This happened back when I was in high school.

Riding the high of finishing our term exams, my friend and I were playing video games at my place. Normally, we were busy with club activities and studying, but club practice was suspended during exam week. So, the day tests ended was always our chance to kick back and unwind.

Still, I was exhausted. I’d stayed up late cramming every night until the day before the tests, so I’d barely slept. I’d been looking forward to playing games for the first time in a while, but drowsiness won out in the end, and I finally hit my limit.

“Sorry, man, I gotta crash for a bit.”

With that, I used my school bag lying on the floor as a pillow and laid down.

That’s when I had a dream.

When I opened my eyes, I was inside a train car. The seats around me were packed with passengers, but every single one of them was staring down. No one tried to look up, and I couldn't see any of their expressions. It was eerily quiet, a gloomy, heavy air hanging over the entire car.

Strangely enough, I immediately realized, *This is a dream.* Maybe it was because I had recently watched a video on how to lucid dream, but I just intuitively knew.

“A lucid dream, huh...? Guess I’ll enjoy it a bit.”

With that thought, I didn't do anything in particular and just let the train sway me. But soon, something strange happened.

The person sitting in the very front seat of the car stood up without a word and started walking toward the next car.

The person behind them, and then the person behind them, stood up and moved along at almost regular intervals.

At first, I just casually watched them, but as I felt that movement gradually getting closer to me, I started feeling uneasy.

“Wait, am I supposed to stand up too...?”

But since I knew it was a dream, there was no reason to play along. So I decided that when my turn came, I wouldn't move.

Eventually, the person in front of me stood up and walked away, and it was finally my turn. But I didn't move. I kept my head down, trying to wait it out.

That's when I felt a bizarre presence.

I could sense the person sitting next to me staring intensely in my direction. But I was too scared to look up. I assumed the next person would just stand up on their own, but minutes passed and no one moved.

Unable to ignore it, I slowly raised my head.

And our eyes met.

The person next to me was glaring at me with a face full of suppressed rage. But what scared me most were the eyes. They were pitch black, completely devoid of light or emotion. It felt like being sucked into a bottomless abyss.

My breath caught in my throat, and I instinctively looked around.

Every single person was looking at me.

All the passengers who had been staring down moments ago had raised their heads, staring at me with those same pitch-black eyes and the exact same expression. As if accusing me of something.

“What the hell... is this...?”

Time passed while I sat there frozen. Unable to bear their gazes any longer, I impulsively stood up from my seat. Instantly, everyone looked down again. Shaking at the sheer unnaturalness of it all, I walked toward the exit of the car just like the people before me had.

But when I reached the exit, I froze in shock.

There was no next car. There was only the cold wind blowing against me and the deafening roar of the train speeding along. To move forward, I would have to jump off right here. And if I jumped, I would die—I was certain of it.

My legs gave out and I couldn't move. But behind me, I felt those gazes again. I didn't even have to look back to know—everyone was watching me.

“You want me... to go forward...?”

I turned around, and everyone was slowly standing up, walking toward me. Even knowing it was a lucid dream, terror paralyzed my body. As I watched them approach, unable to move, I suddenly remembered the emergency brake button.

“If I stop this...!”

I desperately searched for the emergency button, and it appeared in a spot where it hadn't been just moments ago. Without hesitation, I slammed it. A piercing horn blared, and the train gradually slowed down.

The train came to a stop at an unfamiliar station platform. Without thinking, I stepped out onto the platform.

The train slowly began to pull away,

and I happened to look back. Every single passenger was glaring at me through the windows.

“Aaargh!” I let out a yell as I woke up.

Back in reality, I was drenched in sweat.

My heart was pounding wildly, and even though I knew it was just a dream, I couldn't stop shaking. Looking over at my friend, he was staring blankly at the Game Over screen.

“Hey, you okay?”

When I spoke to him, he turned slowly toward me.

The moment I saw his face, my breath caught. It was the same face as those passengers in my dream. Pitch-black eyes, an expression filled with rage.

And in a low voice, he said:

“Why are you alive?”

Almost screaming in terror, I grabbed his shoulders, and in the next instant, his face was back to normal.

“Huh? What's wrong? Are you half-asleep?”

Watching my friend say that and go right back to playing the game as if nothing had happened, I couldn't say a word.

Was that really just a dream?

Even now, I can't get that face and voice out of my head.