The train rumbled at the front of the school, crawling forward at a slow, steady pace. Even so, I couldn't see where it began or where it ended.
I opened the system screen again.
[ Phase Two: Uniqueness
Classification: CHARACTER EVENT
Description: ALL ABOARD THE EXPRESS. You and a girl called Cara Rodriguez have been chosen to board the limitless train, located in front of the school. Work together, invade monsters, and reach the lead cab for the conductor.
Time Duration: 60 minutes
Consequence of incompletion: ???
Reward: 5% of gaining a special power (SP can only be met under special, unique conditions) ]
"Everyone, phase two will start in approximately one minute. Please head to your destination as soon as possible." System Neo's voice rang out clearly to us.
"Guess that's our cue to get in, Cara." She only nodded at my brief comment.
Cara hopped onto the moving train with a wince, and I followed right after. That must've hurt for Cara. My concern for her leg had only been growing by the minute.
"Time starting now for phase two."
The train quickly shot forward, accelerating with such speed that it took us off guard. We grabbed onto the cushion seats, steadying ourselves. We looked around, taking glances at our surroundings. The cabin looked frozen in time. There were countless neat rows of seats, spotless floors, yet not a single passenger.
"Currently, you two are what is considered to be cabin ten. Please move to the next cabin within 6 minutes."
"Cabin ten? That can't be right, we couldn't even see the front of the train when we boarded." I muttered to myself. Cara, on the other hand, didn't seem to care.
"Let's go, Lily, to the front of the train."
"Okay." I pushed the door of the cabin to the next one, as Cara wobbled slightly behind me.
Yet the sight in front of us was unspeakable.
What… what were these things? Were these the "monsters" the event warned us about?
There were many types of beings residing in this cabin, some who had facial features that could only be described as inhuman. Some with scales, tails, wings, and features that didn't belong to anything remotely human-like. A few simply wore strange, futuristic clothing, but even they radiated an otherworldly aura.
I was almost frozen in fear and shock. Are we supposed to defeat all of these beings?
A woman yawned in the seat closest to us, with hair and eyes extremely bright neon blue. Her blue hair seemed to defy gravity itself, moving as if it were a creature. Her entire outfit seemed glossy and digital in a way, something straight out of a computer aesthetic. Something like Frutiger Aero…
"Oh? Is this a tutorial phase?"
She looked us up and down. "Haha! Good luck, fellow humans! If I had to take a guess, you two arrived a little early to your event. Earlier enough so you didn't have to board any cabins through 13 to 20, right?" What an interesting accent.
"..." I didn't know whether to speak to this unknown being or not. "How did you know?"
"Haha! It's quite obvious. The answer is, because you're not injured or dead yet! You are quite lucky to have avoided that section of the Limitless Train."
Cara immediately spoke up, somewhat trusting the girl in front of us. "How do you know this is a tutorial phase? Can you help us?"
The bubbly woman pretended to think and then responded, "If you survive the tutorial, you'll be able to tell when someone is in their tutorial phase. As for help… You won't really need it, so to speak." Thanks, that's great for a whole lot of nothing. "I can tell you that this train has stops from all across the cosmos, meaning that the passengers you see here are from different planets from different universes! It makes different jumps at times! So don't judge us too hard for what we look like." Great, so we just boarded one big interstellar cosmic train.
She continued on with her bubbly tone, "You need not worry about the cabins one to ten, these are quieter cabins that prohibit any violence. Just pass right through the doors leading up, and finish your phase. Quite an easy phase if you ask me!"
"... What about reaching the lead cab?" I mentioned, remembering that the description told us to meet the conductor. "We have to meet the conductor and go past cabin one."
The girl's face lit up with a bright yet unnervingly stretched grin, "Oh? That's part of your description! Geez, I didn't know about such an event happening today! That I simply cannot tell you, otherwise you will miss out on the fun. But I'll give you a hint, one of you will gain a responsibility once you two reach the cab."
Cara and I only looked at each other in confusion. Responsibility?
"Oh dear, it seems like I spoke too much! Well, I do have a habit of rambling. Well then, go on! Don't let me hold up your limited time!"
Cara thanked her, and I only gave a slight bow to the woman. How eerie, yet I don't get a feeling that she lied to us at all.
I held onto Cara's cold body while we both slowly moved from cabin to cabin. It was just like what the lady said, these cabins were relatively quiet and friendly to us. I even got a wave from someone's fin.
At last, we finally reached the lead cab.