I wanted to give him a piece of my mind for his shamelessness, but I didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger.
Wow, I must be really sick. Do whatever you want with my legs—massage, chew, pull—just go ahead. I just lay back and let him take care of my legs. The pillow beneath my stiff neck welcomed me, feeling soft and fluffy despite being stuffed full. There was even a warm water bag tucked in somewhere, warming my cold body.
But then…
“…Is it okay to touch me like this?”
“Normally, no. But as a husband, I can’t just leave my wife in discomfort.”
His cheeky response made me irrationally angry. What a convenient excuse.
I mustered the strength to lightly slap his thigh, causing Liam Moore to exaggerate his pain. Seeing him yell “Ouch!” at my weak hit made him even more annoying.
“Stop exaggerating.”
“I’m not exaggerating.”
“Those people watching earlier. Do you think they were hired by the host?”
“It’s possible. Maybe the host’s influence extends throughout the entire train.”
“Must be incredibly wealthy.”
Liam Moore had a speechless expression, trying to estimate how much he could extort from the host “illegally.”
It’s well-known that we charge wealthy clients a lot, but take on cases for those in need at a low cost or almost free. I always set the prices, doubling what Liam suggested. It felt great when the rich begrudgingly tore out checks from their checkbooks.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fair. Besides, the host is a criminal anyway.”
“Jane, you seem very unwell right now.”
I know. That’s his way of saying I’m talking nonsense, right?
My thoughts wandered as freely as my mouth. Honestly, my head was throbbing, so I just let my body relax.
I should rest. As I thought that, my vision blurred like a power switch had been turned off. I let sleep take over.
And then, darkness.
Before I fell asleep, I think I mumbled his name, Moore. I heard a soft laugh.
* * *
When I opened my eyes again, it was evening. The cabin was dark with the lights off. Night falls quickly with the early sunset. The sky outside was already a dark, inky blue.
The first thing I did was look for Liam Moore. I turned my head, but he wasn’t beside me or on the sofa
‘Did he step out for a moment?’
After a nap, my head felt lighter. The earlier headache seemed to be due to nerves.
Feeling more relaxed, I remembered the notebook I had tucked away. I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. It was a habit to record the progress. It’s good not to forget things. We sometimes forget our existence, and that’s fatal. I can’t give up the things that make me who I am.
I slapped my cheeks a couple of times to wake myself up and left the cabin wearing the lowest boots I had brought. Except for the sound of the train running, everything was quiet.
Is everyone asleep…? What time is it? The in-game time wasn’t visible.
Ah, the system’s glitching again. I sometimes wondered if this part was unfinished because of all the errors and strange happenings. But I can’t fix it; I just hope it will work again someday. That’s how I progress through the story.
Fortunately, the notebook works fine. With it, I can feel safe. If something happens, I can go back a bit.
I peeked into the adjacent room, but there was no one inside. The luggage was there, but the room felt devoid of warmth, as if the person had vanished, leaving only their belongings.
“Where did they go…?”
Everyone on this train car was like that. I opened every cabin door, but no one was there.
Ah, is this it? The ‘beginning of the auction’?
I decided to explore the train. Maybe I could talk to someone still around or find a clue. Just in case, I kept my voice low.
Our cabin was in the fifth car. This train had over ten sleeping cars and three dining cars. Including the staff quarters, it was quite long.
Should I head to the end? Or go forward? I guess I’ll have to check both. I saved the game again and headed backward.
The sixth car was quiet. No one was in the dining car either. No staff in sight. Where on earth is everyone? I started to run as I walked.
Nothing.
Same for the next car… and the one after that…
The atmosphere became more menacing as I approached the end of the train. The tenth car was riddled with bullet holes, and the next car’s windows were splattered with blood. In the next car, I found long bloodstains and scratch marks on the floor.
Someone is here.
Someone is killing people.
The scratch marks dragged along the floor and stopped at the next door. That must be where they died.
There was finally someone in the next car. Half of their body was soaked in blood, but at least it was a person! I felt a bit guilty that there was nothing I could do for this corpse, but joining Liam Moore was more important. I walked past the body.
When I opened the door to the last car, a hot, metallic smell hit me.
Instinctively, I felt something was terribly wrong. It was an unbelievable sight.
There were huge marks on the walls, and red stains splattered everywhere. Seeing how far the blood had splattered, I wondered what kind of brutal weapon could do this. Not just any madman—was it a bomb? A shotgun?
How did I sleep through that noise?
One side of the train’s wall was torn to shreds. Through the ripped wall, I could see the scenery outside. On the floor lay scattered body parts. It looked like they had been torn apart by a strong force. That blood…
I felt nauseous. I suppressed a retch by covering my mouth and cautiously backed away. Something that shouldn’t exist was in the centre of that gruesome scene.
I saw it. Or rather, I couldn’t tell if I saw it. Because there was nothing there. It existed and didn’t exist at the same time. I couldn’t make sense of it, stunned into silence.
Something was moving, but its shape was invisible. Only by concentrating hard could I see the outline of something undulating. It blended into the surroundings, making it hard to discern! All I knew was that it had its back to me.
I must not attract its attention. I had to quietly retreat the way I came.
It made a grotesque sound as it chewed on something, its transparent body pulsing faintly in and out of sight. It was huge. How did that thing fit in a train car? It looked at least 12 feet tall.
That thing had been on the train, and I didn’t notice? It was slaughtering people?
I silently closed the door and turned away. Now was the chance to escape while it was preoccupied. My mind screamed warnings. Stay calm, Jane, stay focused. Watch your step. Don’t make any noise to alert it. I took a deep breath.
I turned. One step.
Good. It’s going acc—damn it. Things never go as planned in life.
As soon as I turned, I locked eyes with a corpse slumped in a train seat. Its eyes were closed before, but now they were open. It blinked. I almost screamed but held it back with superhuman effort. The corpse whispered.
“Miss, Miss.”
I thought it was dead. The man quietly begged me. He was alive, though covered in blood.
“Please take me with you. I don’t want to die here.”
What could I do? I slung him over my shoulder. I couldn’t ignore a living—and savable—person. Some might call it foolish, but I couldn’t sleep with the guilt of abandoning someone who could be saved. I deeply empathized with his desire to live.
When I put a finger to my lips, the man nodded.
We were incredibly lucky to escape unscathed. The man stifled his breath the entire two cars out, and I walked silently, focusing on every step.
But the problem was…
The thumping I felt from a nearby car.
It was chasing us. It must have been following the scent of fresh blood from the man, who kept bleeding. It was no trouble for it to track us. But it was too late to leave him behind.
Already too late. My nerves warned me. Run.
“Heh heh.”
A chilling, almost vulgar laugh echoed. At the same time, something grabbed me, pulling me back. Thud, thud, went the drumbeats. Maybe it was my heartbeat.
My vision darkened. Familiar words, though I hadn’t seen them in a while, appeared.
[You died.]
Damn it. Not this route.