Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall Into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
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Silver Heart owner.
A good person with a badge-shaped item capable of inciting crowds.
The pivotal figure in the Tamra Express high-speed train incident, but only spotlighted in the final stretch of the wiki's short-story-style entry.
So, it was only natural that I couldn't recall that person's exact seat number or name.
'I mainly read the wiki for ghost story countermeasures...!'
After dropping into this world, the entries I obsessively reread—like lifelines—were mostly the ghost stories themselves and exploration logs.
In other words, wikis focused on clear strategies for the horrors.
'Side content took a backseat.'
Those long, emotional prose pieces akin to wiki side stories? Novel-length vignettes? They ranked way low on my priority list.
The Silver Heart owner's details barely got a mention—once or twice at most.
Recalling that precise number and letter combo after a month or two...
...Yeah, that was a stretch.
'Screwed...'
No!
I swallowed hard.
'I can still make educated guesses.'
And even without nabbing that person right away, I'd definitely devise a countermeasure.
'I remember the other Tamra Express wiki entries.'
Like the emergency bulletins and filings logged with the Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau.
I knew this incident's progression round by round. I could handle it.
Handle it...
......
'Alright.'
I set my course.
'A little extreme, but no choice.'
Of course, all this raced through my head in seconds. Meanwhile, the elite team staff beside me chatted casually.
"Wow, a loop story! I've read tons of these SF anthologies."
"It keeps letting you retry until you hit the conditions, right? Annoying, but kinda convenient."
"......"
Some seriously unflappable conversation...
Thankfully, no one noticed our hushed tones amid the train car packed with gasps of shock, panic, and sobs.
"Huuuhuk, heuk!"
"A dream, it's a dream, dream..."
But there's always that one person who can't sit idle during a crisis.
"Hold on, everyone. Calm down! Calm down!"
...And there he was.
Right.
And in our car, it was the glasses-wearing office worker.
The same guy from round 1 who'd bickered over closing the window—until his opponent tumbled out.
"But isn't the key point that none of us actually died? ...Everyone, calm down. Let's piece together what happened."
"Ah... ah."
"Any, any ideas?"
With someone taking charge, eyes turned his way.
"My take? Time's looping."
The glasses office worker worked to steady the crowd and clarify the mess.
"No doubt we're trapped in some anomaly. But these do-overs mean something. Maybe guess the escape condition."
"Ah......"
"Let's go with that. Stay calm."
He must've figured things were heading right.
If only he hadn't glanced back at my seat.
"Look, some folks are already handling it coolly."
"...!"
"Let's approach it like them."
'Damn.'
We three Daydream Corporation employees got called out.
'Too quiet, huh...!'
......Actually, perfect timing.
Time to stake our claim. Still early in round 2—step up now.
"Ah, no. Not calm... just dazed."
I shook my head with a shaky, forced smile.
"Just... can't process it. Business trip—we were all zonked out."
No suspicion there. Our faces were ghost-white already.
Deputy Manager Jin Na-sol's eyebrow arched slightly at my initiative, but she let it slide. I pressed on.
"But suddenly sea outside, sacrifice talk... all real?"
"Uh, yeah. Seems so."
I swallowed tensely.
"Then the guy who fell out the window earlier..."
"......"
Gazes froze, then swiveled slowly.
The middle-aged guy next to the sacrifice window. Empty after his brawl sent him tumbling out...
Now occupied.
"...!!"
A passenger's silhouette, sitting vacant.
...The exact same guy who'd fallen.
"H-he's alive?"
"Ah, thank goodness..."
Then it hit.
The passenger bolted up, charging the glasses worker.
"...!!"
"You filthy bastard! Because of youuuu!"
"L-let go!"
Mayhem.
The flashy-dressed middle-ager spat, eyes wild.
"Die, die! You made me fall... Ah, hurts! So much pain......!!"
Madness gleamed in his eyes.
"D-don't fall there! Hurts! It's wrong, waaaaah! Urk, bleeech!"
"Eek!"
He staggered, retching a dark-red lump onto the floor.
"Urk!! Uwuuk!"
The glasses worker recoiled, face ashen.
'Ha.'
...Witnessing it firsthand, that fragile madness crashed over us.
The glasses worker, utterly cowed, backed away on wobbly legs.
'Yeah.'
I deliberately fell back a step.
And that instant...
The cabin feed flickered again.
"Th-that thing's back!"
"R-right, last time, definitely..."
Someone fell from the window.
The train safely exited the tunnel and kept rolling.
"......"
"......"
Still time left—folks deliberately ignored it, mumbling on.
"...What counts as tribute?"
"Uh, something alive? Like in horror vids..."
I chimed in.
"No. Could be an object. Food offerings are sacrifices too."
"Aah...!"
"Right, let's brainstorm calmly and test ideas..."
But eyes still swirled with terror, frenzy, dread...
"......"
"Uh, anyone got food?"
Soon, snack-holders pooled tossable eats.
Fruit, eggs, meat, bread...
And on razor-thin timing, scenery shifted.
Folks were calmer this time.
"Toss 'em."
"Yeah......!"
Splash, splash.
Food vanished out the window in silence.
The display didn't budge. Just the counter ticking down.
"No! Not stopping!!"
Screams erupted.
(Even accepted tributes let the countdown run out—I skipped mentioning it.)
...Knew food wasn't it from the start.
Passengers finally faced facts.
The truth.
"Gotta be human after all. Human..."
"Ah......"
"But how to pick someone..."
"Not doing it means we all die! Train's sinking!!"
"But who..."
"......"
"......"
Gazes shifted.
Meaning this:
'He's already nuts anyway—toss him again?'
Emergency instincts, unspeakable urges surfacing.
The round 1 sacrifice spasmed.
"Save me, saaaave meee! No! Hate it! Hate it!!"
"C-calm down. It'll be fine..."
"Nooo! Hate ittt!"
"Just fall out the window—h-huh?!"
Whoosh...
Splash.
Tunnel ended.
Blue sea returned, cabin brightening.
Eerie purple text filled the screen: 'Tribute received—open the sea path.'
At the window...
Shattered glasses littered the floor.
"......"
"......"
And his pusher—the round 1 sacrifice.
"The bastard I tossed is dead! I didn't die! Didn't die! Didn't diiiiie!!"
Drool flying, the middle-ager flailed down the aisle, then bashed his head into a corner, sobbing.
Pale silence blanketed the car.
A madness-inducing vibe.
Then.
"Hey, there's more coming, right?"
A chipper voice ill-suited to the mood rang out.
Dolphin Team Lead.
"Wh-what?"
"Second altar's next. Gotta prep."
"Shut it!!"
"Ack!"
Stress exploded. But Dolphin Team Lead shrugged it off.
"Last time, no slip-ups—pick the worst jerk and drop 'em!"
She pointed forward.
"All cars included!"
"...!!"
"And... no guarantee of death? He came back alive. Better torment the bad ones, yeah?"
Insane talk.
But in incomprehensible disasters, mad words sometimes click—just twisted enough.
"Yeah! All drops so far from our car! Others gotta pitch in!"
"Right!"
Why bear this agony alone?!
Wrath and weird fury swept car 7—we surged forward en masse.
Me and the elite team blended in. Dolphin Team Lead was up front.
"Hey! Open window here, right?? Last crash, no one fell—maybe that's why..."
But up ahead, most cars clueless.
"Wh-what nonsense."
"Who're these psychos?"
"Don't wanna? Piss off then."
"Oooong."
"...Push on, spread the word."
Dolphin eyed the last heckler like prime candidate, spurring a hasty retreat to the next car.
But entering car 3...
It restarted.
"Aaaah!"
"Someone drop quick!"
"Train's crashing, waaah..."
"Toss a person! Out the window!"
Car 7's maxed-out stress screams echoed.
And clueless voices from other cars.
"Who're they?! Where from??"
"Lunatics!"
"Don't wanna die? Volunteer now!"
"Then you jump!"
"We already did in our car! Your turn!!"
"No volunteers..."
Chaos parted for a clear voice.
"None?"
Deputy Manager Jin Na-sol reached out.
'...No!'
Targeting the most uncooperative jerk to yeet.
'And if reset, reuse marked ones as tribute...!'
Efficient, but no.
Jin Na-sol was sharp, but clearly lived oblivious to public opinion games.
I shot my hand up.
"I'll volunteer!"
"......"
Jin Na-sol turned.
"What?"
I repeated.
"I'll jump."
"...!!"
"Why......"
"Not really dying—I'll endure."
Whispered quick to Jin Na-sol:
"Need to check what's down there."
"You sure?"
"Can't trust civilian tales. Got mental defenses prepped."
"Hmph..."
"Do it."
"...! Thanks."
I wrapped the huddle, yelled to the crowd:
"Time's short! Clearing to the window!"
"Uh, uhhh..."
They backed off, speechless—our car, theirs, same.
'...Good.'
Acted cool, but hands shook.
No helping it.
'Plan requires this once.'
Plan A—snag Silver Heart owner early—failed.
'Go extreme.'
"Everyone, careful!"
I dangled from the window, yanking painkillers from my pocket.
Might not work.
'Better than nothing...!'
Jabbed 'Happy Maker' into my arm. Then hurled myself out.
Into the crimson tunnel.