Escape from the Murder Hotel
This damn ghost story—did it have some kind of disease that kept it from being resolved smoothly?
It was an emergency.
No matter how many gifts existed in the world, who could have imagined there'd be one that "strengthened ghost stories"?
"What did I say! Didn't I tell you this mansion was a real hotel where a murderer lived?!"
"No way that's actually true…."
"But the murder traps really activated, didn't they!"
"Th-that's…."
The two of them had finally caught on to the existence of the ghost story. Up until now, they'd brushed it off as misunderstandings or accidents, like breaking a vase by mistake. But after being directly attacked like this, there was no glossing over it.
"Teacher. What's going on here? From what I've heard, it seems related to Miss Rozaria."
"Th-this isn't part of the plan…."
Elaine and Rone were just as confused by the situation.
"It's an unexpected development. Rozaria's gift is strengthening the ghost story."
"…A gift that strengthens ghost stories?"
"Yeah. Truth is, Rozaria seems to have a gift she doesn't even know about—one that emits resentment several times more concentrated than anyone else's. That high-density resentment is reacting and amplifying the Murder Mansion ghost story."
"…I never imagined a gift like that existed. So what do we do? We've already deviated way too far from the plan. Should we regress?"
"If we have to regress, leave it to me."
The two of them were already operating under the assumption of regression. I felt the same way. There were too many variables. The situation was spiraling out of control.
"But regressing now would send us back to day two at the academy…. Still, better than dying, so no choice. Everyone! This isn't the time for a guts test, so let's give up and head back…."
Just as we were forced to admit failure in this loop and prepare to retreat—
"We're in big trouble now! We're butterflies trapped in a spider's web! This murder hotel won't let go of prey that walked in on its own two feet!"
"W-wait a sec…."
Clank!
The moment Rozaria's cry ended, the sound of something activating echoed through the air. Turning to trace the source, I caught sight of the mansion's ceiling collapsing, erasing the path behind us. Iron bars then sprouted from the window frames. In an instant, we were trapped inside the murder hotel.
"See! My deduction was right! We can never escape this mansion now!"
"No way!!"
"…For real."
I never thought the power to strengthen ghost stories would be this overwhelming. For the first time since gaining regression, the word "total annihilation" loomed before my eyes.
If I'd known it'd come to this, I should've pulled one person aside as the regression handler from the start. There's that old saying: don't put all your eggs in one basket. Who knew I'd learn it the hard way now?
For the next ghost story raid, it might be best to leave at least one student behind as the regressor.
If we survive this, that is.
"…No helping it. Let's keep pushing forward for now."
"What!? You're serious? In a place this dangerous…? We'd be better off staying put and waiting for rescue!"
Aurora shouted. But I had a feeling no one would come this far to save us, no matter how much time passed. And before they could, the longer we waited, the stronger the ghost story would grow. Standing still and hoping for time to pass was the worst of the worst strategies.
"No. There's no guarantee we'll be safe just by standing still. If I were the murderer, I'd obviously prepare traps specifically for victims who freeze up like that. And I'm sure there's a hidden device somewhere in this hotel to lift the lockdown."
"…."
"I understand Aurora's fear. But cowering in terror like this is exactly what the killer who built this hotel would want most. Don't worry. As your teacher, I'll take responsibility and keep you all safe."
"I-if you put it that way…."
"Understood. I believe in you, Teacher Allen. You'll definitely protect us."
With retreat impossible, we had no choice but to press on toward clearing the ghost story.
….
We'd made it about halfway down the second-floor corridor when—
"Ah! Look at that! Something suspicious up there!"
She pointed at a mysterious pipe on the ceiling. I'd investigated this in advance too. Following the cliché, poisonous gas would probably spew from it.
I whipped around and instructed the students.
"It might release toxic gas through the pipe gaps. Everyone, hold your breath and be careful not to inhale…."
"Toxic gas? From the shower head?"
"What…!?"
Glancing back in shock, I saw shower heads attached to the pipe ends—something that hadn't been there before. Like sprinklers….
Cough… whooooosh.
Liquid flowed through the pipes. My head buzzed, cold sweat breaking out.
"Run!! Get out of here, now!!"
I ordered the students—who'd been holding their breath as instructed—to bolt, and I sprinted after them. Just as we raced past, the sprinklers burst open perilously close behind. The smell was like vinegar compressed a hundredfold—intense and biting. Hydrochloric acid sprayed from the sprinklers!
Sizzle!
We barely escaped the sprinklers' range. The corridor we'd just crossed was melting and corroding in patches from the strong acid.
"Damn it, that was definitely a poison gas vent…."
The ghost story was strengthening in real time.
"Unbelievable. Miss Rozaria was right—this really is a murder hotel…."
"Phew. At least no one's hurt. I noticed something off about the pipe right away and spotted the sprinkler! If I'd been even a second later, it would've been disastrous."
Did Rozaria realize? She hadn't discovered the sprinkler—she'd created it.
I knew she meant no harm, but it was still overwhelming.
"Teacher Allen. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Nah, I'm fine. No time for that—we gotta keep moving."
But we couldn't afford to stop. Hydrochloric acid vapor was already filling the corridor with toxic fumes. No turning back now. With no time to calm our racing hearts from the acid shower, we pushed onward. Symbols for the guts test? Who cared anymore.
….
Next came the final stretch of the second-floor corridor before the stairs to the third and last floor. If my memory served, the trap ahead was iron bars rising from the floor. The countermeasure: iron plates welded over the rising holes.
But when we reached it, I couldn't hold back a hollow laugh.
"Ha, haha. This is ridiculous."
Before my eyes, holes packed the corridor wall-to-wall, no longer even bothering to hide. Each one a deadly trap ready to skewer us with rising bars. My single welded plate in the corner? Irrelevant. The entire corridor was the trap.
The others noticed too and stared dumbfounded at the trap-filled hallway.
Acid gas behind. Barbecue skewers ahead. No way out? Surely we wouldn't meet such a stupid total wipeout ending….
"This can't be. We've come this far, and it's picking only the worst traps I could imagine? It's like it's manifesting exactly what I'm afraid of!"
I agreed completely. A gift that amplified ghost stories into one's worst nightmares? Never even crossed my mind.
Was there some way? A way to overcome this….
"Wait, take a look at this for a sec. I think I found something."
That's when Elaine called us over, having spotted something.
"Hold on, Elaine. If you've found something, don't tell those two yet—we should check it ourselves first…."
"Shh."
"…?"
Instead of heeding my warning, Elaine pressed a finger to her lips, signaling silence. What was she planning?
Aurora and Rozaria gathered around her in the meantime.
"Did you find a way through the trap?"
She pointed at a lamp bracket on the corridor wall.
"No, not a solution. I think I found another trap. Look closely at this lamp bracket."
"…This is a trap? Doesn't look any different."
"I don't see anything either."
"Me neither…."
Ah. It clicked. Clever. That might just get us through.
Rozaria's gift didn't strengthen ghost stories randomly. It fed on her resentment, influenced by her ominous imagination. So….
"No, it's definitely a trap switch. It's disguised as a lamp bracket at first glance, but look closer—you can tell it's a switch for some trap mechanism. Right, Rone?"
"Y-yeah? I-it does kinda look like that…."
I played along with Elaine's intent, giving Rone a subtle cue. Thankfully, she caught on despite her fluster.
"Huh? No matter how I look…."
"Ahh!! It's true! Now that I look closely, it's not just a lamp bracket—it's a handle for something!!"
"…Huh? For real. It was totally normal decoration a second ago."
Rozaria, scrutinizing the bracket at our prompting, suddenly widened her eyes and shouted. There, a trap switch shaped like a lamp bracket had appeared.
Aurora stared in disbelief, as if watching a plain decoration morph into a deadly switch before her eyes.
And she was right—it had been a plain decoration moments ago. It only changed the instant Rozaria "believed" my words and saw it as a switch.
"So where does this switch connect?"
"Right there."
I pointed above the barred floor section: the ceiling.
"Pushing this makes the ceiling drop."
"What? The ceiling?"
The three eyed me skeptically. Except one.
"Ah! Yeah, that makes sense!"
Rozaria "purely" believed me. And that "belief" manifested into reality.
Just as I'd predicted.
Rozaria's gift strengthened ghost stories, deadly in its effects—but flipped around, it let us edit the ghost story to our whims.
Good call.
I gave Elaine a covert thumbs-up, out of Aurora and Rozaria's sight. She'd induced Rozaria's thinking to "create" yet another trap—one that would dismantle the mansion's defenses.
"Rising bars from the floor. A dropping ceiling. Combine them right, and maybe we can make both traps destroy each other?"
Flipping the switch, the ceiling began to descend as expected. Confirming it, I led the group into a room, emerging to find the rising bars smashed flat by the collapse.
"Alright. On to the third floor."
I'd thought something like this once before. If you can't hit the brakes, floor it instead.
That was my strategy for conquering this murder hotel.