Let’s go over the work guidelines once more, step by step.
They couldn’t have made a game that’s truly unwinnable, could they?
There has to be a way.
The person outside introduced themselves as Yoo Gi-tae.
Yoo Gi-tae’s name was engraved as a staff member in the work guidelines.
That means Yoo Gi-tae is the security guard.
What’s a bit troubling right now are rules 6 and 4.
<6. If another security guard appears besides you, it is shift change time, so you may open the door.>
<4. If 6 exists, it is false. Rule 6 does not exist in the work guidelines.>
According to rule 6, if another security guard came, I should open the door and relieve him. In that case, it makes sense that he’s out there right now.
However, rule 4 states that rule 6 is false. Which means the security guard, Yoo Gi-tae, outside is a trap.
The problem is that this rule 4 isn’t exactly trustworthy either.
There was a warning that the rules kept changing. That warning implied the possibility that rule 4 itself could be a trap. Besides, the fact that rule 4 comes after rule 8 seems weird.
“Shit. What exactly do you want me to do? This is just a coin flip gambling game.”
There wasn’t enough basis to confirm whether rule 4 is real or not.
At a time like this, the only one I can rely on is Laura.
I asked in a trembling voice.
“Lady Laura… by any chance, which one is the real threat?”
[…….]
“Uh…?”
[I don’t know. I don’t see anything, nor feel anything. This is a bizarre situation.]
Laura sounded somewhat embarrassed.
I let out a small sigh. Even Dragon Lord doesn’t help.
Cold sweat ran down my body.
I was cornered.
The situation I am experiencing right now is probably related to rules 5 and 6. Everything depends on whether rule 4 is true or not. If rule 4 is true, I should stay still, but if it’s false, I better get out to survive.
‘This game is just messed up!’
What’s the point in making the answer depend on a 50:50 gamble?
‘Should I fight back?’
One of the urban legends circulating online includes a case where someone just obliterated all the rules because they were “too powerful.”
At that moment, a clammy hand reached my chest.
The sense of something impure I felt through my perception.
My intention to fight back disappeared completely. This is a kind of law. This entity was beyond anything I could contend with.
At this point, I just wanted to know what the actual deal was before dying. I was insanely curious.
Is it a ghost?
Is it a drowned female water ghost?
Is it a female or male?
Then the security guard’s voice could be heard from outside.
“It’s so… stifling… here. Let me… see you. Here’s my ID card… from J agency… year… security. Please… trust me.”
“ID card?”
I lifted my eyes as much as I could while remaining in a crouched position. I tried to peek out the window but it was too high. The highest point I could see was the window frame. I’d have to sit up straight to see anything higher.
A sudden thought struck me.
“Straightening up to see higher.”
Something about it felt off.
<If it rains, lock the security room door and lay down on the desk. You must not look underneath the desk.>
Let’s assume there’s an answer that can be derived using the given clues.
If there was never going to be a situation where the truth or falsehood of rule 4 decides life or death—
There’s no evidence to confirm whether rule 4 is true or false. So, it cannot constitute an answer which involves a 50% chance of death.
Thus, rule 4 must have no meaning.
For rule 4 to have no meaning, rule 6 must also be meaningless.
Which suggests that the current situation might not involve multiple events occurring simultaneously.
Looking at the content of rule 6: “If another security guard besides you appears, it is shift change time, so you may open the door.”
While the phrasing might be vague, the core of rule 6 is to allow for shift changes and door opening when another security guard arrives.
But this security guard never asked me to open the door for a shift change. So, this situation might be unrelated to rule 6.
The appearance of the security guard might just be here to confuse me. It doesn’t necessarily indicate that rule 6 has kicked in since the key action involves opening the door.
In that case, there’s no point stressing over rule 4. Because the situation doesn’t fall under the scope of rule 6.
This seemed like it fit together now.
If we assume there is an answer, it would follow that events can only happen one at a time.
I’m still in the situation of rule 5: when it rains, I’m supposed to lock the door and lay down on the desk.
The security guard tempting me to disobey this directive fits here.
And the drowned water ghost tempting me to both peek under the desk and open the door fits here too.
The security guard was simply a device in this rule 5 setup.
“This is it!”
If this isn’t correct, then it’s just a 50-50 gamble. I wouldn’t design the problem that way if I were the maker.
So, I decided to do nothing.
The security guard kept shouting from outside, while the clammy hand had already reached my neck. I closed my eyes to avoid accidentally seeing whatever it was.
The clammy hand grabbed my neck. A tight grip.
“Guh, ah…”
I couldn’t breathe.
The continuous enticement.
Can I escape?
No, it’s already too late.
My initial thought was correct anyway, so there’s no need to run.
Isn’t it too late to escape right now? Should I shake off his hand and run?
What if I’m wrong?
About a minute passed.
Suddenly, the rain that was pouring down like the sky had a hole stopped.
Somewhat later, the sounds of the uncle shouting outside and the hand choking me disappeared.
“Huh.”
I let out a sigh of relief.
I was right.
“Damn.”
I cautiously opened my eyes and got up. I checked under the desk which I had been so curious about. There was just a puddle of water.
It’s over.
The situation of rule 5 has ended.
“Shit. This was really…”
I nearly got killed because I got carried away trying to help Park Hayeon for a moment.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone was knocking on the door.
Peering through the window in the door, I checked outside.
White hair with red eyes. That girl with fair skin.
‘Finally here.’
I opened the door.
“Hello. My name is Jang Seo-yoon, and I’m here because I have a request.”
<You should generally accept students' individual requests, but if a girl with white hair and red eyes talks to you, ignore her. Such a student does not exist at this school.>
According to this rule, I should obviously ignore Jang Seo-yoon’s request.
But the rule is false. I don’t know why.
I found it out by looking at the guide.
It seems to relate to the completely removed rule 2, but figuring that out would involve some complicated stuff, so I merely scrolled through the guide to find just the conclusion.
“Actually, I’m being bullied… can you help me?”
I nodded.
It’s time to save Park Hayeon and Ji Soyeon who may be floundering somewhere.
*
Ji Soyeon woke up in the teacher’s lounge.
————<Game>—————-
[You are a teacher at the Academy.
A teacher has an obligation to protect and supervise students.]
————————————
She was surprised at first for being inside a dungeon.
She was surprised again when a clumsily dressed human approached her.
“Teacher Ji Soyeon. Isn’t it the fourth classroom’s time? The bell rang.”
“Uh, I’m not a teacher…”
Suddenly, everyone in the teacher’s lounge who was doing work all turned their heads to look at Ji Soyeon.
Ji Soyeon fidgeted anxiously.
They held her gaze as they stood up and started to approach.
Ji Soyeon realized at last and headed towards “Class 4.”
“Ah, right. Okay, I’m the teacher! Let’s go to class!”
Though she worried about where Class 4 was, it was just there when she stepped out of the teacher’s lounge. Strangely, it was right beside the teacher’s lounge.
<Class 4>
Only “Class 4” was written, indicating no grade.
Ji Soyeon felt goosebumps all over her body. Everything about this was too eerie.
Trembling, she entered the classroom. Inside, it was filled with clumsily-drawn students.
“Do I have to teach…?”
Ji Soyeon had a rough understanding of her current predicament. It was in a movie from the Hunter era of the First Generation Awakened Ones. In this dungeon, one had to solve mysteries like puzzles rather than merely fighting monsters. The characters had to follow the dungeon’s rules to solve the puzzles.
She opened the textbook on the teacher’s desk. Attempting to open it to the first page, it inexplicably opened to page 66. Despite trying to pinch the paper edges to flip it, she couldn’t grasp it.
“Huh?”
On pages 66-67, the pages were stuck, and she couldn’t move to a different page.
A student called out.
“Teacher, aren’t you going to teach?”
“Ah, right! I will.”
She read pages 66-67. It was a story:
<Jang Seo-yoon and Kim Cheolsu had been friends for a long time.
One day, Kim Cheolsu confessed his love to Jang Seo-yoon, asking her to date him.
Startled by the suddenness, Jang Seo-yoon replied that she'd think about it and asked him to wait a bit.
Kim Cheolsu's admirer, Hwang Harin, was enraged upon hearing this.
She took Jang Seo-yoon to the gym's storage room and beat her up with her gang.
"Don't flirt with Kim Cheolsu."
"But, it's not like that, Kim Cheolsu..."
"Shut up. Someone of your caliber shouldn’t get involved with someone like him. You should know your place. Relationships out of your league just make things complicated, understand?"
Jang Seo-yoon felt aggrieved. Her grievance soon turned to anger, and she retaliated by declaring:
"No. I will date Kim Cheolsu."
Hwang Harin grew enraged. She, being a B-rank Awakened One, had never had her will challenged.
She crossed a line:
"Your... arm!"
Jang Seo-yoon's arm turned gray like stone due to Hwang Harin's skill, Lithify.
Hwang Harin had only intended to terrify her.
However, Jang Seo-yoon reacted unexpectedly:
"Give me my arm back! My arm!"
Suddenly, Jang Seo-yoon lunged at Hwang Harin. Surprised, Hwang Harin pushed her, causing Jang Seo-yoon to lose balance and fall.
The problem was with her arm. Due to the shock of falling, the arm that had turned to stone shattered.
"Ah, ah..."
Jang Seo-yoon went into shock. Hwang Harin was the same, as her ability couldn't restore shattered Lithified objects.
Hwang Harin saw her future grow dark. Her dream of graduating from the Academy as a proud Hero faded away.
The fear of ruining her life drove her thoughts dark.
Looking coldly down upon Jang Seo-yoon, who was sobbing and pleading for her life, she spoke.
"If this gets out, our careers are over. Let's get rid of her."
Her gang, known for poor character, concurred.
Hwang Harin used her skill to entirely Lithify the pleading Jang Seo-yoon.
The silence returned to the gym's storage room as the once noisy girl turned into an inanimate object.
One of the gang had the skill of Great Strength. Using a hammer, they smashed the stone that was once Jang Seo-yoon into small pieces. They collected the powder and flushed it into the toilet of the second floor ladies' restroom, intending to send it far away to the sewage treatment plant.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. The powder didn't properly drain and ended up clogging the toilet pipe.
With no other choice, they left, somewhat satisfied.
However, plot twist.
Jang Seo-yoon hadn't completely perished.
Her ability was Ectoplasmic Body.
Originally, this skill transformed her body into an ethereal, intangible state that allowed her to pass through matter and increase her movement speed.
As a stone, Jang Seo-yoon was conscious. Just as the gang was about to pulverize her, she activated her ability. However, the skill couldn't correctly perceive “the body” and ended up glitching. It recognized the shattered powder as her “body.”
Thus, her soul was bound to the powder.
And Jang Seo-yoon still suffers agonizingly inside the toilet pipe.
“Help me… it hurts… I can't breathe… please… help me.”
Ji Soyeon was startled. Why was such a story in the textbook?
