It Seems I Must Go to Work Even After Falling into a Horror Story 080th Episode

Alright, let’s tidy things up.

That monster in front of me… I mean, that horrifying figure with distorted pixels is definitely my colleague, Ko Yeong-eun.

The goat mask was clearly visible.

‘I feel bad for blasting the flashlight at such high power right in front of her….’

I gritted my teeth, determined to focus on the mask instead of the repulsion.

The problem is, normal communication is impossible!

I can’t speak, and I can’t properly hear what she’s saying, so….

‘Ugh.’

It feels like errors are flooding my mind. It’s driving me crazy.

In the end, while pondering ways to communicate, I pulled out the pen I had stashed in my pocket, trying to avoid looking at her as I wrote on the floor.

Mr. Goat?

Then I waited silently.

Again, Ko Yeong-eun stared at me, and just when I froze, a response came back on the A4 paper on the floor.

Doe?? Do you have self-awareness right now? Is it possible for you to move autonomously?

‘Phew.’

Alright.

I looked towards the monster… no, ‘Ko Yeong-eun’ and wrote my answer.

Yes. It is possible.

Don’t worry, I’m not contaminated. I just worry about how a contaminated person would react to this…

I’m utilizing a gimmick from the horror story.

Gimmick?

Yes.

How should I explain it?

‘After all, straightforward answers seem to work here.’

My colleague in front of me was clearly smart, so I ended up writing directly without any beating around the bush.

The answer to this horror story that all the worldbuilding hints point to.

This school has become the reality of a horror game.

In the Black Shadow.

This is the registered name of the wiki entry of this horror story, and the title of the game that is the source of all the incidents happening in this nightmare known as Seokwang Technical High School.

There are hints that I found in the exploration records from the Teacher’s Office and specific classrooms.

And so on with other notes and items.

If you dig through the bags of students from the class where the game console was confiscated, you can even find an empty game case and a synopsis written on its back…

———–

The day before graduation.

Students who applied to help with the graduation ceremony at ■■■■ High School spend the night at the school.

Of course, the preparation for the event was more of an excuse, and the students enjoyed camping under the nighttime atmosphere.

New couples form, best friends fight, and someone’s secret gets revealed in the meantime…

Suddenly, the school broadcast comes on.

[The graduation ceremony has started.]

[To give demerit points to students who did not attend, a teacher is now heading to the auditorium.]

The bloody graduation ceremony has begun.

Will they be able to escape safely from the nightmare school in the middle of the night??

———–

Thus, it naturally becomes clear.

This horror story is a nightmare where the horror game has swallowed the actual school, and the game play keeps repeating.

That’s why the students are silent.

‘It’s a game with no voice.’

That’s why the 3rd years on the 4th floor can’t leave their seats.

‘Because the main game hasn’t even started yet.’

That’s why… the students can’t move when explorers are watching them.

‘…It’s a bug that wasn’t originally in the game.’

Exactly.

Moreover, the explorers weren’t even participants in this game.

‘We aren’t even playing the game.’

We got dragged in while peeking at the game’s story through a text file downloaded via unofficial means…

‘Phew.’

Of course, I didn’t explain all of this to my colleague. I just filtered out what could be clues and conveyed the logic.

The crux of the matter is this.

I managed to acquire a student uniform in a rather unique way, intending to become a participant in this horror game.

And it seems I’ve succeeded for now.

The game? Oh, it must be that one! The horror game where you’re trapped in the school the day before White Day!

But isn’t becoming a participant in the game from the horror story a bit dangerous? Plus, we don’t know what might happen if you keep wearing that uniform for too long.

Ko Yeong-eun’s writing, which started with excitement, gradually turned into hurried scribbles by the end.

It was a reasonable concern.

You’re right. If it gets dangerous, I’ll quit right away.

If things don’t go as planned, I’d definitely make a run for it.

But for now, it was going as expected…

Still, this could be the clearest route that I can mark in the manual.

I’ll give it a try.

After a brief silence.

Okay, I understand. Mr. Doe, you’re incredibly strong against horror stories…

“……”

That’s really a misunderstanding…

But please avoid doing anything too dangerous.

I wish it was that easy, but the world doesn’t always comply…

Oh, then, if I stay with you, I might be suspected by other students, so I’ll be on my way now.

Huh?

You really need to take care!

That was the last message.

The moment my hesitation lifted, I saw Ko Yeong-eun slowly turning away down the hallway.

Wait, hold on, Yeong-eun!

‘I still have questions left to ask!’

Please help me!

I quickly chased after her and gave her back a light tap, writing a new line frantically.

Excuse me, I’d like to ask Mr. Goat something.

This might be specialized knowledge that only Mr. Goat can answer here.

Of course! Feel free to ask!

Fortunately, Ko Yeong-eun turned around and kindly answered.

Phew!

With gratitude, I quickly wrote my question.

Could you tell me where each organ is located in a human body?

What??

Oh no, wait a second.

Fortunately, Ko Yeong-eun didn’t cut ties with me…

She just started asking me questions about my company life, accounting, and other practical details, repeatedly verifying if I was sane.

And after she was convinced that I hadn’t become some weirdo science lab student with a bizarre interest in anatomy, she became kind again.

Alright! I’ll answer to the best of my knowledge! Haha.

Thank you… sniff.

Thus, I spent the remaining time vigorously exchanging questions and answers with Ko Yeong-eun.

Thanks to this, I completed my ‘clear preparations’ more safely and securely than I had anticipated.

I wish you good luck!

Same to you! Thank you!

…Hmm.

Just in case, I added this line.

If you plan to stay in this dream longer, it’s best to stay on the 1st floor as much as possible.

Because soon, the true meaning of ‘In the Black Shadow’ will begin.

“……”

And so,

A few minutes after I escorted Ko Yeong-eun.

[Ding-Dong-Ding-Dong]

[The graduation ceremony has started.]

A new broadcast comes on.
…Just like the thirteenth exploration record I had written.

I headed up to the 4th floor.

All the countless 3rd-year students that had crowded the hallway on that floor…

They have vanished.

“……”

The broadcast echoes in the empty 4th-floor hallway.

[To give demerit points to students who did not attend, a teacher is now heading to the auditorium.]

The exploration record I had written remains unchanged.

It has come to life.

“……”

I swallowed hard.

For now, the atmosphere in the school shifted dramatically.

What was once a perfectly comfortable environment as a student now felt ominous and unsettling.

No…

I can really hear the BGM…!

The eerie and steep minor notes of classic 8-bit game music began to settle in my ears.

And then a popup.

‘No way.’

I will not do that.

I know a faster route, so steeling my resolve, I focused on…

‘Hiding.’

I ran towards the 3rd Year Teacher’s Office.

First, hiding in the locker there is the tactic…

₩uc774₩uac74₩u0020₩uc528₩ubc1c₩u0020₩ub300₩uccb₩ubb50₩uc57c₩u003f₩u003f

“…!!”

Here it comes again.

‘Monster!’

I rejected the ear-splitting, maddening noise and quickly slipped into the Teacher’s Office locker.

The problem is there was a monster in one of the classrooms on the 4th floor right next to the Teacher’s Office.

That monster slowly emerged from the door, glancing directly at me.

Through the shadowy view blocked by the locker door, I couldn’t discern what kind of mask it wore.

‘It appears to be wearing a mask, nonetheless.’

Because I was frozen, I couldn’t move my face, and I was barely able to recognize the error that arose from the light shining from its name tag.

‘…Wait a second.’

Light, you say?

If it’s that brightly lit…

Thump.

“……”

Over there.

I could hear small and large noises coming from upstairs.

So, it was, it was the sound of something big making little footsteps as it walked.

ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump

Coming down, it’s coming closer, approaching!!

…‘The teacher’ is!!

‘Damn.’

It’s maddeningly scary. I held my breath.

However, the error seemed to be targeting my name tag, quickly closing in on me…

‘Can’t it hear me??’

No, of course it can’t hear me. It’s not a game player!

‘In the first place, errors can neither recognize nor attack teachers…!’

The setting is that it doesn’t notice the start of the game at all.

But…

Warning.

In this game.

The ‘abnormal entity’ chasing the player, the method the teacher uses to recognize students is the name tag.

However, since explorers are inherently errors, having one or two name tags doesn’t help them be recognized as players.

So unless a greedy explorer tries, they wouldn’t be caught.

…For example.

By hoarding name tags, a symbol of the player.

Thump.

I stayed still, holding my breath.

The approaching error grabbed the locker door I was hidden in.

Then it pulled the door open.