Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 46: Their story (2)

There were no obstacles to hide behind, and the screen door in front of me was moving.

Even though I was hiding, Jang Ji-sang noticed me.

I can’t tell if it’s concern or wariness.

“You two… you’re wanted, along with the other guy there.”

“That was a few hours ago, and you know about it?”

“Who wouldn’t know? It was announced so loudly you couldn’t miss it. Every class you walked into, professors talking, cell phones ringing.”

Oh my. There’s no one in the Academy who doesn’t know us now.

[The notoriety within the academy has spread like wildfire!]

[However, after the episode ends, you won’t receive the recognition provided by the students.]

The notification that appeared just in time added a subplot to the current situation.

We’ve spread notoriety so that students will report us when they see us.

If that’s how you raise awareness, I’m grateful.

“I asked the professor what happened and why you are wanted, and he wouldn’t answer.”

He didn’t answer?

Well, the students don’t even realize that they can’t go outside.

I briefly explained to Jang Ji-sang what had happened.

Avoiding an answer would have been a more suspicious choice.

After hearing everything, Jang Ji-sang was lost in thought.

“Outside… I wasn’t thinking about that. I can’t see anything out the window. Why did you do that?”

“Anyway, I’m not wanted for doing anything strange, I’m just a student.”

“Oh, well, can I help you then? If I see anything suspicious inside, I can tell you.”

“……That’s fine.”

I was grateful, but I couldn’t reverse my choice to keep my distance.

I gestured for the two of them to go through the screen door first.

As we met, I had a separate question for Jang Ji-sang.

“Do you still think you can work things out with the students?”

“Yes. They’re all nice. Why are you asking me this question all of a sudden?”

“Because I might not have a chance to ask them for a while.”

“Ah…….”

Jang Ji-sang nodded as he remembered the wanted matter.

“Mr. Jang Ji-sang. What’s here isn’t a person, it’s just a few characters of text, and it’s inevitable that it will become an enemy.”

“…….”

“It’s not a person to communicate with, it’s a monster. Doesn’t that change your mind?”

Jang Ji-sang rubbed the back of his neck a few times before answering.

“Yes.”

“Because you don’t believe me when I say they’re not human?”

“No, I don’t. I know they’re different from us, like the undead, but… we can talk to them, and I think there’s a better way, and I’m reluctant to treat them differently just because they’re not human.”

Maybe his head knows they’re not human, but his heart doesn’t.

Then I don’t need to convince him.

As long as I’m open to the possibility that I’m wrong, there must be others who think differently from me.

Also, let’s be honest.

I have some resistance to attacking students or professors for looking human.

“Uh……I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll give you my phone number, let me know if you find anything!”

I got Jang Ji-sang’s number and jumped into the warp gate.

Jang Ji-sang would soon be on his way to find a way to ‘talk’ his way out of this.

I warned him it would be difficult, but unlike me, he believes in the possibility.

……Really, he’s like a protagonist.

* * *

Someone entered the dormitory room using a secretly borrowed card key.

The bars that blocked the window are gone.

I checked that sticking my arm out the window didn’t set off the alarm, then dropped them both outside at the same time.

Seorin pressed her temples together, dizzy from the trip over the wire.

“Ugh… what the hell, it’s really outside…….”

“You stay close and follow me. Okay?”

Slightly sobering up, she changed her demeanor.

“Yeon-woo, you’re really bad- if there’s such a strange place, you should have brought me first, I want to take a look around!”

“There’s nowhere you can go in anyway.”

“Eh- what kind of academy is that…….?”

I helped the disappointed Seorin with Do-Yeon and we found our way around.

Now that the security robots are patrolling along a set path, I had to take a detour several times to find blind spots.

We could smash it, but that would set off the alarm.

I made it to the front of the building as undetected as possible.

There were no security robots, but instead CCTV cameras mounted on the outside wall near the entrance.

The camera lenses watched the entrance with an unnerving red glow.

“Usually when it’s lit up like that, it means someone’s watching.”

“Stick with me, both of you. Let’s move fast.”

[Your story begins.]

The two put a hand on each of my shoulders.

I kept my mask on and ran past the CCTV cameras, but no alarms went off.

Apparently, the heightened vigilance hasn’t changed the performance of the CCTVs.

“Don’t remove your hands until I say it’s okay. The alarm shouldn’t go off until we’re at least underground.”

“It’s like we’re playing trains, it’s breaking the mood.”

“……Don’t make me laugh.”

As soon as I opened the door, I saw the information desk.

As usual, there was no one there, but an android.

At this point, I was beginning to wonder if this was a ghost academy from the beginning.

“Wait, wait. Seon-woo, is it okay to get that close?”

“As long as you don’t make too much noise, it’s okay.”

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that there weren’t any people there from the beginning. Scratch marks on the mouse, traces of dirt. An empty coffee cup that had been left abandoned.

It’s clear that the place had been managed by humans not too long ago.

I’m still trying to figure out what great thing they got rid of them for.

We finished searching the lobby and went behind the reception desk.

Beyond, the elevator we’d been looking for was waiting.

“Found it. It’s in a place we couldn’t find in the study hall or the dorms.”

“Does it work?”

“If it doesn’t move, we’ll just smash it. Don’t ask me why-”

The elevator doors recognized us and opened quickly.

Ziying-

The buttons for entering the floor came up, displaying a floor plan from the first floor to the fifth underground floor.

I put my hand on the button for the fourth underground floor, which was off-limits.

[The target was not recognized.]

[After biometric authentication, please press the button again.]

This was not going to work.

Only registered people could enter through the authentication process.

“What’s wrong? Seon-woo can’t find the way.”

“It’s his first time here.”

“You’re weak when your knowledge doesn’t help you.”

“Isn’t that obvious……?”

But they’re right.

I would have been much more comfortable if the demo Dreams gave me had the Academy episode.

But I don’t have that information, and I don’t have time to research it at my leisure.

My options were limited.

I patted my Seorin, who was being dragged half on my back.

“Sis, there’s something I need you to do.”

“What’s the big deal-”

I pulled out my baton and handed it to her.

“Why are you giving me this……?”

“What did you say you’d do if the elevator didn’t move?”

“……really?”

“Yes. We have to break it in one go.”

“No matter what happens…I’m not at fault.”

Seorin laughed and raised her weapon high.

The baton that left my hand no longer concealed its red sparks and emitted maximum output.

Yiying-!

The building’s alarms sounded.

The elevator doors locked, and another loud beeping sounded.

Red warning lights and red electricity blended together, coloring my vision red.

[Beware of trait overdose.]

Seorin was ready.

Her gruesome fairy tale had nothing to do with stealth and subjugation, but everything to do with getting sicker and stronger.

The baton, loaded with her power, slammed down toward the floor of the elevator.

Kwahhhhh!

“Uh, ugh, ugh, ugh!”

The floor of the elevator cracked and shut off at once, and we plunged underground.

From the walls of glass windows, a view of the underground facility flashes by.

Food cultivated by technology, training grounds and weapons maintained by magic, and jet-black vehicles and crates that resemble military equipment.

After all that, I finally see the inaccessible fourth floor.

‘Is this the control room……?’

The fourth floor was many times larger and more spacious than the other floors we had been through.

I wondered if it was connected to the fifth floor or if I had already passed through the fourth floor, but I could still see the control room behind the glass wall.

Computers, amulets, coffins, monitors, giant nails, arc dischargers.

Like the intertwining of different worldviews, the instruments in the control room were all connected, despite their different principles.

……I wonder if our reality will develop like this if we keep writing stories.

“Yoo Seon-woo! Don’t get dazed! We’re about to hit the floor!”

Seol Do-yeon’s shout broke my concentration.

We were about to hit the ground.

“Grab me! Quickly!”

I grabbed them both, raised my arm, and fired a grappling hook at the glass wall.

The hook pierced even the toughest tempered glass and lodged firmly.

As we neared the floor, Do-yeon closed her eyes tightly.

……When she opened her eyes again, we stayed in the air, leaning on the wire.

“I survived…….”

“Let me go first, you two go down first.”

“Ugh, yeah…….”

Seol Do-yeon burst into tears.

Seorin smiled as brightly as if she was on an amusement park ride.

I then released the trigger of the grappling hook and was about to go down.

Crackle……!

The grappling hook made an ominous sound.

The trigger had been pulled and locked, and the wire was not being retracted.

My grappling hook is broken.

…It was inevitable.

It couldn’t have taken the weight of three people falling from a great height.

It’s a miracle we didn’t get hurt.

“Why aren’t you coming out?”

Seol Do-yeon asked, poking her head out.

Behind me, a grappling hook dangled from the tempered glass.

“Is it broken?”

“It is.”

“Then, wait a minute…….”

Seol Do-yeon dug into the crossbody bag she was wearing and pulled out a small case.

Inside was a slightly smaller version of the grappling hook.

“Take it. It’s a spare.”

“What. When did you get all this stuff?”

“If I can’t do these things, I’ll be deported by Yoo Seon-woo…….”

“Okay, okay.”

I ignored Seol Do-yeon’s rant and walked slowly to the center of the control room.

There was still no one in sight and the alarms were still going off, but the monitors were still on.

The text on the monitor was unfamiliar but I could read it without a problem.

As soon as I saw it, the interpretation came into my head.

“Filter, block perception and replace it with another view……?”

“There are a lot of difficult words.”

“It’s not in Korean, but I can read it…however the words themselves are difficult and I can’t read them…….”

“At least you can get the gist of it.”

From this control room, every inch of the vast academy can be monitored with the touch of a button.

A document posted here would surely reveal the “secret” we’ve been searching for.

What was the academy trying to do?

By hiding the truth from its students and locking them up?

Amidst the jargon, there were still some understandable passages.

—

[M-87]

The five senses can be blocked from perception and replaced with a background that reflects learned perceptions.

This can instill hostility in those participating in the “exercise” and lead to more effective control.

Close off all facilities other than learning centers and dormitories for calibration and pre-testing, and block any thoughts of other places.

Ensure that the “real people” who come afterward are also wearing the appropriate equipment and are not allowed to leave.

—

“……What’s all that about?”

With Seol Do-yeon’s question, I looked around at the ‘equipment’ on my body.

Uniform, training, outside, real person, us.

The mysteries of the academy so far were coming together.

“The academy…is trying to deceive the students.”