"Alright, let's go," Natsuki said, following the ponytailed girl to the gymnasium. Several girls were practicing volleyball, sweat glistening on their skin.
Natsuki quickly spotted Asuka's friend - she was the only one surrounded by evil spirits.
"There are actually several spirits," Chika whispered, her eyes wide. "How creepy."
Multiple spirits, all resembling middle-aged men, clung to the girl's body. Some wrapped around her waist, others gripped her neck. It was an unsettling sight.
"It's pretty scary," Asuka admitted, biting her lip. "I can't even join practice now. I keep saying I'm not feeling well."
Chika tilted her head. "Why is your friend being haunted?"
Asuka remained silent, averting her eyes.
"Don't ask," Natsuki murmured. "It's not our business."
He'd observed that spirits either wandered aimlessly or latched onto specific people. These particular ghosts seemed fixated on the girl, suggesting some kind of connection.
Natsuki activated his spirit-repelling ability. The ghosts vanished with reluctant wails.
Asuka sighed in relief, looking at Natsuki with newfound respect. He was the first person she'd met who could actually banish spirits!
Afterward, Asuka invited them to Chinatown for a meal. Natsuki agreed, and they spent the evening eating and chatting.
At 7:30 PM, they said goodbye to the ponytailed girl and took the subway back to Tokyo.
"Chinese food is the best," Chika declared, patting her stomach contentedly. "It's super delicious!"
Natsuki nodded. "Yeah, it was really good."
"If life could always be like this - no game, no spirits - it'd be perfect," Chika sighed dreamily.
Natsuki thought to himself, "You're easily satisfied, aren't you? Lots of people are waiting for you to become the first female prime minister!"
Suddenly, Natsuki's vision blurred. The crowded subway car emptied in an instant, the lighting turning cold and pale.
A familiar, chilling voice echoed in his mind: "The special event 'Midnight Subway' has been triggered. Good luck to all players."
Natsuki turned to Chika with a deadpan expression. "... You just had to jinx it."
"Wait, what? Why are we suddenly in the game?" Chika yelped, grabbing Natsuki's sleeve and looking around nervously. "Where's Kaguya? Why isn't she with us?"
"Looks like we triggered a special event. Kaguya didn't get pulled in," Natsuki replied quietly, his eyes scanning their surroundings. Any trace of sleepiness had vanished.
In the blink of an eye, the crowded subway car had become eerily empty. The air felt chilly, and the lighting was sickly pale. The only sounds were the subway's hum and a few remaining passengers.
Most of those passengers had their heads down, skin pale and expressions frozen. They clearly hadn't noticed the change – obviously vengeful spirits. A middle-aged office worker's body lay on the floor, surrounded by blood. It was a gruesome sight.
"I heard it too – 'Midnight Subway,' right? But it's not even 8 PM!" Chika complained under her breath. "Why call it that?"
"Um, are you guys players too?" A girl in a school uniform approached cautiously.
Natsuki noted the dark circles under her eyes. Definitely a player.
"We are," Chika nodded quickly. "Did you get suddenly pulled in too?"
"What do you mean?" the girl asked, confused. "I was just doing homework at home..."
"Huh?" Chika looked up at Natsuki. "What's going on?"
Natsuki thought for a moment. "Others are on mandatory missions. We're the unlucky ones who happened to be on the subway and got pulled in by accident."
Soon, two more players joined their group. One was a tall, curvy blonde in an eye-catching black outfit – maid headpiece, collar, even a tongue stud. Despite her provocative appearance, she introduced herself politely:
"Hi everyone, I'm Umi Kitagawa. This is my third time playing. Thanks for having me."
Chika whispered to Natsuki, "She looks like a total party girl, but she's surprisingly polite!"
Natsuki nodded slightly, then addressed the group. "Alright, let's focus. We need to figure out the rules of this 'Midnight Subway' and how to survive it."
"Hey, what's with that outfit?" Chika asked Umi curiously. "Is it some kind of powerful game item?"
Umi coughed, looking a bit embarrassed. "No, I made it myself. It's a cosplay of a character I like. I only had ten seconds to prepare when I got the game notification, so I couldn't change."
"Ten seconds? That's rough," Chika mused. "What if someone was in the shower?"
Another girl chimed in quietly, "I think only our consciousness enters the game, not our physical bodies. You'd probably appear in whatever clothes you wear most often."
Natsuki glanced at the girl, wondering if she was speaking from experience.
The last player to introduce himself was a disheveled otaku with glasses, clutching a swimsuit figurine. "I'm Aki Tomoya. I just got home from my part-time job and was organizing my figures when I got pulled in."
As they exchanged information, they realized they'd all completed two games before. No veterans in sight.
"The game told me to survive until the subway reaches the last station," Umi said, trying to cover herself a bit. Her figure could put ten Kaguyas to shame. "What about you guys?"
"Same here," Aki nodded quickly.
"The last station..." Chika thought for a moment. "Is it Shinjuku?"
"Not anymore," Natsuki said, pointing at the subway's display.
They all looked up. The indicators were flashing red, covered in blood. Most station names were garbled, except for the final destination: Kisaragi Station.
"K-Kisaragi Station?!" Aki stammered, panic in his voice.
Everyone tensed up. Kisaragi Station was infamous - one of the top ten modern urban legends. Supposedly, anyone who got off there could never return to the real world.
Natsuki took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool. "Alright, let's not panic. We need to focus on surviving until we reach Kisaragi Station. Any ideas on what dangers we might face?"
Chika bit her lip nervously. "In the stories, people disappear on the way there, right? Maybe we need to watch out for... things trying to lure us off the train?"
"Good thinking," Natsuki nodded. "Let's stick together and keep an eye on each other. No one leaves this car without the group, got it?"
The others nodded, grateful for some direction. Natsuki glanced around the eerie subway car, steeling himself for whatever horrors might come their way.
"Natsuki, what should we do now?" Chika asked nervously.
Natsuki thought for a moment. "This is a game, so there must be a way to beat it. We can't just sit here waiting for death. Let's look for clues."
Everyone quickly agreed.
Umi suggested, "There are emergency brake buttons. Should we try those?"
Natsuki nodded. "Worth a shot."
A moment later, Umi returned disappointed. "No luck. It's not that simple."
Another player proposed, "What about the driver's cabin? We might be able to brake mechanically from there."
"Good idea. Let's check it out," Natsuki agreed.
They carefully made their way past the office worker's body and into the next car. It was eerily empty, with only bloody handprints on the windows and dimming lights.
After walking for what felt like ages, Chika perked up. "I think I see someone ahead!"
Natsuki squinted. "That's not a person."
As they got closer, panic set in. They were back where they started – same car, same body on the floor.
"How is this possible?" Aki exclaimed. "We were going forward!"
Suddenly, a ghostly woman grabbed Aki's wrist. Her voice was chilling:
"...Pervert, you touched me!"
Natsuki tensed. He recognized this as a "Train Molester" - a vengeful spirit known to haunt subways. He hadn't expected to see one in this game.
"I didn't! I swear!" Aki protested, noticing everyone's skeptical looks. "I'm not into 3D girls, let alone ghosts! I never touched her!"
"Maybe it was an accident?" Chika whispered.
Natsuki shook his head. "In a horror game, accidentally touching a spirit seems unlikely."
He turned to Aki, his voice firm but not accusatory. "Aki, think carefully. Did you bump into anything when we entered this car?"
Aki's face paled as he thought back. "I... I might have brushed against something when we first came in. But I didn't think..."
"It's okay," Natsuki interrupted. "What's done is done. Now we need to figure out how to deal with this spirit."
He looked at the vengeful woman, trying to recall any folklore about appeasing train spirits. "Everyone, stay calm. Let's think this through logically. There has to be a way to resolve this without violence."