My head, it feels empty.
Beyond the classroom's hallway window, there is a monster. That monster is an incarnation of miserable, chilling, gruesome horror, a jumbled mass of all kinds of human bodies, and the gaze of the upper torso lodged in its gaping center is fixed on us.
The owner of that gaze.
The team leader of Team Hyumoo 1.
It is the Elder's ruined upper body.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Why is he here?[1]
As if in answer to that question, I realize.
'This was Segwang Metropolitan City.'
The ghost story where the Elder lost his upper body was here.
Among the agents who had taken leave and unofficially entered Segwang Metropolitan City, Team Leader Park Hong-rim was one of them.
And the one who used his own will-o'-the-wisp to create the talisman.
'It was the Team Leader.'
Perhaps that upper body was intentionally 'lost'.
By hastily creating a talisman using Hanbit Library's checkout card and offering his own upper body as the price.
'The teachers lying on the 5th floor, too….'
Like some kind of defensive formation, hadn't they performed a ritual to protect the students?
But a problem had occurred.
The paper talisman and glass lantern buried in the backyard had been damaged….
And he had become that.
It'sallovernowfasterfasterfaster
There it is
The shape of corruption.
It's getting closer.
Students in school uniforms flee down the hallway, only to be crushed to death. An appearance ahead of schedule, not following the game's proper order.
As if the form of a horror game could no longer hold back the wicked thing's encroachment.
The hallway is covered in flesh and twists.
The school loses its form and is devoured.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
It's coming.
It's coming, it's coming right n….
Thwack.
I turned my eyes away.
In the classroom, Section Chief Lee Jaheon was killing people.
'!'
More than half of them were already dead, their necks snapped.
Goosebumps rose on my skin reflexively, and then I realized.
This was what I had asked for.
Before we were killed by that teacher….
'We have to kill them all to end it.'
My mind reawakens as if doused with cold water.
This is a nightmare. This is a dream. If I die, I wake up. Don't forget. But if I die by that teacher's hand, I'll be erased from reality, no! Even the format of that horror game might disappear now…!
Quickly.
"Agents,"
I immediately grabbed the people next to me and whispered.
"Agent Haegeum, I just need the glass lantern. And everyone, take a name tag, one each, and quickly commit sui…."
But at the same time, I realized.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
These people could never do that.
They wouldn't have become agents if they were that kind of people in the first place, and even if they were willing to follow the Disaster Management Bureau's recent policy of prioritizing agents' lives….
"Grapes-ie."
That having seen that, they couldn't possibly do it.
"Let me ask you a difficult favor. …Can you get people out of here? It'll be hard, but please, even just a few."
Wait.
"We'll just watch Bronzie draw the stroke on the glass lantern, and then we'll go. Got it? …Elder Sister Haegeum."
"Here."
Agent Haegeum lifts the glass lantern and places it on the desk. The will-o'-the-wisp that escapes the lantern flickers as if frightened, but soon coils around Agent Haegeum's neck and disappears into her embrace.
"Grapes-ie, hurry! There's no time."
I barely managed to hand the broken lantern I'd brought from the backyard to Agent Bronze.
"How did you get to the backyard?"
"We'll figure that out. Just go!"
And the next moment.
Thereisnograduationsceremony
…At the hallway window.
It'scomingit'shereit'sinvadingit'soverthegamecan'tstopitit'shere
It's pressed right against it, watching us.
A human face with half its head blown off.
The body of Team Hyumoo 1's team leader, just an upper torso, sways as it peers at us through the window.
"…Sister Hong."
Who is Sister Hong?
Found you.
Who is Haegeum?
"..."
Beside me, I could see Agent Haegeum's hand tightly gripping her sword….
And.
Fwoosh.
A will-o'-the-wisp flows out from Agent Haegeum's body and envelops the classroom.
An acrobatic deception created by shadows and blue light.
Why is it still here? Why is it still here? Why isn't it breaking? Why isn't it breaking? Why isn't it breaking?
Thump. Thump.
Pacing in front of the classroom, the silhouette of the thing searching for the door in the shadows is visible.
"Guys. Your team leader became an Elder and is fine at Pure Hope Hospital."
"..."
"Whatever… that thing over there says, it's a Supernatural Disaster. Got it?"
"..."
"I said, got it?"
"Yes."
And Agent Bronze, gritting his teeth, lowered his gaze to the glass lantern and began to search for a meaningful stroke on the broken glass lantern.
But the Goblin's Play that Agent Haegeum had cast was already flickering.
It's breaking.
It couldn't last long against 'that thing,' which was already accustomed to even more powerful Goblin's Play.
"Elder Sister, with the Sai Sword,"
"The conditions aren't right. I can't use it."
Then Agent Haegeum urgently speaks to me and Section Chief Lee Jaheon.
"It's about to break. Wait by the back door. And you two, get out and send the people back!"
The next moment.
It broke.
Darkness encroaches into the shadows of the Goblin's Play.
"..."
Thump. Thump.
Footsteps.
It'shereit'sherenowfasterfaster
The front door opens.
"Grapes-ie, now!"
I burst out of the classroom through that door.
"…!"
Thump. The hand of the 'teacher,' with a screaming head attached to it, slams down between the door I had just slipped out of and the monster.
"You crazy bastard, not that way, the back door…."
But I shouted as I ran.
"Teacher!"
"…!"
"I'm going to proceed with the graduation ceremony! Stop me if you can!"
"Hey!"
It's certain.
'They're determined to die.'
If I leave those agents as they are, they will willingly die. So….
'I have to lure it.'
I turned and ran. In that time, Section Chief Lee Jaheon followed me out, tearing off the 'teacher's' hand with unbelievable strength….
'Crazy!'
It's not working.
The teacher's arm healed as if it had exploded and, in turn, tried to swallow Section Chief Lee Jaheon's hand.
Like the flesh covering the hallway.
That means physical attacks are no longer effective.
'Damn it!'
I rummaged through my pocket and threw what my hand found.
Something I'd brought just in case.
'And it's something I got back from the Chief in the first place!'
Something that came out like a reward item when I cleared the graduation ceremony last time. One of the glass beads engraved with "Helpful Ho", like a torn talisman.
And the moment the glass bead I threw touched the 'teacher.'
"…!"
Thud.
The glass bead, bouncing off the teacher, glittered faintly blue, casting a shadow from its flesh onto the floor.
Through the shadow, the appearance of a normal school hallway seemed to be revealed, but….
It soon disappeared.
"…!"
But in that gap, Section Chief Lee Jaheon tore himself free from the teacher's flesh.
"Run!"
"Yes."
And he followed in the direction I was going.
'No, don't come this way!'
But there was no more time to delay, so I just ran upwards like a madman.
Thump. Thump.
'I have to lure it.'
I can do it.
I've done it once, so I can do it again.
Before this school itself is devoured by Segwang Metropolitan City's Darkness or Hanbit Library.
While it still proceeds in the form of a horror game.
'The graduation ceremony…!'
If I see the ending, the 'monster' will be temporarily vanquished.
'Then I can at least buy time to make the talisman!'
Right. As for setting it up in the backyard, I don't have to do it, I can just ask any other studen….
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
I threw a glass bead behind me.
Every time, it was about to catch up.
When it seemed like it wouldn't hit, surprisingly, Section Chief Lee Jaheon intercepted the bead mid-air and threw it with unbelievable speed.
But in Section Chief Lee Ja-heon's hand, the bead produced no special effect, merely exerting an insane physical force like an arrow.
'Why?'
Because I'm the one who cleared it?
But there was no time to dwell on such questions.
It's here.
The next moment, I barely set foot on the 5th floor.
"Huu."
The moment I was about to catch my breath and run in….
My body froze in horror.
'Damn it.'
The 5th floor. The straight hallway leading to the auditorium already looked like the inside of some creature's intestines.
The shape of the talismans that had been on the walls was completely gone.
And in each of the empty spots where the talismans had been, densely packed letters were revealed to be engraved….
—
Implementation Day
Found a way to protect the students.
One of the supernatural phenomena found at Hanbit Library is set in a school, so let's use it.
With this, we should be able to hold out until rescue arrives.
The remaining agents in the school were not enough to conduct the ritual, so we received resources from the teachers.
We decided to fall asleep.
For as long as we can hold out.
—
I barely ran down the hallway.
—
Progress Day 1
It was a success.
The problem is, my lower body has disappeared.
It seems the rescue protocol from headquarters was activated, and my remaining body was rescued. In the process, the will-o'-the-wisp escaped this place with it.
I'm glad it got out.
Only a part of my upper body, bound as a price for the ritual protecting the school, remains here.
In the end, a crack formed in the center of the talisman.
But it should be fine as long as I hold on.
Since my upper body is still here.
—
My heart beat unsteadily.
—
Progress Day 12
It's safe. The children are at peace.
Progress Day 23
It seems we can hold out for quite a long time.
Watching the sleeping people, I find myself falling asleep more often.
—
The words, written in a neat hand, continued sporadically like that.
Calm and organized language, like a management journal, was written unfittingly on the contaminated walls, half-buried and worn away.
But the moment I entered the middle of the 5th-floor hallway.
-
N o
-
The letters change.
-
Theyfoundoutnono no
Theyfoundthebackyardno no!where did they get in?why a studentthatkindofthing no In the Dark Shadowthey'reinit'sinno thegameisprogressingtheprotectionisbreakingn
-
A messy, jagged scrawl of pain fills one side. All of it remained like a brand, not buried in the flesh.
And.
It suddenly regains its composure.
—-
Progress Day ■■■
Using 'In the Dark Shadow.'
Until we are all consumed as protective charms.
Until the rescue team arrives.
Send a signal and hold on.
We must.
—-
But that was the last of the neat handwriting.
Now the letters become more and more twisted, difficult to decipher.
The closer I get to the auditorium, the more strange phrases are mixed in, the subject becomes twisted, and it murmurs darkly about how to swallow the school whole, how to release the power of the will-o'-the-wisp that protects the school.
Waiting for the right time. The time….
And near the entrance of the auditorium, the last wall.
—
E V E R Y T H I N G H A S B E E N R E S O L V E D
—
A chill ran to the tips of my hair.
But I have to move.
'I have to.'
Out of breath, I grabbed the auditorium door. What should have been firmly shut was already rusted, its lock crudely torn off, and it hung open limply. I urgently grabbed it and pulled the door open.
And I saw.
The auditorium had already collapsed.
There was no stage, no chairs, no living graduation candidates.
Only ruins, eroded by bizarre flesh.
"..."
"Mr. Roe Deer."
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The graduation ceremony cannot be held.
It's already over.
"Is euthanasia required?"
I looked back at Section Chief Lee Jaheon.
At my former superior, who strangely appeared in the form of a boy wearing a Lizard mask.
'Can I escape?'
Haven't I already missed the timing to escape through death?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
It arrived at the auditorium.
Thegameisover
I saw what had been called the 'teacher.'
The upper body of Team Leader Park Hong-rim, finally and completely consumed by the wicked thing he had been holding back, mixed with the forms of agents and teachers.
Something that could no longer be called contamination.
An indescribable Supernatural Disaster itself.
The being from which the framework of the horror game had begun to peel away.
Foundthemall
The piece of torn talisman attached to the upper body's torso was already eroded black, the shape of its strokes unrecognizable.
Just then.
Click.
With a sudden cracking sound, a slight recoil occurs in a part of the monster's flesh.
A bullet.
"Grapes!"
I turned my head.
"You crazy son of a bitch."
Agent Choi, who had chased me all the way to the 5th floor and shot 'it' with his glass hand cannon, is looking at me.
But he doesn't get angry or tell me to run.
As if he knows it's already too late.
Who are you?
The thing that was hit by the bullet didn't even flinch.
"This isn't my specialty."
Agent Choi fired a few more shots. But Team Leader Park Hong-rim's upper body just turns its head and casually approaches Agent Choi.
Stomping on the bullets that hit it and fell to the floor.
Who is Choi ■■?
'It's not working anymore.'
I reflexively tried to run toward him, but soon realized my feet wouldn't move.
"…!"
The flesh on the floor had grabbed my feet.
No, it hadn't grabbed them.
Flesh was growing from my feet, connecting me to the floor.
Thump.
Something comes out of my eyes and mouth.
It pours out.
I'm being eaten.
'In the Dark Shadow' is over.
Thump.
We won't even become pixel fragments, we'll be completely devoured by that wicked thing that has taken over the school, and it will end….
Tinkle.
"Let's have some fireworks."
I raised my head.
Once again, from beyond the auditorium, Agent Haegeum was using her will-o'-the-wisp….
Tinkle.
Agent Choi shakes the bell that was attached to the end of his Executioner's Sword.
For a moment. Everything stretches out, becoming very long.
As if feeling a single instant.
Hidden within the shadows of the will-o'-the-wisp and the sound of the bell, we are granted a brief moment of respite.
A deception of an instant.
Tinkle.
Where the will-o'-the-wisp burns.
Agent Haegeum's empty right sleeve is visible.
"Agent…."
"Here."
The agent who sacrificed her arm for an instant speaks calmly.
"Bronze is drawing the stroke."
"..."
"Let's think about what we can do. Quickly."
What we can do.
To buy time.
'The thing that at least worked…!'
I picked up the 'Helpful Ho' glass bead that came as a clear reward from my pocket.
"It only worked for a brief moment, but this…."
....
Wait a minute.
Using 'In the Dark Shadow.'
Until we are all consumed.
Until the rescue team arrives.
Send a signal and hold on.
If this was a signal for the rescue team.
'Team Leader Park Hong-rim. He believed that rescue… was possible.'
He thought there was a way to reverse the situation.
And the fact that he sent a signal.
'Within that signal… there must be a hint to the rescue method.'
I looked down at the glass bead again.
It definitely had an effect.
If this is a hint for the rescue.
The proper way to use it is….
"Agent."
I raised my head.
"This is a glass hand cannon bullet."
—It was a transparent bead that looked as if it could be loaded into a glass hand cannon.
If it were an item for a rescue team agent.
There would surely be a most suitable way to use it.
"A bullet?"
Agent Choi's expression changed. I immediately threw the remaining glass beads to him. The moment the agent caught the beads and began to load them into the glass hand cannon….
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
The instant was over.
A hand with a teacher's face sprouting from it drops down on Agent Choi's head. The agent barely dodges and….
"Then it's here."
He fired the bullet at the auditorium floor.
With a crack, the several 'Guardian' bullets fired from the hand cannon, as if they were meant to, dig into the flesh and embed themselves in the floor, emitting an auspicious light.
Lodged in exquisite positions, they connect with each other, changing the space, just as they did in Jisan Village.
As per the Hyunmu Team's sealing procedure.
First. Purification of the ritual space.
Drive out the environment where wicked things can easily dwell.
The auditorium reveals its form, thanks to the bullets that received the proper purification blessing.
The original, intact form of this school's auditorium.
"…!"
There are no students, so the graduation ceremony still can't be held. But we can trap that thing as a being within the horror game.
In a state where 'exorcism' is effective.
'But what do we do from now on?'
The next steps are confinement and sealing….
"Agent Grapes!"
"…!!"
I turned my head.
A dazzling silver object is given to me in an instant, tracing a parabola. I caught it reflexively.
A bladeless sword.
"Catch!"
The Sai Sword.
Agent Haegeum's weapon.
"I'm betting on you being a real agent. Grab it with both hands, and hold it as if to right your mind and body!"
Why?
But at the same time, the answer hits me like a blow.
The conditions for using the Sai Sword.
—A situation where an evil and wicked thing in the form of a disaster or ghost directly invades.
That thing is a wicked thing that has invaded the school.
And I...
am a student of this school right now.
"Recite the sword chant! Repeat after me!"
Heaven sends down its essence, and Earth aids the spirit[2]
I raised the sword.
Unbearable things are being erected.
The sun and moon take shape, and the mountains and water
form their figures
The thunder and lightning rage on
"Endure it!"
The order of the world
I shall govern within me
My palms feel like they're burning. Something unbearable is scorching both my hands. My index and ring fingers shattered.
But I lift it.
Vanquishing evil as vast as a mountain
I shall cut it down righteously
I shall strike it down.
Hit it
[1] does anyone know the elders gender? otherwise the mtl defaults it to male
[2] text supposed to come from the right