Chapter 48 – Abandon Fixed Notions

I froze.

“…A ticket?”

Yuri and Luna both looked at me.

Anemone’s smile was playful, yet edged with something sharp.

“Indeed. Doesn’t one need a ticket to board a train?”

She flicked a finger.

Click.

The station’s dim lights flickered again. The space itself seemed to blur, like an old film momentarily losing focus.

I steadied my breath. “So, if we had boarded the train…?”

“Oppa, you didn’t have tickets, did you? I suppose fare-dodging still counts as riding…”

Ugh. I hadn’t considered that at all.

I’d assumed boarding the train was the choice itself.

But it required something more.

Yuri’s voice was tight with anxiety. “What happens to those without tickets?”

Anemone chuckled, tapping a fingertip on the table. “A ticket shows the departure point and the destination.”

She gestured airily. “But would you board without knowing the destination?”

My mouth snapped shut.

“That’s… a valid point.”

We’d only debated whether to board.

We hadn’t considered where the train was going.

Realization dawned on Yuri’s face. “Then, that train’s destination…”

Anemone smiled faintly, crossing her legs. “Aren’t you trying to reach the floor below, Older brothers and sister?”

“…Right.”

We needed to reach the 11th floor. That was the whole point of our descent.

Anemone tilted her head, a sly amusement in her eyes. “And are you certain the train stops at the 11th floor?”

Her question wasn’t a mere jest.

We sought a way to the 11th floor.

But there was no guarantee this train was it.

“You’re saying… if we’d boarded, we’d have ended up somewhere far stranger.”

“Precisely, Oppa. A parting piece of advice: Abandon the notion that the Abyss only descends.”

Abandon that notion.

Here, the ingrained belief was that the Abyss meant going down.

Deeper, ever deeper—

But was that the only direction?

Anemone giggled. “Must movement always be vertical? The Abyss stretches horizontally as well.”

I considered her words.

“Horizontal movement…?”

Then the train wasn’t headed simply ‘downward’—

“…A different path within the Abyss.”

Yuri murmured.

Anemone chuckled, setting down her teacup. “Indeed. Though beyond this station, my domain ends, and your survival is no longer my concern.”

Luna’s small voice tugged at my sleeve. “Noah, then… we were right not to board?”

I paused.

I still couldn’t be certain whether the train was the wrong path.

But given Anemone’s words and our clues—

That train wasn’t simply bound for the 11th floor.

“Yes. It wouldn’t have led where we intended.”

Anemone smiled, pleased. “Good. You still have a chance to descend.”

She lowered her voice, a whisper against the rim of her cup. “Though the deeper you go, the harder it becomes…”

Her violet eyes shimmered. “Such is the Abyss.”

Luna gazed at Anemone, her grip tightening on my sleeve, but her eyes unwavering. “…Then, Mone,” she said, her voice small yet firm, “can you give us a ticket?”

Anemone’s hand paused over her teacup. Her violet eyes widened slightly. “A ticket? Me?”

She narrowed her eyes, a thin smile playing on her lips. “Why would you ask such a thing?”

Luna hesitated, then spoke with newfound resolve. “Arka said so.”

“…Arka?”

Anemone’s eyebrows rose in apparent interest.

“Arka’s story mentioned someone in uniform providing tickets.”

At those words, Anemone’s expression flickered—

a fleeting shift, quickly masked. She shrugged playfully. “Hmm… well. My answer is no!”

“Knew you’d say that, Anemone. You’d never just hand one over.”

“Don’t be so cruel, Oppa.” Her voice was light, but an undercurrent of steel ran through it. “Passengers bring their own tickets.”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I can validate a ticket if you present one.” She gestured vaguely with a finger. “But I don’t provide them.”

Yuri sighed in exasperation. “So we have to find them ourselves?”

“Precisely! Those are this station’s rules.”

To board the train, we needed to acquire a ticket ourselves.

Then where had the others who’d just departed obtained theirs?

And had that religious group failed to find any?

“Where can we find a ticket?”

“Now why would I tell you that? Don’t be so entitled.”

“You’re so stingy. Just a little hint wouldn’t hurt.”

“I think not. Finding it is your task, isn’t it?”

Anemone, after observing my reaction with amusement, smiled and rose gracefully.

“Well, I’ll be taking my leave.”

“…What?”

I started to reach for her, but she merely smiled, flicking my forehead lightly with a fingertip.

Ting—

The touch was feather-light, yet it felt as though the air itself rippled.

“I shall observe the choices you make.”

A faint luminescence enveloped her, and her form began to dissipate like mist.

Her silhouette blurred, her being dissolving into vapor.

That playful smile never left her face.

Her final words echoed through the station. “Will you find a ticket?”

“Or will you seek another way, like the religious group?”

Her voice faded into the station’s emptiness.

The platform, desolate after the train’s departure.

From its center, she whispered, a faint smile in her voice. “How very intriguing…”

Then, she vanished completely.

I clenched my jaw, staring at the empty space she’d occupied.

Her words, though playful, carried a weight that couldn’t be ignored.

Yuri tapped her foot, muttering, “Seriously… infuriating personality.”

“…She said she’s watching, Noah.”

Luna’s words made me draw a sharp breath.

Watching. She wanted to know our choice.

What we would decide, what path we would take—

She wanted to observe the process itself.

I rubbed my forehead, the spot where Anemone’s finger had rested still tingling.

A light touch, yet it lingered strangely.

A sense of something obstructing our path.

“…Should we find a ticket?”

The path of the train.

Or—

“Like the religious group, should we seek another way?”

We stood at a crossroads.

Train Station Mid-Investigation Record

(Written by: Noah / Additional Notes: Yuri, Luna)

1. Those Who Didn’t Board

Those who didn’t board formed a religious group, seeking an alternate means of survival.

Why didn’t they board?

→ Lack of a ticket?

→ Danger perceived?

→ A superior alternative discovered?

Yuri: But was it truly survival? If they lived, we wouldn’t see their afterimages. Maybe they went mad.

Luna: But being left behind and going mad aren’t the same. Maybe they exist here in their own way.

2. Tickets Required

We didn’t have tickets. Anemone stated tickets are mandatory.

Could we have boarded with a ticket?

Yuri: The question isn’t boarding, but whether tickets were even attainable for us in the first place.

Luna: We never had a ticket. Does that mean those without are barred from boarding?

3. The Choice of Those Who Remained

Remaining implies seeking survival within the Abyss.

But Anemone’s tone suggests their “method” may not be beneficial to us.

They were, notably, a deeply religious group.

Was their way survival, or another form of ruin?

Yuri: This is unsettling. What’s the right answer?

Luna: They were probably just trying to survive. But the result is what we see.

4. Haliminyo’s Evolution

Haliminyo is continuously updated and changing.

It’s a living narrative, not a static record. The Abyss is not frozen in time; it evolves.

Yuri: Then who writes it? Whose story is this?

5. A Fortunate Decision

Not boarding the train proved correct.

What became of those who did board?

→ Their fate needs investigation.

Yuri: A good choice, huh? So are they dead or just worse off?

Luna: Maybe they just went elsewhere? We don’t know the train’s destination.

6. Ticket Acquisition

Tickets are essential for boarding.

We’ve never possessed one.

Is boarding impossible without one?

How are tickets acquired?

Yuri: So we can board with a ticket. The problem is how to get one.

Luna: Do tickets even exist? Or must we offer something in exchange…?

Conclusion

Noah: Enough with the historian act. We need to decide on our path. Rash choices lead to regret.

Yuri: Let’s investigate further. Decisions can wait.

Luna: Yes, let’s not rush. We have time.