‘Hah.’
In the dimly lit school hallway, they lined up like mannequins along either side.
The fourth-floor student entities were all third-years, with more than a hundred confirmed in every exploration log of this floor.
Hearing that alone would make you think, ‘Well, guess we’re all doomed.’
But.
“……It’
The agent spoke in a firm voice, offering critical information.
“They cannot leave their positions.”
That’s right.
The fourth floor is truly strange. While we’ve never witnessed those ‘students’ move, we’ve seen their locations change.
But the students on the fourth floor? They don’t move at all.
It’s like their feet are glued to the classroom floor.
—Excerpt from Exploration Record #09
As long as they’re not lunging at us and stay rooted in place, we can avoid danger by staying out of their territory.
If we have to approach, we can stop them by maintaining eye contact to freeze their movements.
‘The problem is how easy it is to lose track of them in the dark.’
And they’re very… very cunning.
They often exploit psychological tactics to catch you off guard.
So that’s how it is.
I confirmed that Jang Heo-un had pinned the nametag he had retrieved from one of the school’s students onto his blazer, then spoke firmly.
“Let’s proceed cautiously and thoroughly investigate the fourth floor.”
There were no objections.
We entered the gaps between the students.
* * *
‘Huu.’
Jang Heo-un swallowed nervously.
It felt incredibly unsettling.
To brush past the sleeves of those ‘students’ while trembling with fear.
But he gritted his teeth.
‘I have to be useful.’
He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had somehow ruined his kind colleague Kim Soleum’s exploration. freewebnvel.coɱ
What was he planning to accomplish by accompanying the agent?
‘He was probably aiming for a high score… a clean clear.’
According to the manual, the longer you survive here and the more nametags you collect, the higher the concentration of Dream Essence in the collector.
But it was too dangerous. Kim Soleum hadn’t even glanced at the nametags on the fourth-floor students.
‘…I don’t get it.’
Jang Heo-un decided not to overthink it.
Relying on his own judgment wasn’t exactly a strong suit.
Instead, he focused on diligently watching the approaching students.
Especially when entering areas where the lights were shattered or flickering—he aimed the flashlight obsessively.
Step, step.
“Mr. Buffalo, watch the rear.”
“Yes.”
His voice trembled slightly.
Jang Heo-un turned to look behind them, walking backward.
From where they had passed, dozens of students were now turning their heads and stretching out their hands toward them…
“There’s the music room up ahead. Let’s hang in there just until we reach it.”
They moved forward.
Soon, they reached a section entirely devoid of lights.
‘Hoo.’
In the suffocating darkness, the students stood eerily still, staring silently at them.
They advanced cautiously, illuminating the gaps between them with their flashlights.
Then—
Flicker.
A light blinked somewhere. It felt like a power outage had occurred…
‘Huh?’
Wait.
Something felt wrong.
‘There aren’t any lights here, so how could one flicker?’
Jang Heo-un realized it a step too late.
It wasn’t a power outage.
The flickering light…
…was someone’s flashlight up ahead.
Just now, someone had lost sight of their surroundings.
Jang Heo-un almost turned around in panic. But a calm voice from behind him stopped him.
“Don’t look back.”
“You…!”
“We… have to keep moving.”
Kim Soleum’s voice was strained, mixed with heavy breaths.
And then—
The metallic scent of blood.
Drip, drip…
As Jang Heo-un backed away, he noticed red liquid dripping onto the floor.
Focused on the students, he hadn’t been able to see clearly, but the ground beneath his shoes was slippery.
And then…
He spotted the hand of a student reaching out from the middle of the hallway, close enough to brush against his waist.
It was drenched in crimson, blood dripping from its fingertips.
Jang Heo-un fought the urge to retch.
“M-Mr. Roe Deer…!”
When they finally made it out of the crowd of students and turned around,
Kim Soleum stood clutching his abdomen, his face pale as a sheet.
The flashlight in his hand flickered once more.
With a faint smile on his ashen face, he said,
“…The battery—”
– Effective illumination time: 60 minutes
Of course.
Emergency flashlights weren’t meant to last long.
‘Ah…!’
Though they had prepared supplies, the two of them had failed to account for the time left on the flashlight the other was carrying…
“W-Wait… Ugh.”
“P-Please don’t speak!”
Jang Heo-un struggled to suppress his nausea and tried to support Kim Soleum. The agent instinctively joined in.
Together, the Daydream Inc. employee and the Disaster Management Bureau agent hurriedly helped him into a nearby classroom.
Even there, a few students peeked inside. They managed to set Kim Soleum down just outside the students’ range.
Seated on the floor, clutching his wound, Kim Soleum spoke.
“You two.”
“Leave me here.”
The one wearing the horned mask, his face strained from the pain, forced a smile.
“Ah, one moment.”
Kim Soleum reached out with his free hand and completely undid the agent’s restraints.
“I almost forgot. Now you can leave…”
The agent ignored him and instead pulled a spare nametag from his pocket and shoved it into Kim Soleum’s jacket.
But…
“You don’t have to give it to me. Don’t you need it for something else?”
“Go ahead. I’m sure there are others on this floor. If you join them you’ll—ugh—you’ll be fine.”