"To Tamra? What's that?"

"An error? But it's kind of creepy."

The passengers on the high-speed train murmur as they watch the changed cabin footage.

It's not too serious yet. The tone is more like something unusual happened during a boring trip.

...At least until they fully realize what kind of incident this is.

"Hey, I filmed this. I'll upload it to Inheart... Huh?"

"What?"

"The internet's not working."

Typical.

"Hey, turn on your smartphone. Quickly!"

"Um, sorry, but it says I'm out of service range. Can you make calls?"

"What's going on? Why can't we contact anyone?"

The murmuring of people grows louder.

But Deputy Jin in front of me didn't move, and Supervisor Dolphin sitting next to me in the aisle seat just grumbled quietly.

"What a bother. Of all times to get caught up with civilians around."

It was the typical introduction to darkness that everyone in our company's field exploration team would recognize.

Moreover, though they didn't know it, this ghost story was actually an anomaly that the government had already identified and left confidential documents about decades ago, not our company.

The Peach Blossom Spring Test (tentative name) is a phenomenon that occurs very rarely on high-speed trains from Seoul to Iksan.

No casualties reported so far. Disaster classification pending.

But that was all.

'Because there were no casualties!'

The Supernatural Disaster Management Bureau usually only registered ghost stories as disasters if people died.

Therefore, the confidential document concluded with 'As the Iksan high-speed rail was extended to Mokpo, the anomaly is presumed to have disappeared.'

However... it has started again.

Right now, on this train.

"Hey! L-look outside!!"

"Oh my goodness!"

I turned my head to look out the train window. Outside the window, which should have shown the city as we left Seoul...

An endless blue sea stretched out.

"...!"

The crimson sky meeting the blue horizon created a fantastic and bizarre landscape.

The train was speeding forward, spraying water and cutting through the waves, gliding over the sparkling ripples of the blue sea...

"Is this train... running on the sea right now?! H-how?"

"Wow..."

"Ah, isn't this graphics? Like some kind of LCD window test run?"

The passengers forget their bewilderment and marvel at the background that feels strange yet beautiful and somehow transcendent.

Some people try to take pictures with their smartphones that supposedly aren't working, then get surprised when they can't save the photos.

The Tamra High-Speed Train Incident.

It's identical to the introduction of that document I knew...

"..."

Damn it.

If I had focused on the fact itself that 'I'm boarding a Mokpo high-speed train,' I might have noticed the possibility of this ghost story occurring.

'But I was designed to overlook this casually.'

Because they placed another darkness in front of me as the target!

-Enter the C-grade darkness upon arriving in Mokpo.

By focusing on this proposition and constantly revising and supplementing this countermeasure, a needle popped out from an unexpected place.

I interlaced my fingers. My mind was spinning.

'...Is this a trap aimed at that?'

Or is it a coincidence?

This incident was clearly written in the wiki as 'occurring unexpectedly by anyone.'

'But that was written from the Disaster Management Bureau's perspective.'

Other groups or individuals... might have figured it out by looking at the pattern of ghost story occurrences.

...Especially.

'Looking at my companions, it feels too intentional...'

"Hey, Deputy. Wake up."

"...Hah."

Supervisor Dolphin next to me woke up Deputy Jin in the front seat.

"More work? I wish it was a higher grade. At least we'd report it and get more points."

"I know, right!"

Two people from the elite team.

In other words, it means they are people who can make ruthless decisions without hesitation for the sake of completing the mission.

'...They're incompatible with this ghost story.'

This is...

A ghost story that tests human ethics, after all.

"Hmm. The text on the screen has changed."

...

I raised my head with cold eyes.

A new sentence flows on the screen.

Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. Those who wish to arrive in Tamra, offer a sacrifice. 

"...A sacrifice?"

Clunk.

One of the windows at the front of the train car opened.

People sitting nearby are startled.

"Oh, geez!"

"This window isn't supposed to open... Wait a minute. Why isn't any wind coming in?"

"But why did it suddenly open...?"

As if...

Telling us to throw a sacrifice through there.

"..."

Bewilderment and faint fear spread across the faces of a few passengers who had completely left their seats to actively check on the anomaly.

"What... sacrifice? Offer a sacrifice?"

"This is too strange..."

But no one wanted to deduce or talk about what the real sacrifice was, or what the offering meant.

"...Isn't this just a hack?"

"Let's find a crew member."

It was avoidance.

People just clicked their tongues with anxious eyes and sat down, or moved to another car to find a crew member.

They pretended to be nonchalant like that.

Because they realized that the current situation was really not normal, a chilling silence flowed through the cabin instead...

Tap tap.

At that moment, Deputy Jin lightly tapped the handle across from her, focusing the attention of Supervisor Dolphin and me.

"Don't step up. Observe what they do first."

"Understood for now!"

"Yes."

The Deputy probably wanted to see what results would come from someone else trying first. ...It also seemed like she wanted to prevent me from taking any sudden actions.

But I had no intention of stepping up in the first place.

'If this is really that incident, it's better not to act now...'

I quietly sat and watched to see if the situation would unfold 'as prescribed.'

A little while later.

"This is too strange!"

People's screams started to burst out intermittently here and there.

"I found a crew member, but they're in a complete panic! They're shouting that they don't know what's going on either!"

"No, there are people who brought kids in the front car, you know? Everyone's going crazy saying their kids are missing! This doesn't seem like a normal situation..."

"They say they can't contact the driver. The driver's cabin door is completely locked!!"

As they started communicating with other cars, they learned even more chilling facts.

-Ah, chaos! The incomprehensible has always been an object of fear in human history, and this place is no exception.

-Will you continue to watch where they drift, friend?

'...For a while.'

That was right.

But anxiety was inevitable, so I gritted my teeth to suppress my nervousness.

And I watched people standing in front of the train car door, talking as if making announcements to everyone.

"Everyone, I think we need to come up with some kind of plan!"

"That's right, this seems to be a really big deal...!"

Ding!

"...Huh?"

Everyone's attention turned.

New text appeared on the in-flight screen.

Entering the first altar

"...Altar?"

Whoosh.

Outside the window, the dazzlingly blue sea suddenly started turning red...

Then it suddenly darkens.

"Aah!"

Instead of the horizon, a bizarre mucous-covered wall starts to appear outside all the windows.

"Th-this is..."

"Oh my god!"

As if the high-speed train had entered a tunnel or station, the train continues to glide into that strange and dark space.

Remaining distance: 5

"Sh-shouldn't we do something?"

"Let's look for a button or something!"

"A button? There's nothing like that..."

Remaining distance: 4

"Oh, what should we do? What do we do..."

"Hey! Person in the window seat! Help me close this window, don't just sit there...!"

"Ah, so noisy, really!"

Thud!

Remaining distance: 3

"Are y-you trying to push someone now... Huh? Whoa!"

Splash.

"Ah! Someone fell out the window!"

"N-no! That person tried to push me but ended up falling alone!"

Remaining distance: 2

"Sh-shouldn't we stop the train? Someone fell..."

Remaining distance: 1

"Let's lie down on the floor, quietly."

"Y-yes."