Corridor Conquest (1)

In the Nightmare Corridor, you can enter with ‘items.’
Yang Juhui had the “Princess Magic Wand” she obtained in reality among her tools.

Princess Magic Wand

A very sturdy toy. It can form a barrier that prevents ghosts from entering through a special spell.

“Interesting.”

Basically, each person could only carry one item, but Yang Juhui had the [Tool User] trait.

[Tool User]

You can enter the corridor with up to 3 tools. Tool durability increases by 1.5 times.

Currently, Yang Juhui has four items.

• Youngwon’s Cutter Knife
• Zippo Lighter
• Multipurpose Room Key
• Princess Magic Wand

Yang Juhui could start with three of these items.
It meant one had to be left behind.
At times like this, should I consider the essential items first?

“I should definitely take the Cutter Knife.”

Yang Juhui had several experiences surviving thanks to the Cutter Knife.
“Youngwon’s Cutter Knife” was practically an ‘extra life.’

“The Magic Wand sounds great based on its description.”

Creating a barrier that ghosts can’t enter.
I knew how important safe zones were in the “Nightmare Corridor.”
If I could create that arbitrarily, it would also be an ‘extra life.’

“The remaining items are the lighter and the key…”

The description of the Zippo Lighter was as follows.

Zippo Lighter

An ordinary lighter. The light is dimmer than a lantern but less likely to be noticed by ghosts. The gas can be used indefinitely for some reason.

A lighter that could provide light indefinitely.
Although it was dimmer than my “Flashlight,” it was less likely to be noticed by someone.
Also, my “Flashlight” had battery limitations, but the lighter’s gas flame was infinite.

“It’s a good item.”

The remaining item, excluding the lighter, was the “Multipurpose Room Key.”

Multipurpose Room Key

A key that allows access to the multipurpose room. It seems to have no other use.

Literally, it was a key to the multipurpose room.
An item with no other use.

Looking at it this way, it seemed right to leave the key behind. But if I needed the multipurpose room key, I’d regret it immensely.

The key or the lighter.
My head felt like it was going to explode.
Common sense pointed to the lighter.

Should I then give the “Multipurpose Room Key” to Jeong Seok?

Jeong Seok’s character sheet shows everything as “???”
Maybe because he hadn’t experienced the first round of the Nightmare Corridor yet.
But I could equip items on him.

Now, it was my turn.
I also had three items.

• Youngwon’s Glow Pen — A pen that is visible even in the dark. Marks made with this pen cannot be erased unless the cap’s eraser is used.
• Battery Lantern — A flashlight that works with batteries. It’s brighter than expected but more likely to attract ghosts.
• Map — A detailed map of the first floor of the old school. It seems someone drew it with clumsy hand sketches. With this, you might be able to go deeper. But… who would draw something like this?

Unlike Yang Juhui, I didn’t have the [Tool User] trait, so I had to choose just one out of the three.
Such a pity.

The pen, the lantern, or the map.
They were all genuinely good items.

First, the glow pen.
It would be useful to mark various things.
But… was it essential for survival? Probably not.

Then what about the flashlight?
The Nightmare Corridor was so dark that without a light source, you couldn’t even see your own hand.
Having a flashlight would definitely speed up the progress.

“But the map…”

The map that Jeong Sojin obtained.
It was something I’d never seen before.
However, the potential of this map seemed obvious.

“If the goal was simply to survive in the corridor… I would have taken the flashlight.”

Now, it was time to ‘conquer’ rather than just ‘survive’.
After much consideration, I decided to take the ‘map.’

“Alright.”

This should conclude the setup.

Currently, I have 538 points.
Even if four people entered the Nightmare Corridor and were annihilated, using 100 points each to remove Eccentricities in the treatment center would still leave 138 points.
Using 400 points, 138 points would remain.

“It seems I can proceed with this.”

After reviewing the player lists again…
I dragged each name to the explorer list for the corridor.

“……”

When I suddenly regained consciousness, I was lying in a pitch-black, cold corridor.
It was so dark that I could barely tell it was a corridor.
The windows, faintly letting in light, were tightly blocked by nailed boards.

“Damn, I should’ve brought the flashlight.”

If I had brought the flashlight instead of the map, I could have seen something.
I regret my actions… but there was nothing I could do about the spilled water.

*Rustle*

I rummaged through my pocket and found the rolled-up paper.
It was the map.
The items I prepared seemed to be in my pocket when starting the corridor trip.

“It’s too dark to see.”

After checking the map, I listened carefully to my surroundings.
Fortunately, it seemed there were no ghosts around me.

From what I remembered, there were three ghosts on the first floor of this corridor.

One was the “Bell Woman,” a shaman ghost.

A ghost that wandered around making bell sounds was presumed to have visual limitations due to a lack of eyes.

The second was the “Hair Ghost”.
The Hair Ghost spread its hair like a web and did not react to loud noises until someone stepped on its hair.

And the third, “??? Ghost”.
Its identity was still unknown.
Whatever it was… it was best to be cautious.

So, what do I need to do now?
Of course, join the friends who participated as players!

So where could I join the others?
I once mentioned that “Class 1-4” was a safe zone.

If my guess was correct, smart Jeong Seok would have noticed the ‘join point’ and likely be in “1-4”. Let’s first join Jeong Seok.
Walking down the corridor with that thought… something felt off.

“What?”

It was so dark that it was hard to distinguish objects, but I could definitely tell.
The corridor was different from the last time.

“Faculty Office”

After wandering for a while, I saw the first-year faculty office.
I could tell it was the faculty office because a small light was on inside…

*Clank, clank*

The door to the faculty office was tightly locked with a padlock.
Wasn’t the faculty office door open when I came last time?

And there should have been a ‘Multipurpose Room’ near the faculty office.
But the multipurpose room that should have been there was nowhere to be seen.

“…It changed.”

The Nightmare Corridor.
The structure of the first floor was different from my memory.
How did this happen?

Was it because this place was set in a ‘dream’ that it had changed? Come to think of it… the game “Abyss Corridor” also had its corridor structure and item placements change every round.
So you could play the game with a fresh mind every round.

I never thought even the real “Nightmare Corridor” would have a randomly shuffled map…
At least the fortunate part was that I had the map.

*Rustle*

Under the light coming from the faculty office, I shone the map, and a sketch that looked like someone drew with a crayon on a sketchbook appeared.

It was a real map.
And the map definitely showed the geography of the first floor.
The walls, corners, and blocked bathroom near the faculty office were the evidence.

My hypothesis was that the corridor structure changes each time you enter.
Then what about the map?

“…Does the map change along with the corridor each time?”

Not sure.
The important thing was that I figured out the location of “1-4”.
Fortunately, it was nearby.
I headed towards the safe zone “1-4”.

*Rattle*
When I opened the door to “1-4” and entered, the shadow inside rustled as if greatly surprised.

“Wh…who is it!”

It was Jeong Seok’s voice.
As expected, this guy Jeong Seok was in the safe zone “1-4”.

“Hey. Jeong Seok. It’s me, Ha Youngwon.”

“Prove it!”

“Top laner. Nasus one-pick. Jeong Seok, you have a crush on Bong Jiyeon and have a fetish for being bullied by delinquents, right? You only told me.”

“Oh. The fetish part is nonsense, but it seems you really are Ha Youngwon.”

Jeong Seok slowly approached me.
“1-4” was dark, but if you got close enough, you could roughly make out each other’s faces.

“Hey. Ha Youngwon. I woke up and suddenly found myself in this place. Is this because of that thing you mentioned? That ‘Nightmare Corridor’?”

“Yeah. Seems you remembered well what I said. Seeing as you waited in ‘1-4’. Because of the talismans stuck all over the place, ghosts can’t seem to enter here.”

“Right. I figured you’d come here. But are you sure ghosts can’t come in?”

Sure, he asked.
If asked that way, I couldn’t be very sure.
Back then, Yang Juhui died in “1-4”.

“First, let’s find Juhui. She should be around here somewhere.”

Yang Juhui had a lighter to illuminate the surroundings.
She also had a knife and a magic wand, so she probably hadn’t been attacked by ghosts yet.
Jeong Seok said.

“This is a dream, right? Even knowing it’s a dream, can it feel this real? It feels like real life. It really hurts even if you pinch. Is this really a dream?”

Jeong Seok couldn’t believe that the situation he was experiencing was a ‘nightmare’ and not reality.

“They say dreams become more elaborate to the point where humans can’t realize they’re dreaming. You know that story, right? A person was in school, realized it was a dream, and said, ‘Oh, this is a dream,’ and all the kids in the class went silent and stared at them.”

“……”

“From then on, every time they dreamed, the dreams became more detailed to the point where they couldn’t realize it was a dream. Ha Youngwon, have you heard that story?”

“No, I haven’t. But you always tell scary stories when you’re scared. Geez. It’s already scary enough without you making it worse.”

Jeong Seok had a peculiar defense mechanism.

When he felt fear, he would tell scary stories. Was he trying to control his fear by mumbling scary stories to himself?
Who knows.
I’m not a psychologist.

“Anyway. Let’s call Yang Juhui.”

“Call her?”

Jeong Seok seemed puzzled.
I pointed to the talismans plastered all over “1-4”.

“Ghosts can’t come in this room, right? So, it’s safe to make a loud noise inside. Let’s call Yang Juhui loudly.”

Of course, there was a risk of the “??? Ghost” variable…
But the return of quickly reuniting with Yang Juhui seemed worth it.

*Clatter*

I opened the classroom door of “1-4” and shouted.

“Yang Juhui! Come to Class 4! You have a lighter, right? Shine the light and come this way!”

Thanks to my enhanced stamina and lung capacity developed through [Strong Heart] and [Breath Holding], my voice was thunderously loud.
Alright.
Now, what will happen… Just when I was thinking that, I sensed someone running toward us from far away.

“Yang Juhui?”

Is it Yang Juhui?

Watching the corridor with hope and anticipation, I had to admit that my assumption was completely wrong.
It was Yoo Dahee!

“Guys!”

Yoo Dahee, rushing towards “1-4” in a hurry.
Seeing her panting, Jeong Seok seemed slightly flustered.

“Oh, Dahee. Ha Youngwon, did you bring Dahee in, too?”

“……”

No.
I had only brought three people this time.
Me, Jeong Seok, Yang Juhui.
Yoo Dahee… I had not included her.

I hadn’t explained the “Nightmare Corridor” to Yoo Dahee.
She wasn’t an official member of the “Ha Youngwon Crew” yet.

So why was Yoo Dahee in the “Nightmare Corridor”?
I swear to heaven, the players were only supposed to be me, Jeong Seok, and Yang Juhui!
Yoo Dahee spoke.

“Guys! You made too much noise! Get out of there quickly! You need to escape now! Hurry up and leave that room!”

Yoo Dahee, standing in the corridor and shouting towards “1-4”.
Her urgent demeanor was puzzling.
Why is she telling us to come out?

*Chills*

Suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.

An unwelcome classmate.
Could it be the identity of the third ghost, “???”?

“…Dahee, sorry, but can you come into Class 4?”

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