Chapter 46
During the time it took to head for the third floor, the hallway remained quiet, the security guard never appeared before we reached the end, and the stairs didn’t play any tricks.
In other words, I didn’t have to go through the events of the ‘Yeondoo High School’ game I’d seen somewhere.
Collecting strange wooden talismans, encountering ghosts hiding all over the place, and helping some of them pass on.
Instead, the protagonist got to enjoy bittersweet romantic tension depending on his choices, but screw that.
All I needed was the route with the shortest possible time to escape the school.
For now, I was simply grateful that the process of escaping wasn’t complicated.
When I opened the door to the classroom marked ‘2-1,’ the same scene as the classrooms on the second floor appeared.
The only difference was that something standing at the teacher’s podium had been added to the list of things looking at us.
The ‘Homeroom Teacher’ had been added.
[I’m going to give you a test, so sit down.]
“…There aren’t any seats.”
I wanted to obey the ‘Homeroom Teacher,’ who spoke in a hoarse voice, but unfortunately, every seat in the classroom was occupied by a student.
[You two over there. Vacate your seats.]
The ‘Homeroom Teacher’ pointed at the two students sitting by the window.
Crash!
[Ahahahahahahahaha!]
Splat!
After receiving the ‘Homeroom Teacher’s’ gaze, the two students burst into mad laughter and jumped out of the third-floor window without hesitation.
[Sit down. The test is beginning.]
In the bizarre scene where no one in the classroom changed their expression even slightly, Imina and I walked over to the window and sat down.
“At least being next to each other will make it convenient to do an open-book test.”
“Though I don’t know if they’ll give us questions either of us would know~.”
OMR cards and felt-tip pens had been placed on the seats the two students had vacated.
The only difference from a normal one was that there were four spaces to mark instead of five.
The fact that this increased the odds of guessing the correct answer was a fairly positive sign.
The dilemma that arose when the same number appeared as the answer consecutively would be a little worse, but it was still a gain.
[Pass the test papers to the back.]
The ‘Homeroom Teacher’ handed a stack of test papers to me in the very front seat.
What he handed me wasn’t a test paper, but bundles of completely blank sheets made from recycled paper.
When I looked to the side, the other students were naturally taking one bundle of blank sheets each and passing it backward.
“That’s normal, so take one and pass it along.”
“Yes.”
“Once you give me your test paper, questions will appear when you touch your own. Let’s solve them together after the signal that the test has begun.”
“Yes.”
Since an experienced person was telling me that, what more was there to question?
I stopped thinking, handed the test paper to Imina, and then touched my own.
The slightly rough texture unique to recycled paper was something I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Wearing a school uniform on top of that made me feel like I was recalling my school days, but not enough to become immersed in them.
This was what the old men from the generation before mine called school.
The rundown facilities, the atmosphere where violence was permitted, and even the high level of authority teachers possessed—all of it.
Sssssss.
Writing began to appear on the test paper that had been completely blank, transforming it into the familiar form of an exam sheet.
[Mock Exam (Park Seong-bin Section)]
It would have been a perfect mock-exam paper if the part where the subject belonged had contained anything other than my name.
“Is your test subject ‘Imina Section,’ Team Leader?”
“I suppose it is?”
“Can a hodgepodge subject like this really make it all the way to a mock exam?”
“The private academies in Gangnam would go crazy, wouldn’t they?”
“Of course they would.”
If someone told a bunch of husbands that their precious child had to solve something like ‘Park Seong-bin Section,’ a truckload of them would have appeared in a fit of inexplicable rage.
The problem was that I had to solve those nonsensical questions and score 85 points.
There were 20 questions, and every question was worth an equal 5 points.
In other words, if I got more than three questions wrong, it was this life and sayonara.
[Have you all received your test papers?]
The ‘Homeroom Teacher’s’ voice came with the sound of air leaking through a hole.
[The time limit is 90 minutes. Begin now.]
Tick-tock—tick-tock.
The clock above the blackboard, which had been completely silent until a moment ago, began to move with the sound of its second hand.
The clock showed 10:30. In other words, the time limit was noon, 90 minutes later.
Clutching my test paper, I immediately turned toward Imina’s desk.
There were two test papers to solve and 40 questions in total.
The participants were two Field Response Team members and numerous Management Bureau employees.
I thought it wouldn’t be difficult to solve them with a safety margin of about three questions.
1. How many members of your family are alive?
① 0 people ② 1 person ③ 2 people ④ 3 people
Teacher, I never learned anything like this in class.
While I was stammering after getting stuck on the first question, Imina was already tapping her pen around two-thirds of the way down the first page.
Since I couldn’t see anything written on it, it seemed that only the person it belonged to could see their own questions.
“Do entities know people’s personal information, too?”
“Of course they do. Why are you acting surprised now?”
“I’ve only been here for two months.”
“After two months on the Field Response Team, you’re practically half an entity yourself.”
“Really?”
“I’m kidding.”
Judging by how she was checking her answers with almost no hesitation, it seemed that the material she usually reviewed had appeared on the test.
“Mr. Seong-bin, aren’t you solving yours?”
“I got stuck on question one.”
“I can help if it’s a question about the Management Bureau.”
“It’s asking how many members of my family are alive.”
“Um.”
[Hey, I got stuck on question one.]
Author: GalleryingIsEasy
I’m an orphan, but how many members of my family are currently alive?
The choices are from 0 to 3.
This is fucking confusing, ah lol.
Recommend the correct answer.
[Comments]
MyDadIsAMurimMaster: LOLㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
HoundDog: Is the Talul of exam questions a fucking lunatic?
EntityFreak: You said you’re an orphan. Can’t you just say none?
ㄴ(OP) GalleryingIsEasy: The students keep saying my dad is still alive.
ㄴEntityFreak: Seriously…?
GalleryingForPay: But isn’t it good if the answer isn’t zero?
ㄴAutoSaveIsEssential: An orphan because your family is alive vs. an orphan because you have no family.
ㄴGalleryingForPay: That’s an even split.
TrappedAtHome: The legal family-insult section is insane.
I have to make you guys solve the questions I can’t. You useless bastards.
For now, I decided to put it on hold. When you encounter a question you can’t solve immediately during a test, common sense says to solve the other questions first.
After that, questions 2 through 15 flowed smoothly without any trouble.
6. Which of the following was the reason Park Seong-bin entered the Management Bureau through the Human-Rights Waiver Track?
① Because his stock plummeted by 99% due to a stock manipulator
② Because he joined ‘Obvious Obedience’ as a new member
③ Because he worked as a liaison for the ‘Entity Liberation Headquarters’
④ Because the Management Bureau was the only clue that could lead him to his family
The things I had done to attract the Management Bureau’s attention, among other things.
11. Where is Backrooms Floor 0 currently connected?
① The Blue House ②The Capital Area Landfill ③The Gwanak Branch of the Management Bureau ④ The home of the coach who got knocked out in the World Cup Round of 32
WhiteHacker: That was the request someone made a few days ago. The answer is 2.
GalleryingIsEasy: What a shame. I should’ve made it 4.
WhiteHacker: Maybe I’ll try that for a day sometime.
I was flustered that a real-time update had appeared as a test question, but in any case, it was data about entities I had experienced.
“What kind of coffee beans did our office have again?”
“Jamaica Blue Mountain. I picked them.”
There were even questions related to conversations I’d shared with my teammates.
Aside from the questions about my personal history, I could solve the rest without difficulty with the gallery’s and Imina’s support.
The funny thing was that even then, no questions related to the gallery had appeared.
I was uneasy that the current situation in the Backrooms had been included, but it was still within the range that could be considered a malicious question.
What the hell was the Management Bureau gallery, anyway?
Could I really call this my ability when it worked in a place where abilities couldn’t be used?
Oh, no. I almost planted another plot point. This wasn’t the time to get lost in pointless thoughts.
I cut off my idle thoughts and looked at the next question.
And what appeared was a question I never could have imagined.
16. Choose the team member who will die first.
① Imina ② Choi Yu-na ③ Kang Chae-young ④ Yoo Se-chan
Who was Yoo Se-chan? Could the open-book sources be reflected in the test questions, too? That was bad.
“Is there someone named Yoo Se-chan on our team?”
“What’s the question?”
“It says, ‘Choose the team member who will die first.’”
The pen that had been spinning between Imina’s fingers stopped.
But soon, the pen began spinning again, and she answered indifferently, as if it were nothing at all.
“Choose Yoo Se-chan. It’s definitely the right answer.”
“Understood.”
“You’ll probably be able to meet him before long.”
I could actually meet the team member who would die first.
It gave me a very ominous feeling, but I decided to let it pass for now.
There must have been a reason Team Leader had answered so decisively.
“That is, if we make it out?”
“Of course.”
It was about time I met the male member of our team.
Other team members we passed in the cafeteria or hallways would sometimes joke, ‘Is there only one man on the Field Response Team? What a harem.’
Manager Kwak Chun-bong had said something about it, too.
‘Of course it is. Men are the ones who do more of the things entity reports tell them not to do.’
Those words made me think, ‘That sounds fucking stupid. Let’s try it right now.’
I happened to look around and noticed the students diligently solving their test questions.
What would happen to you if you failed to score over 85?
Long ago, there were schools where teachers assaulted students or refused to treat them as human beings if their test scores were low.
Not entities. For real.
When I checked the clock, 45 minutes remained. There were four questions left.
There was plenty of time to finish and mark the answers, too.
17. Choose how interested Scientist Madnificent is in you.
① Dust ② A bug ③ A noticeable animal ④ A test subject
Why would someone who had only appeared in reports be interested in me?
I had been repeatedly involved with entities he had created or influenced, but was I really noticeable enough for that? Not really.
Definitely number 1.
18. How many counseling sessions did Park Seong-bin receive from the ‘Rest Easy’ entity in the psychological counseling room?
① 0 ② 1 ③ 2 ④ 3
The entity in the psychological counseling room was ‘Rest Easy.’ Even if the question hadn’t been messing with me, the answer would have been number 1.
I also hoped that my counselor would be Counselor Cheon Jin-seong both before and after all this.
Questions 19 and 20 were ordinary math and science questions, unlike something an entity would ask, and without the gallery, I probably would have lost 10 points on those two alone.
I felt that simply making the questions math problems would probably produce more victims.
Ten minutes remained. The only question I had left to solve was question 1.
“Are you finished?”
“Only question 1 remains. Are there any questions you’re stuck on, Team Leader?”
“There’s one confusing question, but I’m certain the rest are correct, so it’s fine.”
Would it be all right not to intervene?
She was confident that she had scored at least 85, but after encountering an entity that did whatever the fuck it wanted, I couldn’t imagine Yeondoo High School leaving someone like Imina, who had created rules, alone.
“If you’re going to guess anyway, tell me the question, too. I’m good at guessing.”
“Hmm~ Is that so? Since it doesn’t matter whether I get it right or wrong, shall we borrow some of Mr. Seong-bin’s luck?”
Imina began writing the question in the corner of her test paper with a felt-tip pen.
Determine your remaining lifespan.
① 6 months ② 1 year ③ 2 years ④ 3 years
“…Let’s go with number 4.”
“That’s what I thought, too.”
I wanted to say, ‘There’s no way,’ but I didn’t bother letting the words out.
There was only one correct answer among the four choices, after all.
All I could do was feel the malice of ‘Yeondoo High School’ once again.
After looking away from Imina as she finished marking even the last answer, I began marking my own answers on the OMR card.
The answer to question 1 was…
‘Do you know your dad is still alive?’
‘Do you know where your mom and little sibling were buried?’
After finishing the last mark, one minute remained.
That one minute felt longer than solving several questions, but time eventually passed all the same.
A familiar bell rang, and the ‘Homeroom Teacher’s’ voice echoed throughout the classroom.
[I will begin grading now.]