Chapter 13

Hwaae High School (9)

Let’s organize what I know.

To survive, I have to get out of this cafeteria before lunchtime ends.

But I can’t simply leave. The dietitian is guarding the entrance, while the teacher is stationed at the exit.

And to get past them, I have to finish all my food.

Not that I have any intention of eating it.

There wasn’t any warning about a penalty for failing the achievement. So there’s no reason I have to complete it.

Several tables behind me, Team Leader Yong had his arm around one of the student anomalies.

“Hey. Hand over your tray.”

“…”

“Goddammit. I have to go back upstairs right now, so just give it to me.”

I had been wondering what he was doing.

Apparently, he was threatening the anomaly.

If this weren’t a ghost story, it would be a scene that warranted an immediate report for school violence… No, for some random middle-aged man bullying a student.

That actually works?

It was hard to believe, but it did.

Unable to stand up to Team Leader Yong, the student anomaly noisily exchanged trays with him.

That man really has no sense of danger.

Could I use the same method?

Probably not. I wasn’t confident I could imitate those natural gestures or that particular vibe of his.

“I’ll just do it my own way.”

“Eat. Eat.”

The student anomaly eating beside me turned to look, but I waved it away and picked up my utensils.

Then I began dumping everything on my tray into the soup bowl, as though I were disposing of leftovers.

The bright-red side dishes and rice blended into the watery soup, turning it into a thin gruel.

This should be enough.

I lifted the tray and joined the back of the line of students waiting to dispose of their leftovers.

As the line slowly shortened, every one of my senses focused on a single spot.

There.

Once I was close enough to the disposal station, I casually pretended to stumble and crouched down.

“What are you looking at?”

The student anomaly behind me stared, but I glared up at it as fiercely as I could.

As expected, maybe this wouldn’t work.

Perhaps only certain people could pull this kind of thing off. An uncomfortable, awkward standoff continued between us.

“Sorry. Go ahead.”

Only then did the student anomaly walk past me, and the students behind it mechanically reform the line.

In the meantime, I picked up the soup bowl.

What was I planning to do with it?

Pour…

If I couldn’t dump it into the leftover-food bin, I would aim for the drain.

By design, cafeteria floors are often washed down with water.

That means they need drainage channels, and in this school, an uncovered drain ran alongside the path leading to the disposal station.

With lunchtime nearly over, the cleaning had already begun. Water flowed through the drain, making it the perfect place to secretly empty the bowl.

I could have sworn I had just made eye contact with the “teacher.”

The teacher’s smiling face, staring in my direction, was repeatedly obscured by the students moving past.

When the space opened up again, there was no one there.

Maybe I imagined it.

Even as I tried to dismiss it, I couldn’t shake the unpleasant queasiness rising from within me.

But no one stopped me. After emptying everything in the bowl, I naturally rejoined the line.

“Ahem.”

My turn arrived. Just like the other student anomalies, I lifted my tray and struck it twice against the disposal station.

“Wait.”

“Is there a problem?”

The teacher’s voice stopped me.

Forcing my pounding heart to settle, I asked as calmly as I could.

The teacher’s hand slowly approached and brushed beneath my chin.

“You’ve got something on you.”

The teacher drew back an abnormally long finger. A reddish substance clung to its tip.

“…What?”

Why had that come off my chin?

I had thrown it away. I was certain I had, with my own hands, just moments ago.

As though entranced, my gaze followed the teacher’s hand downward until it reached my clothes.

Not only was my uniform covered in mottled, dark-red stains, but even the white T-shirt underneath it was a mess.

And that wasn’t all.

My hands were filthy too.

Everything felt wet and clammy.

My stomach felt bloated.

Every breath I exhaled carried a revolting stench.

My vision flickered.

Fragmented memories embedded themselves in my mind like shards of glass.

Me stepping out of line and crouching down.

I lift my chopsticks, plunge them deep into the soup bowl, and shove them into my mouth. I swallow them. As if that isn’t enough, the spoon goes in next. I swallow that too. I grow faster.

IcramfoodintomymouthlikeamanpossessedbyhungerIliftthesoupbowlitselfandpouritallintomymouthsomeofitspillsbeforeitcangoinbutIkeepgoingasthoughIdon’tevennoticeIeatandIeatIhavetofinishitallandsoIdevoureverylastbite.

Drip.

“Oh.”

My vision turned bloodred as something welled up around my eyes.

A searing pain spread through me, as though all my organs were burning away—or, more precisely, as though something were gnawing through my tissue.

My mouth fell open.

As though it had been waiting for that exact moment, thick blood gushed from my nose, mouth, and ears.

“Cough—urk, haaah…”

Unable to remain standing, I staggered backward until my back struck the wall.

“Are you going to keep standing there?”

The “teacher” who asked me that was terrifying.

I was petrified, and my entire pain-ravaged body screamed at me to escape this place.

I could barely see or hear, and even breathing was difficult. Nevertheless, I fled blindly.

Out of the cafeteria.

Anywhere, as long as it was away from there.

“Sen…!”

I thought Myeong Haebin had called out to me, but I couldn’t answer. Nor could I stay where I was.

It felt as though every organ inside my body was melting.

Pressing my cheek against the cool wall, I stumbled onward.

When had I stopped being aware of what I was doing?

Where had it all gone wrong?

I wanted to live.

I wanted to live, but with my brain melting away, coherent thought was impossible.

Bzzzt—

My pocket vibrated.

“…”

I clutched my phone like a lifeline, but my vision was flooded with bloody tears. I couldn’t see anything, and I wasn’t even certain I was actually holding the phone.

I have to look.

This is the only thing I can trust—

“Kim Hanmu!!”

Just then, a faint voice called out from behind me, followed by a pair of arms wrapping tightly around my body.

My memory cut off there.

Team Leader Yong thought the new recruit had completely lost his mind.

“What the hell is he doing over there?”

Kim Hanmu had joined the line with his tray, only to suddenly step aside and begin frantically devouring everything on it.

“Hey, get out of the damn way!”

By the time Team Leader Yong realized he had to stop him and rose from his seat, the line had become congested. Not a single person moved aside to let him through.

Meanwhile, Kim Hanmu—his mouth and clothes completely covered in blood—stood up. He staggered over to the teacher and, just like the other students, began pouring blood from every opening in his face.

I should’ve kept him right beside me. Goddammit.

Team Leader Yong cursed under his breath, handling his own tray with violent haste. He disposed of the now-empty tray so quickly that he couldn’t even remember doing it, then dashed outside.

“Kim Hanmu!!”

By the time he caught up, Kim Hanmu was leaning against the wall, his strength giving out as his body began to collapse.

“Mister, what happened in there? What’s wrong with Senior?”

“Wake up. Hey, wake the hell up!”

“Urgh…”

The kid seemed to have already lost consciousness, but he was still breathing harshly. Every breath sounded painfully constricted, as though something were lodged in his throat.

“Move.”

Team Leader Yong didn’t like reckless new recruits, but he didn’t want this one to die.

He had to do something.

He clenched one fist and pressed it against Kim Hanmu’s upper abdomen, covered it with his other palm, and thrust sharply upward.

Once.

Twice.

Then a third time.

There was a sickening series of cracks as his ribs shifted out of place, but Team Leader Yong didn’t ease up. He continued forcefully compressing his abdomen.

“Ghk—cough…!”

A hideous mixture of gastric fluid, blood, and cafeteria food splattered across the floor.

“The blood—it’s stopped flowing for now!”

“Let’s get him out of here.”

“Do you think he’ll… survive?”

Team Leader Yong desperately hoped the new recruit would live, but instead of saying it aloud, he hoisted Kim Hanmu onto his back.

He had a superstition that if he voiced something he desperately wanted, it would never come true.

The screen of the phone in Kim Hanmu’s limp hand flickered.

[] Notification
! Escape the cafeteria after eating the school lunch. (Completed)

But no one saw the notification.

The smell of dust.

The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the dust-filled air, pungent enough to penetrate even my completely blocked nostrils.

Was this the home economics lab?

How had I survived?

“Mister! Senior’s awake!”

“How do you… Never mind. Look at me first.”

Team Leader Yong shot to his feet and approached. Grabbing my chin, he stared directly into my eyes and turned my head from side to side.

His touch wasn’t particularly rough, but my vision swayed violently along with a throbbing headache. I weakly knocked his hand away.

“Dizzy…”

I couldn’t finish the sentence.

It wasn’t that I was incapable of speaking, but my throat burned too badly.

“You stubborn bastard. If you’re alive, that’s good enough. Anything else wrong?”

His voice sounded faint and muffled, as though my ears were blocked. I had to frown and concentrate just to hear him.

“My head and chest… hurt. My ears too…”

“Your ribs seem to be broken too, but it’s a miracle you survived. Do you want some water?”

Why were my ribs broken?

Had they performed CPR on me or something?

I didn’t have enough strength to respond, so I silently tilted the plastic bottle Myeong Haebin handed me.

When I swallowed a mouthful of water, the blood pooled inside my mouth went down with it. My throat still burned, but it felt much better.

Bzzzt—

The phone in my pocket announced its presence again.

Right. I had tried to look at it before, but couldn’t.

“I need to use… that sink.”

“Sure. Clean yourself up. Need help?”

“I’m fine.”

My condition clearly wasn’t normal. I had to stagger to my feet while fighting the illusion that the floor was undulating beneath me.

I nearly died. Considering that, this isn’t too bad.

Turning away from the two of them, who were watching me like a newborn fawn taking its first steps, I turned on the faucet over the counter.

[Achievement]

! Escape the cafeteria after eating the school lunch. (Completed)

Reward: Improved digestive function + ??

The reward, which hadn’t been visible before, had now been revealed.

Improved digestive function.

I remembered the investigation team member who had died after eating the cafeteria food.

I couldn’t shake the thought that if I hadn’t had this app, I probably would have ended up exactly like him.

High risk, high reward, I supposed.

It wasn’t a risk I ever wanted to experience again.

The question marks still haven’t been unlocked.

When I tapped them, another window appeared.

[Available after completing the current cleanup.]

I’ll have to check that after we get out.

Even the water from the sink felt somewhat suspicious, but I had no other choice. After rinsing a reasonable amount of blood from my mouth and nostrils, I slowly raised my head.

“How long was I… unconscious?”

“Quite a while. Eighth period is almost over.”

“What about… ‘that thing’?”

“Oh, ‘that’? The teacher came by more often, but it doesn’t seem to notice us as long as we stay in here.”

In other words, they had skipped class.

“We found the key while you were unconscious too, Senior!”

Apparently, they hadn’t spent the entire time doing nothing. Myeong Haebin showed me a small key.

“What does it open?”

“The lab’s padlock. It was stuck to the very back of one of the counter drawers.”

So there really had been another way out.

No wonder the route through the window had seemed so unnecessarily difficult.

What else had I been trying to do?

Oh, right.

“What about the writing… on the counter?”

“We carefully uncovered the rest so you could read it when you woke up!”

“Let me see.”

The graffiti mentioned doing something secretly during evening self-study.

I needed to read the rest.

I wanted to escape this damned school as soon as humanly possible.

_ But do you know how to do it? I’ve only heard the name.
_ I wrote it down in a notebook, but the teacher confiscated it. Guess we’ll have to wing it?

_ And you’re proud of that? But is it okay for us to keep skipping class like this?
_ As long as we don’t get caught, they won’t come all the way in here anyway lol

The second part seemed to indicate that the lab was effectively a safe zone for skipping class.

But a notebook…

Where did confiscated items usually end up?

“The faculty office.”

I had barely escaped death, so why did the road ahead feel even longer than before?

The faculty office was undoubtedly crawling with those grotesque “teachers.”

“How much time do we have left?”

“Cleaning time is right after this, followed by homeroom. Then evening self-study.”

One term struck me immediately.

Cleaning time?

That might be our opportunity.

“Then, during cleaning time… Mmph.”

Something sweet was shoved into my mouth.

It was an energy bar—hard, but easily crushed between my teeth, and packed with nuts and cereal.

“Eat first. Oh, can you swallow?”

“Where did you get this?”

“Where do you think? I brought it in with me.”

Team Leader Yong had apparently already taken a bite. He chewed away like a cow working through a mouthful of fodder.

Even after I thoroughly chewed the nuts densely packed into the bar for extra calories, swallowing them was painful.

Still, hoping that even a little nourishment would help, I chewed and swallowed with single-minded determination.

Despite the pain, the chocolate-coated sweetness relaxed the tension throughout my body.

“Is this another company-issued supply… or something?”

“No. Bought it with my own money. At a convenience store.”

“Our company doesn’t provide meal allowances while we’re working. Even if you bring food inside, there are many cases where you won’t be able to eat it, so bringing your own isn’t recommended. Strictly speaking, this is also a violation of company regulations.”

Myeong Haebin diligently nibbled at her energy bar like a squirrel eating an acorn, criticizing Team Leader Yong as naturally as she breathed.

But he merely smiled, as though he were used to it.

“People have to eat something. How are we supposed to keep going on an empty stomach?”

As I diligently chewed the contents of my mouth into mush, I found myself nodding.

After all, we worked to put food on the table.

Only after we had finished every last bite of the energy bars did Team Leader Yong ask,

“So, what about cleaning time?”

“I’m thinking we should enter the faculty office then.”

It was technically the sort of place students could barge into during recess under the pretext of asking a question. But cleaning time was all we had left anyway.

Besides, it almost seemed like that time had been arranged specifically for me.

Team Leader Yong’s eyes looked unusually dark as he stared at me.

This bastard nearly died and still hasn’t learned his lesson.

He seemed to be thinking something along those lines.

It was probably just my imagination.

Though I didn’t particularly care even if it wasn’t.