Although Velite was startled, Stelle and Nero had no time to pay attention to him.
The two of them were also drawn by the noise.
After finding Pom-Pom, the cute conductor was nervously curled up in a corner.
"T-there's a strange sound, scary, scary, Pom! Did you hear it?
"Based on how familiar I am with the train... that definitely, definitely wasn't a sound made by the train, Pom!"
Himeko remained calm and immediately tried to find the problem from a scientific angle.
"Could the earlier shaking have damaged part of the train... and let something unexpected get inside?"
Dan Heng also asked, "Have you found where the sound came from?"
"It seems to be from the passenger car... but it also seems to be from the conductor's room, Pom!" Pom-Pom said uncertainly.
"...Those are completely different directions! How about... we each go back to our own rooms and check?" March suggested.
"I think that works..." Stelle nodded. "Remember to check under the bed."
"At a time like this, you're still thinking about pranking people?" March glared at Stelle and complained, "Read the room!"
From her tone, it wasn't hard to tell that she was probably the only one present who had ever been affected by this sort of prank.
After speaking, March sighed.
"Come on, actions speak louder than words. I'll go back to my room and check first... if I really find anything, I'll report it to everyone."
Pom-Pom nodded.
"Passenger March is right. Then Pom-Pom will return to the conductor's room first."
So everyone dispersed.
When March returned to her room, she froze.
She blinked and shook her head, then looked carefully again. The scene before her had not changed, making her realize she had not seen wrong.
Her expression immediately turned puzzled and shocked.
"This is..."
Standing in front of March was another herself.
That self looked no different from her, except her expression was more restrained and calm. There was little light in her eyes, and a cold, evil smile hung at the corner of her mouth.
March couldn't help shrinking back and taking another step backward.
Scenes from horror movies she had watched with everyone before continuously surfaced in her memory. Clone people, shapeshifters, human bait and other horror plots kept flashing before her eyes.
That made March frightened. Looking at the other self in front of her, her voice trembled.
"Why is there another me here!? She's talking to me..."
The other March 7 raised an eyebrow and spoke in a seductive voice that almost never appeared on March.
"I know your past. The things you want to see, touch, and know...
"Your hometown, family, friends, emotions, love and hatred..."
"Waaah!"
Seeing this, March covered her mouth and screamed.
It was even more like those horror scenes in her head.
"I am the complete March 7, possessing all the memories you've forgotten..."
Although this composed-looking March said a lot, the real March's mind was currently filled with horror movies, so she clearly wasn't listening.
"Y-you... who are you? Why do you look exactly like me?"
Fake March, "..."
So everything I just said was for nothing... Did she realize something's wrong with me? She shouldn't have. She shouldn't have that kind of intelligence or reaction speed.
A gnawing insect used its underdeveloped brain to think.
Naturally, it got no answer.
In fact, the fact that it could think this much already deserved praise for being clever.
After a long time, unable to find an answer, the fake March sighed.
As one of the rare members of its species that had evolved some self-awareness and possessed the ability to peek into the phosphor powder illusions, its hunting success rate had always been terrifyingly high.
But today...
"...W-why aren't you talking? That's creepy..." March became even more nervous.
At that moment, a voice sounded. It was Himeko's voice.
"March, March, can you hear me?"
"Huh? The phone..." March seemed to have found a savior and hurriedly said, "...Himeko! I saw something strange!"
"I know, March. Right now, immediately..."
Before Himeko could finish speaking, the scene before March suddenly changed.
A familiar little hand reached out from somewhere and pressed directly onto the face of the person identical to her, then gave a pull backward.
Under March's shocked and stunned gaze, she saw that fake version of herself stretch into something like noodles in an instant, then disappear right before her eyes.
At the same time, Himeko was still trying to contact March.
"March... March? Please respond. Have you left the room yet?"
But she got no reply.
"P-Passenger March, did something happen..." Pom-Pom asked worriedly.
"...This isn't good. Stelle, Dan Heng, and... huh? Where's Nero... ah?"
Himeko seemed to discover something on the surveillance monitor. Before she could finish speaking, she stopped.
The next second, the door to the observation car opened.
After checking his own room and then following March out of hers, Nero walked out with a happy expression, holding a giant bug in his hand.
The bug was enormous, almost a full circle larger than the child himself, but in his hand it felt like a huge piece of foam.
The giant bug was rapidly flapping its wings, waving its claws, twisting its body, and shaking its horned head.
Anyone with normal common sense could tell that it was desperately trying to escape.
But all of its efforts were useless, because one of its horns was firmly pinched.
After arriving in the observation car, Nero shook the bug twice in front of everyone.
"Look what treasure I found?"
Behind him, March entered with a strange expression.
She hadn't expected that the other self would actually turn out to be something like this.
But what truly made March feel strange was that when the fake self had been dragged away by Nero like a noodle...
She wasn't sure whether it had been her imagination, but she felt as though she had heard a "Holy shit."
Although it had only been some continuous vibrations and suppressed buzzing sounds, March felt that for one brief moment, those sounds had overlapped and somehow produced a short "Holy shit."
Meanwhile, everyone else was equally stunned by what Nero was holding.
Even Teacher Dan Heng, who was usually very composed, had a colorful expression after seeing the thing and Nero's actions.
"It was actually... a bug?"
Argenti merely smiled.
"As expected of you. The ugly... disharmonious note has been pulled out."
As soon as Argenti said this, Himeko and March's expressions became even stranger.
Because this thing really had been pulled out by Nero.
March had personally seen how Nero grabbed the bug by its horn.
And Himeko had also seen through the surveillance exactly how Nero pulled the bug out of March's room, literally pulling it out through the doorway.
The bug was too fat, and it got stuck for a moment while being carried through the door.