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“So, you’re saying your eyes are malfunctioning right now and there’s nothing you can do?”

“That’s correct.”

Song Ah Rin crossed her arms and looked up at me.

“You’re really useless, you know?”

“You really can’t say that to the person who saved your life, can you?”

I could seriously just slap her on the head!

She continued with a tone that seemed a bit disappointed.

“No, you should have made a grand entrance as usual, figured out my weaknesses, and then saved me with a ‘ta-da!'”

“Wait, what?”

“As if I always do that?”

“Did you think I was cool?”

“…Shut up.”

“I am kinda cool, though.”

“Do you really want to die?”

Song Ah Rin punched my shoulder.

Teasing her was actually pretty fun.

Ahem! “Anyway, first, we need to find the black-haired and white-haired guys, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Since we did get a paper that says ‘Escape Method’, whether it’s genuine or not is a separate issue.

“And then we cut hair.”

“Correct.”

“How?”

“Chae Yeon will do it.”

“Is the white-haired guy going to do all the heavy lifting again?”

“If you want to pick up the scissors and cut your hair yourself, I won’t stop you.”

“Since the white-haired guy is dumb, he better put that strength to good use. I’m all for it.”

With some pretty straightforward insults directed toward Jang Chae Yeon, Song Ah Rin nodded.

“Then, what’s that little kid over there?”

“Hmm, I wonder.”

I’ve seen all kinds of monsters that parasitize humans, cubes that shoot lasers, and creatures that devour people mid-story, but I’ve never encountered a ghost yet.

“It’s better to just do what we’re told. I mean, there must be a reason they haven’t let go of it.”

“What if this is actually a trap that kills us instead?”

“I’m worried about that too, but I don’t really see any good options here.”

Tsk, Song Ah Rin clicked her tongue and began rummaging through the locker.

“What are you doing?”

“If there’s a cutter knife, it might help.”

With her tiny hands earnestly searching through the locker.

It didn’t seem useful, but I didn’t need to stop her from acting all serious about it.

As she finally found a cutter knife, I was deeply lost in thought.

The lack of information was a problem.

It felt like losing a weapon I frequently used.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

She had found the cutter knife and leaned in to look at me.

“Oh, I was just thinking about how to break through.”

“Break through?”

“Yeah. Just in case something unexpected happens—”

“Don’t worry.”

“Excuse me?”

I stared at Song Ah Rin as she stared back at me.

“That thing is a little hypnotic.”

“Hypnotic? I’ve never seen you properly hypnotize anyone other than our allies!”

Whether she knew I was horrified or not, Song Ah Rin twirled her hair with one hand.

“But it doesn’t work completely. For example, I can make you not distinguish between your hands and feet, and maybe get you to cross your legs.”

“Wait, did you just say that you made that thing smash into the wall earlier?”

“More accurately, I created one more chance while you were busy getting shot in the forehead.”

“That should be enough.”

Alright, so we’ve somewhat prepared.

“Are you ready?”

“Yep. What are we doing first?”

“First, should we find Da On?”

If my experience is right, the most dangerous one right now is Yu Da On.

Besides her being younger, her regenerative abilities are gone now.

It literally takes a long time for her to come back to life, and it’s hard for her to move if she’s injured.

We needed to rescue Yu Da On as quickly as possible.

“…I agree. Anyway, she was the first to run out to save both me and the white-haired guy.”

Song Ah Rin nodded as if in agreement.

“But how do we find her?”

“We chase after her.”

I spotted a flower vase within jumping distance, jumped, and hit it with my palm.

Crash!

The sound of the vase breaking sliced through the still air, and before Song Ah Rin could widen her eyes at me, I covered her mouth and dragged her into the classroom.

Thud thud thud thud!

Soon, footsteps approached the area where the vase broke, and then I heard a voice.

“Is it yummy? Yummy yummy yummy yummy!”

With the clattering of footsteps, it started moving again.

“Let’s go.”

“Seriously, do you have two lives?”

Song Ah Rin quietly grumbled as she followed me.

We stepped outside and began to follow it at a distance.

The good thing was that its footsteps were quite loud, so it posed no significant problem for us to follow, but the downside was that it moved fast enough that we had to jog to keep up.

Wasn’t this supposed to be a small school? How could it go on like this?

Just as I started to feel perplexed, it began to climb the stairs.

“…The rooftop?”

“It seems so.”

I whispered with Song Ah Rin as we climbed the stairs slowly.

Stumbling up the steep steps, soon the rooftop came into view.

As we stepped outside, a sticky air and an unpleasant chill brushed against my insides.

This didn’t feel like a rooftop.

There was a gigantic cocoon made of hair, surrounded by tiny skulls.

We saw it crawl into the cocoon and immediately ducked behind the wall as if by agreement.

Soon, a terrible stench began to stab our noses.

It was a smell of something rotting, combined with some indescribable, peculiar odor that could very well be called torture.

“Ugh…”

Song Ah Rin gagged and covered her mouth, and I had to cover my nose and mouth with my hand to keep from throwing up.

I hurriedly scanned the area. Was Yu Da On here?

Whether she was or wasn’t was worrisome, but as I was looking around, Song Ah Rin tugged at my sleeve and pointed.

It was Yu Da On.

More accurately, it was a younger Yu Da On.

With her neck grotesquely twisted, she lay buried in the cocoon with her eyes closed. Seeing her not breathe confirmed she was definitely dead.

One notable difference was that while I and Song Ah Rin wore regular clothes, she was in a patient gown.

We had to get her out, but what to do? Would she not just leave?

Against my wishes, it crawled on all fours and settled into the cocoon before mumbling some unintelligible dialect.

Song Ah Rin and I exchanged glances.

Should someone go and distract it?

Creeeak,

Soon, with a strange sound of bones aligning, Yu Da On’s body began reverting back to its original state.

Unlike the state from the holy body incident, she was returning as if time was flowing backward now.

Before long, her chest began to move evenly, and she opened her eyes, locking gazes with me and Song Ah Rin.

Before she could react, I quickly put my index finger to my lips, signaling her to be quiet, and Yu Da On understood and closed her mouth.

Then she quietly moved her body, trying to escape from the cocoon.

But it was no use.

She struggled valiantly, pushing and pulling the cocoon with her frail arms, even trying to chew through the hair with her teeth, but her strength was insufficient.

What should I do? Should I leave Yu Da On here to find Jang Chae Yeon and rescue her?

But what guarantee do I have that I would find Jang Chae Yeon, and in the meantime, what if Yu Da On gets moved somewhere else or, in the worst-case scenario, gets eaten? That would definitely spell disaster.

As I rubbed my temples, deep in thought, Song Ah Rin sighed heavily and pulled on my sleeve.

“…Forget it.”

“What about?”

“I’ll distract it.”

Is this girl not only younger but also mentally younger?

“Don’t say stupid things. If you get caught, you could really die.”

“Then what, should you be the one to distract it? What can a blind dude do? And you’d die too if you got caught.”

With defiance in her eyes, she looked at me.

Should I really trust her?

Thoughts swirled in my mind.

Wait.

One method suddenly shined in my mind like a light bulb.

“You mentioned earlier you could switch your sensations, right? I heard you can influence it to some degree, is that correct?”

“…”

Song Ah Rin nodded.

“Then, let’s cause some chaos.”

“What if the black-haired guy gets hurt?”

“That’s what I’m counting on!”

“…So you’re going to turn the place upside down by switching sensations?”

“Exactly.”

Song Ah Rin looked at me like I was crazy, then stretched with the same fierce smile as usual.

“I think that look of yours is not bad at all. It’s the proper mindset a management agency employee should have.”

“Stop saying horrifying things.”

“You might not realize, but this is a huge compliment.”

Song Ah Rin looked at me.

“Causing chaos? You can escape on your own, right?”

“I’m healthier than you, Song Ah Rin.”

At my words, Song Ah Rin glowered at me for a moment.

“Then you run first.”

“Of course.”

With pride, Song Ah Rin stepped forward.

Its eyes turned toward her, and she confidently stood in front of it, crossing her arms.

If only this little girl in a purple dress hadn’t been there, it might have looked even cooler.

It stiffened up, and then its legs buckled and it collapsed. It tried standing again, but this time it smashed its head into the cocoon, causing it to shake.

We quietly walked toward Yu Da On without being noticed.

“Jae Heon!”

With a youthful voice, Yu Da On called out to me.

“You could have left me behind…”

“The Human Resources Team never abandons a teammate.”

We’ve struggled together. How could I just leave someone behind?

Yu Da On smiled softly at my words.

“Actually, I was hoping you’d come.”

In that fleeting moment, lost for words due to her ephemeral smile,

BANG!

The cocoon shook violently, and Yu Da On’s body jittered and then dropped.

“!”

I quickly dashed, sliding into position to catch Yu Da On.

She fell into my arms, and as she was nestled against me, she smiled shyly at me.

“…Thank you.”

“Then let’s get up quickly. Can you run?”

“Yes.”

As I let her down and looked at the floor,

Hair.

Could I maybe pick this up? It didn’t seem like I could.

After stuffing a few strands of hair into my pants pocket, I dashed towards Song Ah Rin with Yu Da On, and she started running ahead after seeing me.

“What are we gonna do next?!”

“We have to find Chae Yeon!”

“If we call out like this, we’ll find her in no time!”

Only the sound of three little children’s footsteps and the running monster’s paws echoed through the narrow corridor.