Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Escape
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A cold, mechanical voice echoed through the passenger car.
Under the purplish light emanating from the fluorescent lamps, an announcement, as noisy as a recording from an old cassette tape, rang out.
However, the meaning it contained was conveyed with perfect clarity. It was a trailer for the violence that was about to unfold.
A silence that felt as if time itself had stopped. And then, a scream that threatened to tear one's ears apart.
The dwarves sitting next to their victims began to gouge out their eyes. Their movements were as precise as a master craftsman's, born from who knows how long they had been doing this.
Each time a spoon-shaped tool, as sharp as a saw blade, flashed and dug into an eyeball, red blood and transparent vitreous fluid splattered everywhere.
The liquid, gushing forth like a fountain, looked black under the purple lights.
A scene far too real to be called a dream.
The screams continued. They were screams so inhuman they couldn't possibly be coming from a human throat. They sounded like the screams of pigs from a slaughterhouse.
No, perhaps even more wretched. The sounds born of human suffering are more wretched than the screams of any animal.
The other passengers' reactions were varied. Most were frozen in terror, but some burst into tears, while others wore expressions of utter resignation.
But no one tried to run away. No, they couldn't. We were all already tied tightly to our seats.
'It'll be my turn soon.'
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
The Monkey Dream.
A ghost story about a nightmare where, each time an announcement plays on the train, the passenger behind the narrator dies a wretched death one by one, until finally, their own turn arrives.
I remembered the first time I read that story. It was late at night, and I was lying in bed, reading ghost stories on my smartphone. Back then, I just thought it was an interesting tale.
But now, it was different. That story had now become a reality I had to experience myself.
According to my memory, the next thing is 'Dajigi' (Minced Meat).
I knew perfectly well that it was my turn to have my flesh ground away by the dwarves' strange machine.
The buzzing sound of the machine the dwarves were holding nearby grew louder and louder.
'I have to get out of here.'
More cold sweat poured down. My palms were slick with it, and my heart was pounding as if it would burst.
I was out of breath. I was suffocating from the lack of oxygen.
But my body was tied tightly to the chair. I couldn't move a muscle. Like livestock being dragged to a slaughterhouse, I was in a situation where I could only wait for my turn.
All sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind.
Was there no way to escape? Wouldn't someone come and save me?
But that hopeful thought was shattered in an instant. This was a dream. No one would save me. I had to get out by myself.
Then, a memory flashed through my mind.
'Lucid dreaming... that's it. Kick!'
I suddenly remembered a document about dreams I had seen on the Ghost Story Gallery. Among the countless ghost stories and urban legends, it was a document that had particularly stuck with me.
To escape a dream, a strong impact is needed. Shooting yourself in the head, falling from a high place, getting hit by a train... Paradoxically, such impacts that would lead to death in reality become the key to escaping a dream.
When I read that document, I had read it out of simple curiosity. I never thought I would actually need to use it.
But now, that knowledge had become my only hope of saving my life.
However, I couldn't even move right now. My hands and feet were tied tightly, and my body was fixed to the chair.
I had no gun, I couldn't jump, and I was in a situation where I couldn't make any extreme choices.
Time continued to flow, and the dwarves were getting closer and closer.
[Next is Dajigi, Dajigi Station.]
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The cold mechanical sound rang out again. It was a signal that announced it was truly my turn now.
The dwarves approached. Their gait was slow but certain.
The machine in their hands buzzed ominously. It was the sound of sharp blades spinning rapidly.
The wind from the machine approaching my face tickled my skin. The fear of death, drawing ever closer, wrapped around my entire body.
'I can't let this happen.'
In that moment, I made a decision.
To bite my tongue off with my teeth.
It was the only way to escape the dream. The only part of me that could move was my mouth.
And it was the only way to inflict the most intense pain. It was a choice I couldn't have even imagined under normal circumstances, but right now, it was the only way to survive.
'One... two...'
I took a breath and gritted my teeth.
If this failed, it was truly the end.
The moment I gritted my teeth, the sensation on my tongue was vivid. For a moment, hesitation crept in.
But then, the sound of the dwarves' machine grew even louder.
A moment's decision. I bit down hard. A pain that started at the tip of my tongue shot through my entire body. My mouth filled with hot blood. The metallic taste lingered on the tip of my tongue.
For an instant, everything went dark. In that moment, the announcement rang in my ears again.
[Are you trying to run away~? It'll be over the next time you come~.]
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
When I opened my eyes, I was on a real subway. Unlike the purple light of the dream, a white light was illuminating the passenger car.
But something was different. An atmosphere completely different from a normal subway enveloped the car. A strange silence, as if time had stopped, was flowing.
Looking around, all the passengers were asleep. As if they were in a very deep slumber.
And some of them... had been killed in the same wretched state as I had seen in the dream.
Corpses with their eyeballs gouged out, bleeding, and corpses with their flesh ground away to the point where their forms were unrecognizable. Their blood had pooled on the floor, forming small puddles.
The air inside the car was unusually stuffy. It felt as if some strange substance was mixed into the air.
Every time I breathed, my throat itched. And I felt my consciousness slowly fading.
'Sleeping gas...!'
The 'Subway Sleeping Gas' ghost story I had seen on the Ghost Story Gallery yesterday came to mind. The story of a gas that the police sprayed to suppress a railroad union strike protest.
It sounded like a conspiracy theory, but now that the Monkey Dream ghost story had become a reality, there was no guarantee that the sleeping gas story wouldn't also become real.
I quickly held my breath. I had already inhaled some of the gas, but I couldn't take in any more.
Even as I felt my consciousness clouding over, I sharpened my focus. If I went back to the dream, I would die.
My hand trembled as I searched for the emergency hammer. Smashing the glass to let the gas out was the only way to survive.
The emergency hammer case that I would have normally just walked past. The hammer inside the red box now felt like a lifeline. With trembling hands, I opened the case and took out the hammer.
CRASH!
With the sound of glass shattering, a cold wind blew in. Shards of broken glass scattered everywhere. The stuffy air began to escape outside.
Just as I was about to let out a sigh of relief—
A horrific scene unfolded. The bodies of the passengers who hadn't woken up began to be ground away by something invisible.
As if thrown into a giant blender, their bodies began to be crushed.
Blood splattered everywhere, and flesh scattered. The sound of bones breaking, the sound of flesh tearing.
'If I hadn't escaped from the dream...'
The thought that I would have ended up like that made me feel nauseous.
Regurgitated matter rose to my throat. I barely suppressed the urge to vomit and thought about what action I had to take next.
The moment the train arrived at the station, I took out a bottle of water and a handkerchief from my bag.
My hands trembled so much it wasn't easy even to open the water bottle cap. After slipping several times, I finally managed to open it and soaked the handkerchief. It was to avoid any sleeping gas that might be lingering inside the station.
With the wet handkerchief covering my nose and mouth, I desperately bolted out. My steps were unsteady. It was either the effect of the sleeping gas I had inhaled, or simply fear, but my legs wouldn't work properly. But I couldn't stop.
Even as I ran, the sound of flesh tearing continued from behind me.
But I didn't look back. I didn't have the courage. No, I instinctively knew I shouldn't look. I just ran, looking straight ahead.
The subway station was like a maze.
Paths that were normally familiar now felt alien. I had lost all sense of direction and was running around frantically. Not knowing where to go, I just moved on instinct.
As I climbed the stairs, I was gasping for breath. The air I inhaled through the handkerchief was insufficient. But I couldn't remove the handkerchief. Thinking that the station might be full of sleeping gas, I gripped the handkerchief even tighter.
The sound of my footsteps echoed through the empty station. A subway station at this time of day would normally be bustling with people, but now it was as empty as a ghost station. The silence amplified the fear.
Finally, as I completely exited the station, a message arrived on my smartphone.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
You have successfully escaped the 'Monkey Dream' ghost story. You have successfully escaped the 'Subway Sleeping Gas' ghost story. You have escaped the ghost story the fastest. Basic reward of 6,000 Talent will be given.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
Additional reward of 4,000 Talent will be given.
+ 6,000D
+ 4,000D
...What is this?