Chapter 254: Ch 254: Best possible course of action
Let’s put this in order.
Section Chief Lee Jaheon is trapped inside a ghost story about a lunatic
boarding school that conducts groom lessons.
He’s even been selected as a groom candidate.
And as preparation for the wedding, he’s been drawing out nearly a bowlful
of blood every night, so he’s expected to collapse in four days.
Lastly...
– ...The wedding is in four days, too?
"That is correct."
I’m going crazy.
’Why the heck are you so calm!’
He should know that in this kind of ghost story, a ’wedding’ is always the
kind of ending that gets censored out!
By sheer force of will, I pushed down the imminent rising feeling that was
crawling up the back of my neck.
Actually, I didn’t even need to hold it back. Right now I exist only as a
consciousness connected to Section Chief Lee Jaheon’s mind and have no
body. ...Not that what he has now could really be called a human body,
anyway.
In any case, first things first.
The blood.
– Couldn’t you receive an item from the Space Shopping Mall... Or rather,
from ’us’, and at least replenish the blood you’re lacking?
"Yes."
Then why!
...Of course, as expected from Chief Lizard, he had a reasonable and
logical explanation.
"If the effectiveness of the current method of bloodletting is deemed
insufficient, there’s a high probability it will order an even more life-
threatening act."
In other words, from the ghost story’s point of view, it would go, ’Why isn’t
this working? I should try another way,’ which might lead to it suddenly
draining all of his blood overnight...
That actually makes sense.
Still made me sigh though.
[That my friend must spend his time for such a dull, unimaginative blade
grunt, goodness!]
...?
Braun?!
Why is he... Wait a second. Even back in Sekwang City, Braun had been
classified as part of my consciousness structure and had accompanied me as
a VIP shopper at the Space Shopping Mall.
And this time too, I entered Section Chief Lee Jaheon’s body as nothing but
a spirit through an item made by the aliens who ran the shop.
The mechanism was probably similar.
If that’s the case... did he get the same classification?
[Oh, correct, Mr. Roe Deer! A very clever deduction.]
Y-Yeah...
The problem was this.
"Mr. Roe Deer."
Section Chief Lee Jaheon knew Braun very well.
Because he was the alien reptile who had destroyed half of Braun’s studio
in response to my item usage.
"Was that remark made by the host of the Late-Night Talk Show
Darkness?"
– Y...es, technically.
"I see. Do you need advice?"
– ...Uh, well. Would that advice be about removing him?
"Yes."
[Oh, I’m hardly surprised. Such taste and eloquence from the rude blade
grunt who bombed my studio and tried to kidnap my crew!]
I felt a knot in my stomach...
We’re in a crazy ghost story where the housemaster cuts open trainees’
soles and stuffs in sound-dampening pads because their footsteps were loud,
and now this is happening...
– ...Anyway, your current situation is more urgent, Section Chief, so I’d
prefer to talk about that later.
"Yes."
Because, literally, he’s set to die in four days.
This is insane...
After soothing Braun’s temper, I swallowed my sigh and thought.
It seems Section Chief Lee has absolutely no intention of yielding control
of his body.
Besides, the conditions are completely different from what I prepared for.
I came here to take the groom-training test in his place so he could pass, but
he’s already passed, become a groom candidate, and now needs to escape as
a formal trainee.
’That changes everything.’
Rather than choosing the ’answer key’ of this Groom Lesson ghost story, it
would raise our chances of rescue to dig into the structural loopholes behind
that answer key.
I immediately checked.
For now... The Dark Exploration Records only stated that, according to the
boarding school’s policy, one cannot leave the bedroom at night.
– Is it difficult for you to leave your room at night? If so, please explain
why.
"Yes. At night, structural anomalies appear throughout the building, and in
the areas without anomalies, there are watchers."
In other words, the nighttime boarding school is both a labyrinth twisted by
anomalies and patrolled by housemasters.
A nightmare if there ever was one.
– Have you ever gone out yourself? If so, please tell me the purpose and
where you went.
"Yes."
And then Section Chief Lee did not open his mouth.
...What?
But in the next moment.
Lee Jaheon ’told’ me.
"...!"
A shared chunk of information.
No. Perhaps it should be called memory, or sensation.
Unrefined visual, olfactory, tactile, auditory. These were sensory data values
poured directly into my thought system.
Like my own memory.
I was moving soundlessly through a dark hallway of the boarding school.
The curtain stirred, and the moment the patrolling housemaster began to
emerge from behind it, I hung from the ceiling with my body upside-down to
avoid the watchful gaze.
Controlling my strength so as not to damage the ceiling lights, I slipped my
hand into the grooves of the brick wall and moved again.
The destination was the main gate.
I knew.
During the experiential course of this boarding school ghost story, if one
was about to fail, there was a last-resort method: attempting to flee through
the main gate.
If the escape was successful, one would rarely awaken somewhere near
their home address... that fact could also be found recorded in the
Exploration Records>.
The same data appeared in Daydream Inc.’s database, so from the context, it
was clear that Section Chief Lee Jaheon had decided to try this method
based on that information.
But in truth.
There was no need.
’...Just knew, for some reason.’
I naturally understood that Section Chief Lee Jaheon—’we’—had reached
this judgment based on similar background knowledge.
Because it had been shared.
A shocking sense of unity.
– ...So this is how ’we’ share information?
"Yes."
Was this sort of process constantly happening among the reptilian aliens?
It was certainly not a form of information transmission a modern human
could comprehend.
No. It wasn’t transmission so much as the unification of experience itself...
Even so, my memory reassembled.
After a long, suffocating game of hide-and-seek combined with carefully
measured force, I...
I bit back a curse.
This damned boarding school had sealed every official entrance and exit.
No one could enter or leave.
I reached the location of the main gate.
It had taken 2 hours, 48 minutes, and 14 seconds from the dormitory to that
spot. If one abandoned sleep, it would be possible to try again.
But we knew there was no need.
Because where the main gate should have been—
—there was only a wall.
Night exploration terminated. Returning to the dormitory.
’Feels like the final Chapter of a horror game.’
It seemed the school had gathered all its groom candidates and entered
some kind of ritual phase.
While preparing for the so-called ’wedding’.
’Is that why the experiential course has ended?’
Besides, even if someone broke a door or tried escaping through a
window...
The area surrounding the school was shrouded in fog
and cliffs, encircled by a forest from which the sound of
the sea could be faintly heard. All explorers who tried to
flee that way had gone missing.
That was the ending.
In short, this ghost story was of a high-tier variety that was incompatible
with Section Chief Lee’s usual specialty, physical exorcism.
But an even greater problem lay here.
...This never happened before.
There was no record in the Dark Exploration Records describing Section
Chief Lee Jaheon, or any member of the D-squad for that matter, ending up
in a situation like this.
Was this a butterfly effect?
Because I entered, did the composition of the D-squad change, creating new
circumstances that placed Section Chief Lee Jaheon in danger of death?
...I had a very bad feeling.
Which meant I had to cooperate more actively to escape this ghost story.
– Thank you for kindly telling me.
"Yes."
Then, Lee Jaheon began drawing blood.
It was better to draw it now and at least get some sleep afterward than to do
it in the morning, but still, it made me uneasy.
’There’s too much of it.’
...Truly, even to the eye, his hand looked paler, as though the skin itself had
lost its color.
A sense of crisis about survival.
Sharing the same body made it all the more vivid.
’I need to find a way out as soon as possible.’
As Lee Jaheon lay down to sleep and my consciousness blurred along with
his, I resolved to gather more information tomorrow...
And the next day.
[The menu looks rather stale today.]
At breakfast, what was served was lily-of-the-valley blooms, an apple,
and... a boiled brain.
The apricot-colored sauce dripped over the fully intact brain, its shape
completely visible.
’Please, no.’
Fortunately, it appeared smaller than a human’s. Haah...
I felt like crying outright, doing my best to avert my mind from the taste of
the brain. Maybe I should’ve been grateful that it wasn’t something I had to
slice and eat myself...
’Focus...’
I tried to gather other information visible through Section Chief Lee
Jaheon’s eyes.
First priority... the trainees.
The silhouettes seated around the long table numbered well over twenty, but
their attire made them distinguishable.
Around a dozen wore coarse shirts and trousers that looked even plainer
than the neat, modest uniforms reserved for groom candidates.
’Those must be the experiential trainees.’
The people caught up in the ghost story.
Since no new trainees are being accepted, it seems those still here are the
ones who failed the previous course and have been forced to repeat this
experiential course.
...Among them, I saw that more than seven were in states of physical
mutilation that could only be described as torture. Some were even
performing those acts upon themselves.
Within the calm, orderly dining hall of the boarding school, grotesque
scenes were casually interwoven, as if they were part of the daily routine.
’...Huu.’
It was all the more chilling because of how eerily tranquil it was.
’...’
Stay calm.
Drawing an image of steady breathing in my mind, I shifted my focus to
other information within my field of vision.
This time, the other side.
’The groom candidates.’
Those wearing the same formal uniform as Section Chief Lee Jaheon sat at
the head of the table, speaking softly among themselves...
...Strangely, their faces appeared blurred.
No, it wasn’t just their faces, the brain refused to interpret any detail beyond
the outline of the uniform, as though rejecting the information itself.
Almost as if it were being censored.
[Oh, Mr. Roe Deer. Isn’t that a trait of this blade grunt?]
Trait?
[Here, we find the very reason this reptilian creature has no understanding
of art or aesthetics.]
[They possess a sensory system that interprets only what they deem
necessary. Oh, how arrogant and primitive!]
Wait.
So that means... the reptilian aliens of the Space Shopping Mall don’t
perceive sensory data they consider unnecessary.
’Isn’t that a contamination-prevention mechanism?’
Filtering out and accepting only what’s harmless.
Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Section Chief Lee Jaheon suffer from
contamination or even show signs of being affected by a ghost story.
It must have been a trait of ’us’.
’That explains it!’
Feeling one mystery resolve, I turned my attention away from the groom
candidates.
’So those over there aren’t human...’
Indeed, there were many ghost stories of facilities like this that were never
meant to accommodate humans in the first place, like the ’Manor of the
Blind’, or that exhibition ghost story.
’...So that’s why, up to now, there’s never been a case where someone not
only survived the trial program but was actually chosen as a formal groom
candidate.’
Perhaps Section Chief Lee, being not fully human but a reptilian alien,
managed to pass the selection.
’...’
For now, okay. I’ll remember that.
Next, I focused on the tall, slender silhouette seated at the very head of the
table.
The housemaster.
The instructor of this boarding school.
– Section Chief, would it be relatively safe to ask the training supervisor a
question about the wedding, as long as it isn’t too insistent? Please blink
once for yes, twice for no.
Lee’s vision closed slowly once, then opened again.
That’s a yes.
– Then, please ask this question.
The education housemaster was looking at me with a kind gaze.
I filtered out any questions that might sound like traps.
First, anything directly about the bride were off-limits.
Questions prying into the school’s structure were also off-limits.
So I settled on something more personal, something a trainee could
plausibly ask.
– Is it possible for a groom candidate to fail to stand at the wedding?
– Hmm... It must have been considered rude. One of the people who came
in with us... had his mouth sewn shut with a crochet hook... as a form of
’discipline’...
– Ah, someone once tried digging into who runs this boarding school got
expelled. Officially listed as ’missing in the forest’. There were rumors he
got a bonus from the Research Team for asking that.
Lee Jaheon voiced my question.
And the education housemaster kindly yet sternly gave an answer.
However, I could not express it in plain words.
Though the response was delivered audibly, my mind perceived it not as
spoken words but as a long, elegant prose entry, like a diary excerpt from
classic literature.
It was a truly bizarre coercion, similar to when I myself had struggled to
speak naturally and could only communicate in fragmented phrases.
Yet, in keeping with the theme of this ’Groom Lesson’, the education
housemaster’s words entered my mind in an elegant, refined tone.
That...
In essence, all groom candidates, except for one, are eliminated.
’...!’
– Then, what happens to the groom candidates who are eliminated?
The education housemaster answered kindly, as though soothing the anxiety
of a trainee fearful of failing to become a groom. The supervisor once again
emphasized the generous motto of St. Anticus Boarding School.
Encouragement and assistance.
Even for those who are not formal trainees but merely applicants for the
experiential course, the school does its utmost to teach the virtues of a
groom.
And even now, though the groom candidate position has already been
already filled, the education housemaster was graciously allowing the
experiential trainees to continue their trial program until completion.
They too would attend the wedding.
The same applied to the groom candidates who were eliminated.
No. Rather, according to the education housemaster, those eliminated
candidates would actually play an even more important and honorable role
in the wedding.
– May I ask what that role is?
The education housemaster readily described it.
They would become wedding mementos.
Beautiful works of art symbolizing the groom’s growth, existing as part of
that art, an essential component of the ceremony itself accompanying the
wedding from beginning to end.
And once the ceremony concluded, they could be distributed to the guests
as gifts of gratitude...
They will be eternal keepsakes to remember the wedding by.
...
...
– Thank you.
The education housemaster praised my polite expression of gratitude and
asked the groom candidates to say their grace.
So, as the groom candidates who had just finished breakfast gracefully
offered their congratulatory remarks, I thought to myself.
’We’re fucked.’
So that’s how it is. Fail and you become a souvenir, pass and you become
the groom.
Becoming the groom might be the better option, but honestly, I had a
feeling people would still say, ’It would’ve hurt less to just become a
memento.’
Either way, it’s the same gutter...
’Damn it!’
During the short break after the morning class, I urgently asked Section
Chief Lee Jaheon to excuse himself to the restroom and spoke.
– If you can’t escape by the day of the wedding, would you consider
launching a Sacred Fire bombardment?
It seemed like the clearest answer.
At this rate, everyone here was going to die anyway.
Better to rain down sacred fire and cause chaos. Maybe a few could even
survive that.
Then we could head for the safehouse, couldn’t we?
But...
"Yes."
...?!
– Other than the possibility of casualties, is there another reason?
"Yes."
– Please explain.
"Yes. It is more economical for us to abandon the Lee Jaheon entity."
– ...
Wait.
– When you say ’economical’... what do you mean?
"Currently, the place where Section Chief Lee Jaheon is isolated has lost its
connection point to reality, making energy input difficult."
...
"In this situation, if we were to locate the site and execute a Sacred Fire
bombardment, the cost would exceed the value of Lee Jaheon’s identity and
body."
In other words.
Since every route of entry to this place had vanished, it would cost even
more than when I escaped from the Late-Night Talk Show Darkness...
But if that’s the case.
– Doesn’t Section Chief Lee Jaheon earn plenty from Daydream Inc.?
Considering your future value, I mean.
"We can substitute it with a cheaper alternative than a Sacred Fire
bombardment."
– ...
What a bizarre judgment.
These reptilian aliens—who collectively call themselves ’we’—seemed to
treat Lee Jaheon, an individual that’s one of their own, merely a small part
of their collective body...
Even Lee Jaheon himself seemed to think that way.
Like a single honeybee in a massive hive, or a single cell in a vast living
organism.
Was it because they shared all experiences and information?
[That’s what’s known as a hive mind, Mr. Roe Deer! Though it’s a concept
born from twentieth-century science fiction, doesn’t it fit rather well?]
[Of course, someone as fascinating and multifaceted as you can’t be blamed
for failing to understand such creatures, Friend!]
...
I don’t know.
But still.
– Section Chief.
The one I want to rescue is you, Section Chief Lee Jaheon of the D-squad.
– You do want to live, don’t you? I’m asking about your will, not ’ours’.
A moment of silence.
Then.
"Yes."
Good.
– Then let’s do our best.
I desperately began piecing things together.
The information I’d gathered today: the trainees, groom candidates, the
housemasters, the questions, the wedding, and ’us’...
’Us’.
That filtered field of vision when looking at the groom candidates.
– ...Section Chief, it’s true that you’re relatively resistant to contamination,
isn’t it? Compared to the usual employee of Daydream Inc.’s Field
Exploration Team, I mean.
"Yes."
...Then maybe.
Something just came to mind.
[Oh!]
It was an insane idea, but...
– If you’re unwilling to hand over physical control to me, would you at
least be able to follow my instructions exactly as I give them?
"Yes."
– Thank you.
– Then first of all, starting tonight, don’t draw any more blood. And after
that...
And then...
I continued explaining, feeling like I wanted to gulp down hard.
– Would you consider temporarily transferring physical control, not to me,
but to someone else?
"Who is this ’someone else’?"
Well...
The thing is.
– ...To the Late-Night Talk Show host, Braun.
[Oh?]
It sounded utterly insane.
But it was the best possible course of action.