The slip of paper that once listed two methods of clearing the game now showed only one—and it was SS-ranked!
[SS-Rank Clearance Mission: Identify all demon identities and disembark on the seventh day.]
This meant Chi Mu had less than a day left to find the remaining two demons.
"Damn it! When did the other one disappear? It was still there just a few hours ago!"
Chi Mu felt an overwhelming pressure. No wonder the train had been unusually quiet these last couple of days—this was the calm before the storm.
He hadn't been idle—he'd been trying to sniff out the hidden demons among the passengers. But despite all his efforts, he'd found nothing.
Now, with barely a dozen hours remaining, it was almost impossible to uncover their identities. But even so, he had to try—otherwise, he was dead for sure.
"We're screwed. I was wondering why everything was going so smoothly. Turns out the cruelest twist was saved for the last day."
"It's over. There's no way to find the last demons in such a short time!"
Not only were the viewers from Longguo (Dragon Country / China) in despair, but the other countries with surviving Chosen Ones were also losing hope.
In the United States, their Chosen One, John, furiously ripped his mission slip in half.
"Fuck! How the hell are we supposed to find them in such a short time?!"
Still, even after cursing, John stormed out of his cabin and began searching the train, car by car, starting from Car 11.
Chi Mu, in contrast, didn't rush out. He sat quietly on his bed, thinking hard.
Time was ticking. Without a clear lead, he'd just be running around like a headless chicken.
But after thinking it through, he still didn't come up with a better strategy. He had no choice but to search manually, beginning with Car 11.
"Chi Mu, the train's about to stop. Why not just rest in the cabin?" said An Changlin, breaking his long silence.
Chi Mu looked at him in surprise. An Changlin had barely spoken these past six days—this was the first time he initiated a conversation.
"No, I want to walk around a bit."
Chi Mu got up and made his way to Car 11.
This was where he had discovered the Sleep Demon earlier. Now, it was completely empty. All the passengers had already disembarked.
From Car 11 back to Car 5, Chi Mu didn't see a single passenger. The entire train seemed deserted.
In Car 5, aside from himself, there were only three others: Zhang Dada, An Changlin, and the now-normal baby version of the Sleep Demon. No one else remained.
"Well, at least the search area has shrunk."
In Car 4, there was only one passenger. Chi Mu observed him for a while but didn't notice anything unusual, so he temporarily ruled him out.
Car 3 had five passengers. One of them was the same Angel of the Door he'd met previously.
"Oh hey, young man, you again?" The Angel of the Door smiled and waved.
Chi Mu didn't reply right away. He scanned the other four passengers—none of them stood out. Nothing about them hinted at demonic traits.
Then he turned to the Angel and responded, "Yeah, we're almost at the final stop. Just walking around."
"Oh, alright then. That mango you gave me last time was pretty tasty."
Chi Mu narrowed his eyes. That old suspicion surfaced again.
"Angel, have you been to Cars 1 or 2? Did you see anyone strange in those cars?"
The Angel shook his head. "I went to Car 2—nobody there. But I haven't been to Car 1, so I can't say."
With nothing useful to go on, Chi Mu continued toward Car 1.
It was the final unchecked carriage. If the demons weren't in the others, they had to be here.
To his surprise, Car 1 had no passengers either—only two train attendants resting in their seats.
"Hello, sir. Are you looking to buy something?" one of the attendants asked with a smile.
Chi Mu studied them carefully. Their behavior was calm and courteous—nothing out of the ordinary.
"No, just looking around."
He gave a polite smile, wandered around the car pretending to inspect things, and found nothing suspicious. Then he returned to his cabin.
That round trip cost him two hours.
Only sixteen hours remained until the seventh day ended.
Like Chi Mu, the Chosen Ones from the United States and Russia had searched all the cars thoroughly but found no clues.
Only Mōri Kawajirō from Japan (Nihon-koku) lay comfortably in bed, completely at ease.
"Yoshi! No major incidents for days. Once today passes, I'll clear the S-rank mission tomorrow!"
"The Prime Minister will surely reward me with the highest honor!"
Because Kawajirō hadn't obtained Sequence Rule 3, he had no way of unlocking the subsequent clues. He didn't even know the clearance mission had changed to SS-rank.
In front of the Japanese audience livestream, former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe III slammed the table and roared:
"Baka! Baka! That fool Kawajirō is going to bring ruin to our entire country!"
...
Chi Mu's mind kept turning.
There were only a few people left on the train.
The baby, An Changlin, and Zhang Dada were safe—explicitly protected by the train's rules.
That left five people: the Angel of the Door and four others in Car 3, and the two attendants in Car 1.
The four random passengers didn't raise any suspicions.
Which meant… the only viable suspects were the two attendants.
"Dear passengers, this train will make its final stop in one minute. You may disembark to breathe some fresh air."
"This stop will last six hours. Please return to the train before departure, or you will miss this journey."
As the whistle blew and the brakes screeched, the train began to slow down.
Chi Mu's expression tightened.
Why had the stop duration changed from twenty minutes to six whole hours?
Something definitely wasn't right.