Ch.103103 – Nightmare Brawl 1

# 103 – Nightmare Brawl # 1

Kwon Sua returned home and cried her eyes out.

She curled up on the sofa and truly sobbed uncontrollably.

Her first heartbreak ever.

“I’d prefer if we didn’t get involved with each other anymore.”

It was a thorough rejection that cut all ties, not even allowing them to remain friends.

Kwon Sua couldn’t believe it.

In retrospect, it was an arrogant thought, but she couldn’t imagine that an ordinary high school boy could reject or refuse her confession.

Kwon Sua had received attention and love from everyone since becoming an idol.

After entering puberty and blossoming like a flower, she had rejected others but had never been rejected herself.

“My heart hurts!”

Kwon Sua vocalized her emotions out loud.

Soon, her Shiba dog Wangwangi approached the crying Kwon Sua, licking her face and whimpering to comfort her.

—Woof woof.

Of course, Kwon Sua wasn’t comforted even by the touching consolation of the animal that followed her.

She felt like nothing could make her feel better.

So she just decided to lie down on her bed and sleep.

“…Jerk!”

She cursed the male student who had rejected her.

If they couldn’t date, why wouldn’t he at least be friends with her?

Even among the celebrities Kwon Sua had met, few were as picky and stuck-up as him.

“I was too passive.”

Kwon Sua reflected on her actions today.

‘I’ll meet him just one more time. I’ll tell him how he could speak so harshly to someone. I’ll ask to meet him when I wake up tomorrow.’

Kwon Sua fell asleep anticipating their next meeting.

When she opened her eyes, she could feel strange, unpleasant air brushing against her neck like a lick.

It was an unfamiliar place.

Seeing classrooms and corridors, it looked like a dark, gloomy school.

“…A dream?”

Kwon Sua frequently had nightmares.

Having often seen apparitions and been startled since childhood, she was somewhat accustomed to these situations.

But this was too vivid to be just a dream.

“Is anyone there?”

Just then, a man’s voice was heard.

A faint light could be seen at the end of the pitch-black corridor.

Kwon Sua somehow felt scared.

A dark, gloomy place.

A strange man.

It didn’t inspire positive thoughts, so she decided to hide in a nearby locker.

The locker had holes at eye level, allowing her to see outside.

“Is nobody there! What’s going on! Have I been kidnapped? I’m calling the police! My father is a police officer! Don’t think about harming me!”

A man passed in front of Kwon Sua.

He had shaggy hair and was unshaven.

Kwon Sua, who could remember most people who came to fan signings, recognized him as the customer who had been sitting near them at the PC room earlier, repeatedly glancing at her.

‘He kept looking at me while pretending not to know anything. Could this man be stalking me and kidnapped me here? Creepy.’

Kwon Sua decided to hide in the locker until the man passed by.

That’s when it happened.

“Is someone over there!”

“Wait there! We’re coming! We’ll get you out!”

Women’s voices were heard.

Soon, two women approached the PC room man and without warning, struck his head with the bats they were holding.

Thwack-thwack-!

It was a terribly cruel scene, and Kwon Sua couldn’t help but scream.

“Eek!”

Of course, she covered her mouth with her palm before a loud sound could escape.

“He’s got a lighter.”

“I told you bats are the best!”

The women killed the man who had been sitting next to them at the PC room and looted his pockets.

Kwon Sua felt like she might faint.

After they disappeared, Kwon Sua tried to escape by breaking windows or searching for exits.

Of course, all the windows of this school-like building were blocked with boards, and the exits were firmly locked, making escape impossible.

Then she met the male student Ha Yeongwon.

She was extremely glad and relieved.

That’s how they ended up hiding in the same locker.

The women with bats killed the PC room employee and looted her pockets.

They also ripped her clothes with a box cutter, making a tearing sound.

“Hey, Huiyeon, look at this bitch. She has a rose tattoo on her thigh.”

“She’s such a slut.”

The murderers left the scene with vulgar curses, apparently finding little of value.

Even after their presence had disappeared into the distance, Kwon Sua and the male student remained motionless.

Like statues frozen together as one.

After what felt like about five minutes, Kwon Sua asked quietly.

“Do you know what’s going on here?”

It was such a strange situation.

Part of her wondered, ‘Could this be happening because I strongly wished to meet Yeongwon?’

Since entering middle school, Kwon Sua had lived feeling like everything she wished for came true.

A feeling that her imagination became reality.

Although her first attempt at romance had been firmly rejected without any chance to resist, she thought that the cause of this situation might be that she was more special than others.

“…I don’t know either.”

The male student replied in a small voice.

His voice sounded quite rough, as if he was having trouble breathing.

Only then did Kwon Sua realize that her chest was pressing against the man’s chest. Despite the tense situation, she felt very embarrassed and nervous.

‘…I hope I don’t smell sweaty?’

Thump-thump-.

Terrifying murderers.

A confined space.

Alone with a male student.

Kwon Sua was experiencing what she had only heard about as the “suspension bridge effect.”

# # #

Gong Yerin, Lim Huiyeon.

Among the nearly 15 female students in Class D, they ranked 4th and 5th in terms of beauty.

Girls who played moderately and studied moderately.

In other words, they were “7-point girls.”

Girls like Yu Dahui or Yang Juhui who were 9 or 10 points were like grape clusters on high branches, making guys like me, Ha Yeongwon, grumble, “They must be sour grapes!” Girls like Gong Yerin or Lim Huiyeon gave hope that “If I try hard enough, maybe I could date someone like that…”

The charm point of 7-point girls was that they seemed within reach if you tried hard enough.

That’s why 7-point women like Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon received more approaches, dated more, and changed boyfriends more often than 10-point women like Yang Juhui or Yu Dahui.

After graduating high school and entering university, they’d be the type to get free meals from senior male students, receive help with assignments, and after graduating and getting a job, easily receive favors from section chiefs or managers at work.

Then, when they got tired of working, they’d easily captivate naive engineering guys or professionals with their extensive experience with men, send their husbands off to work, and become elegant Dongtan housewives enjoying late brunch at cafes and cultural activities with friends.

If someone heard my assessment of Lim Huiyeon and Gong Yerin, they might point out that my imagination was too excessive.

But my imagination was far more realistic than high school girls wielding baseball bats, killing people by smashing their heads in an old school building, and looting their pockets.

Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon killing people in the nightmare old school building.

The first-floor corridor, cleared of ghosts, now overrun by crazy 7-point high school girls!

What kind of absurd situation was this?

Reality far exceeded my narrow imagination.

Squeeze-.

Something incredibly amazing pressed against my chest, snapping me back to attention.

It was Kwon Sua.

Kwon Sua was also caught in the random matching.

“We need to be careful of those women. They just killed a man without hesitation earlier.”

According to Kwon Sua, they had killed not only the PC room employee but also the man who had been sitting next to us at the PC room.

PC room employee. PC room customer. Me. Kwon Sua. Gong Yerin. Lim Huiyeon.

Already six people were trapped in this corridor.

Yet the number of escape talismans I could obtain remained unchanged.

I thought I should first head to the basement to meet up with Gu Hyena and retrieve the talisman she was guarding.

We needed to go to the broadcasting room.

“Ms. Sua. You need to listen carefully to what I’m about to say. I don’t know how this situation came about, but I know what this place is. We’re in a nightmare.”

“A nightmare? You mean it’s all a dream? My dream? Are you saying my subconscious or unconscious mind is showing me this because I wanted to see you again, Yeongwon?”

Subconscious and unconscious.

Those were surprisingly formal terms.

I decided to explain what I knew.

“This is a shared dream. It’s not just one person’s dream, but like League of Legends, we’ve all connected to this dream. I’ve been experiencing this for almost half a year.”

“…Then what should we do? Will we wake up automatically after some time?”

“No. No matter how much time passes, we never wake up automatically. To leave this dream, you either die or escape through special means.”

“Ah, I see! Since it’s a dream, we wake up if we die, right?”

“But you must never die. If you die in this dream… people change. Once might be okay, but if you die twice in a row… You know your cousin, Kwon Suho, right?”

“No way…”

Kwon Sua was skilled enough to reach Master tier in games, showing her quick learning ability and talent.

She would understand what I was trying to say.

“You mean my cousin Suho suddenly changed because… of all this…?”

“Yes. That’s what happened.”

“Ugh…”

Kwon Sua started trembling violently and breathing roughly, as if the fear was finally hitting her.

Worried she might hyperventilate, I stepped out of the locker.

“But there’s a way out, so just follow me. I’ve been here a few times and think I understand the pattern somewhat. We need to get to the broadcasting room. Or you can stay hidden here if you prefer.”

The locker was the type that would start to smell terrible if a ghost approached, making it unbearable after a while.

Since there were no ghosts on the first floor now, staying hidden in the locker wouldn’t be a problem.

If she was too scared, Kwon Sua could stay in this locker.

“I… I’ll come with you!”

Kwon Sua chose to follow me.

“You’re going to leave me behind! I know it! You said you wanted to cut ties with me. You’re planning to escape alone and leave me here! I’m coming with you! I’m coming too!”

Did she think I would leave her behind and escape alone?

I hadn’t thought that, but in the worst case, if only one talisman remained, I would prioritize my own escape over Kwon Sua’s.

I had to look out for myself first, how could I afford to take care of others…

But… let’s think about that later.

With that in mind, we headed to the broadcasting room and down to the basement.

A familiar face was already waiting for us in the basement.

“Yeongwon!”

“Dahui, you’re here too?”

It was Yu Dahui.

Yu Dahui was waiting for us in front of the shrine in the basement.

And she wasn’t alone.

Jeongseok and Yang Juhui were there too.

“I knew you’d come here, Yeongwon. This is random matching, right?”

“Hey, Ha Yeongwon. Why are you so late?”

Yang Juhui, with her arms crossed, looked at me.

And then she saw Kwon Sua hiding behind me.