Chapter 517 – Room 207, Gate Room – Fourth Trial: ‘Fallen King’ (3)
As I walked down the corridor, I pondered.
If only the phone hadn’t gone through, I might’ve thought some mysterious demon had magically cut off the powerful communication network that agents use. But the phone call went through, which means the network’s working fine, and someone deliberately hung up on me.
…
The Inquisition must have realized through some route that a demonic disaster had struck Hotel High!
The problem was that given the nature of this disaster, which messes with human minds, I couldn’t be sure if my own mental state was intact.
Considering the possibility that a demon might control my mind, I decided to avoid verbal communication. Instead, I transmitted two pieces of information ‘through the call termination’ that could be understood if ‘my mind was clear.’
First, the Vatican is aware of the situation in the school.
Second, since the communication network is intact, intervention may come soon.
*
In just a short time, the school had turned into chaos.
The lunch lady, the English teacher, the gym teacher, and then the student supervisor, along with the Korean teacher, students from class 3 and class 5—over ten individuals were going berserk and instilling terror in everyone.
Soon enough, I heard murmurs everywhere about cell phones going dead.
Unlike me, who had the Vatican’s special phone, everyone else’s phones weren’t working normally.
At this point, some kids began to turn pale and utter the word ‘demon.’
For regular folks, a demonic disaster would seem like something you’d only hear about in world news, a distant occurrence somewhere on Earth that’s unlikely to directly affect them.
But as an agent, I knew the harsher truth.
Demonic disasters happen dozens of times more frequently than the average person’s thought, and it’s just that the Vatican controls information so that it doesn’t get out.
What makes the news are either failures in information control by the Vatican or tidbits they think they can let slip.
…
On another note, while staring at my broken phone, I thought of a completely different possibility from the ‘demons’ the students were muttering about.
What if it’s not demons but the Inquisition isolating the Hotel High area?
When it comes to preventing a ‘pandemic,’ the top response is always to quarantine the infected from the public, right?
As I walked down the corridor, I spotted my classmates.
“Minah! Is, is that you back?”
“Jieun, are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah! I managed to pull through… but everyone’s sort of freaked out.”
Listening to Jieun’s rambling, who was supposed to be my best friend, I pieced together what had happened in the classroom.
Students had bravely used their desks and chairs as shields and weapons to push back the gym teacher and escape. Of course, they had some help from teachers in adjacent rooms.
No matter how athletic the former baseball player was, he wouldn’t be able to dominate over more than ten fiercely spirited boys in the classroom.
After all, he couldn’t slice through desks with a baseball bat, right?
What was amazing was their bravery more than their strength.
Even with the gym teacher beating a student dead right before their eyes, they found the courage to stick together and fight back…
Did that courage simply bubble up from their ancestors who survived the harshness of nature?
Just then, the class president—what’s his name again? Lee Hojin?—came up to me.
“You’re back? I thought you ran out when everything went crazy. We’re planning to stick together and make a run for the main entrance.”
The class president calmly organized the line and even distributed roles among the students. You, hold the chair and block anyone who comes; you, wield the mop and swing at them; the girls, just stay in the center, etc.
The kids who usually ignored teacher’s orders surprisingly followed the class president’s instructions, even if they grumbled about it, because these types are sensitive to so-called ‘peer hierarchy.’
“Minah… why are you back? You should’ve gone to fetch the adults while you were out.”
“Jieun, don’t panic.”
“Y-Yeah.”
While some could be imagined as having been born in the Stone Age to lead the pack, others were clearly in the rabbit position in this survival hierarchy.
“Let’s get out of here!”
*
As we stepped outside the classroom, confusing chatter filled the air.
Strange people were blocking the way to the main entrance.
Wait, so we can get out if we go to the main entrance?
They say the back entrance is still okay?
No, the back entrance is blocked too!
The information felt like pure chaos!
In my opinion, the correct stance was that the way was blocked.
They likely severed communication networks to quarantine the ‘pandemic,’ so it’d be absurd to allow physical escape.
Saying we could get out was mere wishful thinking.
As the atmosphere thickened, a typically quiet nerd hesitantly raised his hand.
“Uh, President!”
“… What? Speak up.”
“Shouldn’t we, like, head to the chapel?”
“…”
“It’s just, since we heard the main entrance was blocked—”
Soon, a few tough kids scoffed at him.
“Ugh! You dumbass. If you run from here to the main entrance, it’s just 5 minutes! Why go to a chapel—”
Surprisingly, some kids considered the nerd’s suggestion.
“Didn’t you hear about the main entrance being blocked? If we go under the cross, God will protect us!”
Out of nowhere, someone started talking about God protecting us?
It sounded completely insane, but think about it.
In a world where demons exist and the Vatican shouts to father God every day to banish them, it makes sense that around 70% of humanity, and 80% of Koreans, are Christians.
A few students relying on God’s protection seemed completely reasonable given these circumstances.
Of course, plenty thought choosing prayer over a clear escape path was a foolish move.
In the end, the group split into two.
*
I found myself in the chapel group, and the reason was simple.
The Inquisition would certainly try to prevent any escape.
If I wanted to live, I knew only one way.
Before the Inquisition reached their ‘painful decision,’ I had to hunt down and kill either the demon or the sorcerer myself.
*
Sorry kids, but it’s not a good idea to head to the front entrance.
What if it’s blocked?
Then going to a dead end is just wasting time.
What if we could escape through the front entrance?
Given the chaos around the school, there’s no way the Vatican wouldn’t know.
The moment we slip out, they would come snatch the students and teachers, making it exceedingly difficult to get back my grimoire.
In short, no matter if we can escape or not, heading for the front entrance is a terrible choice.
Thus, the suspects must remain in the school.
Until I reclaim my grimoire.
*
The path to the chapel felt darker than expected, with eerie sounds resembling a ghost crying emerging from somewhere.
Under normal circumstances, I would’ve grumbled about the decrepit corridor.
Eventually, fear-stricken children began to bicker.
“Damn it! Hey, Lee Hojin! I told you to go to the front entrance!”
“Then just go if you want! You heard the main entrance is blocked, right?”
“Then how about you confirm it and come back? You dragged us this way for nothing!”
“Hey! Why are you swearing so much?”
In the next moment, the tough kid’s eyes bulged in indignation.
“What the hell did you just say?”
Everyone tensed and eyed the tough guy.
After all, we had experienced this situation more times than we could count.
In a snap, someone bent on murder could erupt from what appeared like just another heated argument!
“Uh? Uh? Wait, it’s not me!”
The tough kid, realizing the precariousness of the situation, hastily denied it.
While those around him exhaled, relieved, I couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
Wasn’t this the perfect timing for an incident?
What if the demon or sorcerer wasn’t nearby?
What if they’d already escaped through the front entrance or joined another group wandering outside the school?
If that’s the case, then they’re quite fortunate.
It leaves me baffled, though.
*
What is the grimoire’s ‘weakness’?
First off, the range of possession isn’t that broad.
It is difficult to specify a distance since it depends on conditions and skill levels, but the target must be visible to the naked eye.
Reflecting on the recent events…
The lunch lady, the English teacher, the gym teacher.
All three rampaged after becoming entangled with our class.
The student supervisor, the Korean teacher, students from class 3 and class 5.
They appear unrelated at first, but the first two had come to intervene after witnessing the gym teacher riled up, and the students from classes 3 and 5 came to gawk at the racket we were causing.
Therefore, the culprit must be a student from our class.
…
The second weakness is that the grimoire needs to summon its ‘physical form’ to exert power.
Of course, it’s not as bulky or heavy as an encyclopedia, and it can be summoned back anytime, so a bit of cover makes secretly summoning it easy.
In settings like the cafeteria or classroom, it could be discreetly summoned from beneath a table, so I hadn’t located the culprit yet.
…
Just to be safe, I tried creating a scenario where the culprit would have to reveal themselves.
In the bare corridor, I could easily locate the grimoire’s summoning, but alas, they weren’t foolish enough to use it in a place like this.
Let’s settle matters in the chapel.
…
Then suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.
Why would the hotel create an event so peculiar?
What if it’s throwing the question at me, ‘How would you deal if someone else gains the grimoire?’
Of course, I could be overthinking this, as it’s often the case with events that unfold in a hotel.
*
The earlier mind games had subtly fractured our group.
To express this, there’s the group led by the class president and the group led by the tough kids.
The timid kids clustered around the class president, while the rough, athletic boys stayed with their kind.
They whispered discreetly to each other—though I could hear it all—but this separation didn’t imply they weren’t still cautious about going solo.
I wondered which group I belonged to now.
By some twist of fate, it looks like I fell in with the tough kids.
Eight years of high school living must’ve branded me as a tough kid now.
Oh, what can I say?
In a high school ecosystem, pretty girls who don’t study, like me, are automatically lumped with the tough kids!
What was I supposed to do sitting there passively while the kids naturally gravitated toward me?
The funny part is that Jieun, who belongs in the weak category, is now part of the tough kids’ group.
Naturally, the tough kids didn’t pull her in; she just happened to be next to me.
…
School feels like an untamed jungle with daily struggles for hierarchy.
In this place, lions and wolves enjoy glory and richness while rabbits barely manage to survive each day.
Even fragile rabbits have survival strategies.
If you can’t be a lion or a wolf yourself, wouldn’t it be wise to hover around a friendly wolf and pretend to be close?
“Minah! We’ve arrived!”
“Okay, let’s go in. From now on, God will protect everyone!”
At that moment, a sense of relief washed over the kids’ faces.
Even the invisible nerd and the tough kid who usually spewed dirty words at me.
*
As soon as we arrived at the chapel, everyone assumed devout expressions and took their seats.
Honestly, it was hilariously absurd.
How many among them really attended church regularly?
Especially the tough kid, who looked like they’d never stepped into a church in their life—
“Hey, James 4:7. Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you—”
?
“Psalm 23:4! Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
The one who looked least likely to know the word ‘study’ was unexpectedly rattling verses, causing his peers to stare in shock.
Shortly after, the class president muttered in disbelief,
“Hey, Park Minseung. Weren’t you just saying let’s go to the front?”
“This, this idiot! God doesn’t need us to be in the chapel to protect us. Wherever there’s room for His mercy to dwell, He pours out boundless love—”
How absurd!
After all, if that tough kid knows it, the others must have no excuse either.
Soon, everyone dropped to their knees, melding together whatever prayers they knew into a collective murmur.
“Heavenly Father, we earnestly wish to be kept safe from the diabolical hands of demons—”
“Children, you have belonged to God, and you have overcome them—”
“In the name of Jesus Christ—”
“Amen, amen, amen!”
“Is that even a prayer?”
“I just know ‘Amen’!”
At that moment, I cautiously stood up, scanning the surroundings.
Is there a demon or sorcerer lurking somewhere here?
— Bang!
Suddenly, a strange noise echoed.
*
Found you.
So, it was you?
Now, it’s time to reclaim the grimoire.
…
It seems the Vatican has surrounded the school.
I should start strategizing how to escape once I find the grimoire.
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