Chapter 70: Train Slut?

"…Pervert, how dare you touch me!"

A cold, raspy voice echoed in the subway, immediately drawing the attention of Amamiya and the others. 

Turning around, they saw the ghostly woman clutching the wrist of the bespectacled boy, her eyes brimming with blood and tears, seething with resentment.

It was Train Sekiro, a notorious spirit said to haunt subways and trains—a perverted ghostly figure. 

Humans truly are frightening creatures. Once they become perverted, even vengeful spirits aren't spared.

"I didn't! I swear, I didn't touch her!" Tomoya frantically denied, his face paling as he noticed the strange looks from the others. "I don't even like real girls, let alone evil spirits! I didn't touch her!"

"Maybe it was an accident?" Chika whispered.

In a horror game, sneaking up on vengeful spirits was not something an ordinary person could do, right?

The ghost, still gripping Tomoya's wrist, spoke icily, "If you didn't touch me, then why am I only grabbing you and not the others?"

"She's got a point," Umi, the grey haired girl, muttered, nodding absentmindedly.

Amamiya's expression turned slightly puzzled. Her reasoning made sense at first, but something about it felt eerily familiar. He stared at the scene for a moment until a notification appeared in front of him:

[Species: Female Boxer]

[A vengeful spirit who was once a boxing champion. Highly dangerous. Avoid debating with her.]

"Apologize to me, human," the ghost insisted, her gaze unrelenting.

With no other choice, Tomoya bowed his head slightly and muttered, "I'm sorry."

"So, you admit you did touch me?" The ghost's face twisted into a sly smile.

"I didn't!" Tomoya retorted, startled.

The ghost's voice turned colder, "If you didn't touch me, then why are you apologizing?"

Amamiya sighed. It seemed that whether dealing with human girls or female ghosts, irrationality was etched into their very souls. Forcing someone to apologize and then turning it against them was low—whether you were alive or dead.

Before Tomoya could respond, the ghost abruptly released him, her lips curling into a strange grin.

"I swear I didn't touch her!" Tomoya quickly backed away, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "I'm not interested in real girls. They're difficult, boring, and confusing. Two-dimensional girls are way cuter, and definitely easier to deal with!"

"Excuse me, what did you just say?" Umi shot back, her hand on her hip. "You think real girls aren't cute? That's because you've never met a truly cute girl."

"Exactly!" Chika chimed in, nodding vigorously. "Kaguya-chan is super cute."

"Are you serious?" Amamiya raised an eyebrow at Chika.

Was she really talking about Miss Kaguya? The cold, untouchable "Ice Princess"? Nobody at school thought she was cute—at least not openly.

But before the conversation could go any further, the subway suddenly shook with an eerie buzzing sound, and then, without warning, the lights went out, plunging the car into complete darkness.

"Hey, what just happened?" Chika's voice came through the blackness, trembling slightly.

Amamiya felt her hand groping around in the dark and silently took hold of it. With his free hand, he grabbed the rail and called out, "Don't panic. Does anyone have something to light the way?"

"You could use a phone…" Umi's voice answered. "Ah, wait, we can't bring phones into the game."

Suddenly, a strange vibrating noise echoed around them, followed by the unmistakable hiss of the subway doors opening.

Then, in the pitch-black, Tomoya's panicked shout rang out, "Something grabbed my leg!"

His voice was cut off abruptly.

Then, silence.

Moments later, the lights flickered back on.

The subway car returned to its familiar desolate state, the dim lights flickering as though nothing had happened. The eerie passengers remained still, silent, and unmoving.

"I almost died from fright!" Chika exhaled heavily, her face pale. "And... the boy is gone!"

"I saw it," Amamiya confirmed, scanning the subway car.

Tomoya Aki, the boy who proudly claimed he wasn't interested in real girls, had vanished. In horror games like this, disappearing without a trace usually meant one thing—he wouldn't be returning anytime soon.

"I heard the subway door open…" Umi murmured nervously. "Could the ghost have dragged him off?"

Amamiya glanced at the subway doors. "It's possible."

"I feel so bad," Chika muttered, her face ashen. "I wish we could've done something to help him."

"We couldn't see a thing," Amamiya replied, shaking his head. "There was nothing we could do."

The game's design had begun to reveal its limitations. As powerful as his abilities were, they required a visible target. If they couldn't see the enemy, they couldn't fight it.

"We should leave here," the timid girl suggested, her voice shaky. "It's not safe here."

"We need to check the driver's cabin again," Amamiya suggested. He had a theory he needed to confirm.

Leading the way, Amamiya headed towards the front of the train, the three girls following cautiously behind him.

But after walking for a while, they realized something strange.

"We're back where we started," Chika whispered nervously. "It's like the train is looping… Is this an infinite train?"

An infinite loop, where no matter how far they walked, they ended up back where they started.

Amamiya glanced at the subway's platform indicator and said, "The train stopped briefly when everything went dark."

"Really?" Chika looked up quickly. "There are still four stops left before we reach the final station, Kisaragi Station. Even if we want to stay on the train, we can't avoid…"

Her voice cut off with a sharp scream.

Amamiya spun around to see Chika's wrist caught in the grip of the ghostly woman once again.

The ghost, her eyes still streaming blood, smiled eerily, "Human, did you touch me?"

Her words hadn't changed.

"I didn't touch you!" Chika cried out, shaking her head vigorously.

This time, nobody doubted her. Unlike Tomoya, Chika wasn't the type to have any motive to act inappropriately, especially with a vengeful spirit.

"A-Amamiya-kun?" The pink-haired girl looked up at him, her eyes pleading for help.

With a sigh, Amamiya stepped forward, grabbed the ghost's wrist firmly, and asked, "You actually touched me?"