WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
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◈ How to Rewrite Ghost Stories ◈
Episode 55: Geochilsan Express Train (1)
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[Want to earn a little spending money?]
A text arrived out of nowhere, not even through a messenger app. It was from Section Chief Seon-u In.
‘If he calls it spending money, it must involve experiencing a ghost story.’
“What do you think, Hertz?”
When I held my phone to the radio, a small voice rippled in visible waves.
“An interesting proposal. Though I cannot see its color.”
“It must be because it doesn't say what ghost story it is. Hmm. Should I ask?”
[Will I have to go far?]
[No. It starts in Seoul and ends in Seoul. We might go elsewhere if something happens, but as long as it's connected by rail, it'll be fine.]
[It sounds like a train-related ghost story. Will it take long?]
[Sharp as always. That's right. It's a special investigation into a train Distortion. Our average recording time is around three hours, and the farthest we'd go is Busan.]
[Could you tell me what kind of Distortion it is?]
[Can't do that. If you know beforehand, you can't enter. If you're in, come to the train-station side of Seoul Station by 3 p.m. the day after tomorrow.]
Since he had specifically mentioned the train station, maybe it was different from a subway ghost story. I tapped 006. Train Beyond the Terminus in my almost-empty Depth Gauge a few times, then stopped.
Unlike Bloodwater Valley or Mangnyang Tunnel, which filled completely and called up other types of ghost stories, the insufficient-data page randomly displayed subway-based ghost stories or only garbled text.
‘Train-related ghost stories...’
Weren't there too many? From traditional locked-room serial murder cases to trains that went somewhere strange, carried people who had never boarded, or derailed...
If someone made a Top 100 ranking of locations that appeared in ghost stories, trains would definitely be in the top five.
Come to think of it, trains, railcars, and electric trains were all in the same family, weren't they? Would this one finally fill in?
Rather than a Train Beyond the Terminus folder, the Depth Gauge needed a general train folder, with trains sorted by era inside it...
“Hertz, aren't the names registered in this Depth Gauge oddly rough for names that are so specific?”
“Basically, it registers what my partner experiences as its title. I suppose stories centered around that gather in the Depth Gauge.”
“You're the one who installed the app, yet you're speaking as if you're guessing?”
Instead of answering, Hertz only turned up the radio's volume. It felt like Hertz was avoiding something...
“You aren't doing anything that could harm me, right?”
“Oh, of course not. At least on that point, I can answer with certainty. Partner, you are a truly precious human to me, and we have a good partnership.”
The radio volume rose sharply.
“I absolutely promise that I do not lie to you. Of course, there may be things I cannot tell you... But I would rather you did not doubt my good faith!”
“Okay, okay. If I didn't trust you from the start, I wouldn't have bought you a radio.”
“Since you mention it, perhaps you should refrain from buying suspicious things off home shopping channels like last time...”
“Don't nag. You joined hands with me to do things like that too. Don't cut down my chances to expand my collection on your own.”
“My partner is going to get into serious trouble one day...”
I lowered Hertz's volume slightly and replied to Seon-u In's message.
[I'll go.]
❖ ❖ ❖
“Over here. This way.”
I met Seon-u In near a staff-only passage by the level 2.5 landing in a corner of the Seoul Station waiting room. He waved wildly between snow-removal boxes, toolboxes, and scattered Do Not Enter signs.
“You're in plain clothes? Isn't this Corporation work?”
“It is. I have to move around outside, so I'm undercover. The others went to get coffee.”
Seon-u In looked around once. After confirming that nobody was watching us, he pushed me toward the door.
“This way.”
The staff-only door opened smoothly. Seon-u In pushed me in first, checked outside once more, then shut the door.
“Ugh, dust.”
“Watch your step. There are cables everywhere.”
“You should have told me that bef... Aah.”
I nearly stumbled anyway. Was he wearing night-vision goggles or something? He moved easily ahead through the dark passage.
“Where are we? This doesn't look like somewhere ordinary trains would need.”
“No, no. It is somewhere they need. We just came in through a different back route.”
Once we passed through the cable-covered passage, a narrow space barely wide enough for one person and a door appeared.
“Go through this door. Then take the train leaving soonest and get off at the last stop.”
“A train?”
At least ten train ghost stories flashed through my head. None of them involved passing through a corridor and a door.
“Yeah, it'll probably look like an ordinary KTX. Actually, it is a KTX. It'll be one of the trains out there...”
It sounded as though a ghost train was taking over an ordinary train with civilian passengers. If they knew the conditions and the date it would occur, why not suspend the train?
“Thinking they should just stop the train, aren't you? But if we stop a train where it has already happened, we don't know where it will disappear to.”
As though he had read my mind without me asking, Seon-u In whispered quietly enough that only I could hear. I roughly understood. Managing it from this location would minimize casualties.
“Are other Corporation librarians on board?”
“Not that I know of. Something happened, it was confirmed to be a Distortion that affected reality... Yet should I say that the problem is that there are no problems at all?”
What did that mean?
I had searched every ghost story on my blog before the weekend, but I had never seen one where simply boarding a train and having nothing happen was the problem.
“That is why Corporation staff do not officially board it. Take this. This and that are why you were called here today.”
The amused grin on Seon-u In's face vanished for a moment before returning.
“What is this?”
“A prototype of the new horizontal coordinate system. You just need to keep it with you while you're inside.”
The compass-like device displayed a compass, unchanging coordinates, bearings, and unknown numbers that constantly shifted as graphs were drawn.
“This is my first time seeing one too, but what exactly is a horizontal coordinate system?”
From the name alone, it sounded like the sort of logic science videos used to debunk the existence of ghosts.
“It is exactly what it sounds like, a coordinate system. It's equipment we need to carry when entering a Distortion. You can enter just fine without it because of your unusual constitution. Ordinary people need it.”
Pointing out several buttons, Seon-u In quickly explained how to use it.
“This is the zero-point coordinate. It measures and fixes the real-world coordinates we will return to. This side fixes coordinates that let us enter from within a Distortion... We call that dropping anchor.”
“So it provides a route that lets us walk back out even if we fall into a ghost story.”
“Right. This is why it's good that you catch on quickly! And this is the new function part. It will let me keep watching from outside while you move around in there. Where you are, whether your coordinates shift... It's like a tracker.”
“Hmm... It is a good feature. But why me?”
“Because there is nobody in the Corporation who can enter without a coordinate system like you can. We need that data!”
It was probably my imagination that what he said sounded like, ‘We need to put you in there to make something happen.’
Along with the hope that a major problem would explode and all sorts of new phenomena would appear.
“The coordinates inside haven't changed from reality. The train leaves and arrives where it should, but a Distortion occurs inside. Then the coordinates should change, right?”
“Right?”
“But what if they don't? What possibility would that suggest?”
“That the coordinates moved exactly as they do in reality. So you need my constitution, which can measure actual coordinates inside a Distortion regardless of the horizontal coordinates.”
“That's right. This is as much as I can tell you. If I say more, the information inside might change. Instead, we'll give you the records we investigated. Open them once you have fully entered the Distortion. For example, after you board the train.”
Out of habit, I checked my phone. There were no new alerts in the Depth Gauge. I tried taking a picture of the door, but no color appeared.
‘Does nothing show up until I approach the train?’
Still, it did not look difficult. If it went well, I could change the name and put it on the Gii Yadam blog as a new ghost story for the first time in a while...
Ding.
My smartphone played a cheerful notification. It was a deposit alert.
[Deposit Notice]
▶ Sender: Seon-u In
▶ Amount: 10,000,000 won
When I looked up, Seon-u In was grinning and waving his phone in front of me. How many commas were in the balance displayed there?!
“The advance payment. If you come back safe and sound, the remaining payment is double that. If you bring back a new record, I'll add four times as much. You know our budget.”
“You don't have to tell me twice. I'm going now.”
There was no need to say anything more. I stuffed the horizontal coordinate system into my backpack and opened the door.
Creeeeak!
When the door closed, a short passage appeared, dotted with blue lights. The passage grew narrower and lower with every step.
By the time I reached the end, my shoulders were wedged between both walls, and I had to move forward almost crawling with my waist bent close to ninety degrees.
‘This isn't actually a train ghost story, but one about people getting crushed to death, is it?!’
I moved my bag to my front and crawled forward another ten steps or so. At last, the passage ended and my view opened up.
“...”
“You seem very disappointed, Partner?”
Honestly, I had expected time travel or maybe a ghost station... It had been ridiculously hard just getting in here!
But what lay before me was an ordinary Seoul Station platform. The stall in front sold boxed meals and snacks, while people crowded the stairs across from it. It was Seoul Station, ordinary in every way.
“...Then the soonest one is...”
KTX 15:39 Seoul to Busan 20:30, Platform 13 (Boarding Begins)
Mugunghwa 15:45 Seoul to Ulsan 20:03, Platform 17
Saemaeul 15:50 Seoul to Sokcho 18:20, Platform 1
“Hmm, a train to Busan.”
Like a zombie movie. Nice.
“...Come to think of it, I don't think Section Chief Seon-u told me how to buy a ticket.”
When I leaned my head out slightly from the platform, something strange caught my eye. This was clearly the Seoul Station I had come through, and the people were the same, but their shadows were faint.
The attendants at the few remaining staffed ticket booths were impossible to tell apart from shadows. One moment they fluttered like shadows, then after I rubbed my eyes, they looked normal again.
“What are you so suspicious of, Partner? The fact that you can hear me means you have already entered the story.”
“Oh, right. That... makes sense.”
Lately, Hertz had become able to speak to me when nobody was around, and I had completely forgotten. This was not something I should have forgotten. Was I nervous?
“Don't worry, Partner. Aren't you welcome anywhere? Trust me, and let us board the train.”
That favoritism again. I still thought something was off, but...
Still, it made me feel better. Since I had plenty of money now, I ordered a full meal with the boxed lunch I had wanted to try for a while, kimbap, and a drink, then headed for Platform 13.
‘Come to think of it, didn't Seongun say his home was in Busan? If I'm lucky, he might be on board...’
The train was sparsely occupied. I took a single seat near the back of Car 1, reclined it all the way, and stretched.
Before long, the train began to slide out of the platform.
The regular swaying noise. The dimmed lights. People sleeping, reading, or watching the scenery and tunnels pass outside the window.
[Busan to Seoul KTX]
[Next Stop: Daejeon]
Click. Click. Click.
“...”
Huh?
The lettering on the display began to glitch. The characters broke apart and warped. Then the screen went completely black.
Click.
[Geochilsan Express (Nonstop)]
“...?!”
With a roar, the train began to accelerate.
Footnotes:
The narrator's comment about a Busan-bound train evokes Train to Busan, a Korean zombie film.
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