After scouting the school, Juhwan left the area and walked to the nearest convenience store.
He grabbed a few things—energy drinks, snacks, a small first-aid kit, and a power bank.
Even if it was just a game, he wanted to be prepared.
He packed everything carefully in his backpack, thinking over the mission.
Five hearts. Permanent choices. The mission only works from 10:00 PM to 3:00 AM.
And there's a deadline.
It felt like a horror game, but he didn't know the rules. He barely played horror games in his life.
'Do I need to run? Hide? Solve puzzles?
I don't know.'
His chest tightened. It felt dangerous.
On impulse, he texted his oldest friend, Jihoon.
–Juhwan: Hey, if I disappear, don't look for me.
–BZZZT
His phone buzzed instantly.
– Jihoon: Bro, what the hell? Where are you?
Juhwan stared at the message, then quickly typed back.
– Juhwan: Kidding lol.
– Jihoon sent back: Not funny, idiot.
Juhwan smiled faintly.
But deep down, it didn't feel like a joke.
He sat on a bench and played games on his phone, trying to kill time, but his eyes kept checking the clock.
9:30 PM.
9:45 PM.
9:59 PM.
The sky was dark now. The streets felt quieter.
The mission had officially begun.
His chest felt heavy. He didn't feel good about this at all. 'I should finish this quickly. Midnight feels like a bad time to still be in there.'
He tightened his grip on his flashlight and mask.
'I don't know anything about horror games, so I have to be extra careful.'
With slow steps, Juhwan walked back to the abandoned school.
The broken gate creaked again as he pushed it open.
Creaakk
As Juhwan approached the school, he noticed something that made his skin crawl.
All the houses nearby had turned off their lights.
Every window was dark.
The streetlights flickered weakly, and the roads were almost empty. Only a few cars passed by, their engines distant echoes in the silence.
It felt like the entire neighborhood was avoiding this place.
Juhwan's throat tightened.
'Why does it feel like the whole world just shut down around here?'
He stepped through the school gates.
The moment he crossed, a panel appeared in his phone as it vibrated, he pucked it up quickly.
[Scenario: The Rumored School]
[People say this school is haunted by spirits who never left.
Some who entered were never seen again.
Strange sounds, moving shadows, and cold spots have been reported.]
[Mission: Find at least three pieces of evidence to confirm or deny the rumors.]
'Scenario? Juhwan's brows furrowed.
So this is how the game works? Like stages or story chapters?'
His heart pounded in his chest.
He forced himself to take a step forward, whispering to calm himself.
"You shouldn't be afraid of ghosts. It's people who can kill you. Ghosts can't touch you."
Repeating it made him feel better.
Whoosh
But then, the air turned cold, unnaturally cold. His breath came out in faint white puffs.
He stopped.
'Maybe I should just leave.'
Just as he turned around, another message popped up.
[Warning: Retreating now will endanger your life!]
[Progression is mandatory.]
His stomach dropped.
'What? I can't leave?'
His hands shook slightly, but his face stayed the same—blank and stiff, as always. His heart skipped a beat.
"Great," he muttered. "I'm fucking dead."
With no way out, he had no choice but to move forward into the darkness.
The game had a name for this.
[Scenario: The Rumored School.]
And now… he was trapped inside it.
Juhwan stared at the panel again.
Scenario Level: 1 – Danger: Low.
He frowned.
'If the danger's low, then why would leaving put my life at risk?'
'It didn't make sense, but whatever.'
There was no other choice now.
He pushed forward, walking through the same hallways he had explored earlier in the afternoon. The school felt different now—heavier, colder, as if the walls were breathing quietly around him.
Juhwan took out his real-world flashlight and switched it on.
It flickered.
His jaw tightened.
It was fine earlier. Why now?
He smacked it, but it kept flickering.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
[Reminder: You can use items from your inventory.]
He raised a brow.
"How? This is reality, not a game."
But when he focused on the Inventory button on his phone, a game flashlight appeared in his hand.
He staggered back in shock, staring at the item.
His breathing quickened, but his stiff face barely showed it.
"What the hell? How is this possible?"
'Was this a dream? Or was the game really bleeding into reality?'
His chest pounded.
Maybe it was just part of the horror.
Maybe the game was tricking his senses.
Either way, the flashlight worked perfectly.
Curious, Juhwan tried again.
He focused on his Inventory and pulled out the mask.
A faint shimmer, and suddenly it was in his hand—a solid, black, featureless mask with nothing but hollow eye holes. It covers his whole face.
He turned it over, feeling the smooth surface.
'It's just a game item… but it's really here.'
When he put it on, it fit perfectly to his face, like it was made just for him.
For the first time, he actually felt… a little excited.
He chuckled softly.
"I've never had a mask that fits this well. Guess I can really hide my emotions now."
The system said the mask could hide his feelings from ghosts and people.
That made him feel safer somehow.
With his black hoodie, backpack, and jeans and shoes, he looked like someone ready to explore a haunted house... or maybe like someone who belonged in one.
His steps echoed as he walked through the silent halls.
He checked abandoned lockers, swinging the rusty doors open, some filled with nothing but dust and scraps of paper.
He searched old cabinets, empty chairs, and scribbled boards covered in faded chalk. Some desks had names carved into them, their owners long gone.
The place creaked with every step, but he kept moving.
Looking for clues. Looking for anything.
'This is crazy.'
Doing all this instead of studying? He would've laughed at himself yesterday.
But now?
Now he was in too deep to stop.
'So creepy! Damn it!' he shivered.
As Juhwan moved deeper into the school, the air grew heavier.
He paused.
There were no sounds. No wind. No creaking trees. No distant cats or birds.
Nothing.
The silence was too perfect.
It made the place feel even more wrong.
His stiff expression didn't show much, but his chest tightened again.
"This is seriously weird…"
He pushed open a door to one of the classrooms he had checked earlier that afternoon.
His flashlight swept across the room.
That's when he saw it, a notebook sitting on one of the desks.
It hadn't been there earlier.
His body froze, a cold sweat prickling his back.
'I definitely would've seen that before.'
Carefully, he stepped in and picked it up. The notebook felt cold, almost damp, like it had been waiting for him.
His phone buzzed violently in his pocket.
–BZZZT
'Damn it!' Juhwan hissed in his thoughts, jumping slightly.
He yanked it out and checked the notification.
[Clue Found: 1/3]
Notebook acquired.
He sighed, heart racing.
"That's it? Just that? Please don't scare me like that again."
He flipped the notebook open.
The pages were blank.
Not a single word.
But the notebook itself wasn't new, it was worn, the edges yellowed and torn.
'Is this really a clue? Or is it just bait?'
He stuffed it into his backpack and pressed on.
Eventually, he reached the gym.
The large double doors creaked as he pushed them open.
The gym was dark, wide, and eerily quiet.
His flashlight beam stretched over the cracked wooden floor, fallen ceiling panels, and old, broken sports equipment.
Tap Tap Tap
His footsteps echoed as he walked inside.
'I wanna go home! Let me go home!' Juhwan felt like crying.