The electric train's smooth motion lulled almost everyone to sleep.
Almost.
Because someone among these people suddenly opened their eyes wide, gasping for air like a live fish suddenly thrown on land, before finally calming down. His breathing evened out after a minute, and his face finally relaxed.
Ren raised his eyes to look at his reflection on the train's window and then shifted them to the passengers around him. Then his gaze landed on the pocket watch in his right hand. It was 11:11 p.m.
Ren's lips stretched into a small smirk. "What a good day to be alive," he whispered, tightly grasping the pocket watch in his hand. He leaned back on his seat as a satisfied sigh escaped his lips. His black eyes were glinting with joy and excitement.
Why, do you ask?
It's because an antagonist like him actually got his soul transmigrated into someone else's body! Isn't that amazing? What are the chances of living a second life? Too lucky!
Ren was itching to pop open a confetti popper just to celebrate his new life. A world without that pesky hero who was dumb as hell—it was freedom for him! But not now. He was still riding an electric train. Maybe he'll do that once he gets home.
Alas, the universe would never favor a villain after all.
A buzz entered everyone's ears, waking them up from their initial sleepy state. A static noise followed. It resulted in a very uncomfortable feeling in their head.
Ren tilted his head to the side, clenching the pocket watch while looking at the air with squinted eyes. "It hurts," he thought blankly, shaking his head from left to right in a futile attempt to escape the annoying sound in his mind. His expression was dull at first, before a small smile appeared on his lips. "It hurts, but it doesn't really hurt as much as when I was stabbed in the heart before."
These comparisons helped him adjust to the pain until it finally subsided. The newly found silence was soon replaced by a robotic voice that ranged from a child's to a woman's to a man's. It was hard to distinguish which was which.
[Welcome to all of our beloved passengers! This is Nightmare Express.]
Ren looked up to find the owner of the foreign voice but failed to see anything suspicious. He could only close his eyes and focus on the voice's source with his arms crossed.
[Counting the number of passengers for tonight's train operation]
[1... 2... 3... 4...]
[... 10... 11... 12...]
[... 18... 19... 20...]
[... 26... 27...]
Ren's senses tingled in alertness as he felt like someone was watching him when the voice's counting reached the number "27".
Then a low chuckle escaped from his lips. "Twenty-seven's cube root is 3. Hmm, interesting," he muttered under his breath, fiddling with the pocket watch in his hand.
To begin with, the number 3 embodies the concept of wholeness, or completion, as in the beginning, middle, and end. For someone like Ren, who was literally incomplete, it was indeed quite the spectacle.
[A total of 27 passengers for tonight's train operation have been counted.]
[Generating nightmare instance...]
[Generation complete.]
[Passengers, please standby. We will reach the station in three minutes.]
[Passengers, please standby. We will reach the station in three minutes.]
[Passengers, please standby. We will reach the station in three minutes.]
It kept on repeating the same instructions for a whole minute before it finally stopped. All of them looked at each other with cold sweat trickling down their foreheads, soaking their collars and backs, as if they just came from a late-night marathon event.
Ren raised an eyebrow at them. 'What are they so nervous for? Isn't it a good thing to finally reach the station? I want to celebrate my revival at home already.'
Little did he know, everyone on the train knew that this kind of thing had never happened before. There's no AI in a train. There's no such thing as a 'Nightmare Express' existing in the country. There's no such thing as 'generating nightmare instances' that was supposed to happen at all!
"Everyone, calm down," a clear voice emitted in the tense atmosphere. The passengers all looked at the source of the voice. It was a middle-aged man who was probably an office worker based on his tucked white shirt, black pants, golden wristwatch, and shiny black shoes.
Ren's eyes squinted in delight. 'Ooh, someone stepped up. A protagonist material.'
"Let's not overthink just yet. Maybe there's an error here or something." The office worker continued his psychological counseling while standing up from his seat. He took out his phone from his pocket before showing it to everyone. "Look, the signal and internet are working just fine. We can call for the authorities if something goes wrong, am I right?"
As if on cue, almost all of them also took out their phones from their pockets and bags to check. They heaved a sigh of relief after seeing the full signal bar on their phone screen.
"You're right." Everyone nodded, some even looking at the office worker with a hint of admiration in their eyes. After all, someone who can still think logically in this kind of situation is truly admirable!
Ren only watched them with an amused expression on his face. Indeed, humans are hierarchical in nature. A man just can't live without a leader who would lead them on, like a pillar they can anchor themselves to in order to survive. It was such a sight for Ren, who has been stuck in a tower fighting off heroes left and right.
"This world is just so much better. It's more fun here, ah," Ren thought, his eyes softening in genuine happiness. If only he could observe more of the so-called 'human nature'...
[We have successfully arrived at the station. If there are passengers left behind, said passengers will face punishment for disobeying the operation's rules. Count down for the passengers to leave the train starts now.]
[10...]
[9...]
Footsteps stomped hurriedly out of the train as the door slowly opened. They knew that staying behind and facing the so-called 'punishment' spells out real trouble. The passengers were not dumb enough to try it out just to satisfy their curiosity. Those who love courting death can just die!
[8...]
[7...]
[6...]
Ren watched as everyone went out of the train one after another until he was the only one left. He raised his head to stare at the ceiling for a moment, admiring the beauty of silence and isolation. He was feeling emotional. "Hah... It's so peaceful here," he said without any emotion in his face, his dull eyes scanning the vicinity.
[4...]
[3...]
Ren lazily stood up from his seat and walked towards the exit with heavy steps. He looked back at the empty train before finally stepping out of it.
[2...]
[1...]
[Ding! 27 out of 27 passengers have safely exited the train. A total of 27 passengers are now ready to enter the instance.]
Ren narrowed his eyes at the thick fog blocking the view in front of him. He could see a few moving silhouettes and a bright red light a few meters away from him. Out of curiosity, he walked closer towards the unfamiliar glow until he was shoulder-to-shoulder with a stranger. He can now hear the whispers spreading around the area.
"Where are we?"
"This is not the right station at all!"
"Why is it so foggy? It's still 11:17 p.m., though."
"I don't know anymore. I'm so scared."
The ex-villain tilted his head in wonder. 'Huh, so we're lost?' His head unconsciously turned around to look back at the train, but it was already gone without any sound. His eyes brightened with realization. Wow, the train actually dropped them in the wrong place without any remorse? Bravo!
[Passengers, good evening. This is Nightmare Express.]
The noises instantly died down after hearing the familiar robotic voice. At this point, they were more scared that the voice would appear again. For them, it was a bad omen.
[Welcome to your first-ever station and nightmare instance! This instance is entitled "China Town".]
Ren's eyes turned into crescents as he gripped the pocket watch tightly out of excitement. 'Damn, a visit to China for free!' He wanted to jump and pump his fist in the air.
This was too stimulating for someone like him, who had been isolated in a tower for more than two decades and could only learn about basic geography from the books in the library. His eyes were literally sparkling as he glanced at the red lights far away. He had a hunch that it was probably 'China Town'.
In contrast to his twisted perspective on things, the rest of the passengers shivered in fear. 'What China Town?! Who needs to go to China Town?! Just let us go home already, please!' However, they had no guts to talk out loud, lest they anger the voice and face punishments.
[Releasing the details of this instance in 20 seconds. Please be reminded to take note of this.]
20 seconds passed by in silence as the voice sounded in the air again.
[Instance Title: China Town]
[Instance rank: F (dangerous)]
[Instance setting and background: The China Town is filled with human-like animals that feed on human flesh and blood.]
[Instance mechanics: This is a hide-and-seek-and-chase game. The passengers have to hide in any part of China Town for 3 minutes. In those 3 minutes, the beasts can't smell the participants as humans. But after the said time, the beasts will be able to have their senses back. If the beasts notice you, better run.]
[Instance mission: Survive the instance until dawn. The game starts at sunset.]
[Good luck, our beloved passengers. Nightmare Express wishes you a delightful experience.]
And then the voice vanished. It seemed as though what they heard was just a joke.
Hopefully, it was.
But it wasn't, anyway.
Everyone started wailing in fear. The instance setting and mechanics scared the shit out of them. Just imagine beasts running after you, tearing your flesh, and eating you out like hungry wolves. Some people collapsed and dropped to the ground helplessly, failing to keep their resolve strong enough to stand on their own two legs.
Ren did not care about them. He only tilted his head up to think. "Human-like animals... Hmm." He suddenly had this urge to experiment on them. Also, the mechanics sound fun. They're going to play a game! An exciting one! He can't wait for it.
Another thought came into his mind.
"It said that the game starts at sunset... But it's past 11 p. m. now, though? Isn't that unfair?" he whispered in confusion, staring intently at his pocket watch.
Nonetheless, he decided to let the thought go as he noticed the bright red light drawing nearer to them. Others started crying louder and shivering at the sight of it.
Ren patiently waited for it to stop moving before turning his head towards the others. He was very excited to step forward, but getting the spotlight was never his thing, so he rooted his feet on the ground.
The fog finally dissipated and cleared out their surroundings. The soil was gray in color, as if they were stepping on ashes, making them feel goosebumps all over. There were no plants everywhere, nor was there any infrastructure. The sky was dark, with no sun, no moon, and no stars to lighten up the place. The only source of light they could get was from the black gate in front of them.
The black gate had red lamps on either side. It slowly opened with an eerie creak as a beautifully decorated and bright Paifang came into view. It was a traditional style of Chinese architectural arch or gateway structure.
Beyond the archway, Ren could see animals walking on their hind legs while roaming the streets of 'China Town'. The setting sun could be seen on the west side of the street. This prompted Ren to check his pocket watch. He stared at it with his whole attention as the pocket watch's hand reversed back to 5:00 p. m.
His eyes brightened with understanding. So, China Town's timeline is the only timeline that could be recognized by the clocks?
Ren glanced at the Paifang, which was erected from afar, patiently waiting for them to enter.
Actually, Ren couldn't wait for the passengers to enter too! Come on, he needs to have some fun ASAP!