Academy Survival Gallery – Chapter 4

Weekly Disappearances (1)

****

• • •

Author: Ares

Title: What’s with this bitch???

She suddenly walked up to the front of the podium and started shouting at the class, asking if they didn’t think it was strange that kids were disappearing;;;

I was fucking shocked when I saw it

Is this one human??

She must have noticed the anomalous phenomenon because she’s human, right??

• • •

Comments

[NightRat: The surprising thing is that an anomaly bitch could do that too]

ㄴ[Ares: At that point, shouldn’t you just count it as human…??]

ㄴ[RedNightSky: fr lolol it’s like white, black, asian, and anomaly lol]

ㄴ[Be careful ’cause these fuckers are really good at pretending to be human, just catching that occasional chilling feeling is the surest way]

[StudentCouncilTerrorist: But what did she do after giving the speech?? Did she like, incite the other kids?]

ㄴ[Ares: No, the class bell rang, so she just told everyone to let her know if they heard any news and that was it]

ㄴ[StudentCouncilTerrorist: Why tell her lolol is she a great detective or something]

ㄴ[Ares: No, there’s that, but. Besides that, there’s something else that’s bothering me]

ㄴ[StudentCouncilTerrorist: ???]

ㄴ[Ares: This bitch …I think she suspects me??]

ㄴ[Huh?? lolololol]

ㄴ[Turns out she really was a great detective lolol]

ㄴ[Ares: No, fuck, why is she suspecting me, it’s so fucking absurd]

ㄴ[StudentCouncilTerrorist: …How about you just be honest and turn yourself in now?]

ㄴ[Ares: As ifㅡㅡ]

***

“You really don’t know?”

“I’m telling you, I don’t….”

The female student with the purple ponytail, Lana, cornered me after school and interrogated me.

The content of her interrogation was whether I had any idea about the three missing students.

At a glance, it looked like a simple inquiry.

But this bitch…, her eyes were the eyes of someone who had already decided I was the culprit.

‘Is she human…? She seems human….’

Honestly, as of right now, I judged Lana to be human.

It was just a gut feeling.

I mean, she felt that the disappearance of three people, which no one else thought was strange, was strange.

And she was trying so hard like this to uncover the case.

“You know, Mia and I were on good terms. I mean, we’d only known each other for three weeks, but still.”

“…Uh-huh.”

“But I really thought of her as a friend, and now that my friend has disappeared, I can’t just stand by and watch.”

“…….”

“So, do you know something?”

“…Why are you asking me that?”

“Because you suddenly started hanging out with Mia last week.”

“…….”

“Besides, you also transferred in so abruptly.”

“…….”

• • •

Author: Ares

Title: Hey, there’s a bastard I suspect is the culprit

Is it fucking me???

No matter how I look at it, I’m the only suspicious bastard here???

• • •

Comments

[lololololol]

[What’s he gonna do if this bastard gets convinced lololol]

[NightRat: Why do you think you’re the culprit?]

ㄴ[Ares: Well, the week before Mia disappeared, I suddenly got close to her, although Levin helped]

ㄴ[Ares: And I really did transfer in abruptly after only two weeks]

ㄴ[Hikikomori: He’s right, this bastard was the anomaly spy]

ㄴ[RedNightSky: Then isn’t it solved??]

ㄴ[RedNightSky: Ares~ from now on, don’t make any more female students disappear and be a good boy, okay~?]

ㄴ[Ares: You fucking bastards]

“…You really don’t know anything, right?”

“Y-yeah, yeah, I don’t. Really.”

“…Okay.”

Fortunately, when I denied it to the very end, Lana finally nodded her head.

Then, she picked up her bag, turned her body, and headed for the classroom door.

Drrrk!

And before she opened the door and left.

Lana slightly turned her head and looked at me.

“Hey, your name is Ares, right?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“…In your opinion, who do you think will disappear next week?”

“…What?”

It was a sudden, bizarre question.

Who did I think would disappear….

“Because at this rate, it’s obvious someone will disappear next week.”

“…….”

When I didn’t answer, Lana went out the door and closed it.

Drrrk!

“I’ll never….”

And just before the door closed.

“let that happen….”

She gave me a slight glare and left behind words that sounded like a declaration in a small voice.

After that, the sound of her footsteps echoed down the hallway and faded away.

“…Haa.”

How did I end up in a position where I was the one being suspected?

When I should be the one suspecting others.

“Should I go too?”

But since there was nothing I could do right now, I also picked up my bag and left the classroom.

Outside, the sun was already setting.

I had to get back before it got dark.

“Ah! Ares. Are you done talking?”

“Levin…? Why are you here….”

“Hehe, what do you mean, why? I was waiting, of course. Come on, let’s go?”

“…….”

When I went out into the hallway, Levin, who had been waiting with her bag, smiled cutely at me.

To think that this wasn’t human….

‘Ugh, if only Levin was human, I couldn’t be happier….’

For a super beautiful girl to wait until this hour for me to leave school.

Where else could you find a more heart-fluttering rom-com event than this?

“What did you talk about with Lana?”

“Well, just….”

“Hehe, so you’re good at making friends without my help now?”

“It’s not like that. Please keep helping me in the future.”

“Really? Then let’s make it Lana for this week, and I’ll introduce you to another classmate next week.”

Levin really was an angel-like kid.

This bright smile felt like it was healing my frustrated heart.

…Of course, I hadn’t forgotten the fact that this kid was also an anomaly.

“Ah, hey, by the way. Levin.”

“Hmm?”

“You know the three people who disappeared from our class, like Mia…? Do you know what happened to them?”

“…….”

I asked Levin, just in case.

After all, the guys on the gallery had said that Levin was like a helper NPC.

It was a question I threw out with the hope that she might give me a hint or something.

“Hmm, I’m not sure. I mean, they just disappeared all of a sudden.”

“Hmm, I see.”

As expected, I couldn’t get any special hints.

• • •

Author: Ares

Title: What the hell am I supposed to do??

I’m being framed as the culprit

At this rate, I might be the one who disappears next week

And yet there are no hints

Fuck…, I don’t want to end up like you guys in just my third week…

• • •

Comments

[What’s wrong with us!! Are you ashamed of us?!]

ㄴ[Ares: You’re losers]

ㄴ[That’s true]

[NightRat: Or, there’s also the option of you doing some investigating yourself]

ㄴ[Ares: There’s a way?! You should’ve told me that sooner!!]

ㄴ[NightRat: Sorry, sorry, I thought you wouldn’t like it]

ㄴ[Ares: What wouldn’t I like! I’m about to die here!]

“So there was a way after all!”

That evening, in my dorm room, I smiled brightly while browsing the gallery.

They were losers, but they were still my seniors.

It seemed they had some idea about how to find the culprit anomaly.

And soon after, NightRat’s reply was posted.

ㄴ[NightRat: I guess it’s better to die knowing than to die not knowing anything]

ㄴ[Ares: So what’s the method?]

ㄴ[NightRat: It’s nothing much]

ㄴ[NightRat: Just go out and investigate at night]

“…….”

I shut my mouth at the following content.

And I looked out the window of my dorm room.

The unsettling gaze of something that I could still feel.

My body’s instincts were screaming at me to never go out there.

ㄴ[Ares: Wasn’t I not supposed to go out at night?? You said I’d die….]

ㄴ[NightRat: It’s not like you’ll die immediately upon going out. If you’re careful, you can survive]

ㄴ[NightRat: It’s kinda like hiding and moving through a battlefield with bullets raining down]

“How could I possibly do that…!”

I wasn’t that strong-hearted.

I hadn’t seen an anomaly directly yet, but.

I knew well enough that I wasn’t the kind of protagonist character who could coolly break through them and obtain some plausible information.

‘There’s always a reason for things you’re told not to do.’

And the comments that followed below were also of a similar opinion to mine.

Don’t go out.

It’s safer to just react on the fly when the time comes.

If you go out, we can’t help you, and so on.

Everyone was trying to stop me in a serious tone.

“Even if you told me to go, I wouldn’t….”

Rattle, rattle….

The window was shaking in the wind.

Just the window shaking like that was enough to send a chill down my spine, so what did they mean, go outside.

Flop!

“Haa…, then I guess I have no choice but to wait….”

And so, I lay my body down on the bed and decided to give my complicated mind a rest for a moment.

“…….”

How many minutes had passed?

A wave of sleepiness began to wash over me.

…Should I just go to sleep for today?

It was the moment I was about to close the gallery with that drowsy feeling.

Knock, knock, knock—

“…….”

There was a knock on my door.

Sssssssst—

In an instant, the drowsy sleepiness completely vanished, and I felt the hair on my entire body stand on end.

All of my senses were focused on the door.

Did I mishear it?

Thinking that, I kept my mouth firmly shut and stared at the door with trembling eyes.

And a moment later.

Knock, knock, knock—

“……!!”

The door knocked again.

The sound of a knock.

It was definitely a knock.

I hadn’t misheard it.

‘Fuckfuckfuckfuck…!!’

I couldn’t even breathe as I cursed inwardly.

Don’t tell me it’s today?

Has the anomaly that had made the students disappear for three weeks already come for me today?

As I thought that, I felt the blood drain from my face, and my hands began to tremble in fear.

And…

[…Ares, are you in your room?]

“…….”

A familiar voice came from beyond the door.

‘…Lana?’

The owner of the voice was Lana.

Realizing that, my frantically beating heart calmed down, and the trembling in my hands stopped.

It wasn’t a monster or something.

Relieved by that fact, I let out a small breath.

“Phew….”

[You’re inside, right?]

“…….”

Knock, knock, knock—

Did she hear my breath?

Lana knocked once more and called out to me.

[Ares? Sorry about the time. There’s something I wanted to ask you.]

“…….”

Should… I answer?

The moment I had that thought, a question popped into my head.

I immediately opened the gallery.

• • •

Author: Ares

Title: Hey, are other people fine even if they wander around at night??

If I go out, there’s a 90% chance I’ll die, right?

What about other people??

Whether they’re anomalies or real human female students

Is it fine for them to wander around at night??

• • •

Comments

[Yeah, they’re fine]

ㄴ[Ares: Then real human female students are okay too? They don’t die?]

ㄴ[They do die, but that’s when they get caught up in an event. Normally, they should be fine?]

ㄴ[Ares: Fuck, that’s so fucking unfair;;]

My question was answered.

‘I see, so Lana has no problem wandering around at night….’

I was jealous.

How great would it be if I could also spend such a peaceful night?

Knock, knock, knock—

[Ares, you’re inside, right? I have something to ask. Do you have a moment?]

And soon after, Lana’s voice was heard once again.

Relieved, I got up from my spot and answered.

“Ah, yeah. I’m here. What’s up this late at night?”

Then, her bright voice came from the other side of the door.

[That’s a relief, you were awake. Sorry for the late hour. …There was something that was hard to talk about during the day.]

“Hard to talk about during the day…?”

I wondered what that could be, and then the answer flashed through my mind.

‘Ah, she must be talking about the anomalies and the anomalous phenomena.’

I guess it would be hard to talk about that kind of thing in broad daylight where everyone is around.

It would be hard for me to talk about it too.

‘Is Lana really a human like me, then…?’

She suspected anomalies and was wary of them.

Perhaps she was the human female student I was looking for.

[Hey…, the story might get a bit long to talk about with the door between us.]

“Ah, yeah….”

[Could we possibly talk in your room? Can you open the door for me?]

“…….”

A female student coming into a guy’s room in the middle of the night.

If this wasn’t a horror story, it would be an amazing rom-com event.

Chuckling to myself, I approached the door.

And just then.

Swipe!

“Hmm…?”

[What? What’s wrong?]

“No, ah….”

The gallery window I had left open in the corner of my vision.

A new comment had just been posted there.

[NightRat: Is something wrong?]

A question from the fixed-nickname user I often consulted, NightRat.

Seeing that reply, I stopped my feet, which had been about to open the door.

‘Right, it’s better to report the situation first.’

I could post replies with just a thought, without using my hands, but I couldn’t reply in the middle of a conversation.

So, I first replied to NightRat.

ㄴ[Ares: Just that the kid who suspected me during the day came by to talk]

ㄴ[Ares: I think this one is human, so wouldn’t it be good to find a way together? Build some rapport too]

After quickly typing out that reply, I walked towards the door.

Just then.

Swipe!

A reply was posted in an instant.

And at that reply, I stopped my hand that was about to turn the doorknob.

[NightRat: Absolutely do not open the door]

“…….”

What?

Don’t open it?

How did he know I hadn’t opened it?

No, more importantly, he told me not to open the door….

[Ares? It’s cold out here, are you going to keep me waiting?]

“…Ah, well. S-sorry…. I’m, uh, not wearing any clothes in my room.”

[Ah, really…! Okay…, hurry up and get dressed.]

“U-uh, yeah….”

I barely managed to mumble an excuse and hurriedly replied to NightRat.

ㄴ[Ares: I haven’t opened it, but how did you know I didn’t open the door?? And why shouldn’t I open it??]

ㄴ[NightRat: Because you’re still alive, so of course you didn’t open it]

ㄴ[NightRat: And what do you mean, why not;;;]

ㄴ[NightRat: You said it was the kid who suspected you during the day who came to see you]

ㄴ[Ares: Yeah, so?]

ㄴ[NightRat: That’s the boys’ dormitory, you idiot]

“…….”

The dormitories were locked after the sun set.

And Lana was a female student.

This was the boys’ dormitory.

[Hey~, Ares? Are you almost done? It’s a little creepy in the hallway at night, you know. Are you listening?]

“…….”

Lana’s voice, which had put my mind at ease just a moment ago.

Now began to sound so creepy it made my body freeze.

Knock, knock, knock—

[Ares, hurry up and open the door]

***

[T/N: o7]