Chapter 1
"Ah... I'm dying..."
A terrible fatigue was crushing my shoulders.
It was because I'd been pulling consecutive all-nighters for days thanks to all that talk of downsizing and cutbacks.
While waiting for the train, I flopped down on a bench in a corner of the platform.
An announcement came over the speakers saying the train was delayed for some reason.
'Right, since it's delayed anyway, let's just catch a quick ten-minute nap.'
That was the start of the problem.
My drooping eyelids were as heavy as lead, and even the noisy crowd around me sounded like a lullaby.
In the end, I slept far too long.
Without even realizing how the world was changing.
***
"...Brr, it's cold..."
A miserable chill wrapped around my whole body.
I unconsciously pulled my collar closed and sat up.
My neck was stiff.
How long had I been asleep? Had the last train already stopped running?
When I opened my eyes again.
Something was strange.
"...Seriously, how long did I sleep?"
It was dark and silent.
The station was deathly silent, and all I could see was pitch-black darkness.
Only a few emergency exit lights were giving off a faint green glow; the ceiling and the screen doors were all dead.
"I slept that long?"
I guess I really was exhausted.
I rummaged through my pocket for my smartphone.
"Ugh."
[2:14 AM]
The moment I turned on the screen, a blinding light sliced through the darkness.
But before I could even check the time, the red alert pop-ups filling the lock screen hijacked my attention.
[Emergency Alert]
[Ministry of the Interior and Safety] Unidentified lifeforms have appeared nationwide. Please refrain from going outside and immediately lock your doors and wait indoors. Military forces are on the move.
[Emergency Alert]
[Ministry of National Defense] The communications network is currently unstable. Survivors, do not make any noise and hide in a safe place. Wait for rescue.
"...What the hell."
Sleep vanished in an instant.
Unidentified lifeforms? Military forces?
I wondered if it was some kind of hidden-camera prank, but the disaster alerts were still piling up in real time.
I opened the internet community I usually only lurked on.
The trending posts on the main page were already a total mess.
---
[Title : Look outside my window lol. Are they filming a movie?]
I checked because there'd been screaming and chaos outside for a while, and some damn monsters were out there tearing people apart; it was so realistic I got goosebumps. Even if this were a movie shoot, wouldn't people report it if it looked this real?
---
[Title : Situation at Seoul Station.jpg]
(Photo of the station interior covered in blood)
Everyone who came to catch the KTX is trapped. The soldiers were blocking the way, but they said it got breached so I'm moving. Ah, shit, I should've bought a slightly earlier ticket.
---
[Title : Where are you guys right now]
Don't come out of the house, seriously. If you don't want to die, lock the door and close the curtains. And humor me and shout "status window" out loud. Seriously.
I've got some useless skill so I think I'm going to be done for soon, but I hope you guys are lucky.
---
With every scroll, the tips of my fingers grew colder.
The world was already in complete chaos.
Monsters, beasts, zombies, doom. Unreal words were plastered all over the screen.
"Did everyone take drugs or something...?"
I couldn't believe it, but these weren't posts from just one or two people, and there were emergency alerts too, so it was hard not to believe it.
I lifted my head.
I turned on my phone flashlight and shone it around.
The familiar station platform floor.
Though I couldn't see it in the dark, there was a bag someone had apparently dropped while fleeing in a hurry, and a long trail of dark red stains that looked like blood.
"..."
I hadn't known because it was dark, but the situation around me didn't seem normal either.
That was when it happened.
From beyond the darkness, near the ticket gates, the growling of a beast came drifting over.
"Hup."
I turned off my phone and slowly got to my feet, holding my breath.
First I had to get away from that ominous beast sound.
Click.
"Shit—"
The sound of an empty can underfoot echoed loudly through the darkness.
Who the hell left an empty can in a place like this—
Goosebumps prickled all the way down my spine.
Instinctively, I turned my head and looked toward the ticket gates.
"Woof!"
Two crimson eyes flashed in the darkness.
And after barking once at me, it leaped toward me at insane speed.
Clack! Clack-clack!
"Damn it!"
I didn't even have time to think.
I ran straight for the far side, away from it as fast as I could.
But there was no way to outrun that monster on human legs.
The sound kept getting closer and closer.
A gust of air carrying the stench of rot hit my back.
'I'm going to die.'
The moment death was right at my doorstep, that post I had seen earlier flashed through my mind.
The one telling me to try shouting the status window, even if only as a joke.
I was desperate enough to grab at any straw.
"S-Status window!!"
Ding!
Like a lie, a translucent blue window floated up before my eyes.
[Name : Kang Hyun-woo]
[Skill : Train Summon(Lv.1)]
"T-train summon?"
The instant I read the skill, the method of use was hammered into my head by instinct.
I changed direction mid-run and reached my hand toward the tracks.
It was just before the monster's claws grazed my back.
"Appear! Train!"
Rumble-rumble-rumble—!
Boom!!
The air ripped apart, and with a thunderous roar, something dropped onto the tracks.
It wasn't a flashy KTX, nor a hulking freight train.
It was a shabby one-car train, so rusted it looked like it should be scrapped immediately.
"Damn it!"
I didn't have time to complain.
I leaped down onto the tracks and hurled myself through the open doorway.
The moment I rolled onto the floor, I sprang up and yanked at the door like a maniac.
Kikikik!
"Close! Close! Please!"
It was useless.
The rusty door wouldn't budge, and outside the open doorway the monster was climbing up, drooling.
Our eyes met.
Then, from the train's internal speaker, a crackling announcement flowed out.
[Fuel is required to activate the train.]
[The more valuable the item you pay with from among your possessions, the higher the train's grade will rise.]
[What will you pay?]
The monster had crossed over the platform edge and was trying to thrust its upper body into the train.
I could see saliva dripping from its sharp teeth.
I backed away from the door, dodging the creature's maw, and screamed in fury.
"Take it! Take whatever you want, just take it!"
[Approved.]
With a mechanical voice, the world flashed white.
[Among the passenger's possessions, masculinity—an item of high potential value—will be collected.]
[In compensation, body reconstruction and train upgrades will proceed.]
"What?"
Masculinity? What did you just say?
Before I could even question it, a searing pain came, twisting my entire body as if it were being wrung out.
For a moment, I thought I'd been bitten by the monster.
"Aaaagh!!"
Pain as though my bones were being ground down and my muscles were melting washed my vision red.
A scorching heat wrapped around my entire body.
My field of view sank lower, and the uniform I was wearing instantly loosened and slid down.
At the same time—
Crash—!
The open door slammed shut with a deafening crash.
The monster's sharp claws, lunging in surprise, bounced off the door.
"Haa, haa."
I braced myself on the floor with trembling hands and got to my feet.
The agony had been short, but brutal.
The hand I had braced on the floor felt strangely unfamiliar.
It wasn't my rough, calloused hand.
I slowly stood and looked at the monster beyond the closed door.
And at the same time, I saw it.
My reflection in the glass was no longer the man Kang Hyun-woo.
A white collarbone peeking out from a baggy shirt, a smaller face, and black bobbed hair.
"What the..."
The voice that came out of my mouth was clear and bright, a woman's voice.
***
Clunk, clunk.
With a soft vibration, the train began sliding forward.
Outside the window, the station I had been standing in just moments ago, and the grotesque shape clawing at the glass, quickly receded.
Only after the station disappeared completely into the darkness did I finally let out the breath I'd been holding.
The train was running through the night streets.
"Haa... I'm alive."
Once the tension left me, the strength drained from my legs.
I sat on the floor and stared blankly into space.
The relief of surviving lasted only a moment; the cool air slipping through my loosened collar made me realize the reality of it.
'...I need to check.'
I picked up the smartphone lying on the floor with trembling hands.
Luckily, the screen wasn't cracked.
I opened the camera app and switched to selfie mode.
What reflected on the screen was not my familiar face.
"This is... me?"
Glossy black hair, skin so pale it was almost flawless.
And a slightly fuller bust.
"They said to offer up something precious as fuel..."
To move the train, I had to sacrifice the part of me that was male.
It saved my life, though—
Bitterness and disbelief mingled.
Either way, it seemed I'd have to live on in this body from now on.
I stuffed my phone into my pocket and stood up.
It was time to look over the train.
The first time I'd seen it, it had clearly been a heap of scrap on the verge of being sent to the junkyard, but after I offered up fuel, the interior was a completely different story.
"Whoa... what is this."
Before I knew it, the floor was covered in plush, top-grade carpet, and the walls were finished in wood, lit by soft mood lighting.
There was a comfortable-looking leather sofa and a table, and on one side even a small bar and a bed had been installed.
They'd packed everything neatly into this one car.
Then, once again, an announcement rang out in the air.
[For the passenger's convenience, the interior has been set to Luxury Living Mode.]
[This is the current default setting. You can freely change the interior layout and facilities according to the passenger's taste.]
"I can change it?"
As if bewitched, I walked to the very front of the train.
There, a sleek desk that made me think of a cockpit and a translucent holographic screen were floating.
On the screen, along with the train's current status, various menus were displayed as icons.
[Operation Mode]
[Defense System]
[Interior Customization]
I carefully touched the Interior Customization button.
Then the screen changed, and options appeared for everything from furniture arrangement to carpet and lighting brightness, and even, though there were conditions, an option to expand the train car further.
"Oh..."
I had my own moving train in the apocalypse.