Just then, a middle-aged man walked toward the restroom while talking on his phone.
"What? Yeosu? Busan? What about Daejeon? Daejeon? Can Daejeon work? Why not..."
He then went inside and shut the restroom door.
The rest of the conversation became inaudible.
Seeing this, Liu Hong remembered that it seemed to be this man who had originally insisted on leaving Daejeon Station.
He had already forgotten the specific reason.
He only remembered the man demanding that the conductor start the train immediately. The conductor had wanted to go gather the remaining people, but since the man couldn't drive the train, he had gone along with the conductor into the station to call people back.
That was followed by the scene at Daejeon Station with the infected soldiers.
That being the case, could he use this man to make him reveal the truth, thereby avoiding going to Daejeon Station?
At this thought, Liu Hong immediately stood up. It was best to avoid danger wherever possible.
They were still some distance away from Daejeon, so he needed to get his preparations ready.
He walked over to the side, picked up a water bottle, took a sip, and then, pretending to receive a call, took out his phone from his pocket and held it to his ear.
"What?? Daejeon Station is crawling with running rioters?? Some of the military personnel have been infected?? Mom!! Mom!!! My battery ran out!! Damn it!!"
Earlier, people had felt somewhat reassured knowing they had a destination.
The carriage had been mostly quiet.
As a result, Liu Hong's voice sounded exceptionally loud.
Hearing key words like Daejeon Station, military, and infection, everyone turned their heads.
The burly man hurried over, grabbed Liu Hong by the collar, and demanded to know what was going on.
Liu Hong made no attempt to hide anything and bluntly stated:
It was a call from his mother. He had been planning to get off at Daejeon Station, where his mother was supposed to pick him up, but it turned out there were rioters—no, wait, zombies—everywhere over in Daejeon.
The military had arrived but failed to stop them, and many soldiers had also been infected, all gathering around Daejeon Station.
His mother had told him not to get off at Daejeon Station.
Hearing this, the crowd became displeased.
The train had explicitly announced just moments ago that passengers could get off at Daejeon Station. Why would his mother claim they couldn't?
His mother must be lying!
He must be lying on purpose because he was afraid that if the train stopped at Daejeon Station, he wouldn't make it to his own destination!
Hearing this, Liu Hong grew a bit anxious. He knew that when he had looked at his ticket earlier, it really had been for Busan.
Therefore, he absolutely could not pull out his ticket.
Seeing the middle-aged man emerge from the restroom upon hearing the commotion, Liu Hong immediately shouted:
"Didn't he just say something about Daejeon not working either?! He definitely knows something too! Come, come! What did you know when you said Daejeon wouldn't work just now? Tell us!"
As he shouted, he pushed his way through the crowd, grabbed the middle-aged man, and demanded that he explain what his phone call just now had been about.
Things hadn't reached a desperate, life-or-death point yet.
The dark side of human nature had not yet fully surfaced.
Even the earlier incident—where the middle-aged man should have told Leo to close the door, leaving the burly man locked outside before the burly man forced the door open—had been altered by Liu Hong's action of pulling the pregnant woman along with him.
Consequently, everyone here was still relatively civilized and peaceful, showing no signs of extreme or violent behavior.So right now Liu Hong is holding the middle-aged man's hand and asking him what is going on.
Seeing everyone staring at him, the middle-aged man immediately raises his hands.
"Hello everyone, I am an executive at the express bus company. All the roads to Daejeon are blocked right now, and our company's buses are stuck and unable to get in! Everyone in Daejeon is running around in the streets protesting! I'm also terrified that those people might be those inhuman, ghost-like monsters we just encountered! Now I hear that only the southern route is open—let's head south! We must do our best to ensure everyone's safety."
As soon as he says this, the crowd erupts into a commotion.
The moment the middle-aged man finishes speaking, Liu Hong quickly jumps in to keep the conversation from veering off track.
"See! I wasn't lying, was I?! Let's keep driving south! Daejeon isn't safe right now! Let's drive to a safe place! We can always come back once we confirm it's safe! Saving our lives comes first right now!"
Those who were previously hesitating no longer hesitate after hearing Liu Hong's words.
That's true—you only live once, so it's better to play it safe.
If Daejeon has truly fallen, going there is just walking to their deaths.
If Daejeon is fine, taking a vehicle back once they reach a safe place will be the exact same thing!
"Then let's figure something out! Figure out a way to make the train conductor stop stopping at Daejeon!"
Hearing this, someone quickly presses the communication device connecting the passenger car to the locomotive.
"Conductor! We are not going to Daejeon! Daejeon has fallen! Drive straight to Busan!""No, that won't do! The Control Department's report instructs us to stop at Daejeon Station! They say the military is stationed there! It won't fall!"
The conductor refused after hearing what they said.
The Control Department had ordered him to make a stop at Daejeon, so surely nothing was wrong there.
Besides, the conductor had been up front the whole time and likely had no idea what had happened in the back.
Hearing the conductor's words, the people who had agreed to go to Busan began to hesitate again.
Since the military was over there, everything should be fine, right?
Yet Liu Hong had just said that there were infected individuals among the military as well.
Now everyone was caught in a dilemma.
Leo also picked up his phone to call an acquaintance of his in Daejeon, wanting to find out what was actually going on.
Everyone else started browsing the internet and calling their acquaintances.
Liu Hong was left somewhat speechless. Did some plot events really have to play out no matter what?
Were they not even afraid of death?
Were they still hoping to take a gamble on luck?
Still, there was nothing he could do; he wasn't the one driving the train and couldn't stop the conductor.
He could only turn back to rummaging through the luggage, grabbing thick coats and layering them on.
Just then, one of the bags he was searching through apparently belonged to someone nearby.
That person walked over and demanded, "What are you doing with my luggage?! Why are you stealing my clothes?!"
Hearing the man's shout, Liu Hong did not panic in the least.
He stuffed the clothes right back where they were.
"Here, I'm returning them. I thought it was abandoned luggage.""I figured if I wear a few more layers, those monsters won't be able to bite through, and I won't get infected."
Hearing this, the man took his luggage and pulled out his thick clothes to put them on. It was a bit hot, but better safe than sorry. Nobody wanted to turn into one of those monsters. They had seen it with their own eyes—it was only after being bitten that people turned.
The other passengers in the carriage heard Liu Hong's theory and agreed it made sense. They quickly rummaged through their luggage and slipped into their thicker garments. Even the burly man and the pregnant woman started searching through their bags. Everyone understood the logic of taking precautions. Even if someone were bitten, having an extra layer of protection was better than nothing.
Just then, Leo returned and looked around in confusion at everyone's strange behavior. Leo's daughter told him about Liu Hong's theory. After thinking about it and deciding it made sense, she too joined in the search for clothes. Some people even started fighting over extra layers.
Still, with so many people dead, there was plenty of unclaimed luggage to go around. In the end, nobody came short of clothes. Everyone was wrapped up so thickly that even if zombies showed up, they wouldn't know where to sink their teeth. After about an hour, even though they were sweating profusely from the heat, nobody could bring themselves to take the clothes off.
The train slowly pulled into Daejeon Station. Not a single person was in sight, making everyone's hearts beat anxiously in their chests. When the train came to a complete stop, the surroundings remained eerily deserted. Passengers in other carriages began stepping off. But in Liu Hong's carriage, thanks to the warnings from Liu Hong and the middle-aged man, nobody dared to disembark.
Liu Hong was the first to step off the train. As soon as his feet hit the platform, he told everyone else not to go inside. He had received word that the military personnel inside had already been infected!
Everyone hesitated. Right then, Leo got off and headed toward the station building. Liu Hong hurriedly grabbed him, demanding to know what he was doing and asking if he hadn't heard about the zombies inside.
Leo told Liu Hong that his friend was in the military; even though some people in Daejeon had been infected, the army had already taken control, and they just needed to go inside and get quarantined. Hearing that troops were stationed here, the crowd let out a sigh of relief. Then, several people began walking toward the building.
Realizing those people couldn't be stopped, Liu Hong decided not to waste his breath. After all, this was just a movie, and there was no need to take everything so seriously. Liu Hong still felt a persistent sense of detachment from the world he had transmigrated into, as if he were simply rewatching a film.
The burly man and his group didn't follow them inside, likely because they had to be extra cautious with the pregnant woman. In fact, many people in Liu Hong's carriage stayed behind, with only Leo and his daughter going in. Liu Hong knew this was because Leo had already made arrangements and could get out directly. A person's mindset always took time to transform; the current Leo was still selfish and would need to experience a few hardships before changing his perspective.
Seeing them all head toward the building, Liu Hong turned around, intending to go to the front of the train and find the conductor. That executive had also taken a walk outside and was now running back toward the front carriage.
Spotting the conductor stepping down, Liu Hong hurried forward and demanded that he keep driving and not stop here. The executive also chimed in with what he knew, urging the conductor to uncouple the rear carriages and drive away with just the engine.
After listening to their explanations, the conductor replied that he couldn't leave the engine behind like that. However, seeing the zombies closing in around them, he realized the severity of the situation and agreed with Liu Hong's plan to drive straight to Busan. Even so, true to his character from the movie, he insisted that everyone go together and wanted to call the people back down from the building.
This time, Liu Hong grabbed him and repeated what he knew: there were zombies inside the building, the soldiers had been infected, and those people were right here in Daejeon Station. They would wait for them here for a few minutes; if they returned in time, great, but if they didn't, it meant they might have been infected by zombies, and the moment they saw any monsters running out, they would take off immediately.
Hearing this, the conductor blurted out, "How can you do that?! Those are human lives too! I'm responsible for my passengers!" With that, he prepared to rush into the building to fetch the people.
Seeing this, Liu Hong felt practically driven to despair. If he weren't the only person here who knew how to drive a train, Liu Hong wouldn't have given a damn! It wasn't like he hadn't tried to talk the others out of it—he just couldn't stop them! It was so damn frustrating!
Even so, he stubbornly held onto the conductor, refusing to let him go.
Suddenly, a scream echoed from upstairs!
Liu Hong saw people running out from inside the building. It was the group that had just gone up. Even though they had gone inside, Liu Hong's words had planted a seed of doubt in their minds, keeping them on high alert every step of the way.
Once they reached the upper lobby, not a soul was in sight, which only deepened their unease and made them slow their pace. Just then, a figure in a military uniform staggered out from the east corridor, crying out for help.
Because Liu Hong had warned them, the others remained highly vigilant and did not step forward. Sure enough, a horde of zombies suddenly burst out from behind the man!
The group shrieked in terror, their screams attracting other zombies from the direction of the main entrance. Hearing the footsteps drawing closer and closer, they spun around and fled toward the exit.
Distracted by his friend's cries for help, Leo failed to notice a zombie bearing down on him. He was knocked flat to the ground, but a homeless man saved him just in time. A student, seeing a child standing frozen and panicked in place, gritted his teeth, scooped the child up into his arms, and ran.
The homeless man ripped off his own jacket and threw it over the zombie's head, temporarily blinding it. Seizing the moment, he jerked Leo to his feet and sprinted. Leo looked back anxiously toward his child, and seeing that the kid was safe in the arms of the student, he let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Everyone raced at top speed back toward the train. Just as the last of them cleared the lobby, the main wave of zombies came stampeding up the stairs outside.
Leo's final glimpse before boarding was of a soldier-turned-zombie charging headfirst into the lobby.