Episode 3: The Subway Station Without a Last Train
Episode 3: The Subway Station Without a Last Train
<Exploration Progress: 6%>
As we walked down the corridor, the exploration progress gradually increased.
Considering it had already reached 6%, the tutorial dungeon seemed to be relatively short.
Well, I'd never heard of a tutorial dungeon designed to cause a game over.
Though losing one's virginity during a tutorial was a fairly common occurrence.
I trembled as I covered my chest with both arms.
I was trying to act composed, but I kept remembering what had happened earlier.
What would have happened if the system hadn't helped me?
It wouldn't have ended with just losing my virginity.
I would have been violated over and over again until all those countless evil spirits were satisfied.
Lee Yu-ri, walking beside me, seemed to be thinking similar thoughts as she quietly stared at her compass.
That's when it happened.
<Riiiiing>
A classic telephone ring sounded from the right.
A payphone, the kind you can't find these days, was sitting there, ringing as if calling out to us.
<Event: The Unanswered Payphone>
This seemed to be the first proper event.
From now on, every choice I made would come with a price.
I had to be careful.
"Yu-ri, don't you think that payphone is part of the anomaly too?"
"Yes, CEO-nim. It's best to assume that everything happening in this space is part of the anomaly."
"What happens if we ignore it?"
"If you're uncomfortable, you can ignore it, but no one knows what effect that might have on the entire Anomaly Dungeon."
"So you're saying I shouldn't assume nothing will happen just because I ignore it."
In the end, I had to do something.
Answer the phone, ignore it, or smash it.
Every action would affect the subsequent exploration.
I approached the phone.
Rather than staying anxious about what might happen if I ignored it, I thought it was better to face whatever came my way.
<Riiing>
I took a brief deep breath, then picked up the receiver and held it to my ear.
<Call confirmed.>
<Recipient: Expected Missing Person>
My brow was already furrowing.
<The last train without a last train is now in service. All Expected Missing Persons are requested to board the last train.>
<Once aboard the last train, you cannot disembark until you reach the terminal.>
<The terminal is $% Station without a last train.>
The final part was distorted with static and couldn't be heard clearly.
In short, I had to board the train I had just entered to proceed.
Then a final announcement followed.
<Reports of sexual assault are occurring on the last train. Female passengers are advised to be cautious. If you encounter a molester, please report it to the conductor, or...>
The receiver continued with a sinister ghostly voice.
<...please continue to enjoy yourself.>
Bang-!
I slammed the receiver down roughly.
I regretted having answered it.
Still, at least I knew that enemies in the form of molesters would appear.
It might seem trivial, but it was much better than being attacked without any warning.
The phone I'd hung up slowly faded from sight.
An evil energy emanated from where the phone had been, wrapping around my body and Yu-ri's.
Then my status window changed.
[Ha Eun-seo]
[Expected Missing Person]
[HP: 6/8]
[SP: 2/3]
[Mental Strength: 1/1]
[Lee Yu-ri]
[Expected Missing Person]
[HP: 4/6]
[SP: 5/8]
[Mental Strength: 1/1]
A title bearing "Expected Missing Person" had appeared beneath our names.
I remained on guard for a while, but nothing happened until we reached the ticket gates.
A man dressed as a station attendant was staring blankly into space at the ticket gates.
He didn't seem to have noticed us, and he was mumbling something.
"No fare evasion allowed... No running on the escalators."
He appeared to be a missing person, but judging by his eyes and demeanor, he seemed to have already been absorbed by the anomaly.
"It hasn't been long since the dungeon formed, but everyone's getting absorbed into the anomaly so quickly."
Yu-ri said this with a look of pity.
"People who are mentally weak are vulnerable to anomalies. If someone has strong mental fortitude, even a civilian can maintain their sanity in here long enough for us to rescue them, but weak people—like those suffering from depression—get swallowed up in an instant."
I nodded in full understanding.
How many modern city dwellers actually had strong mental fortitude?
If this had been before I was possessed into this game, I would have turned into an anomaly within seconds of being thrown into the dungeon.
Maybe I would have actually enjoyed becoming an anomaly and assaulting exorcists.
Just thinking about it made me feel uneasy.
As I tried to enter through the ticket gate, the station attendant looked at me.
But he didn't seem intent on attacking.
I tried pushing the barrier, but despite everything, the ticket gate was functioning normally.
With no other choice, I jumped over the barrier of the ticket gate.
"BEEP-!"
The station attendant blew hard on the whistle hanging around his neck.
"No fare evasion is allowed!"
He pulled something from his waist.
A collapsible baton.
When he extended it, it was shorter than my sword, but it became a threatening blunt weapon.
"We have no choice but to fight, right? I was hoping we could just pass through."
"It's better than being ambushed from behind. It might actually be safer to deal with this and move on."
Yu-ri also pulled out a talisman and prepared for battle.
<Event: Elite Combat>
<Special Effect: Passenger Transformation>
An elite combat, huh. Well, the station attendant was carrying a weapon, so he'd be stronger than the ordinary passengers we'd encountered earlier.
<Reinforcements: Faceless Station Attendant x2>
Two more station attendants wielding batons appeared from behind us.
Three enemies total, and they positioned themselves to surround us.
From the previous battle, I had roughly formed a strategy.
Don't fight recklessly—control the space so enemies can't approach Yu-ri, and let her support me with her sorcery.
First, I decided to break through the lone station attendant in front.
My body felt light.
Earlier, I had been flustered by the sheer number of evil spirits, but now I felt like I could fight properly.
[Swordsmanship] - [Quick Draw]
I selected the floating action choice in the air and used the skill.
My body seemed to move even faster, and a surge of strength filled my hand gripping the sword handle.
Shwaaack!
In an instant, I passed by the station attendant and sliced through his waist.
It was a powerful attack that would have cut a person in half.
The station attendant's upper body floated up into the air, and meanwhile, Yu-ri positioned herself behind me with her back against the wall.
"Two left in front."
"No, CEO-nim. He's not dead yet."
When I looked again, the legs of the one I'd first cut hadn't fallen.
Black threads burst from the severed cross-section, snatched the floating upper body, and pulled it back, reattaching it.
"Please pay your fare."
He clutched his baton as if nothing had happened, waiting for his comrades to join him.
"The fare is your soul, your essence, or... endless pleasure."
"Please select your payment method."
"Please select your payment method."
With all three men joined together, the situation felt far more dangerous than I'd anticipated.
I had thought we'd have an advantage as long as we weren't surrounded, but I hadn't realized a hostile group of men could be this terrifying.
"Yu-ri, how many talismans do you have?"
"I still have plenty. But if it's going to be like this every time..."
Yu-ri didn't have a weapon, but she could use sorcery instead.
She could use her own spirit power as a cost, but using talismans allowed her to use sorcery regardless of her spirit power.
While walking through the passage and increasing the dungeon exploration progress, I had identified the sorcery and talismans she could use.
The most useful one was, of course, the Restraint Talisman.
But using three of them already might be wasteful.
Still, I could probably handle up to two of them.
"Use the Restraint Talisman on that guy."
I pointed at the one in the center, who looked the strongest.
As Yu-ri began her incantation, the evil spirits, apparently disturbed by the sacred power, started charging.
Unlike the zombies I'd seen in movies, the evil spirits were fast and cunning.
I suppose that was because they were originally based on humans.
Clang-!
Yu-ri's restraint succeeded, and I blocked the attacks of the remaining two.
The batons were brutal, but my sword was also an exorcism weapon, so it wasn't easily damaged.
Just as I was getting used to the enemy's attacks and preparing to counterattack...
<Elite Combat Tutorial>
As if it had been waiting for this very moment, the tutorial appeared mockingly.
<Tutorial: Special effects are activated in elite combat. Sometimes effects strengthen the enemy, but they can also grant special effects to allied forces. Depending on which effect is activated, the strategy for dealing with even the same enemy can change completely, so plan your tactics carefully.>
You're telling me this now?
<Passenger Transformation>
It was the message that had appeared beneath the notification about the elite dungeon earlier.
The problem was that I had no idea what it meant.
"Violence against station attendants is a crime."
At that moment, as the station attendants muttered something, my body began to feel heavy.
My strength felt like that of an ordinary woman, and the Japanese sword I was holding felt unbearably heavy.
"We're making a citizen's arrest."
"We're making a citizen's arrest."
Then, rope icons appeared above the station attendants' heads.
An icon signifying a restraint attack.
Thud-!
I swung my sword to cancel one of their restraint attacks, but there was still one left.
In the end, his grip caught my left wrist.
<Status: Restrained>
And just like that, my action window changed to restrained actions.
"L-Let go of me!"
I shook my wrist, but it wasn't easy to break free from the arm of the anomalized man.
The other station attendant, seeing that I was caught, turned toward Yu-ri.
"CEO-nim! I'll save you!"
But the enemy was an elite monster, and Yu-ri, with her low level early in the game, wasn't a match for him alone.
The station attendant leader, whom I'd initially restrained with the talisman, had now had his spell broken and was approaching me.
An icon appeared above his head.
A disrobing attack icon.
"Kyaaaah!"
Meanwhile, the evil spirit that had gone after Yu-ri succeeded in grabbing her.
The spirit's body was full of holes, but that didn't seem to be enough to kill it.
"I will collect the fare."
<Event: Forced Fare Collection>
"The payment method is... endless pleasure."
Riiip-
Two station attendants started tearing at my clothes.
There were two of them, so my soft exorcism suit was ripped apart helplessly.
"You pieces of trash! Don't touch my body!"
"Additional fare will be charged if you resist."
"Shut up! Just shut up!"
But in an instant, I was stripped completely naked.
My sword had been thrown far away, and my limbs were held so tight I couldn't move an inch.
"I am collecting the fare."
Then they grabbed my legs and pressed them down, forcing them wide open.
Overwhelmed by intense shame, I tried to cover my crotch with my hands, but the bastards grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head.
In the end, I was put on display before the male evil spirits with my bare chest and my completely exposed bare cunt.
"Confirming fare eligibility."
The large leader of the station attendants reached his hand toward my crotch.
Then, as if swiping a card to make a payment, he inserted his fingers into my crack and rubbed once.
"Hiiiiit!"
Even that alone sent intense pleasure through me, making my back arch.
He confirmed the thin fluid on his fingers from my crack, looked at me, and grinned.
"Fare payment capability is sufficient."
"Beginning forced fare collection."
His hand moved toward my crotch again.