Chapter 28
“Ugh—”
This time, I couldn’t hold it back and gagged.
I’d read the novel, so I’d roughly guessed what was coming, but—
“Knowing exactly what that was makes it even worse!”
“One!”
In the midst of my nausea, someone quickly shouted the first number to start the game.
Unfortunately—
“One…!”
[Oh my.]
[A little slow, but you both called the same number, didn’t you?]
When someone gets eliminated in this game, panic sets in, and others tend to rush forward.
The two who shouted ‘One’ first both received their punishment.
“Hahahahahaha!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The girl was laughing hysterically while smashing her head against the desk like she was clapping.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Another male student was doing a handstand on his desk, repeatedly slamming his head onto it.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound was heavier—his whole weight was behind it.
Why… why are they both looking this way?
Please, look somewhere else while you do that!!
[After fireworks, we must honor the winners with applause!]
[Now then, what splendid performance will our next losers show us to delight the victors?]
Out of ten, four had been eliminated.
That left six.
And only the last survivor could escape this room.
Can I really endure to the end without saying anything?
In the novel, Dan Seo-hyuk survived this way—barely resisting the urge to speak at the very end.
“One.”
Someone stood up sharply.
The rest stayed silent.
Silence.
More silence.
“Two!”
Another voice, quickly—right beside me.
I glanced sideways at their feet—
Their toes were bent backward toward their spine.
Yeah. The things in here definitely aren’t human.
They only looked like students in uniforms.
Should I be relieved that the ones suffering these cruel punishments weren’t human…
or terrified that I was surrounded by ghosts pretending to be?
“Three.”
If no one gets eliminated this round…
The one who stays silent until the end will lose.
Sweat trickled down my cheek.
Please. Someone, anyone—go next.
Or… should I say it?
I tensed my legs to stand, when—
Something pressed down hard on my shoulder.
A large hand, strangely familiar.
Huh? Who—
Just as I started to turn back—
“Four!”
“Four!!”
“Four.”
Three voices shouted at once—everyone but me.
“Haaah… haah…”
I exhaled the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
If that hand hadn’t stopped me just now… I’d be dead.
Barely, I’d escaped elimination.
[Oh dear. How unfortunate.]
…What?
[You were so close…]
Close to what?
[After fireworks and applause, what should come next, hmm? Hehe.]
[Of course—a celebratory performance! Let’s make this next stage shine!]
The ones who shouted Four simultaneously stood.
One bent down behind the teacher’s podium—and when he straightened,
there was a kitchen knife in his hand.
[The prepared performance is a knife dance! If you haven’t practiced enough, you might get a little hurt, hehe.]
[But if you have practiced, you’ll put on a truly dazzling show!]
It was the same as before—
When the first loser made fireworks,
and the second offered applause—
everyone focused on the radio.
“One!!!!!”
I suddenly stood up and shouted.
Crash!
The chair clattered backward, but I couldn’t care less.
“……”
“……”
The two remaining players and the “performers” who were about to start their act all turned to stare at me.
A horrible silence descended over the classroom.
[…Oh my.]
It was the radio that broke it.
[What a splendid start to our timing game!]
The cheeriness in the voice sounded strained now—forced.
[To think you’d move before the performance even began! How clever of you!]
[A witty beginning, though it has dampened the mood somewhat—but that’s part of the fun of a timing game, isn’t it?]
Dampened the mood?
The phrase sent chills down my spine.
Still, the very first person to start earlier had done the same—cutting off the radio’s narration—
so they couldn’t exactly accuse me of wrongdoing now.
“Two.”
The participant who had earlier asked what happens to losers now spoke.
The other survivor flinched, caught off guard.
[Oh dear.]
[In this game, calling the same number means elimination—]
[But if you stay silent until the end, that’s also elimination.]
“Urghhh!”
The male student’s body jerked upright—
no, he wasn’t standing up; he was being lifted.
Something invisible had him by the collar, dragging him up—
his feet left the ground, rising higher,
until his head nearly brushed the ceiling.
After a few moments of flailing, his limbs went limp.
[Every celebration needs decorations, doesn’t it?]
[Hehe.]
[The performance may not have begun, but let’s save it for our final winner.]
Only two remained now—
me, and the boy in glasses who had asked that earlier question.
I can’t use the same trick again.
The ghosts who’d been meant to “perform” and the boy in glasses all stared silently at me.
If I called a number and it matched—death.
If I hesitated too long—death.
My clenched fist on my thigh trembled uncontrollably.
Then—
“I forfeit.”
[Why’s that?]
The boy in glasses raised his hand and declared it calmly.
The radio’s tone turned sharp and suspicious, the cheeriness gone.
“There are others waiting to host their own games.”
…He must mean the ghosts on the lower floors.
[Ahh.]
[Oh my.]
Then the radio’s voice brightened again.
[Such a considerate participant!]
[You’re right—sending our guest away so soon would be a shame, wouldn’t it? So many games still await!]
Why?
Why give up for me?
In the novel, Dan Seo-hyuk killed you twice.
True, that was upstairs—but still.
I couldn’t take this as kindness from a ghost.
[Congratulations, dear visitor!]
[You are the final winner of the “Timing Game”!]
Click.
The door I’d entered through unlocked and opened by itself.
A sign that I could leave.
Moving stiffly, I straightened the chair I’d knocked over earlier.
The boy in glasses—
the ghost—didn’t look back at me, didn’t move, didn’t receive any punishment.
He’ll be fine… right?
He’s not human anyway. He’ll be fine.
I steeled myself and turned toward the open door—
What’s that?
Something plummeted past the classroom window at terrifying speed.
So fast, I couldn’t tell what it was—only that something had fallen.
Yet no sound followed. No impact.
Drawn like a moth, I stepped toward the window.
I had to see what it was.
[That is not a door, visitor.]
The radio’s voice stopped me.
[The exit is that way.]
The hallway door swung wider open, lights flickering to life in the once-dark corridor—
as if urging me to go, reassuring me it was safe.
I nodded faintly and started walking toward it.
Passing behind the boy in glasses, I hesitated—then whispered softly,
“…Thank you.”
“……”
No reply. Of course not.
I stepped out of the classroom.
“Hah…”
My legs gave out, and I collapsed.
Cold sweat soaked my clothes.
I really thought I was going to die.
My hand on the icy floor trembled pitifully.
Even deep breaths didn’t calm me.
But there was no time to rest.
Gritting my teeth, I used the wall to push myself upright.
As I headed toward the stairs, a whiteboard came into view again.
– Is your younger sibling on the ground floor?
The question I’d prepared.
I descended the stairs on shaking legs.
I don’t know how many “ground floors” there are here…
But to escape, I had to clear all of them.
Dan Seo-hyuk had cleared every game,
and when asked whether to use the auction house or leave immediately—he chose to leave.
Meaning, the novel never described the underground auction at all.
I don’t know how dangerous that place is—or what happens there.
But from the way the radio described it, it’s definitely not ordinary.
I reached the next floor.
Words were written clearly on the wall.
– X.
The answer I least wanted to see.
