Welcome to the Jolly Train!

Never I loathed a name more than that train's.

As Grace let out a shriek, I pulled the speed lever all the way up, cursing every second that it took for the train to speed up.

"Are you happy now, you fucking idiot?! If you hadn't messed up with the levers—"

I walked towards that man; the short, sturdy, and big man who a minute before all that happened decided to kill five children just so he could gain more points that no one even knew the purpose of.

"If you hadn't pressed that button, this situation wouldn't have happened in the first place, you piece of shit."

After the train tilted to the side, the soldier must've lost balance, letting Giorgio loose. The real pity was that this rat wasn't in a rounder shape, so he would roll out of the cabin.

Giorgio laughed at my face, a spit falling close to my eye. That was almost enough for me to throw up, yet his words were even more disgusting. "And if you hadn't fucked up, I would have earned more points and there wouldn't be a damned giant mole behind us. But you seem to know best!"

"How can you even say that? There were five children in those tracks!" Dunya shouted meters away from us, her voice filled with indignation and contempt.

"Say what you will, they were not my children. They were all strangers—"

I was not surprised that Giorgio was punched, anyone could see that coming. What surprised me was seeing Grace do the punching, sending the man a good few steps back. He touched his lip, blood coming out of a minor cut while Grance massaged her hand with a grimace.

Giorgio clenched his fists and teeth, a vein popping up from his forehead. "You cunt, how dare you—"

The soldier got him from behind, locking the man's arms on his back without holding back his strength, whispering close to Giorgio's ears. "You better shut up in case you don't want me to break your arms. Cunt."

Even I got shivers down my spine by hearing the soldier's cold, dead voice. I wondered how many people he had threatened or killed, whispering like that. And I would not be surprised if it reached double digits.

The left screen blinked again, showing the new people on the tracks. At that time there were four people on each side, however, on the left side, three of them were elders.

At that moment, we heard someone hitting on the back door accompanied by shouts.

"Hey, you assholes! What was that about in the last round, huh? Do you have any idea how many points you cost me?!"

"Are you messing with us?! Just because you are the operators? You are all heartless!"

I knew it, yet even then I was still baffled. The path we operators chose would be the one considered as the 'most ethical and moral'. How much more messed up could that system be?

Before any of the passengers could say anything else, an electrical current sent them away, silencing all their protests. Sure, that was one way of doing things…

"What should we do now?"

It took me a few seconds to realize all eyes were on me after Grace's question. Should I feel happy or pressured? Perhaps the right answer was somewhere in between.

"We can try to do the maneuver again. This way, no one has to die." And of course, the idea of no one dying was good. Yet something told me that we could still earn more with those maneuvers.

Also, if this Stage valued morality like the previous ones, if we were smart about it, we could make more points as operators without killing anyone.

Thankfully, no one seemed to refute my idea. I glanced towards the ETA—it didn't look so bad—and the mole was a good few meters away from the last cabin of the Jolly Train, which was also quite relieving. Yet when I tried to move the wheel, it was as if I was trying to move a tree.

I made a few attempts before drawing a few conclusions. The options were limited. Either there was a cooldown of sorts to use the steering wheel, we could only use it after choosing a track or…

There was another requirement we had to meet.

"Can you describe to me what happened with the train last time? When I turned the wheel." Since I was looking through the window, I could not see what had happened from the outside. Yet Dunya was looking at the screens.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finding her voice. "It looked like pistons; they were raised from the right wheels. There was a lot of smoke too."

Huh…pistons?

I hit the button on the right, making the train enter the left track. It was almost hilarious how the mole shifted to the side automatically as if it knew we were turning before the train even moved. I tried to steer the wheel again, yet it was still stiff.

That eliminated one of the possibilities. If the cooldown was too long, it made those maneuvers a terrible option to rely on. However, something told me that was not it—there had to be some other condition.

"We are approaching the passenger…" Although Grace hadn't shouted, there was a clear fear dripping from her voice.

And then as I watched the screens and glanced at the panel, something clicked. I lowered one of the levers, the train's speed dropping significantly. A nervous smile grew on my face—I hoped I was right.

I tried to steer the wheel, and it moved like it was covered in butter. Once again the train started to tilt towards one side, yet that time I had a look at the screens.

I could see as the pistols raised one side of the train, making an angle just wide enough so that the people could safely pass below it. As soon as they passed the last cabin, a light surrounded them and they disappeared.

I immediately pulled the lever up, the train gaining its speed again. A new message popped up.

[Congratulations! You gained 200 points of maneuver.]

[Special conditions are currently applied.]

[You did two maneuvers in a row.]

[Your points will be tripled!]

The look on Giorgio's face as I glanced toward him, with a grin lit on my face, was priceless and worth every drop of sweat.

"And look! This barely influenced our time of arrival. We still have an entire minute to spare."

As Giorgio heard Dunya's words, his hateful expression did not change. "For now. Let's see in a few more turns."

We all repeated the process, one, two, three times. The points kept getting higher with the combo strike and even though everyone else was relaxed with real hope lit in their eyes.

...there was just something. An itch at the back of my head, a sensation that made me feel like there was a hole inside my stomach—I simply hadn't realized it yet.

I kept stealing glances towards the ETA screen, afraid the numbers would suddenly change, afraid the mole would suddenly gain a boost speed. Fearing the system would not let things get so simple.

Worst of all, I knew I was right to be concerned.

It was so sudden, we all thought he had lost his mind. The soldier still had a strong hold on Giorgio, yet the man began to laugh like a maniac, shaking his head with eyes closed and an insane smile flashing on his face.

"Say, you can't see my messages, right?"

We all exchanged glances. As I turned to look at the soldier and Giorgio, it was as if a pit had opened inside me. An endless pit so dark and cold it was enough to freeze my feet and make my heart stop beating. He looked straight at me and at that moment, I knew. But I was not fast enough.

Giorgio's pupils turned black yet at the same time they shone, bright and nefarious. Yet before the thought of closing my eyes or looking away came to me I had already been engulfed by that blackness; it swallowed me whole.

I was stuck inside a place where the only light came from a woman. She was smaller than me, and the way she shrunk on her dress made it seem like the fabric was made of poison or needles.

I knew her.

I knew her too well.

She stared at me with tears in her eyes and I knew she blamed me. She blamed me for all her disgrace, all her misery, and all her grief.

And she wasn't wrong.

「Are you happy now? If you are, just kill me then, I have nothing left in this world. You made sure of that.」

Those words stung and ached for I remembered them, I could recall the exact day and the reason they were spoken. That was enough to make my own heart bleed and fall into that ruthless darkness, losing itself in that nothingness.

When I opened my eyes I was on the ground. My body refused to move, as if it was still imprisoned in that place, with that woman. As if it was wrong to breathe and move and all that could be done was wither on the ground forever.

However, I could hear a fight going on, the grunts, the exchange of blows. I forced my feet to stand, the air still refusing to remain in my lungs long enough to oxygenate my brain. There were black spots on my vision, my heart racing, afraid the blackness would swallow me again, while my hands shook and the tears dried in my eyes.

My head and vision cleared in time to see Giorgio beating the soldier with a piece of metal. I turned toward the panel, the speed lever gone—that asshole.

"What, you already recovered? I thought fifteen seconds would last longer than that."

Grace was crying in a corner holding Dunya's unconscious body, a cut bleeding nonstop on her forehead. What the fuck had happened? From the way Giorgio spoke, I had been completely out for those brief seconds.

...how could he have changed so much in such a short amount of time? There was this wild energy surrounding him, a primal, animalistic thing glowing inside his eyes, being reflected in his smile. The soldier was trying to get up however Giorgio was stepping on his face.

"I hope you realize you are an actual piece of crap. Hitting a woman like that, there is a special place in hell for people like you."

"The Devil itself seems to disagree." Giorgio kicked the soldier in the face one last time before charging at me, trying to hit me in the head with the lever. Yet my body felt sluggish, heavy. It was as if there were bell weights on my every limb, my head still dizzy and cloudy.

I was able to dodge the first few times, ducking and turning to the sides, but he still managed to punch me through my stomach. I gagged, tears filling my eyes as I kept wondering how could a man like Giorgio be so strong—it made no sense.

"You seem like a smart kid. So let's see if you can figure a way out."

The next thing I knew, I was being kicked. The impact made my entire body shake, from every muscle and ligament to every single bone.

I don't know why at first I felt no pain, my only guess was that my body was too shocked and exhausted, my mind still trying to process what was going on as I fell. Because I could feel the breeze against my skin and see the sky.

And I was not inside the cabin anymore.

[You jumped out of Jolly Train! Your choice is highly appreciated]

[You have earned 1000 points for your choice!]

[Survive the Jolly Train to receive a bonus!]

As I fell, watching as Giorgio's face twisted into a lunatic smile, I recalled one of the rules.

If a Self wishes to be chosen, all they need to do is jump out of Jolly Train to be moved.

It didn't say "passenger". That rule was meant for every single person on that train.

Before I ever reached the ground, I was surrounded by a bright, pure light. Like soft wings embracing me, taking me away to get stuck in the tracks. And it was funny.

Death should not be that beautiful.