily have snorted at and dismissed with “I'm not buying your cult crap”!

‘I just have to stay put and not get swept up in it, right?’

If he stayed quiet as a mouse and waited for them to throw each other out, make a mess, and clear the place on their own...

“H-hey!!”

“...!”

A commotion broke out behind him.

‘Did a fight break out?’

No. Someone had entered the carriage.

“It's them! The Forerunner and the people from Car 7!”

Those cult bastards.

‘I'd better get a look at their faces.’

Baek Saheon turned his head slightly to look down the aisle... and found himself looking at familiar faces.

“...!!”

‘The Elite Teams.’

Deputy Jin Nasol from Team A and Supervisor Lee Seonghae from Team C.

Two faces he'd memorized on the company intranet, just in case.

‘Wh-why are they here?’

While he wrestled with the complicated question of whether this train might be a Darkness managed by Daydream Inc....

“Attention!!”

Supervisor Lee Seonghae called out from among the cultists.

“The person who will tell you how to escape has arrived!”

She stepped aside, and someone emerged through the door connecting to the carriage behind them.

A man in a suit, an office worker with an indifferent, chilly air, wore an unnaturally serene smile...

An even more familiar face.

‘... Kim Soleum!!’

“Everyone, please don't worry.”

Kim Soleum spread his arms with a gentle smile.

“All of this is a great test, and you passengers have been chosen.”

F-fuck!!

That psychopathic bastard was the cult leader!!