Chapter 25
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The Computer Room
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You can look.
The footsteps drew closer. Soon, they were practically whispering in my ear.
Thud.
The ghost probably thought it was a threatening gesture, something to scare me.
But excessive fear tends to dull one's sense of reality.
If this were a real security guard, it wouldn't be strange if I were already dead.
Yet, seeing as I was still perfectly alive, I could only perceive these footsteps as a hallucination.
And just as I thought.
Even after standing stock-still for a while, no guard burst in.
The thudding sound, meant to frighten me, only grew louder.
“It's not working anymore, so get lost.”
I calmed myself by looking at Dayeon's photo. Seeing her pouting face with a double V-sign made even the fear I had dissipate.
As if the ghost finally realized it was useless, the footsteps vanished in an instant.
“Heh, not bad.”
Then, Dayeon's voice returned. For a ghost, it was remarkably persistent. I managed to ignore it and walk down the hallway.
“Hey, look over here for a second. I found something cool.”
“No.”
“Heh, such a quick and blunt reply.”
“...”
“Giving me the silent treatment this time?”
The ghost creepily muttered things Dayeon would actually say. If I didn't know better, I would have been completely fooled.
“I'll show you something good if you turn around.”
The ghost posing as Dayeon said that and then began to rustle its clothes.
Click. Click-clack. Click-clack-clack.
It was the sound of something coming undone.
None other than the sound of buttons being unfastened.
“...What are you doing?”
“Heh, if you're curious, you can look.”
Thump.
Then came a sound like clothes being gently placed on the floor.
“How about it?”
“...”
I absolutely could not fall for it.
It was nothing but a trick, using provocative theatrics while pretending to be Dayeon to bewitch me.
‘Does it really think I'll turn around for this?’
Its intention to confuse me was obvious.
The real Dayeon wouldn't try to tease me so blatantly.
It was the complete opposite of her little-devil tendency to subtly find an opening and strike.
Therefore, the Dayeon behind me was a fake.
Even if it could imitate her, it couldn't replicate Dayeon's unique, subtle, and mischievous behavior.
“Heh, so you know that much about me? I'm a little touched.”
“If you get it, then scram.”
I wouldn't fall for the ghost's cheap tricks. On top of that, I plugged my ears completely.
I pressed my hands firmly over both ears so I couldn't hear what it was saying.
And just like that, the chaotic hallway fell silent.
The muttering from behind me ceased.
I could still hear it faintly, but it was just a minor annoyance, easy enough to ignore.
The ghost must still have been pretending to be Dayeon, as a constant, faint static persisted.
‘Let it ramble all it wants.’
As long as my ears were tightly covered, no trick would work.
All I had to do was ignore it and keep going.
Just as I was about to walk down the now-quiet hallway,
-thudthudthudIfLeeHyeononlyavoidsandrunsawayhewilldieclatterclatterclatterEmilyismysisterAnneisawomanoftheBrontëfamilyOneofAnneandCharlotteislyingWhatCharlotteandEmilysayisthetruthribbitribbitthudthudthudHyeongit'sByeong-cheolKeck-ehehehe-keh-heck-eheheheIfyou'recuriousyoucanlookI'llbewaitingChampion
A jumble of voices echoed one after another.
No matter how tightly I covered my ears, it didn't diminish.
In fact, it was growing louder and more clamorous.
“Shit...”
My ears went from numb to stinging.
Bizarre and gruesome voices filled the hallway. My steps faltered on their own.
It wasn't my will that made me stop.
I wanted to move forward, but my feet simply wouldn't budge.
At the same time, my legs began to tremble violently.
Did I just say that extreme fear wasn't scary because it dulled my sense of reality?
I take that back.
This is fucking terrifying.
‘Fuck...’
A bizarre voice, impossible to discern as male or female, repeatedly pierced my ears.
Fast and hard.
Continuously.
The voice continued without pause, as if on fast-forward. Soon, it became so rapid I couldn't make out the words.
It repeated, and repeated, and repeated. Now, the bizarre sound was closer to tinnitus.
-Screeeeeeeeeech!
It was like a siren blaring during an emergency. It was so ghastly and chilling that my ears ached.
I had to get out of this hallway quickly, if only to escape that horrible sound.
“A classroom, any classroom...”
Steeling my shrinking heart, I frantically looked around.
I searched for the nearest classroom from my current position.
Without running, I approached it as quickly as I could.
Please be open...
I didn't care what was inside the classroom. The thought of escaping this godforsaken situation was all that mattered.
-Screeeeeeeeeech!
The unidentified ringing was still growing louder by the second. There was no time.
I quickly reached for the classroom door.
-Rattle
Thankfully, the door wasn't locked. This was my chance. I scrambled inside.
“Hah, hah...”
Amazingly, the moment I left the hallway, that horrible ringing vanished completely. I gasped for breath, calming my startled heart.
I'd experienced plenty of fear since entering this school, but nothing had been as terrifying as this.
My heartbeat was still erratic. I collapsed to the floor and took a short break.
By the way, where am I?
I'd entered the first classroom I saw, thinking only of getting out of the hallway.
Thanks to that, I didn't even know which room I was in.
Lying on the floor, exhausted, I scanned my surroundings.
An impressive sight of dozens of computers lined up in rows unfolded before me.
I could immediately guess where I was.
“The computer room, huh.”
Still, I was too tired to start searching right away.
My mind and body had reached their limit long ago.
I decided to rest for just ten minutes and lay down for a moment.
The patterns on the computer room ceiling spread out like the Milky Way in the night sky.
“But still, what the hell am I doing here...?”
Just yesterday, I was in my room playing horror RPG Maker games.
And now, somehow, I was having a grand old time rolling around in a school, surviving one near-death experience after another.
The whole situation felt like a dream.
Should I just give up on everything and relax?
An impulse hidden deep in my heart peeked its head out.
No, I can't do that...
I shoved it back down beneath the surface.
Escaping this school isn't something I'm doing alone, is it? There's Dayeon.
We promised in the library that we'd escape together.
Besides, Dayeon has been trapped in this school for ten years.
“A rough calculation tells me she's been trapped here since I started elementary school.”
When I just heard 'ten years,' it didn't feel real, but comparing it to my own ten years, it felt like an eternity. The gap was immense.
There was no comparison with me, who's only been trapped for a few hours.
She might seem indifferent about escaping now, her emotions all dried up, but she probably wants to get out more than I do.
I wanted to grant that long-held wish of hers.
So I couldn't just give up here.
I mustered my courage and pushed myself up.
“Alright, let's give it a shot.”
I've rested enough.
I began to investigate the computer room in earnest.
The computer room was similar to the other classrooms.
The only difference was the presence of computers.
Surely, among them, there had to be at least one working computer.
Does this mean I have to interact with them one by one?
Having to check each computer individually was a real pain.
But as long as there was a sliver of hope, I couldn't just back down.
I started checking them one by one.
[Classroom Computer. It won't turn on even when the power button is pressed.]
[Classroom Computer. It won't turn on even when the power button is pressed.]
[Classroom Computer. It won't turn on even when the power button is pressed.]
[Classroom Computer. It won't turn on even when the power button is pressed.]
As expected, most of them were unresponsive.
But I didn't give up.
I was half-certain that at least one of the computers here would power on.
Because this is a horror RPG Maker game.
By the nature of these games, every action has a cause and effect.
If you obtain a specific item, a situation where you must use it will inevitably arise,
and if you arrive at a specific location, there will always be a puzzle or an item hidden there.
Regardless of the era, all horror RPG Maker games followed a similar format.
So, this time would be no different.
A working computer had to be hidden here somewhere. And my prediction hit the mark exactly.
It was when I checked computer number 42.
A different message from the previous ones appeared.
[Classroom Computer. It will turn on if the power button is pressed.]
“This is it.”
[Turn on the computer?]
[Turn on / Leave it.]
I pressed the power button. The tower whirred to life, and the monitor lit up.
[New Start]
Just as you'd expect from a school computer, it was running XP.
Its performance was so poor that it took a long time just to boot up.
I waited silently for it to load, clicking the mouse out of boredom.
I was eagerly hoping for a useful clue on the computer.
[Enter Password.]
“Ah.”
The computer was password protected.
In a way, it was to be expected.
This was a horror RPG Maker game. Finding a computer without a password would be the harder task.
My frustration was short-lived, as I spotted small text below the password entry field.
[Click here to see the password hint.]
“A hint?”
Hint.
It's a built-in computer function, a hint you write when setting a password in case you forget it.
I moved the mouse and carefully checked the hint. A long text appeared.
[1= Number of blue books in the Secret Archives]
[2= Number of lights in the Teachers' Office]
[3= Number of specimens in the Science Lab]
[4= Number of windows in the classroom]
Along with the numbers, a list of the classrooms I had passed through appeared.
It was obvious what this meant.
Does it want me to go back and check...?
A chill ran down my spine.
To access the computer, I had to return to the places that had been fraught with hardship.
From the Secret Archives where I first cooperated with Dayeon, to the Teachers' Office where I first set foot, and the Science Lab where I'd narrowly escaped death several times.
And even the classroom where I first woke up.
Just thinking about it made my head spin. They were all places filled with nothing but terrible memories.
Though, I doubt there's any place in this damn school with good memories.
“...I just have to go.”
I couldn't find any more clues in the computer room.
Which meant the computer's password was the puzzle here.
Having no other choice, I turned to leave.
The ghost in the hallway was a little scary, but I'd rather die jumping into a pit of fire than just sit here and do nothing.
Try scaring me all you want. You think I'll die so easily?
I strengthened my resolve with the single-minded goal of escape.
I slowly stepped out of the computer room.
“...”
Was it fortunate or unfortunate?
For some reason, the hallway was silent.
It was as deserted as if no one had ever been there.
Come out if you're going to come out.
I had no idea what it was preparing, but I had no intention of being swayed by the ghost.
Whoosh!
Instead, I threw a punch.
The sound of it cutting through the air was clear.
“Shwoop, shwoop. Shwip. Shwoop. You bastards...!”
I threw punches while making sounds with my mouth.
I marched forward with the mindset that I would mercilessly beat down anything, ghost or otherwise.