Chapter 276

276
Sekwang Technical High School.
A bizarre high school found within a horror game, accessible only by drifting into slumber during a full moon.
Given the name, I had suspected a connection to Segwang Metropolitan City.
However, I hadn’t anticipated encountering it quite this quickly.

[The doors are closing.]
“…Shall we depart?”
“Understood.”

We exited the train first.
The station platform felt sanitized and chilly; no immediate Anomalous Phenomenon was in sight.
Yet, one detail stood out as strange.

*Sekwang Technical High School Graduation Ceremony* *Toward Exit 4! →* This single sheet of A4 paper was stuck to a support pillar.
A standard printed notice.
The issue was that it wasn’t alone.

*The escalator at Exit 2 is currently undergoing maintenance. Please utilize a different exit.* *Notice of Water Main Interruption* *Train Technical Difficulty / G155■* *If you have lost a cat-patterned wallet, please visit the station office* The pillars and walls were practically papered with memos and A4 sheets.
They appeared too orderly and functional to be mere marketing, yet the handwriting and layouts varied wildly, as if drafted for a dozen different reasons.
Handwritten directives.

*Segwang Subway Map* · *Segwang Station (The Forest Path of Demise)* · *Midnight Station (The Body Part Casino)* · *Midnight Night Station (Hanbit Library)* · *(Unlisted)* · *(Unlisted)* · *(Unlisted)* · *(Unlisted)* The wiki begins to update.

> **Midnight Night Station (Hanbit Library)** > A subway hub in Segwang Metropolitan City, repurposed into a public library.
> Prior to the Day of Disaster, this location housed a technical high school and residential blocks. It was later redeveloped as part of the metropolitan expansion and designated for the library project.
> The facility, which had not officially opened, remained shuttered for years aside from a few public-access zones. Following the Day of Disaster, it threw open its doors, offering a wealth of knowledge and data.
> Ensure it has no reason to regret this generosity.

…True to form for a ghost story, the description is vague.
However.

“At the very least, it doesn’t mention anyone being brutally slaughtered,” I remarked.
“True,” the others agreed.

The group seemed to relax slightly as I shared the ‘station intel’ I’d gathered.
“That phrase about ‘bestowing knowledge’ is a bit unnerving… Receiving information from the Darkness isn’t always a blessing, you know,” the Assistant Manager mused.
“If it weren’t creepy, it wouldn’t be a ghost story, Assistant Manager,” I countered.
“Badger has a point there.”

Originally, our Project team was assembled under Ho Yuwon’s goal of mapping out Segwang Metropolitan City, so this station might actually hold the resources we need.
Furthermore.

“There is another benefit.”
“What’s that?”
“It looks like there won’t be an entrance fee.”
“…!”

Ghost stories are typically anchored to their core concepts, which usually dictates the rules as well.
“Right. You don’t pay to enter a public library.”
“Exactly.”

We began climbing the platform stairs.
We had already survived a forest decorated with swaying corpses and a gambling den that traded in human anatomy.
The two members from the Security Team had been briefed, so no one was expecting a normal scene at the top of the staircase.
‘Perhaps it’s just a station hall covered in more paper.’

But as we reached the top, nerves steeled.
“…!”
…The sight was wholly unexpected.
“…Is this a cave?”

From the landing, a narrow tunnel constructed from thousands of books stretched into the distance.
‘Unbelievable.’
It looked like a scene pulled from a classic fantasy illustration.
A man-made cavern formed entirely of bookshelves.
However, the components were from a modern, 21st-century library.
Shelving units made of alloys, treated wood, and synthetic composites were slotted together like a complex puzzle to create the tunnel.
‘Did they pull these from different storage wings…?’

Scattered mood lamps cast a soft, amber glow across the archives. Densely packed volumes lined the walls of the square corridor, creating pockets of deep shadow.
Even the ceiling was a solid mass of books!

[Oh, it evokes the work of a surrealist painter.]
[And doesn’t it feel like a secret dungeon from a vintage adventure novel? A hidden realm waiting for a traveler’s touch! Though our timing seems rather poor.]

I felt the same way.
Looking back at the mundane subway platform below, the surrealism of the upper level was even more jarring.

“Stay back.”
Section Chief Lee Ja-heon, secured by a safety rope, moved into the bookshelf cavern and rounded a corner.
He returned moments later, unharmed.
“I found no traps.”
“Phew.”

We proceeded inside.
Instead of the heavy rope, we anchored a spool of thread to the stair railing and began to unravel it as we walked to mark our path.
The members of the Field Investigation Team donned their masks in unison as a precaution.
And….

“I made sure to bring yours as well.”
“…Thank you!”
Assistant Manager Eun Haje offered a Field Investigation Team mask to Supervisor Park Minseong with a smile.
The Supervisor’s voice cracked slightly as he thanked her and pulled it on.
The familiar Badger Mask.
I felt a strange twinge of emotion watching them.

‘But if everyone is masking up….’
I glanced at the only person without a proper Field mask.
“I’ll be fine with this….”
The Security Chief declined the identity-scrambling mask Lee Ja-heon offered, opting instead for a simple, cheap disposable surgical mask.

[How can he look so pathetic!]

With our gear ready, we stepped into the ‘library cave.’
“By the way, it’s probably wise to use Written Conversation for now.”
“Because libraries demand silence?”
“Precisely.”

The team, now armed with notebooks and pens, moved with ghostly quiet.
I took the rear, slowly feeding out the thread and marking our route.
*Thud, thud….* The archive path twisted and turned.
Occasionally, we encountered small openings in the shelving—passages so tiny they were like doggy-doors—that we couldn’t possibly fit through.

* *Should we stick to the ‘always turn right’ rule?* – *Agreed.* Whenever we passed those small openings—perfect spots for an ambush—Section Chief Lee Ja-heon positioned himself between the group and the gap.
We moved in a rhythm of advancing, pausing, and scanning.
During this, I noticed one specific anomaly.
Through a narrow slit where books were missing from a shelf….
There was a window.

“…!”
I leaned in to look.
Outside was an absolute, suffocating blackness.
It was impossible to discern anything; it was like the deepest midnight where even a hand in front of your face would vanish. It felt like a night smothered by storm clouds without a single lamp in the world.
But one lone light flickered in the distance.

*Sekwang Technical High School* It was the glowing sign at the school’s front gate.
It looked eerie.
I tried to peer deeper into the void past my own reflection, but I was interrupted.
Lee Ja-heon had firmly grabbed the back of my neck.

“….”

* *Stop.* Understood.
He was right. In a ghost story, curiosity is a death wish.
‘I’m not looking to find another bad ending.’
Even if I can return to reality after dying, vanishing entirely is a problem with no fix. I shouldn’t indulge in the kind of risks the research team thrives on.
I gave a quick update to the team and kept moving.
…Though a sense of dread lingered in my gut.

“….”
“….”

No other strange sights appeared.
There were no signs, no floor numbers, not even a glowing exit light.
‘Just how vast is this place?’
The sheer scale was disorienting, draining our sense of reality.
A heavy, stifling lethargy set in, like being trapped in a fever dream.
And more importantly.

* *Why haven’t we seen any library regulations?* We had been exploring for at least forty minutes, yet there were no instructions.
Not a single blood-spattered shelf or a book with a cursed title.
Nothing but the endless, physics-defying tunnel of books.
* *Badger, why don’t you take the risk and touch a volume?* – *You’re joking, right, Assistant Manager?* – *Naturally.* She was right. We couldn’t afford to be reckless.
The only silver lining was Supervisor Park Minseong. After his initial wave of panic and excitement, he had settled into a state of professional focus.
However….

‘…He’s acting like his old self from Team D.’
It was as if he had mentally blocked out his current role in the Security Team, reverting entirely to his behavior from his previous unit.
Like he had stepped back in time.

‘….’
I couldn’t help but keep an eye on the Security Chief.
As I watched him walking slowly, staring at the floor, I nearly collided with him.
Phew.
But the Security Chief didn’t look up; his eyes remained glued to the ground.

‘…!’

* *Is there something down there?* “….”

The Security Chief slowly, with fluid but messy strokes, wrote in his notebook.

* *I think so* I immediately looked down.
In the dim corridor, as I traced the path ahead between the shadows of the shelves….
A faint pattern emerged.

“…!”
I tapped a teammate to signal a halt, then carefully slid a book on the bottom shelf to the side to reveal the full design.
As the light from the mood lamp hit the floor….

“….”
What was I looking at?
At first, I thought the shadows were distorting it, but as I crouched lower, I understood.
It was a perspective trick.

‘…The viewing angle!’
I dropped even lower. I needed to see it from a flat perspective to compress the image.
Bending down until my forehead almost touched the dusty floor, peering upward with my eyes barely raised…. I could read it.

*Do not make the sound of footsteps* “…!!” I’d found them.
‘The library rules.’ And the realization hit me.
The specific physical position required to read this. To see it, one had to be prostrate on the floor, head bowed low, eyes looking up in a submissive glance. ‘A kowtow.’
It was only legible if one took the posture of a servant or a minor creature bowing before a supreme power.

‘….’
It came back to me.
The ‘basic information’ from the station announcement that I had ignored while focused on the wiki.
The voice on the train.

* *The archive of knowledge, a resting place for citizens, a sanctuary for ■■. Passengers going to Hanbit Library, please get off at this station. A sanctuary for ■■.* ‘…Dammit.’ Cold sweat prickled my skin.
It seemed that in this place, there was something that ‘demanded worship.’

[To welcome a guest who has traveled so far with such a stale, petty gimmick! A sense of humor that wouldn’t earn a second of screen time…. If this were a live stream, I’d fire this person and bring in a professional.]
[Friend, is there any reason to entertain such a rude host?]

Unfortunately, there was.
‘If I don’t follow along, I’ll end up dead or missing….’

I suppressed a sigh and moved forward.
After the terrifying epiphany that this library belonged to an unknown master, we began finding the rest of the ‘terms of use’ by backtracking and checking the floor:

*Do not make the sound of footsteps* *Do not fall asleep* *Stare at the window* *Leave after obtaining one thing* *Be curious* *Do not go down to the basement* – *This gets more unsettling with every new rule.* I couldn’t have agreed more.
‘This is morbid.’
While we weren’t being actively hunted, our movements became agonizingly careful. It was clear the library demanded absolute silence.

‘The rules won’t just keep appearing forever.’ We decided to push forward slowly until we encountered a repeat of a rule we’d already seen.

Silence.
A state of hyper-caution where even a footfall was too loud, yet nothing happened. The tension was making the muscles in my neck lock up.

[Hmm, while patience is a virtue, repeating the same scene is quite dull for the viewers! Mr. Roe Deer, how long do you intend to ‘endure’ this cycle?]

…Actually.
‘There’s something that’s been nagging at me.’
[Oh?]

*Be curious* That specific rule.
‘Could it be that the path only shifts when we feel curiosity?’ I wondered if having ‘curiosity’ about a specific topic would cause the corridors to lead us toward that information.
‘…Is it worth testing, as long as I don’t go overboard?’

I focused on a specific question in my mind. A spatial query about our location, nothing too dangerous.

* *Where is Exit 4 of this station, the one that leads to Sekwang Technical High School?* Holding that thought, I took a step.

“….”
“….”

Another split in the path appeared. The rest of the team turned into the right-hand corridor, and as I, the tail of the line, prepared to follow….
*Thud.* I caught sight of something.
In the left-hand tunnel, a silhouette flickered in the amber light.
‘…!’

The Black Silhouette, seemingly noticing me, bolted deeper into the archives. It dropped a book it had been sliding out of a shelf.
I recognized something familiar about the figure.
‘…Was that a school uniform?’

A jolt of realization hit me.
I quickly tapped the shoulder of the person in front of me and pivoted toward the left path.
The title of the discarded book became clear as I closed the distance….

*<A Collection of Masterpiece Horror Short Stories from the 2000s>* “…!!”
This was it.

* *On a night with a full moon, if you read a specific book and fall asleep, you may wake up in the school at night.* The gateway to Sekwang Technical High School.
The title of the illegal file mentioned in the rumors…. *Masterpiece_Horror_Novel_Collection_2000s.txt* It was a near-perfect match.

‘Wait.’
I managed to glance at the table of contents on the back cover without actually touching the volume….

“You’re a bit reckless.”
…!

“But it’s not a bad trait. If you just stand around doing nothing, you’ll lose the few chances you have. Even the Elite Team misses windows of opportunity. In the Darkness, time is your most valuable resource.”
“….”
“Still, in the future, wait for your team before you lunge ahead.”

The sound of someone rising behind me.
A hand landed on my shoulder.
“Is that a… deer mask?”

I turned around.
“It’s hard to tell. Personally, it looks more like a Dragon to me.”
….
“What’s your callsign on your team?”

An employee in a business suit, wearing a Wolf Mask, was standing right there.