Chapter 72

School ghost stories.

They were, in fact, part of a long-standing tradition. Hundreds of teenagers had to spend all day in the same building. It would be stranger if they never took an interest in frightening, bizarre rumors, mysterious rituals, or ghosts.

The Seven School Mysteries, spirit-summoning games...

Naturally, having gone through school myself, I thought they were pretty entertaining too. Weren’t they the very definition of widely popular, universal horror stories?

‘That’s why I worked up the courage to add an exploration record for the first time.’

Fortunately, my entry hadn’t been review-bombed with “Not Recommended” ratings until it was taken down. That experience had even inspired me to write and post a whole ghost story of my own...

But now.

‘I’m... going in there?’

It was a strange feeling. Of course, the prospect of entering a ghost story sent a chill down my spine first, but there was also an odd fluttering inside me.

Like having the teaching manual in front of me—no, it wasn’t that...

Anticipation and fear?

‘I don’t know how to describe it...’

In any case, the manuals had already been handed out, and I had to at least “attempt” entry.

That being the case...

“Are we performing a little ritual before bed tonight? I’m curious whether this is your personal secret to a good night’s sleep, Mr. Roe Deer!”

“No, it’s not.”

I quietly straightened my bed.

“I’m trying to have that ‘special dream’ the company told us about.”

“Ah, are you going to that ‘high school’?”

Yes.

‘Even if it isn’t this one, I’ll have to enter a ghost story anyway.’

Only a few people who met the one-off conditions each time could enter this one, so the company offered generous points for it. Better to get in here.

‘Whew.’

Late at night, in company housing, I opened the “particular book” the company had supplied.

[“If you read a particular book on the night of a full moon and fall asleep, you may wake up in a school at night.”]

Just as Section Chief Lee Jaheon had explained.

What made it a little unusual was that it was a text file.

In the Black Shadows.txt

Apparently, this file was sometimes included when you downloaded a collection of text files from the internet called “Horror Masterpieces of the 2000s”—a compilation with an almost unbelievable disregard for copyright.

Its file size certainly looked large enough for two books. But...

I clicked the file to open it.

It all happened on our graduation day.

That single line was the entirety of its contents.

And if you found that strange and scrolled farther down...

₩ub124₩uac00₩u0020₩uc774₩u0020₩uae00₩uc744₩u0020₩uc77d₩ub294₩ub2e4₩ub294₩u0020₩uac74₩u0020₩ud3b8₩ubc95₩uc744₩u0020₩uc4f0₩uace0₩u0020₩uc788₩ub2e4₩ub294₩u0020₩ub73b₩uc774₩ub2e4₩u002e₩u0020₩uac10₩ud788₩u0020₩uc55e₩uc73c₩ub85c₩u0020₩uc77c₩uc5b4₩ub0a0₩u0020₩uc77c₩u c744₩u0020₩uc5ff₩ubcf4₩ub824₩uace0₩u0020₩ud55c₩u0020₩ub300₩uac00₩ub97c₩u0020₩uce58₩ub97c₩u0020₩uac83₩uc774₩ub2e4₩u002e₩u0020₩ubc18₩ub4dc₩uc2dc₩u002e

An incomprehensible jumble of garbled characters filled the text file, until...

Unable to open file.

It disappeared.

“...”

Ha.

Not a single goddamn thing could be easy...!

‘At this rate, a heart attack will get me first...’

Just then, I heard a stream of profanity from the next room. Baek Saheon was apparently preparing to enter this ghost story too. Every employee had been assigned to it, after all...

‘Maybe I’ll run into him inside.’

Well, the odds of Baek Saheon happening to meet the exact conditions and getting in were low.

The requirements for entry changed every time this ghost story opened.

‘But I know the “guaranteed entry” method that appeared in the middle-to-later exploration records...’

So I had already prepared for it.

The important thing was that I didn’t know how much information the employees had at this point.

‘Even if they haven’t accumulated as many exploration records yet, given the nature of this ghost story, other rumors might have spread by word of mouth.’

Since every employee was preparing for entry, that did concern me a little.

Hmm.

‘Should I check?’

It was about time I kept him in check so he wouldn’t try anything stupid, anyway.

I went to Baek Saheon’s door and knocked politely.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

“Wh-what is it?!”

“I’m coming in.”

CREAK.

When I opened the door, Baek Saheon glared at me with an expression somewhere between flustered, frightened, and pissed off. Then he smiled through gritted teeth.

“Isn’t the social convention that you knock and wait for someone to say ‘come in’ before you enter? Huh?”

“Is it?”

I went back outside and knocked on the door again.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

KNOCK...

“You son of a—Aaargh! Just come in!”

I opened the door and stepped inside, giving him a pitying look.

“The result’s the same.”

“...”

“You... really do live inefficiently.”

Baek Saheon seemed to be swelling with indignation, but he successfully suppressed it. Hmm. I was glad he finally seemed to be developing some manners.

“Anyway, I’m extremely curious why you suddenly decided to barge into my room for the first time in the middle of the night...”

He seemed to arrive at the answer even as he spoke.

“... Hey. No, Supervisor, don’t you have to follow the company’s instructions and enter the Darkness too? That high school.”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, I thought so. Then you must have been getting ready?”

Through the open doorway, Baek Saheon scanned the area around the pillow on my bed with swift, persistent, greedy eyes.

He was clearly trying to glean a hint.

‘Well, look at you.’

I smiled without bothering to block the doorway.

“Yeah. I was.”

“Really? I heard you can’t tell whether you’ll get in before you fall asleep... But you look so certain, Supervisor. That’s interesting. Do you have some kind of secret?”

“You have a lot of questions.”

“Since you came all the way to my room, I thought I should hear you out.”

I tossed out a question.

“Need a hint?”

“... Well, if you’re offering?”

“Why would I?”

“...”

Baek Saheon smiled through clenched teeth.

“... Shall I transfer another three days’ pay?”

“I don’t need money. There’s something I want to hear.”

“...!”

“You want to get in, right? Why?”

A brief, fierce struggle crossed Baek Saheon’s face.

Rather than being reluctant to tell me, he seemed to be weighing whether telling me might let him squeeze something more out of me.

Then, apparently having reached a conclusion, he spoke as though it were no big deal.

“... Well, there’s a rumor at the company.”

A rumor.

“Apparently, you can bring whatever you get in that ghost story back out with you... So you’re better off getting in no matter what and bringing something out.”

“...”

“And they say you don’t actually die in there unless something really goes wrong.”

Hmm.

So that was what the employees knew at this point.

A “ghost story you’re better off entering.”

“Honestly, I doubt your hint is worth as much as that information, Supervisor. But we joined together, and we’re roommates, so I’m telling you...”

Oh, he was casually trying to lowball me.

I deliberately nodded with a serious expression.

“You’re right. My hint doesn’t seem worth much.”

“...!”

“You don’t need to hear it, then, do you? Let’s forget about it. Oh, and thanks for the information.”

“...!! You son of a...”

I looked at Baek Saheon. He stopped swearing, then smiled again.

“... Supervisor, if an employee living in the same company housing were to extort a poor new recruit’s salary and personal information through blackmail and threats, wouldn’t that recruit at least be entitled to request a meeting with a superior about workplace bullying?”

Oh dear.

I gave Baek Saheon a sympathetic look.

“You... really think this company would care about something like that?”

“...”

“Well, you’re free to believe what you want.”

“...”

Baek Saheon seemed lost somewhere between anger and despair...

Well, that was probably enough.

‘I should give him what he’s due.’

I spoke lightly.

“Put a photo of yourself from high school under your pillow too, then go to sleep.”

“...?!”

“Write your year and class on the back, along with a profile. Like a yearbook.”

I even kindly wrote an example on a sticky note from his desk.

Name:

A Message to Your Friends:

“Then see what happens.”

“...”

Apparently unable to believe me, Baek Saheon kept pressing, asking whether I had put a high school photo under my pillow too.

I went all the way back to my room and took the photo out from under my pillow to show him.

It was a printout of one of the pictures of my high school self saved on my phone.

“...”

Baek Saheon stared at it incredulously, then shut his mouth.

“Did you think I was lying?”

“... You’re always! So slick with your words. You do give that impression, Supervisor.”

“Really? I’ve never lied, though.”

“...”

“Think about it.”

I dismissed Baek Saheon, whose face had somehow gone blank.

“Anyway, Braun and I have more preparations to make, so you should leave.”

“Have a safe trip back, unremarkable coworker!”

Baek Saheon looked at me with an expression I couldn’t identify as either disgust or something more complicated. Eventually, he backed away and hurried into his own room.

THUD.

‘There we go.’

Having to put him in his place like this every time was a little tiring, but what could I do?

Think of Team D’s new employee. That was just how working life went...

“Whew.”

I went back to the pillow on my bed.

First of all, the tip I had given Baek Saheon was true.

Exploration Record #15

Confirmed successful entry into Segwang Technical High School by all three members of Team K using the explorers’ high school graduation photos.

Validity established.

And once entry was guaranteed, the next priority was, of course, “what to bring.”

Only the things placed under your pillow before you fell asleep would come with you as your possessions at “Segwang Technical High School” in the dream.

There was a limit to how much you could fit under a pillow and still sleep on it, so I had to choose carefully.

‘If I put them in my wrist tattoo and it won’t activate in the dream, I’m screwed.’

I was already a little uneasy because this ghost story changed your appearance.

In the end, I arranged the important items under my pillow like Tetris pieces to make them fit.

Finally, I put Braun beneath the most comfortable spot at the very edge.

Hmm. Naturally... Braun ended up in a rather awkward position.

“...”

‘Sorry. Is it really cramped?’

“Well, it’s bearable! If we were in the studio, I probably would have called for a crew member. Haha!”

‘R-right. Thanks.’

That meant he was very uncomfortable.

I must not make a ghost-story resident who burned people alive with a snap of his fingers any more uncomfortable...!

I quickly laid my head on the pillow and tried to sleep, taking care not to crush Braun as much as possible.

‘The pillow’s pretty lumpy...’

“...”

But my eyes close.

Drowsiness rapidly washes over my mind, so quickly that it is hard to believe I have been suffering from insomnia all this time and am lying on an uncomfortable pillow...

Fog.

Black shadows.

And...

[DING-DONG-DANG-DONG.]

... School.

[DING-DONG-DANG-DONG.]

I opened my eyes.

I saw a dim classroom, without a single light switched on.

When I looked down at my clothes, I was already in a school uniform.

[■■ High School]

I was neatly dressed in the familiar uniform of my old high school, with only the school’s name erased as though it had been scratched away with a needle.

I couldn’t check for myself, but I knew.

My appearance itself had reverted to my high school days...

And then.

“Wh-what is this??”

Remember that characteristic of this ghost story I heard about earlier?

[“I heard you can’t tell whether you’ll get in before you fall asleep...”]

Put another way, that also meant this:

Our company’s employees weren’t the only people who came here.

“Huh? Huh? Why am I in a school uniform...?”

“Oh my God!”

“Excuse me, do you happen to know where we are?”

A classroom in the dead of night, without a single light on.

One by one, the people seated at the shadowy desks got up. Bewildered, they looked at one another and screamed, or inspected their surroundings.

They were civilians who had been dragged here by chance.

“Is this some kind of event? Huh.”

“Wait, why am I in a school uniform... Huh? Wait! Why am I a high schooler?!”

“This is a dream.”

“Um, have you looked out the window? I think we’re on the second floor...”

‘... It feels like I’m back in the subway ghost story.’

My stomach ached as I watched them look around, wavering between bewilderment and fear, curiosity and amusement.

And... I felt a deep tension too.

“Huh?”

One person wandering around looked into a corner and finally spotted him.

A student sitting perfectly still.

“Why isn’t this person moving?”

It was an eerie sight.

In the middle of a dark classroom full of people in all sorts of school uniforms shouting and moving busily about, one person sat in his seat as though he had frozen solid.

Not even blinking.

The boy, who looked like an incredibly detailed wax figure, wore a fully intact name tag.

[Segwang Technical High School]

“Could it be a mannequin? Here goes.”

They poked him a couple of times.

“Ack!”

The person who had poked him with a finger jerked their hand away in surprise.

“He’s warm??”

“Whoa, really?”

I rose from my seat and slowly approached the classroom door, never taking my eyes off him.

‘I need to get the door open in advance.’

TAP, TAP.

As I nervously tried to move my hand, the plush keychain nearly fell out of my uniform’s front pocket.

Alarmed, I snatched it up.

Whew.

‘That was close, Braun.’

Silence.

“... Braun?”

I lifted the plush doll.

It hung limp.

“...!”

I hurriedly pressed around the doll’s belly. The shape of the coin I had used in the ritual to summon “Good Friend”—the Silver Snake...

Wasn’t there.

“...”

This was just a doll.

“Good Friend” hadn’t been able to follow me into my dream.

“...”

“Out there... Uh, uhhh, aaaaaagh!!!”

I was f***ed.