I quickly tried to salvage the situation.
“I’m aware. In fact, one of my close friends got involved with a cult and cut off all contact.”
That part was true.
“That’s why I decided to get ahead of it.”
“Hmm.”
“In this situation, cults and superstitions are bound to thrive. When people experience pain without understanding why, they’ll start clinging to anything for hope.”
It had happened in the previous loops, after all.
‘Of course, my current actions weren’t just about preventing that. They were about escaping without mass panic or violence.’
But I couldn’t explain all that logically, so I ended my statement there.
“I chose this method to minimize the damage. I know it’s extreme and strange, but…”“Hmmmm…”
Three agonizing seconds passed.
“Well, you’ve got a point.”
Phew.
“So, you’re just saying those things to calm people down, but in reality, you’re actually helping them feel less pain and find a way for everyone to escape, right?”
“Exactly that, yes.”
“Sounds good! I’ll fully cooperate!”
Supervisor Dolphin extended her hand for a handshake.
When I took her hand, she suddenly pulled me closer.
“But you can’t exploit good people.”
“……”
“Otherwise, I’ll have to fight you, Supervisor.”
“Of course. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Great! Perfect!”
I smiled and completed the handshake with her.
I-I’m saved.
Cold sweat dripped down my back.
Fighting a senior elite team member from the nightmare company and dealing with decaying flesh? No thanks! I’d rather bash my head into a wall.
“Judging by the mood, it looks like everyone in our car is fully on board, huh?”
“That’s right.”
Squelch, squelch.
I kept walking toward the light at the end of the tunnel as I responded.
“But this isn’t where I stop.”
My ultimate goal…
“I will make the majority of passengers on this train ‘believe’ me.”
At least seven of the eight train cars needed to be on my side. I needed to secure a dominant public opinion.
* * *Fifth loop—
After experiencing death and resetting multiple times, the passengers of this high-speed train were sinking beyond panic and into exhaustion, resignation, and madness.
Their perceptions were distorted, and it had become difficult for them to think as they normally would.
And through these repeated loops, they had heard certain things over and over.
“Someone’s been whispering strange stuff… like saying we’re chosen, and that this is a test?”
“…Sounds like cult nonsense. What kind of test?”
“Apparently, if we pass, we’ll gain some sort of transcendental power?”
“But all the people who fell out of the windows went crazy. Yet, people from the rear cars said they fell but came back fine, describing what they saw outside…”
“…Seriously? No way. They’re probably just bluffing, right?”
But even as they voiced their doubts, their desire for answers was evident.
It was the subconscious hope that those claims were true.
“There’s someone called ‘Pathfinder’ from Car 7, and he’s teaching people how to escape.”
“He’s offering to help everyone, saying we’re all qualified.”
And as the murmurs among the passengers of Car 3, a special cabin, grew louder—
There, a man seated in the front-row single seat.
Baek Saheon opened his eyes.
‘Fuck.’
He had been on his way back home for the holidays when he got trapped in this fucking train ghost story. It felt like he was going to rot away here.
‘No. That’s not it…’
He thought of the new eye hidden under his medical eyepatch and grinned slyly.
By observing how things were playing out, he could tell.
‘So, this whole thing is about tossing people out the window!’
Basically, he figured they had to throw about half the passengers out and then reach the destination to clear the ghost story.
‘I just need to stay out of sight and hide.’
Cults were a predictable response to situations like this.
In a small, high-stress emergency environment, humans tended to do whacko things.
With the train endlessly looping back to the starting point and the extreme stress of an inescapable scenario, even ridiculous suggestions that would normally be scoffed at suddenly seemed worth clinging to.
Things that would normally be dismissed with a ‘Not buying your cult nonsense’ were now being embraced. It was human nature.
‘I just have to stay quiet and let them toss each other out until the chaos clears.’
“O-Over there!!”
“…!”
There was a commotion at the back.
A fight?
No. It wasn’t a fight.
Someone had entered the car.
“There they are! The Pathfinder and the people from Car 7!”
That cult group.
‘Let’s at least get a look at them.’
Baek Saheon casually turned his head toward the corridor.
And then, he saw familiar faces.
“…!!”
‘The elite team.’
Assistant Manager Jin Nasol from A-squad and Supervisor Lee Seonghae from C-squad.
He recognized them instantly—they were faces he had memorized from the company’s intranet, just in case.
‘Why the hell are they here?’
As he was trying to process whether this train was connected to Daydream Corp’s managed Darknesses—
“Attention!!”
Amid the cult-like group, Supervisor Dolphin shouted, drawing everyone’s attention.
“We have someone here who will teach you how to escape!”
As she stepped aside, someone emerged from the door connecting to the rear car.
A calm, sharp-looking man in a suit, exuding an eerie composure with a serene smile.
Baek Saheon’s eyes widened in recognition.
‘…Kim Soleum!!’
“Everyone, please do not worry.”
Kim Soleum smiled softly, spreading his arms wide.
“This is all part of a grand test, and you have been chosen.”
H-Holy shit!!
That psycho bastard is the cult leader?!!
T/N: the vocab author-nim uses for ‘Pathfinder’ is synonymous to ‘person who does good deeds’. Our dear Soleum really knows how to brand himself, huh? lmao
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