The crow that crashed against the window seemed to press the switch for nightfall itself.
One moment, the faint glow of the snowy wilderness painted everything silver; the next, the world outside vanished into thick darkness.
Within just a few breaths, night swallowed the horizon whole.
The soft hum of the train's wheels became louder, echoing faintly through the long carriages as the cabin lights flickered on.
An orange glow filled the compartment, bringing a fragile sense of warmth to the cold metallic interior.
Passengers whispered nervously, while the rhythmic clatter of wheels beneath them continued without pause.
Natalie sat frozen in her seat, fear gripping her like a vice. Her mind couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
Why had the light vanished so suddenly? Why did the night feel so… alive?
Across from her, Lucas slowly stood and walked toward the window. His reflection flickered faintly against the glass, distorted by streaks of moisture and something else—something red.
He leaned closer, squinting.
"Blood?" he murmured.
The strange red smear ran down the outside of the glass, but when he tapped his system scanner, a line of text appeared in his vision:
[Blood on the window: No danger detected.]
The train's whistle suddenly shrieked through the night—long, drawn-out, and trembling with a strange echo.
Lucas frowned. The sound wasn't the same as before; it was deeper, heavier, and carried a faint, haunting tremor, as if another train were answering in the distance.
He pressed his right hand against his chest, sensing the strange vibration within.
"Another train…?" he muttered under his breath.
Moments later, a brilliant white light flared outside the window, cutting through the swirling snow.
The beam illuminated a massive steel body racing toward them from the opposite direction.
A second train—its silver frame glistening under the snowstorm.
[System scanning…]
[Generating risk assessment based on host's power level…]
[Entity: The Snow Express — Danger Level: Advanced]
Lucas's brows furrowed. The Snow Express was moving fast, but not so fast that he couldn't see inside as the two trains passed each other on parallel tracks.
Through the blur of motion and snowfall, Lucas's sharp eyes caught every detail—the same orange-yellow lights illuminated the interior of the other train, the same luxurious seats and velvet curtains, and yet… no one sat inside.
One carriage after another glided by, each lavishly decorated yet completely deserted.
"A luxury train… with no passengers?" Lucas whispered.
But just as the soft sleeper carriages came into view, something changed.
Inside one of the boxes—a compartment almost identical to theirs—a faint shadow stirred.
On the bed near the window, a figure was slowly materializing out of the darkness.
It was a man in a black tuxedo, sitting upright, holding a glass of red wine that shimmered faintly under the dim lights.
He appeared calm at first… until his eyes widened in horror.
He looked around frantically, mouth trembling, his gaze darting to every corner of his carriage.
Then, as his eyes landed on Lucas through the glass, his face twisted in terror.
The man lunged toward the window, slamming his palms against the glass.
Natalie gasped behind Lucas, clutching the edge of the seat.
The man's pale face pressed against the window, distorted by panic, lips opening and closing soundlessly. The red wine spilled from his glass, staining his tuxedo, but he didn't seem to notice. He kept banging on the glass as if begging for help.
[System scanning…]
[Generating risk assessment based on host's power level…]
[Passenger: Nicholas — Low-level danger]
"Passenger…" Lucas muttered quietly. His grip tightened on the sill as the two trains sped past one another.
Soon, the man's terrified face disappeared from view. The Snow Express continued to glide away into the snowy night, its lights fading like a dying ember.
Natalie's reflection trembled in the glass, her eyes wide and wet with fear.
"Lucas… that… that was the Ghost Express!" she stammered.
"Ghost Express?"
Natalie nodded quickly, her voice trembling as she explained.
"It only appears on snowy nights. When it crosses paths with another train, some of the passengers from the other train are randomly pulled into it. Those who see it… most of them never live to tell the tale."
The two trains were still crossing, their engines rumbling like thunder beneath the frozen sky.
Outside, the storm howled as more figures began appearing in the windows of the Ghost Express.
Lucas could see them clearly now—men, women, children—all slamming their hands against the glass in desperation. Their mouths moved silently, pleading for help that would never come.
One by one, more of them appeared, their faces twisted in panic and pain.
And as they appeared, the number of passengers in Lucas's own carriage began to thin.
Screams erupted down the corridor.
Doors slammed open, footsteps pounded, and the once-orderly train descended into chaos.
The overhead speaker crackled to life with the conductor's trembling voice.
"D-dear passengers, please remain calm and stay inside your compartments… Do not look outside the windows…"
But his words were swallowed by the noise.
Panic spread like wildfire. People ran through the aisles, crying, praying, some clawing at the doors, desperate to escape.
And yet, no one could leave.
The train kept moving. The Ghost Express kept following, carriage after carriage, its windows now filled with pleading faces.
Lucas's jaw tightened. He could feel the pull of something unnatural—like invisible fingers brushing at the edge of his mind.
"Random selection," he murmured. "There's a mechanism. Something decides who gets pulled in."
He looked at his own reflection.
"So far, I'm still here… that means the safest move is to stay still."
Then—crash!
A sudden sound behind him made him spin around.
Natalie had stumbled backward in panic, knocking a framed oil painting off the wall. The imitation artwork fell face-first onto the floor, the glass shattering beneath her heel.
She gasped, tears welling in her eyes. "It's not safe here! I can't— I can't stay!"
Before Lucas could stop her, she slid the compartment door open and stepped into the narrow hallway.
The moment she did, a chilling sound filled the air—like something inhaling sharply right behind her.
Natalie froze. Her breath caught in her throat.
A violent suction pulled at her from behind, her coat whipping backward as if dragged by invisible hands.
She tried to grab the doorframe, her fingers white with strain.
"Lucas!" she screamed.
Lucas's eyes widened as he saw her legs fade into translucence, the effect crawling upward inch by inch.
Her body was being erased.
"No, no! Why me?!" she cried, kicking wildly.
Lucas forced himself to stay calm, his mind spinning rapidly.
"Running must trigger the mechanism," he analyzed coldly. "Those who try to escape are the ones being taken."
He heard more screams from other compartments—some fading into nothing, others abruptly cut off.
Not everyone who screamed vanished. It wasn't random fear. It was the act of flight.
Natalie turned to him, her eyes full of tears, face twisted in desperate terror.
"Help me! Please, Lucas, don't let me die!"
Her voice broke.
And then, a familiar sound chimed in Lucas's head.
Ding—
[System prompt: Player Lucas has triggered a Hidden Mission.]
[Hidden Mission: Save Natalie.]
[Reward: Unknown.]
Lucas exhaled slowly. "Knew it," he said softly.
He stood up, his expression calm yet resolute, and reached for the bloody kitchen knife strapped to his side.
The blade shimmered faintly under the orange cabin light.
Outside, the Ghost Express roared past, its windows now filled with hundreds of ghostly faces watching silently—waiting.
The compartment lights flickered again, casting long, dancing shadows across the walls.
The temperature dropped sharply, frost forming on the edges of the glass. Every breath came out as mist.
Natalie's body was already half gone, her eyes pleading as she clung to the frame with the last of her strength.
"Lucas! Please! I don't want to die!"
He tightened his grip on the knife, mind racing.
The Ghost Express fed on fear—on motion, perhaps even on despair itself. To break its link, he needed to act fast.
He glanced once more at the shattered painting on the floor.
Behind the cracked glass, something shimmered faintly—a small sigil, carved into the wooden frame. A curse mark. A trigger.
"So that's it…" he muttered. "This whole carriage is a part of the mechanism."
He knelt, pressing his hand over the faint mark.
"Cancel," he whispered.
A surge of energy burst outward, the lights dimming, and the invisible suction pulling at Natalie began to weaken.
She gasped, collapsing onto the floor, trembling uncontrollably.
The orange lights flickered once more—and outside, the Ghost Express began to fade into the storm, its endless carriages slowly swallowed by the snow.
For a moment, silence reigned.
Then, the conductor's voice returned through the intercom, shaky but audible.
"D-dear passengers… we seem to have passed the interference zone. Please, remain calm. The emergency is… over."
Lucas slowly stood up, exhaling deeply. He glanced out the window again—only the swirling snow remained.
Natalie sat huddled on the floor, crying silently, her body still trembling from what she had felt.
Lucas crouched down beside her and said softly, "It's gone. You're safe… for now."
But even as he said it, he knew better.
The Ghost Express wasn't just a myth—it was a warning.
Something in this frozen world was watching, waiting for the next crossing.
He sheathed his knife, the faint bloodstains gleaming under the cabin lights, and muttered under his breath:
"Next time… I'll be ready."
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