That evening, as the sun began to set over the school.
We were still waiting inside the club room when the school broadcast suddenly crackled to life again from the hallway speakers.
[Announcement from the broadcasting room.]
"..."
[It is now 7:00 PM. As of 7:00 PM, the entire situation has been declared resolved.]
"..."
The club members who had been keeping watch by the windows and door immediately flinched and turned toward the speakers.
"What? What did it just say?"
"Eh… what does that mean?"
[Since the entire situation has been resolved, all teachers are requested to return to their respective posts.
Please help guide the students currently in the cafeteria back to the main building.
We repeat: It is now 7:00 PM. As of 7:00 PM, the entire situation has been declared resolved.]
"What the hell is this…"
"It's over? Just like that?"
We were all still tense and on high alert when the announcement suddenly came out of nowhere. The club members looked at one another with confused expressions.
Normally, announcements only played inside the main building. But this time, it seemed to have reached the cafeteria as well, because we could already hear the growing commotion outside — students starting to move.
"Joon, look out the window…"
I ran to the window and peered outside.
Sure enough — the second- and third-year students who had been hiding in the cafeteria were now walking back toward the main building in large groups, escorted by ordinary teachers.
"Does that mean… the monster was caught?"
"What the hell actually happened?"
The club members stared at me in disbelief, then looked outside again, still confused.
But I kept my gaze fixed straight ahead, my expression hardening.
"…It's just an illusion."
I said firmly, still watching the crowd of students returning.
"There hasn't been any message saying the ghost story has been cleared.
That means they're mistaken. This isn't over yet."
"Ugh… yeah, you're right…"
Gyeongwon showed a doubtful face. Deokhun placed his shield on the table and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
A moment later, Jinhee walked over and stood beside me, also looking out the window.
"Hey, shouldn't we go down too?
We need to find out what's really going on."
"She's right, leader."
Gyeongwon pushed his glasses up and added,
"Anyway, we won't learn anything if we stay here. We were hiding because of the teachers earlier, but now the upperclassmen are out too. They don't have any reason to arrest us."
From the window, hundreds of students could be seen crossing the field toward the main building.
While I was still staring at them, deep in thought—
*Tok tok.*
"....!"
We all jumped and turned toward the door at the same time.
It was Chaerin and Yeseul.
The two of them were peeking inside through the glass window in the middle of the club room door.
I immediately turned to Hayoon and whispered quickly,
"Hayoon, hide the gun!"
"Be— behind…"
Hayoon stepped back. Deokhun moved forward to block the view of Hayoon holding the shotgun.
Chaerin and Yeseul stood awkwardly outside, looking hesitant and confused.
I stared at them for a moment, then stepped closer to the door and asked from behind it,
"…What is it? Why did you come here?"
"Because… they said the situation was over…"
They answered while glancing at each other, still awkward and uncertain.
I let out a sigh.
"…If it's really over, then why didn't you just come down?"
"But…"
Through the glass, their faces showed clear hesitation.
After whispering to each other for a bit, Yeseul — the church girl — suddenly pressed her face against the glass, as if she had made up her mind.
"But I think… it would be much safer if we stayed here with you."
**BUAARRRR!!**
A shotgun blast exploded like thunder.
I was so shocked I fell backward.
"A-aaaakh!"
"W-what was that!?"
The shotgun — though we called it a shotgun, it was more like a pump-action — had gone off in Hayoon's hands and blown out the door's glass window… along with Yeseul's head.
*Kraak! Crang! Duar!*
"KYAAAHH!!"
"Why did you shoot!?"
"Are you crazy…?! Crazy!?"
The club members screamed and panicked, backing away while shouting.
But Chaerin — the class vice president who had been standing right next to the now-headless Yeseul — showed no reaction at all.
Instead, she gave a thin smile and slowly pushed her head through the shattered glass.
".....!"
"Hey, Lee Joon. I like you."
"I saw you during the presentation earlier… You were so cool. I fell for you. Want to date me? We can go to the library together and study."
At the same time, Hayoon calmly pulled the pump action, ejecting the spent shell, then racked it forward again to chamber the next round.
*Clek—ting…*
The empty shell clattered across the floor.
Then—
**BUAARRR!!**
With the same calm posture and unshakable composure, Hayoon blew Chaerin's head off as she poked it through the broken window.
*Krak—bruk.*
The sound of two bodies collapsing behind the door.
I was still trembling on the floor, not fully processing what had just happened, when Hayoon ran forward and unlocked the club room door with a sharp *cklek!*
In front of us, two headless girls' bodies were being dragged away from the door by something, leaving horrific trails behind.
They were being pulled by a disgusting mass of flesh that had wrapped around their lower bodies.
"…C-crazy…"
The two girls had already been infected by the creature the moment they knocked on the door. Only their upper bodies had remained intact to trick us through the glass.
Now their bodies were being dragged by the unknown mass of flesh down the stairs and out of sight.
A few seconds later, Hayoon came back inside the club room, still holding the shotgun with cold, controlled movements.
"I've been suspicious since earlier. They came too quickly."
"..."
"It was a trap. The broadcast just now — all of it was a trap."
"...!"
I swallowed hard and slowly got up from the floor.
At that exact moment, panicked voices erupted from outside.
It was the Church of the Void teachers, sounding frantic.
"N-no! It's not over yet! The broadcast was wrong! Return to your posts!"
"Hurry! Get back to the cafeteria!"
We immediately ran to the window and looked outside.
Down below, the teachers from the White School were desperately trying to stop the flood of students heading into the main building.
"But… didn't they just announce it was over?"
"That announcement was fake! It was a false broadcast!"
Vice Principal Jang Yeo-ok shouted in panic.
Even as they tried to close the main doors, students were already pouring in through the side and back entrances.
The Church of the Void teachers were running around in chaos, trying to block every access point. But the school building was too large, with too many connecting doors to the cafeteria. They didn't have enough people to stop everyone.
At the same time, something slowly began emerging from one of the lower-floor classroom windows beneath us.
A head.
We were on the upper floor and could only see the back of it, but we all immediately realized — it wasn't a normal human head.
There was only one person that old in this school. So we recognized it right away.
"Come on~ Our students can come upstairs~ Those teachers are just misunderstanding~"
".....!"
The principal from Shinmunhyeop appeared from a classroom window below and casually waved at the crowd of students.
"Come on in, everything's fine now~ The fire has been put out too~"
The murmuring grew louder…
"The school's a bit messy right now, so we don't need night study~ Just come in, grab your things, and go home~ I've already approved it. Just ignore the teachers outside~"
The words came from the principal himself.
The students immediately looked excited and started moving toward the entrances in groups.
"Eh, they said night study is canceled!"
"No way, seriously?"
"Wrong! That's not true, listen first—!"
The Church of the Void teachers tried desperately to stop them. But this time, even the ordinary teachers began joining in, pushing forward and creating even more chaos.
"Sorry, move aside for a second. The principal inside said everything's safe."
"N-no! The principal is being misled! You can't go in!"
"Huh? I'm a teacher too. I just want to check the situation myself. Why are you blocking us like this?"
As the chaos intensified, it wasn't just the principal — more heads began appearing from various classrooms, poking out and calling to the students.
"Kids~ Just come in~ Everything's over now~!"
"Grab your stuff and go straight home, okay~ Those teachers outside are just confused~!"
"Hurry up and come in~ No night study today~ Go home~!"
Teacher Han Ahri from science, Teacher Cha Yeeun from music, Teacher Oh Jeongho from math.
Even Counselor Ryu Jinah, who had been arguing with a gun earlier, poked her head out and called the students inside.
All of them — people who had already been absorbed by the creature earlier.
"Don't listen to the ones outside~ Just come in~!"
"Hurry up! Let's go home together~!"
"Seriously? No night study?"
"Whoa, nice. I'm going in first~"
"Come on in, everyone~!"
At the same time, the upperclassmen from the chemistry club — who we knew had been absorbed in the music room — also appeared from their classrooms, waving at their friends.
"We're already done, we were just waiting for you~ Our homeroom teacher said you can go straight home~!"
"Hurry up and come in, quick~!"
"Hold them back! Don't let them in!"
"No! Those aren't the real people!"
The Church of the Void teachers fought desperately to block the entrances, but because the voices were coming from fellow teachers, the students chose to believe what they wanted to hear.
As soon as a few impatient students slipped inside, hundreds more followed, breaking through the White School teachers' defensive line and flooding into the main building.
"Waaa~ I'm going in first~!"
"Whatever! If the teachers inside say it's fine, then I'm going in~"
"Stop them! Please stop them!"
From various classroom windows, the fake teachers laughed loudly, waving their hands while only showing their upper bodies.
"Come in, children~ Teacher missed you so much~ It feels like I'm going crazy~!"
"Come here quickly~ I'll hug you so tight~!"
"Come on~ Don't listen to those bastards! Just come in~ Hihihihi~!"
Their words grew more and more insane and terrifying.
But none of it reached the ears of the students who were already rushing inside.
We could only stand there, cold sweat soaking our bodies, watching helplessly…
…and then suddenly—
All the teacher heads that had been poking out of the windows abruptly *krek*—twisted 180 degrees upward.
They all turned at once and stared directly at our club room on the fifth floor.
"You.Punk.Over.There."
They spoke in perfect unison — flat, emotionless, as if a single entity was speaking through many mouths.
Then, one by one, the heads slowly withdrew back inside the windows with unnatural movements.
"...!!"
We flinched. Without needing any order, every club member instinctively raised their shields and ran out of the club room.
*Tatatatak—tat!*
"C-crazy! They're coming up here!"
"Where do we go now!? Leader!?"
"J-Joon…!?"
We stood in the fifth-floor corridor right in front of the club room, completely lost. Everyone was looking at me.
Even I hadn't decided where to run yet…
Just then — hurried footsteps echoed from the stairs below.
*Thud, thud, thud!*
"Shit, shit, shit! They're already coming up!!"
As we panicked and were about to run the other way—
Someone shouted from the stairs below.
"J-Joon! Joon!"
"...!"
"This way! Hurry!"
It turned out… that person was our homeroom teacher.
He stood on the stair landing, shotgun raised, shouting in panic while waving his hand.
At first I almost ran in the opposite direction, but when I saw that his body looked completely intact and undamaged—I froze.
'Normal? She's still human!?'
"I-I… I already knew all of this was going to happen! Believe me! Come here quickly!"
"...!"
"I know a safe place. We can hide there! I'll explain everything later…!"
"I'll tell you right now, hurry!"
Sweat pouring down his face, she kept glancing around nervously, constantly checking the stairs and hallway while urgently calling us over.
I checked once more that my homeroom teacher's arms and legs were still whole. Since we had no other choice and I also wanted to know more about this person, I finally gave the club members a small nod.
They still looked wary, but one by one they nodded quietly, as if agreeing.
"…Let's just try it."
"Yeah, let's go."
The club members moved first, walking quickly with narrowed eyes and shields raised, staying on guard.
When I tried to step forward, they simultaneously raised their hands, as if telling me to stay at the very back.
By the time we reached the stair landing, our homeroom teacher — who had already gone down to the 4th floor — turned around while pointing his shotgun in every direction, then gave us a reassuring nod.
"Come on! The 4th floor is safe!"
We quickly descended to the 4th floor. The moment our feet touched the hallway, the homeroom teacher had already run ahead toward the 3rd floor, patrolling briefly while aiming his shotgun around.
"The 3rd floor is safe too! Hurry over here!"
"..."
We kept following her, descending slowly while staying alert.
When we reached the stair landing leading to the 2nd floor, our homeroom teacher went down a few more steps, then looked back at me while pointing his shotgun down the lower hallway.
"There's nothing. It's safe. Joon! Come here for a second. There's something very important you need to know before the situation gets any worse…!"
She looked panicked. Her face was drenched in sweat.
But just as I was about to go down the stairs—
Sunah quickly stepped in front of me and shook her head firmly.
"Don't… Just talk from there…!"
"..."
"T-this… this is something that can't be heard by others! Joon, come here quickly!"
Our homeroom teacher kept calling me, her eyes nervous, her movements rushed. But the club members stood firmly in front of me like bodyguards, forming a protective formation and not moving an inch.
In the distance, sounds from the upper floors began to grow louder — footsteps, laughter, students starting to head up to their respective classrooms. Noisy, cheerful sounds that didn't match the atmosphere at all.
We were running out of time.
Our homeroom teacher was growing more and more panicked. He glanced downward, then up at the ceiling again, perhaps realizing they didn't have much time left.
After wiping the sweat from her forehead, she finally nodded slightly.
"Fine… All right. In that case, I'll just ask one thing first."
She took a deep breath, then stared at me sharply.
"Joon… D-did you throw the hinge at Teacher Choi Jeong-im's eye…!?"
"...?"
I stared at him for a moment… then nodded quietly.
At that exact moment, our homeroom teacher let out a long sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his chest.
"Be… because of that, I survived. Let me explain briefly there were several dangerous situations earlier… but that hinge you guys brought, well, it was just as worthless as your research topic garbage! It was so bad that it didn't even scratch Teacher Choi Jeong-im at all."
"Thanks to that, she only needed to lean against the outer wall for a moment to recover, and now she's back. Her eyes are wide open, and she's wandering around capturing other teachers again. They're all being absorbed into her body, entering with strange writhing movements while naked, like loyal dogs serving the creature named In Tae-sang."
"...!"
"And now… you're all going to enter my body too."
FWWAAAAGH—!!
The homeroom teacher suddenly expanded his body and lunged at us.
But thanks to our earlier preparation, Deokhun and Sunah were already standing in front and immediately blocked the mass of flesh with their shields.
Through the gap between the shields, the bald head of the homeroom teacher was clearly visible. At that moment, Hayoon fired the shotgun.
BUGGGHH—!!
The blast exploded like dynamite.
My ears rang instantly piiiiiiing~ and once the ringing began to fade, we saw that the homeroom teacher was now just like before: only a limp, headless body remained, being dragged away somewhere just like Chaerin and Yeseul earlier.
" Prez Over in that corner!"
Gyeongwon, still covering his ears, pointed to one corner of the stairs.
I narrowed my eyes and looked there was something like an umbilical cord, very thin but clearly visible, stretching out from the homeroom teacher's pants and extending far downward, slipping through a crack in the wall.
'Shit… From the very beginning, that bitch came here to trap us.'
All that "escorting" down to the lower floors earlier wasn't to keep us safe it was to keep us in a specific line of sight where we couldn't see the cord from behind.
'The teachers who poked their heads out of the windows earlier… they were all like that too. Umbilical cords, strings, or whatever they are connected from their real bodies.'
"Damn it, that scared the hell out of me!"
Jinhee snapped and immediately stepped forward, stomping hard on the long cord. But the cord was like elastic rubber it didn't budge at all and continued smoothly dragging the homeroom teacher's body downward until it disappeared into the darkness of the stairs.
We quickly regrouped into a defensive formation.
"Can you still hear? Are your ears okay?"
"U-uh… yeah, still okay."
"Sorry, Joon… I didn't expect that either."
Hayoon answered flatly, then quickly crouched down toward the shotgun that had been dropped by the homeroom teacher.
He checked the inside of the gun, pulling and pushing several small levers while frowning.
"Empty. Only two rounds left now."
"Two rounds… Shit."
I was still tapping my ringing ears then turned to the club members.
"Anyone hurt? Are you all okay?"
"We're fine, Joon…"
"Then get ready. We're going straight down to the teachers' room."
"The… teachers' room?"
While helping Gyeongwon, who was still sitting on the floor in shock from the gunshot, I thought quickly.
Teacher Choi Jeong-im had already launched her psychological warfare, and the Void Church had been dealt a heavy blow.
Now the students flooding into the main building would be absorbed one by one without end. The monster would take over the entire school.
And us… with only two rounds left, we had to find a way to survive until the end.
I might have already been absorbed before, but at least the words that came out of my homeroom teacher earlier had given me a clue.
"A safe place."
The club room on the 5th floor was no longer safe. That location had already been discovered and contaminated.
But… what if there was another place? Just like how I hid one billion won in the club room, the Void Church must also have a hidden safehouse full of weapons or secret items.
And if that place really existed then now was the time they would all gather there.
"Or maybe… they're actually running there right now!"
Determined not to let those teachers escape so easily, I led the club members down to the 2nd floor, where the teachers' room was located.
"Kids!"
Right in the 2nd-floor hallway, Teacher Jang Hwa-eun greeted us with a cheerful face.
BOOOMMM—!!
Hayoon immediately fired. Glass shattered of The loud blast echoed again.
Half of Teacher Jang Hwa-eun's body disappeared, leaving only her lower half stumbling as it tried to escape.
"…You knew that wasn't her?"
"Just a feeling."
Hayoon calmly reloaded the shotgun, dropping the empty shell.
"I don't think… Teacher Jang Hwa-eun could possibly still be alive now."
"Y-yeah. That makes sense…"
"Now there's only one round left."
"Hhh…"
I clenched my fist and released it, taking a deep breath. My eyes stared straight toward the main stairs at the end of the hallway.
From there, upperclassmen could be seen excitedly climbing the stairs in groups, heading to their classrooms.
"Waaah, we can finally go home!"
"Going home, going home!! Nice!"
I didn't know exactly where their "main body" was hiding right now, but one thing was clear in order to absorb all these students at once, they must have spread some kind of umbilical cords or hidden bait in every classroom corner.
This place had become a field of traps.
And in the middle of the crowd, the Void Church teachers were being pushed around, confused and directionless.
"A-a-what should we do now!"
"It looks like this is already over, Vice Principal! We should just run, even if only we survive!"
"Shit… damn it… divine punishment… this must be…"
"Woooooaaah—!"
Pushed by the flow of the crowd, more than a dozen Void Church teachers began gathering in front of the teachers' room.
The students had glanced at them with suspicious looks for a moment, but they immediately dismissed it themselves — thinking that as long as they could grab their things and leave the school as fast as possible, everything would be fine because the principal had already allowed it.
So they hurriedly ran toward their respective classrooms.
And just as expected—
Screams began echoing from the upper floors.
"Kyaaa! Aaaaahhh!!"
"W-what is this?! Stop! Aaaaaah!!"
I didn't know how many had already become victims, but in the midst of hundreds of students filling the building, all those screams were drowned out and went unheard.
"Finally going home! Wooo!"
"Hurry! Run!"
"After this we're going to the PC bang, right?"
In the middle of the chaos…
The eyes of the Void Church teachers met ours right there in the second-floor corridor.
".....!"
"Y-you guys…!!"
The teachers' faces stiffened the moment they realized we were there.
Some immediately showed panicked expressions.
Meanwhile, from the stairs, the sound of footsteps and shouting from the students grew louder:
"Hey! Don't stop! Keep moving!"
"Why is it stopped in front?! "
" Something's sticking to my leg!! This… this… a WORM?!"
"P-Teacher?! Don't suddenly hug me like that! Let go—!"
"AAAAAAAK—!"
The crowd pushed and shoved. Panicked screams.
And in the middle of it all, we and the Void Church teachers stood facing each other in the second-floor hallway in tense silence.
"..."
In that silence, I reached out grab Hayoon's shoulder and point a shape glass that pick up early, next to hayoon neck.
Then, calmly, I opened my mouth and spoke to them the teachers who were starting to look afraid.
"This girl… is your cult whom that you're must to protect with your livesat l cost, right?"
".....!"
Vice Principal Jang Yeo-ok's eyes widened instantly.
Several teachers beside him were also shocked, their faces clearly tensing up.
At the same time, our club members were just as surprised —
they immediately turned to look at me and Hayoon with confused and worried expressions.
I only raised my chin, staring at the teachers with a mocking gaze.
"Why so quiet? Come on. Show us the way. To that safe place."
"....."