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2024-10-29 19:42:56A registration page popped up when Corinne tried to navigate through the Hell Express app.
Please enter your traveller name.
Corinne tapped on the screen.
Sailor Moon.
-Name has been taken.
Superman.
-Name has been taken, you may try Superman12345.
“...”
Corinne stole a glance at Claire and saw that she had the same identical expression as her; she must be going through the same thing.
Cutie Pie Princess.
-Name has been taken.
‘Are you kidding me?’ Corinne thought.
Fudge You Traveller Name.
-Please refrain from using profanity words. Warning #1.
“...”
King of The World.
-Registration Successful.
“Corinne, what name did you use?” Claire asked, “I’m Doll Queen1113.”
“...King of The World,” Corinne said, eyes twitching.
Luckily, nobody will know that that was her name, it was so embarrassing. It was definitely better than Cutie Pie Princess... right?
The app was fairly simple.
There were a couple of functions: Profile, Shop, Forum, Customer Service, and Wallet.
Both the ‘Profile’ and ‘Shop’ icons were grey, whereas the other icons looked normal.
The reason they downloaded this app was to find out more about Hell Travel Agency and Hell Express.
So, Corinne instantly clicked ‘Forum.’
There were a couple of posts that were pinned on top. Corinne clicked on the post that said, ‘Newbie Traveller’s Guide: All You Need to Know + FAQ.’ and started to read through it.
I’m Superman012, I wrote this post to clear the confusion of newbie travellers.
I will cover some of the basics and if you want to know more about Hell Express, you can dive deeper into the forum, there are many travellers here who are willing to share their experiences.
Everyone who boarded Hell Express will be called ‘Traveller.’ After you finish registering your profile in the app, you will get a passport.
Nobody knows how one is selected to become a traveller, maybe it is random, and nobody knows how to leave the train and go home.
There is only one thing we need to do here and that is to survive!
All travellers will have to go through stations. Once your next station is confirmed, when the time comes, you’ll be teleported to the station. Be prepared ahead of time.
You all must have played games before, right? Basically, Station = Dungeon.
There are two main types of stations, Wit and Slay.
Wit: Mysteries, puzzles.
Wit type stations require you to search for clues to piece the puzzles together in order to solve some sort of mystery.
Slay: Kill monsters.
For this one, you use more brawn than brains. You’ll need to kill your way through the slay stations. It may be monsters, zombies, ghosts, spirits; anything that tries to kill you, you kill them first.
Don’t take this lightly, there are no save and load, no bonus lives, if you die in a station, you are dead for good!
There is also another way to leave that station. You will need to find the ‘Return Stamp.’
The Return Stamp is basically like a ticket to go back to your train. Once you find it, you just need to stamp it on your passport.
But bear in mind that using the stamp to leave will lead you to earn only a bare minimum of points and points are crucial.
Points are the currency among travellers and trains. It is important because you need points to buy food and different things in the shop.
The shop is just like the shop when you play games. You can buy weapons, skills, potions, and things of that nature. You can also pay a rental fee to open your own shop.
You earn points by completing missions at each station.
The higher the rank of performance upon completion of missions, the higher the points you get.
You can also earn points by getting titles, titles are gained based on your performance at a station.
This post definitely shed some light into the situation for Corinne and Claire.
If there was a Return Stamp, Corinne wondered if there was a Home Stamp, one where you can return home.
Seeing the two grey icons, Corinne tried to tap on ‘Profile’ and…
Access Denied.
She tapped on ‘Shop.’
Access Denied.
“...”
Corinne looked up from her phone screen and saw that Claire was still looking at the forum, probably reading some other posts.
Knock Knock Knock Knock
“Hell Post! Delivery for King of the World and Doll Queen 1113!”
Bellina went to get the door and came back with two brown envelopes.
Within the envelopes were the passports that were mentioned in the forum post.
They had red covers with ‘Hell Travel Agency’ printed on them in golden font. Corinne saw her photo ID on the first page along with her name.
It said: Traveller Name: King of The World Hell Express: Six
Bzzz
The same static sound appeared before an announcement.
“Attention all Hell Express Six travellers, we will be stopping at Cakeland Kingdom tomorrow at 10AM, breakfast will be served starting from 8AM.
To ensure all travellers are on time to leave the train, lights will be out at 9PM.
It is compulsory for all travellers to be on schedule at all destinations in order to avoid any inconveniences between all parties. On a side note, to celebrate the opening of Hell Express Six, Hell Travel Agency will be providing a welcome package for our new travellers. Have a good night and be safe.”
The announcement ended in an eerie tone.
‘Be safe?’ Corinne’s gut feeling was telling her that something would happen at night. With how evil the train and the travel agency were, Corinne doubted that they would let them have a good night.
“Corinne, look!” Claire said, pointing to the passport.
A new page had magically appeared in their passports.
It said: Station: Cakeland Kingdom Time: 10AM
Knock Knock Knock Knock
“Hell Post! Package for King of the World and Doll Queen 1113!”
Claire went over to the door with Bellina on her shoulder just to be safe. It should have been the welcome package from the travel agency.
“What is it?” Corinne asked.
The announcer said that it was a welcome package, but Claire came back holding two white envelopes.
“Lucky Draw Coupon?” Claire looked at the piece of paper in the envelope.
There was a QR code for them to scan on the coupon.
When Corinne scanned it, a lucky draw wheel appeared on the screen.
There were different items on it: a toothpick, a lock of hair, sunshades, key ring, etc.
The wheel started to spin and then it stopped.
Better luck next time!
“...”
Corinne had reason to believe that Hell Travel Agency had something against her.
“What did you get? It says here that I got a potato lightbulb,” Claire said, showing her cellphone screen to Corinne.
Corinne pouted and showed Claire her screen, “I got nothing.”
She felt disappointed, but at the same time she was happy for Claire because she got something from the lucky draw.
Claire silently patted Corinne on the head, comforting her.
When Claire’s package came, they exchanged a glance, staring at the item in front of them.
It was literally a potato with a lightbulb sticking on it.
The lightbulb came with a card stating the function of the item.
[Potato Lightbulb Experiment Invention 008 (made by Scientist Alfred, distributed by Hell Travel Agency) Protective barrier. Can be used as a shield or as a light source.
Barrier activation count: 3
Due to this being an experimental item, the functionality is not guaranteed, maybe it can be used as an ordinary lightbulb?
Barrier functionality not guaranteed, Scientist Alfred and Hell Travel Agency will not be responsible for any consequences.
Life is precious, use it at your own risk.]
‘Such a fraud!’ Corinne’s eyes twitched after reading the card in Claire’s hand.
Even the items they provide are defective! Shitty travel agency.
When Claire finished reading the description on the card, she already treated it as an ordinary lightbulb.
Just imagine what could happen if a ghost dashed forward, attacking you, and you whipped out this potato lightbulb. It lit up, but the barrier didn’t appear.
Corinne waved the potato lightbulb at Claire, “This is a flawed item, it’s better to make our own weapons than rely on this.”
Claire nodded; her eyes went over to the wall clock.
“We better get ready for bed, don’t forget, lights out at 9pm.”
Dong
Dong
Dong
.
.
.
When the clock struck nine, the lights went out instantly.
The entire train went silent for a time, and then the sound of high heels clicking on the floor came from the other end of the hallway and it grew louder as it approached Corinne and Claire’s cabin.
“It’s 9pm! It’s 9pm! Time to make rounds to see who is not asleep! Who is the naughty one?” The train crew member who was making rounds said in a sing-song voice as she skipped down the hallway.
“Teehee! Someone is not sleeping; I can sense it. Someone is not sleeping!”
The train crew member slowly opened the door, went in, and then…
And then…
She froze.
Inside the room, she saw a brunette lying flat on her stomach on the bed, her legs were swinging back and forth as she was engrossed in her cellphone.
Hearing the door being opened, she glanced up and their eyes locked.
The brunette was Corinne, she couldn’t sleep, so she was playing games using her cellphone.
The entire room was dark, the only light came from Corinne’s cellphone. Seeing a stranger standing by the door, Corinne’s eyes did not move away from that intruder, her hand went over to the table lamp to turn it on.
Corinne raised a brow; her eyes went down to the name tag on the train crew member’s uniform.
“Maddie?”
Under the dim lighting, Corinne could see that Maddie was just like the dining crew member from earlier in the day, a walking corpse.
Corinne recalled the announcement from the train conductor earlier about lights out at 9PM, how she wished them to have a good night and be safe.
With the way those beings from the travel agency and the train had been acting ever since she got on the train, she knew they wouldn’t let them have it easy.
Maddie blinked, surprised to see someone being so calm when they faced her.
Corinne put up a finger and pointed to Claire who was sleeping on the other bed.
“Shhhh, she is sleeping.” Corinne said with a smile.
Maddie blinked a couple more times as if her brain were stuck on loading.
Then, she took a step forward, planning to pounce at Corinne.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Corinne said, pointing to the floor.
Maddie glanced down and that was when she saw it, Corinne’s bed was surrounded by her lightning tempest talismans.
Corinne’s lips curled up as she put down her cellphone and took out a stack of talismans from under her pillow.
She spread them out like a folding fan and slowly waved it, looking at Maddie innocently.
She just knew that they would do something, which was why she had prepared everything before bedtime. The reason that she could not sleep was because she was excited to see how those paranormal beings would react once they saw her preparation.
“...”
Maddie felt like she was being challenged.
She was sure that if she went forward, she would be struck by lightning and maybe vanish into thin air.
So, she changed her target and suddenly lunged at Claire. Her movements were halted when she saw a whole line of animal plushies staring at her.
All of them had button eyes except for Bellina, but Maddie felt like they were looking at her like predators.
“I think these two are your colleagues maybe?” Corinne suddenly said and held up two dolls with horrified expressions.
Those two dolls were the ones that Claire turned into double dolls. One of them was the one who attacked Claire at the hallway and the other one was the one who tried to trick Corinne into giving her entry.
Maddie looked and her eyes widened, her whole body was trembling. She recognized those two dolls, she was wondering why they went missing.
She looked at Corinne, who was smiling brightly at her; except to her, Corinne looked like a she-devil who held her colleagues hostage.
The ghost dolls seemed to be looking at her, begging her to rescue them. But Maddie couldn’t move from the spot that she was standing on.
“Oh, look. They look like they wanted you to join them. What do you say?” Corinne asked, smiling even wider.
In the end, Maddie hurried out the door with one thought screaming in her mind.
‘They are such bullies!’ Maddie thought as she stormed down the hallway.
Corinne merely looked at Maddie’s direction and went back to scrolling on her phone.
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Maddie had never been treated this way before, she felt so embarrassed and mad at the same time that she needed to let this out, so she started to spam in the night round crew group chat.Lola, who was also one of the train crew that made night rounds, saw what Maddie said. Both her and Maddie’s role as night round crew was to make sure that all travellers were on schedule for bedtime.She scoffed at what Maddie said and couldn’t help herself from laughing at her co-worker, however, what she replied to Maddie was different from her mocking expression.Aww. Maddie, I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. Hope you feel better.Lola put her phone away before she ran late in making rounds.***Danny could hear the footsteps coming down the hallway.He had always been a night owl, asking him to sleep at 9pm was impossible. He had been tossing and turning around ever since the lights went out. When he heard the footsteps, his whole body froze, and he kept telling himself to sleep.‘Y
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When the time hit 10AM, a screen appeared in front of Corinne.Next Station: Cakeland KingdomA red button with block letters that said ‘Start’ was flashing on the screen.Corinne and Claire exchanged a glance as they nodded. Both of them clicked on the button and Corinne saw that her passport flipped open, and the stamp that represented Cakeland Kingdom appeared on the page.The stamp flashed a blinding white light, causing Corinne to pull down her rose-coloured sunshades from her hair and close her eyes at the same time.When Corinne opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in the middle of a town square, surrounded by buildings that were made from various types of pastries and candies.A few feet away from her was a chocolate fountain. A human statue holding a cake wand stood on top of the fountain and rainbow sprinkles rained down from the wand.‘Cakeland Kingdom…’ this thought flashed in Corinne’s mind.There were several people standing in the town square as well. Some
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When everyone finished making their introductions, Corinne got everyone’s names from Claire. The tan guy was Danny and the guy in the blue shirt was Perry.Growl!A loud grumble shook the air as the earth beneath them shuddered as if struck by an earthquake. Looking towards the window, Corinne flinched when she saw the red dragon’s eyes staring at them through the glass.“Guys, look!” Mia called out.When they walked over, they saw eight rectangular tags on the table.“Please select a name tag to confirm your role in the cafe,” Ava read the paper in her hand aloud.The dragon growled, trying to barge into the building, but the cafe stood strong. Corinne narrowed her eyes and then something clicked in her head.“We should quickly choose a name tag,” Corinne said and grabbed one.Everyone followed suit and Perry clipped the name tag with the word ‘chef’ on his shirt.As soon as he put on the name tag, his blue shirt and white washed jeans were replaced by a chef’s uniform. “What did yo
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“Please step over to the dining area.”Everyone stared, shocked, at the man that appeared out of nowhere and was now standing in front of them.The man wore an expensive looking suit, his hair was pulled back into a slick, neat cut, his face had little to no expression, and a tiny pair of spectacles sat on the bridge of his nose.Corinne and the others exchanged glances before they trailed behind the man that looked like a butler.The butler led them to the dining area and Corinne could smell the tasty aroma of well-prepared food as soon as she stepped into the room.The long wooden table with checkered tablecloth was set with the most delicious-looking food. Corinne’s eyes lit up, she was hungry, and her stomach rumbled.“Is it raining? I think I heard thunder,” Danny asked.“...”Flustered, Corinne was about to retort when she saw how genuine Danny’s expression looked.“I thought that was the sound of the dragon coming back,” Mia said, looking as sincere as Danny.“...”Claire looked
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“You guys must be the cafe staff that volunteered to search for the wand.” Corinne stared at the sight in front of her, her mouth hung open in shock. After they finished breakfast, they had been sent to the castle in a carriage.The palace, like all buildings in Cakeland Kingdom, was made out of desserts. It looked like a giant dream of a gingerbread house that was made of a thousand differently coloured tiles, the palace was gorgeous and magnificent. The palace guards, who were all gingerbread men, wielded candy canes and patrolled the walls day and night.“A pleasure to finally meet you, I am Lady Eloise.” Two stunningly beautiful women with dazzling eyes and flawless skin smiled at them. They were wrapped in luxurious gowns that trailed behind their heels when they walked.What stunned Corinne was not how strikingly attractive the two young women were, but they looked exactly alike, like twins. The only difference was the colour of their clothing and accessories. One was complete
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“Lightning tempest!”The talismans Corinne threw out formed a half circle in front of her and with a flick of her wrist, the talismans shot out, sticking on the monsters.Then, lightning struck down and cleared out the monsters, forming an empty space in front of Corinne. Corinne stormed forward with her sword; with all the monsters packed like a can of tuna, it was actually easier for Corinne to attack. With a swing of her sword, Corinne sent out an energy wave, slashing the monsters in sight. Corinne had her talismans circle around her, forming a protective barrier.No monsters could get near her, and whenever the monsters tried to sneak attack her, a talisman would automatically fly out and strike them with lightning.When Corinne finished wiping out all the monsters that were causing a ruckus, she was drenched in blood—blood that was not her own, but the monster’s.“Has Corinne always been that strong?” Mia gasped, looking at Claire.Claire did not say anything, and only respond
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Corinne grinned all the way back to the cafe. But when she burst through the door, her smile turned into shock. Her eyelids fluttered like mad.Lying in a pool of blood, Perry lay dead with a look of terror on his face, as though he saw something frightening before his life was taken. His rib cage was torn open, and his heart was gone. Quinn was lying on a table, unconscious.“What happened?” Claire asked, panting as she came in through the front door.Corinne shook her head, “I have no idea, I also just came back.”Danny turned green, covering his mouth, and ran to the corner, retching.Mia had tears in her eyes, her whole body was trembling, “Is he…?”“He’s dead,” Ava said, her lips became a firm thin line.Hearing that, Corinne turned pale, “Quinn!”When she noticed that Quinn was still breathing, the breath that she didn’t even realize she was holding escaped her lips. “I… think Quinn is sleeping,” Claire said, her eyes twitching.An odd expression flashed through everyone’s fac
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Ace and John walked through the streets to the mayor’s office. Unlike the previous night where it seemed like the inn was in a separate dimension of its own and the world outside was in complete darkness, they could walk outside now at the very least, even though the streets were still empty.As they neared the gate of the office, Ace sped up, ready to scale the fences when unexpectedly, the gate yawned open like an ancient mouth. Unnatural shadows swirled in the air as if waiting for them.Both Ace and John exchanged a glance before they moved towards the gate, embracing the mysterious darkness beyond.Ace jolted to a stop, raising his arm in a swift motion to halt John’s progress. “What’s wrong?” John exclaimed, shock written all over his face as his eyes locked onto the flickering red light emitting from Ace’s watch.Tension filled Ace’s features as he stared at the alert from his watch, warning him of the lurking dangers behind the gates.Without uttering a word, Ace gave John a
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Chapter 12 - The Lost Town
Claire’s eyes landed on Danny as a thought slowly formed in her mind. Danny could feel her intense stare.Danny gulped, “Why are you looking at me like that?”A smile crept up Claire’s face and the next thing Danny felt was a force pulling him back. He looked over his shoulder and saw Claire tugging on his straw strap. The tugging turned into a full on pull and in a flash, his feet were off the ground.Before Danny could ask what was going on, Claire swung him in the air like a fan and propelled him towards the truck like a human slingshot, or chick slingshot in their present condition.Danny flapped his underdeveloped wings as he soared through the air, and in a few seconds, he dropped to the ground with a splat, still a distance away from the truck.Claire couldn’t believe it, was this expectation vs reality? She expected Danny would have flown into the truck when she threw him over like a slingshot, but reality showed her otherwise. She overestimated the strength in his chick body.
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Chapter 11 - The Lost Town
The longer the travellers were stuck in the survival game, the more they lost themselves.It started with memories from when they were kids, then their high school times, their college times; those memories were slowly being devoured. Recent memories were foggy but could still be recalled if they concentrated.At least there was a silver lining.Claire took a deep breath. That’s right, all they had to do was get to the goal. Claire walked over to Noby, the chick with round glasses flinched.“It’s alright,” Claire softened her voice, “everything will be alright, okay? Look at your traveller’s profile and try to calm down, try to recall what happened before the game restarted.”Hearing Claire’s gentle voice, Noby sucked in a breath and his recent memories slowly came back to him. Both fear and relief overwhelmed him: fear because he really lost a lot of his memories, relief because he still had his human side.“...I’m okay now,” Noby said, turning to look at Claire, “thanks.”Claire res
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Chapter 10 - The Lost Town
“Willowdale Town?” she whispered; it rang a bell, but she couldn’t quite remember. Then, it hit her. That was the name of this stop.Corinne must be in this town somewhere, it’s just that she was stuck in the coop and in this game. She needed to get out.Claire began to snoop around and try to look for clues. After a little while of searching, she came across a folder and she began to pull out the papers inside. The first piece of paper was a newspaper cut-out that contained a missing person’s article.She brought out the second paper and it was the same, so was the third, and Claire’s mind began to wonder. When she was trying to bring out the fourth paper, she slipped on a round pen and fell off the table into what looked like a large sack from the inside. “Ouch!” she said as she landed on a hard object which happened to be a picture frame of a little boy when she looked at it. She looked around and she noticed that the sack was filled with personal items from different people, ke
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Chapter 9 - The Lost Town
The five little chicks walked as fast as their legs could carry them towards the ajar door, the only passage of light into the coop; it seemed like the light at the end of the tunnel. “Wait, did you guys hear that?” Claire said as she suddenly stopped in her tracks, spreading her wings wide to stop the others from moving.“What? I didn’t hear anything.” Danny responded absentmindedly as he stroked the egg he carried like a baby.Claire moved a little closer to the door, and the sound came again. A chirp that would have been equivalent to a gasp escaped her beak. “There’s definitely something out there.” Claire added under her breath.“I’m not hearing anything. Let’s just be careful and follow the map to the star and get this over with.” Jason said as he waved his wings in the air.When he was done, he continued his journey toward the door and the other chicks exchanged glances before they trailed behind him; everyone except Claire, she was convinced there was something out there.Cl
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Chapter 8 - The Lost Town
Darkness…When Claire opened her eyes that was what first came into sight. ThompThompThompThen, she felt the ground shake. What’s going on? Is it an earthquake? Claire thought. She looked around, Where am I? And where’s Corinne? Claire thought, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. But she still couldn’t see anything.She touched the wall, it felt sticky. Gross…was she inside some creature’s stomach or something? “Let’s see…What do we have here? Do we have any unhealthy chicks today?”A loud, brittle, and hoarse voice could be heard along with the thumping sound. That was when Claire realized that it was heavy footsteps that caused the ground to shake.Before Claire could process what had happened, she felt herself being lifted up. Then, she heard a sharp, shrilling fan sound. The next thing she felt was pain, then everything turned dark.Ding