Surviving Among the Entities

『Classical? Why learn that pussy stuff instead of something good?』
『Ah, ah, Beethoven……]』
『Shut up and die.』

American Lee’s shotgun spewed fire.
With the music teacher’s head blown off, they succeeded in neutralizing the final exam entity.

“Let’s go back to the bulletin board!”

The bulletin board they returned to seemed to have encountered an error, with the text garbled.

[GraduateGraduateGraduateGraduate]
[Don’tDon’tDon’tDon’t]
[Exam Subjects: NoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNone]
[We’llAllLiveHereTogether]
[TheSchoolIsAHomeANurseryTheStartOfLifeANest]

“Since the entity was just born, there’s growth potential, but conversely, there’s also a high chance of being able to destroy it.”
“Judging from the error, it definitely doesn’t seem normal.”
『Doesn’t this seem a bit off to you?』

From behind the group, someone revealed themselves.

“You guys, haven’t dealt with it yet?”
“Master…?”
“Yes, it’s your master.”
“No, what is this!? Why did you suddenly regain your youth!?”
“Kehkeh! I attained enlightenment, what else?”

The grizzled, martial arts-savvy agents welcomed Kim Go-deuk.

“Did you undergo a complete rebirth!?”
“No, my friend! This is regaining youth! A complete rebirth refers to restoring one’s body to its prime, doesn’t it!”
“Why would regaining youth use the character for ‘child’? That’s for becoming a child! Partially regaining youth is a complete rebirth!”
“That’s right! Agent Go-deuk must have partially regained his youth to his early 50s!”
“You’re both right, so don’t fight. I’ve undergone a partial rebirth and partially regained my youth.”

Having dealt with matters outside and rejoined them in the main building, he was surprised to see Kim Mi-ri.

“Huhuh! You’ve grown even stronger than me!”
“Heheh, it just happened.”
“You’ve truly matured. Your aura is practically piercing the heavens, ready to erupt at any moment! However, your spiritual enlightenment is still lacking, so your mind and body have yet to fully integrate. You must continue diligently cultivating.”
“I, is that so?”
“But living on, there will come a day when you attain enlightenment. Enlightenment slips further away the more you cling to it, so don’t dwell on it and simply focus on your cultivation.”
“Yes!”

At that moment, the building’s structure changed.
In the blink of an eye, the stairs vanished, becoming a straight corridor.

“It really does seem like they’re luring us in, doesn’t it?”
“It would appear so. If we don’t proceed, we can’t accomplish anything, so we have no choice but to go along with it.”

They moved down the corridor. At the end, opening the iron door revealed the gymnasium.

“…Ugh.”

Kkadeuk-deuk! Bbadeuk-deuk!

The sound of something being chewed and swallowed, bone and all.
In the center of the gymnasium, they encountered a massive figure devouring something.

‘An entity?’

The burly man’s arm bore a yellow armband with the words “Student Affairs Teacher” written on it. Upon the agents’ arrival, he finished his meal and wiped his mouth.

『Whew, not quite as good as students, but teachers are pretty tasty too. Packed with vigor.』

The being was a teacher over 2 meters tall, dressed in a shirt.
However, his mouth was grotesquely torn, revealing sharp fangs between the gaps.

『By the way, what are you lot doing out during class hours? A bunch of delinquents, I see.』

This must be the student affairs teacher mentioned in the broadcast.
The student affairs teacher slowly approached the agents. The metal hockey stick in his hand brightly reflected the light.

『Corporal punishment. First, I’ll batter you into mincemeat, then……』
『Make America Great Again.』

Flames spewed from the hockey stick’s barrel. American Lee, having fired his shotgun, clicked his tongue as he spoke.

『I figured as much.』
『…So it’s you?』
『A guy with such a hugely fucking solid core, huh?』
『The one who smoked a cigarette in the gymnasium?』
『To kill a bastard like this, I’d need a Scud missile?』

The student affairs teacher’s eyes turned bloody red.

『This piece of trash, daring to smoke within these sacred school grounds!?』
『Well, I got your attention?』

In the meantime, Kim Mi-ri had already taken her stance. Extending her palm, she shouted:

“Cheonmahyeonggong-to!”

Accompanied by a blinding azure radiance, a powerful gust swept up the student affairs teacher.
The palm strike was so powerful that it not only demolished the gymnasium but also fully exposed the outside before extending into the sky above the school.

“In unifying the realm, I realized this: Do not hesitate to use all means at your disposal. Holding back only leads to stagnation.”

Unfortunately, the palm strike was unable to breach the exterior boundary and dissipated in mid-air.

“And sneak attacks are always justified.”
“…Disciple, why are you speaking like that? You’re not some old fogey.”
“Ah! I didn’t mean to! I just got too immersed!”
“Well, you’ve grown strong. In terms of inner energy alone, you’ve surpassed me. But you’re still immature.”

Kim Go-deuk raised his guard.

“The enemy hasn’t died yet, and you’re already celebrating. How careless.”

From the hazy dust, the student affairs teacher emerged, cracking his neck.

『School property destruction penalty: +100 points.』

With each word he spoke, his appearance gradually transformed.

『Running in the hallway penalty: +50 points.』

His entire body had grown twice as large as before.

『Skipping class penalty: +50 points.』

His arms had multiplied into three pairs.

『Smoking on campus penalty: +200 points.』

His eyes had multiplied into six.

『Violence against faculty penalty: +1,000 points.』

His abdomen split open, revealing a massive maw.

『Total penalty: 1,400 points, earning you a ‘Teacher’s Snack Time.’』
“That’s quite a fearsome punishment.”

The agents drew their respective weapons.
Kim Go-deuk took his stance, as did Kim Mi-ri, while American Lee chambered his shotgun wherever he could find cover.

“Still, it’s fortunate it’s not a gimmick-type entity.”
“I agree.”

The chambered shotgun spewed flames.

『You seem like knowledgeable friends.』

『Information gathering complete. I have extracted and compiled the ghost story-related portions from SNS, text messages, and call logs, and will print them out separately.』
“Thank you. Ah, no need to go slowly. Please proceed quickly.”
『Understood.』

The information Sarang had collected was printed onto the screen at an incredible speed.
Even the enhanced visual acuity granted by the “Dried Friendship” could barely keep up with the pace, making it impossible to read and comprehend the content.

『Finished.』
“Thank you.”
『Then, I hope you remain unharmed……』

Sarang’s battery depleted.
After storing Sarang in my infinite pocket, I took out something else.

“Shall I review the information, then?”

I grasped a small strip cut from the “Notebook in My Mind” between my fingers.
The content I wanted to record was “The ghost story information shown by Sarang,” and with that thought, all the information that had flashed by at an incomprehensible speed now rose to the surface of my memory.

Not sequential processing, but the memory itself being engraved into my brain all at once.
Therefore, even though I couldn’t properly read it, I could grasp all the content simultaneously and successfully locate the specific information I wanted.

[Do you remember the Ghost Story Club? The president back then was incredibly handsome.]
[I remember too. I tried to join the club but ended up not being able to in the end.]
[Because of the Ghost Story Club, ghost stories became a trend at our school for 3 whole years.]
[That’s right, it was nothing but ghost story talk everywhere. I remember it was fun back then, but thinking about it now, it was a bit strange. Wasn’t it a bit too much of an obsession?]
[Exactly. How could we only talk about ghost stories for 3 whole years?]
[I asked the underclassmen, and they said ghost stories and such disappeared after we graduated?]

Conversations among graduates reminiscing about No Named’s school days.

[The ghost stories that senior told were really strange and unfunny.]
[Really? I heard he only created the Ghost Story Club but didn’t actually make any ghost stories himself?]
[No, I heard one on the very first day the Ghost Story Club was created?]
[What kind of ghost story?]

The content of the ghost story he supposedly created.

[There was a model student at our school who was about to graduate. But their body was so frail that they lived in the nurse’s office every day. Still, their academic passion was immense, so they studied diligently even there. The teachers also liked this student, so they would specially visit and teach them separately.]

The background was the nurse’s office, which I had initially dismissed as insignificant.

[That model student’s only hobby was creating ghost stories. They enjoyed listening to them and making them. Then one day, they were brought to the nurse’s office again after collapsing at school, and on that particular day, they realized their body was in terrible condition. Why, don’t dogs instinctively sense when they’re about to die? Similarly, the model student realized the moment of their own death was approaching.]

The protagonist of the ghost story was a model student who listened well to the teachers.

[Coincidentally, the nurse wasn’t there at that time, so in the end, the model student died coughing up blood. As they died, they thought, ‘I want to keep attending this school, even if it’s as a ghost. I haven’t graduated yet, I don’t want to end like this.’]
[So?]
[That’s it. Not a ghost story at all, just a gloomy, ominous tale. That was the only ghost story created by that person, the one who founded the Ghost Story Club. What was his name again? I forgot.]
[Wow, how dull. I guess he just didn’t have the talent to create ghost stories, only listen to them?]

The story ended not as a ghost story but as a depressing, eerie tale of something that had actually happened.

“If the ghost story created by No Named is the most outstanding information body?”

If his hobby was creating ghost stories, and after becoming an entity he gained the ability to literally ‘create’ ghost stories, then a single outstanding entity capable of spawning multiple derivative entities could be completed.

“The subject is a model student.”

One who listens well to the teachers.

“Then could the reason Dr. Janus appeared in the nurse’s office have been to make the entity perceive him as the nurse teacher?”

Deceiving it as a teacher to tame the entity.
Such a method would likely be effective since the created entity is a model student.

“They say ghosts become corrupted the longer they linger in the living world.”

If the reason it no longer works after some time is because the model student entity became corrupted due to the resentment of failing to graduate from the school, then everything falls into place.

“While it may not be the case, the only neutralization method that comes to mind for now is just one.”

I exited and walked down the corridor. Among the various clubs, I entered the “Machine Repair Club” as I thought I might find what I needed there.

“Found it.”

Amid the various scattered items, there was a decent plastic rod that I decided to use.

“Good.”

Similarly, from the discarded trash on the floor, I found a mostly unused black insulating tape and wrapped it around the rod’s tip.

“Discipline is essential for acting as a teacher.”

『Everyone! I’ve heard that the master of school ghost stories is the student!』

Amidst the chaotic bustle of activity, Shin Yeong-mun shouted out.

“What?”
“What did you say?”
“Pardon?”
“What are you saying?”

Numerous agents were dashing about like madmen. By now, confronting the student affairs teacher, whose body had swelled into a massive mound of flesh with twenty whip-like arms, two faces, and flames spewing from its mouth, was an impossible task.

『Loud disturbance penalty: +50 points.』
『It’s advice from the shadow that appears in my ability! The master of school ghost stories is the student!』
“Hmm, so the master of the ghost stories here is the student?”
“Isn’t it the actual student, without any distortion? All the entities we’ve encountered so far are derivative entities, and the main entity creating them is a student entity!”
“But does that give us a means of neutralization?”

Kim Mi-ri spoke up.

“All students fear their teachers. Any student who doesn’t fear their teacher to that extent has either dropped out already or doesn’t attend school at all. At least, that was the case during the era when ghost stories were rampant at this school.”

Another agent supported her opinion.

“Indeed, the school’s atmosphere and style seemed old-fashioned. In those days, teacher authority was strong, so students were well-behaved towards their teachers!”
“So you’re suggesting we pretend to be teachers to that monster?”
“I’ll do it.”

Kim Go-deuk stepped forward.

“Listen up! Student Affairs Teacher! I forgot to mention it, but I’m actually the new vice-principal visiting this time!”

The entity’s movements came to a halt.

‘This seems to be working?’

Just as everyone was starting to have hope, the entity let out a roar.

『Impersonating faculty penalty: +500 points!!!』

Its attacks had become 1.5 times faster than before.

“Damn! It’s not working!”
“Could it have the peculiarity of detecting lies?”
“Isn’t that a variability?”
“Since it’s an entity’s ability, it’s a peculiarity. In any case, some entities do possess the ability to discern truth from falsehood, so it must have realized Master isn’t actually a teacher!”

One agent suddenly raised their hand.

“I have a teaching certificate!”
“Then please, go ahead!”
“Understood!”

The agent stepped forward.

“I’m a teacher newly assigned to Deokcheon High School!”
『…….』

The silence lasted even longer than before.

『You are not a true teacher.』
“Pardon?”
『Where can one find a teacher who does not consider themselves a teacher! Impersonating faculty penalty: +500 points!!!』

Its stature had doubled in size.
Having grown too large, the gymnasium collapsed. Before that, the agents had swiftly evacuated to the schoolyard.

『Impersonation! Impersonation! Impersonation! Corporal punishment!』
“This is madness!”

Even Kim Go-deuk’s strengthened martial arts,
Even Kim Mi-ri’s matured martial arts,
Even American Lee’s attacks aimed at its core – none of it worked.

“Well, I’ve never seen such chaos before.”

At that moment, Seung-hoon appeared in the schoolyard, leisurely strolling with his hands behind his back.

『A student!? Skipping class during school hours!』

Towards the massive mound of flesh that was the student affairs teacher, he offered a greeting.

“Hello there? I’m Seung-hoon Lee.”

In one hand, he held a rod wrapped in black insulating tape.

“Just an ordinary teacher.”