Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 254.2

‘Feels like the final chapter of a horror game.’

It seemed the school had gathered all its groom candidates and entered some kind of ritual phase.

While preparing for the so-called ‘wedding’.

‘Is that why the experiential course has ended?’

Besides, even if someone broke a door or tried escaping through a window…

The area surrounding the school was shrouded in fog and cliffs, encircled by a forest from which the sound of the sea could be faintly heard. All explorers who tried to flee that way had gone missing.

That was the ending.

In short, this ghost story was of a high-tier variety that was incompatible with Section Chief Lee’s usual specialty, physical exorcism.

But an even greater problem lay here.

…This never happened before.

There was no record in the Dark Exploration Records describing Section Chief Lee Jaheon, or any member of the D-squad for that matter, ending up in a situation like this.

Was this a butterfly effect?

Because I entered, did the composition of the D-squad change, creating new circumstances that placed Section Chief Lee Jaheon in danger of death?

…I had a very bad feeling.

Which meant I had to cooperate more actively to escape this ghost story.

– Thank you for kindly telling me.

“Yes.”

Then, Lee Jaheon began drawing blood.

It was better to draw it now and at least get some sleep afterward than to do it in the morning, but still, it made me uneasy.

‘There’s too much of it.’

…Truly, even to the eye, his hand looked paler, as though the skin itself had lost its color.

A sense of crisis about survival.

Sharing the same body made it all the more vivid.

‘I need to find a way out as soon as possible.’

As Lee Jaheon lay down to sleep and my consciousness blurred along with his, I resolved to gather more information tomorrow…

And the next day.

[The menu looks rather stale today.]

At breakfast, what was served was lily-of-the-valley blooms, an apple, and… a boiled brain.

The apricot-colored sauce dripped over the fully intact brain, its shape completely visible.

‘Please, no.’

Fortunately, it appeared smaller than a human’s. Haah…

I felt like crying outright, doing my best to avert my mind from the taste of the brain. Maybe I should’ve been grateful that it wasn’t something I had to slice and eat myself…

‘Focus…’

I tried to gather other information visible through Section Chief Lee Jaheon’s eyes.

First priority… the trainees.

The silhouettes seated around the long table numbered well over twenty, but their attire made them distinguishable.

Around a dozen wore coarse shirts and trousers that looked even plainer than the neat, modest uniforms reserved for groom candidates.

‘Those must be the experiential trainees.’

The people caught up in the ghost story.

Since no new trainees are being accepted, it seems those still here are the ones who failed the previous course and have been forced to repeat this experiential course.

…Among them, I saw that more than seven were in states of physical mutilation that could only be described as torture. Some were even performing those acts upon themselves.

Within the calm, orderly dining hall of the boarding school, grotesque scenes were casually interwoven, as if they were part of the daily routine.

‘…Huu.’

It was all the more chilling because of how eerily tranquil it was.

‘……’

Stay calm.

Drawing an image of steady breathing in my mind, I shifted my focus to other information within my field of vision.

This time, the other side.

‘The groom candidates.’

Those wearing the same formal uniform as Section Chief Lee Jaheon sat at the head of the table, speaking softly among themselves…

…Strangely, their faces appeared blurred.

No, it wasn’t just their faces, the brain refused to interpret any detail beyond the outline of the uniform, as though rejecting the information itself.

Almost as if it were being censored.

[Oh, Mr. Roe Deer. Isn’t that a trait of this blade grunt?]

Trait?

[Here, we find the very reason this reptilian creature has no understanding of art or aesthetics.]

[They possess a sensory system that interprets only what they deem necessary. Oh, how arrogant and primitive!]

Wait.

So that means… the reptilian aliens of the Space Shopping Mall don’t perceive sensory data they consider unnecessary.

‘Isn’t that a contamination-prevention mechanism?’

Filtering out and accepting only what’s harmless.

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Section Chief Lee Jaheon suffer from contamination or even show signs of being affected by a ghost story.

It must have been a trait of ‘us’.

‘That explains it!’

Feeling one mystery resolve, I turned my attention away from the groom candidates.

‘So those over there aren’t human…’

Indeed, there were many ghost stories of facilities like this that were never meant to accommodate humans in the first place, like the ‘Manor of the Blind’, or that exhibition ghost story.

‘…So that’s why, up to now, there’s never been a case where someone not only survived the trial program but was actually chosen as a formal groom candidate.’

Perhaps Section Chief Lee, being not fully human but a reptilian alien, managed to pass the selection.

‘……’

For now, okay. I’ll remember that.

Next, I focused on the tall, slender silhouette seated at the very head of the table.

The housemaster.

The instructor of this boarding school.

– Section Chief, would it be relatively safe to ask the training supervisor a question about the wedding, as long as it isn’t too insistent? Please blink once for yes, twice for no.

Lee’s vision closed slowly once, then opened again.

That’s a yes.

– Then, please ask this question.

Salt Goblin

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