The Blank Pages and the Tanned Harasser
If you're stuck in an unchangeable situation, maybe it's best to change your mindset. Without Kim Eat-Chil, the shift wouldn't have been easy anyway, so I figured skipping one meal was a fair price. Thinking of it as trading for a full day's meals from the start made it feel less unfair. And honestly, I figured I'd earned at least that much value.
...Still, revealing my living quarters for a T-bone steak? That's a bit much.
"Kim Geu-rim says she won't come down?"
"Oh, right."
As Kim Eat-Chil handed back the bowl, he asked about her. I'd completely forgotten after getting brain-fried on the second floor.
"Don't worry about it. I'll just go up and tell her myself."
He spoke casually, seeing my "oh crap" face.
At that moment, the world suddenly brightened as morning arrived. Watching Kim Eat-Chil shift back to human form was always mesmerizing.
Then a trivial question popped into my head. Do these youkai just change how they look based on the light? Or does their actual body transform?
Asking outright would get me nowhere, so I phrased it indirectly.
"Eat-Chil, doesn't that long hair bother you?"
"This?"
His messy bangs still half-covered his eyes, just like the first time. He fiddled with them like they were real.
"Nah, it's fine? I styled it this way."
"......? Styled? It just looks like you let it grow wild 'cause it's a hassle to manage."
"Doesn't it make me look like a shy boy?"
He was right—it had looked that way at first. Though his real personality was the total opposite. A little devil youkai who subtly tormented me.
"No plans to switch up the image?"
"You don't like it?"
"No... just think it'd look better neat and clean."
"Ajusshi, I've thought this since we met... you're such a boomer, you know that?"
"Boo... boomer?"
Was this really a conversation with a youkai? What even was a youkai, anyway? I'd always pictured them as ghost-like things from stories. But plenty of fiction had people chatting with ghosts. Maybe my situation was totally normal.
As we bantered, someone entered the Central Entrance. It was Song Ha-yeon. And trailing behind her was a man I'd never seen before. Brown skin like he'd tanned his whole body, golden hair. Tight jeans and a white cotton tee. He felt weirdly familiar, like a character archetype.
Song Ha-yeon spotted Kim Eat-Chil right away and raised her voice.
"Kim Eat-Chil! Don't tell me you skipped school again?"
"No, Teacher. I just got here."
He lied with shameless ease, then glanced my way for backup.
"Yeah, Ha-yeon. He just arrived."
"......Really? Somehow I doubt it..."
I felt a twinge of unease. From our chats during self-study supervision, she seemed sharp. I'd kept a straight face defending him, but hopefully she wouldn't see through it.
She eyed us both, then sighed.
"Guard, you don't need to cover for his lies."
"Teacher! I didn't lie!"
"Quiet. Go to your classroom for now."
Busted immediately. How'd she know? Kim Eat-Chil shot me a glance and trudged off down the left hallway. Not resentful, but kinda pitiful. Still, I couldn't admit he'd stuck around because I asked for help. Song Ha-yeon seemed friendly, but I didn't know her true intentions yet.
"Ha-yeon? I'll head up first then?"
"Uh? Yeah... sure."
The man behind her spoke up, resting a hand on her shoulder. His tone was chummy, but her expression was awkward. As he passed, he gave me a dirty look—like I was a bug. He vanished up the central stairs, and only then did Song Ha-yeon turn to me with a smile.
"Who was that guy?"
Her smile vanished at my question. I felt a pang of guilt for bringing it up, but I had to know. Every scrap of info tied to my survival here.
"Geum Tae-yang, the second-year math teacher."
I'd suspected, but damn—his name was really Geum Tae-yang. Who names someone that? It fit perfectly, though.
"Something happen? You don't look happy."
"No... it's just..."
Her reaction screamed she disliked him. She trailed off—maybe too nice to badmouth him outright.
"He keeps hitting on me even though I say no..."
"Ah."
"Every time I see him, I wanna quit this school."
"I see... Have you told him off?"
"Of course! But it's like he's deaf. He doesn't listen, so I've given up."
This was the first time I'd seen her so negative about something. Geum Tae-yang... I had a feeling he'd bug me soon. Not a prediction—more like certainty. You know Chekhov's gun? No way a new face shows up without reason. Though I hoped he'd just be a plot device and fade out.
"Oh yeah! Guard, you know night duty starts today, right?"
"Night duty?"
The word came out of nowhere. Night duty? Like, the kind I knew?
"Yeah. Exams are soon, and the test papers get finalized today. Can't let students see them before, so teachers take turns pulling all-nighters in the Staff Room to guard them."
"Couldn't you just lock them in a safe?"
"They used to, but someone ripped the whole safe open. So they switched to night duty."
"Whoa..."
Safes get cracked in the real world too, but ripping one open? Youkai crime was next-level.
......Wait. Doesn't this mean my shift just got harder?
"When's your night duty, Ha-yeon?"
"Tomorrow. Self-study supervision into night duty."
"Uh... what about Geum Tae-yang?"
"No idea. Don't care enough to remember."
She'd have to know the schedule, but damn—he must've hounded her bad. I got her feelings, but it sucked not getting the info.
She stared at me a moment, then spoke.
"Not tonight, at least. Want me to check for you?"
"Really? I'd appreciate it... but any price?"
"Price? Nah, it's nothing."
What did she really think of me? Not affection—her motives as a youkai. Kim Eat-Chil followed my name idea, but I'd done nothing special for Song Ha-yeon, yet she'd been friendly from the start. I wasn't naturally calculating, but this world made me suspicious of favors without strings. The Rule Book said you were safe as long as you didn't fall for temptations. Was this her seducing me?
I liked her plenty, but it was human-to-human fondness—not love. Even if she was a youkai.
"Good luck on your shift then. Or wait—time for bed? Sleep well."
"Thanks. You too, Ha-yeon."
I watched her leave. Her outfit was loose, not clinging—hard to pinpoint her figure. The opposite of seductive. Maybe she couldn't control her charm and hid it on purpose. Rational suspicion: was Song Ha-yeon a succubus?
Annex Inspection Basic Rules
- Enter the Annex after securing the Main Building doors.
- The Annex is highly variable.
- Room-specific rules appear after entry.
- Reconfirm rules even in previously visited areas.
- Upon entry, immediately descend one floor via stairs.
- Quickly identify the floor you arrive on.
- Exit via the 1F door you entered.
- No rationally communicative entities exist in the Annex.
- Do not linger too long.
- Basic rules do not change. If they have, disregard all content.
★ Back in the break room, I fiddled with the Annex Rule Book. Not my usual pocket Rule Book, but the Annex one. Tension built as I went to check it. This place had killed countless predecessors.
I gripped the middle and flipped it open.
......Huh?
No text. Flipping through pages—still blank. Pure white.
Huh?
Something was off. I'd traded my shift skip for this—no way it'd be blank. Did Soonbaek-i scam me? But it hadn't felt like that.
I flipped forward from the end. Blank pages greeted me until the very first one.
Then the text appeared.
Just reading the basics made the Annex's difficulty sink in. Knowing I'd have to explore it myself soon left me dizzy.