"Eh, wait—why was I suddenly pulled into the game?"
Chika exclaimed in surprise, hurriedly clutching the corner of Amamiya's sleeve. She nervously glanced around. "Where's Kaguya-chan? Why isn't she with us?"
"It seems we triggered a special event. Shinomiya-san didn't get pulled into the game."
Amamiya responded in a calm tone, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings. Any lingering drowsiness from before had vanished completely.
In the blink of an eye, the once-crowded subway had become deserted, its atmosphere unsettlingly quiet.
The air turned icy.
The lights dimmed into a sickly pale hue.
The only sound was the low hum of the subway car and the faint shuffling of the few remaining passengers.
Most of the passengers sat with their heads bowed, their skin unnaturally pale, and their expressions rigid, as if they hadn't noticed the shift in the environment. They were clearly vengeful spirits.
On the floor nearby, the body of a middle-aged office worker lay in a pool of blood, suggesting a violent struggle. It was a gruesome sight.
"I heard it too—something about a 'Midnight Subway'... Wait, what? It's not even 8 o'clock yet," Chika grumbled under her breath. "Why is it called the Midnight Subway?"
"Uh, excuse me, are you guys players too?"
A timid voice interrupted them as a girl in a school uniform cautiously approached, her voice low.
Amamiya glanced at her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. She was, without a doubt, another player.
"Yes, we're players," Chika quickly confirmed. "Were you also suddenly pulled into the game?"
"...What do you mean?" the girl asked, her confusion evident.
"We're just sitting on the subway when we were dragged into this game."
"Sorry, no," the girl continued, frowning. "I was doing homework at home when it happened..."
"Eh?" Chika blinked in surprise, then looked at Amamiya. "What's going on?"
Amamiya thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion.
"Looks like the others were pulled into the game for a mandatory mission, but we two were just unlucky enough to be riding the subway and accidentally got dragged in."
It had only been a day or two since his last game session, so it didn't make sense for him to be chosen again so soon. He could only chalk it up to sheer bad luck.
Humans naturally seek out company in times of distress, and soon, two more players approached them.
One of them was a tall, well-developed girl with waist-length grey hair. She wore an unusual black outfit—a maid headpiece, a black choker around her neck, and even a tongue piercing. Her look screamed "gyaru girl." However, her manner of introducing herself was unexpectedly polite.
"Hi everyone, I'm Umi Kitagawa, and I've played the game twice before. Nice to meet you."
Despite her flashy appearance, her politeness was surprising.
"Um, why are you wearing those clothes?" Chika asked curiously. "Is it a powerful in-game item?"
"No, it's not an item." Umi coughed, a bit embarrassed. "It's the costume of a game character I really like. I got a sudden game summon and only had ten seconds to prepare, so I didn't have time to change."
"Ah, I see. Ten seconds isn't long enough." Chika nodded. "I suppose if someone were summoned while in the shower, they'd be in big trouble."
"Not really," another girl whispered. "It seems that only your consciousness enters the game, not your physical body. Even if you're taking a shower, the clothes you wear most often will automatically appear on you."
Upon hearing this, Amamiya glanced at the girl who spoke. She seemed very familiar with the system... Could this be from personal experience?
The final player in their group was an otaku with disheveled hair and glasses. He held a figurine of 'Sword Art Online''s Alice in a swimsuit.
"My name is Aki Tomoya. I had just returned home from my part-time job and was organizing my figurines when I was suddenly summoned into the game."
After exchanging introductions, they realized that all of them had only played the game twice before. No veteran players were in sight.
This raised the possibility that they were still at the early stages of the horror game.
Of course, it was also possible someone was intentionally hiding information.
"The task given to me by the game is simple—survive until the subway reaches the final station," Umi explained, using her right hand to awkwardly cover her ample chest. The hot girl clearly had a figure that could rival ten Miss Kaguyas. "...What about you guys?"
"Same here," Tomoya nodded quickly.
"The final station..." Chika pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Is it Shinjuku?"
"Not anymore," Amamiya said, pointing to the subway's indicator board.
The players looked up and saw that the indicator lights were now flashing red and dripping with blood. Some station names were scrambled into unreadable symbols, but one destination was clear.
'Kisaragi Station'.
"K-Kisaragi Station?!"
Tomoya stammered in panic.
As one of the most notorious supernatural phenomena of the modern era, Kisaragi Station was infamous. Its popularity even exceeded that of the Woman with the Slit Mouth or Hanako of the Toilet.
According to legend, those who disembarked at Kisaragi Station would be trapped forever, unable to return to the real world.
Seeing the station's name made the players tense up. After all, they were still inexperienced and couldn't remain calm.
"Amamiya-kun, what should we do now?" Chika asked nervously.
Despite her impressive abilities, they were useless without a clear target. For now, they had no idea where their enemy might be.
Amamiya pondered the situation before offering a suggestion.
"This is a game, so there has to be a way to beat it. We can't just wait for death. We need to act and search for clues."
The group quickly agreed.
"There's an emergency brake button on the train," Umi suggested. "Should we try it?"
"Let's give it a shot," Amamiya replied.
A moment later...
"It didn't work," Umi reported, disappointment evident on her face. "Of course, it wasn't going to be that simple."
"How about we check the driver's cabin?" another girl suggested. "Maybe we can stop the train manually."
"Let's go."
Carefully, they maneuvered around the body of the office worker and made their way toward the driver's cabin.
As they moved between train cars, they noticed something eerie—the subway had become completely deserted. No players, no spirits, just bloody handprints smeared on the windows and dim, flickering lights.
After walking for a while, Chika suddenly perked up. "I think I see someone ahead!"
Amamiya narrowed his eyes. "You're mistaken. That's not a person."
As they got closer, the group's anxiety skyrocketed.
"Wait, what's going on?"
"Why are we back here?"
To their horror, the scene in front of them was identical to the one they had just left. The middle-aged office worker's body lay in the exact same position, his briefcase still scattered on the floor. Nothing had changed.
"This is impossible!" Tomoya exclaimed. "We were moving forward, so how did we end up back here?"
Suddenly, a vengeful spirit with its head down grabbed Tomoya's wrist. A hoarse voice followed:
"...Pervert, how dare you touch me!"