Ian took one firm step forward and entered Carriage No. 10.
The zombies that had been knocked down by the shockwave were struggling to climb up, charging at him recklessly. At the same time, the broken door connecting to Carriage 11 could no longer hold back the flood of undead pouring through.
"Bring it on!" A spark of excitement flashed through Ian's eyes, a bloodthirsty fire burning in his chest.
With a sweeping slash, the dark-red axe blade drew a sharp arc through the air. The two zombies before him were cut clean in half, black blood splattering everywhere. Spinning his wrist, he followed up with a downward chop, cleaving another lunging corpse right down the middle.
His left hand shot out and grabbed a zombie by its head as it tried to rise. His fingers tightened slightly—crack! The rotten skull burst like an overripe watermelon.
Ian ignored the filth splashing across his clothes. With a reverse upward sweep, the axe's edge roared through the air with unstoppable force, slicing through several zombies at once—and even shearing away part of the train carriage itself, leaving behind a massive, jagged gap.
Without pause, he thrust the giant axe forward. The blade pierced cleanly through two zombies' chests, and dark-red flames burst out, reducing them to ashes in a heartbeat.
At the same time, his left hand didn't stay idle. He drove a heavy punch straight into another zombie's chest, exploding it into gore, then seized the head of the one behind and slammed it against a seatback. Crack! The sound of breaking bone echoed clearly.
Raising the axe high, he drove the spiked tip of the handle down into another zombie's skull, impaling it straight through the spine.
Then, twisting the haft with a sharp motion, he swept the blade in a deadly arc—several heads flew into the air. Before they even hit the ground, Ian pulled his right arm back, braced his left shoulder forward, and charged straight into the horde.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Dull impacts resounded one after another as zombies were hurled away like rag dolls, bones snapping and piercing through decayed flesh to reveal white bone beneath.
Ian spun and slashed in a wide circle. The dark-red blade tore through zombies and seats alike, scattering limbs and blood in every direction until the carriage turned crimson.
The last zombie still twitched weakly on the floor. Ian walked up slowly, lifted his right foot, and stomped down hard.
Squelch!
After clearing out both train carriages, Ian raised his left hand high. Dark-red flames surged up from his palm, spreading across his body before fading away, taking with them all the blood and clinging remains.
Behind him, Chloe and the baseball kid looked over the carnage, their stomachs churning. They bent over and vomited their instant noodles and kimchi all over the floor.
Seok-woo and Yoon Sang-hwa also turned pale, their stomachs twisting violently as they barely managed to hold back their own nausea.
Ian paid them no mind. He smashed open the door to carriage 12 with a single swing of his axe. Inside, every zombie had crowded toward the door leading to carriage 13.
Without hesitation, Ian extended his left arm. The power claw's Catalytic Lens lit up with dazzling light. A beam shot out like a hot knife through butter, instantly piercing through both carriages. The zombies along its path didn't even have time to react—their bodies were erased, vaporized like drawings rubbed off by an eraser.
Next, Ian raised his right hand, and the massive dark red axe dematerialized into particles.
Electric sparks flickered across his body, gathering with crackling energy at his fingertips. He swung his arm forward, releasing a chain of lightning that arced from his fingers, striking every zombie that hadn't been obliterated by the beam—yet perfectly avoiding the trembling survivors hiding in Carriage 13's restroom.
It was a massacre, yet executed with surgical precision and eerie grace.
[Ding... Current World Mod Unlock Progress: 0.13%]
Ian did a quick estimate. He'd just slain over a hundred zombies across these Carriages. That meant roughly a hundred thousand kills would be needed to unlock the mod completely.
The people huddled inside the restroom of Carriage 13 saw a flash of white light from under the door, followed by wild yellow arcs. The roar of the undead stopped all at once, leaving a silence so heavy it made their skin crawl.
They looked at each other in fear—no one dared to move, afraid that something even worse might be waiting outside.
Seeing that the danger was gone, Ian glanced back at Yoon Sang-hwa and the others with an exasperated look. "What are you all standing there for? Are you stunned? Go check on your wives and daughters—they're still shaking in that restroom!"
The men snapped out of their daze, shouting their loved ones' names as they stumbled toward Carriage 13's bathroom.
Inside, sobs and whispers intertwined in the cramped space. Suddenly, familiar voices cut through the silence like lightning, freezing everyone in place. They looked at one another, hope flickering in their eyes.
"Honey! Are you in there? Honey!" Yoon Sang-hwa's gruff voice trembled. The man who had always been fearless on the training field now had sweat beading in his palms.
"Su-an! Su-an, are you okay?" Seok-woo's voice was equally shaky, heavy with worry for his daughter.
"Dad? That's Dad's voice!" Su-an grabbed Seong-kyeong's arm tightly, shouting in excitement, her voice full of desperate hope.
Seong-kyeong also heard it—her husband's voice, unmistakable even through the door.
The bathroom latch turned hesitantly. A woman slowly peeked out, her eyes darting around warily. Seeing no zombies, her gaze finally locked onto Yoon Sang-hwa.
Her tension collapsed all at once. Fear, despair, and grief burst forth in a flood of tears.
"Honey!" Seong-kyeong threw herself into Yoon Sang-hwa's arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.
He held her like a treasure found again, clutching her trembling body as his own eyes reddened.
He patted her back softly, whispering like soothing a child. "It's okay now. I'm here. Don't be scared..."
But Seong-kyeong only wept harder, burying her face in his chest as if to cry out all the fear and hopelessness she had endured.
Between sobs, she weakly pounded his chest—half blaming him for being late, half venting her fear.
"Waaah... Daddy, it's really you! You didn't get eaten! Waaaah..." Little Su-an ran into Seok-woo's arms, bawling uncontrollably.
Kneeling, Seok-woo wrapped his arms tightly around her small, trembling body. Warmth and relief flooded his chest, along with a pang of guilt.
He opened his mouth, but his throat constricted. All he could do was whisper over and over, "Su-an... Daddy's here. Daddy's here..."