Warehouse of the Grotesque: End of the First Day Nightmare
I slammed the warehouse door shut with a screech and a click, then stared straight ahead. The inside was nothing like I'd imagined. Instead of dust-covered supplies, old teaching materials, and the musty stench of mold, it was clean and tidy, like a room still in active use. A cozy, familiar warmth filled the air, carrying the scent of gentle sunlight. It felt more like a clubroom than a storage shed. The space itself seemed utterly incapable of being the source of all this chaos.
But that in the center of the room made it clear this was the undeniable epicenter.
“─────.”
It was a grotesque mimicking a student in a school uniform. Unlike the other bizarre humans outside, which at least looked human despite their weird behavior, this one's form was visibly twisted, horrific, and repulsive. Its skin hung loose and wrinkled, like it had been forcibly stuffed into the wrong-sized clothes or crudely draped in human flesh. And where skin didn't cover its eyes and mouth, only pitch-black voids filled the gaps. If those minions it spawned were bizarre humans, then this deserved to be called a true grotesque entity.
“I was really hoping for a cursed object instead of a straight-up monster...”
“──.”
In response to my words, the grotesque entity twisted into a chilling smile, as if someone had jammed fingers into its mouth to force the expression. Instinct told me without a doubt: defeating this thing would finally end this nightmarish first day at the academy.
“Hoo. No choice now. I've come this far—I can't just run away because I'm scared...”
Creak. Grind.
The grotesque jerked unnaturally, like a marionette neglected for years without maintenance.
“Slow movements, huh... At least that's a relief!!”
I pulled a self-defense knife from my pocket and charged at it in a surprise attack. Becoming a teacher was just a means to insert myself into this world's main story. I had zero interest in a teacher's duties. Educator's obligations? A sense of mission? I never planned on having any of that, and I didn't care. To me, Everlight Academy was merely a playground to enjoy this world, and the students were just NPCs. Honestly, ever since arriving, I'd treated the other teachers and students with a playful attitude, acting arrogant and conceited like I was the protagonist of the world.
So when I realized this world wasn't my personal playground, I couldn't accept reality and tried to escape. But I was wrong. The other teachers and students weren't props to hype me up and praise me unconditionally. This world wasn't a stage for my amusement. Elaine wasn't a soulless NPC, and I wasn't the protagonist.
“That's why this is about correcting my mistakes! Don't get in my way!”
As expected, its reaction was sluggish. It tried to respond to my movement too late, but my knife struck first, slicing halfway through its neck in a silver arc.
Got it!
Confirming the thick black liquid gushing from the severed neck, I was certain of victory. I never thought such a crude deception would work on a non-human monster...!
Crunch. Crackle.
...Or so I thought, right before the grotesque twisted its joints in an inscrutable form and spun toward me. Before it could grab hold properly, I swiftly retrieved my knife and put distance between us.
“...This damn academy never lets anything go down easy.”
It glared at me with inhuman contortions, then suddenly lunged. A burning pain seared as its claw grazed my face.
“...It can move fast!?”
As I threw myself back to escape its reach, it twisted its waist 180 degrees—still bent—and charged again.
“Gaaah!!”
Crash!
We tangled in a chaotic heap. At some point, our fight devolved into a brutal brawl. Its movements were utterly unpredictable. I should have anticipated it from seeing a non-human crammed into human skin, but it defied normal human physical limits. It charged with its half-severed head flopping, or lunged with its spine twisted 180 degrees. Dodging such unforeseen attacks wasn't easy.
Luckily, its base speed wasn't impressive. I'd just been caught off guard at first. Plus, while it was unarmed, I had my knife—a huge advantage, even if it wasn't a full longsword. I kept slashing its limbs, and each wound spilled black liquid from the torn skin, gradually slowing it down. The slower it got, the easier it was to stab.
The grotesque had no biological weak points—stabbing or slashing anywhere didn't stop it outright—but limits existed. That's why I let my guard down for a split second, focus slipping.
Grind.
“Die already!!”
As I drove my knife into its back-pinned form, its arm bent outward in an impossible human angle and seized my hand.
“Let go!! You monster!!”
I tried prying off the hand gripping my left arm, but then my right was caught too. It locked its fingers in a vise grip. Planning a contest of strength? As I leaned my weight into my knife hand to stab down—
Creak.
Its arm rotated 720 degrees. Taking my gripped hand with it.
“Gyyyaaahhh!!!”
The excruciating pain of my arm being shredded like rags—unprecedented in my past or present life—made me drop the knife and scream. But with its iron grip unyielding, I couldn't even pull away, collapsing in place.
The situation flipped in an instant. With both arms twisted useless, I couldn't resist or flee. It climbed atop my fallen body. Its half-torn, 180-degree-flipped face loomed over me. In those empty voids, I sensed an unimaginable malice.
Then it poured the thick black liquid oozing from its own neck into my mouth. I shook my head desperately to block it, but it wrenched my arm again.
“Gaaahhh!!!”
The sensation of muscles ripping apart made me scream uncontrollably, and in that moment, the black liquid forced its way past my lips like it had a mind of its own.
Grind. Squish.
I felt it burrowing into me. The horrifying sense of my very being replaced by the grotesque. Had I come this far only to fail? To die so pathetically? I clung to my fraying mind, resisting, but as an ordinary human, I couldn't suppress the invasion. My consciousness began isolating from reality.
My vision darkened gradually—
BOOM!!
“Don't bully Teacher!!”
With a powerful kick shattering the door, Elaine burst into the warehouse. She swung her wooden bat with full force, smashing the grotesque's head clean off.
Whoosh! Crack!
Once wasn't enough.
Whooosh! Splat!
Whoooosh! Splaaat!!
Finally, Elaine's bat pulverized the half-torn head. The instant the neck-head connection severed, it reverted to empty human skin—like nothing had ever been inside—and slumped over me. My fading mind cleared.
But more than the victory, I was stunned by Elaine's arrival.
“...Elaine? How did you...”
“The bizarre humans in the academy suddenly all melted away, so I realized you must've done something and came looking.”
Ah. That explained why no more had burst in despite the time passed since entering. Fresian melting must've taken all the others with him. Outside was probably pandemonium now.
“More importantly, did you recover your memories?”
“No. Actually... I didn't die that day.”
“...What?”
“I talked big about dying, but when it came time, I got scared and hid all day. Then the next day, I was too embarrassed to act normal, so I pretended to have amnesia.”
“Ha. Unbelievable.”
Elaine averted her eyes, cheeks flushing, and all I could do was let out a hollow laugh at her confession. If my body weren't wrecked, I'd have gotten up right then. Regrettable that I couldn't.
“...Thanks for saving me anyway.”
“More importantly, what was that monster I just killed?”
“Probably the cause of all this.”
“...Huh? So, does that mean we've resolved the anomaly now?”
“Probably...”
At that moment, the human skin draped over me melted away, absorbing into my own flesh.
Purified the grotesque and absorbed the resentment.
By absorbing resentment,
Awakening Gift: Observation
A translucent window floated before my eyes.
“T-Teacher! Are you okay!? Teacher!? Teacher!!”
Is this a status window? Elaine screamed in worry, seeing me covered in the melted skin. Her tearful face and the sudden window left me flustered, but one fact dominated my mind.
“I'm fine. So calm down.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah. You asked if the anomaly is completely over? It is. Not 'probably'—definitely.”
Elaine's eyes widened like saucers, gradually filling with joy. Lying on the floor, I smiled back. My body throbbed horribly, but my heart felt freer than ever.