Chapter 32
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Axe
-----------------------------------------------------------------
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
Axe
[Basement Stairway Key]
【A very old and rusty key. Used to unlock the basement stairway.】
“Found it…”
The reason I went through hell roaming all over this school, and the most likely means of escape.
The Basement Stairway Key had finally appeared.
I wondered if it might be a fake, but the system doesn't lie.
According to the description, this key was definitely for opening the basement stairway.
I could finally get into the basement.
How long had I waited for this moment? I handled the key with care, making sure not to lose it.
“You look happy. Did you find an item?”
“Nothing major, just the Basement Stairway Key. It means we're not far from escaping.”
“Oh, congratulations.”
Dayeon said calmly from the other side of the door.
Because the Music Room Key hadn't appeared, Dayeon was still trapped.
I searched every classroom, but the Music Room Key was nowhere to be found. It seemed the key was in the basement.
In other words, I had to enter the basement alone.
The number of items I needed to find had increased by one, in addition to the bolt cutters.
“I'm heading out, then.”
“Be safe. Don't get hurt.”
With Dayeon's farewell, I headed for the basement stairway.
For some reason, nothing happened on my way down to the first floor.
The security guard who had been tormenting me was nowhere to be seen, and all other ghosts or obstacles had vanished completely.
For some reason, it felt like things were going too smoothly.
I felt a sense of unease.
But this wasn't a question I could answer just by racking my brain.
In the end, I pushed the distracting thoughts away.
I reached the main entrance in no time.
I went straight to the basement stairway. A shutter, radiating a cool aura, greeted me.
A huge, menacing metal plate blocked my path.
Facing the shutter, I remembered the moment I first decided to escape this school.
Only a few hours had probably passed, but it felt like a month.
Back then, I'd had no idea if I could even escape this school, but after experiencing countless deaths, it had become somewhat bearable.
“Am I slowly going crazy too…?”
The thought that I had to escape quickly, before I ended up like Dayeon, washed over me.
I immediately approached the basement stairway shutter. A padlock was fastened to the bottom corner.
That padlock had to be where the Basement Stairway Key was used. As I placed my hand on it, an interaction message popped up.
[Use the Basement Stairway Key?]
[Use / Do not use]
My answer, of course, was 'Use'. I tapped the message in the air.
-Click.
The padlock opened with a click. I undid the lock and lifted the shutter's latch.
“Is this it…?”
I gripped the handle at the bottom of the shutter firmly. And then, I heaved it upward with all my might.
-Creeaak!
The shutter, which seemed like it would stay firmly shut for an eternity, slowly began to rise.
Maybe because it was a solid slab of steel, but the weight was no joke.
For the weak arms of a teenager who'd never worked out, it was just too much.
I summoned every last ounce of strength to painstakingly lift the shutter.
-Creeaak!
Finally, the shutter was all the way up. Only then did the basement stairway reveal itself.
The basement radiated a gloomy aura right from the entrance.
A crushing pressure, as if it had devoured several people, weighed down on my shoulders.
It gave off an obviously ominous vibe.
I'd gone through hell to get the key, yet I hesitated to enter.
“Hoo.”
I took a short, deep breath.
I didn't know why, but I had a feeling something tremendous was lurking there.
It was beyond comparison to anything I had experienced in this school so far.
It felt like something dozens, no, hundreds of times more horrifying was waiting for me.
It wouldn't have been strange to get scared and run away. An indescribable energy oozed out persistently.
“Get a grip.”
I slapped my own cheek, forcing myself to focus. What's the worst that could happen? I'd just die again.
Escaping the school was finally within reach. It was time to put an end to this damn adventure.
After mentally preparing myself, I slowly took a step forward.
One step, two steps.
I stepped forward, entering the basement. At that moment,
-Creeeeeeak! Thud!
The shutter, which had been wide open without any lock, slammed down in an instant. It was as if it was shutting its mouth tight to trap me in the basement.
“It's locked…”
As expected, the shutter didn't budge.
Just like that, my escape route for any unavoidable situation was completely cut off.
All I could do now was move forward.
I continued down into the basement.
Fortunately, no one was hiding on the stairs, nor were there any special traps.
Thanks to that, I reached the basement hallway safely, but the real problem started now. The scene in the hallway was utterly gruesome.
The fluorescent lights on the ceiling were covered in cobwebs and gave off a weak glow.
It was so dim that it was hard to see an inch in front of me even with my eyes wide open.
On top of that, the floor had somehow changed to wooden planks.
With every step, an unpleasant creaking sound echoed.
It was so old and worn that I was afraid it would splinter and break with a crack.
I walked carefully, trying not to break the wooden planks, and surveyed the basement hallway.
It looked like it had been abandoned for a long time, with dust piled up everywhere.
The ceiling was embroidered with cobwebs, making me frown instinctively.
In a situation like this, hoping for an item was like wishing for rain in a drought.
Moreover, the dust floating in the air made it difficult to even breathe.
“The first thing I'm doing when I escape this school is going to the hospital.”
I conserved my breath as much as possible and moved forward little by little. It was then, as I walked down the desolate, dusty hallway.
I found a box hanging squarely on the wall.
It looked like the lost-and-found box that had been in front of the teachers' office.
But it wasn't an insignificant box like the lost-and-found. A sticker attached near the lid read as follows:
[Fire Axe Case]
[Use in case of emergency. Use for any other purpose is prohibited.]
“An axe?”
I immediately opened the case to check inside. But unfortunately, it was empty.
The word 'axe' had gotten my hopes up that I could use it as a weapon, but I came up empty-handed and retreated dejectedly.
I was walking along when I suddenly stopped. Not far from the case, I found a classroom.
‘Found it.’
I held my breath without realizing it. On tiptoe, I carefully surveyed the area around the classroom.
Ironically, the classroom had no sign or anything of the sort.
I peeked inside through the hallway window, but it was too dark to see anything.
It's completely blacked out.
What on earth are they hiding in there to cover it up so thoroughly?
If there was at least a description of what kind of classroom it was, but all there was was a single, solitary door.
I won't die just by going in, right?
Swallowing dryly, I entered the classroom.
Creeak.
The moment I stepped into the classroom, my face automatically scrunched up.
“Ugh…”
It was because of the pungent stench that filled the room. Having smelled it repeatedly since coming to this school, I instantly knew what it was.
…It was the smell of blood.
And it wasn't a faint, lingering scent.
It was so overpowering it could have filled the entire classroom and then some.
I forced myself to pinch my nose and surveyed the room.
An unexpected scene unfolded before my eyes.
The classroom was an absolute wreck.
The desks were overturned and broken, no better than large pieces of trash.
The chairs were also smashed or broken, scattered all over the room.
Furthermore, the walls, the floor, the ceiling—everything was covered in dark red stains. No matter how I looked at it, this color wasn't paint.
“It's blood.”
This was undoubtedly human blood. The walls had been stained dark red as the blood dried on them.
So this is where the smell of blood was coming from. I held my breath against the sickening stench that made my head spin.
I didn't want to stay in such a horrible place for even a second longer. I began my search, planning to find a clue and get out quickly.
Then, a sense of incongruity struck me.
This classroom felt distinctly different from the ones I had visited before.
How should I put it… the chalkboard, the desks…
Everything looked like old items that would have been used in the 90s. And this suspicion soon turned into certainty.
[19XX Calendar]
A calendar hanging on the classroom wall indicated the 1990s.
It felt too unnatural to think they simply hung up an old calendar.
I was staring blankly at the calendar when something glittered in a gap behind it. I immediately reached out to see what it was.
[You have acquired Sacrifice's Diary #7.]
A diary.
Isn't the time period roughly the same as this classroom's?
I flipped to the first page and checked the year the diary was written. Just as I thought, the year matched the calendar in the classroom.
This was no coincidence.
This diary and this classroom were definitely connected somehow.
I opened the diary and read its contents.
[Sacrifice's Diary #7]
【Gyeong-gyun came back alive and well.
I couldn't believe Gyeong-gyun was alive. But the other kids didn't seem to care at all.
Anyway, even after that, I racked my brain for an escape route, but there wasn't a glimmer of hope.
Time passed meaninglessly, and about an hour had gone by since we were trapped.
The kids were trembling in fear, waiting for dawn.
But Gyeong-gyun was different.
Even as everyone was falling into despair one by one, he rallied them with positive words.
Thanks to him, even I managed to hold on to some of my will.
The other kids had long since been swayed by Gyeong-gyun's leadership.
Before we knew it, we were completely trusting and following Gyeong-gyun's words.
We took in his every word and action, engraving them in our minds and bodies.
He was like a king.
At some point, Gyeong-gyun began to reign over us like a king.
But no one took issue with this. Everyone revered and obeyed him.
I was the only one who belatedly noticed something was wrong and took a step back.
But the other kids were still the same.
Especially the ones who had fainted and sobbed at the beginning; they worshipped him as if he were a god.
Their eyes and gestures suggested they would do anything he commanded.
Even Seo-yeong was completely mesmerized and captivated.
It was like watching not a person, but a piece of livestock.
What on earth had made the kids change so much?
They all had the eyes of fanatics offering blind loyalty.
It was baffling and a little scary.
The other kids might have seen Gyeong-gyun as a god, but I saw him differently.
The way I saw him, he was…
…a ■■.】
For some reason, the last part was smeared with blood, so I couldn't tell what it said.
Is the hidden word the hint?
I was closing the diary in confusion.
Thump, thump, thump!
Suddenly, I heard footsteps in the hallway.
‘The security guard?’
I quickly hid so I wouldn't be seen. Luckily, since I was in a classroom, there was no fear of being discovered.
‘So the guard comes down to the basement, too…’
I cautiously peeked my head out the side window. I saw the security guard in his blue uniform. But something was wrong with him.
The guard was completely stretched out on the floor far down the hallway. I was tilting my head, wondering what was going on.
Thwack.
Thwack.
Thwack.
I heard a striking sound.
…It was coming from the security guard.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
The guard's entire body was covered in wounds.
And on top of that, someone was straddling him, repeatedly slamming an axe down.
Thwack.
Without rest.
Thwack.
Again.
The sound of an axe striking the guard's body continued.
I clutched my pounding chest and checked the identity of the person on top of the guard.
‘…Jin Dayeon?’
…It was Dayeon.
Someone who looked like Dayeon was striking the guard with an axe.