The dark 4th-floor hallway.
Students lined up like mannequins.
And there I was, carefully calculating the range of the students’ reach before taking each step.
'Phew.'
First, I unfolded the item I had neatly tucked into my pocket and wrapped it around my vital areas.
A piece of 'armor' purchased from the Alien Shop.
Packaging code: 12B357.
The loose packaging settled under my high school uniform.
'The Nostalgia Series doesn’t heal wounds or contamination sustained while in use.'
I need to be even more cautious from now on.
I carefully moved, making sure not to overlap with the mannequins’ territories.
Since the area I occupied was small, it was actually somewhat easier.
Moving alone like this might actually increase the chances of survival on the 4th floor.
“…….”
I wonder if the Agent Bronze and Mr. Jang Heo-un got there safely.
'They’ll probably prioritize regrouping with others.'
The agent wasn’t foolish enough to go to the 5th floor with just two people, so they’d probably look for others on the 4th floor.
Judging by the atmosphere, it didn’t seem like they would take Mr. Jang Heo-un as a prisoner.
'Even if they do, I’ve really done all I could, my friend….'
And so, I walked to the end of the hallway.
"Phew."
I reached the stairs I had climbed earlier with my colleague and the agent.
And then….
I started going back down the stairs.
[3F]
I was retracing my steps.
Why, you ask?
To be perfectly honest, I don’t really need the scattered information items in this school.
'Because it’s all already in my head.'
I’ve already obtained and seen everything.
I know everything, right up until the moment this ghost stosy ends.
Why the school ended up like this, what the theme of this legend is, and what these students really are.
So, the only thing I truly need is one thing.
'The key item that will unlock the highest-grade clear.'
And now, I’m going to get it.
'By now… it should have been ‘created.’’
I stopped at the landing.
The 3rd floor below was eerily quiet.
“…….”
Because everything had turned into corpses.
Beneath the bright lights, blood-soaked corpses, brutally mutilated, were grotesquely exposed.
It seemed that most of the uniformed students on this floor had died.
'Any surviving agents would have likely moved elsewhere.'
And at least, it seemed that the students who had swarmed the staff room were mostly immobilized and reported in the death incident announcement.
"Phew."
Beyond the grotesqueness, it felt as though I was in the middle of a disaster site where dozens of people had died.
'Calm down.'
This is a dream… It’s all just a dream….
Repeating it to myself, I kept descending the stairs, quickly scanning both ends of the hallway and the staff room opposite.
And then, I spotted my target.
Blink.
In the brief moment I turned my gaze.
A student whose posture had changed was in the staff room.
"...!"
Of course, it hadn’t followed me.
That student was already in too much of a horrific state to do so.
Both arms were broken, one leg was in an open fracture, and its stomach was covered in blood.
However, it seemed to have enough 'awareness' to tilt and turn its head slightly toward me….
“…….”
I looked around.
'No signs of other students appearing… good.'
Alright.
I headed toward the staff room.
And I approached the student who had collapsed near the front door.
With bleached hair and piercings, it had the typical look of a delinquent student, but its injuries erased any impression of that.
“…….”
Wow, this really feels insane.
I grabbed the 'student' with both hands and hoisted it over my shoulder.
"Phew."
Carrying it over my shoulder would take it out of my sight, so I walked with it slung like a sack.
'This is driving me crazy.'
Carrying a murderous machine weighing tens of kilograms like this wasn’t mentally easy.
Still, my body was in good shape, thanks to the Nostalgia Candy rolling around in my mouth.
'And… this is the destination.'
I had a route mapped out in my head.
Given this chaos, students on the 3rd floor would be rare, but just in case, let’s move quickly.
I held the flashlight in my mouth, leaned on the wall, and moved forward.
The powerful flashlight lit up the entire hallway, blackout or not.
Even so, the blood-soaked scene was suffocating.
Still.
[Nurse’s Office]
My destination came into view.
Creak.
I silently dropped the name tag my colleague had given me onto the floor, then quietly opened the door and entered the nurse’s office.
Three beds lined up near the window, each concealed by curtains, came into view.
Shadows of people could already be seen inside two of them.
“…….”
I slowly moved forward.
My gaze caught the whiteboard notice on the nurse’s office door as I passed by.
Injured students during exercise should lie down on the bed and wait for the nurse to arrive!
“…….”
It felt strange.
'That’s it.'
That was the clue that made me continue writing the exploration records of this ghost stroy.
The 12th exploration record left by the previous person.
Exploration Record #12
Assistant Kang Ji-woo entered the nurse’s office and laid the injured (Supervisor Park Cha-on) on an empty bed as per the instructions.
No unusual events occurred.
Subsequently, everyone was killed by the student entity that chased them into the nurse’s office.
Because from the moment I read this, I noticed a gap somewhere.
'It seemed like the previous writer had left it intentionally.'
The explorers are, in the context of this legend, 'students from another school.'
That means they are outsiders.
So….
‘ – What would happen if I laid down an actual Sekwang Technical High School student?’
That question and the thoughts it sparked drove me to write the 13th exploration record….
'My heart was pounding.'
From something that might have been tension, fear, or anticipation.
I took a deep breath and opened the curtain of the remaining bed without a shadow.
Then, I laid the student on the clean cot that was revealed.
Images overlapped in my mind.
The phrases from the exploration record I had written.
Exploration Record #13
(Omitted)
Staff member ■■■ successfully lured one injured student entity with a civilian.
After restraining it, they entered the nurse’s office and laid it on a bed.
During this process, the name tag was not removed.
The student might have been able to move its joints if I forced it, but it was still in an awkward position.
I covered it with a blanket and left the nurse’s office for a moment, waiting for several seconds in the blood-soaked hallway while trying to calm my pounding heart.
'After this.'
When I finished waiting, I lightly knocked on the nurse’s office door and entered….
I saw the injured student entity lying on the bed in gym clothes, having received proper first aid.
It was exactly as I had read.
“…….”
Feeling a mix of awe and fear, I approached the only bed without its curtain drawn.
The bleached-haired student I had brought was lying on the bed in a relaxed posture, wearing gym clothes.
It was wrapped in bandages and splints.
It didn’t even glance at me.
'From here….'
The original exploration record stated that it was found 'while thoroughly searching the surroundings.'
Creak.
I immediately opened the bedside drawer.
Inside was a neatly folded school uniform.
[Sekwang Technical High School]
It was the school uniform of the student lying on the bed.
The buttons were missing, and some parts were worn out, but strangely, the blood and stains were perfectly cleaned….
'Ha.'
My heart was pounding furiously.
Without looking back at the student lying on the bed, I hurriedly grabbed an A4 sheet from the nurse’s office and started writing.
I’ll just borrow this uniform for a moment.
– The transfer student who brought you to the nurse’s office.
I folded the paper neatly, placed it in the drawer where the uniform had been, and took out the uniform instead.
“…….”
When I turned my head, the student still lay there with their eyes closed, wearing gym clothes.
They looked as if they were sound asleep.
'Done.'
I quickly undressed.
Then, I threw my original high school uniform out the nurse’s office window and started putting on the 'borrowed' uniform of Sekwang Technical High School.
Thankfully, it fit well since our builds were similar.
After putting on the old-style uniform.
Creak.
“…….”
The sound of a drawer opening came from behind me.
When I turned my head, a reply had been written on the note I left in the drawer.
What grade and class are you in?
“…….”
I swallowed hard and wrote with trembling hands.
The same profile I had written on the back of my high school photo to gain entry here.
And the name of the class I woke up in.
1st Grade, Class 5.
At that moment.
The whole world went dark.
“……!”
Darkness, void of even a speck of light, briefly blinded me before my eyes adjusted and began to faintly reveal the outline of the world.
Emergency lights and the faint glow of an LED clock barely outlined the space… the school’s nurse’s office.
And then.
Tap, tap.
“…!”
Someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned my head.
The student who had been sitting on the bed with a bored expression was tapping my shoulder.
The bleached-haired student naturally withdrew their hand from my shoulder and moved.
Yeah.
Naturally.
With an incredibly human-like motion, they took the A4 paper and pen I was holding, moved their bandaged arm, and scribbled down a note before handing it to me.
A transfer student, huh?
Unlucky bastard.
Then, they lay back down on the bed.
As naturally as if they were trying to fall asleep.
"……."
With a stiff expression, I stood up.
Creak.
I stepped out of the nurse’s office.
The world was still dark.
But strangely, everything seemed vividly clear….
It felt like I was in a heightened state, able to see even the dust floating in the air.
A strange confidence seemed to emanate from the uniform and settle in my heart.
“…….”
I walked down the hallway and picked up the name tag I had dropped when entering the nurse’s office, slipping it into my pocket.
[■■■]
The name tag seemed to glow strangely, unlike before.
Strangely enough, even in this dark, blood-soaked, and filthy environment, I didn’t feel scared.
But….
I saw something at the end of the hallway.
"…!"
Something was peeking out from Class 7 of the 2nd Grade.
The silhouette was definitely human.
But its entire body was writhing grotesquely.
It was horrifying, like a glitching pixel brought to life, reminiscent of a ghoul from a horror movie.
Dressed in various decaying uniforms, they looked like errors wrongly implemented into the world….
And the moment they looked at me.
"…!"
I stopped.
The body and head feel paralyzed, unable to move.
The world is distorted, wavering—something is wrong.
Those things should not be here.
The fear of having my existence threatened, the enemy's resolve to annihilate, deeply roots itself in my instincts.
At the moment when it felt like everything inside me was about to overturn.
Blink.
"...!!"
Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, the entire world lit up.
With the brightened vision, I instinctively rushed forward.
The glitch-like monsters, blinded by the bright light, couldn’t look at me!
Now they moved very slowly, very slowly….
I can get rid of them here!
"......"
I barely managed to stop my feet.
I barely suppressed the urge to chase after them.
The sweetness of the candy rolling on my tongue brought me back to my senses….
And then, in the next moment.
Blink.
Before I knew it, the world had plunged back into pitch-black darkness.
And when I locked eyes with the monster again.
Before I knew it, they were slowly running down the stairs at the far end of the hallway… leaving me behind.
"......"
My entire body was drenched in sweat.
My clenched fists trembled as if I had barely endured a severe withdrawal symptom.
But I could endure it because it was something I had already read about and was now experiencing firsthand.
There was no confusion. It was just something I had confirmed.
'…So this is what it was.'
Did you realize? Those monsters I just saw were the explorers themselves.
They were people who, until just moments ago, were in the same position as me, dragged into this ghost story.
'And I…'
By obtaining and wearing the uniform of Sekwang Technical High School with a student’s permission, an explorer can also play the role of a student in this ghost story.
I am now a student at Sekwang Technical High School.
