The Exhibition Lives Again
Flash!
“Nngh…”
Pain didn’t register in my regressed body, but the lingering memory of every bone in me shattering made me groan reflexively. Shaking off the horrific sensation, I looked around to find the familiar sight of our club room.
A double regression after so long. This is gonna cost a hefty chunk of resentment.
“Um… Is everyone alright?”
Aurora asked us, her face etched with worry. Just as she said, Rone, Rozalia, and Elaine sat there, scanning the room with dazed eyes. They didn’t look thrilled either—their minds still gripped by memories right up to the moment of death—but this being our second regression today, they calmed down faster than last time.
I gave my companions a moment to settle, then spoke up.
“Looks like everyone’s composed enough now. Let’s jump straight into the debrief.”
Their gazes turned to me.
“To cut to the chase, Operation Payday was a failure. We succeeded in smashing the displays to a degree, but stopping the ghost story before it fully activated? Impossible.”
I declared it without hesitation. The students’ faces darkened at the admission, but I pressed on undeterred.
“First, let’s break down why we failed. The killer issue was our speed. Four people just couldn’t destroy every display across the entire exhibition before timeout hit.”
Elaine nodded right away, elaborating. “Yes. Taking Rozalia hostage for that fake hostage drama was effective, but it meant you and she couldn’t help smash the displays.”
“Exactly. We were already short-handed, and pulling two off to handle the guards slowed us even more. At that pace, even clearing just the human history section was a squeeze before regression—as we saw.”
And this wasn’t some flaw we could tweak with minor route optimizations. It was a fundamental weakness.
That’s when Rozalia piped up. “So, are we scrapping Operation Payday?”
I smiled inwardly at her question. Of course Payday was scrapped. No way was I wasting more resentment repeating the same flawed approach now that I’d seen its limits.
“No, we can’t do that. Sure, it failed overall, but we did effectively demolish every display in the human history section. We stick to the plan.”
But I deliberately held back the full truth. Rozalia tilted her head, puzzled. “But even with Payday going off without a hitch, we only cleared a quarter of the exhibition.”
“Flip that around: we cleared a quarter.”
“Huh? So?”
“Regression resets everything. But ghost stories we’ve resolved? They don’t come back.”
“...Ah! You don’t mean—!”
“What if the human history displays don’t revive as a ghost story? Then we skip wasting time there and focus purely on the rest. It’ll take a few more loops, sure, but we can definitely smash every last display in the exhibition.”
Rone and Rozalia lit up with realization. Elaine, sharp as ever, caught something off in my words and frowned uncomfortably.
“Brilliant! It’s as good as solved already!”
“Yeah. Sometimes the slowest path gets you there fastest.”
“Hold on, Teach—”
“Shh.”
I cut Elaine off with a subtle finger to my lips, signaling silence where the others couldn’t see, then laid out the details for Payday Round Two.
Once everything was squared away, I handed Rozalia the academy’s master key—an illegal duplicate.
“Here you go, Rozalia. Take this to the drama club and grab the masks we’ll need for the op?”
“Yes! Right away, sir!”
Sweet, trusting Rozalia took the key without a second thought.
“Oh, Rozalia! I’ll help!”
Rone jumped up to tag along—tricky—but quick-thinking Elaine grabbed her arm and held her back.
“No need! Four masks? I can handle it alone!”
Rozalia headed out solo, and once her footsteps faded completely, I let out a quiet sigh. A complicated mix of emotions crossed my face.
Lying to the students never feels great. But this time, it couldn’t be helped.
“Teach. You said the human history ghost story wouldn’t revive…?”
“A lie. Of course it will.”
With Rozalia gone, Elaine fired off her question. She’d sniffed out the fib right away. If those displays counted as separate ghost stories, each smashed one would’ve triggered a resolution notice via my gift. But my status window stayed silent.
Which meant all the exhibition’s displays together formed one massive ghost story.
“Wh-what!? That was a lie!? We have to tell Rozalia quick—!”
“No need. I left her out on purpose.”
“...Why?”
“The real operation needs her completely in the dark.”
With that, I explained my true plan to the remaining students.
...
We headed back to the exhibition hall. The human history section showed no trace of the previous loop’s carnage—everything pristine and gleaming, as if nothing had happened.
Our footsteps soon brought us to the massive entrance of the natural history section. Passing through the heavy doors, a gigantic dinosaur fossil loomed imposingly. Its bones linked so intricately, it almost seemed alive. Beside its vast shadow, models of mythical beasts stood sealed in glass cases. The platypus taxidermy sat in its usual spot too.
I glanced back at Elaine, Rone, and Rozalia. Tension lingered on their faces, but now it mixed more with resolve than fear.
“Alright! Let’s mask up and get to it!”
Rozalia, still clueless about the real plan, beamed innocently, raring for some theatrical heisting. Tricking a kid this pure about a robbery stung my conscience anew.
But with Payday scrapped, the heist was pointless. I stopped her as she pulled out the masks and changed the subject.
“Hold up, Rozalia. No need for that this loop.”
“Huh? Why not?”
“Last loop, we rushed too blindly and couldn’t optimize our route.”
“Do we really need to? Smash as many as we can before they wake, then check if human history revived when time’s up?”
“But chasing two rabbits like that, and getting wiped the second natural history stirs? No time to check human history then.”
“Right. And last loop, the guards bought our fake hostage act and let us slide. Natural history guards might ignore it and take us down anyway. Locked up elsewhere, we’re blind to human history either way.”
“But wasting this whole loop…”
“You know, Teach has a point. Chase both and lose both. Let’s play it quiet till the ghost story activates, like he says.”
Maybe springing a sudden schedule change was too much? Rozalia wasn’t sold easily. But luckily, Rone and Elaine—who knew the real plan—backed me up swiftly.
Three voices in unison? Even Rozalia had to yield.
“Not saying we waste the loop entirely. We can scout routes and grab intel we missed last time while we wait for the exhibits to wake.”
“Mmm… Alright, got it.”
With that, we convinced her. We’d kill time till the ghost story triggered.
...
We wandered the natural history section for a good while. Finally, the moment arrived.
Creak… grind… thud!
Taxidermies and models stirred with life, and the displays fully awakened amid the clamor.
It had begun.
“Kyaaah!! Teach! Disaster! I checked human history—they’re all back!! Every display we smashed last loop revived!!”
Yeah, figured.
“Really? That’s rough.”
I played along tepidly, and Rozalia thumped her chest in frustration at my nonchalance.
“Don’t just brush it off like that…!”
Ruuuumble!
That’s when the massive dinosaur fossil finally stomped a heavy foot down. Bone clashing against bone shook the hall; its enormous jaws yawned wide.
And it wasn’t alone. Horned horse models, winged lions, three-headed snakes—all sprang to life, lunging at visitors.
But the platypus? Still just a lifeless mount. Like a toy with no more batteries.
Just as I thought.
The sight of that platypus drew a triumphant smile from me. It was proof my plan would work.
Time to launch the true plan.