[This stop is Resentment, Resentment Station.]
[The doors will open on the right....]
In the suffocating silence of the ghost-story subway,
I was contributing my fair share to that silence too.
Even though I already knew this Ghost Story, I was the kind of person who, if a related WTube video popped up, would get startled by the thumbnail alone and hit "Not Interested" before scrolling past—and now I had to survive inside the ghost story itself?
'Just kill me instead....'
That would practically count as a blessed death.
I was getting so drained I didn't even have the energy to reason out what had happened. Pressing both hands to my face, I wanted to deny reality itself.
That was when.
Blink.
[1st Prize: Darkness Exploration Record Real Goods Box]
"...?!"
I looked up.
Something like a memo pad was flying around in front of my eyes.
I could see it with my eyes closed, and I could see it with them open.
A scrap of paper like it had been folded out of a torn notebook page was fluttering around....
"This is...."
Wait. Nobody else seemed to be able to see it.
I immediately shut my mouth. Standing out in a situation like this was stupid.
Instead, I poked the memo pad in front of me as naturally as I could.
Flap.
Astonishingly, the memo pad moved as if unfolding, then spat out something small.
"...!"
I hurriedly snatched it up as if to hide it in my hand.
It was... a grip tok.
A very simple black grip tok, the only unusual thing about it being the drooping golden "X" in the center.
But that pattern alone was enough for me to realize what it was.
'It's goods.'
The very goods that had been sold at the Darkness Exploration Record pop-up store I'd stopped by right before opening my eyes in this bizarre situation!
It was one of the goods I'd bought today.
With trembling hands, I picked up the grip tok.
And in the story, what it did was...
[Memorial Grip Tok]
: A C-rank item appearing in Darkness Exploration Record.
If attached to a smartphone, it organizes text the user remembers into pages and displays it clearly.
An item issued to Grade-9 employees of the Supernatural Disaster Management Agency under the Ministry of Environment.
'It shows remembered text....'
Then maybe?
With shaking hands, I peeled off the adhesive backing and attached the grip tok to my smartphone on the spot.
At that moment,
the blocks of text from Darkness Exploration Record that I had only remembered in fragments took on clear form and structure, appearing on my phone screen as pages.
---------------------=
Darkness Exploration Record / Ghost Story
[Welcome to Abyss Transit Corporation]
: A Ghost Story that appears in Darkness Exploration Record; Baekilmong Co., Ltd.'s identification code for it is Qterw-D-16.
Among the early Dusk (D)-rank Darknesses, this is the deranged Ghost Story that alone boasts overwhelmingly high escape difficulty. And the Field Operations Team suffers for it forever.
Investigations were recorded up to a total of 56 times.
---------------------=
"...!"
So this means....
'The goods I bought are actually working?'
Come to think of it, the black goods box that had been resting on my lap had disappeared without a trace.
'Did that goods box... turn into that memo pad and spit out the goods I bought?'
What kind of insane situation was this?
No, still, it was definitely an advantage for me.
This ghost-story universe I'd entered, Darkness Exploration Record.
Do you have any idea how many hardcore internet diehards had burned their creative passion on it? There were literally hundreds of ghost stories.
Naturally, it was difficult to pull them out of your head instantly as if flipping through pages.
And true to the nature of ghost stories, they didn't directly state survival methods; you had to read the story and infer them yourself, which made it even harder to arrive at the correct answer in a new situation.
'But if I can check what I've read all at once in plain text.'
Then the first thing I needed to look at right now was....
'Past escape cases!'
I immediately scrolled down the wiki page.
And after breathlessly reading all the way down to "3.2 Investigation Records,"
"..."
I quickly made my deduction.
'I've got it.'
In other words, I had found my own answer as to which station we had to get off at.
But there was a problem.
"..."
I turned my head toward the people in the same car as me.
Including me, there were a total of eight young new hires.
The people who had panicked after witnessing two human beings get torn apart live were only just barely regaining their composure and beginning to talk.
"So the thing it said just now—Resentment Station—that means resentment, right? Like the kind you hold against someone?"
"Yes...."
"Ha, my calls won't go through, data won't work, seriously... ah, what the hell is happening...."
"..."
Right. The problem was how I was supposed to persuade these strangers, who neither knew nor trusted me, to get off at the correct station.
'I have to make as many people as possible get off with me somehow.'
I clenched my fist.
Was it because I had suddenly realized that even the nameless extras sacrificed in this ghost-story setting were real people, and now I was filled with some noble sense of mission to save their lives?
Well... yes, speaking purely on a human level, I did feel something like that too, of course, but that wasn't my top priority.
The reason I was most desperate was....
'I can't get off by myself...!'
That's right.
A lot of these stations look completely insane.
You're telling me I have to walk out alone through a station full of eyeballs, a station plunged into blackout, or a station flipped upside down?
Just imagining it made me break out in cold sweat so badly I felt like I'd drop to all fours and start crawling.
'Probability I pass out halfway and fail to escape: over ninety percent...!'
No. Please. Save me.
'I have to persuade them somehow!'
I started to open my mouth, then closed it again.
'Still, blurting out stuff about paranormal phenomena and Darkness right away would be idiotic.'
Who would want to admit they'd been thrown into some RPG Maker horror-game situation? Either they wouldn't believe it and reject it with outright ridicule, or they'd believe it and panic even harder. Those were the only two outcomes.
'Slowly... earn trust first.'
Just one person.
If I could firmly persuade just one or two people first, then human beings had this thing called herd mentality, and it'd become much easier for everyone else to get off together in a rush.
'Let's see. Someone who needs help, or someone with a clue I can use to build rapport....'
"Haa... this is like something straight out of a WTube ghost story."
Found one!
"Did you just say... ghost story?"
"Ah."
A woman with short hair and a calm impression nodded, looking slightly flustered.
"Yes. Um, I, uh, watch ghost stories on WTube sometimes, so it reminded me of that."
"Could you tell me more in detail, by any chance? This doesn't seem like an ordinary situation, so I think it would be better to share whatever information we can."
"It's not exactly information... it's just that everything literally feels like a ghost story. The lecture hall turning into a subway all of a sudden, and people... dying like that."
Maybe she had remembered the insane live dismemberment show from moments earlier, because her face went a little pale.
I understood. I really wanted to throw up too.
Let's both erase that from our heads as quickly as possible.
"Ah, sorry. I suddenly...."
"No. I feel the same way. Since something so absurd is happening, I can't get my bearings either."
The woman gave a weak little laugh.
"Come on, you seem like the most level-headed person here."
That was only because she hadn't seen me coldly fainting yet.
"Huh?"
And surprisingly enough, around then, someone addressed me first.
There was a very understandable reason for it too.
"Uh, you were the person sitting next to me earlier, right?"
He was a man with curly hair and a rather guileless appearance.
'Come to think of it, had he been sitting next to me in the lecture hall?'
The new hire looked as if he hadn't quite managed to fit into any of the conversation groups. He rubbed the back of his neck, glanced back and forth between me and the woman I was talking to, then held out his hand like he was offering a handshake.
"My name is Baek Saheon."
"...!"
For a moment, I almost forgot to shake his hand.
Baek Saheon?
'He's a named character.'
---------------------=
Darkness Exploration Record / Baekilmong Co., Ltd.
/ Characters
Baek Saheon
: An employee of Baekilmong Co., Ltd. who appears in Darkness Exploration Record.
Final rank: Manager. Total number of investigation records: 106. Number of special cases recorded on the wiki: 17.
Alias: Viper.
---------------------=
He was an employee who had made repeated appearances in Darkness Exploration Record.
I lifted my head and stared at the curly-haired man with the rather weak-looking face, groaning inwardly.
'This person... is Baek Saheon?'
The image didn't quite match.
In any case, seeing with my own eyes an employee from a ghost-story setting I had only ever read as text felt really strange.
Meanwhile, the short-haired woman who had first brought up ghost stories held out her hand.
"The situation is what it is, but let's at least introduce ourselves. I'm Go Youngeun."
It was a name I'd never heard before. And when it came to the real names of employees I didn't know, there were only two possibilities.
They had handled the Ghost Stories relatively smoothly and quit early.
Or they had died early.
'Damn it....'
There were a few named employees who appeared only under nicknames or codenames, but in those cases their character traits were so distinct you could recognize them on sight.
This felt bad. I quickly shook off the afterimage and hid my reaction.
"I'm Kim Soleum."
The handshakes ended quickly, and we naturally sat down on the subway seats and continued talking.
By then, the people had somehow split into separate little groups.
"Ah, those people... I think they're trying to communicate with the next car somehow?"
"They are."
Movement between cars was prohibited in this Ghost Story. Sure enough, after a while they gave up on the waving and gesturing and came back.
"What do we do? We can't communicate with the next car at all. And I think there's some kind of fight happening up there too...."
Then, over the anxious and frightened people, another station-arrival announcement came on.
But this time, the keyword had a different atmosphere.
[This stop is Ecstasy, Ecstasy Station.]
"Huh?"
The people who had been murmuring all fell silent at once.
"Ecstasy?"
"Um, if it's ecstasy, doesn't that sound kind of good? Maybe...."
No.
'You can't judge it that simply...!'
Grinding my teeth, I recalled the investigation records I had just read.
To begin with, the themes of the station names changed every time this Ghost Story appeared.
So it was impossible to escape by simply finding an exact matching word from the previous cases—something like, "You have to get off at this station," or "This station is the correct answer."
'But I can examine the tendencies.'
Like this.
---------------------=
Darkness Exploration Record / Ghost Story
/ Welcome to Abyss Transit Corporation
3.2 Investigation Records (Recorded up to 56)
Station names represented by colors such as red, yellow, and blue.
: 2 people successfully escaped (attempt: Blue Station)
Station names represented by body parts such as left arm, cornea, and heart.
: Escape failed (attempt: Cochlea Station)
Station names represented by the names of serial killers such as ■■, ■■■■, ■■■.
: 12 people successfully escaped (attempt: ■■■■ Station)
Station names represented by years such as 2008, 2012, and 2016.
: Escape failed (attempt: Year 2024 Station)
Station names represented by diseases such as asthma, stroke, and glaucoma.
: 3 people successfully escaped (attempt: Cold Station)
[More]
---------------------=
See that? Even after fifty-six cases, the positive feeling of a station name had absolutely no connection to escape probability.
But at this rate, people were about to pour out at Ecstasy Station.
[The doors will open on the left....]
Because the scene on the platform we had arrived at happened to be bright and pleasant.
'Damn it.'
The moment people saw the station—clean and well-lit, like a newly built station in some brand-new planned city—I could feel the mood swing sharply in its favor.
"Ah...!"
"Sh-should we get off here and try to find somebody? This place really looks normal...."
Brightening, people began peering toward the doors.
No!
'My party size!'
And my mental state if I have to watch that!
'Goddammit.'
In the end, I ran over and blocked the doors again.
"...!"
"Wh-what is this."
"Please wait."
[The platform screen doors are opening.]
"Are you certain?"
"Huh?"
"Certain."
"About what?"
"That this place is safe. Or at least that you have a reason to think so."
I deliberately shifted my gaze.
"I assume most of you agree that this situation feels like a ghost story."
At my gaze, Go Youngeun, now receiving everyone else's looks as well, started in surprise, but she didn't take back what she'd said.
[The train doors will close in 30 seconds. You will never be able to turn back.]
"But in ghost stories or horror movies, have you ever seen people get a good result by choosing based only on luck and vibes?"
"...No, but—"
"Is it really okay to stake your lives like this without any deduction or reasoning?"
The people who had been growing restless hesitated for a moment, then soon snapped in anger.
"Oh, and have you done some amazing deduction or something?"
"This guy's been saying frustrating things from the start...."
"Ah, move already! What deduction and reasoning... what is this, some kind of quiz show? Did somebody hand you a clue or what?"
"Yes."
"...?"
"We are being given clues."
I took a breath.
Then I raised a hand and pointed upward.
At the subway display with the speakers mounted above it.
"The announcements."
-For a pleasant ride to the final destination, please pay close attention to the announcements.
From the very beginning, the train's announcements had kindly informed us of that fact.
"Hasn't it kept telling us to focus on the announcements and follow them? Blatantly, at that."
In that sense—
I listened to the added announcement and asked,
[Passengers whose final destination is Ecstasy Station must disembark according to the announcement.]
"Is anyone here whose final destination is Ecstasy Station?"
"..."
"..."
People stopped moving.
"B-but it's a good thing, isn't it?"
"Ecstasy, I mean, living happily... maybe that's someone's purpose in life...."
"So, is your final destination Ecstasy Station right now?"
"..."
"..."
It seemed everyone felt how unsettling that sounded.
But one or two people instead started lashing out at me.
"No, do any of us even have a destination right now? Why are you interfering when you don't know either?"
"If we fail to escape because of you not letting us get off here, will you take responsibility? Huh? Will you take responsibility?"
Could I take responsibility?
"Yes."
"...!"
"Huh...?"
"I'll take responsibility."
That was an easy question.
'I was planning to escape together anyway.'
And besides, getting off here was definitely the wrong answer. So the chances of my answer being worse than this were zero.
Still, maybe because it was an answer they hadn't expected, the other person just stood there with his mouth open for a moment.
"..."
Maybe my coming on this strong had really shaken him, because I could see him wavering.
[The platform screen doors are closing....]
In the meantime, the doors shut.
"Ah...."
I stepped away from the doors. A few people stared at them blankly and pressed close.
But now, nobody yelled at me about why I had stopped them from getting off.
'This should be... enough.'
Just as I was starting to feel fairly satisfied with myself,
a frantic shout rang out.
"Uh-oh! Everyone in the next car got off!"
"...!"
They all got off?
I immediately looked out through the train window too.
Not every single one of them, but it really did look like about five or six people had gotten off all at once.
"..."
Hoo.
I truly, genuinely did not want to see what was about to happen now.
But I needed to watch this to explain things properly when persuading people later, damn it....
Suppressing a curse, I narrowed my eyes and looked vaguely out the window.
"Huh? They're running!"
The people who had gotten off seemed to have decided to move fast without hesitation. I could see the silhouettes of five or six people running toward the station exit, toward the stairs.
But it was too late.
"Ack!"
The platform floor began to boil with a yellow glow, and the feet of the running people started sinking into the floor as though melting into it.
"G-gold...?"
It was a bizarre sight, as if their lower bodies were turning to gold and sticking to the floor.
They screamed and seemed to struggle to run, but they kept getting slower and slower....
And in the end, the torsos that remained after the lower halves were gone staggered once, then thudded down in front of the stairs.
Even those turned into glittering gold.
By the easiest means of becoming enraptured.
"Hiik."
"Ghh."
[The train is departing Ecstasy Station.]
Inside the departing train car, all that could be heard were people swallowing their breath in shock and the sound of muffled sobbing.
One of the people who had been about to get off grabbed me urgently and asked,
"Y-you said you'd take responsibility. Can you really guarantee there's a safe place? Huh?"
"Yes."
I answered firmly.
It was absurd how the logic had suddenly jumped to treating it as an established fact that I had the correct answer, but the truth was that I couldn't answer anything else.
'I'm going to die, seriously.'
My legs were shaking so badly I felt like I might collapse...!
The image of people's lower bodies bursting kept replaying in my head in low resolution, making my stomach churn.
One thing was certain: even if I got out alive, there was no way I'd be sleeping tonight.
And in the middle of all that, Baek Saheon even spoke to me in admiration.
"You're amazing, sir."
"...Sir?"
"Ah, I just tend to call people sir whenever I meet them."
Then he smiled awkwardly and added this.
"There aren't many people like you these days, right? People who can say firmly that something is right or wrong, instead of talking like, 'I think maybe it's kind of like this.'"
"..."
"I really hope it turns out well, since you guaranteed it."
Uh... thanks for the kind words, but this really wasn't a situation for that floaty, detached way of speaking.
'If there isn't a good outcome here, you die too....'
Wait.
No.
There was something I had missed because I'd been whining so much about being scared.
'If there are records of Baek Saheon being active as an employee in Darkness Exploration Record, that means he passed this entrance test, doesn't it?'
In that case, couldn't I just stick to whichever station Baek Saheon decided to get off at?
If I persuaded him—and Ms. Go Youngeun—and the three of us got off, that would already make three people. And if there are people actively agreeing and getting off first, the odds of everyone else following in a rush go way up too.
'Was there really such an easy method?'
"Mr. Baek Saheon."
"Yes?"
"Is there any station you want to get off at, by any chance? I mean... is there any kind of word that, if it came up as a station name later, would make you think, that's where I should get off?"
"...Huh? All of a sudden?"
"I'd like to hear a variety of perspectives."
"Ah."
Baek Saheon seemed to think about it for a moment, then shrugged.
"Not really. I'm not good at this kind of thing."
"I see."
So he didn't have any particular instinct about it yet.
I nodded calmly. Still, this seemed like a fairly decent idea, so I'd just keep watching—
Ding-dong.
[Dear passengers, Abyss Transit Corporation would like to make an announcement for your comfort during transit. Please pay close attention.]
"...!"
Another announcement started.
Everyone stopped talking and immediately looked up.
[From this point forward, our train will be passing through a curved section, and noise and shaking may occur.]
[Please remain seated to prevent accidents.]
Ah, fuck, seriously.
"Let's all sit down."
No one objected; everyone quickly took a seat.
It was fast enough to make it feel worthwhile that I'd brought up the announcements earlier.
Even the person who had been insisting on getting off earlier clamped his mouth shut and sat down in the nearest seat before anyone else.
But apparently not everyone had done so.
"Uh-oh! The next car!"
"Those people...."
In the seating area of the next car, people were all standing, too busy shouting at one another in a heated argument.
I couldn't hear the exact words, but their yelling probably drowned out the announcement.
You could tell just by looking. After watching the people who had been with them moments earlier die in a way no one could ever have imagined, they seemed to have fallen into total panic.
"D-don't we need to tell them something?"
"Hey! Can you hear us?!"
"Sit down!"
The new hires sitting close to the next car shouted at them. But the people in the next car barely looked over, and one person who happened to make eye contact actually started walking this way instead.
"Sit down!"
"No, don't come over here, sit do—"
Too late.
[Entering the curved section....]
The lights went out.
"...!"
In the darkness, the train began to shake with a roaring sound.
And overlapping with that roar, a sharp noise rang out.
Screams.
-Aaaaagh!!
-Ah, ah, aaagh....
The sound of something wet bursting.
A sound like squeezing a cluster of ripe grapes until they pop.
It echoed dully.
...As though there were just one door in between.
"..."
"..."
In this car, everyone had instinctively silenced themselves; all I could hear was the thin, trembling sound of people breathing.
And then the lights came back on.
-...
Through the narrow glass window of the front door between the cars, the next car came into view.
It was covered in blood and filth from end to end.
In that insane scene, as though only living bodies had been fed into a grinder and pulverized, there was no trace of human beings left to be found.
Everyone was dead.
[It is now safe to stand up. Thank you very much for your cooperation.]
The panic-stricken cries of the people contrasted horribly with the neat announcement filling the train car.
"Let me out! Let me out!"
"Huuuhhh, huuuhh... what is this. What is this... Mom."
But even in that state, the new hires pressed hands over their mouths and strained to listen to the announcements.
Because it had just been proven that the announcements were literally their lifeline!
'Damn it.'
Things were definitely moving in a direction favorable to my survival, but now that it was reality, it was so horrific that cold sweat beaded on my forehead.
Ignoring how my hand shook as I wiped it away, I ground my teeth.
I couldn't look at the door to the next car anymore.
'Persuasion, just think about persuasion....'
If the proper answer station appeared after a few more stops, surely people would get off with me....
[Dear passengers, Abyss Transit Corporation would like to make an announcement for your comfort during transit. Please pay close attention.]
The announcement started again.
"Again?!"
"Hh-hhhk...."
Cutting through the exhausted sobs of the people, the neat, mechanical voice of the recording continued its announcement.
Something utterly out of left field.
[There is a lost item.]
Wait.
I jerked my head up.
[Anyone who finds the lost item is requested to disembark at the next station and hand the item over to station personnel.]
It was a case I knew.
'...An escape case from the Miscellaneous Records!'
---------------------=
Darkness Exploration Record / Ghost Story /
/ Welcome to Abyss Transit Corporation
3.4 Miscellaneous Records (Escape)
A document recording irregular survival cases in which escape was achieved by means other than disembarking at a station.
Several methods were observed repeatedly. (The most frequently recorded were "temporary stop for train spacing" and "lost item announcement.")
---------------------=
A guaranteed escape ticket.
If you had the announced lost item, you could safely get out!
Only....
'The number of people who can escape is exactly one.'
...And in my case, since I couldn't go out alone to begin with, it was a survival ticket that was effectively useless from the start.
I clenched both hands tight.
'If that's the case, then who exactly would it be best to send out?'
No—was sending someone out even the right answer?
And then....
[The lost item is the left eyeball of an adult male in his twenties with blood type A.]