Chapter 4
Translator: True Detective
I Became a Martial God (1)
How on earth did things get so twisted?
With a bitter expression, I rolled my eyes and looked at the person slumped on the ground in front of me.
To be exact, I cast a sidelong glance at the single sheet of paper he was holding in his hand.
『Safety Rules for Surviving Yeongshin Elementary School』
Even just looking at the written title, it wasn't an ordinary text, but truth be told, it was hard to view the person holding the paper as ordinary to begin with.
You can't exactly call someone ordinary when they are slumped on the ground, trembling with a blank expression as if half out of their mind, can you?
What was even more bizarre was that despite being in such a state, he was gripping that rulebook so tightly that the paper was crumpled.
'Should I really set a day to go get my fortune told?'
The beginning of the incident was simple. No, there wasn't even anything to call a beginning.
'To think I'd get swept up in this when I was just doing my part-time job.'
Up until a little while ago, I was faithfully carrying out the instructions given by my employer as a part-timer.
You know, the one where he told me to check if anyone was pointlessly approaching the vicinity, and to walk around the school to see if anyone had sneaked in.
I didn't patrol in person, but instead, I extended my Qi Sense to survey the entire abandoned school grounds, so in my own way, I was fully doing what I had to do.
If I had to name a minor deviation, it was just that I took the opportunity to personally train while having my Qi Sense spread out.
'I was practicing, treading some Footwork in the abandoned school's playground that had grown dark after sunset, and using Fist Techniques instead of Swordsmanship as a makeshift alternative.'
Inside the abandoned school building where there definitely shouldn't be anyone, a scream bordering on a shriek suddenly rang out.
I checked my Qi Sense, wondering if it had been disrupted, but it was true that there was no one in the abandoned school.
The problem was that despite that, the source of the scream was indeed the abandoned school.
'I entered the abandoned school to check what on earth was going on, and ended up getting dragged into this anomalous phenomenon.'
Letting out a light sigh, I slowly surveyed my surroundings.
Not a speck of dust could be found on the ceiling and floor, and the walls were immaculate without the slightest scribble or stain. The desks and chairs were also neatly arranged in perfect rows and columns.
The scenery of the classroom I entered, carrying the person I found immediately upon entering the anomalous phenomenon on my shoulder, was in a word...
'Excessively clean.'
The place I entered was an abandoned school. Because it had already closed its doors and been neglected, the building should have been old and messy overall.
However, in this place I actually entered through the abandoned school, I couldn't find a single part that was old and messy.
'Was I transported to a place like a completely different space, just like the Forked Path I encountered on Mount Geumjeong?'
It wasn't just this classroom that was uniquely clean. The hallways and stairs I ran through before entering this classroom were also flawlessly clean.
'Moreover, just like the Forked Path, there are monsters here too.'
When I first entered this space, the scenery that first appeared before my eyes was quite tense.
A young man of a similar age to me, collapsed on the floor and screaming and wailing, and a humanoid monster approaching with a bizarre appearance, targeting that man.
Fortunately, I beat the creature to death and rescued the man before the monster could do anything to him, but...
'Is it something like a school for monsters?'
As if trying to emphasize the characteristics of a space called a school, an incredibly large number of monsters were wandering around everywhere in this space.
'They are different from the ones I met on Mount Geumjeong.'
I turned my gaze away from the young man who still hadn't regained his senses. My gaze, directed outside the classroom, headed toward the monsters roaming the hallway.
Bizarrely, the monsters here were quite human-like in their overall appearance and behavior. To the point where, at first glance, one could mistakenly think it was a normal school scenery.
However, if you looked closely, you could certainly tell that the true identities of the things existing here were not human.
'Rather than being scary to look at, they make me feel unpleasant.'
Because they couldn't perfectly imitate humans, every single one of them had some sort of defect.
One with ruined body proportions, one making an expression a human couldn't make, one with its facial features all swapped around, one with its arms and legs attached backward...
Rarely, entities with an appearance truly resembling humans could be seen, but most of the entities had appearances that looked like failed attempts at incompletely imitating humans.
'Then, what should I do from now on.'
Deciding to conserve my Inner Qi for a moment by withdrawing my Qi Sense, I began to think.
'First of all, the ultimate goal is eventually escaping from this anomalous phenomenon. It doesn't seem like there are gold and treasures in this space, either.'
If I have the leeway, I would kill all the monsters before leaving for the sake of anyone who might enter here, just like I did on Mount Geumjeong, but that is strictly a story for when my circumstances are favorable.
If there is a monster stronger than me, or if it is a space with a tricky escape condition like a time limit, I won't have leeway either.
'When I escaped from the bizarre Mount Geumjeong, I cut down monsters left and right and escaped by throwing myself into the unusually clean spring at the summit.'
The anomalous phenomenon of Mount Geumjeong required a specific condition for escape. If I didn't throw myself into the Golden Well, I wouldn't have been able to leave even if I cut down all the monsters.
It was highly probable that this space also required that kind of condition. To escape, figuring out the conditions for escape was the first priority.
'Fortunately, unlike back then, I have a clue now.'
The rulebook the young man had been gripping since we first met.
Doesn't the very name say it's safety rules for surviving here?
'Looking at the title of the rulebook, it seems the name of this anomalous phenomenon is likely Yeongshin Elementary School.'
Anyway, rather than moving recklessly, I need to read the rulebook first and come up with countermeasures. It's foolish not to utilize the information that has finally fallen into my hands.
'To do that, I'll need to persuade this person first.'
Perhaps because he had almost been killed by a monster, the young man seemed incapable of normal activity, trembling in fear even now that he had recovered his senses quite a bit.
However, it's not like I could coldly abandon a survivor I had finally managed to meet.
No one could step up to blame me or take legal action in this kind of situation, but originally, a person called a chivalrous fighter was someone who lived taking frustrating losses.
Of course, if it got truly dangerous, I might inevitably have to abandon him, but...
'That is strictly a story of the worst-case scenario that could happen, so there is no need to consider it right now.'
Taking a light breath and approaching the survivor youth, I carefully spoke to him as if soothing a young child.
"Are you feeling a bit better?" "A-ah, yes..."
Still, it's not to the point where conversation is completely impossible.
Thinking it was a silver lining, I calmly asked him for his name.
"I-I am Han Sungyoon. I'm a freshman at OO University in Gyeonggi Province, and after the second round of the freshman welcoming party, a senior said they'd give me money if I filmed a video exploring the inside of the abandoned school, so I came in as a test of courage and..."
It seemed this anomalous phenomenon dragged people in on the condition of entering an abandoned school, regardless of physical distance.
I don't know if it's the only entry condition, but at least I too came here by entering an abandoned school.
Anyway, I gained unexpected information and also found out who this unfortunate person was.
"Mr. Han Sungyoon. Please stay calm and listen carefully." "Y-yes?" "As you may know, this is not reality. You know school ghost stories, right? It's similar to that, a sort of bizarre Otherworld."
You could die in an instant if you make a slight mistake, so get your act together if you don't want to die.
When I gently packaged and conveyed words to that effect, a hint of tension settled on the face of Han Sungyoon, who had only been trembling.
It was a good change. It was a hundred times better to be tense thinking about the approaching danger than to give up everything and just tremble.
"Have you read the rulebook?" "I-I read it a little bit. But it was so absurd that I didn't believe it, and then I asked someone passing by in the hallway where this was, and..."
After saying that much, Han Sungyoon's complexion turned pale blue; he smacked his lips before biting them tightly.
"It's fine. I don't think you need to say anything more."
What had happened was drawn clearly in my head.
Common sensically, there aren't many people who live their lives seriously believing such anomalous phenomena truly exist. Since he also said he drank alcohol, he probably thought it was someone's malicious prank.
So he must have grabbed any random person passing by in the hallway to ask, and almost been killed by a monster just like that.
"For now, I'll take a look at that rulebook, too."
When I said that and casually extended my hand, Han Sungyoon obediently handed over the rulebook.
『Safety Rules for Surviving Yeongshin Elementary School』
6-1. Student entities are fundamentally the most common and most active. If they speak to you, do not answer and shake your head. Their words are different from human words.
6-2. Teacher entities will not show much interest in you. However, for some reason, Teacher entities generally perceive humans as a type of Student entity. If you encounter them, bow your back to greet them politely as you pass, but do not open your mouth.
6-3. The Vice Principal and Principal entities clearly perceive you as human, and there are currently no survival cases in the Mystic Management Bureau's database for encounters with these entities. If you successfully survive despite encountering said entities, we ask that you report it to the contact number at the bottom of the rulebook.
7-1. Harm your body. Go to the nurse's office looking visibly severely injured and silently show the injured area to the School Nurse entity. If the wound is serious enough, said entity will readily provide an early leave pass.
7-2. Steal and forge an early leave pass. You must somehow take advantage of the moment the School Nurse looks away to steal an early leave pass and a pen from the entity's desk and forge it. However, since there is no need to write down actual information on the early leave pass, simply write down any random words appropriately like a scribble for all items.
An extremely, exceedingly, tremendously long and verbose rulebook.
Having calmly read through all of the rulebook, I recalled the combat power of the entity... probably a Teacher... that I killed while saving Han Sungyoon when I first entered this place.
Even if its attention was entirely on Han Sungyoon in front of it, I remembered how its body had burst in a single blow without being able to mount any sort of response to my rapid approach.
'In other words, at least the level of the Teacher entity is weaker than me. If the common sense that adults are stronger than children applies here too, the combat power of the Student entities wouldn't pose much of a threat to me either.'
Even considering the possibility that the School Nurse might be exceptionally stronger, if I pretend to be a student to get close and launch a surprise attack, it's a fight well worth trying.
The scale formed in my mind's eye leveled out, then gradually tilted toward my side. And the moment my thoughts reached that point, a perfect plan came to mind.
Bad Plan: Self-harm or stealing the early leave pass.
Good Plan: Kill the School Nurse.
No matter how much I thought about it, it was a perfect plan. Curling the corners of my mouth up and finishing my thoughts, I returned the rulebook to Han Sungyoon and said.
"Mr. Han Sungyoon." "Y-yes?" "Let's go home from school."
There is nothing difficult. I just need to find the nurse's office, snap the School Nurse's neck, and grab two early leave passes.
"Just trust me and follow. I'll get you out of this dog-like school." "U-understood...! I will only trust you and follow you, sir...!"
Perhaps thanks to my imposing confidence, Han Sungyoon, who had been tense with an anxious expression, stood up with shining eyes.
And the moment he bravely took a step toward the classroom door.
—Ding~ dong~ dang~ dong~
"Ah, fuck." "S-sir?"
The bell announcing the start of class rang.