It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story 078

Dark 4F hallway.

Students standing chaotically like mannequins.

And among them, I move my feet after calculating the reach of their hands.

‘Hoo.’

For now, I quickly unfolded the item I had neatly tucked away in my pocket and wrapped it around my vulnerable areas.

Armor bought from the alien shop.

Packaging 12B357

The loose packaging settled inside my high school uniform.

‘The Nostalgia series doesn’t heal wounds or dirt while worn, huh.’

From now on, I should be more cautious.

I stepped as carefully as I could to avoid overlapping with the dolls’ territory.

Since it occupies less area, it’s actually a bit easier this way. Moving alone like this might lead to a higher survival rate on the 4th floor.

“…….”

I wonder if the Bronze Agent and Jang Heo-woon have made it safely.

‘They’re probably prioritizing joining up with others.’

They aren’t fools to divide into two and head to the 5th floor, so they must be looking for people on the 4th floor.

Given the atmosphere, it doesn’t seem like they would take Jang Heo-woon hostage.

‘Even if they did, I really did my part, colleague….’

After walking to the end of the hallway.

“Phew.”

I arrived at the stairs where I had ascended earlier with my colleague and the agents.

And….

I began to descend the stairs.

[3F]

I was retracing my steps back.

Why am I doing this, you ask?

To be completely honest, I don’t particularly need the information items scattered throughout this school.

‘I already have them all in my head.’

I already know everything as if I have experienced it.

From why the school ended up like this to what the theme of this horror story is, and exactly who these students are.

So there was only one thing I actually needed.

‘A key item that will allow for a clear of the highest grade.’

And right now, I’m heading to get that.

‘Maybe… by now, what I need has been “made.”’

I stopped at the stair landing.

The 3rd floor below was eerily quiet.

“…….”

That’s because everyone has turned into corpses.

Blood-soaked corpses lay gruesomely exposed under the bright lights.

Most of those in school uniforms on this floor seemed to have perished.

‘Even if there are surviving agents, they probably went elsewhere.’

And it seems almost all the students who had crowded into the Teacher’s Office received a mobility-disabled assessment and appeared on the death report.

“Phew.”

Putting aside the gruesomeness, there was a horrific feeling of being in the midst of a catastrophe where dozens of people have died.

‘Calm down.’

This is all a dream… it’s all just a dream…

I kept telling myself as I continued down the stairs, continuously checking both ends of the hallway and the opposite Teacher’s Office.

And then I discovered my target.

Flicker.

In the brief moment I shifted my gaze.

A student had changed positions inside the Teacher’s Office.

“…!”

Of course, he wasn’t following me.

That student was already in such a pitiful state.

Both arms were broken, and one leg was in an open fracture, not to mention the blood soaking his abdomen.

But it seemed he had enough ‘consciousness’ to tilt his head towards me slightly…

“…….”

I looked around.

‘There’s no sign of other students….’

Good.

I headed for the Teacher’s Office.

And I walked right up to the student who had collapsed near the front door.

Bleached hair and piercings. A classic look for a troublemaker, but the vibe from his appearance had dissipated due to his injuries.

“…….”

Wow, this is truly insane.

I lifted that ‘student’ into my arms with both hands.

“Phew.”

If I carry him, he’ll be out of my line of sight, so I shoulder him like a sack.

‘This is crazy.’

Carrying a several dozen-kilogram killing machine like this mentally isn’t something ordinary.

Still, my physical condition was quite manageable since Nostalgia candy was rolling around in my mouth.

‘And… this is the destination.’

I had a route mapped out in my head.

Perhaps due to the chaos, there would be few students on the 3rd floor, but just in case, let’s move quickly.

I held the flashlight in my mouth, bracing myself against the wall, and moved forward.

The powerful flashlight illuminated the entire hallway, banishing darkness and all that.

Though it was suffocating to see it all blood-soaked.

Nevertheless.

[Health Room]

I saw my objective.

Click.

I quietly dropped the name tag my colleague had stabbed into me on the floor and gently opened the Health Room door, stepping inside.

There were three beds lined up near the window, covered by curtains.

Two of them already had human shadows visible within the curtains.

“…….”

I slowly moved closer.

The guide notice attached to the whiteboard by the Health Room door caught my eye.

Students injured during exercise are to lay in bed and wait until the nurse arrives!

“…….”

I felt something strange.

‘So that’s it.’

That’s what gave me the clue to continue the exploration record of this horror story…

The 12th exploration record left by the previous person.

From the moment I read this, I felt there was a gap somewhere.

‘It seemed like the previous writer left this intentionally.’

The explorers in this horror story are defined as ‘students from other schools.’

Meaning outsiders.

So…

-What would happen if a real Seokwang Technical High School student were laid down?

This question blossomed into an impulse within me to write the 13th exploration record…

‘My heart was racing then.’

And it still races now.

With tension, fear, or anticipation—I can’t quite tell which.

I took a deep breath and opened the curtains of the one remaining bed without shadows.

And I laid the student down on the clean cot before me.

The phrases I had written in the exploration record overlapped in my mind.

The student may be able to move their joints with some effort, but they were still in an awkward position.

I covered them with a blanket and briefly left the Health Room. Then, suppressing my pounding heart in the blood-soaked hallway, I waited for several tens of seconds.

‘After this.’

I concluded my wait, lightly knocked on the Health Room door, and entered….

Just as it was.

“…….”

I felt a mix of awe and fear as I approached the only bed without curtains.

The student I had brought, with bleached hair, lay sprawled on the bed in gym clothes.

Bandages and splints wrapped around them.

They didn’t even look at me.

‘From here….’

The original exploration record stated that I found them while ‘searching the surroundings.’

Click.

I immediately opened the drawer next to the bed.

Inside was a neatly folded school uniform.

[Seokwang Technical High School]

It belonged to the student lying on the bed.

There were no buttons missing or torn parts, but oddly enough, it had been cleaned of blood and muck…

‘Hah.’

My heart pounded fiercely.

Without turning back to the student on the bed, I quickly grabbed an A4 paper available in the Health Room and began to write.

I’ll just borrow this uniform for a bit.

-The previous student who brought you to the Health Room

Then I neatly folded the paper and placed it in the drawer where the uniform was, taking out the uniform in its stead.

“…….”

As I turned my head, I saw the student still lying there with their eyes closed, dressed in gym clothes.

They looked as if they were fast asleep.

‘Alright then.’

I hurriedly changed clothes.

After throwing out my own high school uniform through the Health Room window, I began putting on the ‘borrowed’ uniform from Seokwang Technical High School.

Thanks to our similar builds, it fit fairly well.

Once I had finished changing into the outdated style of uniform.

Click.

“…….”

I heard the sound of a drawer opening behind me.

Turning my head, I saw a response to the note I had left in the drawer.

What grade and class are you in?

“…….”

I swallowed hard and, with trembling hands, wrote down the same profile I had placed on the back of my high school photo to enter here.

And the name of the class where I had just awakened.

1st Year Classroom 5.

At that moment.

The entire world went dark.

“……!”

Darkness, without a hint of light, briefly veiled my eyes, and soon my adjusted vision showed the outlines of the world dimly.

Emergency lights and the faint glow of an LED clock barely allowed me to distinguish my surroundings… in the school’s Health Room.

And then.

Tap, tap.

“…!”

Someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned around.

The student who had been sitting on the bed with a bored expression was tapping my shoulder.

That bleached-haired student smoothly withdrew their hand from my shoulder and moved away.

Right.

Naturally.

With a remarkably human gesture, they took the A4 paper and pen I was holding, moving their bandaged arm to quickly write down something and hand it to me.

You said you were a transfer student?

What an unlucky bastard.

Then, they lay back down on the bed.

As if they were just trying to get some sleep.

“…….”

With a stiff face, I stood up from my spot.

Click.

I stepped out of the Health Room.

The world was still dark.

But oddly enough, everything seemed exceptionally clear…

I felt as if I could even see the dust floating in the air in this awakened state.

A strange certainty seemed to manifest from the uniform and settle in my heart.

“…….”

As I walked down the hallway, I picked up the name tag I had dropped when entering the Health Room and tucked it into my pocket.

[■■■]

The name tag oddly shimmered compared to before. Moreover, despite the dark and blood-soaked situation, I felt an unusual absence of fear.

However…

I could see something at the end.

“…!”

Something in the 2nd Year Classroom 7 was peeking out.

The silhouette was definitely human.

But its entire body was grotesquely writhing.

As if reality had manifested a glitch with pixelation, it was terrifying like a ghoul from a horror movie.

Those draped in rotting garments similar to school uniforms appeared to be errors improperly rendered in the world…

And the moment they looked at me,

“…!”

I froze.