Chapter 17. Night of the Ghost Train (2)
“The Iron Fist of the Saint, huh? You’ve gotten your hands on something interesting.”
The one who said that to me was the Count, who had somehow come over to my place and was now looking through the observation device with me.
“The ‘Saint’ mentioned there refers to Moses, the leader of the Jewish people.”
“Moses? You mean the Moses from the Bible?”
“It happened 3,500 years ago, and many different folk traditions became mixed together, so there’s no way to know how much of it is true… But Moses is said to have possessed the greatest combat power among the people of his era.”
The Count said that with a completely serious expression.
“Moses once tried to enter Heaven to receive God’s laws, but the angel Kamael, who guarded the gate, had not been informed about Moses. Kamael tried to stop him in order to fulfill his duty, but Moses beat Kamael to death and entered Heaven.”
“……”
“There’s also a story where an angel came to punish him because his children hadn’t been circumcised, and Moses beat that angel to death too. Apparently, that angel was an enormous giant.”
A saint fighting an angel over his child’s circumcision…
“There’s also a tale where he attacked and drove away Samael, the angel who came to announce his death. Even right before dying of old age, he seems to have still been incredibly strong.”
“……”
“Like I said earlier, there’s no way to know how much of these stories is actually true. In some other traditions, it says he persuaded them rather than beating them. Still, it is true that the belief that Moses possessed enough combat strength to overpower even angels has existed for a very long time.”
The Count continued.
“And there were also attempts to artificially reproduce that combat power. The gloves your contractor obtained are a failed product, but somewhere in the world, there is also a ‘successful product’ capable of truly defeating even the highest-ranking spiritual beings.”
“How do you know so much about that?”
I was quite familiar with all kinds of legends and traditions myself, but even I had never heard something like this before.
“Because when I was still human, I once obtained that successful product.”
“……!”
When the Count was human, he had obtained all kinds of gold, treasures, and precious artifacts.
It wouldn’t be strange if something like that had been among them.
“The failed product you obtained this time is still useful equipment. But if you ever get the chance later, try to obtain the successful version as well. Among combat equipment created by humans, it is one of the very best.”
If the Count was telling the truth, it would be an enormous help to Kang Yujin, whose greatest strength was close combat.
“We’ve chatted long enough. The climax is coming soon.”
Saying that, the Count turned his gaze back toward the observation device.
I also looked back at Kang Yujin and his group’s battle.
The enormous amount of gold coins obtained from Car No. 1 was immediately exchanged into Coins by No. 49.
Watching the mountain of gold coins disappear, only for a single message saying that Coins had been deposited to appear, felt strangely anticlimactic.
Kang Yujin moved into the driver’s cabin together with Seok Taejun, who had endured the concentrated attacks earlier.
There were no more Ghosts in sight.
They needed to stop the train and escape, but no matter what Seok Taejun touched, nothing responded.
“Nothing moves at all.”
“Should I just smash everything?”
“Let’s save that as our final option…”
No matter what they did, the train showed no sign of stopping.
“There wasn’t any Hidden Piece information about the driver’s cabin, right?”
“No. It only mentioned Car No. 1.”
What were they supposed to do?
Kang Yujin sighed, took off his gloves, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Then something hanging on the wall caught his attention.
It was a hat.
“Is that the driver’s hat?”
“Ah, maybe…”
Seok Taejun picked up the hat and placed it on the driver’s seat.
Nothing happened.
“Was that not it…?”
Tilting his head, Seok Taejun put the hat on himself.
That was when something changed.
“……”
“What’s wrong?”
Seok Taejun suddenly closed his mouth and slowly sat down in the seat.
Then he reached toward the controls.
“Seok Taejun, what are you doing?”
Without thinking, Kang Yujin grabbed Seok Taejun’s shoulder.
But the moment he did, he felt a chilling sensation and immediately pulled his hand away.
“What the hell?”
It felt as if his energy was being drained.
There was no mistake.
It was exactly the same sensation he had felt when touching the Ghosts.
Did a ghost possess his body?
Kang Yujin reached for the ‘Iron Fist of the Saint’ he had taken off.
He thought he might need to drive the ghost out of Seok Taejun’s body.
But then Kang Yujin suddenly stopped.
“The train’s speed…”
The train was slowing down.
A short while later…
With its characteristic screeching sound, the train came to a complete stop.
“Seok Taejun! Seok Taejun!”
Kang Yujin hurriedly pulled the hat off him.
Seok Taejun’s body trembled.
“Huh? Kang Yujin?”
“Are you back to normal?”
“What happened…?”
“It looks like the ghost of the train driver possessed your body.”
“What?!”
“I think this hat was the key.”
As Kang Yujin held the hat up and examined it, a message suddenly appeared.
[Equipment: Train Engineer’s Hat]
Grade: C-rank
A hat once belonging to a train engineer who lost his life in an unfortunate incident. He desperately tried to protect the passengers from the villains who attacked the train, but ultimately failed. Please remember his determination to stop the train until the very end.
By equipping it for a certain amount of time, it is possible to acquire the C-rank Skill [High-Level Concentration].
“Seok Taejun, I think this is an item.”
“What?”
Seok Taejun took the hat and let out an exclamation.
“Skill-acquisition equipment…!”
“What’s that?”
“It says it on the last line. You can learn the C-rank Skill [High-Level Concentration].”
“So if you keep wearing the hat, you can learn that Skill?”
“Yes. There are some pieces of equipment that let you acquire new Skills after using them for a long time and gaining enough experience. They’re pretty rare, so they’re traded for high prices.”
“Even though it’s only C-rank?”
“C-rank is still amazing. This seems to be a Skill that improves concentration, so it could be useful in all kinds of situations.”
“Sounds like Skills are harder to obtain than I thought.”
“They are. Until recently, I didn’t have a single Skill either.”
At the moment, both Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun only possessed one Skill each—their respective Awakening Skills.
“There are places that teach Skills too, but I heard the tuition costs millions or even tens of millions. If I can get a Skill for free just from this hat, that’s an incredible profit.”
Saying that, Seok Taejun put on the hat.
“It suits you.”
“Oh, really?”
“You look better in a hat than bald.”
“I told you! I shaved my head on purpose!”
Seok Taejun immediately snapped back.
“Seriously… Should I just grow my hair again?”
“Let’s get out of here first.”
Together with the grumbling Seok Taejun, Kang Yujin left the driver’s cabin.
The Ghosts that had once crowded the train were completely gone.
And…
The door leading outside was open.
“……!”
Kang Yujin and Seok Taejun immediately got off the train.
It was already pitch-dark outside.
Breathing in the fresh night air instantly made them feel refreshed.
“But what exactly was this Ghost Train?”
“I’m not sure. If we think about everything we’ve seen so far…”
Seok Taejun tilted his head as he spoke.
“Maybe someone was secretly transporting a huge amount of gold, but villains attacked the train because they wanted the treasure. The martial artist ghost who helped us could have been the guard protecting the person transporting the gold, while the powerful ghosts that attacked us might have been members of the villains.”
