Chapter 79

Exploration Record #13, the entry I had added.

-If you obtain a uniform through the appropriate means and wear it, you can be treated as a student.

It was actually quite a radical addition. Handled poorly, that choice could alter the flavor of the original ghost story.

A school ghost story.

Monsters that move only when no one is watching.

Built on variations of those two clichés, “In the Black Shadows” was originally a classic ghost story about the terror of being hunted. A nightmare in which familiar, everyday places and people become bizarre, unfathomable things that pursue you until they kill you.

But once the exploration records reached double digits, little bits of buildup began creeping in.

'Adding the fun of imagining the world's backstory in detail.'

Exploration Record #5

Writing discovered on the blackboard:

Avoid the teacher the teacher is (The rest was roughly erased.)

Hints accumulated like that, one after another. For twelve entries, they had done nothing but accumulate. And since this ghost story was fairly popular, it looked as though they would keep doing just that.

'It gets frustrating at that point.'

It also becomes harder to maintain the original theme: the fear born from gaps in your knowledge.

But here's the thing.

'If you can explore as an insider—a student—you get the added fun of unraveling those mysteries...!'

The thirteenth exploration record I wrote met that need among the ghost story's contributors. And so “In the Black Shadows” reached a new turning point.

From the middle-to-late explorations onward, all the eerie hints about the world scattered throughout the records were paid off, revealing a shocking twist. The later entries became deeper explorations with a much stronger emphasis on story...

It was a wondrous vicarious experience, watching a seed I had planted grow into a larger, new story through so many people's contributions.

'Never thought I'd experience it firsthand, though.'

Yes. Right now, I planned to experience that story's crowning moment a little ahead of schedule.

'Let's go.'

In the guise of a student, I walked down the dark third-floor hallway of Segwang Technical High School. Far away, I could see terrified “monsters” slowly disappearing around a corner...

An urge to chase them surged up, then faded.

'Whew.'

Existing within the school in the role of a student felt strangely comfortable. It felt as though I was standing right where I belonged.

That made the revulsion and destructive urges all the stronger whenever I witnessed those alien “monsters” roaming the school.

Especially when...

["A fatal incident has occurred in Second Year, Class 2."]

The first time I heard that announcement, my heart seemed to drop. Aching sorrow and a cold emptiness. And a sense of duty to find the cause of the incident!

["Let us all observe five seconds of silence."]

I wanted to run freely through the school, now as bright as daylight, gladly eliminate the source of this error, and “pay my respects,” but...

'I'm not a student.'

I couldn't forget that. Kim Soleum had plenty to do.

First, I needed to go up to the fourth floor. I set foot on the stairs...

'Oh.'

Huh?

My classroom, First Year, Class 5, is on the second floor.

I don't think I have any reason to go up to the third floor.

The thought appeared like a pop-up.

“...”

So this was why the students had been given the trait of “rarely leaving their respective floors.”

Of course, it wasn't impossible to overcome. I was only wearing a borrowed uniform, not an actual student here.

'Whew.'

I began moving again. One step at a time.

[4F]

I reached the fourth floor long before the dazzling “light of mourning” filling the hallways faded.

That place, once dim with broken and flickering lightbulbs, where dozens of students had stood frozen like mannequins in the hallway, staring at people, was now...

Lively.

“...!”

The students were exchanging glances and gestures with animated expressions, chatting silently with one another. I bit my tongue to keep myself from making any sound.

The students of Segwang Technical High School have no voices.

If you speak aloud to them while wearing a borrowed uniform, ■■■ ■■■■.

Subsequently awakens and regains consciousness.

To think I would be bound by sentences I had written myself.

I kept walking through the students. Some glanced at me before turning away without much interest; others gave awkward smiles when our eyes met.

Don't look out of place...

'Act natural...'

I rounded the corner and stopped just before the stairs near the third-year faculty office. There was a small metal door.

[Faculty Office Storage]

It was the sort of leftover space schools usually used to store cleaning supplies and such.

Five or six students sat gathered in a circle right in front of it. They were packed so closely together that I could never have approached without a Segwang Technical High School uniform, but...

'Now I can get in.'

I stepped into their circle. The students looked at me quizzically, as though asking, What is a first-year doing all the way up here?

I took out a sheet of A4 paper I had brought from the infirmary and slowly wrote:

Some upperclassmen told me to get a ladder from storage.

Would it be all right if I took it out?

One of the students smiled, took my pen, and wrote a reply.

Okay lol

JINGLE.

I looked up to find another student dangling a ring of keys in front of me. I accepted it, then personally unlocked the storage room with the key labeled “Fourth-Floor Storage” and stepped inside...

A place only students could enter.

CREEEAK.

Light flashing through the gap in the door stabbed my eyes. Objects throughout the storage room were sparkling, as though radiating their presence. Just like the name tag I had received from Jang Heoun.

'Good God.'

I had expected it, but the strange sight was even more striking than I had imagined. After carefully closing the storage room door, I immediately reached toward the objects...

I don't think these are things I can take yet.

Ignoring the pop-up-like thought once again, I rummaged through the assorted shining objects—buckets, mops, a small whiteboard, and more—until...

I finally found what I was looking for.

“...”

It was a decorative brooch. Made from laminated thick paper, it had a slightly clumsy charm, as though an amateur had crafted it by hand.

Acquired 'Name Tag Decoration'!

Name Tag Decoration: A floral ornament bearing the words “Congratulations on Your Graduation.” It appears to be modeled after the azalea, Segwang Technical High School's school flower.

Is it intended as a gift for graduates?

I took this “Name Tag Decoration,” which had shone the brightest of all, and tucked it safely into my pocket.

'Done.'

I now had the essential item for “beating” this ghost story.

Afterward, I visited various places only students could use, checking for anything that contradicted the exploration records I knew. I borrowed a book from the library, briefly played the piano keys in the music room...

'If anything is even slightly off, I'm better off dying quickly and waking up.'

Fortunately, everything matched.

'... Good.'

Throughout this process, I never went up to the fifth floor, where the “auditorium being prepared for the graduation ceremony” was located. It wasn't time yet.

'When will the announcement come?'

Steadying my nervous breathing, I patiently waited...

That was when it happened.

\u0041\u0061\u0061\u0061\u0068\u0021\u0021\u0020\u0047\u0065\u0074\u0020\u0061\u0077\u0061\u0079\u0021\u0021\u0020\u0047\u0065\u0074\u0020\u0061\u0077\u0061\u0079\u002e\u002e\u002e

An enormous roar battered my ears.

“...!”

Was this what a glitch would feel like if it became sound? That insane noise, like hundreds of people scraping their fingernails across blackboards!!

I knew what it was, too.

'... The monsters!'

Those were definitely the voices of the explorers who looked like glitched monsters to me! Whatever they were saying to one another downstairs, the tremendous noise hammered my ears—no, the inside of my brain.

An overwhelming impulse engulfed my body.

'So this is why they hunted the loud ones first!'

I wanted to at least silence the noise...

'...! Calm down. Calm down...'

Instead of giving in and charging down the stairs, I suppressed the impulse as hard as I could for several seconds.

'Let's go now.'

Only once I was calm enough did I move, checking on the monsters at the far end of the fourth-floor hallway.

The monsters were facing off against a student. No, it was practically over already. The student lay face down on the floor, motionless and unable to move.

But not all the monsters had been taken out.

'Damn it.'

I prepared myself.

The one monster that had survived unscathed was looking at the student sprawled on the floor...

Then it turned toward me.

And stopped me.

...

I looked at the distant monster that had frozen me in place. A horrific human silhouette, its face melting in a blur of pixels.

But one thing set it apart from the other monsters.

'It's wearing a mask.'

And that mask was shaped like...

A mountain goat!

'... Ms. Go Youngeun!'

* * *

“Wow.”

I'm the only one left.

Go Youngeun leaned her back against the hallway wall, catching her breath.

In front of her, what was (probably) the last student on this third floor lay face down, unable to move. It still seemed alive, but she had no desire to kill it.

'Kill it, and there's another blackout, and they all swarm in... Ha.'

The civilians who had accompanied her were all dead already.

'Still, the last three died holding name tags, so...'

The company manual said that even if they simply died, they could go about their normal lives in reality. But it bothered her that the solution in the Dream Essence Collector only rose when they acquired “name tags.”

'... I feel like there's something to that.'

Go Youngeun had more or less given up on hoarding tags for a high-grade clear. Instead, she had casually brought up the name tags to her companions and shared them out.

And those people had all just died.

'Ugh...'

Perhaps because working at this company had made her fairly accustomed to gory scenes of slaughter, monsters, and ghosts, she wasn't overwhelmed. Though, having completed her anatomy studies and cadaver lab without difficulty, she had probably been fairly resilient to begin with.

'Well, at least they aren't really dead...'

She had reached the point where she could think things like that with relative composure.

'... Should I try heading upstairs now?'

It happened just as Go Youngeun decided to catch her breath before moving.

The lights flickered.

“...!!”

At the far end of the hallway, another student appeared. A tall Segwang Technical High School student wearing his uniform in a somewhat delinquent fashion.

'Ha.'

Wow...

I can't do this shit anymore!

'Let's just leave.'

Surely she'd lasted long enough to avoid trouble with her performance review.

Worn out with exhaustion, Go Youngeun wanted to simply pull off the ultra-powerful headlamp she was wearing. She would just get ready to wake up from this shitty nightmare...

The lights flickered.

... Huh?

'W-wait a second.'

Beneath the dim lights, she caught a glimpse of the student's features. A composed, almost impassive face, cool and neat.

“... Mr. Roe Deer?”

It was Kim Soleum.

For a moment, she wondered if it was merely a student who resembled him. But although he looked slightly younger than the face she normally saw, she was certain.

It really was him.

A chill ran down Go Youngeun's spine.

'W-wait...!'

What on earth was going on?

Could it be?! Did fulfilling certain conditions in this ghost story “contaminate” you, trapping you like that...?

As one of those monsters called students?

“Ah...”

Having worked here for several months, she knew something about contamination from ghost stories, and terror swept over her... But the next moment, she made up her mind.

'Let's check.'

If she woke up now and something really had gone wrong, she felt she would hate herself for having simply run away.

'It's fine if I die and wake up now anyway.'

She approached down the hallway, doing her utmost not to blink both eyes at once. The closer she got to the rigid, motionless student, the more certain she became that it was Kim Soleum...

'... He doesn't have that rabbit doll, either.'

There was no sign of the plush keychain he carried around—perhaps it meant something to him. Feeling something she couldn't quite identify as bitterness or melancholy, Go Youngeun advanced.

The lights flickered.

But her headlamp kept that from being a problem.

'Just a little farther.'

Let's get closer.

But then...

CLICK.

A sudden flash of light stabbed Go Youngeun's eyes.

“...!!”

Her vision temporarily vanished.

The source was the flashlight in Kim Soleum's hand. He had set its timer to flash after a few seconds, temporarily blinding whoever approached.

Though Go Youngeun couldn't identify the specific object responsible, she understood what had happened and was stunned.

'He set it up... beforehand?!'

It was a trap.

For a moment, she felt dizzy with emotion, but she quickly composed herself.

'Nothing I can do.'

Her only regret was that she hadn't managed to figure out exactly what this bizarre situation was. But she wouldn't have long to think about that, either. Those monsters were insanely fast.

In the next instant, I'll di...

“...??”

I'm not dead?

There was no pain, nor the floating sensation of awakening from a dream.

... She was fine!

'What?'

As she adjusted to the aftereffects of the flash, a bewildered Go Youngeun quickly looked up at the “student,” “freezing” him.

...

Kim Soleum, dressed in a Segwang Technical High School uniform, wasn't looking at Go Youngeun. Instead, he was looking down at the floor.

'The floor?'

Go Youngeun stepped back a little, bringing both Kim Soleum and the floor into her field of view...

“...!”