Tapi… aku cukup sadar diri untuk tidak mengungkitnya sekarang. Itu akan terlalu memalukan. “…Aku pilih Anggur.” “Buah? Sederhana dan rapi. Aku suka.” Sejenak, aku membayangkan komentar Braun tentang pilihanku. ‘Aku sedikit merindukan orang itu.’ Kubuang rasa kehilangan atas ‘Good Friend’-ku, lalu melanjutkan percakapan. “Lalu aku harus memanggilmu apa, Agen?” “Nama kodeku Bronze.” “Baik, Agen Bronze.” ‘Belakangan ini aku sering diperlakukan seperti anggota baru. Apa cuma perasaanku…?’ Bagaimanapun, kami terus memeriksa bagian bawah sambil naik, tetap waspada agar tidak ada siswa yang mengikuti kami ke atas tangga. Salah satu dari kami selalu mengawasi lantai atas. Dan akhirnya, kami tiba. Lantai tiga, tempat para siswa kelas dua berada. Para siswa dari lantai bawah sudah lenyap dari pandangan kami dan tidak muncul di puncak tangga. Sepertinya mereka menemukan orang lain untuk dikejar. Meski begitu, kami terus menoleh ke arah tangga saat melangkah ke koridor lantai tiga. Di bawah lampu langit-langit yang terang, koridornya ternyata bersih. Tidak ada darah, tidak ada kotoran, tidak ada mayat. Bahkan tidak ada orang yang duduk membeku, air mata mengalir, menatap putus asa ke arah seorang siswa. Bahkan entitas siswa pun tidak terlihat. Dan sepertinya aku tahu alasannya. ‘Mereka menyegel pintu-pintunya.’ Seseorang sudah mengunci semua pintu ruang kelas. Bahkan ada rantai dan gembok yang dililitkan di beberapa pintu. ‘…! Ini pasti kerja para karyawan Daydream Inc.’ Itu sangat cocok dengan panduan kami. Siswa yang mengenakan seragam Sekolah Teknik Sekwang menunjukkan semacam resistensi terhadap perusakan atau penghancuran properti sekolah. Saat tidak diprovokasi, menutup dan mengunci pintu dengan tenang telah teramati membuat mereka tidak aktif, sering kali duduk di bangku. Lagipula, menyegel pintu berarti setiap usaha membukanya dari dalam akan menimbulkan suara. Suara itu akan langsung membuat yang lain menoleh dan melihat. ‘Itu tindakan pengamanan dasar.’ Ketika masih banyak orang di sekitar untuk membatasi pergerakan entitas siswa, menyelinap dan mengunci pintu pasti cukup mungkin dilakukan. Tapi karena koridornya sunyi, kami pun harus sama sunyinya. Para siswa tertarik pada suara. ‘Kantor guru kelas dua ada tepat di tikungan.’ ‘Haruskah kita merangkak ke sana?’ Dengan bisikan singkat dan anggukan, kami mengakhiri percakapan dan mulai bergerak diam-diam, menempel ke dinding dan merangkak agar tidak terdeteksi. Bahkan saat bergerak, kami tidak berhenti mengawasi sudut-sudut—seperti ujung koridor atau tangga—tempat seseorang bisa muncul tanpa suara. Keringat dingin mengalir di punggungku. ‘Sedikit lagi, sedikit lagi.’ Kami hanya harus melewatinya tanpa tergesa-gesa. Kami sudah melewati lebih dari separuh perjalanan ketika— Jeritan yang menggiriskan terdengar dari seberang koridor. Klak-klak-klak-klak-klak-klak-klak— Aku tidak sanggup mendongak. Suara gagang pintu yang digoyang-goyang bergema dari setiap pintu yang terkunci. …Para siswa juga mendengar suara itu. Klak-klak-klak-klak-klak-klak-klak— Agen itu dan aku merangkak panik menyusuri koridor, berusaha mati-matian kabur. Ketika akhirnya kami menoleh ke belakang— Untungnya, suara gemeretak itu berhenti, mungkin karena jeritannya hanya terjadi sekali. Namun, aku bisa melihat bayangan samar sosok-sosok berdiri di balik beberapa pintu, mengintip keluar… Setidaknya mereka tidak melihat ke arah kami—itu satu-satunya keberuntungan kami. Satu-satunya penghiburnya adalah kami telah mencapai tujuan pertama. [Kantor Guru Kelas Dua] Setelah menikung, tempat itu muncul di depan kami. Tapi kantor ini juga terkunci rapat. Rantai dan gembok mengamankan pintunya, dan jendela-jendelanya ditutup dari dalam dengan sesuatu seperti koran, sehingga kami tidak bisa melihat ke dalam. Pemandangan itu terasa seram dan mengganggu, tapi aku justru sangat lega melihatnya. “Tolong berjaga sebentar.” Agen itu memasukkan benda mirip bidal ke jarinya, lalu menusukkannya ke lubang kunci pintu kantor guru. Meski bidal itu sepertinya tidak cocok dengan ukuran lubang kunci, benda itu masuk dengan mudah, dan kuncinya berbunyi klik terbuka. Peralatan Biro Penanggulangan Bencana memang tidak mengecewakan. “Mungkin masih ada siswa di dalam, jadi kita masuk dengan hati-hati.” Dan saat kami membuka pintu— Yang menyambut kami sama sekali tak terduga. “Tutup pintunya dengan tenang.” Kututup pintu di belakang kami. Tidak ada siswa di dalam. Sebaliknya, sekitar tujuh orang terjebak dalam kebuntuan tegang, saling melotot. Di satu sisi berdiri para siswa SMA bertopeng binatang, di sisi lain berdiri orang-orang yang memegang pistol tembus pandang. Agen Biro Penanggulangan Bencana dan karyawan Daydream Inc. Di atas meja di tengah-tengah mereka, tergeletak sebatang pulpen. Aku langsung mengenalinya. Pulpen Siswa Kelas Dua ■■■ Sepertinya mereka bersitegang memperebutkan siapa yang berhak mengambilnya. ‘Alih-alih menjelajahi cerita hantu, mereka malah membuang tenaga untuk ini!’ Sepertinya mereka baru menyadari kedatangan kami saat sudah terlambat. Beberapa agen akhirnya melihat nama kode Bronze di sampingku dan menyambutnya dengan hangat. Tapi Bronze, yang selalu rasional, sepertinya tidak akan bersimpati pada situasi itu… Sebelum aku bisa protes, Bronze sudah melangkah maju bergabung dengan para agen. Para karyawan Daydream bertopeng binatang menatapku tajam. Terutama dua orang yang mengenaliku. Melihat Baek Saheon dan Jang Heo-un memasang ekspresi yang sama bukanlah hal yang pernah kubayangkan akan kualami. Mata mereka bolak-balik antara lencana logam Biro Penanggulangan Bencana dan pistol tembus pandang yang kupegang, seolah diam-diam bertanya, Namun, agen itu kembali memanggilku. Agen itu menjawab dengan dingin. “Mengejek nama kode? Sungguh pantas untuk perusahaan sepertimu.” “Kemari. Kau sebaiknya menjauh dari pintu.” Setelah sejenak berpikir panik, aku mengambil keputusan. ‘Aku tidak sanggup berkhianat.’ Dengan berat hati, aku melangkah maju dan berdiri di samping agen itu. Tepat di samping Agen Bronze. Ya. Aku tidak bisa berkhianat. ‘Aku tidak bisa mengkhianati… kelangsungan hidupku sendiri…!’ Dan beginilah jadinya, rekan-rekan kerjaku tersayang.
Bab 166
But… I had enough self-awareness not to bring it up now. It would be far too embarrassing. “…I’ll go with Grapes.” “A fruit? Simple and neat. I like it.” For a moment, I imagined what Braun would’ve commented on my choice. ‘I miss that guy a little.’ Pushing away the sense of loss over my ‘Good Friend’, I kept the conversation going. “And what should I call you, Agent?” “My codename is Bronze.” “Alright, Agent Bronze.” ‘Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of new recruit-like treatment. Is it just my imagination…?’ In any case, we continued checking below as we ascended, keeping a vigilant eye out to ensure no students were following us up the stairs. One of us always kept an eye on the upper floor. And finally, we arrived. The third floor, where the second-years stayed. The students from the lower floor had naturally left our line of sight and didn’t appear at the top of the stairs either. It seemed they had found someone else to chase. Still, we kept glancing back at the stairwell as we stepped into the third-floor hallway. Under the bright ceiling lights, the hallway was surprisingly clean. No blood, no filth, no corpses. Not even people sitting frozen, tears streaming as they stared desperately at a student. Even the student entities were nowhere to be seen. And I thought I knew why. ‘They’ve sealed the doors.’ Someone had already locked all the classroom doors. Chains and padlocks were even looped around some. ‘…! This has to be the work of Daydream Inc. employees.’ It matched our manual perfectly. Students in Sekwang Technical High School uniforms exhibit some resistance to damage or destruction of school property. When not provoked, closing and locking doors quietly has been observed to render them inactive, often seated at desks. Moreover, sealing the doors meant any attempt to open them from inside would make noise. That noise would immediately alert others to turn and look. ‘It’s a basic safety measure.’ When there were still plenty of people around to restrict the movements of the student entities, sneaking around and locking doors would have been quite feasible. But as quiet as the hallway was, we needed to be just as silent. The students are drawn by noise. ‘The second-year faculty office is just around the corner.’ ‘Should we crawl there?’ With a brief whisper and nod, we ended the conversation and began moving quietly, staying close to the wall and crawling to avoid detection. Even as we moved, we didn’t stop watching the corners—places like the end of the hallway or the stairwells—where someone could appear silently. Cold sweat ran down my back. ‘Just a little further, just a little more.’ We just had to pass through without rushing. We had made it more than halfway when— A blood-curdling scream came from beyond the hallway. Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle— I couldn’t bring myself to look up. The sound of doorknobs being rattled echoed from every locked door. …The students had heard the noise too. Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle— The agent and I crawled frantically down the hallway, desperate to escape. When we finally turned to look back— Fortunately, the rattling stopped, likely because the scream had been a one-time occurrence. However, I could see faint shadows of figures standing behind some of the doors, peering out… At least they weren’t looking in our direction—that was our one saving grace. The only consolation was that we’d reached our first destination. [Second-Year Faculty Office] Turning the corner, it appeared before us. But this office was also locked up tight. Chains and padlocks secured the doors, and the windows had been covered from the inside with something like newspaper, preventing us from seeing in. It was eerily unsettling, yet I couldn’t have been more relieved to see it. “Please keep watch for a moment.” The agent slipped a thimble-like item onto his finger, then inserted it into the lock on the faculty office door. Though the thimble didn’t seem to match the size of the keyhole, it slid in easily, and the lock clicked open. Disaster Management Bureau equipment really lived up to the hype. “There may still be students inside, so let’s be cautious as we enter.” And when we opened the door— What greeted us was completely unexpected. “Quietly close the door.” I shut the door behind us. There were no students inside. Instead, about seven people were locked in a tense standoff, glaring at one another. High schoolers wearing animal masks stood on one side, and others, holding translucent pistols, stood on the other. Disaster Management Bureau agents and Daydream Inc. employees. On the table in the center of their standoff was a single fountain pen. I recognized it immediately. Fountain Pen of Second-Year Student ■■■ It seemed they were locked in a standoff over who would claim it. ‘Instead of exploring the ghost story, they’re wasting manpower on this!’ It seemed they hadn’t noticed our entrance until it was too late. Several of the agents finally spotted the codename Bronze beside me and greeted him warmly. But Bronze, rational as always, was unlikely to empathize with the situation… Before I could protest, Bronze had already stepped forward to join the agents. The animal-masked Daydream employees were staring intently at me. Especially the two who recognized me. Seeing Baek Saheon and Jang He-oun make identical expressions was not something I ever thought I’d experience. Their eyes darted between the Disaster Management Bureau’s metal badge and translucent pistol I was holding, as if silently asking, And yet, the agent called out to me again. The agent responded coldly. “Mocking codenames? Truly fitting for a company like yours.” “Come here. You should step away from the door.” After a moment of frantic deliberation, I made my decision. ‘I can’t bring myself to betray.’ Reluctantly, I stepped forward and stood beside the agent. Right next to Agent Bronze. Yes. I cannot betray. ‘I can’t betray… my own survival…!’ And so it came to this, my dear coworkers.
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