The Diary on the Wall

At that moment, Qin Shang felt the stench he'd first encountered upon entering Carriage No. 2 had intensified. He wasn't sure if it was due to developing a resistance or adapting to the carriage's environment after spending some time here.

Surprisingly, the smell in the carriage didn't make him feel as nauseous anymore.

"Hey! That's weird, wait a minute, aren't these newspapers on the window in English? How come I can suddenly understand them..."

"Ever since I started working on the train, my condition has improved a lot. I also met Mr. Jack. He's the train conductor and a good person. Every day when we're driving, he shares interesting things with me. I've learned a lot about the outside world from him. Unfortunately, some of this information is related to politics, and some to military affairs."

"Although he's witty and humorous, I'm not really interested in those things. I'm more interested in his experiences. He said he served in the Middle East battlefield and even showed me his scars. Each one was shocking; they are the medals of a warrior. I feel honored to work with him."

"It's just that the train seems to be hiding some secret. My colleague El is terrified every day and keeps writing letters, as if trying to send some information outside. Recently, her expression when looking at me is hesitant, as if she's discovered some incredible secret. But when I ask her, she never answers directly. I suspect the train is hiding something."

Mr. Jack!?

First Miss Mary, and now Mr. Jack?

Damn it, the developer of this Path of the Gods game must be Chinese, otherwise, they wouldn't use such common foreign names.

Qin Shang muttered a complaint, but he couldn't help but frown.

These newspaper-like things weren't actually newspapers.

Were they someone's diary?

He finally understood why he could suddenly read English.

Qin Shang, a dropout from a vocational school with terrible academic performance, considered it a feat to recognize all twenty-four letters!

Decipher, a skill from the Teacher profession!

It allowed him to subconsciously understand any language.

Judging by the looks of it, the person writing this diary was likely a train attendant on this train.

"It's just that this train attendant is clearly not mentally well. The content in his diary is completely contradictory. One moment he says Mr. Jack is humorous and enjoys chatting with him, and the next he complains that he's not interested in what Mr. Jack talks about."

Qin Shang curled his lips and continued reading.

"I told Mr. Jack about El writing letters. He was very surprised. I wanted to ask more about the train, but Mr. Jack seems to be afraid I'll find something out. He's been giving me time off recently and avoiding many of my questions."

"Today is also a day off. I heard some attendants talking last night about hearing strange footsteps. Unfortunately, I slept too soundly. I can tell everyone is a bit scared. I think I should ask Train Conductor Jack about it."

"Today I went to the conductor's room, but I didn't see Mr. Jack. However, I saw the letters El wrote. I can confirm that those in Mr. Jack's room are El's letters. They were all thrown in a corner. When El was writing letters, she asked me how to put postage stamps on them. Those stamps are El's."

"Her letters don't seem to have been mailed. I don't know why they all ended up with Mr. Jack..."

Qin Shang's expression stiffened. It seemed that this staff member named El was the first to discover something was wrong with the train and wanted to convey some information to the outside world, but for some reason, she was intercepted by the train conductor.

Hiss, a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Why would Train Conductor Jack conceal the train's secret?

He had a bad premonition that the staff member named El was likely in trouble!

"I'm still on leave today. On days I don't have to work, I can just rest in the dormitory. But I'm very bored. I haven't worn a skirt in a long time, so I changed into my usual clothes and walked around the carriage. When passengers saw me, they looked a bit strange. Their gazes were unusual, making me feel they had ill intentions, completely lacking gentlemanly conduct."

"I fled back to the dormitory. In the evening, my roommate El hadn't returned. She might be in danger. The next day, I went to find Train Conductor Jack. He told me not to go out recently."

Wait! The sequence of events is wrong here!?

'I'm still on leave today,' and then in the diary entry for 'the same day,' it mentions events that happened the next day?

This doesn't sound like normal narration. My CPU is starting to smoke.

If it was written the day after the event, shouldn't it have used 'yesterday' to describe what happened yesterday?

Damn it, my head feels a bit itchy.

What's going on?

Strange, when I played Plants vs. Zombies as a child, it felt like the eaten brains were growing back!

"On leave, it's another day off, and I'm so bored. I heard them say that after El, someone else has gone missing."

Someone else has gone missing!?

So the first one was the attendant El, and then passengers started disappearing one after another?

The person writing this diary is clearly not mentally stable.

It makes sense. If I were a train attendant and felt panicked every day since boarding this train, with colleagues and then passengers disappearing one after another.

This horror movie-like scenario would drive anyone insane!

"Mr. Jack said someone knocked on the door last night, and something was wandering in the hallway. Before El disappeared, she also reported the knocking issue to Mr. Jack. It seems that everyone who opened the door after the knocking has disappeared, whether they were colleagues or passengers. That thing seems to be casing the place when it knocks!"

That thing!

He used "that thing" for the first time!

What is that thing?

The truth behind the passenger disappearances?

No... it's not him, it should be her. The diary writer should be a woman.

She wore a skirt, so the attendant writing the diary is a woman...

"On leave, Mr. Jack told me not to go out and to stay in the dormitory. I agreed, but I'm still very scared. I wish Mr. Jack would stay with me. He didn't agree. Then, for these three days, no passengers have gone missing."

The logic before and after this sentence is also incorrect!

Today is a day off—no passengers have gone missing these past three days…

Grammatical error!

This conductor is genuinely not right in the head!

"A day off. These people chattering are really annoying. One passenger made fun of my outfit, and then he disappeared the next day. That's right, someone else started disappearing, but his disappearance was perfectly timed."

Qin Shang frowned.

"Today is still my day off, the last day. I think I'll be able to make it back alive. I'm so scared. But last night, I also heard a knocking sound at my door. Will it be my turn today?"

"Mr. Jack said he wanted to start the investigation with El's letter. I didn't see Mr. Jack last night. Perhaps he discovered something."

Qin Shang's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily. He hadn't expected the diary's owner to have also encountered harassment from 'that thing.'

This is a foreigner's diary. The Path of the Gods' [Decipher] function can actually translate so idiomatically, even using the phrase 'shivering with fear'?

If this were a normal game translation that broke immersion like this, Qin Shang would have started complaining. But now, he couldn't even manage a smile.

The environment was too bizarre and eerie.

And what exactly is 'that thing' in the diary!?

His gaze continued downward, and he immediately saw a line of text that made his eyes widen in fury.

It was as if someone had thrown a C4 charge into his mind and detonated it.

His thoughts became a complete mess.

"Mr. Jack has disappeared!"