The Escaped Drunkard (1)
Clearly subdued, the drunkard had vanished. That fact was more than enough to throw me into panic—hell, it overflowed.
Where the hell did this crazy youkai go?
I climbed to the second floor and peeked down the hallway from a spot where no windows could spot me. Nothing. It must have hidden somewhere. First things first: check the doors. I inspected the door to Class 1-3 right in front of me. The lock was open.
Goddamn it. I couldn't hold back the curse. If I hadn't checked now, another warning letter would've come flying tomorrow. I could feel the rage boiling up. But there was nothing I could do about it right now. I headed calmly back to the first floor via the right staircase. Naturally, Classes 1-4 and 1-5 were unlocked too. My rage meter shot even higher.
I entered the Admin Office and counted the key bundles. The result was as expected: 19. That meant the drunkard had swiped one. Back in the Guard Room, I grabbed my baseball bat. This time, I was ready to put some real killing intent into breaking one of its limbs. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to vent that intent. Even after scouring the second-floor hallway, the drunkard was nowhere to be seen—like it had evaporated.
My first thought was that it'd straight-up escaped the school grounds. If so, I couldn't catch it, and I'd just have to eat the warning letter meekly. But that assumption was probably impossible. According to Kim Eat-Chil, youkai can't pass through the main gate if it's locked. First hypothesis sealed tight. Second hypothesis: it's hiding inside one of the classrooms. That seemed plausible. It had picked the doors, so why not enter? Worth checking out.
I returned to the Guard Room and opened the Guard Rules Booklet. I'd memorized the classroom rules on day one, but never needed them, so they'd slipped my mind. Classes 1-1 through 1-5: five spots total. The dangerous one just to enter was Class 1-2. No way the drunkard went there, so skip. Classes requiring checks based on conditions: 1-1 and 1-4.
Class 1-1
Picture on the back wall: Safe.
Documents on the back wall: Dangerous.
This one needed a recheck upstairs. Hardly anyone notices that kind of detail on the back wall. Something obvious like Class 1-4 sticks in your memory even passing by. Ceiling and floor inverted: safe. Looked normal when I passed earlier. Skip 1-4 too. Classes where special actions are forbidden upon entry: 1-3 and 1-5. Highest chance the drunkard was holed up there.
With the rules fresh, I took the left staircase back to the second floor.
The moment I hit the second floor, I checked inside Class 1-1. Documents on the back wall. I locked the door immediately. Locked 1-2, then reached 1-3. Decent chance the drunkard was inside. But actually going in? I hesitated. I'd beaten the crap out of it earlier. What if it was waiting with malice at the entrance and jumped me? Its hiding alone screamed intent.
Do I really need to engage? My brain spun to avoid the situation, then a brilliant idea flashed. Just don't engage. No need to risk getting attacked inside. My job was door checks, not youkai extermination. Sure, I wanted to kill the drunkard, but no warning letter? Good enough. I locked 1-3 on the spot. Then 1-4, then 1-5. Perfect. If it was inside anywhere, let it rot trapped. Problem solved, I returned to the Guard Room feeling refreshed.
That refreshing mood soured to anxiety the second I checked the Gallery back in the break room. I'd reported what happened, and this was the response.
Couldn't argue. Obvious in hindsight—why hadn't I thought of it?
The log mentioning the second floor had tunnel-visioned me. It just said "discovered on second floor"—accurate enough, so not the log's fault. This thing was exhausting. I glanced at the clock on the monitor: 3 a.m. Three hours till shift end. I stood, grabbed the bat again.
Up to the second floor via the Central Entrance, and Class 1-3's door was unlocked. InfiniteHotel was right—the drunkard wasn't inside classrooms. A chilling thought hit: if I'd boldly entered, relaxed seeing it empty, then the door slammed shut behind me. Drunkard pops out, locks it from outside—game over. No warning letter mercy; I'd wait for dawn and die. Cowardice saved me. Being a coward isn't always bad.
But now I was stuck. No sign of it in the hallway. A moving youkai—hard to pin down. Locking, unlocking, repeat forever? End would come: dawn, warning letter. If only I knew its position, I could chase and subdue. ...Wait. There was a way to track it. I locked every second-floor classroom door, then bolted to the Guard Room. CCTV. Useless for my door-check-only job—no patrols. I'd zoned out watching once; nothing changed. But now? Different story. Sat down, eyes on CCTV.
Expected the drunkard to pop up immediately. Stared forever—no show on second-floor hall. Did it unlock everything and bail already? Nah, not enough time. Locking up to 1-5 and sprinting back takes under a minute. Impossible to unlock all in that. But "impossible" kills people. Left Guard Room, recounted keys in Admin Office: still 19. Drunkard had one for sure. Up Central Staircase—doors locked tight as expected. Bolted back to CCTV. Still no drunkard.
Clock ticked toward 5 a.m. Instead of my initial plan, I manned CCTV diligently. Staring at unchanging footage brought sleep waves, but I jabbed my thigh with fingers to stay sharp. Was it never showing? Fine by me, but that vicious drunkard might wait till near 6 a.m. Worst case. If dawn hit while it was outside Guard Room, school gets a new guard. Gallery tempting, but eyes glued to screen. Then—a shadow on second-floor hall. Snapped alert, focused. Drunkard finally appeared. Long wait. Miss this? Worst case real. It started unlocking from 1-1. Grabbed bat, out the door, up Central Staircase. Plan: subdue at 1-3.
Crack—drunkard crumples with a clear thud.
"Huff... huff..."
Ran fast fearing it'd slip away—breathless. Good I caught it at 1-3; past to 1-4 risked glancing out window during scuffle. Bat swings got technique now. Pounded till it couldn't groan. About a minute—motionless.
"Phew..."
Finally caught breath. Now, dispose properly. Leave it? It'll wake, pick locks again. Needed a spot. Duh—earlier idea: stuff in classroom, lock. Rules say door duty only, not intruder removal. No warning for that, right? "Not my problem." Opened 1-3 door. Normal classroom inside. Entry safe, so planned to drag it in. Prodded with bat—no movement. Grabbed clothes, dragged. Suddenly, arm twists weirdly, grabs my hand.
"Whoa!"
"Gonna lock me up...? Think I'll go quietly...?"
Face distorts into grotesque grin. Shook to break free—no dice.
"Everyone does... tries to cage me, ignore me..."
"Shut up! If you hadn't picked the damn doors, I wouldn't be doing this!"
Ignored me, muttering nonsense.
"You're the same... so you die too..."
"What?"
Raised bottle hand. Swung down at my gripped arm.