Chapter 4

One person escaped from the horror story.

Granted, he did so with his eye gouged out.

“Phew….”

“Did you hear that?”

But unlike the previous few times, the passengers didn’t feel particularly sorry for him.

They were sickened and frightened, but there was no pity.

‘So this is where violence without persuasion leads.’

The train car was briefly thrown into an uproar as they checked on the condition of the person Baek Sa-heon had attacked.

Then—

[This station is Hatred, Hatred Station.]

“Hatred, my ass….”

“Haah.”

The announcement only made everyone’s mood sink even further.

Go Yeong-eun, who had been tending to the new employee clutching his left eye, stood up.

She looked somewhat gloomy.

“I’m almost certain his cornea is damaged. I’m worried about him….”

“Were you in the medical field, by any chance?”

“No. I just majored in something related to it… I switched majors halfway through, so I never even took the national exam. I’m basically a quack.”

Go Yeong-eun sighed and sat down cross-legged on the floor.

[The platform screen doors are opening.]

The train doors opened, but no one moved.

They only glanced outside, watching warily.

And at the same time, they looked at me.

It seemed they were checking whether I was about to suggest getting off.

‘It’s a good thing they’re paying attention to me.’

I’d been worried that Baek Sa-heon would make everyone more suspicious of one another, but instead, having a common enemy seemed to have made them calmer.

The situation was so utterly insane that they also seemed to be waiting for the next thing from the person who had spoken confidently earlier.

In other words… me.

Maybe they’d even delegate the authority to decide which stations we should get off at….

“Um, it’s probably a little… burdensome for you.”

“…?”

Go Yeong-eun spoke with a complicated expression.

“Everyone keeps trying to rely on you.”

I’m grateful, though…?

“Everyone’s scared and anxious, so that’s why they’re doing it. I just hope you don’t become disgusted with us for being so shameless… Ah. Sorry.”

‘I’m trying to manipulate everyone because I’m scared and anxious myself….’

“I was also trying to think of something….”

Oh.

Well, I was always happy to hear other opinions.

“What did you think of?”

“Um, I was thinking about what you said earlier. About the ‘final destination.’”

Go Yeong-eun lowered her voice.

“If we’re talking about a person’s final destination… wouldn’t that be death?”

“…!”

“Right? The end of a human life… No matter how I think about it, that’s what it reminds me of. So I wondered if we should get off whenever we saw a similar word.”

Oh.

“But then I also wondered… would we just die peacefully? That’s why… I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.”

“No. That’s definitely a convincing argument.”

“Is… that so?”

“Yes. However….”

I trailed off.

And without realizing it, I smiled faintly.

“…?”

Because I’d seen the name of the next station on the display.

“What exactly is a destination in the first place?”

“W-what?”

“If you look it up in a dictionary, a destination refers to the thing you intend to accomplish or the direction you’re heading toward.”

And this train’s theme was remarkably straightforward.

Sit in your seat.

Find the lost item.

The instructions weren’t twisted or cryptic. You simply had to do exactly what you were told to remain safe.

Even the people who got off at the wrong stations had died in extremely straightforward ways.

So the same approach could be applied to the phrase ‘final destination.’

“The destination this train is talking about might ultimately mean a point that I haven’t achieved or reached yet.”

Once I considered it that way, the criteria for choosing a station became very simple.

—Something I don’t have.

That also allowed us to reinterpret the previous escape cases.

======================

1. Station names marked with colors such as Red, Yellow, and Blue.

: 2 successful escapes (Blue Station)

2. Station names marked with body parts such as Left Arm, Cornea, and Heart.

: Failed escape (attempt: Cochlea Station)

3. Station names marked with the names of serial killers, such as ■■, ■■■■, and ■■■.

: 12 successful escapes (■■■■ Station)

4. Station names marked with years such as 2008, 2012, and 2016.

: Failed escape (attempt: 2024 Station)

5. Diseases such as asthma, stroke, and glaucoma.

: 3 successful escapes (attempt: Common Cold Station)

======================

At Blue Station, the people who got off must have escaped because they had neither anything blue on their bodies nor any blue belongings.

And it also made sense why so many people had escaped from the stations named after serial killers.

None of the passengers would have been those serial killers, meaning almost every such station was a correct answer.

‘Conversely, with stations named after body parts… the chances of a person being missing a particular body part are much lower, so they must have failed to escape.’

The same applied to stations named after years.

2024 was a year that all the passengers had lived through, so that attempt had failed.

If we applied this logic, the station we needed to get off at now was obvious.

—An emotion I don’t have.

“……So, we need to choose an emotion that we absolutely aren’t feeling right now.”

“Huh?”

This was where things suddenly became much more difficult.

‘Most people experience all the basic emotions.’

Unless you were the sort of person who lacked a particular emotion, choosing a station would be extremely difficult.

Even if the intensity differed, everyone still experienced them.

So….

We needed an emotion that described some kind of flat, undifferentiated state that couldn’t be expressed in terms of intensity.

‘A state that exists as a concept, but that is actually extremely difficult for a person to completely embody.’

That was what we needed to choose.

[This station is Peace, Peace Station.]

The announcement came.

It would be easy to think that another ordinary emotion had appeared as the station name.

After all, in everyday life, we often say things like, “That person is so carefree.”

But….

‘It’s an expression you frequently use when guessing someone else’s state.’

Not many people describe themselves as carefree.

And there was good reason for that.

The dictionary definition of taepyeong was “having no worries or concerns whatsoever.”

But could a person really be carefree, without a single worry or concern?

‘The probability of that happening….’

It had to be almost nonexistent.

Especially in an extreme situation like this.

“This is the correct station.”

“…!”

“We’re getting off here.”

I said it confidently and without hesitation.

I immediately stood up.

The others hurriedly followed suit and stood, looking at me.

“H-here?”

“Yes.”

Then I approached the injured new employee, who was still holding his eye, and helped him stand.

“I’ll support you.”

“Ah, th-thank you….”

I led the injured man toward the doors, and the people who had been gathered around instinctively followed.

Now they couldn’t back out.

We’re all getting off together.

‘Good.’

If I just slipped out among the crowd and escaped….

[The platform screen doors are opening.]

But the moment the doors opened, I saw a platform covered in a sea of blood.

“…….”

No… this had gone too far.

No, seriously, what the f—

‘Save me.’

“Mr. Kim Sol-eum?”

I almost hid behind Go Yeong-eun.

The last shred of dignity I had as a working adult stopped me.

Instead, I slowly turned my head toward everyone.

“This… is definitely the right one?”

“Yes.”

Of course it is.

But I couldn’t think of a single eloquent argument to persuade them to get off.

No, more importantly, I didn’t want to get off.

I wished someone would persuade me that we didn’t have to get off.

Please.

“…Um! I still think we should get out.”

Huh?

Ms. Go Yeong-eun?

“You’re the only one among us who’s confident in your opinion right now. Everyone else is scared, but you’ve stayed calm the whole time.”

Me?

“Earlier, that person caused such a commotion just to get off by himself… At the very least, I’d rather listen to the opinion of a good person. I do.”

And Go Yeong-eun bravely stepped outside first.

On the rusted, decaying platform, gloomy lights flickered.

From pipes running along the exposed steel framework, liquid dripped instead of water.

Blood dripped onto Go Yeong-eun’s shoulder.

Ha… ha….

“Mr. Kim Sol-eum?”

“…….”

“Don’t worry about me. I trust you too! Let’s go!”

The injured man I was supporting urged me forward.

He probably thought I was hesitating because I was considering his wishes.

At this point, I was beginning to have trouble figuring out whether I was grateful to him or wanted to resent him.

Either way, thanks to him, I naturally followed behind Go Yeong-eun.

The others, who had been wavering, soon poured out after us.

Still, I was glad I wasn’t the very last one to leave.

It’s easy to overlook, but the person standing at the very back is actually the one who’s most frightened….

‘…Ha.’

At this point, I wanted to cut ties with myself.

“Should we take the stairs?”

“Yes.”

Even now, Go Yeong-eun noticed another car whose doors were still open and shouted.

“Hey! Everyone, get off! This is the correct station!”

I didn’t know how effective that would be.

In fact, there were probably plenty of people who became even more wary and refused to get off.

‘Still, if even one more person survives because they heard her, then she’s saved that person.’

I respected her.

No.

I was going to pour every last ounce of my nerves into that feeling of respect and try to hold onto it….

Deciding to support the injured man had been an absolutely brilliant decision.

It kept my attention divided, and whenever my strength started to give out, I instinctively forced myself to endure.

I’d recommend it to every coward.

Of course, there probably aren’t many cowards who’ll ever find themselves in a goddamn situation like this!

“Uuugh….”

“L-let’s… let’s walk.”

I walked among the others, doing my best not to look around.

Then I saw the stairs.

‘They’re covered in talismans….’

The moment I realized that even those weren’t normal-looking, goosebumps spread across my entire body.

‘Just focus on the sensation of going up.’

One step.

Another step.

I kept walking silently.

Soon, my vision seemed to ripple before me, and then….

[Wow! Congratulations, new employees!]

Before I knew it, we were back in the lecture hall.

“…!!”

Bright lights.

A spacious, modern, comfortable interior.

As reality suddenly returned to me, a huge screen in front of us displayed a clear message.

Probationary Period Completed

: Congratulations. You have been officially hired by Daydream Inc.’s Field Exploration Team.

“Ha…….”

“Ah!!”

The people who had escaped together collapsed onto the floor, their legs apparently giving out from under them.

I turned my head and counted the people.

One, two, three… seven.

Everyone who had been in our car.

‘We survived.’

In the horror story Welcome to the Abyss Transportation Corporation, seven out of the ten people in our car had escaped.

[And now, it’s time for the gift ceremony!]