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CHAPTER 5: EP. 2 – THE TRAIN, I
I didn't notice until now, but it was odd and quite the coincidence that I was in a train when the apocalypse started, the same as the protagonist of 'Ways of Survival'.
All of us who survived the first scenario were still standing in the middle of the carriage.
"Mommy! Look, the train is still going!"
As if scripted, the young woman instantly exclaimed:
"Did the train driver survive?!"
The train driver! A dead train driver wouldn't be good.
"I'll go check out the driver's cabin!"
I didn't have time to look back to see whether someone followed me or not. I had to be quick. But even if I got to the cabin in time, I wouldn't be able to do anything, would I? I've never been in a train's cabin before.
–Cyril: Having fun, are we?
The dokkaebi appeared next to me, of course he had to. I didn't answer.
–Cyril: I have prepared a special sub-scenario just for you guys. Are you excited?!
Cyril's face distorted into a hideous visage, ready to unleash another hateful torture upon us. This seemed to become a reoccurring theme.
[A sub-scenario has arrived!]
[Sub Scenario #1 – Train Crash]
Category: Sub
Difficulty: ?
Clear Conditions: Stop the train from crashing, or survive.
Time Limit: 20 minutes
Compensation: 500 coins
Failure: Death
A sub-scenario this early on?! So the train driver really was dead. The others probably received the same message as well.
"Difficulty '?', what does that mean?"
–Cyril: Can you operate a train?
"No."
–Cyril: There you have it.
"That doesn't explain anything!"
–Cyril: No, it does. You, human, are just too dumb. I'll break it down for your little brain: You never operated a train before, but there's still the chance for you or someone else to understand the controls. The '?' will adjust.
"Really? That's it?"
[Some constellations frown at the dokkaebi's laziness.]
Cyril blushed, and his eyes were fidgeting. What a guy, I had to suppress a smile.
The dokkaebi vanished without a single word, he probably thought he was caught red-handed.
The train didn't seem to end, I was running and running and running. I felt exhaustion slowly overcoming me. My endurance needed to be better, I decided to use my coins.
[1,500 coins have been invested into 'physique'.]
[Physique Lv. 3 -> Physique Lv.8]
[Your physique level has increased!]
[The durability of your body has increased!]
My steps felt lighter, and a newly found energy flowed through my body. I didn't get any faster, though.
The train didn't slow down, in fact, it seemed to go even faster than before. I didn't know how much time was left until the inevitable crash.
Running and running and running. Was this train always this long?
Every carriage was littered with corpses, blood and a gut-wrenching stench.
I saw a few survivors throughout the carriages, but they didn't look responsive. There was no reaction even as I ran past them, these people wouldn't survive for long. Still, they had a normal reaction.
How come the corpses, the blood and the stench, nothing really fazed me? Was it really because of adrenaline? Or because I read Ways of Survival? No, simply reading a book shouldn't desensitise to actual death. It wasn't like I was unable to discern reality from the contents of the novel. I knew this was reality.
Lost in thought, I almost ran into a door that didn't open automatically.
It was the train driver's cabin.
I wanted to feel relieved, but it was too early for that.
"Now, ... how to open that? I could just..."
[2,300 coins have been invested into 'strength'.]
[Strength Lv. 5 -> Strength Lv. 12]
[Your strength level has increased!]
[The muscle density of your body has greatly increased!]
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
[The scenario's level cap has been reached. Coins will be refunded.]
[Strength Lv. 12 -> Strength Lv. 10]
[800 coins have been refunded.]
I didn't know there was a refund system if the level cap was exceeded, good to know.
Anyway, if I didn't have another way to open the door, I hoped to brute-force my way in. Now, I had spent a lot of coins already, but dying would make them useless anyway
Maybe I'll just invest into agility as well. But that can wait, I am still hoping to survive.
I placed my hands on the door and tried to force it open. It was creaking wildly, but didn't budge. My muscles felt as if they'd rip apart. My full strength wasn't enough to open this door, or was it jammed?
Luckily, I still had a backup plan. I took a step back, readied myself, and launched my fist forward. The punch connected, and the impact created a huge dent in the door. It seemed like one punch was not enough.
[Some constellations are laughing at your primitive thinking.]
I didn't care what they thought and continued to beat away at the door.
After some more hefty punches, it burst open and fell onto the ground with a loud thud.
This worked just fine; the door was open, well, smashed now.
I carefully entered the cabin and saw the train driver lying headless on the floor, poor guy.
The next step was to slow down the train. The train's cockpit was quite small, but the controlling area was incredible. There were a lot of buttons and levers, asking to be pressed and pulled. It was the classic "don't push the red button scenario".
"Is there any manual lying around?"
I knew it was absurd to think trained train drivers would have a manual just lying around, but I thought it didn't hurt to look for one. To my misfortune, however, the driver's cabin didn't have any space to store objects without being fully obvious, so I gave up my search.
I noticed the train going even faster than before. The rain smashed against the windshield, and it almost sounded like standing beneath a waterfall. All the water made it almost impossible to see through the glass, even the windshield wipers didn't help.
I could just try out every button and lever, but carelessness may just be our end. Cold sweat running down my back, I was helpless.
"Mister! That lever!"
I quickly turned around, a small boy was standing behind me and looked at me. In fact, it was the small boy from before. Did he follow me?
"Liam! There you are! Don't run off again!"
It was the mother. She came to a halt, gasping for air.
"But the train!"
The child pointed at me and the cockpit.
I hesitated, but saw a slim chance and just shot my question at the little boy.
"Do you know how to use that?"
He nodded vigorously.
I looked at the mother, apparently my face was showing my desperation because she tried to give me a smile, even though her eyes were still swollen from before.
"He's always been interested in trains, but..."
"That's better than what I have to offer. Which lever should we pull, Liam?"
The little boy ran towards the chair, ignoring the dead driver, and tried to climb it. He almost fell, but quickly regained balance.
"This one!"
I grabbed the lever he pointed at and started to count down.
"Five."
"Four."
My hands were sweaty and were shaking lightly, but I grabbed the lever as firm as possible. I needed to concentrate.
"Three."
"Two."
The beating of my heart resounded throughout my whole body, it became hard to breathe. I was nervous.
"One!"
"Grab onto something!"
I pulled the lever with all my might. It was necessary to hit the brakes as hard as possible, otherwise, we wouldn't have slowed down fast enough. There was not a lot of time left, and our speed was unnaturally high. The screeching of the brakes was ear numbing, and the sudden jolt of the train almost made me lose my footing. Luckily, the child and the mother held on tight. The corpse, however, was sent flying. Blood splattered on me, it was cold.
The train slowed down, but the rails were wet and the braking force was limited.
"Oh no!"
At the mother's exclamation, I saw it. Another train in the distance. We'd crash into it at this rate. There was no way to slow down faster.
"Run! We have to be as far away from the front as possible!"
I grabbed the child, and we ran with all our might. The mother was slowly losing her breath, but we couldn't stop. I urged her to stay strong, and she did. We ran and ran and ran. Rushing past the unresponsive survivors and many corpses littering the ground.
Suddenly, I heard a loud thud!
"Aaaaah!"
I immediately stopped and looked back. The woman was lying on the ground and a man's bloody hand was grabbing her by the ankle. His legs were twisted in a grotesque manner, it was obvious he couldn't walk anymore.
"Mommy!"
"Let me go!"
She tried to escape his grasp, but was unable to do so. The man was smiling manically as he tried to crawl up to her, but didn't make a single noise. The child watched in fear while his mother was being threatened.
I saw no other choice in this urgent situation.
After putting the child down, I lifted my leg and forcefully let it drop again. The solid sole of my shoes crushed the man's wrist. I felt bones giving in; tears shot in his eyes and he screamed diabolically.
[A few constellations are delighted by your display of brutality.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' is clapping at your actions.]
"Disgusting bastards."
The woman was shaking, but slowly got back up.
"Are you okay?"
"You–"
She violently shook her head as to let go of her thoughts.
"Thank you. I'm fine."
"Good. Let's go!"
The woman took the crying boy by the hand, and just as we started to run once again, a loud crashing sound surprised us from behind.
"Shit!"
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“Mmh... Ugh...”
I tried to open my eyes, and felt my senses slowly returning.
My vision was clouded and I heard an irritating sizzle. I tried to get up, but the pain rushed through me, forcing me to fall right back down onto the ground. I held my sides in pain. Every ounce of strength was necessary to get back up again.
Because I invested into the 'physique' stat before, I luckily almost had no injuries aside from stinging pain.
It was dark, the train has crashed and with it, all electricity stopped working.
The only light that illuminated my surroundings was coming from the bright moon outside. How long was I knocked out for? And is that... snow?
"Mommy! Mommy!"
I tried to follow the screams of the crying child, but every step made the pain even worse.
"Mommy, wake up! Please!"
Hearing these cries made my heart ache. The situation was bad enough, but why did such a young child have to suffer this much.
The screams became weaker and quieter until they eventually stopped, and only a mixture of sniffling and choking remained.
Fortunately, I already saw him sitting in the darkness.
He looked up to me as soon as he noticed me approaching.
"Mister! Mommy doesn't move!"
The boy's voice was quivering as he held his mother's hand.
I slowly turned my gaze to her, she was in a seriously bad condition, but she was still breathing. It looked like she was shielding her child from the impact. At least it worked, and her son wasn't seriously injured.
I didn't have much hope, but I nodded, trying to calm the boy.
We didn't have any restorative items to heal her yet, and I didn't know much about first aid. I didn't even know if what I did next was the right thing to do.
I sat her up and leaned her against the wall of the carriage. The boy was still holding her hand, but he tried to suppress his crying.
Blood trickled down her forehead and her breathing was shallow.
[A few constellations of the 'Absolute Good' are pitying the woman.]
"Damn it! Help her if you're pitying her!"
No indirect message was sent.
Cowards.
What can I do? Cardiac massage? Is that a good idea?! FUCK!
I cursed myself for not paying enough attention during my first aid course, I hated myself for being this selfish. I tried to look as calm as possible to not frighten the already anxious boy next to me.
Rummaging my mind for any possible way to save her, I lost track of time, until a message tore me out of my thoughts.
[The constellation &%?# is asking why you want to save the woman.]
The modifier of the constellation looked weird, but did they actually ask me that?
"Fuck! Is there any reason not to?!"
[The constellation &%?# is satisfied with your answer.]
That's it? Just like that?
[You have been sponsored an item.]
I reflexively held out my hand and a small sphere appeared in the air, slowly falling down into my palm.
Mediocre Stamina pill
A small restorative pill made by medicinal apprentices of the Murim. It consists of various herbs but due to its unrefined nature it was deemed as mediocre.
This pill regenerates stamina by a small amount.
Usage limit: One time only
"Thank you."
This wasn't perfect, but it was enough. I gave the woman the pill, and her breathing stabilised. She wasn't healed, of course, but the recovery of her stamina would allow for her natural regeneration to set in.
"It's okay. Let her sleep for now."
I pat the boy's head and stood up.
"I'm going to look for the others. You stay with your mom, and if anything happens, scream my name. Can you do that for me?"
"Mh!", he nodded.
Just as I wanted to walk away, I noticed something and was slightly embarrassed.
"Ah, I almost forgot. My name's Maxim."
After confirming that he heard me, I cautiously set off once again.
The many broken windows reflected the cold moonlight, it was almost magical seeing all these glistening shards.
I felt some cracking underneath my feet as I moved through the carriage. The sound reminded me of walking through freshly fallen snow.
For a moment, I stopped to admire the unusual view in front of me.
I was astonished to discover that, despite this dire situation, there was still a hint of abstract beauty to be found.
I tried to look outside through one of the broken windows, but all I saw was the reflection of my face.
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image [https://secondsback.files.wordpress.com/2024/01/ch5_full-lo.jpg]
artist: https://twitter.com/kiitten_art
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