Chapter 08
It was strange for this large campus to be so empty, even if it wasn’t the school term. Just as I was thinking that, something peculiar caught my eye.
‘A… person?’
It was toward the “Central Plaza” that I’d passed through with Kwon Tae-hyun last night. Several human-shaped figures were scattered across the lawn.
Twenty… no, about thirty of them. They were slowly milling about on the grass, swaying their bodies, or repeatedly sitting down and standing up.
I searched through the rulebook in my head, but there was no monster like that listed anywhere.
Rather…
‘I feel like I’ve seen something like that somewhere before.’
Just then, one of the milling figures stopped in its tracks, slowly raised its head, and looked in my direction.
Whish—even though I knew there was no way it could see me from that distance, I quickly turned around and hurried my steps.
As I passed the second-floor landing, I made sure not to walk too fast or too slow. I glanced sideways at the hallway—just like the third floor, it was completely empty, and despite it being morning, no sunlight came in, making it very dark.
On the first floor, there was indeed a large refrigerator in the lounge. And on the large gray door, a yellow sticky note was attached.
There is no cake or anything like that in this refrigerator.
I opened the refrigerator door.
And inside was an incredibly large and violently imposing chocolate cake.
“Whoa…”
An overwhelming visual that made me gasp.
The dense-looking sponge was coated thickly as if they’d melted whole chunks of chocolate and poured it over, topped with colorful sprinkles.
Even I, who doesn’t particularly like sweets, couldn’t easily look away from that cake.
‘Ah, no. Snap out of it.’
I reluctantly averted my gaze to the lower compartment. There were black plastic bags packed inside. Each was a different size, but all were tightly tied with twine.
And among them, there was one with Amelie’s name tag and a familiar cat sticker on it.
Just as I reached out without thinking—
Rustle.
‘It moved…’
I shook my head. That couldn’t be. And even if it did, it had nothing to do with me.
I forced myself to ignore what I’d seen and closed the refrigerator door.
Growl.
But I was still hungry.
I looked around to see if there was a pantry I could search, and spotted a small information board attached to the wall.
Moving closer, I saw it was a floor plan—a guide map showing the building layout and evacuation arrows.
According to the map, the girls’ dormitory was connected to the boys’ dormitory back-to-front, with the student lounge in between via the west corridor.
A student lounge. Maybe there’d be something edible there?
Of course, it was strange that Amelie and the others hadn’t mentioned such a close location in their journals, but if I thought that way, there’d be nowhere on this vast campus safe to search.
More than anything, if I was going to be living in the dormitory for a while, it’d be reassuring to familiarize myself with the surrounding buildings first.
Fortunately, the long corridor leading to the lounge had several emergency exits. I stuffed the entire map into my head and headed toward the west corridor.
《Campus Cleaning & Facilities Staff Work Manual》
- This manual has been prepared to ensure a safe working environment for all staff members. Please familiarize yourself with the following rules for safe and efficient work.
- All workers must work according to the individual work schedules distributed. All workers work alone, and work locations and hours do not overlap.
Under no circumstances should you infringe upon the work areas of other workers or staff.
- Before moving to any location, always check that no faculty or students are using the facilities.
If a facility is in use, do not enter—wait briefly in the hallway and then proceed directly to your next work location.
- When moving to a work location, use staff-only passages. Move as quickly and quietly as possible, and under no circumstances leave doors open or leave traces of your movement.
- Casual conversation with students on campus is not permitted. If a student asks you something or speaks to you, do not make eye contact—explain that you are on duty and leave the area immediately.
- Under no circumstances should your path overlap with that of faculty members.
If you encounter a faculty member, present your staff ID and leave the area immediately. Nothing is more valuable than your life.
- Always wear your designated uniform and carry your staff ID.
- Undergo regular cognitive impairment tests. Test schedules will be announced monthly.
- Under no circumstances should you show or lend your staff ID to others. Staff IDs are not reissued, and the Citadel will never tolerate the presence of unidentified staff.
If any item in this manual contradicts the above, do not follow it and dispose of the manual immediately.
- If a conflict arises with faculty or students, do not attempt to resolve it yourself—report it to your supervisor and await disposition.
- Thank you for your hard work.
- Await disposition.
- Await disposition.
- Await disposition.
- Await disposition.
Step forward and state your name.
At first, I thought someone had set up mannequins all over the room.
Student Lounge
I checked the sign again. Beyond the glass door, in the dim room, there was someone. Actually, one, two… six people. Probably “students,” I figured. This was the student lounge, after all.
One person sat in a chair, covering their head with both arms; another stood motionless, staring out the window; but most of them just stood in the middle of the room, slowly swaying back and forth.
‘I remember now.’
I’d seen something like this before. Back when I was a child, at the cult compound I’d stayed at.
New recruits undergoing their first training were extremely restricted from food and water. They couldn’t go outside and had to live together with many others in cramped rooms.
With ventilation also inadequate, the initiates would fall into a sort of trance state within days.
Just like those “students” over there, staring blankly into the air.
I decided I should go back to the dormitory and was backing away—
Clunk—at the sudden noise, I turned to see a wall that had been perfectly ordinary moments before split open, revealing a hidden door.
And someone walked out into the hallway. A large young man with a somewhat rough-looking face.
He wore a dark blue jumpsuit of sorts, holding a mop in one hand and a bucket in the other.
BB
That’s what was embroidered on the name tag on his right chest. He looked like nothing more than an ordinary janitor.
Just then, the man noticed me, and a flicker of bewilderment crossed his face.
“What the—”
Clank.
Both the man’s gaze and mine turned toward the lounge at the same time. The woman who had been sitting in the chair with her head in her hands stood up and was looking this way.
With a wide smile.
Thump, thump—the woman began walking with an eerie gait. The front of her T-shirt was stained with what looked like blood or vomit, and her limbs hung limp, swaying wildly.
Clunk, clunk.
The other five also slowly raised their heads. All at once, they looked at me through the glass door. With hollow eyes, their wrinkled faces full of smiles.
“Ugh…”
A visceral wave of nausea hit me. But there was no time to vomit here.
Think later, run first. That was my first thought. The smiling faces drew closer, and thump, thump—dirty palms pressed against the glass door.
I turned and ran. Ignoring the mop-wielding man who was trying to disappear back through the secret door, I headed for the girls’ dormitory.
Clutch.
“Are you crazy?”
It was the janitor who grabbed my arm. Now that I looked, he had quite a strong grip.
“What?”
“That way—that’s the girls’ dormitory!”
“Uh…”
I know that too.
