They watch your every move, in a place where time and air stretch on forever.
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Xie Mingchi woke up to find himself already on a high-speed train.
He was by the window. Alone. Across the aisle, three passengers sat with their heads down and hats pulled low—as if they'd been asleep for hours.
The train roared forward. Outside the window, thunder rolled through heavy clouds, and rain came down in sheets, blanketing the grey mountains and wilderness in a film of mist.
The windows didn't seem to block the wind entirely. A chill snuck in from somewhere, slicing through the air like ice and making him shiver.
This place… he hadn't just *arrived*—he'd been *thrown* into it.
In the glass, Xie caught a flicker of his reflection. His eyes were red again.
Unnatural. Definitely unhealthy.
He had no idea where this train had come from. No clue where it was headed.
Because right before he'd blacked out, he was somewhere else entirely. A place called "The Void." And a ghostly flame had been talking to him.
The flame had the voice of a girl, echoing and hollow:
"Congratulations. You're now Puppetmaster #273. You have 273 days left to live."
"You're dying, so go ahead—pick a ghost puppet."
"From now on, your ghost puppet is your partner in the Marionette Realm."
Xie had no idea what any of it meant, nor had he gotten the chance to ask. He'd only come to the Void to save his younger brother, He Qi, who'd been lured away by the ghostfire.
But the ghostfire had told him flatly: before the rescue, he'd be tossed into the Marionette Realm. His brother was waiting there.
He'd blinked—just once—and the next thing he knew, he was here.
And this? This train? No way it was normal. The Void itself had been behind a mirror in his own damn house. This place was probably just as messed up.
He looked around. Most of the visible passengers were kids, all wearing hats, all heads-down like they were in some enchanted sleep.
The whole car was dead silent.
Xie stood, took a step into the aisle—then the train lurched. He grabbed the nearest seat to steady himself, but his hand bumped the shoulder of the passenger sitting there.
"Shit—sorry," he started to apologize.
But the "person" he'd touched slumped sideways. Limp. Lifeless. Their body collapsed onto the passenger next to them like a rag doll.
And then blood started to seep across the next seat.
Xie froze.
No way. Were they messing with him?
He took a step back, brows furrowing. Then another step. Then he kept going.
As he walked down the car, he gave each nearby "passenger" a slight push.
Every single one of them toppled just like the first. Mouths leaking blood. No signs of life.
Yeah. This car was full of corpses. Or if they weren't corpses, they'd been dead a *long* time.
"Bro… bro—"
A voice. Barely audible, raw and panicked, came from somewhere ahead.
Xie followed it—and found someone familiar.
"He Qi?" he blinked, surprised. "What the hell happened to you?"
He Qi was crammed in a middle seat, flanked by two hat-wearing figures who'd slumped onto his shoulders. His white T-shirt was blotched red.
He looked eighteen. The ones leaning on him looked even younger.
If you ignored the whole corpse thing, the scene might have looked kind of… affectionate.
He Qi had clearly been too terrified to speak, but he'd heard his brother's voice. Only when Xie got close did he manage to squeak out a call.
"Bro… did you feel that jolt earlier?" He Qi's voice was shaking.
Xie nodded. "Yeah. What about it?"
"That's when the one on my left fell on me," He Qi was nearly hyperventilating, "and when you walked by just now, you shoved the other one onto me too—"
Xie: "..."
"My bad," he said flatly. "Total accident."
He straightened the two bodies and He Qi practically *leapt* into his arms.
"Are they dead?! Why are they dead?! Where even *is* this place?! And why are your eyes red again?! Bro I'm only eighteen, I just became an adult, I had plans, dreams, a future—"
And that was when every head in the train car suddenly snapped up and turned toward them.
Their eye sockets were empty. Hollow pits that wept blood.
Their mouths curled into twisted smiles. Blood poured out between their teeth.
Cold sweat drenched Xie's back. He tensed, ready to bolt—
But He Qi dropped to his knees and clung to Xie's legs like a human anchor, screaming like a chicken in a blender.
Xie: "..."
He's already panicking. I can't panic too. One of us has to survive this with dignity.
The ghouls didn't move, just stared. After a beat, Xie helped He Qi back up.
"This place is called the Marionette Realm," he explained simply. "Feels like a dungeon. I don't know the details yet."
"D-dungeon? Like… in books and shows? The kind that kills people?"
"Yup."
He Qi's knees buckled again, but Xie yanked him upright.
"No collapsing. What, you think kneeling will make the boss go easy on you? Kneel all you want when the exit's open."
He Qi sniffled. "So do we find the boss now?"
"First, we find out where this train is headed," Xie looked at the door to the next car. "There have to be other survivors. We need info."
Whatever kind of nightmare this was, he wasn't planning to sit back and wait for answers.
After all, if weird things were going to keep happening to him, better to face them head-on than pretend they weren't real.
He Qi added, "Back in the Void… I heard that ghost girl say something about choosing a ghost puppet?"
"Yeah." Xie glanced at the silver bracelet now on his wrist. One bead glowed faint gold.
"But I haven't seen it since."
In the Void, he'd seen walls covered in tiny puppets. Each one barely palm-sized, each one dead still—but somehow, alive.
The ghostfire had said they were called *ghost puppets*. Each one was waiting for a master.
They came with a single broken thread—meant to be tied to their puppetmaster. That thread was their lifeline.
He remembered choosing one. A puppet dressed in ancient robes, sharp-eyed, refined, and with an uncanny smile.
In a sea of weeping puppets, *he* had smiled.
Xie hadn't hesitated.
But since waking here… the puppet was nowhere to be found.
"You're not gonna look for it?" He Qi asked.
"If it's really my partner, it'll come find me," Xie said calmly, pressing the button to open the next door.
The next car looked no better.
Still full of hatted, slumped figures.
He Qi clung to Xie's sleeve and reached out to nudge one—
It *snapped* back upright. Blood sprayed from its mouth. Then its neck twisted *ninety degrees* and a clawed hand shot toward He Qi.
"AAAAHHHH I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN IT—"
Before Xie could react, a chuckle floated over from a few seats down.
A man sat by the window, one seat empty beside him. His voice was calm, amused:
"Ah, sorry. Couldn't resist."
Xie looked him over. Asymmetrical blazer, high-neck shirt, a beauty mark under one eye.
Handsome. Familiar. Xie found himself… not disliking the guy.
"You a player?" he asked.
The man smiled. "Yeah. Funny to bump into a new face so early."
Xie raised an eyebrow. Who the hell called someone a "new friend" in a dungeon?
The man didn't seem bothered. He stood and offered his hand.
"Name's Wan Wuqiu. I'm a Threadbearer."
"...I'm Xie Yi. This is my brother, He Er," Xie said smoothly. No way was he giving out real names.
"What's a Threadbearer?"
"Old name for a puppetmaster," Wan replied. "People don't really use it anymore."
He Qi asked, "Why not?"
"There are always reasons," Wan said vaguely.
Xie pressed, "Have you found the others? I was going to look."
Wan raised an eyebrow. "Smart of you, trying to group up already."
Xie narrowed his eyes. "How'd you know I'm new?"
Wan tapped his chin. "One gold bead on your bracelet. Each bead's a dungeon. Easy tell."
"...Great." Xie took the bracelet off and pocketed it.
Wan smiled and said, "Grouping is smart. But keep your role secret. Especially—"
His gaze lingered on Xie.
"First-timers often get separated from their puppets. No puppet means no protection. And in this world, players and puppets are *partners*. No one should know which one you are."
Xie stiffened.
Wan had seen through him fast. How?
Why hadn't he assumed *He Qi* was the puppet?
…Or was he fishing?
Xie deadpanned: "He's my puppet."
He Qi flinched but nodded, bless his soul.
"Y-yeah. That's right."
Wan smiled, unreadable.
"Then take care of your puppetmaster. You're the shield, now."
He Qi looked betrayed.
Xie ignored him and moved toward the next door.
Wan called out, "You think the others will welcome you? Most groups just use newbies to trip the traps."
Xie gave a dry laugh. "You're not hoping to do the same?"
"Of course not," Wan smiled, eyes half-lidded.
"I'm here to help. Small alliances are safer."
Just then, the speaker above crackled to life with a harsh electric buzz.
A mechanical voice announced:
"Dear…passengers. Approaching…final station: The Labyrinth Villa. Prepare to…disembark."
Wan turned to Xie with a soft voice, persuasive as silk:
"Don't overthink it. Trust me. I'm your best option right now."
Xie stared back.
Then asked quietly:
"Where's your ghost puppet?"