Chapter 5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Penalty
-----------------------------------------------------------------
【TY: 1 → 2】
【Strange Tale: School Strange Tale】
【Items: 0】
Penalties will be applied starting from the next attempt.
【Penalty: Pinky Finger】
The first thing that came to mind after reviving...
Was that massive eye.
[Look back?]
A monstrosity so grotesque that just looking at it could shatter your mind.
Normally, anyone would be trembling in terror, completely paralyzed.
"Penalty? You mean my pinky finger?"
Such fear had long since vanished from me.
The penalty for the next attempt floated before my eyes.
Typical regressors or immortals would take this seriously, praying and striving not to advance to the next round.
But to me, this was nothing short of a blessing.
Like the eternal regret of not getting to eat that chicken right before death.
A miraculous 'escape button' granted to someone like me who couldn't even die as desired!
"Kiiiiyaahoooooo!!!!"
I felt it when I turned around on the stairs.
Even the fist that had sent the classroom ghost to nirvana couldn't win against it—that eye evoked such profound disgust throughout my body.
With eyes like that, it'd surely kill me over and over, right?
Mental pain was far preferable to physical agony.
The gaze I'd resented until the moment of death now looked prettily enhanced by the AI.
The only suspicious part from the previous attempt...
Was none other than...
"More importantly, that monstrosity definitely said something to me, right? '[Don't look back.]'"
My already complicated mind grew even more tangled.
Was it a high-level feint?
Or genuine advice to help me?
I really had no idea.
In times like these, it was faster to ask the gallery folks.
Title: These rules are such bullshit, fuck?
Writer: GS-4444
(Photo of the added stair rule)
Like Muscle Ham said, I beat the shit out of the monsters and escaped the classroom,
but the one I left alive told me not to turn around;;
Suddenly felt sketchy so I turned back for the finishing blow,
and holy fuck
Got insta-killed without fighting back T_T
You actually did it?
? You told me to do it?
I just said it 'cause you were gonna die anyway;; You're definitely qualified to be my successor!
????????????????
lolololololololololololololol
Beating monsters less than an hour after joining the gallery
Goddamn GOAT newbie
How the fuck did you kill it ㄷㄷㄷ
Dunno;; Just mindlessly bashed it like you guys said and it died?
????????
Hadn't you guys tried it? Why the reaction;;
If that worked, half of us would've escaped lololol
First time hitting a wall with a newbie, fuck
What the fuck.
If I'd been even a little scared, I'd have been killed?
For a moment, I wondered if these guys were really veterans.
I guarantee, there are no friendly monsters.
That bad?
Yeah, they spawn from negative emotions to begin with.
Expecting normal logic is the problem from the start.
Next time, smash their heads first thing.
OK OK
My momentarily confused heart hardened.
Unlike my past self cowed by fear, all that remained was a burning desire for 'escape'.
Title: Fuckers are all dead for real lololol
Writer: GS-4444
(Photo of thick wooden bat swinging around)
Died so many times my endorphins are maxed lolol
Anyway, gonna need to die a few more times to figure out the rules,
so this round I'm charging in first ㅇㅇ
You ain't a newbie, fuck
? Fresh outta the oven newbie unit 3 here?
You got a frenzy buff on revival or something;;
You might be 'corrupted', so watch your mental state.
Mental state? What's that?
Hmm... hard to explain, but the more you meet monsters, the more your mental state gets fucked up.
Sleeping helps, but you've died 3 times since joining the gallery already.
Get a gallery nick first and proceed slowly ㅇㅇ
Oh... pro tip thx thx
Gallery nick, huh.
Gallery nicks are definitely important.
They're your identity in every gallery.
A dual-natured mask of a name.
'But can't I just go with Ghost Fucker?'
Honestly, it was a hassle.
Wasting time agonizing over a nick when I barely had enough to read the rules?
The decision was quick.
A readable, identity-solid nick: [Yubungi].
[Gobungi] crossed my mind too, but considering I keep reviving in the same body, it fit best.
Title: Virgin ghost sis keeps seducing me, it's a problem;;
Writer: Yubungi
Yeah, that's how it went.
Changed my newbie name and pulled some aggro while at it.
Now everyone go back to your business.
(Photo of grand salute in just panties)
This is my sincerity lol
Holy—fuck—!!!!!!!!!!!!
Donor, looks like your head got smashed...
Wanna get tortured with holy water?
Gallery folks who rushed in excited get likes lol
Fucking likes
Likes;;
(Likes... content)
I am the tactical nuke.
And the tactical nuke is me.
Gallery nick [Yubungi].
Advancing for patrol right now!
Unlike my initial thought that 'infinite revival' meant eternal suffering,
Now I knew about the adorable safety net called 'penalty'.
Thud—!
Along with the wooden bat scattered in the hallway,
I charged into the classroom where the arm-fat eater from last time lurked.
[Did you do today's homework?]
"No, I didn't, you little shit!!!"
Clang—!
A clear striking sound echoed through the classroom.
These bastards slyly didn't appear when wandering normally, but popped out ghost-like from the cabinet.
"Whew, feels good on the hands!?"
With not a shred of fear left in my heart,
Their numbers visibly thinned to countable levels.
Monsters that vanished with one solid hit from Mighty Joe were no longer my match.
You lot are students.
And I'm the teacher.
And right now, it's late night detention for disciplining delinquents.
Imagine it.
Recall it.
That satisfying smack from jumping the school fence back in your school days!
[Uwaaah teacher ithurt]
[Schoolviolence schoolviolence schoolviolence]
[Callalawyer callalawyer]
Of course, this shitty world had no lawyers.
Like watermelons bursting on the beach, the monsters started exploding in real time.
One.
Three.
Ten.
I'd beaten out enough pent-up rage.
[Teachert teachert teachert teacher]
"You helped me once, so I'll spare you three times. If you don't give the answer I want by then, expect the bat."
[Scaryscaryscaryscary]
"Your ugly mugs are scarier."
Among the info not in the rules,
The most crucial knowledge right now, tied to escape.
"What's the fastest way out of this world? Realistically, surviving 7 days here seems impossible."
[……………………]
"Two left. Asking again."
To reiterate,
I'd just escaped the 'White Room' after 1000 days locked in.
Some might call that tame,
But it was more than enough to shatter earthly human common sense.
My humanity had long worn away.
All that remained was the will to die or escape.
I thrust the thick wooden bat at the monster before me and asked again.
"What's the most efficient way to escape the Strange Tale?"
[Reallyreallyreallyreally]
[Dunno dunno dunno dunno dunno]
"Ha, this ain't working? Keep refusing and teacher has to swing the bat. Got it, student?"
[No?]
"…………"
Why does this fucker suddenly sound curt?
Whatever.
I don't know if monsters have friendships or whatever,
But I scooped up the 'formerly monster' dust from the floor,
And crunch—!
Crack—!
Shoved it in my mouth and chewed demonstratively.
A gesture saying I could eat you too.
[……………]
The emotionless, expressionless being now stared at me like a criminal who'd massacred dozens.
To that monster, I gave one last chance.
"What's the fastest way to escape this world?"
[Foreignsubstance foreignsubstance foreignsubstance]
"Foreign substance?"
[Letout letout letout letout letout……]
"What bullshit..."
Boom—!
The monster before me spat incomprehensible nonsense,
Then turned to dust like the others and vanished.
All that remained in the classroom was their dust and the hefty bat in my hand.
Damn, even in this mess, that dust tastes killer.
Could sell it as MSG and make bank?
Amid the bewilderment, those last words echoed like a nursery rhyme: [Foreign substance], [Let out].
Well, I planned to kill it anyway even if it talked sense.
Regret's regret.
'Not the first time hearing nonsense.'
The pollock spat out fish cake words,
But with [death] as my escape hatch, fear was gone.
Next up: house calls to the other first-year classrooms.
[Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck]
[Teacher? Teacher? Teacher? Teacher?]
[Rundontstoprundontstoprun]
I don't know if their brains are networked,
But the siegers were long oxidized to ash.
A few fled upstairs... but I'd just follow and smash them anyway. More importantly, is the first floor really just these guys?
A typical [School Strange Tale] would have bloodstains on the floor, statues moving on their own, doppelgangers in the bathroom, etc.
"Right, the bathroom!"
"Gotta be some there, yeah?"
Like the philosopher teacher yelling Eureka in the bath,
I shouted Eureka and dashed to the bathroom like an excited kid.
Then boldly faced the mirror.
[From now on your body is mine...? Huh?]
"I sense your sadness. The loneliness of spending your life in a mirror...!"
[Th, uh, um...]
"Your only liberation is death itself—and I am death."
[Wasn't really lonely...? Friends come play all the time?]
"Shut your trap?"
Grabbing the hair of the mirror-emerging doppelganger that looked just like me,
I slammed it—
Crunch—!
Onto the protruding faucet.
Looking at the skewered doppelganger, I burst into laughter.
"Uahahahahahahahaha!!!!! Escape!! Escape!!!"
Escape from this world.
It was truly,
A delicacy so sweet it bordered on bitterness.
ㄴ 3.2. There is 1 entity per floor, and the remaining one appears irregularly on other floors. (NEW!)