Got Dropped into a Ghost Story, Still Gotta Work-Chapter 112

Owner of the Silver Heart.

A good person who possesses a badge-like item capable of rallying people.

They are a crucial figure in resolving the Tamna-bound High-Speed Train Incident, but they are only highlighted in the final stages of the story, as if it were a short novella.

So it made sense that I couldn’t recall their seat number or even their specific name.

After all, I read the wiki focusing on how to dismantle ghost stories...!

Once I ended up in this world, the wikis I obsessively read were mostly related to ghost story entries and exploration records.

I prioritized information that could help me clear ghost stories.

Supplemental content was pushed to the back burner.

Those long, emotional essays styled like short stories—an appendix to the main wiki? They were low-priority for me.

The identity of the Silver Heart’s owner was only mentioned once or twice in those pieces.

Remembering those numbers or letters exactly, months after reading them...

It was unreasonable.

Damn it....

No.

I swallowed hard.

I can make an educated guess.

Even if I don’t identify that person immediately, I’ll figure out a way to respond.

I still remember the other wiki entries about the Tamna-bound High-Speed Train Incident.

For instance, the urgent reports or documents registered with the Paranormal Disaster Management Bureau.

I knew the progression of this incident by phases, which meant I could handle this.

I can handle this....

......

Alright.

I made up my mind about my next steps.

It’s a bit extreme, but there’s no other choice.

All of this flashed through my mind in just a few seconds, while the elite team members next to me casually continued their conversation.

“Wow, a time loop! I’ve read a lot of sci-fi anthologies like this.”

“So we keep retrying until we meet the conditions? Annoying, but kind of convenient.”

“......”

What a strange dialogue....

Fortunately, no one was paying attention to their low voices, as the entire train car was filled with gasps, cries, and sobbing.

“Gasp... gasp!”

“This is a dream, it’s just a dream...”

But inevitably, someone would try to intervene.

“Everyone, please! Calm down! Calm down!”

...There it was.

Loop 2:

In each train car, certain individuals began stepping up to quell passengers’ fears and rally them together.

-Ah, did someone say crises are opportunities? In times of chaos, there are always people who step forward to lead.

That’s right.

And in our car, that person was a bespectacled office worker.

The same person who had argued about closing the window during the first loop—only to push the other party out of it.

“Still, the important thing is that none of us are dead yet, right? ...Let’s all calm down and figure out what’s going on.”

“Ah... ah.”

“Well, uh, do you have any ideas?”

With someone taking the lead, people started to pay attention.

“My guess is that time is looping.”

The bespectacled office worker began organizing the situation and calming everyone down.

“It’s clear we’ve been caught in a strange phenomenon, but I think there’s a reason we’ve been given a chance to retry. Maybe it’s asking us to figure out the correct answer to escape.”

“Ah...”

“Let’s believe that and give it a try. Stay calm.”

He probably thought things were heading in a decent direction.

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At least, until he glanced at my seat.

“Hey, there are people sitting calmly over there already.”

“...!”

“Let’s follow their example and try to assess the situation.”

Damn it.

He pointed out the three of us—employees of Daydream Inc.

Were we too quiet...?

...No, actually, this might be a good thing.

It was time to establish a presence. If I was going to step in, the early stages of the second loop were the time to do it.

“Oh, no. It’s not that we’re calm... we’re just confused.”

I quickly shook my head, forcing a nervous but polite smile.

“We’re just... just struggling to process everything. We were on a work trip, so we were all dozing off.”

I doubt they’d suspect anything. I didn’t even need to try hard; my face was already pale enough to be convincing.

Deputy Manager Jin Nasol raised one eyebrow slightly at my initiative but didn’t interfere. Taking the momentum, I continued speaking.

“But then, suddenly, the ocean was outside the windows, and all this talk about sacrifices started.... And it turns out it’s all real?”

“Well, um... I think so.”

I swallowed hard, acting like I was trying to stay composed.

“Then, about the person who fell out of the window earlier...”

“......”

The atmosphere froze. Everyone’s gaze slowly shifted.

To the middle-aged man sitting by the window—the seat next to the “sacrificial” window, which had been empty after its occupant fell out during the first loop.

There was someone there now.

“...!!”

The silhouette of a passenger sat motionless.

It was the same person who had fallen out of the window earlier.

“They... they’re alive?”

“Oh, thank god....”

And then it happened.

The passenger suddenly bolted upright and lunged at the bespectacled office worker.

“...!!”

“You bastard! It’s your fault, your faulttttt!!”

“Let go of me!”

Chaos erupted.

The middle-aged man, dressed like a nouveau riche, glared at his target with crazed eyes, spitting as he screamed.

“Die! Die! It’s your fault I fell out... Ah, it hurts! It hurts so much...!”

His eyes glinted with madness.

“No one should fall out there! It hurts! It’s so strangeeeee! Ack! Urrgh!”

“Hiiik!”

The man staggered and began vomiting a strange, dark-red mass onto the floor.

“Urgh! Ughhh!”

The bespectacled office worker stumbled backward in shock, his face pale.

Sigh.

Those who became “sacrifices” by falling out of the window displayed near-delirious behavior and signs of bizarre supernatural afflictions in subsequent loops.

They reported endless agony from searing pain and inhuman whispers outside the train.

Seeing it in person, the unstable condition was far more overwhelming than I had imagined.

The bespectacled office worker, seemingly crushed by the weight of it all, slinked backward on trembling legs.

-Hmm, a voluntary resignation! Short-lived but meaningful leadership, wouldn’t you say? Regardless, the position of leader is now vacant.

-Perhaps my friend here will step up to guide these people with flair... No? Oh well! Let’s continue to observe this mess together, then.

Right.

I took a deliberate step back.

And at that moment...

Those who wish to reach Tamna must offer a sacrifice.

The screen flashed the same words over and over.

“The text changed again!”

“Yeah, last time... if I remember correctly....”

When someone fell out of the window...

The train successfully exited the tunnel and continued forward.

“......”

“......”

There was still time, so people intentionally avoided facing the harsh truth and muttered among themselves.

“...What does ‘sacrifice’ mean, exactly?”

“Well, it probably has to be something alive, right? Like, those horror YouTube videos always say...”

I interjected.

“No. It could also be an object. Offerings at rituals are technically sacrifices, too.”

“Ahhh...!”

“You’re right. Let’s just stay calm and try throwing different things...”

But fear, excitement, and unease still flickered in their eyes.

“......”

“Well, uh... does anyone have food they can spare?”

Soon, those who had snacks gathered up whatever they were willing to toss out.

Fruit, eggs, meat, bread, and so on.

Then, just barely in time, the scenery outside the window shifted.

First Altar Reached.

This time, the passengers remained slightly more composed.

“Let’s throw it.”

“Yes...!”

Splash, splash.

The food disappeared out the window in silence.

Distance remaining: 4.

The display didn’t budge. The countdown just continued.

“It’s not working! It’s not stopping!!”

The passengers screamed.

In truth, even when sacrifices were accepted, the countdown always ran its course—but I deliberately withheld that information.

...Because I already knew food wasn’t the correct answer.

Distance remaining: 3.

And it seemed the passengers were finally coming to terms with the truth.

“It has to be a person, doesn’t it? A person...”

“Ah...”

“No, we can’t possibly...”

“If we don’t, we’ll all die! The train will sink!”

“But who...?”

Distance remaining: 2.

“......”

“......”

Their gazes shifted.

And that look carried an unspoken meaning.

“Since they’re already not in their right mind, why not throw them out again?”

An unconscious instinct, too shameful to say aloud, surfaced in the tense situation.

The “first loop sacrifice” began to panic under the weight of those stares.

“Help me! Help meee! No! No! Nooo!!”

“Please, calm down. It’ll be fine...”

Distance remaining: 1.

“No! Nooo!”

“Just step away from the window—oh, oh no?!”

Whoosh...

Splash.

0.

The tunnel ended.

The bright blue sea reappeared, illuminating the train’s interior.

The monitor displayed chilling purple text:

“An offering has been made. The way forward is open.”

And near the window...

A shattered pair of glasses lay on the floor.

“......”

“......”

The “first loop sacrifice,” now the one who had pushed someone out this time, stood there.

“The bastard who pushed me is dead! I didn’t die! I didn’t die! I didn’t dieeeee!”

The middle-aged man, frothing at the mouth, stumbled down the aisle, burying his head in a corner as he sobbed uncontrollably.

A pale, oppressive silence hung over the train car.

The atmosphere was maddening.

-The previous leader has become a sacrifice! Ah, how classic. A little sooner than expected, though.

Then.

“Hey, there’s another one coming, isn’t there?”

A voice that was far too cheerful for the situation rang out through the train car.

Chief Dolphin.

“W-What did you just say?”

“There’s a second altar coming up soon, right? We should prepare for it.”

“Just stop it already!!”

“Ah!”

Stress-fueled outbursts erupted around her, but Chief Dolphin didn’t seem fazed.

“This time, let’s not mess up. Let’s find the worst person and make them fall!”

She even pointed forward with her finger.

“Including other train cars!”

“...!!”

“I mean, there’s no guarantee they’ll die, right? That last person came back alive. So wouldn’t it be better to find someone awful and make them suffer?”

It was insane.

But in an incomprehensible disaster, sometimes insane suggestions had a way of resonating—twisted as they might be.

“That’s right! So far, it’s only been people from our car falling! Why should we be the only ones suffering?”

“Exactly!”

Why should our car, Car 7, bear all the pain and torment?

Fueled by a mix of resentment and strange anger, the passengers of our car surged forward.

I moved with them, along with the elite team members. Or rather, Chief Dolphin placed herself near the front of the group.

“Excuse me! You’ve got open windows in this car, right? Last time, when the train fell, it seemed like no one from here fell, so...”

But as expected, most people in the forward cars had no idea what was going on.

“W-What are you talking about?”

“Who are these crazy people?”

“Excuse me, if you don’t want to get hurt, you better move along!”

“Oooh.”

“...Let’s move on to the next car for now.”

Chief Dolphin eyed the last speaker as if they were a prime candidate for the “worst person,” then led the group onward.

But the moment we stepped into Car 3—

Second Altar Reached.

It started again.

“Ahhh!”

“Someone, quick, fall out!”

“The train’s going to crash, waaaahhh!”

“We have to throw someone! Someone needs to go out the window!”

The screams of the increasingly frenzied passengers from Car 7 rang out, blending with the confused shouts of those who still hadn’t grasped the situation.

Distance remaining: 5.

“Who are these people?! Where did they come from??”

“They’re insane!”

“If you don’t want to die, step up as a volunteer! We need a volunteer!”

“Why don’t you throw yourselves out, then?!”

“Someone from our car already fell! Go find someone else in another car!!”

“Fine, then why don’t you volunteer—”

Distance remaining: 4.

A sharp, commanding voice cut through the chaos.

“No volunteers?”

Deputy Manager Jin Nasol extended her hand.

“...No!”

I could tell exactly what she was planning—to grab the least cooperative person and throw them out.

And if the loop resets again, she’ll just keep using those people as sacrifices!

It was efficient, but it couldn’t happen.

Deputy Manager Jin Nasol was certainly competent, but it was clear she had never cared about managing public sentiment.

I immediately raised my hand.

Distance remaining: 3.

“I’ll volunteer!”

“......”

Deputy Manager Jin Nasol turned to me.

“What?”

I repeated myself.

“I’ll be the one to fall.”

“...!!”

“Why...”

Distance remaining: 2.

“It’s not like I’ll actually die, right? I’ll endure it.”

Then I quickly whispered to her.

“We need to find out what’s really happening down there.”

“Is that necessary?”

“Civilians’ testimony isn’t reliable. Besides, I’ve prepared mental defenses.”

“Hmph...”

Distance remaining: 1.

“Do as you like.”

“...! Thank you.”

I swiftly finished the discussion, turned to the passengers, and shouted.

“We don’t have much time! I’m going to the window, so clear the way!”

“Uh, uh, okay...”

People hesitated but stepped aside, both from our car and the others.

...Good.

I tried to keep my voice steady, but my hands were trembling.

Still, there was no other choice.

This step is absolutely necessary for the plan.

If Plan A—finding and securing the owner of the Silver Heart—had failed, then...

I’ll have to resort to more extreme measures.

“Everyone, stay back!”

I gripped the edge of the window and pulled out a vial of painkillers from my pocket.

They might not work, but...

They’re better than nothing...!

I jabbed the “Happy Maker” syringe into my arm, steeled myself, and hurled my body out the window.

Into the crimson tunnel.

0.