I looked as Aiko started walking away. After a few seconds of standing still in confusion, I then followed Aiko. While we were walking, I looked around the area we were in, inspecting the place.
This station seems infinitely long… as we walked, the system notifications keep popping up one by one, advertising about things or just simply telling people to not miss their train.
If I had to guess, I'll assume the station is also apart of the system's properties… I can't help but wondered, how rich are the people behind that blue system screen?
After a while of walking, we ended up at what seems to be outside the station. Aiko stopped in her tracks, smirking. I stopped walking as well, looking around in confusion. This place looks nothing like the station we were in.
The girl stopped for a moment before she started talking.
"We're here."
I looked around, confused. How could a place with no start or end be the stop that our train arrives at? I took out my ticket, checking if we've gotten to the right place.
I knew that Aiko was better at this than me, but, who wouldn't have doubt when there's nothing infront of them?
I sighed, putting it back into my pocket before talking. My voice filled with confusion and a hint of doubt.
"You sure this is the right place, kid?"
Around us was nothing, the same white empty space that we've both experienced. It's like we've walked outside of the station.
As I looked around in confusion, thinking about why she walked outside of the station, I started to hear a faint sound of a train approaching us.
Aiko stood there in silent with a smirk on her face. As we stood there in silence, waiting for what seems like nothing, my eyes widened in shock.
Suddenly, the white space around us started to reveal the layer unded the blank space. I watched with my mouth gapped open as a train track appeared.
"I said what I said."
Aiko smirked at me then crossed her srms arrogantly. I looked at her then turned back at the scenery infront of me.
I can't help but stood there like a statue, admiring the beauty of this weird station infront of me. It was like standing in the middle of the universe itself.
I stood still, waiting for the train to come. As the noises get louder, I could see a train moving towards the both of us.
Woooosh!
It arrived and stopped infront of us, I watched as the doors opened and let out a purple vapor from inside. The scent was quite comforting…
When we got on the train, I looked behind me, as soon as Aiko gkt on, the doors behind us closed and disappeared. This space is truly amazing…
"Tickets?"
An old man sitting on the driver seat turned his head at us and asked. I quickly reached into my pocket and took out the ticket that was looking at me intensely for some reasons.
As I looked up after the ticket crawled into a ticket box. As I looked up, smiling, my eyes then widened in shock.
The driver was the old man that died from the first game. I looked back at Aiko then the headless body infront of me that's driving the vehicle. Maybe I was wrong, maybe it isn't the same old man.
I looked at the driver who's clothes were clearly didty and blood stained before asking.
"Hey, are you—"
Aiko seemed to have noticed my reaction, the girl stopped me from finishing the sentence, she glared at me then took my hand and walked to the back seats before whispering.
"Never mention the driver's past on the train, infact, do not talk to anyone you think you know."
"Why?"
This was all brand new to me, what was wrong with asking the driver's past or people I know? Especially if I knew who he was. Either way, how did he even end up here?
"The drivers, They're here because of a curse casted on them after death."
She stopped for a bit before continuing her explanation.
"Not all people become drivers, but, most of the time, they get cursed because of breaking a system rule."
I looked at her in surprise. Getting cursed by the system? That sounds familiar… I shook my head, I must be going insane, there was no way I could've heard about this already.
But still, it's strange how all or most of them are quite familiar to that novel I was writing before the events. Could it still be considered a coincidence if it happened so often?
While I was sitting there in silence, Aiko began speaking.
"Don't forget which station we'll arrive at. You miss it and you'll become a wanderer."
I looked at the girl that's looking outside the window as the train started moving. Why would I become a wanderer? I leaned back into the train's chair before speaking.
"Wanderer?"
She sighed, looking over at me with an annoyed expression. What was she being so rude for?! I looked as she began to talk.
"It's another curse from this world."
World? So this isn't her space? Not another dream? God, this is messing with my head. I let out a deep breath, looking as she continued talking.
"If you don't leave the train when it's your stop, the train puts a curse on you and you'll stay on the train forever."
I looked at her, a bit surprised and confused. How could anyone be punished this badly just because they forgot which stop they were gonna get down from? Not only that, aren't trains supposed to take you to only one destination?
I let out a deep breath, trying to register the information I was given before I started talking.
"And what do you mean by—"
As I was about to finish my question, Aiko stepped in, interrupting me then started speaking again.
"Before you ask why I use the word world instead of space."
The young girl stopped for a minute, looking at my annoyed expression and let out a smirk before she continued.
"This is not a dream. It's the connectng station between every worlds."
That explains the strict rules, I guess… I have a feeling that these sets of rules are quite strict. Though that wasn't really what I was going to ask.
As I was about to ask her the question, a notification from the system popped up again.
Ding!
I looked down as the message and began reading it, forgetting about the question I wanted to ask.
[SYSTEM: you've been recognized within the 「Connecting Station」 by a very small group of species as a intriguing character.]
Interesting… I've only been in two games yet some people here have already known about me. I looked at the blue system notification screen infront of me before closing it.
Atleast I'm not so anonymous in this world like I was in the other one… As I sat there in silence waiting for whatever was going to come, Aiko spoke up, again.
"Also, there's more rules here but I'm sure you'll be fine without me explaining it to you. By the way, watch out for the lost souls here."
There's so many strange things on this train… from the set of rules to the passengers and the penalties, nothing seemed normal.
I sighed and nodded. Aiko then looked over at me and continued speaking. She's quite chatty today… though, I'm not one to complain, I am quite glad since she's telling me important things about the station.
"They're always walking around in the train, trying to find a way out."
She stopped for a moment before starting her explanation.
"Lost souls are just like wanderers, except, they still have memories about their past. They also have the ability to move around. So to shorten it, they're wanderers if the curse was lighter."
"I understand."
Not really, but what else was I going to say? I looked at her then at the seat infront of me. Seems like I wasn't wrong about everything being weird.
From the people to the furniture, everything was off-looking. I sighed, glancing at Aiko before looking back at the chair of the passenger infront of me.
As we sat there in silence, I could hear a faint sound of footsteps began coming our way. I looked back behind me to check if there was something to find nothing. Maybe I was imagining things, again.
I sighed, seems like I should take a rest then. I adjusted myself, leaning back into the chair, I closed my eyes and took a short break.
As my eyes closed, leaving me in darkness, I could feel all the noises turning down before becoming total silence.
After a while of resting, I could feel someone shaking me, I frowned, turning my head over to Aiko before opening my eyes. What a waste of good sleep… she better have a good reason for this.
"What do you—"
"Behind you!"
I turned my head around in horror. I stood up in the narrow space, dashing away from the creature infront of me that charged straight for me.
The creature looked at me as I landed down back onto the ground. It had a tall figure, its skin was pale and covered in a bit of fuzz. It mouth was gaping open in an abnormal way as if the creature's jaw was broken.
I looked at my seat that now have a hole in it before looking back as the creature as it pulled out its sharp arm that caused the damage.
I grinded my teeth in anger, seems like I wasn't wrong about the sound. I looked at Aiko who was pressing against the window, her eyes glaring at the creature with frustration.
"Aiko? Can you explain this?"
Before I could ask Aiko anything else, a system message popped up infront of me as I took out my sword and held onto it tightly.
Ding!
[SYSTEM: violation (1)
You've broken a rule while being on the train 34Vz!
Broken rule: getting out of your seat while the vehicle is moving without permission from attendants.
Penalty: 24 hours Jinx]
Bad luck? I sighed, as if my luck wasn't bad enough, good thing it's only for twenty four hours, I guess. I glared at the monster infront of me. I've already recieved the penalty anyways, why would I care?
I look as the creature started coming towards me. I dashed backwards, creating a safe distance before launching at it.
As I swung my sword, a voice called out to me. It was Aiko who was screaming.
"Wait, don't do it!"
Woosh! Claang!
It was too late, by the time she saw what I was doing and tried stopping me, my blade was already inside the creature's head, slicing it into two pieces.
"Damn it, old man! Don't blame me for the penalties…"
I took a deep breath, looking at the lost soul that I had slayed as its corpse fell down onto the ground along with its head.
From the lost soul's corpse, a blood like liquid was coming out from the place my sword had cut through, drawing the attention of a few horrified people to it.
Ding!
[SYSTEM: violation (2)
You've broken a rule while being on the train 34Vz!
Broken rule: annihilating a creature owned by the system!
Penalty: people will now recieve a bounty for slaying you!
This penalty will be removed once you arrived at the desired destination or once you've been slayed.]
How great, it've only been around half an hour and I've violated two rules already. I sighed, looking at the crowd who'd recieved the system's bounty event.
Everyone, including the people who stared at the corpse in horror were now looking at me. The fear in their eyes were gone. They're now glaring at me with greed.
"I told you…"
I looked back at Aiko who's shrugging with a smug smile on her face. Is she related to Mary or something? I sighed, taking a deep breath.
I looked down at my sword that was stained with the creature's bodily fluids, taking a piece of cloth to wipe off the liquid.
"So troublesome…"