Chapter 553 – Alone at School (3)
—
– Park Seungyub
In a world where only Sophia, the dying old man, and I exist.
Honestly, toughing it out with just the old man in this shabby hut wasn’t easy.
The old man’s stench?
That wasn’t the real issue.
They say the sense of smell is the first to tire out among human senses.
So if you’re stuck with a very foul odor long enough, you eventually stop noticing it.
However, I couldn’t adapt to the gloomy atmosphere radiating from the old man!
— Haah…!
“Ugh!”
The creepy sounds from outside made the old man react immediately.
Fearing the noise, he covered his mouth with both hands, but he couldn’t hide his terrified expression.
“Agent…”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Not really.”
It was a bit chilly, but nothing too serious.
I’m a martial arts master, after all!
“Hmm.”
Judging by the old man’s reaction, it seemed there was a monster lurking outside, but I couldn’t tell.
When I stepped off the Gate Train, I had mostly forgotten memories of Room 207.
Thanks to that, though I returned to my ‘pure self,’ I did lose a lot of martial arts ability, but not all of it!
Upon casting ‘Heavenly Triumph – Sharp Senses!’
…
There was no notable movement outside.
I couldn’t feel any signs of a particularly malicious beast.
Of course, the enemy could be a ghost, so I couldn’t let down my guard!
“Heavenly Triumph? Sharp Senses? What’s that setting about?”
“Should we take a peek outside?”
“Oh, no!”
His desperate voice.
The old man was still haunted by fear.
“B-beware, outside is dangerous!”
“I know. But we can’t just stay in this trash heap forever. We’ll starve to death.”
“… Food is periodically replenished in the first-floor refrigerator.”
“Refrigerator? Oh, you mean that one in the teacher’s lounge?”
So food is regularly stocked in the teacher’s lounge refrigerator?
That explains why there’s so much garbage on the rooftop!
“… Agent, aren’t you getting a bit chilly?”
“I told you I’m fine.”
Anyway, the experiences from the hotel taught me something.
Sometimes you have to take life-threatening risks.
When staying still guarantees certain death, taking dangerous actions can create a chance for survival.
Just as I was about to rise, a cold hand reached out.
“Stay still!”
When the old man suddenly tried to grab me, I instinctively swung my arm to defend myself.
The frail old man immediately tumbled to the floor.
— Bang!
“Ouch!”
This—this wasn’t intentional; it was an accident!
It’s just my instincts as a martial arts master kicking in!
“Ah! I’m sorry. You startled me when you suddenly tried to grab me from behind!”
“…”
“Are you okay?”
“Ugh… I’m fine.”
Just before I was about to head out, the old man asked again.
“Aren’t you cold now?”
“I’m alright. You seem to be cold, so I’ll find something warm for you.”
“…”
His eyes strangely lacked focus.
“You’ll need a bit more cold….”
What a bizarre statement.
Feeling an odd chill, I stepped outside the hut.
*
I was ready to call Sophia if things got messy, but there was no fiery battle.
There wasn’t a hint of the unknown creature the old man was so terrified of.
Instead, an unsettling chill filled the school.
“Wow… Someone might think it’s mid-winter.”
Wasn’t it just early autumn?
Then again, considering everyone had vanished the moment I woke up, discussing the season felt pointless.
As I moved towards the refrigerator in the teacher’s lounge, Sophia, still in the Soul Vessel, voiced a strong opinion.
“Just kill that old man.”
“What are you suddenly saying?”
“Didn’t you feel it? I guarantee that old man is either a demon or possessed by one.”
“I don’t really know…”
“Why can’t you tell? Didn’t you sense that creepy vibe?”
“Is it because he smells bad? Come on! He’s just been cooped up in this weird place with a frail body for too long—that’s all.”
“Oh, really! Even if you’re clueless, how can you maintain such an emotional stance on this -”
“Sophia, try to show a bit of warmth. Don’t suspect and want to kill everyone you see!”
After a brief verbal tussle, Sophia quieted down, possibly disappointed in my attitude.
“Sophia?”
‘…’
“Sophia? Are you pouting now?”
‘…’
No matter how I look at it, having Sophia in the Soul Vessel isn’t comfortable for either of us.
Eventually, it would be better for her to be freed from that vessel with the help of the Management Bureau.
— Clunk!
“I found the refrigerator! Wow, it’s really packed with food!”
Who fills this food up?
Is supernatural stuff happening in the fridge too?
‘Hmm…’
*
I considered going back up but changed my mind.
The school was freezing, and the food was cold, just like the sudden cold snap engulfing it.
It’s no wonder that the bread and sandwiches from the fridge are cold; in this weather, eating them would be torturous.
“Is there any way to start a fire?”
I checked the alcohol lamps in the science lab just in case, but they were all empty.
The old man might have used every last drop over the years.
“Feel the pale breath. Know that your hands are frozen, that your food is solid ice, and even a drop of water is impossible to drink.”
“Why are you saying stuff like that?”
‘… I didn’t say that.’
“Hah! Do you still not know who I am? No impossible feat can faze the greatest martial artist of all time!”
After bolstering my confidence, I grabbed a nearby book and tore it apart.
“What are you trying to do?”
Using ‘Heavenly Triumph – Special Transformation.’
— Swish!
“Yah!”
‘…’
— Tear!
“Yah!”
At that moment, Sophia burst out.
“Are you trying to start a fire by rubbing books together?”
“Yep!”
“That—that’s Special Transformation?”
“Hey, I saw it on the Internet. If you rub paper like this -”
— Snap!
Sophia flicked her fingers, and fire sparked up.
“…”
“How’s that? A grand sorcerer’s miracle! Starting a fire?”
“… I could’ve started a fire without your help.”
“Let’s just say it that way. But what’s ‘Heavenly Triumph’?”
*
In the empty round space between the teacher’s office, administration office, and first-year classroom, a small campfire flickered.
The spark came from Sophia, and with enough books around in this school, fuel wasn’t an issue.
“Ah~! This feels nice. Oh! Isn’t this the Korean history book?”
I should definitely burn it.
“Setting a Korean history book ablaze right away. You’re not really Chinese, are you?”
“I’m also burning a math book fairly. You keep an eye on the fire. Make sure the food doesn’t burn!”
“Are you planning on bringing the old man over?”
“Because it’s going to be cold.”
“…”
Just as I prepared to head back to the rooftop, I heard a sound brush past the floor.
A moment of tension.
Luckily, as the dark figure descended the stairs, my tension eased.
Actually, my nose caught a whiff before my eyes could see.
“You’re here? Since I lit a fire, so you can warm yourself.”
Strangely enough, as the old man appeared, Sophia vanished.
Is it that she hates the stench?
“Here, the bread and milk have heated up, so you can have some.”
“… Thank you, Agent.”
“Not at all.”
Warm bread and heated milk.
It felt like the warmth from the food was also warming my heart.
I no longer felt the cold.
The old man’s condition had likely improved a bit, so should I gather some information?
“Grandpa, how did you end up in a place like this?”
“…”
“Grandpa?”
“It’s a story from my youth. I had a hobby of hiking every time the cold wind blew.”
“Really?”
“If you go winter hiking, people usually think about dangers and cold, right? But Agent, have you ever screamed from a mountaintop in winter?”
“I’m not sure…”
“When your heart freezes, and cold air fills deep within your lung! The moment you shout to drive away that chill is the best feeling! That’s the taste of it.”
What does this have to do with being trapped in school?
I’d need to hear more to find out.
“And then one time… I got lost.”
“Oh no! That must have been tough.”
“I still remember it vividly. At first, it was just itching. My fingertips started to feel tingly, and then the itch turned into pain.”
Is he describing frostbite?
“What’s really scary isn’t just the pain. At some point, even that vanishes. Your hands disappear. You have hands, but you lose sensation in them. Next, it’s your feet, then your wrists. By this point, your ears are likely long gone.”
“… That’s horrific.”
“I was cold and scared. I thought I was going to die in this terrible cold… I just breathed pale breaths.”
I get he went through some hardships, but it’s not obvious what this has to do with being stuck at school, so I interrupted.
“Ahem! But you survived, didn’t you? It sounds like the rescue team came just in time.”
“… Back then, yes.”
“Back then?”
“Agent, are you not cold?”
“You see a campfire right in front of me, right?”
“It’s going to go out soon.”
“There are plenty of books—”
“In two or three days at most. We can’t get out of here, can we? The fire will go out, and you’ll be stuck in unbearable cold—”
— Clap!
The old man’s depression seemed to influence me, so I lightly clapped my hands.
“Grandpa, I’m not a normal person, you know?”
Even if I’m not an agent, I’m still not ordinary.
I’m a martial arts master!
“This much cold is nothing, and I won’t mind fasting a bit! You said food is regularly stocked in the refrigerator—don’t worry. Soon, I will find a way to get out, or the rescue team will—”
“Lies!”
Suddenly, the old man’s voice grew fierce.
“We’ll freeze to death here, and you’re trying to deceive me even in front of death!”
“I-I didn’t say—”
“Death! Coldness! You will die, and so will I. There’s no second chance for us! The luck that helped me survive on those winter mountains will surely not strike twice—”
— Bam!
I lightly slammed my fist against the wall.
It made a sound like a hammer smashing, and the old man’s eyes widened.
“…”
I tried to calm him down nicely, but it wasn’t working.
I remembered something my doctor once told me.
Being overly kind to a mentally suffering patient isn’t helpful.
Sadly, people often mistake kindness for weakness.
Sometimes, it’s necessary to show that “I’m above you” to lead the weak.
I am stronger than you.
I am greater than you.
So, trust and follow me.
“Do you see this power?”
“…”
“I’m not like you. I’m not one to whine and wait for a rescue just because I fell on a winter mountain!”
“…”
“Cold? Cut it out! I’d survive if I fell in Antarctica!”
One day, I might just last a bit, right?
“Hungry? I’d be fine after fasting for a month!”
That was a total lie, though.
“So don’t talk nonsense about me! I won’t die, ever! And if you listen to me, you’ll survive too! Got it?”
“…”
— Bang!
“Do you hear me!”
Let’s be even more stubborn.
“Not answering? Is being old all you’ve got?”
“Sorry, I’ve been really, really foolish.”
“Now I’ll start counting to sixty.”
“What?”
“You said earlier, didn’t you? That luck doesn’t come twice?”
“That was—”
“It will come twice. Not just twice, but three times, four times, ten times, even twenty times. Why? Because I am luck!”
“Uh—”
“One! Two!”
「Heavenly Luck: 1 -> 0」
Click!
“Six!”
Having used Heavenly Luck, there’s no way nothing would happen, right?
“Uoooh—”
“…”
“Uuuuh—”
“….”
“Shiiii!”
Oh, c’mon!
Can something happen already? I just used Heavenly Luck!
Is the output weaker because it’s outside the hotel?
“Hit!”
— Fwooooosh!
Just as expected.
This time, once again, as always!
Luck was on my side.
— Boom!
The front door, which wouldn’t budge, suddenly flung open.
Beyond that door was someone I longed to see.
“Ahri!”
“Ahh~! It’s freezing! Bring several hand warmers, and save that old man as well!”
With the hand warmers flying towards me, it was indeed luck and hope.
“Let’s go!”
*
Finally outside the school gates.
There was a car that seemed to belong to Ahri.
“Hey, where even is this place? I woke up and everyone suddenly vanished.”
“… It’s sort of a containment zone.”
“A containment zone?”
So, they isolated something?
What did they isolate?
“Don’t worry about it. What you should be concerned about is your parents outside.”
“Yikes!”
“They were both shocked. Go persuade them well. Make up some excuse; just say you hated class or something.”
“… Dad is going to be furious.”
“Just take the spanking and call it a day.”
“Ugh! If I use Heavenly Triumph’s diamond skin—”
“Heavenly Triumph? What’s that?”
*
While we were talking, Ahri started steering the wheel with hustle.
Thanks to that, the car was swerving as if it were painting a picture on the playground.
It seemed like simply walking in a straight line wouldn’t help us escape.
The fact that Ahri knows this ‘escape method’ quite well.
“Is this space created by the Management Bureau?”
“Well…”
That seems affirmative.
So, did I accidentally step into some ‘containment zone’ created by the Management Bureau?
Just as I started to tilt my head in confusion, the car finally broke free from the bizarre world.
“Ugh… Outside is already evening. What’s going to happen to the old man?”
The old man was asleep in the back seat.
He was already weak, and my impulsive actions might have shocked him.
“Don’t worry.”
“Really?”
“We’ll take care of him. He’s been through a lot, so he deserves to spend his remaining time in peace. We’ll look after his life—there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Aah! Thank goodness.”
— Screech!
The car came to a stop.
“Um, then I’ll head out.”
“Sure.”
My smartphone was strangely functioning with no issues now.
— Ring! Tap!
“Uh, um—”
“YAAAAA—!!!”
“…”
“Crap! Sseung! Service—!”
Oh no.
“That’s a major disaster.”
The power of the world’s greatest martial artist means nothing against this opponent!
“Mom… Hah! I can’t believe how startled she must be…! Sniff!”
Sophia, please!
What should I do now?
‘I don’t know.’
Help me out!
‘Today, I’m feeling like you don’t need my help. Just trust in yourself.’
“Hey!”
At this moment, I wished a creepy clown monster would appear right in front of me.
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