CHAPTER 196: [THE INFINITE TRAIN] – DEGENERATE’S PART (6)

"Bang!"

The stillness of the night outside was shattered. A strong gust of wind billowed the curtain, sending the woman’s hat flying everywhere, her long hair in disarray. The wind howled chaotically, as if trying to rip the roof off the train carriage and escape into the night.

"AAAA! What are you doing?!"

The woman sitting by the window stared in disbelief at the person who had just opened it, screaming in terror.

She was merely an NPC. Even the sight of the ticket inspector had frightened her terribly, but these unfamiliar passengers were even more terrifying!

Not only had they forged tickets, but after being found out, were they actually planning to silence people? It was horrifying and completely unbelievable!

She immediately fled from her seat, not even daring to glance in that direction again.

The group of people with the wrong tickets all had bloodshot eyes. The esper suppressing the ticket inspector lifted him up and walked toward the wide-open window.

"Please comply with the train regulations... Please comply with the train regulations... Please comply with the train regulations..."

The ticket inspector was still repeating his words endlessly, but clearly no one else was listening. The mangled flesh on his body sagged, oozing into the esper’s hands before falling onto his head, covering his face even more grotesquely than the inspector himself.

"What goddamn regulations, you bastard?!"

The esper roared and lunged toward the window.

Just then, the ticket inspector suddenly changed his words:

"Detected passenger violating train regulations. Initiating punishment. Initiating punishment."

His voice, still mechanical and rigid, now grew hoarse and booming, gradually becoming louder and louder, until it seemed to generate soundwaves that forced everyone to cover their ears.

The esper staggered, unable to hold on, and threw the inspector aside. Clutching his bleeding ears with both hands, he writhed on the ground, twisting violently, leaving a large trail of blood.

At that moment, everyone finally realized that the source of the deafening sound wasn’t the ticket inspector—it was coming from outside the window. Mixed with the rumbling of the moving train, it was a resounding, echoing noise, like a wail rising straight from the depths of hell...

Those who had stood up to resist the inspector froze in place.

The rest focused their attention on the scene unfolding. Asta, gently swaying to soothe the child who wouldn’t stop crying, also glanced at Aurora. His gaze shifted toward the window—his expression calm, showing no fear, nor any intent to intervene.

Then, after that horrifying sound, pale white shadows suddenly began to sway in the darkness outside.

The white forms elongated, keeping pace with the train as they reached toward the open door. Dark, skeletal—turns out they were "human" hands. They stretched forward, trailing dust and ash. Some of the hands clung to the window panes, as if trying to pry them open...

"Close the window!"

Just a moment ago, they had been shouting to open it. Now, it was the same people screaming to close it.

But it was too late. The hands poured in through the open window like a flood. They swayed incessantly, as if searching for those who had violated the rules.

Suddenly, they all froze—then launched forward at terrifying speed!

This abrupt change caught everyone completely off guard. Before they could react, all those who had just attacked the ticket inspector were seized and subdued by the enormous hands.

"Damn it!"

Someone struggled violently. Among them was an esper with explosive destructive power. One could see a pitch-black hand suddenly turn ghostly white—then explode!

Fragments of the hand flew everywhere, striking some unaware civilians and NPCs. The largest shard pierced straight through the head of a nearby NPC.

Blood gushed. The NPC died where he sat, never even understanding how he died.

The esper managed to break free in a miserable state, but those dark hands weren’t about to let him go so easily. They surrounded him again. One hand seized him, and the others quickly piled on, layer upon layer, forming a mountain—then began to press inward, like a primitive, manual crushing machine.

Very quickly, blood began to ooze from between the fingers, mixed with torn flesh and fragments of organs.

When the hands finally pulled apart, a mangled, shriveled mass dropped from the air—bones shattered, flesh torn, with cloudy white and murky brown fluids leaking from various parts. The scene was horrifying, revolting—leaving everyone speechless. Before anyone could react, the stench of blood had already flooded the entire carriage.

"AAAAAa!" someone screamed hysterically. Others stood and fled instantly, caring little about what lay ahead—they had to escape, had to get out of here!

"Aaaaaaa! Help! Help me!"

But just as one person rushed into the next carriage, a piercing cry echoed back—another passenger had run from the neighboring car into theirs, and clearly, that carriage was just as far from safe.

This new arrival wasn’t stained with blood. In fact, she looked clean—except for her face, pale with terror. The blood vessels in her eyes had burst, and her hair was disheveled from fleeing. Like a headless fly, she ran in a blind panic. The moment she realized she’d reached another car and hadn’t yet celebrated her escape, a black hand suddenly gripped her. She only managed to scream a few words before she was crushed into a pile of flesh.

Her eyes, under the immense pressure, bulged out of her skull and rolled across the floor.

Clearly, those trying to escape to other parts of the train didn’t realize—chaos had already engulfed the entire train. There was no escape for anyone.

Some had begun to understand this. Their expressions grew heavier—but perhaps... it was not unexpected.

The stench of blood was thicker than ever. But by now, there were no more screams. No one ran anymore.

Everyone sat where they were. Some covered their mouths, sobbing. Others had broken mentally—their faces completely blank, frozen in numb silence.

When they realized that the hands only attacked those who broke the rules, they knew—they had no choice but to sit still.

Sure enough, the hands crushed all violators until it seemed only a thin layer of skin remained. Then, they dragged them off the train. Some hadn’t even been fully crushed—screaming, they clung desperately to the train floor. Their fingers scraped against it so hard that their nails wore down to the bone.

Smears of blood stretched across the carriage, all the way to the window. The sound of their screams echoed in everyone’s ears, turning the entire space into a vision of hell.

"Fake ticket detected. Please come with me."

At that moment, the ticket inspector stood up again. He acted as if he didn’t see the blood-soaked carriage, as if he hadn’t witnessed the grotesque hands moments ago. Rigid and mechanical, he simply continued with his job.