Chapter 7
Suho received Ha-rim's call and gathered the other members. Him, who is big, played a role in relieving the anxiety of the team members when Ha-rim, the president, was not there.
The school was located within walking distance. However, it did not make sense not to run into a single person even for a short time on the way to school.
Despite the sense of incongruity as if it were a ghost town, the members did their own roles. Suho took the lead, Kyeong-min wrote down something on his notepad, and Eun-jeong carefully looked around to see if anyone was there.
"Are there people at school?"
Eun-jeong asked. Kyeong-min answered by raising his slipped glasses.
"I don't know. Normally, there would be a security guard or a teacher, but seeing that even the police can't be contacted, it's serious."
Eun-jeong's expression darkened. Suho patted her on the shoulder and reassured her.
"Don’t worry too much. Let’s think about what to do once we join with Ha-rim."
Suho and the members pondered for a moment whether to wait for Ha-rim in front of the school or inside. And when there was an opinion that it would be better to check whether a teacher is present, Suho nodded his head and entered the front gate first.
It was then. He saw someone on the side of the garbage dump at the back of the school. The outfit is that of a security guard.
"There is a security guard!"
"Good. Let's ask why we can't see anyone before Ha-rim comes."
They followed the guard and entered the garbage area.
There was no one there.
"He's not here?"
When Suho tilted his head in doubt, Kyeong-min pointed to the open back door and said that it seemed that he had gone inside. There was no other place to go, so they entered the school. Eun-jeong touched Suho's arm.
"Suho. Look, There are dirt footprints on the stairs."
"Really, did the security guard leave it there?"
Dirt footprints on the stairs going upstairs, it's strange. Normally, even when children go up the stairs, they don't get this dirty, and strangely, there seemed to be a lot of footprints. It seems that he went back and forth several times while working. Patrolling seems to be hard work.
"If we can't find him upstairs, let's go back down and go to the principal's office."
After the members agreed, Suho climbed the stairs. There were footprints on the second floor as well, but they ended in the hallway. And the window next to the spot where the footprints were cut off was open. Eun-jeong looked out the window and said.
"Did he go out the window?"
"No way."
Thump!
Suho's words were cut off for a moment. He reflexively turned his head in the direction of the sound. The back door leading to the downstairs garbage dump. That's where is coming from.
Thump! Thump! Thump!Thump!Thump!
They heard the sound of several heavy people running. The noise was loud, so the children took a step back without even realizing it. Are people running? Then what is this uncomfortable feeling?
On the stairs at the end of the hallway, the guard's face popped out. Then he rushed at the children, dragging his body with twelve legs.
Suho shouted.
"Run away!!!"
Thump! Thump! Thump!Thump!Thump! Thump! Thump!
"oebuyiyiineueueunjug!!!"1
"!!!!!!"
Everyone ran in terror.
"Where! Where do we go!?"
"Downstairs! Go downstairs!"
As soon as Kyeong-min said that, he ran downstairs. But before he even went halfway down, he bumped into something.
It was a tattered corpse, as if it had been eaten bit by bit by a small animal. A bloody piece of flesh from which the eyes, nose, and mouth were gnawed. Even so, he could tell that it was smiling at them.
"Ah... Go up!! We have to go up!!!"
The children busily heads upwards again. Eun-jeong screamed at the footsteps of something pretending to be a security guard getting closer and closer.
3rd floor.
"No, it'll catch up!"
Suho said it screaming.
"Maybe we can buy some time if we go into a classroom! The desk will slow it down!"
Kyeong-min said so. With a body that big, it's going to slow you down. However, it was common to lock the door of the classrooms to prevent theft.
"But if it's locked-"
"I heard that the 6th grade class 3 on-duty guy was very forgetful and often didn't lock it!"
Eun-jeong who speaks despite being almost in tears.
Her words gives hope. By the way, what do they do after slowing down the monster?! Suho doesn't know. For now, he ran upstairs to live. 4th floor.
A place shared by 5th and 6th graders. He rushed straight to the 3rd class of the 6th grade. But Kyeong-min, who has good eyesight, saw something outside the window. It was Ha-rim running from the side of the playground. She pointed to her pocket and shouting something.
"... Th... pock... Chec... Hem..."2
He can't hear it. It's too far.
"Ha-rim is outside!"
"I don't have time to look now!"
A monster is chasing them right now!
"Neoheeyiyiyiyidododuyiyiyiyi!!!!!"
Suho prayed for the door of the 6th grade 3rd class to be open, and then pushed with force.
Bam!
it wasn't locked. The children hurriedly entered the classroom. Before he had time to lock it again, the guard who was chasing them pushed his body through the door.
"Yinoooomdeu!!! Jabassdaaa!!!!!"
Suho was opening the door at the other end of the classroom. The guard stepped over the desk with his heavy body and fell down. However, even as he fell, he grabbed Eun-jeong's ankle, who had fallen behind. She was slowly being dragged away.
"Kyaaaah!"
Suho picked up a chair and slammed at the guard's hand.
"Let go! stop, release her!"
In an extreme situation, Kyeong-min's head suddenly spinned in order not to miss even a little bit of clue. Ha-rim's message flashed by his mind. She was clearly emphasizing the pockets.
Kyeong-min rummaged through his pockets. There was a small hand mirror.
'When the hell this got here?'
"Urgh!"
Even Suho was caught in the guard arms. There is no time to hesitate. He has to do something!
The moment he was about to throw the mirror at the guard. The guard stopped after being reflected on it.
"...?"
The guard was looking in the mirror. As if there is something else in there. And- slash!
The guard's neck snapped and fell. A fountain of blood gushes out. Eun-jeong and Suho, who had been caught, hurriedly escaped to avoid it.
"What the hell is this..."
Kyeong-min looks into the mirror. Inside there was something that gave him fear. A nightmare he thought they barely escaped. A crazy girl ghost. Ella.
"Hello~?"
"Ah..."
"Ah?"
"Aaaahhh!"
Kyeong-min threw the mirror and broke it.
POV Switch - Ella
I didn't expect him to break the mirror right there. Fortunately, I moved to the full-length mirror, which there's one in each class, so I didn't have to go back to Ha-rim's hand mirror. Kyeong-min, this bastard... Let's glare at him! He whimpers and cower. I shouldn't be doing this, but it's fun.
"Um... Are you following us?"
"I remember you. Aren't you the guy who threw the wine bottle at Ella?"
Kyeong-min, who gathered the courage to speak up, cowered once again. I have to stop playing. But how do I explain it so that you understand it well? While I was thinking about it, Ha-rim came into the classroom. She was out of breath from running all the way home to here.
"Haa... Haa... Just like Ella said... Haa... I got around and came in through the back door of the garbage area..."
"Good job."
Fortunately, it seems that she didn't encounter any other monsters.
The eyes of the children are focused on Ha-rim, who is talking to me casually. I will have to leave the explanation to her. It's absolutely not because it's annoying. No.
Ha-rim looked at me and started explaining to the children about me helping. However, it was said on the premise that Ha-rim herself and the members should prepare gifts and games for Ella.
The members still have doubts in their eyes. Ha-rim sent me a signal asking me to stay still.
"Listen, don't be surprised. This is not the world we used to live in. According to Ella, this is a world full of monsters. A place where monsters might attack us just like before."
We fell here.
The atmosphere gets cold.
"It can't be! How did we end up in a place like that?"
"Do I have to live with monsters forever?!"
Mainly, Suho and Eun-jeong were greatly shaken. It seems that even Kyeong-min, who has maintained his composure in everything, could not stand it this time. Yes, this is a normal reaction. Ha-rim who got over this so quickly is the strange one.
What a mess this is. It's good that the story moves quickly though...
"Sigh..."
Let's signal it by making uncomfortable sounds and squinting our eyes. Ha-rim was startled and offered her chocolate to me. No, I didn't mean to ask for chocolate. Chomp, chomp... What do you look at people as... Chomp, chomp...
"Guys, no matter what the future holds, we have to survive. Let's calm down for a moment!"
"..."
The children's confusion subsided. The club president. It doesn't seem to be a job for everyone. Ha-rim calmly continued her explanation.
"Because we are Ella's friends, Ella said that she would help us survive. We lived right now thanks to her. Do you see what I mean?"
"Huh?"
"We. Are. Friends. Right?"
"Yes! You're right, we're Ella's friends. Hahaha."
Kyeong-min, you can't act. I barely managed to hold back my laughter. After becoming Ella, it was hard not to laugh or ridicule someone. It feels like even my brain became like Ella's.
I've heard absurd stories about transplanting a depressed patient organs to someone else and making them depressed, but compared to that, the whole body was changed, so I think it's a virtue the personality hasn't disappeared.
"I'll explain more later. The priority right now is to follow Ella's word and survive."
The other kids looks with doubt in their eyes. They seem to think I'm more dangerous than any other monsters right now. However, it's true I just saved them, so they had no choice but to silently obey my words.
"I'll tell what to do first."
I materialized outside the mirror for a moment. The kids were shocked, but I didn't want to pay attention to them right now. I put my hands on the corpse of the guard monster. Like Slenderman's case, it began to turn into smoke and got absorbed by me.
By feeling, I can tell the time of materialization increased.
After the corpse disappeared, something fell. A glowing white talisman.
"Exterminate the monsters and find these talismans, of course."