The agent and I pressed our backs against the wall, our gazes fixed on the hallway ahead—specifically, Class 1-5, from which we had just escaped.
Then, I finally saw it.
Flicker.
On the far end of the hallway, mannequin-like figures appeared.
‘…Three of them?’
Another one had joined the group.
Two male students and one female student.
The two who had emerged from the classroom were drenched in blood, smiling as they looked our way, while the third—still wearing a pristine school uniform—stood motionless.
When the lights were on, they looked like grotesquely realistic wax mannequins or people frozen in time in a photograph.
But every time the lights flickered out—
Flicker.
—they reappeared closer to us.
Again and again.
Even when we moved further back—
Flicker.
—they advanced just to the edge of the flashlight’s beam.
Whenever the light shone on them, they froze, illuminated in a terrifyingly close pose.
They never got any farther away.
Flicker.
I couldn’t help but imagine what would happen if the flashlight’s battery ran out.
This standoff would end… and not in our favor.
‘Hah.’
Even as I moved carefully and deliberately, fear clawed at my mind.
Eventually, we reached the dead end at the hallway’s farthest point and were forced to stop.
And then—
[Ding- dong- daeng- dong-]
[A death has occurred in Class 3-2.]
Motherfucker.
[The deceased is third-year student Park Chae-ah.]
[Please observe a moment of silence for five seconds.]
“Get ready.”
I gripped the flashlight tightly and pressed my back against the wall.
[5]
I quickly swept the flashlight across all three figures.
Each time the light passed over them and returned, they were closer.
[4]
The agent and I divided our focus, aiming our flashlights at two of the entities.
…But what about the third?
[3]
The third one—where was it?
I swung my flashlight side to side, covering every blind spot, but it was nowhere to be found.
[2]
Time seemed to speed up with my mounting anxiety.
Where? Where could it be? Where—
Ah.
I whipped the flashlight downward.
[1]
The light revealed my feet and…
A bloodstained white hand reaching for my ankle.
A hand in a school uniform.
A Sekwang Technical High School student lay sprawled on the floor, grinning up at me.
[The moment of silence is over. May the deceased rest in peace.]
Slowly, I pulled my foot back.
‘Hah.’
Shitshitshit!!
If my reflexes had been even slightly slower, I’d be dead.
‘I’ve never even played a VR horror game, and now I’m experiencing this in real life?!’
I alternated blinking one eye at a time, making sure to never close both at once, as I slowly backpedaled.
My limbs trembled uncontrollably.
The agent, still glaring at the remaining two student entities, spoke.
“Once we leave a floor, the students from that grade level usually stop actively pursuing us.”
I knew that.
If there were still prey left on their floor, the students would likely prioritize those over us…
“Let’s head upstairs.”
“…Not down to the first floor?”
“No. This mission’s objective is the fifth floor, specifically the auditorium.”
Immediately, I recalled the announcement we’d heard at the very beginning:
– Students of Sekwang Technical High School! The graduation ceremony will begin shortly. Please gather in the auditorium.
“…What’s in the auditorium?”
“There’s no information yet. That’s why we need to investigate.”
Of course.
‘The exploration logs so far are still considered early to mid-stage material in the <Dark Exploration Records>.’
Few people would have willingly gone to the place announced as the meeting point in this nightmare school.
And those who tried to ascend likely encountered the students and died.
The higher the floor, the more aggressive, unpredictable, and intelligent the students’ behavior became.
And the greater problem was this.
Never go to the fifth floor!! It’s better to die on the lower floors. Never go up
—Final log of Exploration Record #12
…This is what happens when you somehow manage to make it all the way to the fifth floor.
‘Hah, I really don’t want to go…’
But the most painful part was knowing that I’d have to go there eventually, regardless.
At least I could take some comfort in having a companion.
But as we were, we wouldn’t make it. I needed to prepare thoroughly, and I had an idea to adjust the plan slightly.
“Would it be alright if we stop briefly to explore the third and fourth floors as well?”
“Is there a reason?”
“Well, this setup feels strangely like a horror game to me.”
“In games, obtaining key items is often essential to progress.”
I spoke while slowly climbing the stairs backward.
“I’m not sure, but if it were me, I’d start by checking special rooms—like the music room, science lab, or faculty office. I’d also look into the yearbook or student records.”
“I think there could be hints or keys hidden in objects or props.”
As we continued up the stairs, the distance between us and the ‘students’ that had been surrounding us grew, allowing the flashlight beam to cover a wider area and keep them in check.
It was only then that the agent finally spoke.
“Our analysis team reached a similar conclusion… that this ghost story seems to have a game-based structure.”
Oh.
“They noted how the name of the fictional high school and the structure of running and hiding from monsters are remarkably similar to a game.”
“Ah, I thought the same thing.”
“But it’s the first time I’ve heard such a suggestion—to focus not on monsters or people, but on objects…”
For some reason, the agent’s eyes seemed to sparkle.
Since he looked like a high school student without dark circles under his eyes, it didn’t come off as out of place.
“Very well. Let’s examine the spaces as thoroughly as we can. We’ll also relay this idea to the other agents once they join us…”
More agents? I’d rather not.
But the agent, as if excited, went a step further.
“Now that you’re a temporary agent, we should call each other by codenames. Do you have a preferred codename?”
Oh my god.
“Oh, we typically use historical materials for codenames. Non-ordinary terms make it easier to distinguish between agents.”
‘He’s even letting me pick a codename?’
It felt like they were fulfilling every conceivable fantasy.
…Oh. Did I already have a codename I wanted to use for a Disaster Management Bureau agent in the Darkness Exploration Records I’d envisioned?
Yes. Yes, I do.