Chapter 116

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“You said the door of Car 1 opened?”

“Yes!”

I immediately moved to Car 2 with the people. Baek Sa-heon came out in a hurry and wore a triumphant expression.

“I did my best to persuade the Car 1 people to open the door. Ah, of course, all the passengers together, …‘Pioneer’!”

“I see. Thank you for your hard work.”

It seemed he had gone to knock on Car 1’s door and shouted to come out because there was a solution every time the loop started.

-And he probably excitedly babbled about heroic tales of what Mr. Roe Deer did as well!

-Ah, I wish I could have heard those interesting stories here, but… worry not. A kind friend always chooses to stay with a friend!

Yes. Thank you, legendary host….

In any case, actively delivering the situation outside to Car 1 had certainly been effective.

For it had been described in the wiki like this:

All of that was repeated dozens of times.

Blood and madness ran rampant in each loop.

Those two sentences were remembered very clearly….

‘Surely, the door of Car 1 opened only after all those loops.’

Thus, I was actually planning to just pick the lock and enter around Loop 20.

‘Loop 14 is definitely favorable.’

It wasn’t for nothing that Baek Sa-heon’s nickname in the wiki was Viper of the Field Exploration Team. I nodded my head, acknowledging that in my own way.

“Then, let’s talk like this…”

“Uh, but!”

Baek Sa-heon hurriedly stopped me.

Don’t tell me….

“Th-the door. It closed again.”

“…….”

“No, to be precise, communication was established. Look at this!”

Baek Sa-heon hurriedly held out something.

A crumpled, dirty piece of paper.

Letters were written largely upon it….

Let’s endure just seven times

……Around the crookedly, firmly pressed handwriting, lumps of dark red filth were smudged on the paper.

“Ugh.”

“Th-that… looks like those rotting things that were in the tunnel….”

Mutterings spread among the people.

“W-wait a minute. Could it be that Car 1 has completely turned into a devil’s den? Like that tunnel!”

“Yeah! They locked the door among themselves and didn’t follow the Pioneer, so they suffered a terrible fate!”

C-calm down.

I hurriedly shook my head to calm the atmosphere of the train, which was on the verge of turning into a literal cult.

“It won’t be such a thing. It’s just that the pain seems severe…. Just a moment.”

I headed straight to the connection area of Car 2.

And I knocked on the tightly closed door of Car 1.

Knock, knock.

“Is anyone there?”

“It’s no use. I tried several times…”

“Hello. Well, embarrassingly, I am the person called the ‘Pioneer.’ Can we talk?”

I continued to shout.

“There are hundreds of passengers behind me. Over three hundred people in total. I can help you enough.”

“Excuse me?”

“I have come to help you!”

“I told you it’s no u—”

Click.

“…!”

The lock was released.

Ignoring Baek Sa-heon who had a blank expression, I turned back and spoke to the people calmly.

“…I will go in alone.”

“Ah, no!”

“Pioneer! What if something bad happens!”

I smiled and appeased the people.

“I think the people of Car 1 would also be surprised and afraid if many people flocked in. And even if something bad happens, what more can it do but return to the beginning? It will be fine.”

“S-still, at least enough to defend yourself…”

Thank you. I was waiting for those words…!

“Well, if that is the case… I will make a request of my colleagues.”

I looked at the two superiors from the elite team and my peer.

The three, who had already discussed it, nodded in an instant, and thus the Daydream Co. employee alliance entering Car 1 was completed.

‘Good.’

It was extremely fortunate, because signs that Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol’s patience had hit rock bottom were slowly showing in her eyes.

“Be careful, Pioneer!”

When I said, ‘Just in case, please wait in Car 2 until I request it,’ the passengers backed off obediently to Car 2 despite their concern.

This was also a relief.

‘Phew.’

…Gradually, it became harder to control the people.

‘From a certain point, it will start bouncing in an unpredictable direction.’

Even the fact that we had endured in a gentle atmosphere until now was because the people listened closely to my words.

I felt the presence of the small badge that must still be pinned in my suit jacket’s inner pocket.

The power of the Silver Heart was terrifying. Clearly.

I took a deep breath.

“Then I will open the door.”

It was then.

…I felt Assistant Manager Jin Na-sol staring at me coldly.

“Isn’t it too long?”

“…….”

“I wonder if it had to come to fourteen times.”

“Yes.”

I replied calmly.

“Because a safe clear is also important. I minimized all variables, gathered altar testimonies, and verified the escape method.”

Now we just need to escape.

“So, this train is the last one.”

“…….”

Jin Na-sol crossed her arms, tolerating my actions once more.

…It would probably be the last.

“Since we’re ready for now, let’s go in quickly.”

“Yes.”

While Baek Sa-heon, who had no speaking rights as a rookie, hurriedly followed along, I watched Supervisor Dolphin open the door….

Click.

A fishy smell that stung the tip of the nose drifted through the opened door.

“…….”

The smell that had been coming from the altar.

And….

“I’m scared! I’m scared! I’m scared! I’m scared!”

“Kieeeek, kggghhh!”

“Sob, sob…”

Sounds of wailing.

“Go in.”

I blankly looked at the scenery inside the open door.

Car 1 itself was polluted.

Over fifty people inside were struggling, laughing like mad, or rolling on the floor and crying out.

The floor was messy with blood and pieces that looked like they had been vomited.

…And a small banner lay scattered in the aisle, stained with blood and filth.

[Blue Photography Club 17th Regular Photo Outing]

That was right.

Car 1 the people were large-scale group passengers….

A group of people who had booked tickets through a travel agency, already knew each other, and were close.

For them to become like this….

“It seems these people were throwing each other out the window continuously… or in order?”

“What? All 53 people look out of their minds, what do you mean? Even if they threw one each time, it would only be 14 times?”

“That is correct. If so… was there indeed a ‘person of interest’ as Supervisor Kim deduced?”

Exactly.

Unless everyone had been thrown, there was only one case where this was possible.

Among the polluted, there was someone who could exert an extremely powerful influence.

Of all things, in a group that was already close to each other, someone who wore equipment that induced very strong persuasiveness and sense of alignment… that is.

“Mr. Employee.”

“…!”

“The thing I requested.”

Baek Sa-heon was startled, then lowered his eye patch and began to scan the surroundings.

The purple reversed eye rolled busy here and there, then soon sucked in his breath.

And he stretched out his hand.

“Over there.”

Of all places, it was right behind me.

I slowly turned back and looked at the person Baek Sa-heon pointed to….

“…….”

A figure fallen backward, having lost grip of the handle of the door leading to Car 2.

If I had met them on the street, it was a person I would have passed by, thinking they were a pleasant middle-aged man.

…If only they weren’t convulsing in their seat with their whole body twisted.

“W-we……”

Dark red filth flowing continuously from his mouth, veins bulged up to his temples. Flesh torn off by fingernails was strewn all over his body. And….

“Can do, can……”

“S-seven times, seeeeven times….”

I slowly approached that person who was muttering while looking into empty space.

And I checked the end of the belt revealed as the struggling person’s top rode up.

A small, glowing silver badge.

I found it.

“Is this person the person of interest?”

“…Yes.”

The person of interest in the ‘Tamra-Bound High-Speed Rail Incident.’

‘The Silver Heart holder.’

“H-help……”

Now only verification remained.

“Elder.”

I bent my legs in front of him to match his eye level.

And I whispered into his ear at a volume that couldn’t be heard by the people behind.

“You read the short document, didn’t you?”

“……!”

“The short document about the ‘Peach Blossom Spring Trial’ registered with the government.”

A bit of reason suddenly returned to his eyes, which had been glassy and lacking will with his mouth open.

“H-how did you…!”

“Just a moment.”

As expected, I was right.

‘If so….’

I contemplated for a moment, then took out a ‘Happy Maker’ from my pocket.

-Ah, are you preparing for a new interview?

‘…Yes.’

I absolutely had to talk to this person.

For the sake of justification.

…To smoothly conceal the suspiciousness that I had known about this entire situation from the start.

Stab.

The powerful painkiller is stabbed into the back of the Silver Heart holder’s hand.

“Huuuggh!”

The movements that had been convulsing due to pollution stopped all at once. Slide, thud. The middle-aged man’s body collapsed onto the floor….

And.

“Heeeeeg! Sob! Sob…”

He began to drool on the floor while shedding tears….

“What’s with him? Why is he like that?”

“…He fell from the altar too many times.”

This person seemed to have fallen at least five times.

Because the Happy Maker was a painkiller and not a recovery medicine, his already collapsed mind did not return.

Still, conversation was more possible than before.

“Cannot do it… cannot do it anymore……!”

“……Yes.”

That was important.

Fortunately, the other party began to provide information excellently.

The Silver Heart holder, who was shedding streams of tears, rushed at me as soon as our eyes met, grabbed my shoulders tightly, and began to speak while spluttering saliva.

“You! You know!”

The hand grabbing my shoulder was desperate.

“Seven times! We just need to endure seven times! W-we can do it….”

“……What are you telling us to endure?”

“The altar!!”

And he spoke earnestly.

“I know, this is, well, managed by the government! You guys, there is a department managing things like this, it was there.”

“…….”

“I read it! I, I worked there—”

The voices of the elite team talking were heard from behind.

“Ah, is he a retiree of the Disaster Bureau?”

“Hmm… I wonder if he possessed something like equipment.”

It was the correct answer.

I continued to ask the Silver Heart holder.

“I see. Then what kind of supernatural phenomenon is this?”

The passenger, a retired low-level clerk of the Disaster Management Bureau, was spilling scraps of the Disaster Bureau’s secrets piece by piece, having half lost his reason.

“Uh-huh, I mean, this, this supernatural phenomenon, uh, if we endure the altar seven times, seven times, it ends, it’s a dream… uh, so our club……”

“…….”

Then he looked around with vacant eyes.

At the people of Car 1’s Blue Photography Club who were rolling around out of their minds in pain.

…I knew why these people had become like this.

‘The Silver Heart holder must have persuaded them…….’

Just this once, let everyone sacrifice themselves to reach the seventh altar.

However, not everyone could be as good-natured and brave as the Silver Heart holder.

Rebellion, discussions, promises made but people getting scared and failing to jump, and so on. In all sorts of situations, the Silver Heart holder ended up jumping out the window multiple times as an example.

‘And the collapsed mental state and pollution affected all of Car 1 through the Silver Heart….’

Thus, amidst pain and pollution, all the people of Car 1 ended up losing their minds.

In the end, at some point, everyone would jump out the window and their minds would completely collapse….

Then they would unlock the door and rush out to other cars.

‘From there, an even more terrible incident takes place.’

That was why I couldn’t open Car 1’s door by force midway.

Because we could become completely hostile to the half-mad, firmly resolved Silver Heart holder who had been offered as a sacrifice, and the situation could run wild.

‘That was why we had to wait.’

Until the right timing arrived.

The Silver Heart holder was not a god either.

That passenger also felt a desperate desire to receive help from other passengers at some point, even amidst madness, chaos, and the collapse of self.

However, it was already too late.

Because an even more terrible sight was taking place in other cars….

When the moment of anguish arrived where the opponent gave up and would accept help from other cars.

The outside of Car 1 had to look peaceful, and there had to seem to be another solution.

To the extent that they would unlock the doorknob even with a damaged mind.

…Though Car 1 was already hell at this point in Loop 14.

“S-sorry, guys, it hurts so much… sob……”

“…….”

It was driving me crazy.

The sense of overwhelm given by the tragedy encountered in reality, rather than the prose written in the wiki, was immense…….

‘Which is why I must escape even faster.’

I barely grit my teeth and asked.

The question that would give a decisive hint, that is.

“Elder, but what train on earth was it that you said you saw? Is it this train?”

“Sob, that’s right. This is it, Iksan-bound! The Iksan-bound train….”

Supervisor Dolphin tilted her head.

“Iksan? Strange. This train is bound for Mokpo…”

Baek Sa-heon quickly chimed in.

“Well, it does pass through Iksan Station, Supervisor.”

“Ah, I see. Is Iksan Station an intermediate stop?”

“Yes.”

Supervisor Dolphin moved directly instead of trusting Baek Sa-heon.

She walked through the aisle of the Car 1 cabin, which was a mess with filth and wailing, and easily pulled out an item from one seat.

The booklet placed in the seat pocket.

And she nodded her head after confirming that fact in the booklet.

“Aha. That’s right!”

“Is that so? Then we can do as the Disaster Bureau retiree testified.”

“Yeah, yeah. That person said we just need to do it 7 times, right? Then 28 people…… Ah. Wait a minute.”

Then she stood still.

“7 times?”

“…….”

Ah.

She noticed.

“Excuse me, Mr. Roe Deer Supervisor.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know that? Most trains create extended lines according to the flow of the times.”

“They probably do.”

“So, maybe this train had a shorter route in the past. To the point where… Iksan Station was the terminal.”

“…….”

“To the point where it was labeled as Iksan-bound.”

It was the correct answer.

To be precise, this was a line extended in the mid-2010s.

From Iksan-bound to Mokpo-bound.

“And.”

The hand of Supervisor Dolphin, which scanned the guide booklet, stopped at one place.

“From Seoul to Iksan, counting by local train… there are exactly 7 stations passed.”

“…….”

“So probably, the altars were stations.”

Yes.

“And if we deduce as is.”

Rustle.

“Unlike the old Iksan-bound train, the stations this train passes when going to the terminal Mokpo Station are… nine.”

Supervisor Dolphin closed the booklet with a snap.

“So the altars we have to pass do not end at seven… but nine.”

“…….”

“We have to offer a total of 45 people until the 9th altar.”

It was a perfect answer to the point of giving goosebumps.

‘As expected of the elite team.’

And that correct answer was also the reason why the minds of the Car 1 passengers had completely collapsed….

Loop ■■:

The 8th altar appeared after passing the 7th altar.

The answer sheet presented by the Silver Heart holder had been a single ray of hope, but even that disappeared.

In the end, everyone in Car 1, consumed by anger, fear, and panic, completely lost their minds….

‘…It is truly a relief that we didn’t go that far.’

I had neither the confidence to clean it up nor to witness it.

It was when I let out a thin sigh of relief inwardly.

“But by the way.”

Supervisor Dolphin turned to look at me.

“Supervisor, you only have 11 painkillers?”

“…….”

“This time, you’ve already used one. So….”

“The people who must fall are 45, but the painkillers will only cover 10 people?”