Alright. Let's sort through this.
The monster in front of me… That grotesque figure with its pixelated, distorted appearance, was undoubtedly my colleague, Go Yeongeun. The goral mask was clearly visible, after all.
'I feel bad for blasting that high-powered flashlight in her face…' Clenching my teeth, I tried to focus on the mask instead of my sense of revulsion.
The problem was that normal communication was impossible! I couldn't speak, nor could I properly hear what the other person was saying… There's no way we can talk anyway!
If that's the case, might as well kick her out of the school. The urge to destroy everything surged up to my throat like bitter bile… 'Ugh.'
It felt like my head was filled with errors. This was driving me crazy.
Unable to think of another way to communicate, I eventually pulled a pen out of my pocket and, avoiding looking at her directly, wrote on the floor.
Ms. Goral?
Then, I waited in silence.
The moment 'Go Yeongeun' turned her gaze toward me, I froze. A reply appeared on the A4 paper on the floor.
Mr. Roe Deer?? Are you self-aware? Can you act independently?
'Phew.' Good.
I looked at the monster—no, 'Go Yeongeun'—and wrote a response.
Yes, I can. Don't worry, I'm not contaminated. Although I imagine even a contaminated person might say something like this, so I'm concerned about how it sounds… This is all part of this ghost story's gimmick.
A gimmick? Yes.
How should I explain this? 'In this case, it's probably best to go straight to the point.' Knowing that the colleague in front of me was clearly intelligent, I decided to forego roundabout explanations and write the direct answer instead. The solution to this ghost story that all the foreshadowing in its lore pointed toward.
This is a school where a horror game has become reality. The name registered in the wiki for this ghost story, And the cause of all the events happening in this nightmare version of Sekwang Technical High School.
Hints about it can be found in exploration records that uncover the lore in the faculty office and certain classrooms.
Item Confiscation List (Month of ■■, Day ■■) : Game Console When obtained from the first-year faculty office and turned on, a pixelated image of the school at night briefly appears on the screen before it shuts off.
Memo in the top-right corner of the blackboard in Class 3-2 : That's supposed to be the teacher?
Notebook found on the floor of the music room : There's a small doodle in the corner. – Why am I in school after waking up? (A sketch of a surprised puppy.) Graduation ceremony prep? What does that even mean? It's May right now!
And various other notes and items. If you search the bag of the student whose console was confiscated, you can even find an empty game case with a plot summary written on the back.
The day before graduation. Students supporting the graduation ceremony preparations at ■■■■ High School spend the night at school. Of course, the preparations are mostly an excuse, and the students enjoy the atmosphere of a nighttime camp. New couples form, best friends argue, and someone's secrets are exposed… Then, the school broadcast comes on.
[The graduation ceremony has begun.] [To penalize students who did not attend, the teacher is now leaving the auditorium.] The bloody graduation ceremony begins. Can they escape the nightmare school unscathed?
That's how it becomes evident. This ghost story is about a horror game that devoured a real school, forcing it to replay the events of the game as a nightmare.
That's why the students don't speak. 'Because it's a game without voice acting.' That's why the third-year students on the fourth floor can't leave their spots. 'Because the main game hasn't started yet.' That's why the students can't move when explorers are watching. '…It's a bug that wasn't part of the original game.' In fact, the explorers weren't even official participants in the game. 'We're not playing the game at all.'
We were dragged in after attempting to glimpse the game's story through an unofficially downloaded text file… 'Huu.'
Of course, I didn't explain all of this in full detail to my colleague. I only shared hints and conveyed the core logic.
Here's the point. I obtained a student uniform in an unusual way and tried becoming a participant in this horror game. For now, it seems to be working.
A game? Oh, it sounds like that one! The horror game where you're trapped in school the night before White Day! But isn't becoming a participant in the ghost story's game even more dangerous? Especially since you don't know what might happen if you keep wearing that uniform for too long.
Go Yeongeun's writing started off energetic but became rushed and frantic toward the end. It was a reasonable concern.
You're right. If it gets dangerous, I'll stop right away. I also planned to run for it if things didn't go as expected. But so far, things were proceeding exactly as I had anticipated… Still, this might turn out to be the most definitive clear route we can document in the manual. I'm going to give it a try.
After a brief silence— Alright, then. I trust you, Mr. Roe Deer. You've always been strong against ghost stories… "..."
Seriously, it's just a misunderstanding… Still, please don't do anything too dangerous. I'd like that too, but things in life rarely go as planned… Ah, then, if we stay here together, other students might grow suspicious of you, so I'll take my leave.
Huuuh? Please, be careful!
That was the last thing she wrote. The moment I was unfrozen, I saw Go Yeongeun slowly walking away down the hallway, turning her back to me.
W-Wait a second, Yeongeun-ssi…! 'I still have things to ask you!' Please help me!
I hurriedly caught up to her, lightly tapped her back, and hastily wrote out a new note.
Excuse me, Ms. Goral, there's something I need to ask you. It's probably specialized knowledge only you can answer.
Sure! Feel free to ask!
Thankfully, Go Yeongeun turned back and kindly agreed to answer. Whew! Grateful, I quickly scribbled out my question.
Can you tell me where each organ is located in the human body? What??
A-Ack. Fortunately, Go Yeongeun didn't cut me off right then and there… She simply asked me multiple questions about work, accounting, and other real-world details, calmly and sternly verifying whether I was in my right mind.
Once she was convinced that I wasn't completely contaminated or some science-lab student with a morbid fascination for anatomy, she became kind again.
Alright! I'll answer as best I can haha Thank you… hiiic.
And so, I spent the remaining time engaging in an intense Q&A session with Go Yeongeun. Thanks to her, I was able to finish my 'clear preparations' in a safer and more certain way than I had expected.
Then, good luck. I'll do my best. Thank you!
…Hmm. I added one last comment, just in case.
If you plan to stay in this dream for a while longer, it might be best to stick to the first floor. Because soon, the true 'Within the Shadow of Darkness' will begin. "..."
And with that, After seeing off Go Yeongeun a few minutes later— [Ding- dong- daengdong-] [The graduation ceremony has begun.]
A new broadcast echoed. …Just as I had written in my thirteenth exploration record.
Exploration Record #13 Elapsed time wearing Sekwang Technical High School's uniform : 2 hours and 13 minutes.
A new school broadcast emerged, one not described in prior logs. Its content matches the plot summary on the back of the game case of 'Within the Shadow of Darkness'.
I went up to the fourth floor. The countless third-year students who had filled the hallway there… Had all disappeared.
"..." The empty fourth-floor hallway resonated with the broadcast. [To penalize students who did not attend, the teacher is now leaving the auditorium.]
Just as I had written in my exploration record. The main storyline of the horror game began to unfold. It was becoming real.
"..." I swallowed hard.
The atmosphere in the school changed completely. The previously comforting sense of belonging as a student had been replaced with an oppressive, unsettling tension.
No— I could actually hear the BGM right now…! The haunting 8-bit game music descended upon my ears in sharp, eerie minor tones.
And then, a pop-up appeared. Something feels off. Before it's too late, let's look for the other students.
'No.' I wouldn't do that. I knew a faster route and steeled my resolve. First, I would… 'Hide.'
I ran toward the third-year faculty office. Hiding inside a locker there was the standard move…
₩uc774₩uac74₩u0020₩uc528₩ubc1c₩u0020₩ub300₩uccb4₩u0020₩ubb50₩uc57c₩u003f₩u003f "...!!!"
Again. 'A monster!'
Rejecting the deafening, ear-splitting noise, I quickly slipped inside the faculty office locker. The problem was that one of the monsters had been in a classroom next to the office on the fourth floor.
The monster hesitated as it opened the door and stepped out, then looked directly at me. At my shadowed face behind the locker's door.
'…It looks like it's wearing a mask.' I couldn't move my face to get a better look, but the limited view through the locker door made it hard to discern what kind of mask it was. 'At any rate, they're definitely one of our company employees.'
The sheer number of nametags they had collected made it almost impossible to recognize them as a glitch, thanks to the light emanating from them. '…Wait a second.' Light?
If it's that conspicuous… Step. "..."
Over there. I could hear faint and heavy noises from upstairs. Specifically, the sound of something large walking with small, deliberate footsteps.
StepStepStepStepStepStepStepStepStepStep StepStepStepStepStep It's coming down, right now— right now!! …'The teacher' is!!
'Damn it.' The fear was overwhelming. I held my breath.
But the glitch, possibly attracted to my nametag, quickly moved toward me, despite my stillness… 'Can't they hear it??'
No, of course they can't. They're not players in the game! 'The glitch doesn't even recognize the teacher! They won't be attacked by the teacher at all…!'
That's part of the game's rules—it doesn't acknowledge the start of the game. However…
Important Note. In this game, One way the 'entity'—the teacher—recognizes players is through their nametags.
But since explorers are essentially glitches themselves, having just one or two nametags doesn't typically register them as players. In other words, unless an explorer gets overly greedy, they don't usually get caught.
…For example. By collecting a ridiculous number of nametags, a symbol of players.
Step. I remained frozen, holding my breath.
The glitch approached my locker and grabbed the door. Then it pulled— S LA S H
A massive, sharp metal plate slammed down on the masked glitch. Its mangled form split apart. Thunk.
Blood splattered across my face. Right in front of me, separated by the locker door, the vertically bisected form of a bespectacled employee fell to the ground.
The glitch, now reduced to a corpse, lost its pixelated distortion, returning to a human body. When an explorer—a glitch—remains in the school until the game starts and gets discovered by the teacher, they are eliminated.
'...Oh.' I knew that face. It was one of the supervisors newly assigned to the D-squad. He would be eliminated in reality, too. He just died.
"..." StepStepStepStepStepStepStepStepStepStepStepSt epStepStepStepStep
The 'teacher' left the faculty office. While dragging the supervisor's lifeless body across the floor. "...!"
I covered my mouth with my hands. It was the first time I had seen someone from my team dismembered right before my eyes.
'Stay calm.' Nothing you do now will change what's happened. What you must do next also won't change…
"..." Kim Soleum.
Do you remember? How explorers, before the exploration record you wrote, used to collect high-value items like nametags to make their presence stronger in the game or survive longer.
'It's an exploit.' So, what does a proper player need to do to truly 'clear' the game? '...They have to see the ending.'
And in most games, the ending… Happens after the final boss battle.
"..." The time had come. …The time to stop being a coward.
'Let's go.' I pulled out a tattoo sticker with a tomato tree design. With trembling hands, I slapped it on my neck.