NOVEL NEXT – Chapter 2
[The following is the “Cutting, Cutting Station.”]
A cold mechanical sound echoed through the cabin.
Under the violet light emitted by the fluorescent lamps, a noisy announcement, like an old cassette tape being played, filled the air.
Yet, the meaning behind it was crystal clear. It was a trailer for the violence that was about to unfold.
A moment of silence, as if time had stopped. Then, a scream that seemed to tear through the eardrums.
The dwarfs began gouging out the eyes of the person sitting next to me. Their movements were precise, like seasoned craftsmen, as if they had been doing this for a long time.
A spoon-shaped tool, jagged like a saw blade, flashed as it dug into the eyeballs, splattering red blood and transparent eye fluid everywhere.
The liquid, gushing like a fountain, appeared black under the violet light.
A scene too realistic to be a dream.
The screams continued. They were too inhuman to be coming from a human mouth. It sounded like the screams of pigs in a slaughterhouse.
No, perhaps even more desperate. The sound of human suffering is more desperate than any animal’s scream.
The reactions of the other passengers varied. Most were frozen in fear, some burst into tears, while others wore expressions of resignation.
But no one tried to run. No, they couldn’t run. We were all tightly bound to our seats.
‘Soon, it will be my turn.’
Cold sweat trickled down my back.
Monkey dream.
A nightmare where, every time an announcement is made on the train, the passenger behind the narrator dies horribly, and eventually, it’s the narrator’s turn.
I remembered the first time I read this horror story. Late at night, lying in bed, reading it on my phone. Back then, I thought it was just an entertaining story.
But now it was different. That story had become a reality I had to face.
In my memory, the next step was “Mincing.”
I knew well that it was the dwarfs’ turn to grind my flesh with a strange machine.
The buzzing sound of the machine the dwarfs were holding grew louder and louder.
‘I need to get out of here.’
Cold sweat continued to pour. My palms were slippery with sweat, and my heart pounded as if it would burst.
Breathing became difficult. The lack of oxygen made it hard to breathe.
But my body was tightly bound to the chair. I couldn’t move. Like livestock being led to slaughter, I had to wait for my turn.
Various thoughts raced through my mind.
Is there no way to escape? Will someone save me?
But those hopeful thoughts quickly shattered. This is a dream. No one will save me. I had to get out on my own.
Then, a memory flashed in my mind.
‘Lucid dreaming…, that’s right. Kick!’
I suddenly remembered a document about lucid dreaming I had seen in the Horror Story Gallery. Among countless horror stories and urban legends, that one had particularly stuck with me.
To escape a dream, a strong shock is needed. Shooting yourself in the head, falling from a high place, getting hit by a train… Paradoxically, such shocks, which could lead to death in reality, are the key to escaping a dream.
When I read that document, it was out of mere curiosity. I never thought I’d actually use it.
But now, that knowledge was my only hope for survival.
However, I couldn’t even move. My limbs were tightly bound, and my body was fixed to the chair.
No gun, no way to jump, no extreme options available.
Time kept passing, and the dwarfs were getting closer.
[The following is the “Mincing, Mincing Station.”]
The cold mechanical sound rang out again. It was the signal that my turn had truly come.
The dwarfs approached. Their steps were slow but deliberate.
The machine in their hands buzzed ominously. The sound of sharp blades spinning rapidly.
The machine’s wind brushed against my face, tickling my skin. The fear of approaching death enveloped my entire body.
‘I can’t let this happen.’
In that moment, I made a decision.
To bite off my tongue.
It was the only way to escape the dream. The only part I could move was my mouth.
And it was also the only way to inflict the most intense pain. A choice I would never consider under normal circumstances, but now, it was the only way to survive.
‘One, two….’
I steadied my breath and clenched my teeth.
If this failed, it was truly the end.
As I bit down, the sensation on my tongue was vivid. For a moment, I hesitated.
But then, the sound of the dwarfs’ machine grew louder.
A split-second decision. I bit down hard. Pain shot through my entire body from the tip of my tongue. My mouth filled with hot blood. The taste of iron lingered on my tongue.
In that instant, everything went dark. The announcement echoed in my ears once more.
[Are you running away~? Next time you come, it will be the end~.]
* * *
When I opened my eyes, I was in the real subway. Unlike the violet light in the dream, white light illuminated the cabin.
But something was different. The atmosphere in the cabin was unlike any usual subway ride. A strange silence, as if time had stopped, filled the air.
Looking around, all the passengers were asleep. Deeply asleep, as if in a coma.
And some… were brutally murdered, just like in the dream.
Corpses with gouged-out eyes bleeding, bodies with flesh torn apart beyond recognition. Their blood pooled on the floor, forming small puddles.
The air in the cabin was unusually thick. It felt as if some strange substance was mixed in.
Every breath made my throat itch. And I could feel my consciousness fading.
‘Sleep gas…!’
I remembered the “Subway Sleep Gas” horror story I had read in the Horror Story Gallery yesterday. The gas supposedly sprayed by the police to suppress railway union strikes.
It sounded like a conspiracy theory, but now that the monkey dream horror story had become reality, there was no guarantee the sleep gas story wasn’t real too.
I quickly held my breath. I had already inhaled some gas, but I couldn’t afford to breathe more.
Feeling my consciousness fade, I forced myself to stay alert. If I fell back into the dream, I would die.
My trembling hand searched for the emergency hammer. Breaking the glass to let the gas out was the only way to survive.
The emergency hammer box, which I usually ignored, now felt like a lifeline. With shaky hands, I opened the red box and took out the hammer.
Bang!
The sound of glass shattering, and cold air rushed in. Shards of glass scattered everywhere. The thick air began to dissipate.
Just as I was about to sigh in relief—
A horrifying scene unfolded. The bodies of the passengers who hadn’t woken up began to be torn apart by something invisible.
Like being thrown into a giant blender, their bodies started to be crushed.
Blood splattered everywhere, flesh scattered. The sound of bones breaking, flesh tearing.
‘If I hadn’t escaped the dream….’
The thought that I could have ended up like that made me nauseous.
Bile rose to my throat. Struggling to hold back the urge to vomit, I thought about what I needed to do next.
As soon as the train arrived at the station, I grabbed a bottle of water and a handkerchief from my bag.
My hands were shaking so much that even opening the water bottle was difficult. After several attempts, I finally opened it and soaked the handkerchief. It was to protect myself from any sleep gas that might still be lingering in the station.
Covering my nose and mouth with the wet handkerchief, I desperately ran out. My steps were unsteady. Whether it was the effect of the sleep gas I had inhaled or just sheer terror, my legs wouldn’t cooperate. But I couldn’t stop.
Even as I ran, the sound of flesh tearing continued behind me.
But I didn’t look back. I didn’t have the courage. No, I instinctively knew I shouldn’t. I just kept running forward.
The subway station felt like a maze.
The familiar passages now felt alien. I ran aimlessly, losing all sense of direction. Not knowing where to go, I moved purely on instinct.
As I climbed the stairs, my breath became ragged. Breathing through the handkerchief wasn’t enough. But I couldn’t remove it. The thought that the station might still be filled with sleep gas made me clutch the handkerchief even tighter.
The sound of my footsteps echoed through the empty station. At this hour, the subway station, usually bustling with people, was now eerily deserted. The silence only amplified the terror.
Finally, as I completely left the station, a message arrived on my smartphone.
[You have successfully escaped the “Monkey Dream” horror story.]
[You have successfully escaped the “Subway Sleep Gas” horror story.]
[You have escaped the horror story the fastest.]
[You have been awarded 6,000 Dalant as a basic reward.]
+ 6,000D
[You have been awarded an additional 4,000 Dalant.]
+ 4,000D
…What is this?