Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: You've Been Tricked!
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You've been tricked!
The path to the 4th floor...
Was several times more hellish than climbing the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd floors.
"Get the hell outta here, you damn freaks!!"
"Block it block it block it block it!"
"Not even bothering to hide anymore, huh?"
From the 4th-floor staircase onward, grotesque horrors came pouring out.
Things with a bunch of extra limbs.
Things that shredded eardrums with deafening roars.
Things that devoured nearby entities to bulk up.
Every last one shaped like something straight out of pure imagination.
Their stamina was shot—even nonexistent reserves were drained.
But they all looked terrified.
Charging in with that desperate "no choice" vibe, like they were being chased by something.
Crack!Crunch!
All of them pulverized to dust by the reinforced ver.2 wooden bat.
By the time they fought through endless illusions and assaults to reach the 4th floor...
"It's empty?"
No horrors in sight anywhere in the classrooms.
If the situation had been ideal, they'd take stock, but time dragged on with throbbing wounds and pus oozing from injured spots.
And on top of that...
"Looks like we're the only real humans here."
"What now?"
"Nothing left but to play the part as best we can and figure out an escape."
"Let's set a passphrase first."
"[Dismissal Time]—what do you think?"
"Good call."
Even the lunatics yapping in the middle of the hallway.
Floors 1 through 3 were brutal enough to test anyone's sanity, but this place? It was structured to drive any normal person straight to madness.
Common sense actively corroding in real time.
Horrors lunging every second.
Traps lurking in every nook and cranny.
"Fuck! Toilets spewing shit is straight-up bullshit!!"
"Whoa... Treating the one human like me to dogshit food?"
"Why's the staff room got monsters but no teachers?"
They'd swung by the principal's office on a hunch it might be an exit—and nearly bit it for real.
It charged like that early shadow, full tilt to snap their neck. Without the bat... 100% dead.
Bat forever, hail hail.
Anyway, pure survival mode could hold out a few days.
A week? No shot.
So the play was hunting down the still-hidden rules.
'Five hidden so far. Usually clued in the first paragraph of each, so rooftop and stairs should cough 'em up quick.'
His steps drifted toward the spot marked [5F].
Or tried to.
That gut sense honed by survival screamed not to go up. What the hell? He slowly pieced back through memories.
"Wasn't this a 4-floor building?"
Rules specified floors 1 through 4.
No word on anything above—but nothing saying it didn't exist either.
One thing crystal clear, though.
This wasn't the "rooftop."
Probably buried in some wiped rule.
Friendly? Or hostile?
'Curious? Find out yourself.'
Step!
His feet crossed from 4th to 5th floor.
The moment he cleared the stairs completely...
2.2. The '5th floor' is sighted periodically on specific dates.
To reiterate: this school building's top floor is '4F'.
Hostile as fuck, of course.
Well, hunting "friendly" in this hellhole was absurd from jump.
Glanced back—stairs vanished like they'd never been.
Mocking scrawl on the wall.
[You revealed your own sin.]
[You scum worse than any monster.]
They dragged us here and sin? Sin??? The fuck is "sin"???
You psychos are off the rails.
No clue what gave 'em the balls to strut like that. Real-time spawning text aside, no actual "threats."
No classrooms or other rooms on the 5th anyway.
Just one blood-red door screaming [come here].
A girl stood in front of it.
Mysterious vibe—like the dream girl, same build, different hair.
In this warped space.
A girl drained of all melanin, hue impossible in Korea.
She grinned normally right at him.
Instinct screamed it.
Not human.
Beyond human grasp—an inexplicable thing with no business in this world.
"[Hello?]"
"[Hello? Hello?]"
"[Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?]"
The girl's silhouette advanced, slow step by step.
Death closing in.
An unavoidable death sentence made flesh.
"……..."
He could tell just by looking.
'That' was shadow-tier—or damn close—but worlds apart from the rule-trapped shadow. The rule-maker of this domain.
One gesture and it'd shred him.
Ah, it's coming.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
And the final one.
Close enough to hear her breath. Her form...
"How'd you lock it in horizon coordinates?"
………?
"This space breaks physics from the jump, but you ghosts hold position fine? That misses the point. Ghosts messing with reality always got constraints, right?"
………!
"Whoa, whoa. Sounds like bullshit—keep listening. This is the highlight. Skip it, regret for life."
Stunned like hit by his nonsense, she went still.
Less "giving up the kill," more "fine, spew your crap to the end."
Korean lit major bullshittery... hit different.
Eloquence to resurrect ghosts.
He kept talking, crushing the bat hard behind his back.
"Ghosts fundamentally differ from horrors—got it? Horrors ain't alive but mess with the living, mimic looks, full-on freakish supernatural bullshit."
……...
"Even freakish bullshit has weak spots. Horizon coordinates I mentioned, humans turning AC into weapons. And, and, and..."
And?
"...right now!!!"
The upgraded +1 bat whistled through air, smashing her skull.
Too-late bluff realization—her hand shot to block.
He sacrificed his other arm to slap it away.
Justice of the bat followed.
Crunchhh—!
Bones shattering.
The girl crumpled into a corpse.
No guilt—not human anyway.
"Killing a horror that actually listened... Coulda had a deep chat if it took bullshit that well."
Amitabha Buddha.
Hallelujah.
Amen.
One long second of prayers for the departed.
He flung open the red door she'd guarded. Behind it?
"Hello?"
The template of the girl he'd just bashed.
Identical to the dream encounter.
Rules called it "benevolent," but unlike the gallery suckers, he was just a noob.
"Fuck your hello—shove it up your ass."
"Such foul language."
"Polite chit-chat with your kidnapper buddies?"
"...Point taken."
"Not a point, fact. You sound cozy with the kidnappers. Spill the clean escape deets and we bounce. Deal?"
".........One for one."
"Deal!"
Cool trade accepted.
Different entity from the dream one entirely.
Even on "hobbies" or "interests"?
"No idea."
"Not interested."
"Next topic?"
Pre-programmed vibes. Straight-up Strange Tale AI.
No gain in yapping—milk it dry.
Common knowledge, straight out Goguryeo watermelon scrolls.
Strangers trading for gain.
"My lead okay?"
"Fine. This is just my entertainment."
"Shitty vibe... 'Escape method,' straight. No lies, pure truth."
"Hmph... Won't escape anyway. 'Bathroom.' Your holy grail spot with the means."
"......What?"
Mom... he'd hit bathrooms a dozen times already.
That was the escape?
Principal's office or rooftop? Sure. Bathroom?
He eyed her skeptical.
She sighed, exasperated.
"Don't buy it? Don't. Told you cuz you're impressive getting here—last answer."
"Last?"
"Duh? 100-outta-100 die here—why spare the clueless?"
"Fair."
"My turn. How'd you reach here..."
"Hold up, Grotesque Beep."
Interrupted—visibly pissed.
But place-owner vibes, so he flipped her off politely.
"You've been tricked!!!"
Killing intent ripped across the whole rooftop, skin-flaying fierce.
But that alone confirmed the "doll" was just a shell.
Bat kissing her skull already.
Thrust!
Bat skewering her head.
"Ah, familiar ceiling."
The 4th round began.