My entire class was sucked into a horror game. My classmates were all NPCs. I was the only player. When we entered the "Room 301" instance, my teammates thought I’d be torn to shreds by the Discipline Monitor for being late. Instead, the moment he saw me, he snapped his Death Note shut. The Academic Rep, with a second pair of phantom eyes floating above his own, skipped over me when collecting homework. The Class Beauty, her skin charred black, handed me a breakfast sandwich. “Sweetie, eat up before it gets cold!” The school bell, a harbinger of death, rang out. The instance's final boss, his face a mask of cold indifference, walked in. I looked at our Class President, Aiden, stuffed into a formal suit, and I couldn't hold it in. “Aiden, you look like you sell insurance!” The boss lost his composure. My teammates lost their minds. 1 [Welcome to the game instance: 'Room 301'!] [All players are expected to be good students~] [Survive until Saturday to clear the instance.] [Today is Thursday. The game begins now. Good luck~] Compared to the other players, who were either stone-faced or breaking down, my expression was… twisted. A half-smile, a hint of disbelief, a profound sense of the absurd. It was because everything in front of me was just too damn familiar. The crooked security booth, the main building with its peeling paint, the dilapidated gymnasium… Don’t laugh. You’d be twisted, too. The live chat feed scrolled furiously across my vision. [What's with the new girl's face? She looks so done with this already.] [Trying to look tough?] Anyone who transmigrates and finds their own high school turned into a horror game instance would be "done with this," thank you very much. My beat-up bike was even parked by the front gate. I instinctively patted the dust off the seat. A guy with bleached-blond hair saw me and grabbed my wrist. “Are you trying to get us all killed? What the hell is wrong with you!” [Wow, this rookie's reckless. Touching stuff right away.] [I know, right? Rookies who mess with the environment are the worst.] [This instance starts slow. It's normal for her not to be scared. She'll learn her lesson when the Discipline Monitor starts taking names.] I shook off Blondie's hand and scanned the area. Besides me and a chubby kid clutching a gift-wrapped box, the other four players were clearly veterans. They were huddled together, whispering. Every so often, they’d glance over at us like we were lambs for the slaughter. It was obvious. The chubby kid and I were on our own. Damn these vets. 2 Thursday. [Poor rookie. These four are notorious for using newbies as cannon fodder.] [That's how you play the game. It's about survival of the fittest. If a rookie dies, they deserved it.] [If all the rookies die, who the hell are you gonna watch, genius?] The comments flew by. A knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach, and I forced it down. The piercing sound of the first bell shrieked through the air. Everyone’s face changed. I instinctively checked the chat for a hint, but found nothing. In a flash, a woman in sunglasses lunged, grabbing the chubby kid and hurling him toward the school gate. “Waaah!” He landed hard, erupting in a terrified wail. Seeing that no traps were triggered, the veterans bolted past him, sprinting for the classrooms. Don’t be late! The thought cracked like a whip in my mind. I ran and hauled the chubby kid to his feet. His tears were splattering onto the gift box in his hands. I had no time for comfort. I dragged him along, yelling, “Stop crying! If you keep crying, you can find the classroom yourself!” “Huh? D-do you know where the classroom is?” [This rookie is heading straight for the classrooms! How does she know the way?] [Holy crap, she’s even faster than the vets! Is this some pro’s alternate account?] [The other four already used an item to teleport to the classroom door.] [LMAO, and they all got their names written in the Death Note for it. Hahaha!] 3 As we neared the classroom, my heart hammered against my ribs. A strange sense of anticipation gripped me. When I saw the familiar figure standing at the classroom door, all the fear and panic that had been building since I arrived in this world finally vanished. [Where are the black runes on the Discipline Monitor's face? Those looked so cool!] [What the hell? Why did he turn normal the second he saw this rookie?] The Discipline Monitor—Liam—had a chilling gaze. Standing in front of him, I felt a phantom coldness on my neck. He silently stepped aside, letting me pass. But he shot out an arm, blocking the chubby kid behind me. He spoke, his voice a low rasp that sent a shiver down my spine. His hand flew open to a fresh page in his notebook. “Late. Name. Now.” I turned to look at Liam. “Liam, stop pretending. That was just the warning bell.” His body went rigid. After a few seconds of dead silence, he slowly shuffled aside, letting the chubby kid squeeze past him into the classroom. [??? The Death Note only has four names in it this round?] [How did she know it was the warning bell?!] [The four vets look pissed! LMAO, the Death Note baited them into wasting a resurrection item!] 4 Stepping into the classroom, I was greeted by familiar desks and familiar faces. I relaxed almost instinctively. My deskmate, the class beauty Sunny, beamed at me, waving her arm high in the air with a steady, excited rhythm. A warmth spread through me. The corners of my mouth turned up on their own, and I walked straight to my seat. I was completely unaware of how utterly bizarre this scene looked to the other players. [Worst luck ever. She had two empty seats to choose from and picked the one that's a guaranteed kill.] [If you want to die, pick that seat. You die once from the Class Beauty, once from the Academic Rep, and again when the boss shows up.] [It's more than three times. That's just day one. You keep dying on day two.] [The seat binds you to a role. That's the Vice President's seat. It's a death sentence.] Nearby, the woman in sunglasses tensed, her sharp gaze darting between me and Sunny. She looked like she wanted to say something. But the Academic Rep appeared at the front of the class without warning, and she immediately fell silent. My eyes were fixed on the Rep’s face. Where were the glasses I gave him? Why wasn’t he wearing them? And why did I feel like there was another pair of eyes hovering just above his own? The Academic Rep—Charlie—was as aloof as ever, his tone tinged with arrogance. “Homework.” [Here it comes. The second trap of this instance.] [What do you mean? This is my first time watching.] [The game's sign-up page had a line of flavor text that was actually a homework assignment. You have to prepare it beforehand. Only vets can see it, but even they sometimes forget. A rookie getting dropped in cold has no chance. It’s a death sentence.] Blondie, Sunglasses, and a man with squinted eyes moved in near-perfect sync, slapping their papers down on their desks. Homework? I had tons of that stuff. I reached into my desk and rummaged around. For some reason, I felt something sticky and slimy inside. “Sweetie~ I have your paper right here~” Sunny giggled, placing the assignment on my desk. The one vet who had come up empty-handed whipped his head around, his eyes locking onto my paper like a starving wolf. A sinister smile spread across his face. “Newbie, huh? No one who sits in that seat survives the first day! Give me that paper. I’ll put it to good use for you!” “No,” I said, rolling my eyes. The next second, the paper vanished from my desk and reappeared on his. [This guy is still so shameless. Using an item on a rookie right off the bat.] [Holy crap, the rookie got a hidden item and he just stole it?!] Charlie collected the first three papers without a change in expression. But when he reached the vet’s desk and saw my paper, he smiled faintly. “Did you think… I couldn’t see clearly just because I’m not wearing my glasses?” The vet’s face went white. In the instant his eyes widened in terror, Charlie’s face split open, revealing a second pair of bleeding eyes! A blinding golden light erupted from the vet’s body! [Whoa, an S-rank life-saving item, the Golden Bell Shield!] Charlie’s pale hand reached out and pressed against the golden light. He crushed the shield as easily as if it were an eggshell. And along with it… the vet’s head. I didn’t see it happen. A pair of cold hands covered my eyes. “Sweetie, if you look at that, you’ll lose your appetite for breakfast!” 5 [Was that a unique item from the Class Beauty?] [No idea. First time I've ever seen that.] [Hahaha, serves him right for always screwing over rookies!] Charlie walked right past me without a single glance. The chubby kid in front of me was shaking like a leaf, the gift box crumpling in his trembling hands. “No… please… my gift… I haven’t given it to my parents yet…” He seemed like a good kid, just wanting to give his parents a gift. How could he be a bad person? I reached out and grabbed Charlie’s arm. He froze, turning to look at me. “Charlie, that seat has always been empty. He’s a transfer student who just came today, right?” “Transfer students shouldn’t have to turn in homework, right?” A strange silence fell over the classroom. The chubby kid’s sobbing was the only sound. The gazes of the entire class, including the three remaining vets, pressed down on me like a physical weight. Goosebumps erupted on my skin. Time seemed to stretch. Something flickered deep in Charlie’s pupils. An irrelevant thought popped into my head: he looked much better with the glasses I gave him. “Fine.” He gave an almost imperceptible nod. I snatched my hand back as if I’d been shocked. My palm was ice-cold. 6 “Sweetie, eat up while it’s hot!” Sunny suddenly pulled a familiar-looking sandwich from her desk. “Oh, I don’t know… class is about to start.” I hesitated. This was a game instance, after all… “But it won’t be good if it gets cold…” My bestie put on a pitiful pout. Who could resist that? I grabbed the sandwich and started eating. [Where am I? Is this still a horror game? I think I might be watching a high school rom-com by mistake.] [Did anyone else see that?! The way the rookie and the Academic Rep were looking at each other? He’s so soft on her! I’m kinda shipping this!] [Why isn’t she dead yet?!] Ring-ring-ring— The official bell for the start of class finally rang. [It's the boss! The boss is here!] [Ahhhh, the boss in this instance is super hot!] I looked toward the door with a flicker of anticipation. Would it be our old homeroom teacher? The entire classroom plunged into darkness. The windows creaked ominously, and a dense pattern of bloody handprints materialized on the blackboard. Then, the classroom door was thrown open, and a darkness so thick you could taste it flooded in. My heart hammered against my ribs. I stared, transfixed, at the swirling ink-black void at the door. But the person who emerged from the darkness was a handsome face I knew all too well. Aiden! It was our Class President! Well… our Class President wearing a suit. Right now, he was nothing like the bright, cheerful boy from my memories. A chilling aura clung to him, making the very air feel heavy and stagnant. His dark gaze swept slowly across the room, and then, without warning, it locked onto me. The moment our eyes met— “Pfft.” Sorry, I couldn’t help it. Watching someone you know try to act all serious and intimidating is just hilarious. Who understands this feeling? “Aiden, you look like you sell insurance! Hahahaha!” The windows fell silent. The bloody handprints faded. The suffocating, cold presence in the room vanished in an instant. At the front of the class, Aiden’s face finally broke into the familiar, slightly exasperated expression I remembered. He shot me a glare, muttered, “Study hall,” and rushed out of the room. 7 In the world beyond my vision, the chat feed exploded. [Did someone put a curse on this instance's boss???] [Wait, the biggest death trap of the first day just… ended like that??] [LMAO, I never realized this instance was so funny hahaha.] [That’s because by this point in a normal run, the classroom is usually covered in blood…] … During study hall, Sunny and I had a great time passing notes. For a moment, I felt a sense of dislocation, as if I hadn’t been transported into a horror game at all. It was just a normal day. A normal study hall at school. But the faint, cloying scent of blood that hung in the air, and the unfamiliar faces of the other players, were a constant reminder. This was a game instance. And my goal was to survive until Saturday. 8 School was over. The sky had turned a bruised purple, and a rain of blood began to fall. The other players and I were trapped in the classroom by an unseen force. My classmates filed past me, one by one. “See ya, VP.” “Bye, Clara.” “Later!” … I smiled and waved back at each of them. Finally, my bestie, my deskmate Sunny, gave me a hug and left. The classroom was now empty except for us so-called players. “Hey. What item did you use? Spit it out!” Blondie cornered me, demanding answers. The chubby kid flinched but still shuffled over, trying to place his small body between me and Blondie. He was too short, barely reaching my chin and not even clearing Blondie’s chest. He didn’t make for much of a shield. “None of your damn business.” Please. I was terrified when I first got here, but now? Buddy, what level are you on? I’ve got friends in high places. “Fuck!” Blondie exploded, swinging his fist at my face. Sunglasses was faster. She grabbed his wrist and turned to me. “Rookie, don’t be stubborn. Sharing information is better for everyone.” The squinting man closed in on my other side, his voice a sinister whisper. “That’s right. And if you don’t talk… we have ways of making you.” [These three vets are so shameless.] [Anyone who watches the streams knows that no rookie who gets matched with them ever survives.] [Isn’t doing whatever it takes to survive the point?] Sunglasses suddenly took off her glasses, revealing a warm, sisterly smile. “Listen, the death rate on the first day of this instance is forty percent.” “But on the second day… it’s one hundred percent. Do you know what that means? Cooperation is our only way out!” [Here we go, the classic vet speech to trick the rookie. There’s no such thing as an instance with a 100% death rate.] [To be fair, if you get the Vice President role in this instance, the death rate really is 100%.] [Yeah, day one is easy. It's what comes next that's hard. It's about to start, isn't it? The Great Hunt.] “The Great Hunt is about to begin,” the squinting man added, right on cue. “You don’t want to die, do you?” Blondie spat on the floor, his face twisted in disgust. “Why are you even telling her this? Let her die! She’s just a lucky noob who stumbled on a hidden mechanic. What the hell does she know?” Before I could react, he shoved me hard in the chest. “I hate rookies like this who get by on dumb luck. Pathetic!” I stumbled backward and crashed to the floor. The pain was so sharp that my vision went black for a second. Ring-ring-ring— The piercing school bell rang out again, without any warning. At the same instant, the blood rain outside turned into a torrential downpour. The empty school grounds were suddenly filled with the thunder of countless running footsteps and bloodcurdling screams coming from every direction. “Shit! Why did the Great Hunt start early?!” “RUN!!!” The three vets’ faces paled. They spun around and bolted out the door. I struggled to get up. Blondie glanced back over his shoulder, a vicious grin spreading across his face. He threw a paper talisman at me. I froze, completely paralyzed. The blood seeping up from the floorboards moved like a living thing, slithering up my ankles.
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