Chapter 293
Theatrical Regression Life
Episode 293
âI never thought it would be blocked from the first floor.â
Garam Yoon nodded at Inho Jeongâs words.
âIt seems like only people who stopped by the school last time canât go up, right?â
âMe, Yoon Garam, and Kang Minah. And seeing as Detective Hong Gyeong-jun canât go up⦠I think thatâs probably the case. âDoes anyone remember how many times this was a part of the school rules?â
Park Da-hoon raised his hand in response to Jeong In-hoâs perplexed words.
âI think itâs number 9. Donât tinkle⦠that was the rule. âI think number 9 is the only one that is most related to the current situation that prevents students from moving freely within the school.â
Kang Min-ah looked at him with a surprised expression.
âDo you remember all the rules?â
âBecause it was a matter of survival⦠I had no choice but to memorize it.â
After saying that, Park Da-hoon rolled his eyes for a moment and continued speaking.
âNumber 1: Dress neatly. Take a seat when the bell rings twice. Number 3: No cell phone use. Number 4: Get along well with your friend. Listen carefully to teacher number 5. Number 6: Be faithful to your duties as a student. No. 7 Attacking the teacher is prohibited. Number 8 is dismissed at dismissal timeâ¦? âDonât ding the number 9.â
âWhat the fuck. You werenât this kind of bastard. âWhere is the bully who was doing other things in Class C with me?â
âShut up, what kind of scoundrel am I? You scoundrel.â
âAh noâ¦â
Park Da-hoon, ignoring Seong Ji-hoâs betrayed gaze, looked at Lee Jae-heon with a proud face. It resembled Pompitzâs face as he faithfully carried out the task given to him and looked up at Jaeheon Lee, so he unconsciously nodded.
âDid you do wellâ¦?â
âthank you.â
Seong Ji-ho was looking at Park Da-hoon smiling with a satisfied expression as if he were horrified. Lee Jae-heon thought, ignoring the minor problems between the young friends.
âI guess youâve memorized all the other rules in this session.â
In fact, except for a few rules, there were some that were not essential for survival, so I didnât know all the rules, but unlike the last episode, in this episode, Park Da-hoon seemed to be desperately trying to figure out the rules. I thought I would become useless if I escaped from school, so I thought I would forget about it.
âOkay⦠Aside from the school rules.â
Jaeheon Lee continued.
âThen shouldnât we change our plans?â
Some survivors looked at him incredulously.
âWhat are these disrespectful looks? âArenât you covering your eyes?â
âItâs because itâs disgusting that you say it as if youâve been waiting for it. Itâs because itâs disgusting.â
âI didnât say anything strange.â
âWhen the teacher speaks, even normal words sound strange.â
Ha Seong-yoon, who was giving a vague look, pressed his earlobe and spoke again.
âWell, I canât help it. In order to proceed according to the original plan, everyone except Jae-heon Lee and Ji-ho Seong must climb up step by step in order, but they are blocked from the first floorâ¦.â âBesides, the only
people who can go up now are me, this student Ji-ho Seong, and Da-hoon. ⦠There are Kim Ki-jeong and Ha Seong-yoon. âYou certainly donât intend to send two minor students or Mr. Kim Ki-jeong, who has little experience, to the top, right?â
âHahaâ¦.â
Ha Seong-yoon looked at Kim Ki-jeong.
âMr. Kim Ki-jeong.â
âUhâ¦yeah.â
âStill, I think you should go.â
Then, instead of Kim Ki-jeong, who actually heard what was said, Lee Jae-heon became angry.
âAre you ignoring me?â
âNo, we were talking about the three of us going up together. Jae-Heon Lee and I protect Ki-Jeong Kim, and Ki-Jeong Kim informs us of the approaching danger. âIt wonât take that long since it will only serve as a link to bring you up to the second floor.â
âunderstand.â
Jaeheon Lee muttered that and thought to himself.
ââ¦I guess the memories from last episode arenât calculated?â
The beginnerâs benefit related to Rule 9 is formed based on the individual survivorâs perception. The duller the memories and information about school, the easier it is to receive the benefits of being a beginner, but as a returnee like Jeong In-ho, he already had a very detailed awareness of language school.
However, unlike Jeong In-ho, Lee Jae-heon was able to go up to the second floor.
âThe same goes for Ha Seong-yoon, who remembers the previous episodes.â
This meant that only the recognition accumulated in this session was calculated and the beginnerâs benefit was granted. Jaeheon Lee realized that this regression was not a situation that occurred within the system of the backworld.
ââ¦.â
Well, it doesnât matter now.
ââ¦Then I will stand behind Kim Ki-jeong. Ha Seong-yoon will stand in front.â
âThat would be better. âI hope there wonât be any problems.â
Kim Ki-jeong, who was halfway up the stairs to the second floor, froze.
âUh uhâ¦â
âPlease come back.â
Ha Seong-yoon and Lee Jae-heon realized that Kim Ki-jeong heard something from above. Ha Seong-yoon, who quickly pulled Kim Ki-jeong down, asked the pale-faced Kim Ki-jeong.
âWhat did you hear?â
ââ¦the building on the other sideâ¦.â
âYouâre talking about building B.â
âThere are about two⦠about two people walking from that directionâ¦? Are you walking?â
Kim Ki-jeongâs voice, which had become timid and quiet for a while, was trembling.
âNo, I was walking when I heard this noiseâ¦â
âFirst of all, I guess itâs not a person.â
Lee Jae-heon made eye contact with Ha Seong-yoon. Since no plaster monster has ever been created in the school, the sound Kim Ki-jeong heard was probably the footsteps of the teacher monster. That might be because they would go around catching students who are making noises outside the classroom during every class period.
After about 5 minutes, Kim Ki-jeong, who was trying hard to concentrate, muttered in a hushed voice.
ââ¦one went in. classroom? âAnyway, I think I went inside the wooden door.â
âWhat about the other one?â
âI think heâs loitering in the hallway of Building B on the other side.â
âThen you wonât run into us?â
âUh⦠maybe? âIf the structure of this school is the same, I donât think I can check this, butâ¦â
Ha Seong-yoon, who was holding his cell phone, checked the time on the screen.
âItâs already been almost 20 minutes. In order to raise the team from the 2nd floor to the 4th floor in a timely manner, we need to quickly check for hiding spaces. âIs the monster still moving in Building B?â
ââ¦Yeah, maybe⦠At the end over there⦠Oh, itâs a connecting hallway. Yes, it seems to be going back and forth in the connecting hallway. The steps are slow. No, these are steps, right? âWhat kind of strange monster is this?â¦ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âCalm down, Mr. Kim Ki-jeong. âIf you are tired, you can rest on the first floor.â
The most important thing was to explore the fourth floor where the art room was located, so there was no benefit for Kim Ki-jeong, who was an important detector until then, if he overexerted himself. Since his mental ability was average, it was obvious that he was having a hard time from the moment he entered school, so Ha Seong-yoon entrusted Kim Ki-jeong to Lee Jae-heon.
âPlease look at it for a moment.â
âBe careful.â
Ha Seong-yoon nodded at Lee Jae-heonâs request and carefully went up to the second floor.
ââ¦.â
As Kim Ki-jeong said, there were no teacher monsters in the hallway of Building A.
Ha Seong-yoon carefully moved his feet and checked structures everywhere. Detectives Hong Gyeong-jun and Park Da-hoon, the second floor standby team, were checking to see if there were any spaces where they could hide comfortably. Ha Seong-yoon, who came down from the second floor just before the teacher monster crossed the connecting hallway, spoke to those waiting on the first floor.
âThe basic structure doesnât seem to have changed much from what In-ho Jeong said before.â
It cannot be said that he had the eyes to see the previous episode, so he was not saying that Ha Seong-yoon himself knew about it, but that he heard about it from Jeong In-ho.
âBut some problems arose.â
âAre you saying itâs a problem?â
âFirst, the toilet was clogged.â
ââ¦yes?â
âI came back to see that it was really neatly blocked with something like a wooden plank.â
At those words, student Seong Ji-ho spoke to Park Da-hoon with a subtle expression.
âIsnât this⦠isnât it that?â
âWhat are you saying⦠ah ahâ¦.â
The adultsâ attention was focused on the studentsâ reactions as if they knew something.
âDo you know anything? âI wish you could tell me something.â
âItâs not that big of a deal, but sometimes⦠there are times when we stop students from going into the bathroom.â
âWhat does this mean again?â
Ha Seong-yoonâs smile deepened and Jeong In-hoâs expression darkened. What on earth are you supposed to do if you block students from entering the bathroom? Before the educational issue, it didnât feel particularly ethical.
Park Da-hoon opened his mouth in response to the adultsâ reaction, which was beyond absurd.
âThey stopped bad students from smoking as a way to show off.â
âAre you guys smoking already?â
âActually, there are very few kids who actually smoke, but sometimes there were kids who would skip class and pretend to go to the bathroom. Our classes were a bit harsh, so there were a lot of kids running away, but the only place they could run away was in the bathroomâ¦â âWhy donât you
block the bathroom just for that?â
âOf course I donât say that out loud. They say things like itâs under construction or something is broken, but the kids all know. The teachers are showing things like, âWeâre blocking you like this because you donât dare to go to class and make noise in places like the bathroomâ or âOther good students are also suffering because of bad students like you.â Itâs a kind of warning. â
âIf this is the case, wouldnât it be no problem to be reported to the Office of Education?â
Ha Seong-yoon scratched his chin in response to Kang Min-ahâs muttering.
âWell⦠the teacher is also quite an iron bastard. âI donât know if a controversy arises or if it spreads to the media, but if parents and the school itself have the same opinion both internally and externally, like Eunhak High School, it is highly likely that no one would raise an issue.â
âIf you just post something like this on the Internet, it will go up as a petitionâ¦â
Unlike the adultsâ reactions, the two students had calm faces. In fact, the adultsâ reactions seemed unfamiliar.
âUh⦠it was strange, wasnât it?â
âI guess so. Actually, it doesnât seem like other schools go this far.â
The adultsâ expressions got even worse.
ââ¦Something⦠I guess.â
âI think this could be a problemâ¦.â
âBut since the subject was a breakdown or construction, it must have been burdensome to blindly make it a problem.â
Among them who were whispering for a while, Garam Yoon clapped his hands and caught everyoneâs attention.
âThatâs not important right now, is it? âMr. Ha Seong-yoon, I think you said there was another problem. Can you tell me?â
âWell, thatâs right.â
Ha Seong-yoon said while touching his earlobe.
âI donât see any student monsters.â
âIf youâre a student monsterâ¦.â
âI stopped by here once before. At that time, it was said that many of the student mannequins that were sitting in class were pushed out into the hallway, but that many mannequins were not visible. âItâs like everyone is hiding somewhere.â
âAre we back in class again?â
âIâm not sure about that either. I wonder if it was completely reset like a game, or if there is another causeâ¦â
Ha Seong-yoon, who was muttering like that, continued.
âAnd this is probably the most important thing: the number of plaster statues has increased.â
ââ¦A plaster statue?â
âDidnât Lee Jae-heon and our Park friends make the claim? In reality, there are plaster statues scattered all over Eonhak High School. So, letâs visit the art room.â
âYou did, right?â
âThose split and broken plaster statues are all over the place.â
He looked at Jeong In-ho and continued.
âI think it was much more than what In-ho Jeong told me.â
At those words, the air among the survivors became heavy.
ââ¦Itâs creepy.â
âI think Iâve heard of this kind of thing sometimes⦠in ghost storiesâ¦â
âWhat kind of device is this again?â
The survivors expressed their anxiety one by one. Kang Min-ah, who was looking at them, held the hammer in her hand tightly and asked Ha Seong-yoon, who was also observing the survivorsâ reactions.
âDo you remember where you were?â
âI donât know the details. Just as I was about to check, the teacher monster came towards the hallway of Building A⦠But I remember it was near a hiding place. For example, there is a plaster statue of a broken hand placed on a bench where you can lie down and hide.â
âIt could be a monster preventing you from hiding.â
Kang Min-ah nodded slowly as if she had made up her mind.
âIf itâs okay with everyone, Iâll go hide for a moment.â
âAre you Kang Min-ah?â
âI came to school last time, and although itâs not as small as Yeonhee, itâs still smaller than the people here. Itâs good for hiding and itâs also good for running away.â
Kang Min-ah spoke with faintly blue eyes.
âIâll come back and check what the plaster statue is doing.â
That was a really dependable look.