Chapter 117

-Oh my! The moment for a difficult choice has arrived, my friend.

Braun’s jaunty voice rang in my ears.

-Now, Mr. Roe Deer has only ten free passes, but there are forty-five poor candidates who must fall onto those dreadful altars of rotting flesh and suffer.

-By what criteria will you choose the forty-five sacrifices, and by what criteria will you select the dramatic ten who will be spared?

-A trial? A vote? An evaluation? A lottery? Ah, any of those would be quite tragic...

Braun’s voice rose with delight.

-But aren’t that nail-biting tension and pressure, that absorption, those sighs of relief, that happiness and despair the very essence of a show?

-This is the finest moment. Ah! A panelist over there is opening her mouth right on cue!

At that moment.

“Does it matter?”

Deputy Jin Nasol spoke.

“Deputy?”

“I don’t see what difference it makes whether you have ten painkillers or one. Just grab forty-five people and tell them to jump. That settles it.”

Her tone said she genuinely couldn’t understand the problem.

Deputy Jin Nasol turned to me.

And...

“That’s why you went to all that trouble to set the mood. Isn’t it?”

CLICK.

She opened the door to Car 1 a crack.

“...! Deputy—”

“Look.”

... Through the gap, I saw passengers in Car 2 waving or greeting us with worried faces.

The atmosphere created by hundreds of people so friendly that everything could proceed smoothly, without any friction.

“Good. I thought you were wasting your time, but now I see this will make the job less tiring.”

“...”

“The humans left on the train won’t know what’s happening anyway, will they? They won’t find out until after they fall.”

... That was true.

In fact, all I had to do now was grab anyone and say, “Forty-five people have qualified this loop, and you’re one of them. Now you can jump out in order.”

Then those unsuspecting people would simply fall out the windows without even receiving a painkiller...

Into a time of torture, without warning.

“Actually, it might not end at nine, so just tell all of them to keep jumping until the altars stop appearing.”

“...”

“Now, let’s go throw them—”

“No can do.”

“...!”

The answer came from someone else.

Supervisor Dolphin.

The other Elite Team employee had answered while looking up at Deputy Jin Nasol.

“... What did you say?”

“I said, no can do.”

“Really?”

Jin Nasol’s temple twitched, but she gave competent people one more chance.

“What do you suggest, then?”

And Supervisor Dolphin made a choice that was utterly true to herself.

“We can just pick out the worst people and throw them out, can’t we?”

“Are you insane? Why would we bother with that?”

At that moment.

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

“It’s time.”

Deputy Jin Nasol began striding out of Car 1.

Supervisor Dolphin’s eyes flashed. And she raised her hand... W-wait a second!

“Just a moment!”

I blocked the deputy’s path.

“What?”

... I was on the edge of a cliff.

‘Careful. Be careful.’

I swallowed and spoke.

“Supervisor Dolphin... has a point. I don’t think we should just tell people to fall indiscriminately.”

“...”

“What I mean is, there’s a valid reason for that!”

“A reason.”

“Yes.”

I took a deep breath.

Calmly.

Work the prose story I already knew into the clues I had...

Without making it sound unnatural.

“Deputy, when you went out the window, you heard a voice on that altar full of rotting flesh, didn’t you? Something like ‘Cast away your sins’...”

Cast away your sins

Tear away as much as you have sinned.

Even Happy Maker had clearly failed to block that strange, immense resonance echoing through my head.

And without Happy Maker, hearing that voice would have sent me tearing at my skin and flesh as searing pain burned through my entire body.

“And?”

“If the message is that powerful, it must be deeply connected to this phenomenon. So... I think ‘sin’ is the keyword in this Darkness.”

“...”

“The keyword we need to clear it, I mean.”

Deputy Jin Nasol stopped walking.

“Keep talking.”

“Yes.”

I swallowed.

“Didn’t it strike you as strange to begin with? Why do the people offered as sacrifices wake up on the train every time? If they’ve been sacrificed, they shouldn’t come back.”

“They lose their minds instead.”

“Yes. But that’s... because they follow the command to ‘tear away as much as you have sinned’ and rip off their own flesh. The pain drives them mad.”

I distinguished between two things that had been carelessly lumped together for fourteen loops.

“In that case, isn’t the sacrifice not the human being... but the ‘flesh’ they personally offer in proportion to their sins?”

“...!”

Hadn’t I mentioned it before?

That cults ran rampant, and people in every carriage killed one another, held insane rites, and threw corpses out the windows.

Judging purely by the number of people killed and dropped out the windows, they should easily have made it past the ninth altar.

And yet this ghost story hadn’t ended, despite hundreds of loops.

The reason was...

“People aren’t the sacrifices. They simply offer their own sins as sacrifices at the altars.”

“...”

“And the people come back.”

Every time, those who finished making their offerings walked out of the altars and returned to the train’s starting point.

And the loop began again.

Even if the pain of ‘tearing away their sins’ left them half out of their minds, the people themselves returned.

“Leaving their sins behind in the passage, torn away as flesh.”

Eating it, vomiting it, shedding it...

“I believe that’s the sacrifice.”

That pain.

The terrible, searing pain proportionate to their sins, and the resonance in their heads.

... Looking at the rotting flesh heaped throughout the passage from that perspective gave it a slightly different meaning.

It wasn’t simply a grotesque trace of what had happened, but sacrifices that had accumulated through repeated offerings to the altars.

“So I believe the surest method is for people with sins to fall onto the altars to offer those sins. ... That’s all.”

“...”

“...”

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP.

Supervisor Dolphin applauded softly behind me, but the deputy didn’t move a muscle.

“Of course, my theory could be wrong. But wouldn’t it be rational to take the safe route in case it’s right?”

Meeting Deputy Jin Nasol’s eyes, I spoke earnestly.

“So, for the sake of clearing this safely, please. Let me persuade the passengers—”

“You.”

The deputy opened her mouth.

“You’re a good liar, too.”

“...!!”

“Well, being good at talking is better than nothing.”

“Depu—”

“This is the third time.”

THUD.

She grabbed me by the collar and lifted me into the air.

“Forerunner!”

“Aaagh!”

“Give you an inch, and there’s no end to it. We still have to enter a Darkness when we get to Mokpo, and you’re making us keep wasting energy here?”

Across the connecting passage, passengers came running from Car 2, screaming. Without so much as blinking, Deputy Jin Nasol shut the door to Car 1 in their faces and locked it.

CLICK.

“Listen, and be grateful I’m spending my time on this shit.”

Deputy Jin Nasol brought her face close to mine.

“The flesh people tear off and offer is the sacrifice? Hey. Those people you injected with painkillers and sent out came back perfectly fine without offering any flesh.”

“...!!”

“According to you, we didn’t give it a sacrifice. But we still moved on to the next altar without any trouble, didn’t we?”

That was...

“You knew that and lied anyway.”

...

“You caught me.”

-Good heavens!

That’s right.

I had tried to con the deputy.

‘Though I didn’t think she’d catch on immediately.’

I flashed a grin, cold sweat running down my skin.

But most of what I’d said was true.

‘Except for one thing.’

The conclusion.

“Thought so.”

The pressure on my throat intensified.

“We just have to throw anyone out when we reach an altar, right?”

“Hhk, that’s correct.”

I readily admitted it.

“In fact, how much sin they offer probably doesn’t matter. ... Even if they don’t offer any at all. What matters... is the act itself of a human preparing an offering and coming to the altar.”

Besides.

“This Tamna-bound train... seems to consider all people, hrrk, to have sins anyway.”

Hadn’t I seen it?

‘Even that kindhearted Silver Heart Badge holder tore off their own flesh at the altar.’

By this insane ghost story’s judgment... no human was without sin.

Everyone was a sinner. It was merely a matter of degree...

So if clearing it was the goal, there was no reason to go out of our way to find and choose bad people.

“Finally, you’re making sense.”

Deputy Jin Nasol abruptly released her grip.

I barely managed to land on my feet and stood there gasping for breath.

“Good. Then no more pointless talk. All of you, cooperate and make it quick. Efficiently.”

“...”

I forced out a grin.

“That’s strange.”

“What?”

“Deputy, you’ve just made an inefficient choice.”

BANG, BANG!

I looked back at the passengers pounding on the door, Supervisor Dolphin, and Baek Saheon.

“To do things your way, you’ll have to fight three employees.”

“...!!”

“And since the passengers all just saw you grab me by the collar, they’ll resist fiercely and fight back no matter what you do.”

“...”

With things set up this way, what Deputy Jin Nasol considered the ‘most efficient course of action’ would meet tremendous opposition.

The passengers wouldn’t cooperate at all!

And now that the sides were drawn, Supervisor Dolphin was certain to join forces with me and try to subdue Deputy Jin Nasol instead.

“Of course, you might be able to subdue everyone, Deputy... but that would be a real hassle. Wouldn’t it?”

“Ah! That’s a good way of looking at it, Supervisor.”

Supervisor Dolphin approached with a smile.

“Exactly. Why put yourself through all that trouble! Just get some sleep, and the three of us will take care of it.”

Behind her, Baek Saheon wore an expression that said, ‘Me?’ But instead of taking the deputy’s side, he quietly darted his eyes about and kept his mouth shut.

If both sides had Elite Team employees, he’d weigh his chances and join ours, with the greater numbers.

So...

“Deputy. Couldn’t you just overlook this hassle one more time?”

“...”

“This isn’t really company work. We just happened to get caught up in it. I’d like to use a slightly safer method that lets us rest easier. It’ll only take a little more time.”

Please!

‘Deputy Jin Nasol is a rational person.’

She was the sort who would think it stupid to make a scene and take the troublesome route just because she was offended.

I had no choice but to put my faith in that.

‘But... she’s still human. She could do something unpredictable because she’s upset.’

Especially as an Elite Team superior, she would deeply resent having two supervisors push back against her...

I swallowed.

“As you said, Deputy, this isn’t work.”

“...”

“...”

After a silence,

Deputy Jin Nasol moved her feet. And...

Sat down in an empty seat in Car 1.

“... Thank you.”

There was no reply. Deputy Jin Nasol merely closed her eyes, her face expressionless.

She was clearly tamping down her fury.

To be fair, confronting my superior on a business trip really was insane!

‘Phewww...’

Sorry, Deputy...

Still, I expected that once everything was over, the outcome would be efficient enough for even Deputy Jin Nasol to accept.

I had let that pass for now because I couldn’t give a rational explanation for it yet.

Right now, we had to move.

“... Let’s get to it.”

We would soon reach the first altar.

Perhaps thinking along the same lines, Supervisor Dolphin first moved to unlock the door.

“Yep, yep. Come on, let’s hurry out and pick forty-five bad people!”

Hmm.

“Um, Supervisor. About that.”

“...?”

“Could we do this a little differently?”

“Oh?”

* * *

RATTLE.

I opened the door to Car 1.

“Ah! It’s open—gasp!”

“Wh-what is this place?”

The worried passengers, who had been pounding on the door and probably discussing whether to break it down, brightened before recoiling in horror. The appalling state of Car 1 had startled them.

But seeing me, they relaxed for the moment.

... Probably because the person they thought held all the answers to this train was unharmed.

I bowed my head.

“Everyone. Thank you for waiting.”

“A-are you all right, Forerunner?”

“Earlier, th-that person...”

“Of course I’m all right.”

I deliberately gave a wry smile as I glanced back at Deputy Jin Nasol.

“I... learned something shocking, and she was helping me snap out of it.”

“... Something shocking?”

Whew.

“Everyone. There’s something I need to tell you.”

Taking a deep breath, I looked at the hundreds of people watching me.

“This time, there is... no restriction on who can go out the windows.”

“Ooooh!”

“And this is the last time.”

“...”

“What?”

“What do you mean...?”

“Exactly what I said.”

I spoke slowly.

“The test ends after this time.”

The passengers began murmuring, asking what that meant. Some asked whether everyone was supposed to go out the windows.

“Originally, everyone was indeed supposed to go out the windows gradually. ... But something has changed.”

The passengers held their breath and listened.

“Because all of you have now qualified.”

“Th-then!”

I nodded.

“Yes. Anyone can go out the windows and pass the test.”

“My God!”

“Then I’ll...”

I addressed the people already raising their hands and stepping forward.

“However, this time, it will hurt. Without exception.”

“...!!”

Bluntly and honestly.

“After you fall, you will have to walk through searing pain. It may hurt so much that you want to tear off your own flesh. Fighting the pain and the voice echoing in your head, you will have to walk toward the light, one step at a time...”

The passengers fell silent.

Frozen, they glanced at one another and began whispering.

Then someone shouted from the back.

“That’s not what you promised!”

“Yeah! You said you’d protect us...”

I nodded.

“Of course. If you don’t wish to participate, you don’t have to.”

“Uh... huh?”

“But there is one thing I can promise you for certain.”

The truth was,

According to the Disaster Management Bureau’s stub article about the old Iksan-bound train, when this ghost story had ended safely...

When the ghost story ended, the passengers would jolt awake at the train’s starting point as though waking from a nightmare.

They would think, ‘I had a nightmare,’ and go on living their lives without any trouble.

Over the next half day, the events on the Tamna-bound train would fade like an unpleasant dream, until they forgot them entirely.

But...

Several changes observed in individuals who stated they had voluntarily gone out the windows.

I remembered those words.

One passenger who habitually verbally abused subordinates apologized as soon as they got off the train, and never did so again.

A habitual jaywalker broke the habit because ‘for some reason, I felt ashamed of myself,’ while another passenger actually started volunteering to clean a youth center, something they had previously only considered.

Even a con artist involved in planning an insurance scam abandoned the scheme and passed information to the police.

Overall improvements in morality, self-esteem, and pride observed.

Yes.

If this ended safely as it had before, rather than repeating hundreds of horrific loops, the terrible pain of this ghost story would end as a brief nightmare and be forgotten.

But the good things would remain.

‘... That’s why, when this ghost story involved an Iksan-bound train, the Disaster Management Bureau called it a phenomenon rather than a disaster, and only made a stub article...’

So, to put it with a little exaggeration:

“Those who go out the windows this time will feel proud of themselves when they finally leave the tunnel.”

I continued.

“Instead of looking back with regret at what you did yesterday, you will become someone who steps forward in the moment. You will meet a better version of yourself, free of shame.”

A small voice emerged from the crowd.

“... Um, is that all?”

Meeting that passenger’s eyes, I slowly nodded.

“Yes.”

“...”

“But that much, I can guarantee.”

The passengers fell quiet again.

“Then let me ask again. ... Is there anyone who wishes to endure the pain and go out the windows?”

...

“Me.”

I turned my head.

Supervisor Dolphin had her hand raised.

And then.

“I’ll get off, too.”

One by one, people raised their hands.

“Me.”

“Me too...!”

Every one of those faces was filled with a strange exhilaration that surpassed their fear.

Crowd psychology.

A double-edged sword.

But the cohesion and influence the group had built over fourteen loops were now taking shape in the most solemn way imaginable.

Being inspired by the courage of those closest to them.

In an instant, nearly half the people on the train had voluntarily raised their hands.

... The ending I had spent fourteen loops trying to see, even if it meant becoming a cult leader, was right before my eyes.

“... Everyone.”

Entering the First Altar

“Thank you. I’ll go out with you.”

In the very way the Silver Heart Badge holder had hoped for.