The noise and commotion outside were curious enough to make anyone want to peek out from another room, yet the dormitory hallway was eerily quiet.
As I adapted to the darkness, the view of the room began to co into focus.
I sighed as I looked around the room and felt puzzled.
“But... where is this?”
The room was piled with all sorts of junk, and at first glance, it didn’t seem like a dorm room.
It looked more like a storage room, with items stacked everywhere.
I quickly checked the room number on the door next to .
Room B101.
It was on the basent floor.
But there was no basent floor in the girls’ dormitory...!
Clack, clack.
In a panic, I tried knocking on the door, pulling, and pushing, but the door didn’t budge. Cold sweat started to form on my skin. It felt like I was trapped here.
“Is the door not opening?”
At Erika's question, I nodded glumly.
“Mm-hmm.”
She patted my head with a sigh.
“For now, it’s best to catch your breath and think things through slowly.”
Following Erika’s advice, we sat down with our heads together, trying to co up with an escape plan, but no solutions ca to mind.
‘Where did [N O V E L I G H T] Kkamang go?’
Now that I thought about it, Kkamang had been missing for a while.
It would have been nice to see so ghosts at tis like this, but even they were nowhere to be found.
“I’m sorry, Erika. About what I said earlier... that there’s no such thing as ghosts or ghost stories.”
While I was scanning the room, Sutherland’s young lady apologized to Erika in a quieter voice.
“When Lady Airose kept seeing ghosts and suffering, I couldn’t help her, so I have nothing to say.”
Erika responded with an even darker expression than before. Her usually cold and distant expression softened.
“I think I would have been the sa. How could I have believed in ghosts or ghost stories easily? Not unless I experienced it myself.”
Sutherland's young lady's voice had a slight tremor in it as she spoke. It was as if she had made a firm resolution, and then she said to :
“This is all thanks to you, lody. If we escape from here alive, I’ll definitely repay you.”
Now, she didn’t call ‘Hastings’ but ‘lody,’ speaking to more familiarly. Then, shaking her head, she sighed deeply.
“With such a fragile body that seed like it would break with the slightest pressure, you were leading us, saying you would protect us... How brave you seed...”
Brave? Considering the context of the conversation, I assud that was referring to .
“Uh, Sally was moved and had no choice but to follow the fragile lody’s words.”
Sutherland’s young lady, or rather, Sally, speaking in the third person, made a little uncomfortable, so I replied.
“It’s not the ti to relax yet, we need to focus on escaping.”
I warned both of them and looked around. I was checking for another exit.
Being underground, there were no windows, and it was too dark.
Using my adjusted vision, I could faintly make out the objects inside.
The storage room, which was about 5 pyeong (around 16 square ters), had four shelves stacked with miscellaneous items.
Hmm?
Then, through the gap between the shelves, I saw a dark shadow.
You might wonder how I could see shadows in the dark, but I could clearly make out sothing large and dark.
As I stepped closer to check, it seed like a huge object covered with black cloth, roughly the size of a person.
It looked like the shape of soone crouching down.
I hesitated to get any closer, as I was afraid of what might happen if I touched it.
In the end, I gave up checking and decided to find a way out of here. However, there were still no other exits visible.
It was then.
Knock, knock, knock.
I heard soone knocking on the door.
There was only one door to this storage room—the one I had entered and the one that had locked behind .
‘Wait, no. That sound didn’t co from the direction of the entrance.’
It ca from behind .
‘Huh? It’s gone.’
The black cloth that had been between the shelves disappeared, as if it had never been there.
Knock, knock, knock.
Then, the knocking sound ca again.
“What’s that noise?”
By now, Erika and Sutherland’s young lady had quietly followed and whispered to .
Instead of answering, I simply shook my head. It seed like we shouldn’t make a sound.
We held our breath and followed the sound, passing through the shelves until we reached the end of the storage room.
There, we found a cleaning supply closet, filled with students’ scribbles.
That’s when it happened.
“Is... is anyone there?”
A voice ca from inside the cleaning supply closet.
“Help, help! Heeuk... sniff... soone’s trapped in here!”
I quickly opened the closet.
From the outside, the door wasn’t locked, but it seed like it couldn’t be opened from the inside.
Inside, a female student in a Saint Gloria Private School uniform was crouched down, her face streaked with tears.
“Are you okay?”
At my question, she looked up with a tear-streaked face.
[Anna Belui]
It was written on her na tag.
The uniform was unusually clean compared to the old na tag. Her legs, visible beneath the skirt, were covered in blood, yet her shoes looked brand new.
‘Sothing’s off.’
There was a strange, almost alien feeling about her. My spine tingled, and the hairs on my body stood on end.
It was the sa unsettling feeling I had when I realized the people from Chesswind Village weren’t human...
“Oh my, miss. Are you alright?”
“What year are you in? Why were you trapped in here?”
Sally and Erika, both with worried faces, extended their hands to Anna.
I quickly blocked their hands and spoke directly to Anna.
“Yagunune.”
“lody, what’s wrong?”
“What kind of incantation is that?”
Sally and Erika were taken aback, but ignoring them, I spoke to Anna again.
“Yagunune.”
Then Anna gave a wicked smile, her mouth stretching all the way to her ears.
“Nekyutdul.”
I hastily pushed her back into the cleaning closet and slamd the door shut.
Hehehehe! Hehehehe-! Let’s play! Play with !
A strange, echoing laugh ca from the closet.
I pressed my hands tightly against the closet door and breathed heavily, my hands damp with cold sweat from the tension.
“lody, what was that just now?”
“What... what just happened...?”
Even as Erika and Sally asked, I remained silent, only pressing down harder on the door.
After a mont, the noises from inside the closet quieted down. Only then did I let out a sigh of relief and pull my hands away.
“I heard that ghosts do everything in reverse. I said it just in case sothing was off, but I can’t believe she was really a ghost.”
At my answer, Erika and Sally looked shocked. They stared at without saying a word.
“...Why are you looking at like that?”
“lody, you’re really good at assessing situations, huh?”
“So this is what it’s like to be the top scorer on the transfer exam. Honestly, I didn’t believe it at first, but now I understand after seeing you.”
They were making a big deal out of it. I scratched my cheek awkwardly and shrugged.
“For now, let’s think of a way to get out of here again.”
We needed to find the dium. The evil spirit that caused this ghost story must have used one, but what could it be?
‘Could it be the elevator?’
A dium that exists both in the other world and in this one, and the number code 1748.
Then I started thinking about the student, Anna Belui.
I’d heard that ghosts don’t have nas. So why did she have one?
I opened the cleaning closet again.
Inside, Anna Belui was crouched down, sleeping.
“... lody, what are you doing?”
“Get away! Hurry, close the door again!”
When I opened the door, Sutherland and Erika shouted in surprise. I shook my head and thought.
Chapter 17, verse 48 from the Bible:
I muttered the Bible verse again before speaking.
“I think the ‘lambs who have lost their way’ refers to her.”
Kkamang had told that there are evil spirits and spirits in this world.
“She’s not an evil spirit, but a spirit, I think.”
“What is that nonsense?”
Sally asked back, but there was no ti to explain in detail.
I took out the holy water Kkamang gave and sprinkled it on Anna’s body, then pressed a crucifix against her forehead.
Zzzzt-
A grayish mist began to rise from her body, as if she were burning.
Anna’s eyes shot wide open.
What... what...!
It was the thod Kkamang had taught . He said that for low-level spirits like Anna, sprinkling holy water and pressing a crucifix would banish them.
Sure enough, Anna writhed in agony as she struggled.
Kaaahhh!
Screaming in pain, she finally turned to ashes and vanished.
“She’s gone...”
“What... what happened?”
Erika and Sally stared at the spot where Anna had disappeared, looking completely dumbfounded.
Then, Sally pointed behind the cleaning supply closet.
“Gasp. There’s a door here!”
“lody, are you alright? Co here.”
It looked like there was sothing behind it.
Together, we used our strength to move the cleaning closet aside. Then, a small iron door appeared, revealing an ergency exit.
Kkamang's words echoed in my mind.
"Doors and mirrors are passages that connect this world and the other world. If you accidentally cross over to the other world, the way back is always the sa. Find the dium and use the door or mirror to return to reality."
Now that I thought about it, the Student Council President from 903 had said sothing similar:
“Be careful with doors and mirrors. If you find a door open sowhere, always close it. Mr. Hastings, especially, must be careful.”
Erika grabbed my shoulder.
“Are you alright, lody?”
“I’m fine. Thanks for worrying.”
I smiled at her, though I had a mountain of things to think about. I didn’t want to show it to them just yet.
And then, I noticed Kkamang sitting next to the door, quietly watching us.
“Where did you go? I was wondering where you were.”
Kkamang didn’t answer, just quietly gazing up at .
“Kkamang, if we escape through here, it’s the right exit, right?”
“lody, you’re talking to a cat again.”
Sally looked at like I was a weirdo, then picked up Kkamang.
“Let’s go.”
I smiled at her and then opened the door. Beyond it, a long hallway stretched out. Thankfully, it was the exit we needed.
“Gasp, we’re out!”
We’re out. We made it.
Sally kept murmuring the sa thing and started to tear up. Then, she pulled into a hug. Her body trembled with emotion.
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