Chapter 731 – Room 302, The Cursed Chamber – ‘Brave New World’ (9)
—
– Park Seungyub
— Park Seungyub, you bastard! You worthless piece of crap!
The constant stream of incomprehensible insults echoed in my ears.
The guy completely lost it; I could hardly make out what he was saying anymore.
— W-What the hell is this? G-get the police!
— Kyaaaah!
— Mr. Kim, watch out!
The school erupted into chaos in an instant.
An intruder actually stabbed the security guard, leaving even the teachers with pale, shocked faces.
The kids, usually unfazed by commotion, were visibly scared now.
“Everyone, don’t, don’t panic. It’s just one weird guy… and, Seungyub!”
A teacher called me with a tense expression.
“Yes?”
“T-the crazy guy outside is calling for you. Do you know him?”
So the teacher knows he’s looking for me too.
I mean, it’s hard not to know when “Han Namdongji Jonjed” keeps shouting my name.
“…”
In that moment, a memory from last night flashed back to me.
‘Han Namdongji Jonjed,’ this guy has such a grand name yet can’t even understand the entry angles in League.
I remember giving him a piece of my mind for that.
‘I’m sure I could play Zed better than you.’
‘Wow~ You’ve played Zed 800 times? Silver with that much practice? You should cut off your hands!’
‘Jobless bum whose life revolves around League? Seriously, I’m a Challenger, just saying. LOL.’
“Uh…”
I guess it was just a chat aimed at waking me up from that dream, but looking back now, it seemed kinda harsh.
As I started tapping on the keyboard again, memories from the past popped up, almost moving my fingers by themselves!
It wasn’t my chat.
It was that clueless version of me who used to live next door!
“Do you know him?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know him.”
“Phew… well, there are a lot of weird people in the world. Seungyub, you need to be extra careful, got it?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll go check outside for a second. You all stay in this classroom and lock the door! Don’t go out!”
I’m starting to feel some respect for my homeroom teacher’s sense of responsibility.
Meanwhile, I agreed with the teacher’s words about only one weird person being out there.
Sure, the guy’s out of his mind, but at least he’s just one guy.
His weapon looked more like a kitchen knife than a gun, anyway.
With a little muscle like the gym teacher around, they could probably handle him quickly, right?
As soon as the teacher stepped out, a kid in the classroom whispered,
“Isn’t that guy outside looking for Seungyub?”
“Yeah! He keeps calling Seungyub!”
Suddenly, everyone’s eyes turned toward me.
I could practically feel them preparing to curse me out for causing all this trouble.
… I mean, I have an excuse.
How was I supposed to know that casually chatting while playing League would lead to this?
I’m not the weird one; that guy out there is the crazy one!
I threw them a look that reflected my thoughts.
Then, unexpectedly, the reactions were not what I anticipated.
“Hey, hey! Don’t say weird stuff.”
“Y-Yeah. He’s just a crazy guy! It’s not Seungyub’s fault!”
“It could be a misunderstanding, right?”
I hadn’t even said anything, yet the kids were siding with me.
It seems like they want to avoid an actual fight.
At this point, I finally understood Soyeon’s earlier words.
“Kids who get bullied have a certain vibe. You don’t have that vibe anymore. They probably feel it too.”
“…”
Under normal circumstances, I would’ve felt proud in this situation, but it was a bit disconcerting now.
Honestly, it would’ve been better if the kids just hurled some insults at me.
The point of this phase is to recognize my first wish.
To do that, I need to recreate my initial life, as revealed in Room 301.
But even as I tried to act like my old self, everyone around me treated me completely differently.
…
Just as I was thinking along those lines, the shouting outside began to grow louder.
— Damn it! Why am I struggling like this for no money!
“Hmm?”
It sounded like the voice had changed.
The kids in the classroom didn’t seem to notice yet, but I could tell distinctly.
— Thud, thud!
I rushed to the window, sensing something was off.
To my surprise, a boy hunched over by the window looked terrified.
“Eek! S-Seungyub… about what I said earlier, I-I’m sorry!”
“Shut up and get out of the way!”
What’s he on about?
“Don’t—”
“Get out of the way!”
Confirming the situation outside, I realized I was right.
The first intruder was already down, bleeding from the head, and weirdly, it was one of the teachers who knocked him out that was yelling.
— Mr. Kim, what’s with the commotion? Calm down—
— Hey! Principal you idiot! You’re going to report that I did well? I’m the one bleeding here!
— W-What’s going on! Mr. Kim!
Mr. Kim was freaking out, yelling at the principal.
It looked bizarre; he was reeling from the pressures built up from work, but this was now not the time or place for that.
Sure, when folks put a bunch of people together in an office, complaints will arise.
But this isn’t the right moment to air grievances, is it?
— Kim Jin-ho, you damn fool! Speak clearly! I—
Suddenly, the principal’s eyes began to redden.
The 국어 teacher, who was trying to calm things down, surprisingly stabbed the principal in the back with a pen, while the English teacher started swinging his bag around like a windmill.
It turned into an absurd scene where madness was spreading!
At that point, the students watching from the playground began to sense something was off.
“What’s going on? W-Why are the teachers acting like this?”
“Hey! Did anyone call the police?”
“Se-jin called earlier—”
A larger picture started to form in my mind.
It’s like there’s some kind of ‘anger virus’ spreading.
A disease that makes people act like demons when they can’t control their emotions.
I felt like I was the one who triggered that epidemic.
…
Handling a few teachers in the playground wouldn’t be tough.
The police or the administration bureau’s strike team would arrive soon, and even if they didn’t, I’d just intervene myself.
With no guns and no martial arts training, even a hundred ordinary folks could take me down easily.
The real problem was the anger virus now spreading.
Could there be more people infected since that Han Namdongji Jonjed showed up at school?
Was he the only one who lost it after reading my chat last night?
…
When those thoughts crossed my mind, I truly felt dizzy.
I also realized why the administration bureau sometimes becomes ridiculously cruel.
In situations like this, I see only one way to calm the anger virus.
I have to eliminate everyone.
Everyone infected, down to those who even slightly interacted with them!
“What… What the hell…?”
This can’t be real, right?
Wasn’t I just on League chatting a little too aggressively?
Maybe nine out of thirteen accounts getting suspended for a month and eight needing to be freshly created isn’t that big of a deal?
This is… this is!
Things are getting ridiculous.
I sensed something strange.
The sound of frenzied adults rushing in echoed.
An aura of fear swept across the classroom.
The kids, sensitive to instinct, could tell that the adults charging in were different from the usual ‘teachers’ they were used to.
“Hey! Stack the desks in front of the classroom!”
“Stack up the chairs too!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Stop screaming!”
The classroom was losing its sanity.
Before I knew it, I could see ominous looks on the kids’ faces as well.
“Seungyub! What now?”
“… Right? What do we do now?”
Total chaos seemed to have erupted overnight.
Just then, at that moment.
— Crackle!
“Uh?”
A strange sound came from somewhere.
As if we all had a sudden flash of insight, everyone instinctively looked up.
And then—
A hand from an unimaginable domain reached out to sort the situation out.
— Swoosh!
The first thing that came to mind was an eraser.
It was as if someone was erasing part of the world like a painting.
People who were staining the playground disappeared.
— Swoosh!
People shouting in the corridor vanished.
In less than five seconds, the crazed individuals disappeared without a trace.
A glimmer of hope spread through the classroom still gripped by fear.
“Is it… over?”
“What? What’s going on?”
“It seems like the administration bureau did something!”
“Thank you, God, for saving us—”
Some sought the administration bureau while others called out to a higher power.
It was a scene filled with people who believed firmly that ‘we survived.’
In this moment, I realized one terrifying truth.
When white mold appears on a loaf of bread, you cannot just cut away the visible parts.
If one percent of the mold is showing, that means the other ninety-nine percent has spread too.
The entire loaf is spoiled already.
So, it must all go into the trash.
Just then, a signal appeared as if it had been waiting for me.
「Divine Luck activated! The universe’s energy blesses you!」
The next action was instinctive.
Of course, it was probably an instinct driven by divine luck, but still.
— Crash!
In one breath, I smashed the window with a chair.
Just as everyone turned to look at me in utter shock— I, too, looked.
To see that invisible eraser was also ‘deleting’ the kids in the classroom!
“Kyaaaah! My arm, my arm—”
I rushed to the window and made it to the hallway.
I ran like mad.
I didn’t think about which way to go at all.
With divine luck blessing me, any direction I took couldn’t be wrong!
“What the hell is going on! All of a sudden…”
How did everything go to hell in just one day?
Seriously, is it even possible for things to collapse over a few aggressive chats in League?
“Hah…”
Thoughts swirled in my head as I dashed around.
I…
It seems I may have failed.
Not because I failed to resolve the room, though.
That wasn’t my objective.
The problem is that I haven’t realized my wish yet.
The circumstances around me seem like they’ve crossed some ‘line,’ yet…!
I don’t know.
There are still so many gaps in the memories of the past, and I haven’t even caught a hint of my wish!
Why did this happen?
Familiar memories started to surface.
Soyeon’s voice telling me ‘you are different now.’
This time, it was the school bullies who didn’t bother me.
Even students who would step back just at our eye contact.
Even when I tried to mimic my old self, others felt the change and acted differently toward me.
Ultimately, from some point onward, a lot changed in my life before coming to the hotel.
So I still haven’t realized my wish.
— Swoosh!
“Eek!”
I rolled across the floor, evading the eraser’s trajectory.
Whether it was me dodging or the opponent making a mistake due to divine luck, I wasn’t sure.
As thoughts arose naturally, I pondered.
Why is divine luck being used right now?
This situation looks like a total mess!
Divine luck isn’t going to save my life for another minute or two, right?
The opponent isn’t something a normal human can handle, like a superhuman or a monster.
This eraser deletes the errors of the world.
If anything, it feels like the administrator of the world deleting errors!
Can I even fight back against that?
If that’s the case, my remaining lifespan is extended by just a minute at best.
“… No way that can be!”
No way.
Divine luck is one of the most potent powers in the hotel, and because it’s so strong, the cooldown is incredibly long.
It wouldn’t just be used to extend my life by a minute!
There must be something more.
There’s got to be something—something more…!
Just then.
— Rumble!
A massive stone fell from the ceiling, and instinctively, I recoiled.
An inexplicable harmony carved out a moment of severed time.
Because of that, I noticed someone was crying.
“Waaah…! Waaah! Where is everyone? Where did they go… Seungyub!”
A familiar voice, the girl’s voice, Soyeon.
She could possibly be the first girl I ever liked.
She could also be the only survivor alongside me in Bangbae Middle School—
“…”
The only survivor, huh?
I am someone who participated in the hotel and mastered martial arts, and now I’m blessed with divine luck.
With all that, I barely lasted just one more minute…
Yet a girl like her is still alive.
In a school where all the infected ones were deleted, she’s still fine enough to call out.
At that moment, I realized.
If my clever friends, like Kain, had come to this conclusion earlier, it could be easy to miss…
I only realized it thanks to divine luck.
…
It’s natural for conflicts to arise as people live.
Just as Mr. Kim, the PE teacher, became resentful towards the principal as soon as he lost his mind.
However, when those people fought, it didn’t go insane like it is now.
That’s because they weren’t infected individuals.
They were innocent people.
My provocation was the catalyst for their madness.
Because ‘Park Seungyub’ is the infected one.
Then it follows that I’m the one who caused all this hell.
…
No way.
This isn’t my fault.
I was merely the first infected individual.
The start of the rage virus.
The source of the rage virus.
“Seungyub… Seungyub… You’re still alive, right?”
“…”
This girl, now turned into a singularity, walks toward me.
As she walks proudly in the path made by the eraser that turns everything into nothingness, she’s unaffected.
And then…
— Swoosh!
The world’s admin, deletes ‘Park Seungyub.’
Thus, the infected data will all vanish.
But…
“Kyaaaah! Seungyub!”
The Trojan Horse doesn’t disappear.
…
This was my last memory of the first round.
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