A stiff, chanical voice rang out, and the others all simultaneously turned to look toward the front of the train car. No one knew when exactly he had appeared, but there now stood a man with an unusually tall and lanky figure—he must’ve been over two ters tall. Yet his body looked extrely frail, resembling a long stalk of bamboo.
He had his head lowered, and the brim of a conductor’s hat obscured half of his face. However, he was too tall while the passengers were all seated so that they could see the face of the ticket inspector.
A gaunt face, with pitch-black skin exposed to view and a few charred, rotting chunks of flesh still clinging to it. He looked like a mummy. His head was almost nothing more than a thin layer of skin stretched over a skull.
"Aaaaaaaaah!"
Soone scread—surprisingly, it was an NPC.
Their expression was sheer terror as if they were ordinary people and not just a bunch of puppets.
Several others covered their mouths, trying not to lose composure in front of the grotesque sight, but they couldn’t suppress the growing commotion among the passengers.
"He doesn’t look human..."
"I want off this train!"
"Mom, I’m scared..."
"There’s no way a person like that could exist in this world!"
"Please remain orderly on the train." At that mont, the ticket inspector had already walked up to them, and the sa stiff voice echoed once more like a machine playing back a recording.
The others froze, not daring to utter another word.
The inspector didn’t care about their frightened expressions or panicked cries. He pulled out a ticket puncher and reached toward the passenger in the first seat.
That passenger pressed their lips together, visibly afraid, but had no choice but to hand over their ticket.
Click!
The sound of a ticket being punched rang out. The inspector was entirely focused on performing his duties—throughout the whole process, nothing else happened.
It was apparent these NPCs had had their tickets snatched away earlier by the humans. Yet now, they were holding their tickets in perfect condition, as if nothing had ever been taken.
So people couldn’t help but check their tickets—thankfully, they still had them.
Just as everyone thought the ticket-checking would proceed without incident, a loud and furious voice suddenly erupted.
A human stood up abruptly, outrage written all over his face. "I already have a ticket! Why should I have to get off the train?!"
He clutched his ticket tightly in his hand, defiantly facing the inspector. Just monts ago, the inspector had rejected his ticket.
The others couldn’t help but focus their attention on the scene unfolding.
The inspector tilted his head slightly and slowly said, "Forgery detected. Passenger is requested to follow ."
He didn’t even ask the man to get off the train—he asked him to co along.
But this man was an esper. Faced with the ticket inspector, he stood his ground.
Seeing that arguing was futile, he suddenly rose to his feet and roared, "Any ticket with a seat number that doesn’t match the actual seat will be considered a forgery! Anyone who took the wrong ticket—stand up and help take down this monster!"
When he finished shouting, the others hurried to search their tickets again. A wave of noise broke out—more than a few people gasped audibly. They had realized they’d taken the wrong ticket. Their faces turned ashen gray, making them stand out easily among the crowd.
So ordinary folks trembled so severely that they could barely hold onto their tickets. Just seeing the inspector’s face up close was enough to make them feel like they were going to piss themselves—let alone muster the courage to fight back.
"Heavens, how pathetic. So uncivilized."
Nyx sat in the front row, and as she turned her head, she caught sight of the people in the back. She shook her head as if in pity and said with a sigh.
She waved the ticket in her hand—she had been one of the first to have her ticket checked.
Glancing at the esper who was butting heads with the ticket inspector, she turned to Ron. "Why didn’t you warn the others about this from the start? Look at them—you practically set them up."
Ron didn’t even look at Nyx. His voice was cold. "There would’ve been a much bigger conflict if they’d known this from the beginning."
"Oh dear, talking like that—aren’t you afraid the people out there will start thinking you’re heartless?" Nyx smiled, covering her mouth with one hand. Even as she ridiculed others, she looked like she was telling a delightful joke.
Though Ron seed like the last rational person on Team 1, there was a reason he was still on that team. He despised this kind of talk. He would honestly prefer soone like their captain—who’d rather say nothing and throw a punch.
[God, I just saw a glimpse of Drake on Ron’s face LOL]
[There’s a reason these people were put on the sa team]
[Still, Nyx is seriously annoying. I don’t like her either.]
[The Graceful Shadows are all fake as hell.]
[At least they act polite on the surface—what’s everyone’s problem?]
[Survival of the fittest. Whoever’s strong gets the say, that’s all.]
anwhile, the dispute in the back of the train continued—though, to be fair, the conflict was entirely one-sided, coming from that esper.
The ticket inspector repeated his line again, but the esper had already lunged forward this ti. His arms transford into two massive blades, slashing down in a cross-formation, launching a ferocious attack at the inspector.
Faced with the sudden assault, the inspector didn’t resist—or maybe he simply didn’t get the chance to.
He was shoved to the ground. The esper’s eyes widened as if surprised at how easily it worked. Then, wild with joy, he continued swinging his blades down repeatedly.
But as ti went on, the blood vessels in his eyes thickened, and he roared in despair, nearly screaming, "Impossible! Why won’t you die?! WHY WON’T YOU DIE?!"
Even though the ticket inspector lay flat on the ground, taking every blow, his body regenerated quickly—without spilling a single drop of fresh blood. He looked like nothing more than a puppet, endlessly repeating his previous line.
The only good news now was that he couldn’t fight back.
The esper bellowed, "What the hell are you all waiting for?! Do you want to die?!"
Hearing that, others began to move. So even tried opening the windows, seemingly intending to throw the inspector off the train.
Ron couldn’t help but frown. In dungeons, there were always rules. They might be allowed to attack the ticket inspector, but if anyone suddenly did sothing that crossed so unseen line, a hidden rule could activate—and he didn’t want to find out what was lurking in the thick darkness outside that train.
"Do not open the windows." Ron stood up, voice sharp and cold.
Soone shouted back, "And what the hell do you know?! Your ticket number matched your seat! You must’ve figured it out right from the start! You deliberately kept it from us! And now you have the nerve to stop us from saving ourselves?!"
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