Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Those Left Behind, Those to Be Left Behind (3)
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I began to walk slowly.
The athletic field, where Kim Ji-hyeon had just been rampaging, was now utterly silent.
If I closed my eyes, I could almost feel a Death Bite lunging to tear at my throat, yet there wasn't a single beast in sight.
“What a mess.”
The door was split into several pieces, as if sliced by something sharp.
Seeing it only strengthened my conviction.
A Death Bite couldn't have destroyed a door like that.
More importantly, it would have been darting around like a dog, hunting for its prey.
What was here had to be a ‘Ghost Shadow’.
‘The question is… where are the missing kids hiding?’
As I entered the school and walked down the hallway, an icy sensation trickled down the back of my neck.
I turned my head in the direction of the killing intent and saw something.
In the corridor that should have been empty, a black figure that seemed to absorb even the surrounding light stood perfectly still, watching me.
I couldn't bring myself to speak.
Anyone who witnessed such a bizarre sight would have the same reaction.
A shadow was standing there.
There was no more fitting description for it.
“Kki… kki-gik… kki-eeek…”
A terrible cry, like the grinding of misaligned gears.
A strange sense of dissonance that made the hair on my body stand on end, evoking a primal fear.
I thought I knew it well, having seen it so many times in the game.
But seeing it with my own two eyes sent an involuntary shiver through my body at its sheer grotesqueness.
I had twisted one of the barrier's cores to force my way in.
There was no way the one who cast the barrier hadn't noticed the distortion.
“Here to eliminate the intruder?”
There was no reply.
Instead, the shadow's arms sharpened into blades.
“Kki-eeeeek.”
At that moment, it began to move.
[Activating the skill, ‘Extreme Eye’.]
[Discerning the opponent's identity.]
I dodged its linear attack and observed it.
The first thing I needed to figure out was whether it was real or fake.
Extreme Eye also had the power to see through to a target's true nature.
Since my Extreme Eye was S-rank, a D-rank monster couldn't hide its identity from me.
[Discernment successful.]
[FAKE]
A fake.
The moment it was confirmed, I switched from defense to offense.
Timing my move with its attack, I slipped inside its guard and slashed its waist. Its movements stopped, and it dissolved before vanishing.
‘The illusionary clone is only E-rank.’
It looked intimidating on the outside, but it had no substance.
I could handle the clones without a problem, but the main body was a different story.
It must have sensed its clone's destruction, which would have increased its hostility toward me.
I had to take care of it before it made a move.
With Extreme Eye still active, I could see every concentration of mana.
Since all living creatures possess mana, Extreme Eye could pinpoint their locations.
‘Up top… four of them.’
Wondering where the other students were, I scanned further and found three more in the basement.
I’d heard over twenty students had disappeared. Had the Ghost Shadow gotten all but these seven?
I hoped the twins were among the survivors.
Most importantly, the Ghost Shadow was on the second floor.
Its path of movement suggested it was trying to come down to the first floor via the central staircase.
‘Is it coming to get me?’
I glanced toward the central area, then went up the left staircase.
As long as I could track its position with Extreme Eye, it would never be able to catch me.
It, on the other hand, could only assume I was somewhere near where the clone was defeated.
In the end, it wandered around the second floor again, unable to even catch a glimpse of my back as I made my way to the fourth floor.
“Here it is.”
*Creeak.*
I opened the door labeled ‘Small Auditorium’ and stepped inside.
The power was out, so the interior was pitch black.
A place with no light and plenty of cover thanks to the many chairs.
At first glance, it would be hard to find anyone hiding, but to my eyes, everything was visible.
“I’m reinforcements from outside the barrier. I’m not an enemy, so please, feel safe and show yourselves.”
I raised both hands above my head and spoke in a gentle tone. From one side, someone’s eyes peeked out over a chair.
“I-It doesn’t seem like a monster.”
“That monster can’t speak.”
I made it clear I had no hostile intent.
Only then did the students, their guards lowered, cautiously reveal themselves.
Two male students and two female students.
Checking their information with Extreme Eye, I confirmed that all of them had awakened as players.
‘There they are.’
And among them were the twins I had been searching for, Jo Min-woo and Jo Min-ah.
They were nothing special now, before they’d grown stronger, but the twins’ true value would emerge later.
They needed to be nurtured slowly.
As I gazed at them, Jo Min-ah, perhaps thinking our eyes had met, spoke up cautiously.
“Um, on your way here, did you happen to run into… that shadow-like monster?”
“I did.”
“H-How are you still alive?”
“I’m strong enough to take down its clone.”
“A clone…?”
They didn’t seem to know the Ghost Shadow’s true nature, exchanging glances with one another.
It didn't matter if they knew or not. I had no intention of letting these kids get involved in the fight anyway.
I would take down the Ghost Shadow myself. That way, I could monopolize the rewards.
“First, let me ask. Do you have any clues on how to get out of here?”
“We do… have something.”
“You do?”
That was an answer I hadn't expected.
A Ghost Shadow appearing at a school was an unprecedented event.
I had naturally planned on hunting it, but I was also trying to figure out a way to guarantee the children’s safety.
“What is it?”
“…We need to find a mana crystal.”
[A sub-quest has been generated.]
[Sub-Quest – To Be Left Behind, or to Leave?]
Even if you fall into an abyss, there is a way out.
If you can overcome your fear, you will surely be able to leave.
※Failure will result in being unable to escape.
I narrowed my eyes at the quest window that had suddenly appeared.
I’d never seen this quest before.
Then again, the very presence of a Ghost Shadow in a school was something that shouldn't have happened, so in a way, it was to be expected.
I took a moment to observe the other two students besides the twins.
I didn't recognize them.
Faces I had never seen before, despite having witnessed the group of survivors hundreds of times.
The faces of Jeong Ha-yeon, Lee Seong-chan, and the other survivors flashed through my mind.
They, too, were people who hadn't existed in the original game but lived near me in reality.
I hadn't entered a game.
The game and reality had synchronized.
I wasn’t the only one caught up in this inexplicable phenomenon.
I was reminded of that fact once again.
“It’s impressive you figured out you needed to find that.”
“The moment we were dragged here, some strange message popped up telling us to find it. Anyway, we’ve been collecting clues while avoiding that monster, and we learned that if we find this ‘crystal,’ we can leave the barrier. It feels like we’re the main characters in a horror game.”
It would be a relief if this were just a horror game.
Then it would all be over once they escaped the school.
‘They’re surprisingly calm.’
After a moment of thought, I understood.
Of the twenty-some people first dragged here, only seven survived.
If they hadn't adapted, they would have been among the dead.
“But you haven’t found it yet?”
“We haven’t been able to figure out where it is.”
Jo Min-woo let out a long sigh.
They didn't know where it was.
The crystal needed to escape a Ghost Shadow's barrier was often in a place that was "darkest under the lamp."
Given the circumstances, it was highly likely they hadn't found it because they weren't calm enough.
[Activating the skill, ‘Extreme Eye’.]
My gaze swept up and down.
Just as when I had located the students and the monster, the position of what I presumed to be the crystal Jo Min-woo mentioned came into view.
One large one and one small one.
The larger of the two was right here.
I walked over and opened the cover where electrical wires ran into the floor.
A fist-sized, diamond-like crystal was revealed.
[Someone has discovered the Large Mana Crystal.]
[Remaining Crystals: 1]
“I-It was in a place like that…?”
“It wasn’t there when we looked.”
The students’ jaws dropped in amazement as I found it instantly.
“How did you know right away?”
“I don’t know. A hunch?”
“What kind of answer is that? Would it kill you to tell us?”
“Keep whining and you won’t get this.”
When I pretended to put the crystal in my pocket, Jo Min-ah flinched and waved her hands frantically.
I let out a small laugh.
I was going to give it to them anyway.
The twins had to be saved first and foremost.
The other two with the twins should also be saved if possible. It would be easier to earn the twins’ favor that way.
[Large Mana Crystal]
A crystal for escaping a Ghost Shadow's barrier.
Due to its large size, it contains a significant amount of mana, allowing up to four people to escape.
However, the moment I read the crystal’s description, my thoughts turned to the students in the other location.
“It looks like only four people can leave with this crystal.”
“What? Four people?”
“Th-Then…”
The once-bright atmosphere plunged back into gloom.
They exchanged glances, and it was obvious what they were thinking.
Four people could escape with the crystal. But there were five of us in this room.
If they assumed that I, the one who was strong and had found the crystal, would be one of the four to escape, then one of them would be left behind.
“B-But there’s still one more crystal!”
“That’s right! We just have to find that one, too. It’s better to do something than to just stand around looking depressed.”
It was the twins who broke the mood.
As they said, this wasn't the only crystal.
If we found the other one, everyone could escape without issue.
However.
“I think there was another group besides you guys. What about them?”
The large crystal's effect was limited to four people.
If I used it to let the twins and the other two escape, that would leave me and the group of three.
But the remaining crystal was smaller than this one.
In other words.
There was no way for all four of the remaining people to escape.
“We don’t need to worry about them.”
A low, sunken voice came from the other male student.
The emotion coloring it was closer to anger and hatred than sadness.
What was surprising was that no one else refuted his words.
Silence was their consent.
At first, I thought they might be running a pincer-style operation, but that didn't seem to be the case.
“Something happened, didn’t it.”
“…”
The male student, Go Yeong-jun, bit his lip.
His fists were clenched so tightly his skin had turned white.
“At first, there were exactly twenty-one of us dragged here, including one teacher. The one thing we all had in common was that we could all see a game-like status window.”
With Go Yeong-jun unable to speak, Jo Min-woo began to explain.
‘So it specifically targeted those who had awakened as players.’
Monsters could grow stronger by consuming players rather than ordinary people.
In a way, it was only natural.
“We were attacked by the monster as soon as we were dragged here, without knowing what was going on. Three people died in the process, and the rest of us ran away as the teacher instructed. We tried to get outside right away, but after realizing we couldn't because of the barrier, we went upstairs. It was only after we caught our breath that we figured out what we needed to do.”
“Quite a few of you came in.”
“The problem was the conflict that arose among us. Of the sixteen surviving students, three of them were guys who were already famous for being troublemakers.”
“…The fact that guys like that gained power was infuriating enough, but they even got good combat abilities. Even though the teacher was there, they ended up becoming the de facto kings.”
I listened silently, revising my plan in my head.
The tone of Jo Min-woo and Go Yeong-jun grew more heated as they spoke.
“Whenever they thought they were in danger, they’d use other students as shields without hesitation. Or as sacrifices. One by one, we were picked off until it came to this. The teacher… died trying to protect us. Since then, we’ve been acting separately from those three.”
“Because of them, the teacher and the others are…!”
Go Yeong-jun slammed his fist on the floor.
Still unable to vent his anger, he bit his lip again.
About twenty students had disappeared.
But why were there less than ten left?
The mystery was solved.
“So that’s how it is.”
I glanced toward the entrance I had come through.
Someone was secretly eavesdropping on this conversation.
It was probably the three from the basement.
They must have felt endangered when the Ghost Shadow went to the first floor and came upstairs.
‘What should we do? Looks like an outsider is trying to help them.’
‘From what I heard, they got the crystal… can we take it?’
‘We don’t have to take it ourselves. Let’s do what we talked about earlier. We’ll make a loud noise over here to draw that monster, and when the monster kills them all, we’ll take the crystal and leave.’
‘But won’t the monster just come after us then…?’
‘You idiot. You saw how its movements get sluggish when it's full. We’ll have more than enough time to get away.’
Focusing all my senses on my ears, I could hear their quiet whispering.
I see. So they were the type to sacrifice others for their own gain without a second thought.
Just as I’d heard.
‘If they’re going to play it that way, I’d be more than happy to oblige.’