Hell Express

The Hell Express, also known as as the Hell Train, is a special examination that any D-rank Regulars can take from on the 35th Floor and any successive Floors that have stations.

History
A long time ago in the Tower, as Zahard and the 10 Great Warriors were climbing the Tower, the Hell Express and its guardians were all created to help them with their training. Zahard and the 10 Great Warriors did "Revolution" in a part of the train called 'Rice Pot' which is why the master of the train called the place Revolution Road.

About
The Hell Express is an experimental express train that enables passengers to get from the 35th Floor to the 43rd Floor quickly. Due to its extremely high difficulty, it's nearly impossible to survive until the end. The final destination of the Hell Express is said to be the Tower's "Hidden Floor" (or "Secret Floor").

The Hell Express departs from the 35th Floor at the first station, "Train City", but also stops at every station from the departing station to the last station and Regulars who board the train can get on and off as they please. The Train arrives at stations located in the Inner Tower and Middle Area, and since the Train is a test area the ones boarding the Train are somewhat excluded from the rules of the Tower. Because of the nature of examination area Koon suggests that even non-Regulars may get on the train. However to board the train freely one must have an Express Ticket. The ticket cannot be bought and must instead be stolen from another Regular. So, when Regulars are waiting at the boarding stations, one has to steal the Express Ticket from them whilst defending it from other Regulars. There are always exactly 100 Express Tickets and once a Regular has one they become a target to someone else.

There are many predatory Regulars surrounding the Hell Express, and the highest among them are the top 3 D-rank Regulars: Sachi Faker the "Ticket Hunter", a seasoned Ticket Holder as well as a Ticket Hunter whom the Regulars should be the most afraid at the first station where he usually resides; Kaiser the "Name Hunter", a veteran warlord who resides at the third station--the "Name Hunt" station--that he has ruled for over a thousand years; and one more D-Regular who has yet to be introduced.

The Train
The Hell Express itself is a behemoth locomotive that appears to levitate in the sky using blue fire-like shinsoo. It is likely that it moves using the same mechanism. Regulars who are to board, ascend to the floating train via a set of stairs and, upon reaching the train door, insert their Express Ticket into a hole which causes the door to open letting the Regular in.

The Hell Express has a day and night system; during the daytime there are very few enemies and it is relatively peaceful, but during the nighttime there are monstrous enemies everywhere. Regulars are only allowed to stay on the Train if they pass through a certain amount of sections each day and, if they manage to spend ten nights like that, they get to a certain place where they have to take a test to proceed to the next Floor. There is a test area for the next Floor at the end of every path but there are numerous paths to get there; furthermore the paths completely change at night.

For Regulars to progress on the train, they must clear three types of tests: When a test can't be completed, due to unavoidable circumstances (such as the death of the train conductor), the train has Regulars open the transport device and take a substitute test instead.
 * A stage test on each Floor (as the train passes Floors on its journey).
 * Getting rid of monsters that appear at night.
 * Fight train guardians placed in each room to receive various rewards and get to the next stage faster.

Inside, at the entrance of the Train, is the road of light named "Revolution Road". However the term "Revolution Road" was actually used by the master of the train to refer to the 'Rice Pot'. The 'Rice Pot' is an area within the train that the master and the "god" of guardians used to train Zahard and the 10 Great Warriors and allow them to do "Revolution".

Train guardians
There are "guardians" (가디언, "gadieon") that protect certain areas of the Train and they are a kind of system that protects the Hell Express and are like "administrators" who prevent Regulars from doing unexpected actions.
 * The "god" of guardians is the boss of the other guardians. Both he and the place known as the 'Rice Pot' exist to help Irregulars go through "Revolution".
 * Bloomer is a guardian that was most recently guarding the door sealing Hoaqin.
 * Gray guardian is the guardian that most recently guarded the 38F stage test.
 * Mirotic is a guardian that guards the gate that leads to the Hell Express at Train City.
 * Yokim is a guardian that most recently guarded one of the stages on the 37th Floor pathway.

Stations
The stations for the Hell Train act somewhat as a safehouse for Regulars trying to board the train. Due to an implicit rule that Rankers are not allowed to interfere with matters related to the train, in most cases stations are made as cities that are independent preventing interference from Rankers and other people.

Train City
Residing on the 35th Floor, Train City is the first area that Regulars who wish to take the Hell Express arrive at; this is also the first station that the Hell Express departs from. In its most recent incarnation, Regulars that arrive at Train City encounter an elevator that leads to six different floors; this elevator operates one by one. The six floors are: There is a second elevator, which can be found in the real Control Centre, which travels to the real Skyscraper. However, ordinary Regulars cannot use this elevator unless they are 'approved'.
 * 1F Entrance: This floor is protected by a semi-illusory guardian named "Mirotic" who prevents people from entering through a door before the chosen time. Beyond the door lies the first gate to 'Helix Stars' which ultimately leads to 'Platform Skyscraper' and the train.
 * 2F Residence: This floor has many rooms (there are assumed to be 100 rooms), each with a number that corresponds to the number of an Express Ticket; entrance into a room is possible only if the Express Ticket number matches the room number. As such many Regulars wait for Ticket Holders to either leave or enter a room so that they can steal their Express Ticket. Any number of non Ticket Holders are allowed to enter a room along with a Ticket Holder once the room door has been opened. The game "The Last Seven" was held here.
 * 3F Restaurant: On this floor there is a restaurant section where Regulars can dine in comfort. There is a secret path from the Restaurant that leads to the real Control Centre.
 * 4F Stadium: An area holding stadiums for which battles can take place. In the recent events, the tournament (created by Rachel's group) was held here.
 * 5F Control Centre: A control centre where events taking place around Train City can be managed. It can be left to operate automatically using a computer program. It's later revealed that this Control Centre, that can be reached using the elevator from the platform, is in fact fake.
 * 6F Skyscraper: Like the 5F Control Centre, this Skyscraper, that can be reached using the elevator from the platform, is in fact fake.

Wooden Horse
Residing in the Middle Area of the 37th Floor, Wooden Horse is the second station Regulars can board the Hell Train. Ticket Holders stay in waiting rooms at the top of the station and use stairs to get to the plaza at the bottom of the station.

When the train arrives at the station it stops at the plaza, known as "Altar", but it only stays for one hour; the first 30 minutes is for passengers of the train to get off and the second 30 minutes is for Regulars trying to board the train.

Name Hunt
This station resides on the 39th Floor and features floating stone blocks that Regulars must move across to get to the actual station itself. The train stops at this station for two days before departing again. According to Evan Edrok, a powerful person resides there who acts like some kind of "leader"; this person is in fact Kaiser the "Name Hunter", a veteran warlord who has ruled over the station for over 1000 years and is notorious for stealing the names of new arrivals at the station.

At this station, whoever wins in a battle can steal the name of the loser and whoever loses their name cannot use it for the rest of their life; the winning person can steal everything the loser owns, as well as their name. This is a special rule that only applies at the station and nowhere else; even those from the 10 Great Families are no exception to the rule.

Notes and Trivia

 * Apparently, the number of D-rank Regulars that hold on to their Express Ticket throughout the entire journey on the Hell Express is less than 5 every year.
 * According to Quant, there is a rumour that the Tower's most beautiful woman is sleeping on the Hidden Floor at the end of Hell Express.
 * Hachuling has been to the Hidden Floor, although he doesn't reveal what's there.
 * When Quant gave the explanation on the Hell Express, he mentioned that it lets you go up 6 Floors. If you catch the train on the 35th Floor, that means you would end up on the 41st Floor and not the 43rd Floor, as Yihwa later read. SIU mentioned that neither explanation was wrong, with the reason being explained in the future.
 * There are lounge areas on the train where Regulars can rest before proceeding to the next station.
 * According to Daniel, "Revolution Road" is known to be the road that the 10 Family Heads walked through and everything changed for them after walking the road; is responsible for the division and unity of the 10 Great Families. It is the road which changed the history of the Tower.
 * It is later revealed to be true. "Revolution" is a process for Irregulars to realise their "real fate", where they find their true self that has nothing to do with society, ideologies and others; Irregulars can discover themselves that they weren't able to find whilst being surrounded by false notions and boundaries. Zahard and the 10 Great Warriors all did "Revolution".
 * Daniel says that there are an unlimited number of secrets on the Hell Train.
 * There are currently around 80 tickets unaccounted for.

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