The entire creature was pressed against the window, the train speeding along so fast that its face became distorted by pressure.

I locked eyes with it.

And the contamination source locked eyes with me.

Without a moment of hesitation, I yanked the door open and started firing out the window, leaving Daniel staring at me in utter confusion.

Bang, bang, bang!

Bullets shattered the glass, the fierce wind howling into the train. Daniel hadn’t even had time to react.

Without missing a beat, I raised my gun and aimed at the roof.

"Follow my lead," I ordered, my voice firm.

Daniel, now moving on pure instinct, stopped reading his cookbook mid-sentence and copied my movements. Wherever I shot, he shot too.

Thank god we were only firing air bullets. In a confined metal space like this, real bullets would have ricocheted and hit us both.

The roof of the train was quickly riddled with dents. Some of the bullets pierced right through the thin metal, letting even more wind flood inside.

Something was crawling up there outside on the roof.

Whatever it was, it was heavy—heavier than a human. The weight of it left deep dents as it scrambled across the roof, dodging the shots.

The supposedly sturdy train car felt as flimsy as paper under the barrage.

The air bullets shouldn’t have this much power, I thought. That thing… it must be getting weaker.

Once a contamination source is discovered, the strength of its contamination zone starts to crack. The once unbreakable hold it had on reality starts to fracture.

And that was exactly what was happening here.

Goddamnit, I thought, why do they only arm us with air guns? If we had a proper machine gun, this fight would be over by now.

The air bullets were limited in range, and reloading took time. Between shots, there were painfully long gaps.

All this left plenty of room for the contamination source to strike back.

Suddenly, the lights inside the train flickered wildly.

I frowned, my helmet’s night vision struggling to keep up with the changes. I kept my gun raised, moving forward slowly.

The passengers on the train—those creepy, eerie figures—were all staring at me, their eyes glowing as they let out low, animalistic growls. The kind a beast would make just before a kill.

This zone… it's about to collapse.

I kept scanning for the source, my eyes darting around, when suddenly— fbam!

A hand with sharp fish-like fins punched through the window and yanked me by the throat.

The next thing I knew, I was being dragged through the broken glass.

Daniel’s shocked face was the last thing I saw before I was pulled out of the train.

He fired at the hand emerging from the dark, but it was too late.

The train roared past, carrying Daniel farther and farther away in just a few seconds.

Now, I was alone.

As soon as the fish monster pulled me out, I hit the emergency inflation button on my suit. My combat suit, which had looked like a snug biker jacket, puffed up instantly like a spacesuit.

The air cushion broke my fall as the fish monster and I tumbled down onto the tracks. The suit protected my fragile human body as we rolled together across the ground.

The fish monster was on me in an instant, his hands tightening around my throat as he straddled me.

My gun had been lost during the fall.

I was lying on the gravel beside the tracks, and the fish monster was pinning me down.

His eyes were enormous—about the size of fists. They were glowing red, with a swirling vortex at the center of each. The way the vortex spun made my head dizzy, like looking into a whirlpool.

"You see my last train?" the fish monster rasped as he tried to rip off my helmet. His fingers clawed at it relentlessly, desperate to get it off.

I kicked at his stomach with all the strength I could muster. If he managed to pull my helmet off, I’d be infected for sure.

"I missed it," he kept muttering as he tugged at the helmet. "I missed the last train."

"My daughter’s waiting for me at home. I haven’t spoken to her in days."

"I can’t find my train."

Over and over, he repeated the same lines.

He never got on the last train, I realized. That’s why he’s not inside the train now. He’s stuck outside. Even in death, he never made it on.

【Mental Value Decreased by 10】

【Health Decreased by 20】

【Immediate Evacuation Advised】

The System alerts buzzed in my ear, but my HUD was empty. No tools. No items. I had nothing to escape with.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

【Side Mission: Last Train of Metro Line One. Current purification progress: 70%.】

Good news: The purification progress had moved forward.

Bad news: I was about to be strangled to death.

What a bullshit system.

I kept kicking him in the stomach, refusing to give up.

Roar—

Suddenly, I heard the familiar rumble of the train.

No. Not now.

Two headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating the tracks.

The train was looping back.

If it hit me while I was pinned here on the tracks, I’d be turned into a bloody smear.

Damn it! That fish… he's trying to kill me with the train!

Daniel was still on the train, searching for a way to get off. But the train wasn’t stopping anymore.

Panic gripped him. He stormed into the conductor’s cabin, shot the conductor right in the head, and locked himself inside.

Outside the cabin door, the fish monster scratched and clawed, desperate to get in.

From the front window, Daniel saw me pinned on the tracks by the fish monster.

Shit. Shit. SHIT!

He frantically searched for the brake switch, but no matter how hard he tried, the train didn’t slow down.

The conductor was just for show.

The train had its own schedule, its own route.

"NINA!" Daniel screamed as he pounded on the horn, his voice trembling. "Get out of the way!"

I couldn’t hear him. I was too busy fighting for my life.

Daniel slammed his hand on the horn again and again. The shrill sound cut through the night, stabbing through my eardrums like needles.

"NINA! MOVE!"

Daniel was just a cleaner. He couldn’t bear to watch his coworker be reduced to roadkill.

The train lights were blinding, my head already foggy from the lack of oxygen. The horn blared so loudly, it felt like my skull would split.

I had no weapon. No tools.

The only thing I can do is… keep hitting him. Just keep… hitting the same spot…

I focused on the fishman’s stomach, hitting the same spot over and over again.

I could feel his scales starting to crack. Blood was starting to ooze out.

Just a second. That’s all I need. Give me… one second.

The fish monster gasped, sucking in air as I felt one of his ribs snap under my strikes.

Now.

I planted my feet, using every bit of strength I had left, and drove my elbow into his face, flipping him over.

Roar—Roar—

The train was nearly on top of us.

I didn’t have time to deal with him. I pushed myself up, using the edge of the platform for leverage, and jumped onto it.

Just then, my right leg was jerked back.

The fish monsterhad grabbed my ankle.

Are you kidding me?!

I had just made it onto the platform, but he was trying to drag me back down onto the tracks.

In a split second, driven purely by survival instincts, I yanked my leg free and kicked him in the face as hard as I could.

BOOM—

The train shot past us, the wind nearly knocking me off my feet.

I felt the monster’s grip loosen and watched as he tumbled back down onto the tracks.

Then came the sickening crunch of the train rolling over his body.

Hah—

I gasped for air, my throat burning from the strain. The lack of oxygen made my vision blur. I let myself collapse to the ground, just for a moment.

The train didn’t stop. It kept going, disappearing into the distance again.

I forced myself to look down at the tracks. There lay the crushed body of the fish monster, his lower half completely destroyed by the train.

Blood and fish scales littered the ground.

He’s still not dead, I realized. There are no spores.

Years of surviving the zombie apocalypse had taught me one rule:

Always make sure to finish the job.

I didn’t hesitate. I smashed a nearby window, grabbed a fire axe, and went back to where the fish-headed guy lay.

As I raised the axe to finish him off, I hesitated.

He was still breathing. His head rested against the track like a tired fish, barely able to move his mouth.

"I… I missed the last train," he rasped.

Still repeating that line?

The key to mental contamination is repetition. This fishman had been repeating the same phrase over and over.

"I can’t go home. If I take a cab, I’d lose a week’s worth of pay," he muttered.

Blood gurgled in his throat. "I can’t afford it. They… they laugh at me."

"They call me useless… poor… worthless. Can’t even afford a ride home."

"They think I’m soft, that I can’t handle it."

I stood there for a moment, listening to him. His regret is so… small. This wasn’t someone who had lost a great love or witnessed some horrific tragedy. No, he just missed the last train.

And that simple thing—the weight of that one small moment—had crushed him.

It’s always the small things that break people.

"Am I soft?" he asked, his head tilted up at me, scales cracked and covered in dirt. His eyes, now dull and glazed over, looked as if he was waiting for an answer.

I didn’t feel like responding. This was the same THING that had tried to strangle me a minute ago. I wasn’t feeling very charitable.

Standing on the edge of the platform, gripping the fire axe tightly, I looked down at him and said coldly, "No."

Who the hell wants to suffer if they can avoid it? This whole vulnerability bashing thing was nonsense.

He seemed stunned for a moment before letting out a low, raspy chuckle. "Heh… heh… You and I… we’re the same, aren’t we?"

My eyebrows furrowed. What do you mean we’re the same?

"The end of the world is coming… heh heh… the end is near," he said, coughing, his voice mixing with eerie, unsettling laughter. "The end of everything…"

End of the world?

What the hell was he talking about?

Somehow, the fish-headed guy managed to push himself up slightly, his body still clinging to life despite being half-crushed by the train. He began to crawl toward me, slowly, deliberately.

He’s moving like he’s crawling back to an old friend. The way he reached out his hand toward me made my skin crawl.

With a sickening slap, his hand hit the edge of the platform.

I immediately stepped back, widening the distance between us, my hands still gripping the axe. If he tried anything, I’d turn him into minced fish in seconds.

"You… and me…" he wheezed, his voice growing weaker, "you’re going to end up like me… you’ll be just… like me…"

And with that, his body collapsed backward, his head hitting the tracks with a dull thud.

I kept my grip on the axe, waiting for any sign of movement.

There’s no way I’m falling for a fake-out.

Creak… creak…

The sound of something rusting echoed through the tunnel. The train was coming again, but this time, it was different. Slower, weaker.

It didn’t have the same speed as before. It was like a broken windmill, groaning with age as it pulled into the station. The metal parts creaked and cracked, barely holding together.

It hadn’t even fully arrived before the entire train began falling apart, melting away like a wax sculpture in the heat.

The train stopped.

The monster’s body, now a shriveled husk, lay on the tracks, rotting away. His body slowly dissolved into a disgusting puddle of meat and bones.

Blood-red spores began floating up from his remains.

One. Two. Three… Hundreds of bright red spores filled the air, floating like jellyfish in the water, aimlessly moving through the space around me.

The spores writhed and squirmed, desperately trying to find a new host. They spiraled through the air, but I was still wearing my full-body suit. There was no exposed skin for them to latch onto.

They floated harmlessly past me.

One of the spores landed on the blade of my axe, rubbing against the edge as if it had a mind of its own.

There’s something almost beautiful about this…

Cruel and haunting, but beautiful.

Ding—

Suddenly, the system notification blared in my mind:

【Congratulations! Side Mission "Last Train on Metro Line One" Complete. Purification: 100%】

【Main Mission: Purify Your Home. Progress: 1%】

【Reward Calculation in Progress…】

【Congratulations! Basic reward unlocked. Mental Value restored to 100.】

【Congratulations! Earned Purification Points: 500. Total Purification Points: 545.】

【Congratulations! Special Item Acquired: Rotting Fish Head】

【Rotting Fish Head (Class-D Contaminant): Can be used for mental contamination by repeating an action or phrase. Grants increased movement speed during escape—between 2x and 4x speed. Caution: Each use of this item consumes one unit of Health. Use wisely.】

【Congratulations! Talent Acquired: Danger Sense】

【Talent Description: Grants the ability to sense impending danger.】

【Congratulations! Side Mission Reward: K003 Explosive Charges】

【Reward Description: Miniature explosives. Can be used to demolish a 30-story building within 15 seconds. Usable up to 3 times. User is immune to self-inflicted damage.】

"...What?"

I stared at the list of rewards in disbelief. What the hell am I supposed to do with this much explosive power?

Blow up a city?