Exam Period (5): Break Time Encounter
As I climbed the stairs, a bizarre scene greeted me. The second-floor hallway with its lights on. Nothing strange about that yet. The odd part was the students.
Last time I'd come up here, an empty corridor had welcomed me. But the sight before my eyes now was different. Two students chattering away, one walking down the hall, another entering a classroom. Their actions looked perfectly natural, without a hint of anything off.
Kim Eat-Chil's words came back to me. He'd said he could come to the guard room yesterday because it was break time, right? So this scene was just a typical self-study break at a normal school. But last time, when I'd followed Kim Eat-Chil up, it had been completely deserted.
Even on the third floor, nothing changed. The students didn't pay me any mind as I stepped into the hallway. I scanned the corridor, but Song Ha-yeon was nowhere in sight. Probably off relaxing during break. Which meant she was likely in the Staff Room right now.
I glanced toward the Staff Room, and sure enough, the door was slightly ajar.
Staff Room 3. Do not approach if the door is even slightly open.
I was curious, but I had no intention of approaching, per the rulebook. Even if I still had that one life left as a lifeline.
One-time regression. Three lives granted to humans for Kkamang-i's amusement. But you don't know about them until your first death. So at this stage, it felt less like a personal ability and more like a one-sided revival.
You can't think to use your life as a bargaining chip if you don't even know you can come back. From the second life onward, when you can deliberately sacrifice a life to gain something, it earns the name "regression ability." Of course, on the third life, you're no different from any ordinary person, so one-time regression it is.
That's why you have to save that one coin for when it's truly crucial. Ideally, escape on the second life without using it. Dying is terrifying and agonizing. In my case, it ended quickly with shock, but still.
And if you mess it up, your third life might start without even knowing why you died. God, I hope that worst-case scenario never happens.
I stopped in front of Class 2-2. Song Ha-yeon was the homeroom teacher for second year Class 2, so she might be here. The classroom inside was pitch black; I couldn't make out a thing.
Suddenly, the classroom door slid open, and Kim Eat-Chil appeared. But unlike usual, he didn't immediately speak to me. He just raised a single finger to his lips.
Quiet.
I snapped my mouth shut before it could open.
Kim Eat-Chil glanced around, motioned for me to follow, and led me toward the right staircase. As we approached the unlit stairs, he shifted into his mud youkai form.
Only after we'd descended to the first floor did he speak. "Did you come looking for me first, ajusshi?"
This youkai had the wrong idea. I considered lying, but we'd built up some trust by now, right? Even if trusting a youkai felt a bit weird to say out loud. It reminded me of that Gallery admin's talk about affinity levels.
But thanks to his signal just now, I'd avoided a bad situation. When I'd realized I'd given him a name, it had scared me at first. No clue what ripple effects that might have or how it'd affect me. Even when I'd asked him directly back then, he'd only said it loosened his restrictions a bit.
Looking back now, though, as long as it wasn't a hostile youkai, it was surprisingly helpful. Excluding that time he tried to mess with me using the book, he'd mostly been friendly so far. Even if he'd insisted he wouldn't act that way himself.
This personality feels familiar from somewhere...
"Nah. Teacher Song Ha-yeon called me over."
No change in Kim Eat-Chil's face at my words. Not that I could read expressions on his featureless, mud-covered mug anyway. He just stayed silent for a moment.
Was he disappointed or something?
"Teacher's in the Staff Room during break."
His tone was even. Not disappointment—just thinking it over, probably. Yeah, no way a youkai would be bummed I didn't come looking for him.
"Come up after break ends. She'll be there then."
"Got it. Thanks."
With that, Kim Eat-Chil headed to the left staircase and vanished upward. I returned to the guard room; it was 8:05. I'd forgotten to ask when exactly break ended. Based on last time, heading up after a solid 30 minutes should be safe.
I decided to kill time with the Gallery.
★
The Gallery had blown up while I was away. It always felt like the fun stuff happened when I wasn't looking. Newbie orientation must've kept things quiet today, but apparently not.
What the hell happened? I clicked around frantically to catch up.
And realized: the newbie was why the Gallery was exploding.
Judging by the new username, this "Protagonist" was probably the Station Attendant 28 guy. Scrolling through his posts, his antics were next-level insane. The moment he grasped his situation, he'd pulled every possible stunt and reported it all to the Gallery.
At first, half the comments were hyped on dopamine, half worried. But as things escalated, the hype died down, replaced by worry turning to resignation. Even the helpful admin had only guided early on, then gone silent.
Best to spectate rather than join the rage-fest.
He'd hit a post ban on day one—accessing forbidden info already, and it wasn't even noon. No one else seemed fazed; no posts about it, no explanations of what post bans even were.
Undeterred, Protagonist kept posting. By the end, I got why everyone was burnt out. Dopamine's good in moderation; too much is poison.
Never thought I'd check the clock more than the Gallery. 8:25. I logged off and left the guard room.
CCTV showed the halls empty of students now. No teachers either, so break must end at 30 minutes.
★
What would happen if I ran into Song Ha-yeon outside the guard room? I'd wondered plenty, but figured it wouldn't happen. Leaving the guard room in daylight was suicidal even before considering her.
Who'd have thought the exam period event would make it possible?
Now that it was happening, my body tensed up. Soonbaek-i had confirmed in the Counseling Room that she was definitely a youkai. It'd even added a new rule to the booklet at the cost of a warning letter. As long as I resisted temptation, I'd be safe. I resolved to use cold logic to shake off any seduction.
The moment I reached the third-floor hallway, the Staff Room door flew open with a bang. I nearly freaked out and bolted down the left stairs.
Don't approach if the door's open—even slightly, right? Never expected it to burst wide like that, so yeah, I jumped harder than usual.
But the one who emerged was just the harmless-looking Song Ha-yeon.
"A-Are... you okay?"
She must've seen my startled face, because she asked with concern. Clutching my chest, I took a deep breath before answering.
"I'm fine... just spaced out walking and got spooked."
"Want some water?"
Song Ha-yeon offered her tumbler. I declined, saying I was good.
"I'll check the classrooms. Calm down in the meantime."
With that, she headed into second-year Class 1, came out, and moved on. From what I could see, the classroom interiors were pitch black, but she entered without hesitation.
I racked my brain for what to talk about when she got back from patrol. But no matter what, nothing came to mind for conversing with a youkai.