A suffocating silence flowed.
In front of me was a lizard.
Someone who thought I was a front man for a scam religion... no, in context, that was actually an accurate description.
“.......”
“.......”
This won’t do!
“Big brother~”
I beamed, smiling wide, rubbing my hands together like a sycophant again.
“Sorry. You look so much like our Section Chief... can I call you Section Chief? Nice to meet you for the first time. Since we met like this, it must be fate—so you’re curious about the Stuffed Body?”
“No....”
“It’s such a great idea! Come this way!”
And like a scam religion abducting someone off the street, I dragged the lizard toward the space between Car 2 and Car 3—
[Friend!]
Aaaagh!
“Just a moment, just a moment....”
I pretended to enshrine Brown in the velvet case while swapping him with another doll, and slipped the real “Good Friend” into my pocket.
[My stand-in—oh, may that stuffed doll fully enjoy this excessive honor!]
Whew.
Once we were at least one car away from Car 1, the crowd thinned out.
Now and then, a shelter resident who couldn’t fall asleep and was debating whether to join the front-car dopamine feast cast us a curious look, but when we slipped into the space between cars, they didn’t follow. They vanished.
Rrrrk.
The moment I stepped into the narrow passage between Car 2 and Car 3 and closed the door, I slumped down.
“...Section Chief.”
This is really exhausting....
“Mr. Podo.”
“When it’s just us, it’s fine to call me Noru....”
Let’s stop using a name that makes me think of cooking oil....
“Yes.”
Anyway, embarrassment is embarrassment, and gladness is gladness.
“Did you enter Se-gwang Special City this time? No, um. I mean—I’m asking why you entered.”
“Yes.”
And the explanation continued.
To summarize, it sounded like after several days of me being stuck in this train and not coming out, Director Ho had started raising a fuss about deploying another team to squeeze out information.
“I received a request to confirm what tasks the most recent entry team is currently performing in the exploration area, and report back.”
Mm. I understood.
It really was unusual for someone to stay inside Se-gwang Special City for this long without coming out. It made sense they’d be curious.
“So you came to the train right away?”
“No. I first visited Midnight Station to confirm the situation.”
Ah!
“So you visited the Body Casino.”
Come to think of it, Agent Haegum had said they’d contact me once things were wrapped up—had it not happened yet?
“Were there any unusual findings?”
“Yes. The Body Casino suspended operations.”
“...!”
Jackpot.
But at the same time, some brain cells were shouting, I knew it, of course!
Ever since Agent Haegum confidently asked for those two and pulled them in, it felt ominous.
As expected, asking her to handle the casino had been the right choice! With a triumphant smile, I prepared to listen.
I’d been thinking maybe she’d cleaned the place out so hard the casino couldn’t take it and shut its doors on its own....
“It appears they received an order of business suspension.”
......?
“Who... issued that order?”
“I don’t know.”
I almost went speechless.
“Tell me the details so I can make an educated guess.”
“Yes. After entering the Body Casino, the three deployed individuals acted separately and continued gambling for half a day.”
Section Chief Lee Jaheon continued with that flat, unexcited tone of his, but the content was straight out of a deranged gambling-den movie script.
“You’re saying they got caught trying to rig the slot machines?”
“You’re saying they watched a dealer and another visitor playing a game, then stabbed that person’s hand with a knife?”
“...You mean they incited gambling addicts and made them place separate coin bets, like sports betting, on who would win and lose. Taking a fee.”
“......Someone shoved them and tried to take the table, saying, ‘My luck is good’—yes, understood. And you’re saying the life-or-death status of that addict couldn’t be confirmed.......”
It just... felt like the subject was obvious.
Kang Ihak. Deputy Jinnasol....
And then I realized.
Agent Haegum...!
She brought the other employees along to draw aggro.
A money-crazed person and a person with no blood or tears—both picks that would cause massive interactions with a casino.
In the middle of that chaos, what had Agent Haegum been aiming for....
The lizard Section Chief output an answer quickly.
“At the same time, the exploration personnel in the team leader role reportedly found blueprints inside the casino.”
Blueprints?
“It refers to the blueprints of the casino that was operating near that station before it turned into darkness.”
...!
-Midnight Station’s City Royal Casino is no longer for foreigners only. Passengers who visit may enjoy the machines at any time.
That had been the name.
Then it would definitely be a hint.
Extracting information from the ghost story’s source itself.
“Were they trying to use the existing blueprints to find a secret space in the Body Casino?”
“Yes.”
Oh!
“Then it sounds like you found some route forward through that secret space.”
Section Chief Lee Jaheon answered expressionlessly.
“We used it as evidence to report illegal operations.”
“.......”
“Under current law, arranging secret VIP gambling in a hidden space not included in the blueprints is illegal.”
Ah.
“The exploration personnel emphasized that because the gambling house is located in a national facility, the violations qualify for business suspension, and stated that as a public official, presenting an official ID, an order of business prohibition was also possible.”
Agent...!
You used your gambler’s spirit there...!
And it seemed to work beautifully.
“The entities appearing to be casino dealers reacted in confusion, then expelled all personnel from the casino and shut the door.”
“.......”
“Afterward, we directly confirmed a sign reading ‘Remodeling’ posted in front of the casino door at that station.”
They shut it down to avoid an audit....
It was a strategy that pierced the nature of ghost stories—how they’re ruled by concepts and rules.
And that really is a public-official kind of idea....
I couldn’t close my mouth, accepting the result in awe. This was the kind of exploration that would be recorded as an “irregular” in the darkness exploration logs.
Wait.
“Then that means that person issued the business suspension.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you say you don’t know who did it?”
“We could not confirm the team leader’s specific identity.”
Ah.......
I nodded, tasting the familiar flavor of lizard.
“?”
Anyway, the exploration personnel all safely exited the casino, but Agent Haegum had stayed behind at the station, saying she wanted to observe whether there were other anomalies in the casino.
...She was going to confirm it was fully secured and safe, and then call me.
And on top of that, she probably wanted time to explore and examine more of Se-gwang Special City’s underground.
Then after observing for about two days, she left, asking Section Chief Lee Jaheon—who appeared at the station—to relay her message to me.
And so the whole team returned to reality.
“Among them, Pony Chief is currently hospitalized in the Fox Counseling Room and receiving contamination treatment.”
“.......”
That person... always seems to be receiving contamination treatment whenever money is involved. It has to be my imagination.......
Anyway, that meant Midnight Station—the station that had held the Body Casino—was empty now.
I should go right away.
Relief settled in my heart because things had gone well. Smiling sincerely, I nodded.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“Yes.”
It was just as the mood was about to turn a little warm.
“Mr. Noru.”
“Yes?”
Section Chief Lee Jaheon was looking at the pink rabbit-doll ears that had naturally slipped halfway out of my pocket when I sat down.
I broke into a light sweat.
“Is the ‘Perfect Rabbit Doll’ the protesters on the train are insisting on this?”
Well... more or less.
[Oh, friend. If the story is finished, shall we return to the scene? The audience is waiting for you and me, are they not?]
[And of course, I hope you do not give this ignorant knifeman a chance to lay hands on my stuffed body. His gaze is lecherous.]
But instead of snatching the rabbit ears, Section Chief Lee Jaheon said in a dry tone:
“Evacuate.”
“What?”
“The current train situation is dangerous. Evacuate outside first, then re-enter.”
“Wait a moment.”
I pressed my forehead and said:
“It might look dangerous because it’s loud right now, but it’s not a particularly dangerous situation....”
It’s just... a rabbit-doll fan march....
It was right as I was thinking that grimly.
A soft voice rang out from my pocket.
-Teacher. If it’s not uncomfortable, may I also participate in the conversation?
Hm?
I took a silver coin out of my pocket. It was the coin containing Director Ho Yuwon’s previous persona—Juror No. 1, the “counselor.”
I turned to the lizard.
“...Can you hear it?”
“Yes.”
I see....
Then it was fine to speak freely.
“Yes, please speak.”
-Thank you.
The gentle voice spoke to me.
-Teacher. I’ve been watching your actions closely over the past few days.
-You tried to make things fun, in a way that minimized harm to people, right? Like a festival.
W-well, fun wasn’t the intention, exactly....
Still, it was true that I’d been trying to stir things up with as little harm as possible, so I nodded.
-An excellent intention.
-But Teacher, have you ever heard this? Before the modern era, the most popular and ordinary festival for the masses was an execution.
......!
[My god, are you implying my friend doesn’t know that, and trying to teach him? How awkward. When an expert in that field is always right beside my friend, together at all times.]
[The masses always pursue stimulation and pleasure. Would an execution be any different? My friend already knows that quite well....]
-Of course. It was just an opening to get the words moving. I thought it would be good to talk about the important role of this execution-festival.
-It is the community’s cohesion.
I reflexively threw my gaze past the window in the passage, toward the inside of the cars.
Train Shelter residents were gathered, talking with excited or delighted faces.
Tension, enjoyment, focus.
Dopamine.
A sense of unity.
-In a boring, suffocating, isolated daily life, when interesting stimulation appears, people immerse easily.
-And people who share the same experience become closer.
“.......”
-And they want more stimulating, more aggressive experiences. Pleasure that belongs only to us.
-For example... the punishment of bad people who aren’t us.
A person bearing a rabbit-doll mark shook hands proudly with the rabbit-doll worship crowd, lovingly rubbing their badge.
Then they raised their middle finger toward the Driver’s Cab. Even when people tried to stop them, they ended up cackling together.
-Even if it looks very cheerful on the surface, I wanted you not to forget there is always a risk of it escalating into extremes.
“.......”
[Oh, I can no longer bear to listen.]
With a sigh, that scathing, fluent rhetoric poured out as smoothly as cream.
[Now... let us ask the trace of plague gathered here today, who claims to be a counselor.]
[Let us think. Is an attitude that tries to plant guilt in a client over something that has not even happened yet truly counselor-like? To me, it does not seem so!]
-...!
[And you push excessively pessimistic statements as established truth. But content is thrilling and enjoyable precisely because it carries risk, is it not?]
[An entertainer must be able to walk the tightrope between danger and stimulation. The advantages and disadvantages are simply two sides of the same coin!]
I felt the sensation of gloved hands patting my shoulders like encouragement.
[If you permit it, I will speak as an expert. Friend! This Brown does not agree with that counselor’s words. You are providing the masses with very enjoyable entertainment.]
[Who knows? If you had not done this, perhaps they truly would have made an old-fashioned festival like an execution into entertainment!]
-That is a statement based on the values you pursue as a host, so it can be that way.
-But I hope that when you have the chance, you will also consider what I have said.
[Persistent!]
Please, let’s stop.
“For now....”
Rubbing my forehead, I said:
“I understand what you meant. I’ll be careful.”
[Oh, friend!]
I’d chosen an effective method and ended up grabbing a cult, but it had unexpectedly flowed into something absurd and warm, and I’d almost let my guard down.
Right.
To end up like this for pure amusement.
That might be even more dangerous.
“So what you’re saying, Counselor, is that this mood could go anywhere from here?”
-My diagnosis at present is that with high probability, it won’t last long.
In a way, that was only natural.
In an isolated survival shelter, it was far too easy for thoughts and ideologies to warp.
Hmm.
“Understood. Then it’s even clearer.”
-Yes?
“Either way, this is something I started, so I need to take responsibility and finish it in the gentlest, best way possible.”
That had been the plan from the start—so I’d just do it faster.
To do that—
I declared solemnly.
“First, while everyone’s laughing, I’m going to ride the mood and handle it quickly.”
The counselor fell silent, then asked.
-Handle what...?
“The Station Master.”
-What?
[Oh!]
Now I even had a helper, so I could pull the plan forward.
Wait for me, Driver’s Cab.
I’m going in right now.
-Teacher?
Thanks for the advice, Counselor.
And I saw the cheat key.
“Section Chief. Could you accompany me for a moment?”
***
Together with Section Chief Lee Jaheon, I returned to Car 1.
Thankfully, when I insisted again, Section Chief Lee Jaheon didn’t kick my ass out of the train. He agreed to help only with today’s work.
“Distributor!”
On Section Chief Lee Jaheon’s chest, there was a rabbit-shaped badge made from cut golden tape like everyone else’s....
“He’s someone staying in Car 8, and he says he was moved after seeing the Stuffed Body’s perfect form...!”
“Oh!”
Fortunately, there still wasn’t a mood of disgust or exclusion toward an outsider.
I don’t know what it’ll be like after tonight ends.
Right.
While we’re still in this insane “Believe in the rabbit doll?” atmosphere, I’ll wrap it up harmoniously and keep these people from being reborn as a true crazy cult—tidying them back into mere rabbit-fan tendencies.
With that firm resolve, I stepped to the front of Car 1.
Then, as if there were no space, I sat down with my back against the Driver’s Cab door, right in front of it.
I waited for the signal....
“Everyone! The Representative is going to share the contents of the dream they had!”
“Oh!”
People surged toward the Representative, who’d just appeared in front of Car 2 after waking, ready to share their amusement-park dream story.
Today, I slipped in a slightly fun ad.
I put souvenir-shop shopping into the ad.
And around the Representative—excited by shopping dopamine—the rabbit-doll merchandise drawing began from the raffle container I’d entrusted beforehand.
“Everyone, take one!”
The people gathered in Car 1 rushed there for extra dopamine. Even those still wary watched that direction for different reasons.
Then, for a moment, an artificial situation formed—something that would normally be impossible in the Train Shelter.
A timing where every gaze on the Driver’s Cab was temporarily deleted.
“.......”
Section Chief Lee Jaheon, very quietly, reached only his hand behind him and grasped the Driver’s Cab’s lock.
No special trick for unlocking was needed.
Because the lizard Section Chief behaved like a lizard Section Chief.
Crack.
With a tiny sound, the door opened.
Whew.
Thank you.
With silent eye and head motions, I thanked Section Chief Lee Jaheon, then carefully slipped into the Driver’s Cab.
And quickly shut the door.
Now Section Chief Lee Jaheon would guard the front, so I could work in peace....
“Guhhh....”
The Station Master was asleep.
Maybe his mind was uneasy—one hand held a pole, and the other held a can.
And on the console area, there was a wrinkled notebook page covered with names, pasted up.
Judging by the X marks slashed through each name, it looked like a list of people he’d expelled whenever they displeased him.
...Most of them were probably dead.
Thanks a lot.
It cooled my head even more.
The Driver’s Cab smelled stale and musty, like it didn’t ventilate well.
I can’t give that bastard time to wake up and scream.
I approached very carefully, knocked the pole away, and grabbed his neck.
At the same time, I covered his mouth.
“...!!”
“Shh.”
I whispered to the Station Master, who jolted awake and tried to thrash in terror.
“Please be quiet.... I’m holding a knife. I don’t want to use it to make someone quiet.”
The knife part was a bluff.
“~!!”
But the Station Master didn’t know that, and nodded frantically—yet I didn’t trust him.
“You can hear outside, right?”
I left a gap of silence so he could listen to the noise outside, full of cheers, laughter, and shouting.
After waiting for him to hear it properly, I said:
“They’re excited.... If they see you die, they might even find it funny and wonder what it is.”
“...!”
Of course, I don’t actually plan to....
Still, based on the counselor’s words, it was a truth with a high probability. And if that became a trigger, the chance of it turning into a real “cult execution” would climb too.
That would be rapid scam-religion evolution.
In other words, doing this would actually be better for the Station Master’s lifespan.
But it mattered that he didn’t know that.
“Will you be quiet?”
“Mmph.”
The Station Master nodded desperately. Sweat, saliva, and tears smeared onto my hand.
“Understood. But promise me. I don’t want to use extra force for no reason.”
“Mmph.”
Only after confirming his response, and being sure he wouldn’t suddenly scream, did I let go.
Then I stared into the Station Master’s trembling eyes and said:
“Tell me everything you know about this train.”
His eyes shook.
I had thought about it.
How do I say it so I can pull information fast, one-on-one, without bickering with this guy.
So I’d already prepared the most efficient, comprehensive line—the one that would extract maximum results in a one-on-one conversation with this kind of person.
Something like this.
“...!!”
Right in front of him, as if by magic, I pulled out an outer garment from my wrist and changed into it.
A Disaster Management Bureau jacket.
The agent uniform left behind by Juror No. 1—the one with the fox patch.
And in a calm voice, I said:
“I came here knowing that Agent Choi built this train.”
I watched the Station Master’s eyes widen sharply at the agent uniform, and continued:
“So answer honestly. Somehow, I’m going to find a way for us to escape from here.”
And so the human-shaped information thresher began to spin.