Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Subway (2)
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We arrived at car 9 and scanned our surroundings even more intently than before, eyes wide open.
I compared the image of car 10, which I thought I'd memorized perfectly, with the current car 9 dozens of times in my mind.
The number of handholds, the color of the seats, the stains on the windows, even the tiny scratches on the floor tiles.
But this time, really, no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find a single difference.
"...I have no idea... Isn't there really nothing wrong?"
"I don't see anything either."
"...Hmm..."
After thoroughly searching every inch of the car interior for a long while, Bora finally muttered in resignation.
Shun, Hanbit, and Park Sunja seemed to feel the same, silently shaking their heads.
The atmosphere was one of everyone failing to spot anything unusual, but no one was willing to be the first to say, "Let's move to the next car."
Because of the nagging doubt that there might still be some tiny anomaly we'd overlooked.
"...Hmm."
At that moment, a somewhat reckless idea—one born of desperation—flashed through my mind.
‘If there's no anomaly, why not create one myself?’
I casually grabbed the nearest handhold on the ceiling.
Then I pulled down on it with all my strength.
Crack—!
With a dull ripping sound, the handhold tore free from its plastic connector.
There was more resistance than expected, but I managed to yank it off.
"Minjun, what are you—?"
Park Sunja cried out in shock, and the other team members—except Shun—stared back and forth between me and the broken handhold in my hand, their faces full of disbelief.
I calmly recalled the rules and said,
"The rules only say to find the anomalies. They don't prohibit damage, do they?"
Shun nodded at my words.
"You're right. I tried it too, but it wouldn't budge. How'd you do it?"
He looked at me in amazement.
"Is this really allowed...?"
"...For now, let's head back..."
We opened the door leading back to the previous car from this car 9, now bearing a clear anomaly in the form of the torn handhold.
And we arrived in car 8, clearly marked with the number [8].
Success.
"Oh..."
"It actually worked..."
Bora let out a hollow chuckle.
But our small cheer didn't last long.
Because a new rule had been added to the wall of car 8 in stark red letters.
[6. Do not damage facilities within the train. (Forced disembarkation at the next station if damaged)]
[※ Notices of train rules and car numbers do not count as 'anomalies.']
Well, unfortunately, this damned monster phenomenon adapted much faster than I'd anticipated.
It had swiftly plugged the small loophole we'd found.
No more tricks like that would work now.
We passed car 8 more easily than expected.
After reading the notice and stepping into the middle of the car, all the lights began to go out.
It was such an obvious anomaly that we immediately turned back without hesitation, opened the door to the previous car, and arrived—as expected—in car 7, marked with [7].
The problem was car 7.
We examined our surroundings even more meticulously than before, but we couldn't find a single difference from car 10.
Handholds, seats, ads, floor tiles—even the timing of the messages on the digital display.
Everything looked perfectly identical.
As time dragged on, impatience grew, but we couldn't recklessly move to the next car either.
"...For now, let's go ahead. We can't stay here forever. Time is critical for this rescue mission."
"...You're right."
In the end, I mustered the courage to speak first.
For the person waiting to be rescued, and for the main quest, we had to push on.
The other team members reluctantly nodded, and we swallowed hard as we opened the door to the next car.
"...Phew..."
"Good thing."
Fortunately, we arrived in car 6, clearly marked with [6].
There really hadn't been any anomaly in car 7.
But our relief was short-lived. While searching for another anomaly in car 6, Bora, who had been staring out the window, suddenly let out a low scream.
"Ugh...!"
"What's wrong?"
"O-over there...! Outside the window!"
The moment I looked where her finger pointed, I felt the blood in my veins turn ice cold.
Beyond the pitch-black train window, a woman with a mouth torn all the way to her ears was staring right at us with a chilling smile.
She was so close it was like her face was pressed right against the glass.
Surprisingly, Shun, Hanbit, and Park Sunja remained calm.
"What is it, some red mask trend these days?"
Hanbit said dismissively, while Shun shrugged lightly, saying he didn't know about red masks but there were similar yokai in Japan.
"It's not attacking. Harmless."
My reaction was different.
I couldn't bear to keep my eyes open at that horrific sight and squeezed them shut.
My heart nearly stopped.
I'd seen all sorts of gruesome monsters since coming to this other world, but this type really got to me.
Not ones that attacked directly, but those that stirred fear from a place you couldn't even strike at—I was especially weak to them.
At least if it lunged, I could fight back.
"L-Let's go back quickly."
At that moment, Bora gently tugged at my arm, which had frozen in place.
Feeling her warm touch calmed my trembling heart a bit.
She was pretty shaken too, gripping my arm for support with a trembling hand, but in truth, I was leaning on her just to manage my steps.
The woman outside the window was still smiling at us.
We arrived in car 5.
There, a woman was crouched in the center of the car, head bowed low.
For a split second, fear gripped me—
"A survivor...?"
But as I moved closer just in case, Park Sunja blocked my path and warned me in a low voice.
"Minjun, be careful. That woman might not be a survivor or someone who requested rescue. She could be... part of another anomaly."
"...Got it."
At her words, I tensed and watched the crouched woman.
Still, she wasn't as scary as before.
Monsters within arm's reach weren't so frightening.
Smirking wryly at my warped sense of normalcy, I approached the woman.
"S-Sniff... Hic..."
She was still sobbing with her head down.
Her back and shoulders trembled faintly, like someone truly gripped by terror.
I decided she was one of the survivors who'd requested rescue and spoke to her as gently as possible.
"...We're the White Tiger exploration team, here on a rescue request. Are you okay?"
At my words, she sobbed even more piteously, saying, "Hic... S-so... so scary..." as she slowly lifted her head.
And the moment her face came into view, chills shot through me from head to toe.
It was the exact same torn-mouth face that had stared at us creepily from the window moments ago.
"I thought... I'd starve to death... It was so scary."
With a mad expression that was both crying and laughing, she stared at me and then ripped her mouth open wide—spliiiit—
Inside were densely packed teeth like razor-sharp thorns.
My reaction was swift.
Without time to think, I instinctively threw a punch.
But my fist sliced right through her body like empty air.
I'd swear I hit her, but there was no impact.
"Hup!"
All I could do was dodge in panic as her thorn-filled mouth lunged.
"Suppression talisman!"
At that moment, Bora shouted and flung a talisman.
Unlike my swing at thin air, her talisman stuck precisely to the woman's forehead, emitting a faint light that slowed her movements just a little.
"Let's get out of here for now!"
Park Sunja yelled, but when we rushed to the door and tried to open it, it wouldn't budge.
And then, red numbers appeared on the digital display at the front of the car.
[1:32]
[1:31]
[1:30]
...A 1-minute-30-second countdown.
We had to hold out here for that long, I supposed.
"What happened? Why didn't my attack work, but the talisman...?"
I asked in confusion, and Bora answered calmly.
"Sometimes there are monsters that are almost immune to physical attacks, like spirits, or have specific weaknesses! This seems to be one of those!"
Hanbit chimed in from the side.
"That's one reason people rely on items or abilities instead of guns. Bullets don't pierce every enemy."
With that, Hanbit pulled out an item.
Physical attacks ineffective, and a time limit.
It was a headache, but then an idea struck me.
I urgently asked Bora,
"Bora! Do you have any talismans with writing on them?"
She gave me a puzzled look but pulled a few from her waist and handed them over.
I immediately wrapped them around my right fist like boxing gloves.
Bora watched my actions curiously.
"What are you doing...?"
Even now, the woman was slowly approaching us.
I swung my fist once more at the torn-mouth woman lumbering toward us!
Crunch—!
"Uh... Ah...?"
The woman let out a short grunt as my fist connected.
The talisman-wrapped punch hit her face dead-on, delivering a heavy thud unlike before. Her head shattered like a dry plaster statue, crumbling into dust.
The talisman's effect was undeniable.
"So this is talisman arts..."
As I marveled aloud, Bora shot me an exasperated look and yelled,
"...That's not talisman arts..."
She sounded incredulous, but the result was good anyway.
The timer on the display had stopped, and the door to the rear car, which had been firmly shut, was sliding open smoothly.