All 3 of us explored the train to see if we could get any clues on who the murderer is. Unfortunately, they seemed to have blended with the remaining passengers, or in a hiding spot, so we couldn’t find them. We did find the game room in car 3 and the storage area at the end of the train, but that was everything noteworthy we found.

  We sit back as the train is about to stop. Disgruntled about our lack of progress, Limon says, “Why don't we try to snap everyone out of the oblivious effects of the Story Resonance. That way, everyone will leave the train for their safety, and only those who are in the Resonance will be in the train.

  Tangerine is about to agree, but I shake my head, “That is a horrible idea.”

  Tangerine asks, "Why's that? Will the “story” be angry and will try to fuck us over”

  “That’s part of it,” I agreed. “But in the past, when Stroyborns tried to snap bystanders out of the trance, things went from bad to worse very quickly.”

  Limon looks confused, “How?”

  I pull out my phone to look up the example. But since we’re in outer space, there is no service. I muttered, “Right, no signal in space.” I put my phone on the briefcase and continue, “The trance isn’t exactly a bad thing. When tranced, people also gain a resistance that borders on immunity to any physical and magical effect that originates in tales.”

  Tangerine puts the pieces together, “And all that resistance is gone when they realize how much in danger they are in.”

  I nod, “And that will naturally cause panic to erupt across the train. Making our situation worse.”

  Limon clicks his tongue, “Great, so there's a murderer who probably wants to kill us, and they can hide, pretending to be a passenger.”

  I shrug, “That does suck, but I’m pretty sure there won't be as many passengers as the train continues to go through the stops.”

  Tangerine raises an eyebrow, “Is it because of the movie it’s based on?”

  I nod, “There’s a plot point that essentially explains why there were only a handful of people by the time the climax happened.” The announcement came on, and told the passengers about our next stop, which is New Delhi, India apparently. As the train enters a portal to earth, I look at the brothers and say, “Take a good look and see how many enter, compared to how many people exit the train.”

  As the train slows to a stop, all of us look outside of the window to the station platform. There is barely any people on the platform, and only 2 people seem to be about to board the train. As the doors open, about 10 or 20-ish people exit the train.

  Once the passengers enter and the door closes, Limon says with light existential horror, “That’s… terrifying. Kind of makes you wonder if free will exists.”

  I replied, “Free will does exist, but destiny is simply a more powerful force.”

  An awkward silence fills the table as the train speeds towards the portal to outer space. Eventually, Tangerine broke the silence caused by me by saying, “Anyway, point is, each stop this train has, the less people will be on the train.”

  Limon adds, “But if we wait too long, the train will most likely crash.”

  I nod my head, “Pretty much.”

  Tangerine says, “So, we need to find the killer quickly enough so we won't have to deal with them during the crash. The question is, how do we find them.”

  Limon says, “We could use someone as bait.” Both of them look at each other, Limon with a smile, and Tangerien with sigh.

  “Not it”

  “Not it”

  Are they really so immature? Although I am impressed that both of them were able to say it at the same time with just a look. Must be that “twin” bond. Anyways, I try to explain how being bait is probably not the best idea. “Why should I be the bait? My toughness is a D-, and I don’t have any immunity to poisons.”

  Limon says, “Because you can use your stupid ability to protect yourself.”

  I reply, “Can you be specific, I have multiple stupid abilities.”

  Limon clarify, “The one that managed to block my fucking swords with glass bottles and a screwdriver.” It seems he’s still spiteful from my “Master Of Unconventional Weapons” ability.

  I shrug, “It’s good, especially in situations where I get jumped by people for no reason. But I can’t use the same object forever. ” I pull out my screwdriver, which looks very damaged, on the verge of breaking into a million pieces. “I got this yesterday, and it’s already like this after only using it twice. The only reason the glass didn’t break is because the durability of any object I use is the same, no matter the material it’s made out of."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Both of them are eyeing me and the screwdriver, it’s clear that they're trying to figure out what my tale is. Thankfully, unlike other tales, mine doesn't have a clear counter they could potentially exploit. Limon observes my screwdriver and asks, “Does the object get stronger after you let go? Those bottles you threw at me hurt like hell.”

  I shake my head, “After I let go, or after the end of a fight, the object will gradually return to normal. The change is not instant, so that’s why the bottle was able to hurt you.”

  “Damn it,” Limon says in disappointment. “I was wondering if you could potentially arm my bro with one of your ability infused weapons.” He smirks and gently endows his brother on the side. “After all, can’t let your pets do all the work.”

  Tangerine rolls his eyes, “I can defend myself just fine.”

  I raise my eyebrow, “You have hand-to-hand experience?”

  He shakes his head, “No, I got Ivy.” I am momentarily confused by who Ivy is, but she lifts his shirt and reveals a concealed pistol.

  As he lowers his shirt, I say, “I don’t know what’s worse, you having a gun somewhere where it’s probably illegal, or the fact you name your gun.”

  He shrugs, “If I get caught, I can just say it’s part of my Storyborn ability.” He says it non-chalantly, but everyone knows it’s much more of a headache than that. His caution is probably why I didn’t get shot. Still didn’t tell me why he names his own guns.

  “Any back to my point, why do I specifically have to be bait. I understand Tangerien as he’s probably an easy target without his summons. But why can’t you do it Limon.”

  Limon responds, "Because I don’t have a ticket.” I gave him a confused look. He realizes that I have no idea what he’s talking about as he clarifies, “We only order 2 tickets because they're expensive, one for my bro, and one for Son. Apparently, the doors only open for paying passengers, not stowaways.”

  Interesting, I can see why the security guard was so certain that every Storyborn will be a paying passenger. “And since the ticket is linked to each person’s ID, I can’t just get a Sons or Bro's ticket.”

  Limon gives a taunting smile as he says, “And since the bait will probably want to run from the killer, you are the most qualified person to be bait.”

  Shit, that fact that it’s reasonable makes it more vexing. But since this is clearly what fate wants me to do, I reluctantly nod my head. “Alright, but can you please give me some things to defend myself with?”

  As Limon begins to look at what's inside his pockets, Tangerine asks, “Is there a limitation on what item can be enhanced by your ability?”

  “It has to be something that looks like a reasonable weapon someone would use in a fight. So I can’t just choke someone out with a roll of toilet paper.”

  Tangerine raises an eyebrow, “Looks reasonable? Can you use something like a realistic toy knife and have it stab someone like a real knife?”

  I think about it for a bit, before replying, “Sort of, but it won't be sharp unless the toy is already sharp for whatever reason. Do you have one?”

  I was expecting him to say he was just curious, so I am surprised when he pulls out a knife. But upon closer examination, I can see it’s made of plastic, as the light reflects the same from the handle and blade part. As he hands it to me, I can’t help but ask while observing it more, “Why?”

  He responds matter-of-factly, “It’s a collectible I got from a surprise box before we kidnamed Son. Unfortunately it’s very common and I got 2 of these at home, so I won't mind if you break it.”

  I was about to ask him what the hell these “surprise boxes” are, the Limon says, “It’s something stupid he likes to collect.”

  Tangerine immediately turns to his brother when he says, “Yes, cause spending money is so stupid compared to spending money for a game.”

  Limon grounds, “For the last time, I only used 30 dollars!”

  “30 dollars plus however much you already put it. And for what, to get some png’s to look at.”

  “She is essential for my shuffle build. It’s not my fault they had another good, limited time unit on the last banner. I had to use my emergency funds just to get that one.”

  I cough loudly, causing the 2 to stop their bickering. Although they don’t look like twins, they sure as hell act like brothers. “Is there anything else you can give me so that I don’t die a gruesome death?”

  Limon lightly clicks his tongue and says to his brother, “We’ll have this conversation after we’re done.” He then hands me 3 pens, a belt, and a small hair brush. I noticed that every item except one pen has blood on them. “Only one of the pens is mine. Everything else I borrowed from Son.”

  I… look at them with equal part worry, discussed, and impressed by the fact he got them without me noticing. “That’s… kind of fucked up.”

  Limon shrugs, “He’s not using it. Plus, you want everything you can get so you won't meet the same fate.”

  He does make a very good point. So I grab all of them, and find it odd by how the blood has already dried up. But I just chalked it up to either his ability, or the assassin's ability and put it into my jacket. Thank goodness this jacket has a lot of pockets.

  I get up and was about to head in a random direction, when Tangerin says, “You might want to get the briefcase. You’ll have a bigger target on your back.”

  Another good point. I take the briefcase and my phone, which is on top, with me. The hell, why is my phone still on when it was faced down… So many weird things are going on today that this little thing shouldn’t even be on my radar. So why is my gut feeling telling me to be wary? Not the time, everything will be revealed soon enough.

  I head to car 8 and begin to pick up any random thing passengers forgot, so that I could use them as a weapon and start stacking them in places in easy access, in case things get dicey. With my luck, they will probably somehow stab me in the arm, but it’s better to prepare.