Floor 1,321:
The Midnight Train flew through the hills and over the river, and at the end of it, five figures jumped onto the rear platform.
"Finally…" Han said, sweating profusely. "We caught it."
"Couldn't we just teleport?" Rika questioned.
"Running good for body," Omariro pointed out.
"But sir…umm…you didn't run."
"No."
Omariro opened the rear door, which was filled with a group of mask-wearing ninjas.
"Occupied. Bad."
The ninjas all stood up, drawing katanas, and with one clap of his hands, Omariro erased them all, leaving only their outfits.
〈Enemy Defeated: +6〉
"Unoccupied. Good."
The kids stared at him, dumbfounded.
"That never ceases to amaze me…" Han admitted.
"Hey, Sir!" Zaria pointed. "Something just popped up!"
Above them were three UI bars.
〈Choose Your Path.〉
〈Path A: Sneak In.〉
〈Path B: Bust In.〉
"Path?" Rika wondered. "Does that…like change the mission?"
Han narrowed his eyes, looking from the UI to his cube.
"We should be careful. I've heard about this. People say picking the wrong path can be dangerous."
"So, are we fighting?" Zaria proposed.
"Yay!" Rei cheered. "Fight! Fight!"
"Obviously not!" Han argued. "Sneaking in will be statistically much easier. Plus we don't even know which boss we might face!"
"Statistically, we have the strongest man here. Stop being scared and let's FIGHT!"
"I'm with Han on this," Rika shrugged. "If we can do this without having to throw hands then that's a perfect opportunity for me!"
"Two to two," Han noted, turning to Omariro. "Mr. Nyugawa, what do you think?"
To his surprise, Omariro was busy sitting at one of the booths, sipping coffee. "Kids decide. Time running low."
Up above, another UI popped up.
〈Choose Your Path. Time Remaining: *0:30*〉
"Let's fight!" Zaria insisted.
"Or we can be smart," Han corrected. "And sneaky."
"Lame. But fine. If you guys wanna play dress-up, whatever."
"Finally, woman. You see reason."
〈Time Remaining: *0:05*〉
"A!" Rika answered. "We'll do A!"
〈Path *A* Chosen. Confirm?〉
"Yes! Confirm!"
〈Confirmed. Goal: Sneak to the front of the *Midnight Train.*〉
"Phew," Rika sighed. "Now, how do we do that?"
Zaria slapped her forehead. "You gotta be kidding me."
Omariro picked up the ninja outfits on the ground. "Wear."
He tossed one to each kid. Rei stared at hers, curious. "Wow…I wonder what it feels like to be a ninja!"
"I don't," Han replied. "Why is mine so small?"
"Squeeze in," Rika suggested. "You'll fit."
"Ha, ha. Very funny."
Soon after, they were suited up, masks covering their faces.
"Blend," Omariro said. "Ruse must not crack."
"Sir, yes sir," they all whispered.
He threw open the door, and ninja guards were waiting at the entrance to the next train car.
"Hey…" one said, raising a hand. "Weren't there six of you?"
"Move," Omariro ordered. "Ninja blind."
"Excuse you?"
Rika gently tapped Omariro. "Sir, can I please handle this?"
Omariro pointed. "Go."
Rika approached, clasping her hands. "Sorry, sorry, what my master means to say is, one of them fell off the train!"
"They WHAT?"
"Yeah, you were driving a little fast, so he went outside to throw up, and…he fell."
"You didn't save him?" the other gasped.
"Does it look like I wanna jump off a moving train?"
The guards shared a look. "Fair. What business do you have, anyway?"
"We…um…"
Omariro walked toward the door, ignoring the ninjas. "Crucial mission. Move aside."
"What is this…crucial mission?"
"Protecting the statue!" Han volunteered. "You know, that thing we jacked from the museum!"
"The statue? We've already got a team on it."
"Well, you can never have too many bodies to sacrifice."
"Hmm?"
"I mean, you can never have too many guards on deck!"
They shrugged. "Makes sense. But be careful. That statue's worth a fortune."
The group stepped inside, where another band of ninjas was gambling and dancing. A disco ball hung from the ceiling.
"Break it down! Yeah, yeah, break it down!"
A pair of female ninjas was dancing together in the center. Han had to rub his eyes.
"Goodness, I've seen too much…"
"Ooh, are we dancing?" Rika wondered, stepping forward.
Zaria grabbed her arm. "No, we are not."
"Come on, Zaria!"
The rest of the cabin finally noticed the group. One giant ninja walked over, a bottle of wine in his hand.
"Hey, are you guys new?"
"Yep, very new!" Han nodded. "Let us just pass by with no issues, trouble, or unforeseen complications and we'll happily be on our way!"
"Wait, you guys don't wanna enjoy this victory with us? We just stole one of the most expensive relics in dungeon history!"
Two UI bars appeared above the man's head, and the party noticed it.
〈Path A: Split Up.〉
〈Path B: Stay Together.〉
"Split up?" Zaria asked. "Why would we do that?"
The big ninja swayed on his feet, nearly tripping as he grabbed onto a seat. "Have a drink with me before you leave!"
"That's why," Han sighed.
Rei tapped her chin. "I wonder what it does!"
"Hopefully it sends whatever group I'm in out of here," Han pleaded. "Before we're forced to get in…that."
He pointed to the dancing ninjas, who were now balancing tequila glasses on their foreheads.
"Shouldn't we take a moment to consider this, though?" Rika interrupted. "What if we can't regroup—-?"
"Path A!" Han shouted. "We choose Path A!"
〈Confirmed. Splitting Party.〉
Rei, Rika, and Zaria disappeared, leaving Han and Omariro alone.
"Wait, wait! No, NO!"
The big ninja looked around. "Hey…where'd the others go?"
He shrugged. "Oh well. We're playing Twister, guys! Come join!"
A pair of meaty hands grabbed a trembling Han, bringing him closer to the center.
"Sir…please…save…me…"
Omariro sipped his coffee. "Boy fine."
Elsewhere…
The girls tumbled face-first onto the floor of another train car. This time, it was empty.
"Aww," Rika groaned. "I wanted to dance…"
Zaria looked back. "I wish Mr. Nyugawa were with us, but boy I can't wait to see the look on Han's face when he finds out his little stunt failed!"
"Yeah, that's kinda worth it, not gonna lie."
Rei held up a glowing white hand. "Completely deserted! We've got the train all to ourselves!"
〈Goal: Reach the front of the *Midnight Train.*〉
"Easy enough," Zaria shrugged.
〈Path Penalty: As a Result of Choosing to *Split Up,* you can only use the *Provided Skills.*〉
"Provided Skills?" Rika repeated. "What the hell are they talking about?"
A bar popped up over Rika's head.
〈Party Member *1.* Skill: Ki Shuriken Ranbu. Class: Mahōshi.〉
And one over Zaria's.
〈Party Member *2.* Skill: Seishitō. Class: Tōshi.〉
And finally, Rei.
〈Party Member *3.* Skill: Meisai Ninpo. Class: Sōunsha.〉
Rika looked at her hands. "A class switch? Dungeons can do that?"
"Well, if they can disable Jugen, not a stretch to say they can switch 'em too," Zaria mused. "Also…where's Rei?"
Both she and Rika looked around the room, but Rei was gone.
"Boo!"
Both girls fell backwards as Rei suddenly reappeared, waving. "That feels so cool! Sōunsha is the best!"
Rika got up, her heart racing. "Never. Do. That. Again."
"Okayyyy!"
She did a twirl and disappeared.
"Huh, so what can I do?" Zaria thought.
She held out her hand, and a glowing katana emerged. "Whoa! A sword!"
Zaria swung it, nearly cutting Rika's hair. "Hey! Watch it!"
"Sorry, can't help myself."
Rika rolled her eyes. "You're both ridiculous."
As she brushed her hair out of her face, a large white shuriken formed in her hand, knocking the sword out of Zaria's hand.
"…Oops."
Her face turned red as Zaria glared at her. "Hey…I got a new power!"
A ninja guard burst into the room. "What's with all that noise?"
Rei, Zaria, and Rika immediately lined up.
"Nothing, sir!" Zaria replied. "Just good 'ol horseplay!"
"The horseplay cabin is 7 cars back! Stop fooling around and help us secure this statue!"
The girls briefly exchanged looks.
"Perfect!" Rika agreed. "We'll get right on that."
"Hurry up. We just caught wind of some sneaky bastards trying to rob us. No one robs the robbers."
He walked away, grumbling.
"Does he mean us?" Rika whispered.
"Who knows," Zaria replied. "Best bet is to snatch the statue once they aren't looking, and return to Mr. Nyugawa."
The girls followed the ninja to the next train car, where they found bags of precious gems and artifacts.
"Ooh," Rei admired. "Shiny!"
Rika slyly attempted to pocket a gem, but Zaria slapped her hand. "Girl! You're not supposed to touch that!"
"What? It's just *one.*"
"What if it explodes?"
"Why would it EXPLODE?"
"Because we're in a dungeon!"
The ninja banged on the door. "Girls!"
"Coming, coming!"
After walking through a few more train cars, they finally arrived at the front, the largest of them all.
"Ooh…"
Inside was a large army of ninjas, and the black and golden gargoyle statue was in the center, anchored by chains.
"How are we supposed to lift that?" Rika whispered.
"There's three of us, so…" Zaria suggested.
"You can't be serious."
The ninja who brought them in talked with a few of his colleagues before pointing the girls to the front of the train car. "You three watch that door. If anything comes in, kill it."
The girls all nodded and took their places on the front platform.
"Rei, maybe you can sneak in," Zaria proposed. "Like a ninja."
Rika folded her arms. "Are you proud of yourself?"
"A lil."
Rei gave a thumbs up. "On it!"
In less than a second, she was gone, and the door slowly creaked open. With none of the ninjas the wiser, she began to slowly tug at the statue.
"Phew!" she remarked. "So heavy!"
The noise caught the room's attention, and they all readied their weapons.
"Is that thing moving on its own?"
"I think it is!"
"I knew this statue was cursed, damn it! Chuck it in the river!"
The first ninja stopped them. "Wait! Don't let your eyes deceive you. It could be a trick."
He slowly crept over to where Rei was standing, but just as he did, a bomb flew through the window.
"Shit! Get down—-!"
BOOM.
The entire train shook, before derailing and falling into the river below. Zaria, Rei, and Rika all collapsed into the depths of the water.
On the other side—-
As their car also sank into the water, Omariro grabbed Han and jumped out of the river, landing on the shore nearby.
Han smacked the water out of his ears. "Ugh, sir…what was that? Did the women screw up again?"
"No," Omariro replied. "Worse."
Figures in Kaitansha outfits quickly swarmed the remnants of the train, looting the valuables hidden inside.
"Dokkōdan," he recognized. "Here."
A large van rolled up, and members began throwing valuables inside the back. Han caught a glimpse of a shiny black object being dragged from the river.
"Sir, they've got the statue!"
〈Warning! Warning! Statue is *Out of Range.*〉
"We get statue back," Omariro declared.
"Hold it, old fart."
Omariro caught a dart fired at him from behind, and once he turned around, he noticed a tall man with half black and white hair, wearing a face mask.
"Hmm."
Behind him were Yūto, Airi, and Rio.
"This the man causing you all those problems?"
The trio nodded.
"A senior citizen, not even tall enough to reach my chest?"
"Sir," Yūto warned. "He's not a normal old man."
Their leader looked back at them. "Go help with the statue. I'll take care of this."
As the others disappeared, the man cracked his jaw. "Omariro Nyugawa. I don't know if you're too old to understand, but no one messes with Dokkōdan."
"Dokkōdan irrelevant."
"Come say that to my face."
Han shook Omariro's shoulders. "Sir, who the hell is this? I'm getting psycho vibes from him!"
The man stuck out his hand, forming a bomb. "The name's Zan Ikaruga. Remember my name…"
A band of Dokkōdan hunters emerged from the river, surrounding Han and Omariro.
"Because I'm going to carve it into your flesh!"
Above them, a new UI popped up for everyone to see.
〈Main Commission: *Paused.* New Commission: *Defeat Dokkōdan Kaidanchō Zan Ikaruga.*〉
——