The tattoo stickers. It was something I got as freebies. Are there any designs related to courage or boldness—symbols of fearlessness? In response to that question, the tattoo artist recommended a design of a tomato tree… And that design was preserved as stickers. This is the tattoo I'm currently sticking on my neck.
"..."
To be honest, it had some of the effects I expected. It felt like the fear-processing part of my brain was paralyzed, making paranormal occurrences less frightening. Just like the D-squad… Right. …Just like Assistant Manager Eun Haje and Supervisor Park Minseong before me. Their guts seemed so out of place it felt like their bravery bordered on recklessness as they fearlessly explored these supernatural horrors. But.
"...?"
Inside the locker, I blinked. 'It… doesn't seem to have much effect, does it?' I recalled the students who had chased me earlier. Absolutely terrifying. I thought about the crazy red bunny mascot I encountered in the theme park ghost story. It sent shivers down my spine. I thought about the ghost who pretended to be human, sobbing and knocking on the door in the changgwi ghost story. '…Terrifying!!' No matter what I thought of, it chilled me. 'C-Could this be a scam?' Or maybe I applied the sticker wrong? After all, I've never used a tattoo sticker before, so I wouldn't know. But either way, it wasn't something I could verify right now.
"..."
Shit. Either way, I still had to proceed as planned. Now that the 'teacher' had vanished from the fourth floor, this was my chance. 'They must have gone downstairs.' In the end, I swallowed hard and stepped out of the locker. …Of course, the sight before me would be gruesome. The bloodstains and flesh chunks of the newly assigned D-squad supervisor —who had just died—would be scattered, so I braced myself as I stepped out…
...
"...?"
'Tomato?'
Wait a second. I quickly left the faculty office and headed up to the fifth floor. There… The very reason I avoided the fifth floor was laid bare before me.
AAAACK!
The walls of the fifth floor were now plastered with pages from old graduation albums. And the students in the photos wore agonized expressions, their arms reaching out toward the outside world.
AAAACK!
Beyond the torn fragments of the graduation album, writhing chunks of flesh were visible. The fifth floor itself was a source of immense psychological burden and panic for anyone who entered. It looked less like a school and more like a grotesquely twisted alternate reality. The places where light fixtures should have been pulsated with a red glow. But…
Tomatoes, huh. Ha. Hahaha! 'No, what? This is crazy!' Where there should have been human heads, there were tomatoes attached! No, it wasn't like they didn't seem human. The people in the graduation album photos? They still looked like people. Faces distorted in pained screams! But somehow, they just felt like tomatoes. It made no logical connection to fear, and this rational voice transformed directly into an emotional reaction. Yeah, that's exactly how it felt… Like nothing at all. 'Hahaha…'
As I walked further down the hallway, the graduation albums went further back in time, and the graduates melted into even more grotesque and inhuman forms, solidifying into the walls. The walls and ceiling pulsed with strange talismans and chunks of flesh. And voices.
I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryfortearingupthetalismanIdugupintheschoolbackyard.Iwaspreparingforthegraduationceremonyof■■School.I'msorry… No, no! The graduation ceremony is not a ritual, it's not a sacrifice, no!! Please save me, please save This is all just game lore. Hearing it now wouldn't change anything. I walked down the hallway feeling almost cheerful, as though I were on a casual stroll. Everything being tomatoes made it a little amusing. And at the end of the hallway, I stopped in front of a massive door to the right. A neat teal-colored iron door. It was the only thing maintaining its original form in this grotesque fifth floor maze. It was the door to the auditorium. The place where this game's final chapter would unfold.
Graduates only. Please knock before entering.
I read the printed note on A4 paper. Am I not considered a graduate since I'm set as a first-year in Class 5? 'This kind of thing is just a gimmick activated by an item though.' And I already have it. Something you'd normally acquire only after fully playing through the game and reaching the final chapter.
Would you like to use the 'Nametag Ornament'? Of course.
Knock, knock.
I pinned the nametag ornament to my chest and knocked on the auditorium door. Then the massive door before me slid open smoothly.
"..."
Hundreds of third-year students sitting in hundreds of seats turned to look at me. This year's graduates. They were partially melted and fused with their chairs, black ink-like tears streaming from their eyeless faces. And yet… I felt no emotion beyond pity. In this situation, that's all I should feel. 'They can't harm me anyway.' Irrational fear had been replaced with tomatoes, and I walked along the path between the chairs. Toward the giant stage on the opposite side, adorned with a graduation ceremony banner.
Step, step.
The graduates turned their heads to stare at me expressionlessly as I walked past them. I ascended the stage. Grabbing the standing microphone installed in the center, I shouted: "Let the graduation ceremony begin."
[Ding- dong- daeng- dong-]
As if on cue, bright and grandiose event music began to play in response to my declaration. The graduation march starts to play… At that moment—
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Screams erupted in the auditorium.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
As if peeling away a façade, the intact appearance of the auditorium was stripped away, revealing its grotesque and distorted true form. The horrific scenes I had witnessed in the fifth-floor hallway emerged before me. As if in a final outburst of fury, the imagery seemed to lash out, eager to punish the one disrupting its order—me. But it didn't faze me. After all, everything looked like tomatoes. And the greater danger was just about to begin.
'It's coming.'
The sound of crazed footsteps storming up from below to forcibly drag the student who dared to start the graduation ceremony without permission back to their seat.
Step Step Step Step Step Step Step Step Step Step Step Step Step Step Step
The sound of footsteps barreling upward.
'The teacher is coming.'
It was fine.
'I've done everything I needed to before it arrives.'
I pulled a stick-type auto-injector from my pocket and jabbed it into my arm. Happy Maker. The ultra-potent, single-use painkiller injected its neon-colored liquid into my veins with an artificial, cheerful wave. A wave of comforting and refreshing vigor coursed through my body, light as air. As if it were a lie.
'Good.'
Simultaneously, I popped two Nostalgia Candies into my mouth.
Take no more than three at a time! Nostalgia might overwhelm you and drag you under!
I even followed the dosage instructions. Now, I was in the best and most perfect state imaginable.
'Whew.'
The time had come.
BANG
Through the crack in the auditorium door, something forced its way in.
The 'teacher' reached its deformed hand, fused with a chalkboard, through the gap, tearing apart the metal door itself.
CRRRK-CRACK-CRACK
The door crumpled and fell away. And there it stood, revealed—
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
A massive humanoid figure. But only a silhouette. It looked as though multiple teachers had been crumpled together, stitched, and forcibly shoved back into a mold resembling a human. A fleshy monstrosity with arms on its head, heads on its shoulders, and shoulders on its knees. Walking into the auditorium with disturbingly deliberate steps…
Step Step Step Step Step
Chalkboards, textbooks, student rosters, chalk, and glasses haphazardly attached to various body parts swayed with each movement. Standing on the opposite side of the stage, I observed its grotesque form.
"..."
All I felt was boiling determination. If I could overcome this, I could return home and fill up the Collector…
'That's right.'
This situation didn't require fear but relentless tenacity. The tattoo on my neck burned hot, fueling my guts, heart, and mind.
'Ah.'
Now I understood. The tattoo sticker's effect was—
'Euphoria.'
An overflow of adrenaline. A surge of exhilaration, driving me to pursue any goal with ferocious intensity. And paired with the strange perception that turned everything into tomatoes…
'I can do this.'
Without hesitation, I grabbed the auditorium microphone and stared ahead.
S L A S H
I dodged. Well, I was hit, but instead of losing my head, just half of my right hand was severed.
"...!"
I was a little surprised, but there was no pain. No mental shock! It felt as if I were watching a tomato being crushed. The courage to let reason triumph over instinct. And a burning determination.
'I'll succeed no matter what.'
…Did you know? This horror game isn't action-based. While basic gaming reflexes are necessary for chase sequences, the core gameplay revolves around puzzles and deduction. As the player progresses through the game, they acquire various abilities to use in the final chapter. To counter the teacher's attacks, the player must solve puzzles and endure at the microphone until the graduation song concludes. But as an explorer, such progression was impossible for me.
'I only borrowed a uniform. I'm not a real student.'
However.
'I can handle it like this.'
I pulled out my glass handgun and fired.
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
The transparent, small-caliber weapon I received from a Disaster Management Bureau agent worked with decent effect. A bullet struck the teacher's shoulder, eliciting a pained scream. But it didn't seem to inflict significant damage.
'Well, it wasn't exactly top-tier equipment.'
It didn't matter.
'The goal was to throw off its aim…!'
S L A S H
The rusty chalkboard slammed into me, severing my left foot.
"...!"
Still, I didn't move. I just stood there, clutching the microphone. Blood gushed from my wounds, soaking the stage.
"..."
Right. With human strength alone, it was impossible to evade or overpower that monster's attacks. After all, I wasn't Chief Lizard. But that didn't mean there was no way.
'I just have to stop caring.'
Thunk.
The rest of my right hand disappeared up to the wrist. Unbothered, I aimed the glass-handled pistol with my left hand and fired again.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
LISTEN TO YOUR TEACHER AAAAAA HHHHH SIT DOWN THIS IS THE GRADUATION CEREMONY I AM IN CHARGE AAAAAAAAAA HHHHHHHHHHH!
And again.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
My left thigh exploded. I held on.
S L A S H
Both legs were now gone.
'I'm out of bullets.'
I slid downward, still gripping the standing microphone.
S L A S H
The left hand holding the pistol was severed, but I clung to the microphone stand with the rest of my body.
S L A S H
Using my remaining left elbow, I climbed up the microphone stand. Blood splattered violently.
"..."
And then…
Huh?
The graduation music has stopped.
'Now!'
Just as the 'teacher' raised its grotesque chalkboard-hand to strike again. I shouted into the microphone:
"Congratulations on your graduation!"
...
At that moment. The auditorium filled with a pixelated holographic shower of flowers.
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH
The monstrous teacher let out a final scream before melting away. The grotesque shapes that had overtaken the auditorium vanished as if consumed by flames. Even the chairs that had trapped the students…
WAAAAHH!!
The now-liberated third-year students exploded out of the auditorium, racing toward freedom. Tears of joy and relief streamed from their eyes. In the original 'Bad Ending', they would have all turned into the teacher's zombified minions, killing any remaining explorers…
'But this time, the ending is different.'
I looked up. The curtains of the auditorium drew back, revealing soft yellow and red light streaming in from outside. Dawn had arrived.
"..."
A popup appeared.
Happy Ending 02: Graduation of Liberation
So, this is the ending. Next, an evaluation of my performance during the final chapter appeared below.
Happy Ending 02: Graduation of Liberation Score: A
I checked the Dream Essence Collector. Golden liquid sparkled inside, rich and dazzling, as vibrant as during the Tuesday talk show.
– Grade A or higher.
'I did it.'
A thrilling sense of accomplishment washed over me. As I swallowed the last fragment of candy lingering on my tongue, my consciousness began to fade, a smile curling my lips. Now I would wake up. No, I would return to myself lying in bed, having successfully cleared the ghost story and escaped!
'Good.'
I would drift into a restful sleep and wake up in the morning…
...
...
...
…Am I back?
Huh?
The handbook's still inside my tattoo inventory, it seems! Should I take it out? Hold on. Since when have I been hearing this voice? No, it's not that I'm hearing it… I'm the one speaking.
...
Since when. Has the handbook been in my tattoo this whole time? Why have I been casually brushing aside the teacher's intrusive thoughts, treating them as natural? Why did I suddenly feel indifferent about visiting the Fox Counseling Room after the next exploration, despite previously being concerned about side effects? Why do I now think of the eerie, incomprehensible entity I once called a 'Good Friend' as my most comforting confidant? Without any inherent unease or sense of caution?
...
...!!!
'No.'
I can't allow myself to be consumed now! But already, my doubts were fading. As the Nostalgia Candy's effects wear off, the present version of me was reclaiming its place. The contamination is creeping in…!!
In the hazy sensation of floating on the edge of wakefulness, I struggled.
'Kim Soleum!!'
Remember. Remember!! You are being contamina…
***
"Huuuhk!"
Whoa.
"I thought I died."
I woke up drenched in cold sweat. A deep sigh of relief escaped my lips.
'Anyway, I made it.'
But at the same time, a faint chill of unease lingered, as if I'd forgotten something...
– ... – You're awake…, Friend.
...
…!!
'AAACK!'
In a panic, I bolted upright and rescued Braun from beneath my pillow, just before he was about to get squashed flat.
'That was close.'
"Sorry!"
Then, I flopped back onto the bed, arms spread wide. Exhaustion and comfort overlapped as a grin spread across my face. Anyway… it seems I've made it back safely!