The train is coming in.
And I don’t know how much longer the talisman in my hand will hold out.
Everything points to one thing.
‘Hurry!’
Get down to the platform via the stairs right now.
“This wayy.”
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae, who had the best sense of direction, practically bolted like an animal and started retracing the exact route we’d taken.
I’d been sketching it in my head too, and everyone had probably tried to morize it in the sa way, so no one got turned around. We just ran after her.
Breathing.
Footfalls.
…And far off, the vibration of an approaching train.
In an instant the way back drew near. The sounds of us pushing through trees and fog rang out in the hush.
And finally, the stairs ca into view. A clear, open line of sight with no fog. A way that would send us sowhere else…
Exit No. ■
Stairs going up.
“……”
“……”
I reflexively looked up that way, at all kinds of things piled madly in front of the rolled-down shutter, at the dried, bloody footprints, at every manner of attempt to block any connection with the outside.
The stairs leading out into Sekwang Special tropolitan City.
Wait.
Wait a second.
‘Why?’
And it hits like a smack to the head.
“The etiquette…!”
“…!!”
Sekwang Station (Forest of Final Monts) Etiquette
3- If you run near the ticket gates, an exit will appear.
We swiped at the gates and then imdiately started running.
So, we arrived at an ‘exit’.
A chill ran through my heart.
‘How did none of us rember this?’
With this many people, it makes no sense that not one person caught it.
And I realized. Even now, called up by the shock…
‘It’s quickly evaporating from my head.’
Like fog seeping in.
‘It’s a gimmick.’
The information on the bulletin board doesn’t stay in your head for long. But there’s no ti to feel chagrined.
‘Hurry.’
We have to go back…!
“Bronze-ah. Reorient!”
“Yes.”
Wait. Hurriedly, I added.
“Agent, do not look toward the exit.”
Who knows what we might see.
“…! Yes.”
After confirming Agent Bronze’s nod as he raised the colored glass, I urgently checked the item.
…Half of the evil-warding talisman I was holding was covered in inky mold.
The silk thread was rotting.
‘…It sped up.’
Coming to the wrong ‘exit’ clearly had a bad effect.
At this rate, the ti left that it could hold out was probably…
Barely five to ten minutes.
‘Hurry.’
“I’ve found the gates…!”
“Okay. This ti, let’s not run.”
We moved our feet.
Careful not to be judged as running, careful never to have both feet off the ground at once. Under extre tension and focus, we set off again. As soon as we reached the ticket gates, we retraced our route back toward the station.
We found the transit card reload machines.
Most of the evil-warding pollock was now buried under black-purple mold.
From the reload machine, we walked back along the way we’d co.
The silk thread looped on my ring finger snapped.
The path we were walking grew more and more muddled as the fog thickened…
Drip.
Cold sweat fell onto the talisman.
By now the talisman was almost unrecognizable as a shape.
More than half of the threads looped on my fingers had snapped.
‘Hurry.’
Not being allowed to run felt like torture.
Part of thought maybe we could run now, but having already tripped the rule once, we couldn’t risk it. We kept walking.
We walked.
And.
And…
Stairs.
The way down to the platform.
“…!!”
Everyone, barely able to breathe, went down the stairs. Clutching the remaining threads tied to the evil-warding pollock, I stepped too.
And.
And…
We broke out of the fog.
“……”
“……”
The mont our feet hit the platform—
“Haaaah…”
“Huu.”
People slumped down.
‘We’re alive.’
The instant we all felt the sa gut certainty, our tension deflated and a thick sense of relief spread through the air.
I stared up at the ceiling, sucking in air.
Then, when I lowered my head, I saw there was just a single strand of silk thread left.
I swallowed.
‘We almost died.’
[Oh, a thrilling exploration with an exhilarating twist in the middle, Friend!]
Sure. A friend who fronted a hundred million won can say whatever he wants.
And finally, even among the rest of us, a few half-joking remarks began to flick back and forth.
“When that exit popped up, I thought, welp, we’re dead.”
“Hahaha!”
“Thank goodness we made it downn!”
It felt like the subtle distance between individuals from the two feuding organizations, Daydream and the Disaster Managent Bureau, had shrunk a bit.
So kind of strange solidarity had ford, it seems.
[A very classic psychological phenonon. The chanism differs a bit, but you could liken it to the suspension-bridge effect!]
Right.
‘Whatever works.’
It felt like we’d be able to handle things without red faces even after we got out.
“Once we get out, we should have an after-party or sothing. Didn’t you civil-servant sirs say you like spicy beef tripe hot pot? How about it, do you like hanwoo too?”
“Oh man, I’m crazy for it, Ms. Civilian.”
“Agent, please…”
“Sir Highborn Geezer, you look like you could put away a good pound yourself, why’re you acting modest.”
“…?!”
“Can I co tooo?”
“Of course.”
We all knew we weren’t actually going to go out for a team dinner like that, but a few rounds of aningless banter went back and forth, just to ease the tension and get our heads straight.
♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
“It’s coming in.”
A signal again that a train is approaching.
‘Does it co more often if there are passengers in the station?’
I didn’t know about the frequency, but if this could get us out of here, that’s even better.
Of course, we’d have to see whether it was truly a way to get out of the ghost story altogether…
“There were people on that train, so I’m hoping it connects to so other supernatural zone, at least. Right, Grapes-ie?”
“…Sure.”
Anything is better than the very heart of an annihilation-sanctioned Disaster…
And also.
“…We should be ready in case the people on the train aren’t normal.”
“Obviously.”
Given passengers on a train that appears in a ghost story, statistically, we couldn’t rule out that they too were contaminated humans.
The train is approaching.
I saw the agents swapping to gear ant for dealing with people, and the Daydream employees tidying up their items.
So of those were probably items that wouldn’t work here but were being adjusted just to have them at hand.
‘Says the guy who’s flat broke and has nothing on him.’
I stifled a sigh as I watched the evil-warding pollock charm trembling in my sweaty hand.
It was already nearly ruined.
A hundred million won for five lives isn’t a bad deal, but thinking of it as single-use still stings…
Thunk.
“……”
I watched it hit the floor.
The persimmon-woodblock, now covered in mold, lay there crumpled beyond recognition.
The last strand of silk that had been dangling from my hand snapped and fell.
The talisman was completely…
Broken.
“……”
“Hold on. Roe, that…”
It’s not sothing that could break just from weight alone.
It’s an item.
…Which ans.
Right up to the mont it snapped, it had still been functioning as a ward.
“……”
Stiffly, I turned my head toward the platform stairs.
……Fog was spilling down the passage, rolling out of the concourse.
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