The Inescapable Choice
Noel came to me in a panic and laid out the question: receive one million Cocoon in exchange for running naked down the hallway, or do nothing and receive nothing.
It was the kind of binary choice an elementary-school kid might have faced—something along the lines of “Are you really going to do it?”
‘Why is she asking me this…?’
Noel’s expression was beyond serious; it was desperate. Tears welled in her eyes, whether from fear or something else. After presenting the problem she simply waited in silence for my answer.
Putting all the pieces together, this had to be a ghost story.
‘The problem is I have no idea what happens if I answer.’
When facing a ghost story, you must never act on impulse. Even the simplest-looking choice can lead to disaster.
“Noel.”
“Y-yeah?”
That was why I decided to ask the person involved directly.
“Are you in danger right now?”
“……”
There was a chance Noel herself was the ghost, but her reactions made it obvious she was the victim caught up in it. So I asked her straight out whether she was currently trapped in a ghost story.
“……”
Noel’s eyes trembled as she hesitated, then she repeated the original question in a frightened voice.
“One million Cocoon and running naked down the hallway… or doing nothing and getting nothing. Which one are you going to pick?”
“Do I have to choose?”
“……”
Again she gave no answer. She simply pressed her lips together and stared at me, clearly hoping I would decide.
Maybe she couldn’t speak, or maybe speaking was too difficult.
‘Either way, Noel’s trapped in a ghost story and asking me for help.’
I actually had two additional options beyond the ones she presented:
1. Abandon Noel.
2. Don’t abandon Noel.
If I abandoned her, the problem would be solved. I wouldn’t have to grant her request. In the worst case she might die; if I avoided the worst, she would survive. And the only downside for me would be…
‘Abandoning one human girl.’
If Noel was one of the few remaining human female students, I couldn’t just leave her. Besides, I still had my puppet doll and future diary. This didn’t look like an instant-death ghost story. So the right move was to pick one of the two choices she had given me.
“I…”
“……”
Now the only question was which of the two I would choose.
‘If I pick “do nothing,” it might count as ignoring the ghost story.’
If I could really get one million Cocoon, running naked down the hallway was nothing.
“I’ll take the one million Cocoon and run naked down the hallway.”
“……!”
Noel’s eyes widened and the tears stopped. In a trembling voice she asked,
“You… really picked that?”
“I don’t have to do it right this second, right? Also, what happens if I choose and then don’t do it?”
“……You can’t do that.”
“Got it.”
Apparently choosing meant you were forced to carry it out. Just then—
“Sorry, Ares… I’m so sorry!”
“Huh? Hey—!”
Noel bowed her head in apology, then suddenly spun around and sprinted away.
“Wait—!!”
I tried to chase her, but my body refused to move properly. An unknown will was trying to take control of my limbs.
‘So this is what happens when you pick and then try to ignore it!’
This was going to be a disaster.
“Where are you going now?”
“Hmm~ I was thinking of stopping by the bookstore to buy some books.”
“Oh? I’ll come with you!”
“Sure.”
The hallway was still packed with students who hadn’t left yet.
‘If I do it here, I’m screwed…!!’
I had chosen to run naked for Noel’s sake, but that didn’t mean I could do it in front of a crowd.
“Hnnngh…!!”
I forced my body to move while I still could. The choice hadn’t specified which hallway, so I bolted before my body was completely taken over.
“Ah, Ares! Where are you—kyaa!”
“Sorry!! I’m in a huge rush right now!!”
“Eek…!”
Claire tried to talk to me on the way, but I had no choice but to ignore her and keep running. My destination was the fifth floor. With classes over, the special-purpose classrooms up there were probably empty.
“Uwaaaah!!”
I had to run. Worst case I’d get demerits and punishment, but that was better than the alternative.
From far away I could faintly hear Claire’s worried voice.
‘But right now I really need to be alone…!!’
I sprinted up the stairs faster than when I had been chased by the suicide ghost.
“Ugh…! My hands…!”
By the time I passed the third floor my hands had started unbuttoning my shirt on their own. Still, it was fine. The condition was to run naked down the hallway, so my legs were still under my control.
“Uoooooh!!”
I flung my shirt away and reached the fifth floor at the same time.
“Please, please, please…!”
While unbuckling my belt I looked down the long, empty corridor. No one was around. Good.
I kicked off my pants and tossed them aside. A strange sense of liberation washed over me. Even being naked at home felt freeing, but doing it at school was… thrilling, embarrassing, and terrifying all at once. It was a feeling I never wanted to experience twice.
“Let’s get this over with…!”
I dropped into a sprinter’s stance. My goal was a new record. I would finish at top speed.
“Hoo, hoo, hoo…”
I took a deep breath, raised my hips, and tensed my thighs. In my mind a referee blew the whistle.
───Beep!
“Uooooooooh!!”
──Dash!!
In my head the commentators’ voices echoed down the hallway.
“Look at that! That’s physical proof of how fast Ares is right now!”
“For expert commentary we have Coach Kim Do-gwe! Your thoughts?”
“Ah—right now it’s not just swinging; it’s pressed flat against his pelvis. That tells us Ares’s current speed is creating its own wind. This is on the level of what Archimedes and Leonardo DiCaprio once—”
While they were talking, Ares had already passed the middle of the hallway!!
“Haa, haa, haa, haa!!”
I kept running at full speed, using the imaginary commentary to stay sane. Running naked down a school hallway was something I could only endure by denying reality.
──Aaaah!! Ares has reached the end of the hallway in 10.02 seconds!!
“It’s a gold medal! The gold medal is confirmed!! Wonder Academy has taken the gold in hallway sprinting!!!”
“I did it!!”
I slid across the floor on my knees like a soccer player scoring a goal. My knees hurt, but the sense of accomplishment from completing the naked run without being seen made the pain fade.
“Haa, haa, haa…”
Once I crossed the finish line, the mysterious force that had been controlling my body vanished like a lie.
“Is it over…?”
Still breathing hard, I carefully stood up. I had safely completed the mission. But it wasn’t finished yet. A field trip wasn’t over until you got home, and neither was this. I still had to get dressed.
If I walked around like this and ran into someone, I’d just be a pervert who hadn’t even been running.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
“A-Ares…”
“……”
“……A-are you okay…?”
It was a familiar voice. Claire’s voice.
‘She actually followed me!’
She hadn’t let it go when we passed each other earlier. She had followed me and seen me sprinting naked at full speed…
“Ares…?”
When I didn’t respond, her voice came again—worried, or at least trying to sound worried.
“Did something happen? Are you okay…? I’m sorry, I got worried and followed you…”
Apparently it wasn’t disgust. But it wasn’t exactly worry either.
“Ares, are you okay? If you’re in trouble, I can help!”
Claire stepped right up to me and leaned forward.
“Ares?”
“……”
Her gaze dropped downward.
Her eyes trembled and her ears turned red, but she quickly looked back up and put on a serious face, pretending she hadn’t noticed.
“Ares…! If you’re in trouble, please tell me! I’ll help you!”
“……”
“Really!”
Her eyes kept flicking downward.
“Claire.”
“Y-yes?!”
After a moment I called out to her, whose gaze was now spending more time below my waist than on my face. She hurriedly looked up.
“Could you bring me my clothes…?”
“Ah… yes.”
While Claire went to fetch my clothes from the end of the hallway, I slipped into a nearby classroom to hide.
…At least it was Claire who saw me. That was something.
Claire seemed annoyed about having to bring the clothes, but she quickly cheered up.
‘At least I have new material to imagine with…! I’ll head back to the dorm and… do it right away!’
She was already in a good mood again. I decided not to think about what she was planning to do. If I got any more excited right now, I’d be in real trouble.
…Relax.
Title: Got caught in a ghost story
[Video attached]
Noel got caught up in it first. Looks like it transferred to me. Doesn’t seem immediately dangerous, so I answered the question to save her. Anyone dealt with this kind of ghost story or ghost before?? How do you clear it??
ㄴAres: lololololol
ㄴStudentCouncilTerrorist: You really did it lolololol
ㄴAres: Oh?
ㄴHikikomori: When I got pulled into a girl’s dream, the dream people gave me missions too.
ㄴHikikomori: You clear it by completing all of them.
ㄴAres: Was yours a two-choice question too??
ㄴHikikomori: Nah, just missions.
ㄴNightRat: Yeah that sounds right.
ㄴNightRat: These things usually have an end, so figuring out how to reach it is probably the clear condition.
ㄴAres: So I just have to keep doing whatever missions come up?
ㄴLunchboxCollector: You’ve got the future diary and puppet doll though, so isn’t this ghost story super easy??
ㄴNightRat: It’s because it’s you that it’s probably still manageable.
ㄴNightRat: But if you sense anything weird, share it right away.
ㄴAres: Roger that.
The next day arrived. It was Friday. The future diary and puppet doll still hadn’t been enchanted yet. I had tried to visit Teacher Rapori after school yesterday to get the magic cast, but she had already left for the day. So the enchantments would happen today instead.
“Popopo, it’s been a while, little friend. Are your injuries all healed?”
Teacher Rapori gently patted my head the way she always did when greeting me.
“Yes, I’m completely fine now. But…”
“Popo, you mean the magic, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
“I’ll do it after school. Come find me once your classes are over, little friend.”
“Okay!”
“…But I’m a little disappointed.”
“……Huh?”
Our usual conversation didn’t end there.
“You only come to see me when you need magic, little friend.”
“E-uh, I… Was that rude of me?”
“Popopo, it wasn’t rude, but… it does make me a little sad.”
Teacher Rapori softly stroked my cheek. At the same time her enormous chest swayed right in front of my eyes. The urge to bury my face in it rose, but I suppressed it.
“Come visit even when it’s not about magic, little friend.”
“Ah, y-yes…!”
“Popopopo.”
Visiting her without needing magic… Was that really okay? She was a teacher I trusted, but she was also more dangerous than anyone else in several ways.
Still, the magic appointment was set. She probably wouldn’t leave until I showed up after school.
‘Now let’s see how this ghost story shows itself.’
I returned to my classroom and sat down, waiting for the ghost story to appear.
Soon the room filled with students arriving for the day. Instead of the ghost story, our homeroom teacher walked in and began the usual morning assembly.
“Ah… No one’s absent today, right?”
The teacher looked tired as she went through the formal roll call.
“Final exams are coming up soon. Our class is the best in the school, so I’m counting on you to keep that up.”
Time really had flown. Before I knew it, finals were here and the first semester was almost over.
‘We’ve been through so many ghost stories in between…’
Thanks to that, even though I was caught in another one right now, I could stay calm and look for a solution.
Just then—
“Alright, since we’re already talking about it, why don’t our top student Ares say a few words before finals?”
“E-excuse me? Me?”
“Yes, you. We don’t have two top students, do we? Stand up, Ares.”
“……Yes.”
The teacher suddenly called on me. It wasn’t like a company dinner toast; what was a student supposed to say? I wanted to complain, but when the teacher tells you to do something, you do it.
“Everyone, give him a round of applause!”
Clap clap clap clap.
“Um… ahem.”
With everyone’s eyes on me, I cleared my throat, feeling embarrassed. Lana and Ellie were watching with amused smiles. I felt unnecessarily nervous.
“Alright, Ares. Choose one: jumping off the rooftop, or secretly holding hands with a girl during class.”
“……Excuse me?”
The moment the words left the teacher’s mouth, the ghost story’s choice appeared.
‘So this is how it works…’
None of the other students seemed the slightest bit surprised by the teacher’s question. It looked like the ghost story was interfering with everyone’s perception. Lana and Ellie were still smiling at me like normal.
But I wasn’t flustered. I had expected something like this. There was just one thing that bothered me.
‘The balance of the choices… feels off.’
No matter how I looked at it, the second option was obviously the correct choice. It was far too kind for a ghost story. One option might kill you, while the other was completely harmless. It almost felt like the ghost story was forcing me to pick the second one.