Chapter 6
The empty hallway felt bleak and lifeless.
The group that had left the classroom moved forward in silence, careful not to attract any monsters that might be hiding nearby.
“Is all of this... blood?”
Kang Haneul’s mouth fell open as she stared at the bloodstains covering the hallway.
“Why the hell would I lie to you about something like this?”
At Lee Dohyun’s reply, Kang Haneul closed her mouth.
So it was all true.
She had assumed that all the talk about monsters had been at least somewhat exaggerated.
But seeing the gruesome scene spread before her eyes, she nervously bit her lip.
Fear finally began to creep in.
Still, she couldn’t exactly say she wanted to go back now.
Kang Haneul checked the time on her phone.
11:50 a.m.
Lunch break wasn’t far away.
Normally, the halls would soon be filled with people hurrying around to get something to eat.
But now, instead of people, the only thing filling the hallway was dark red blood.
No one knew whose blood it was.
For all they knew, it could belong to dozens of people.
Even so, they reached the end of the long hallway and arrived at the stairs without encountering a single monster.
Park Hyunwoo, whose tension had eased slightly, turned toward the others.
“...Hey. You said there was a monster. Where the hell is it?”
He was sure they had lied.
Still, he couldn’t start yelling and losing his temper like usual.
There was still the smallest possibility—
Just the slightest possibility—
That they had been telling the truth.
Even so, Park Hyunwoo wore the expression of someone who had clearly been tricked.
Han Siwoo glanced at him and calmly replied.
“We came in the opposite direction from where the monster was earlier. Why would we knowingly head toward the place where we saw it?”
Park Hyunwoo’s weak protest died immediately.
Even he seemed to realize he had nothing to say, so he simply glared at Han Siwoo in silence.
Nothing good would come from starting a fight here.
Kang Haneul quickly tried to change the subject.
“Y-Yeah. Anyway, it’s good that there aren’t any monsters here. There isn’t even any blood on the stairs.”
As she spoke, she ran her hand over the railing beside her.
Unlike the hallway, it was smooth and completely free of bloodstains.
No one answered her, but the hostile atmosphere softened a little.
Kang Haneul let out a small breath of relief.
Meanwhile, Han Siwoo leaned over the railing and glanced down toward the lower floor.
He held his breath and focused on listening.
Aside from the voices of his companions, he couldn’t hear anything.
Normally, this would have been the point where they turned around and went back.
But returning without learning anything at all felt like a waste.
“Should we go down?”
Park Hyunwoo stared at him in horror after hearing the muttered suggestion.
“Are you crazy?”
Kang Haneul looked at him.
“Then are we going back from here?”
“Obviously! We don’t even know what might be waiting down there!”
He was telling us not to lie just a minute ago.
Lee Dohyun clicked his tongue at Park Hyunwoo’s sudden change in attitude and placed one foot on the stairs.
“If you’re scared, go back by yourself.”
“You’re seriously going down?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Dohyun glanced back.
“I’d like to get out of a place where monsters are eating people as soon as possible.”
“Crazy bastard...”
Park Hyunwoo shook his head in disbelief.
Han Siwoo walked past him.
“Hey! Where are you going now?!”
At Park Hyunwoo’s shout, Han Siwoo turned while descending the stairs.
“I’m going down with Dohyun. If possible, I want to check all the way to the first floor. What about you guys?”
“……”
“I-I’ll go too.”
Kang Haneul spoke from behind the frozen Park Hyunwoo.
His expression immediately twisted.
His plan had been to use Kang Haneul as an excuse to turn back.
But now that even Kang Haneul, a girl, had volunteered to go, saying he would return alone would be humiliating.
Seeing Park Hyunwoo struggling with the decision, Lee Dohyun grinned mischievously.
“Sure, Hyunwoo. If you’re scared, what else can you do? You should go back.”
“W-Who said I’m scared?! Hah, seriously. Who are you calling a coward?”
What a simple-minded idiot.
Han Siwoo looked away from Park Hyunwoo.
“Then everyone’s coming, right?”
Instead of answering, they all nodded.
Then they began descending the stairs.
They had no idea what could appear or from where.
A single mistake from one person could potentially get all of them killed.
Naturally, everyone was tense.
The school was completely silent.
On the stairs, the only thing they could hear was the pounding of their own hearts.
Each of them desperately wished not to die.
And none of them wanted their own mistake to get the person beside them hurt.
With their lives placed in one another’s hands, they carefully continued downward.
When their feet finally reached the bottom, several restrained breaths quietly escaped.
Despite how nervous they had been, they had reached the first floor without much trouble.
“...This is the first floor, right?”
Park Hyunwoo, who had been walking at the rear, asked.
Han Siwoo nodded.
Relieved, Park Hyunwoo cautiously peeked into the hallway.
Other than the fact that there wasn’t a single person around, it looked exactly the same as it had that morning.
It didn’t seem like a monster was about to jump out from anywhere.
Of course.
Everyone must be hiding somewhere.
“Hey, seriously, just tell me already.”
Park Hyunwoo looked at the others.
“I won’t tell anyone. This is some kind of hidden-camera prank, right?”
If monsters truly existed, they should have run into one by chance on the way down.
But they hadn’t seen anything.
Not a monster.
Not even something that vaguely resembled a shadow.
Even all the evidence they had seen so far could have been staged by someone determined enough.
Lee Dohyun laughed in disbelief at Park Hyunwoo’s reaction.
“Have you spent your entire life getting tricked or something? Didn’t you see Han Seokwon die earlier?”
“Fuck! Maybe it was... CGI or something!”
“Sure. Let’s say it was CGI.”
Lee Dohyun pointed toward the far end of the long hallway.
“Then go walk to the end of that hallway and come back.”
Park Hyunwoo followed his finger and looked ahead.
