Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: ■■'s Diary
-----------------------------------------------------------------
────────────────────────────────────
────────────────────────────────────
■■'s Diary
-Fzzzt!
The dark classroom brightened in an instant.
After being in the dark for so long, the sudden light was blindingly painful.
I squeezed my eyes shut without thinking.
It took a long time for my vision to adjust to the intense light.
After some time passed, the glare gradually subsided.
Still, my vision hadn't fully returned, so I opened my eyes into a slit.
The classroom's scenery came into faint view. But it was filled with things more bizarre than I could have ever imagined.
“What in the world is this...”
I was speechless at the sight before me, something I'd never even seen in a theme park haunted house.
With a mix of surprise and fear, I surveyed the classroom.
The first thing that caught my eye was the center of the classroom floor.
A circle of dolls surrounded the center of the room.
On top of that, all the dolls had hideously distorted faces.
It was utterly grotesque.
They looked like something you'd use for a folk ritual or ceremony.
As I looked at the haphazardly scattered dolls, I noticed a strange commonality.
Every single doll was facing the center of the classroom. All their heads were turned that way.
And in the middle of it all lay a single book, face down.
[You have acquired ■■'s Diary.]
...It was a diary. But it looked different from the ones I'd found before.
The diary's cover had eyes, a nose, and a mouth, as if it were modeled after a human face.
Moreover, its distorted expression was horribly grotesque.
Its very appearance was different from the old, worn-out diaries I had seen until now.
I placed the flashlight on a desk in the corner for a moment and examined the diary.
“...It won't open.”
The cover was stuck fast, making it impossible to open. It was similar to the Blue Book.
This way, I couldn't check what was written inside. I set aside my disappointment and continued to investigate the classroom.
The classroom was generally spattered with blood.
Except for the spot where the diary lay, it was scattered everywhere.
The blood wasn't even bright red, as if it had been left for a long time.
It was a deep, dark red, almost looking like paint at a glance.
The blood had dried hard on the floor and walls, seemingly left for a long time.
A thick layer of dust and cobwebs had accumulated on top, giving off a sense of age.
Looking at it made my stomach churn. I reluctantly turned my gaze elsewhere.
I took a step back, failing to see a doll on the floor.
*Squish!*
I had stepped on it by mistake.
The crushed doll burst like a water balloon.
A bright red liquid splattered from my foot. Shockingly, it was the doll's blood.
“Shit!”
I hastily backed away to a spot clear of dolls.
The blood soaked the sole of my shoe, leaving red footprints with every step.
I carefully watched the floor, worried I might step on another one. In the process, I found a strangely shaped doll.
[You have acquired a Doll.]
For some reason, I felt like I'd seen it somewhere before. I racked my brain, but the memory was just out of reach.
It was too unsettling to dismiss as just a feeling. Puzzled, I pulled up the doll's detailed description.
[Doll]
【A doll with a distorted expression. The word 'Sacrifice' is written on its back.】
Sacrifice, huh.
A thought suddenly flashed through my mind. I remembered where I'd seen this doll.
It was when I first found the 'Sacrifice's Diary.' In the cold storage room, to be exact.
'The corpse in the glass case was clutching the diary.'
I finally remembered everything. This doll looked exactly like the corpse that had woken up then.
It wasn't a simple coincidence. The doll was a near-perfect match for that corpse.
As if they were the same person.
-Fwoosh!
[Do you want to step on the doll?]
An interaction message popped up out of nowhere. Not only was its appearance sudden, but its content was also completely random.
Why would I step on a doll?
Before was a clear mistake. There was no reason to deliberately step on a doll and make it burst.
Besides, there were still many hidden things in this classroom. Making a rash move before investigating everything was out of the question.
I was about to select the cancel option to dismiss the interaction.
[Step on it. / Step on it.]
...Huh?
Am I reading this message correctly?
I doubted my own eyes. But the message floating in the air was perfectly fine, without any errors.
The system offered two choices for how to deal with this doll.
To step on it.
And to step on it.
There were no other options.
I had to choose one of the two.
But it didn't make any sense.
They both mean the same thing.
At this rate, it didn't matter which one I chose.
Having encountered this doll, I had no choice but to step on it. Since the options were the same anyway—
-Squish!
“...Huh?”
Suddenly, I heard the sound of a water balloon bursting from under my foot. It was the doll.
I was stepping on the doll at some point.
I couldn't remember when it started.
By the time I came to my senses, the doll had already become a lump of meat. It was crushed under my foot, its form completely gone.
A part of the doll oozed out from under my foot, wet and sticky. It looked for all the world like the remains of a living creature.
-Click.
Then, a sound of something opening came from somewhere. It was from the diary I had just acquired.
I couldn't believe it, but the diary was unlocked. It seemed stepping on the doll had released it.
“Should I open it?”
Still, just in case, I brought up the detailed description before opening the diary.
[■■'s Diary]
【The diary of someone unknown. Opening it recklessly without the owner's consent seems like it would lead to a bad end.】
I didn't see anything particularly noteworthy.
But I couldn't even begin to imagine what might be written inside.
I felt like reading this would be crossing a point of no return.
After preparing myself several times, I held my breath and opened the diary.
[■■'s Diary]
【Today was a good day.
A friend came to visit.
My friend had a lot of fun at my house. They wandered around everywhere, as if on a trip.
It was wonderful to see them jump for joy when I gave them toys now and then.
When my friend was happy, I was happy too.
So I gave them lots of toys.
But my friend was rough with the toys. So a few of them broke.
But I'm okay!
Because I have plenty of toys.
For my one and only precious friend, I can give as many as they want.
Besides, today is the last day.
I might as well make my friend happy.
The friend who came to play today was smart.
They solved all the problems I gave them without any trouble.
It was amazing.
To think they'd make it this far.
At first, I was worried they weren't qualified, but I was wrong.
This was good enough to trust.
They passed the test.
So I decided to use them for something good.
My friend will surely like it too.
Right?
I'm talking about you.
Lee Hyeon.】
That's how the diary ended. For some reason, my name was written in it.
The content wasn't in the form of a typical diary entry either; it was as if it were speaking directly to me.
It felt like someone had been watching me, wrote this diary on the spot, and then delivered it.
Had it been watching me all this time...
The fake had been there from the very beginning.
While Dayeon and I were exploring the school, the fake had been secretly following us.
A chilling sensation wrapped around my entire body. I couldn't stay here any longer. I had to run, now.
Just as I closed the diary and tried to leave the classroom,
-Fzzt, fzzt!
Suddenly, the classroom lights flickered. It was the same omen as with the flashlight earlier.
Sure enough, the classroom went dark. A pitch-black darkness descended, so thick I couldn't see an inch in front of me. It was so sudden, as if someone had willed it.
I tried to take out my flashlight, but it wasn't in my item window. I'd completely forgotten that I'd placed it on the desk when the lights were on.
“Damn it...!”
I waved my hands around, wandering through the dark classroom. It was like walking around with a blindfold on; I couldn't see a thing.
I tried to recall the desk's location from my faint memory. I approached carefully, trying not to trip and fall.
It should be around here.
I reached the corner of the classroom. If my memory served me right, the desk was nearby.
I stretched my arms back and forth, left and right, in the area where the desk should be. Then, I touched something.
'Found it!'
I reached my hand toward it. But strangely, it wasn't a desk.
It wasn't the flashlight, either. It was something I didn't recognize.
Was there something else in this classroom?
Wondering what it was, I felt it. There was a sort of soft texture.
Soft?
My mind fell deeper into confusion.
Before the lights went out, there was nothing like this in the classroom.
Having no clue what this could be, I fumbled around with both hands.
The sensations were varied.
I could feel the rustling material of cloth, and a distinctly soft, smooth texture.
Reaching my hand lower, I grabbed something like a long stick. I thought it might be an item and pulled, but it didn't budge.
I fumbled my way to the end of the stick, thinking I'd grab the handle and pull it out.
“Ugh!”
A sharp pain shot through my finger. I'd been cut by something sharp.
There was some kind of blade attached to the end of the stick. I checked it carefully to avoid getting cut again.
A large metal blade was attached to the end of the stick. It looked like an axe.
'An axe?'
A horrifying sensation ran through my entire body.
There was definitely no axe in this classroom.
Then why is there an axe here?
Suddenly, I remembered the soft, smooth texture from before. That feeling was like...
...like human skin.
-Fzzt, fzzzt!
Once again, the lights began to sizzle.
They flickered several times before a bright light burst forth.
The classroom brightened back to normal, and the object in front of me came into clear view. Its identity was,
“Heeey, so here you are.”
Dayeon.
Holding an axe.
“I've been looking all over for you.”
Her indifferent voice echoed in my ears.
It was chilling enough to send shivers down my spine.
“Why are you here...”
I froze on the spot. I wanted to move, but my body wouldn't obey.
Dayeon's body was caked in blood, giving her a reddish hue.
Her school uniform was torn to shreds, its original shape barely recognizable.
Dayeon was a complete mess.
But I couldn't be fooled.
The Dayeon I knew was currently trapped in the music room.
But the girl before me was covered in blood. This had to be the fake from back then, the one who had hacked up the security guard near the basement entrance.
“The fact that you came here... means you've finally seen it.”
Dayeon muttered with a blank expression. Then she raised the axe in her right hand.
I instinctively knew what was about to happen, but my body wouldn't move.
“Haah, haah...”
The cold, sharp blade of the axe pressed against my neck.
My skin was lightly cut, and blood trickled out. But I felt no pain.
My mind had gone so blank that pain was the last thing on it.
My gaze was fixed on her pupils. Her eyes were completely devoid of life.
With dead eyes, Dayeon whispered softly.
“Please, just die.”