Ch.41041 – Hallway Conquest Strategy 1

# 041 – Corridor Attack Strategy #1

I could enter the Nightmare Corridor carrying “items.”

Yang Juhui had the “Princess Magic Wand” she acquired in reality among her possessions.

“Princess Magic Wand: A very sturdy toy. Through a special incantation, it can create a barrier that rejects the entry of spirits.”

“That’s interesting.”

Basically, each person could only carry one item, but Yang Juhui had the “Tool Use” trait.

“Tool Use: You can enter the corridor with up to 3 tools. The durability of tools increases by 1.5 times.”

Currently, Yang Juhui had 4 items:

“Yeongwon’s Cutter Knife, Zippo Lighter, Multipurpose Room Key, Princess Magic Wand.”

Yang Juhui could start with three of these items.

That meant she had to leave one behind.

In this situation, I should first consider which items were essential.

“I should definitely take the cutter knife.”

Yang Juhui had survived several times thanks to her cutter knife.

“Yeongwon’s Cutter Knife” was essentially an “extra life.”

“The magic wand sounds really good too, just from the description.”

Creating a barrier that spirits couldn’t enter.

I knew how important safe zones were in the “Nightmare Corridor.”

If she could create one at will, that was also like having an “extra life.”

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

The description of the Zippo lighter was:

“Possession: Zippo Lighter

An ordinary lighter. Dimmer than a lantern but less likely to be detected by spirits. For some reason, the gas can be used infinitely.”

A lighter that could provide light indefinitely.

It was less bright than my “flashlight,” but that meant it was also less likely to be noticed by someone.

Also, while my “flashlight” had battery limitations, this lighter’s gas was infinite.

“That’s a good item.”

The remaining item was the “Multipurpose Room Key.”

“Possession: Multipurpose Room Key

A key that leads to the multipurpose room. It doesn’t seem to have any other use.”

It was literally a key to the multipurpose room.

An item with no other use.

Looking at it this way, leaving the key behind seemed right. But what if we needed the multipurpose room key? I would seriously regret it.

The key or the lighter?

This was giving me a headache.

Logically, it should be the lighter.

Maybe I should equip Jeongseok with the “Multipurpose Room Key”?

Jeongseok’s character sheet wasn’t completely filled with “???”

It seemed that was because he hadn’t experienced the Nightmare Corridor even once yet.

But I could still equip him with items.

Now it was my turn.

I also had three items.

(1).

“Yeongwon’s Glow Pen: A pen that’s visible even in darkness. Marks made with this pen cannot be erased unless using the eraser on the cap.”

(2).

“Battery Lantern: A flashlight powered by batteries. Brighter than expected but has a high chance of being detected by spirits.”

(3)

“Map: A detailed map of the old school building’s first floor. It seems someone drew it carefully with an amateur hand. With this, you might be able to go deeper. But… who could have drawn such a thing?”

Unlike Yang Juhui, I didn’t have the “Tool Use” trait, so I could only take one of the three.

That was quite unfortunate.

The pen, the lantern, or the map?

These were all really good items.

First, the glow pen.

Having a pen would be good for marking things.

But… if I asked whether it was essential for survival… probably not.

Then what about the flashlight?

The Nightmare Corridor was so dark that without a light source, I could barely see my own hands.

With a flashlight, progress would definitely be faster.

“But the map…”

The map that Jeong Sojin had acquired.

This was something even I hadn’t seen before.

But the potential this map held seemed extraordinary at first glance.

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

But now it was time for “strategy,” not just “survival.”

After much consideration, I decided to take the “map.”

“Alright.”

With this, the setup was complete.

My current funds were 538 points.

If four people entered the Nightmare Corridor, were wiped out, and then each used 100P to treat their quirks at the clinic, I would still have enough.

Even after spending 400 points, 138 points would remain.

“I think we’re ready to go.”

I looked at the player list once more…

And dragged each name into the corridor explorer section.

# # #

“……”

When I suddenly came to my senses, I was lying in a dark, cool corridor.

It was so dark that I could only tell it was some kind of corridor.

The windows, which let in faint light, were completely blocked with nailed boards.

“Ah, damn. I should have brought the flashlight.”

If I had brought the flashlight instead of the map, I would have been able to see something.

I regretted my decision, but… what’s done was done.

Rustle-

I rummaged through my pocket and retrieved a rolled-up piece of paper.

It was the map.

It seemed that pre-equipped items were placed in your pocket when starting the corridor journey.

“It’s too dark to see.”

After checking the map, I quietly listened to my surroundings.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any ghosts around me.

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

One was the shaman ghost called the “Bell Maiden.”

It was a ghost that wandered around making bell sounds—jingle jangle—and had no eyes, so I thought it might have visual limitations.

The second was the “Head Ghost.”

The Head Ghost spread its hair like a spider web, and until you got close enough to step on its hair, it wouldn’t react even if you made loud noises.

And the third, the “??? Ghost.”

This one’s identity was still unknown.

I didn’t know what it was, but… it would be best to be careful.

So what should I do now?

Obviously, meet up with the friends who participated as players!

Where could I meet up with the kids?

I had mentioned before that Class “1-4” was a safe zone.

If my guess was correct, the clever Jeongseok would have noticed the existence of a “meeting point” and would likely be in “1-4.” Let’s meet up with Jeongseok first.

With that in mind, I walked down the corridor… but something felt strange.

“What’s this?”

It was too dark to distinguish objects clearly, but I could tell for certain.

The corridor was different from before.

“Faculty Office”

After wandering for a while, I spotted the first-year faculty office.

I could recognize it as the faculty office because there was a small light on inside…

Clatter, clack-

The door of the faculty office was very securely locked with a padlock.

Wasn’t the faculty office door open when I came here before?

And there should have been a ‘multipurpose room’ near the faculty office.

But the multipurpose room that should have been nearby was nowhere to be seen.

“…It’s changed.”

The Nightmare Corridor.

The structure of its first floor was different from my memory.

How could this be?

Was it because this place was set in a “dream” that there were changes? Come to think of it… in the game “Abyss Corridor,” the corridor structures and item placements changed with each round.

That’s why we could approach the game with a fresh mindset each time.

I never imagined that even the real “Nightmare Corridor” would have randomly shuffled maps…

The good thing was that I had a map.

Flutter-

When I illuminated the map with the light coming from the faculty office, an image appeared that looked like someone had drawn on a sketchbook with crayons.

It was a real map.

And the map was undoubtedly showing the geography of the first floor.

The walls near the faculty office, the corners, and the blocked bathroom that couldn’t be entered were proof of that.

My hypothesis was that the corridor’s structure changed with each entry.

What about the map then?

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

I wasn’t sure.

What was important was that I had found the location of “1-4.”

Fortunately, it was nearby.

I headed towards “1-4,” which was a safe zone.

# # #

Slide-

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

“Who… who is it!”

It was Jeongseok’s voice.

Jeongseok, as I expected, was in the safe zone “1-4.”

“Hey, Jeongseok. It’s me, Ha Yeongwon.”

“Prove it!”

“Top laner. Nasus one-pick. Jeongseok, you have a crush on Bong Jiyeon and a fetish for being bullied by the school queen bee, right? You only told me that.”

“Oh. The fetish part is nonsense, but you must be Ha Yeongwon.”

Jeongseok slowly approached me.

“1-4” was dark, but if you got close enough, you could more or less recognize the other person’s face.

“Hey, Yeongwon. When I opened my eyes, I was suddenly in this place. This is because of what you talked about, right? That ‘Nightmare Corridor’ thing.”

“That’s right. Looks like you remembered what I said well. Seeing that you were waiting in ‘1-4.’ Ghosts can’t enter here, probably because of all the talismans stuck around.”

“Yeah. I knew you would come here. But are you sure ghosts can’t enter?”

Am I sure?

If asked like that, I couldn’t be completely certain.

Yang Juhui, who was in “1-4” at that time, had been marked as dead, right?

“Let’s find Juhui first. She’s probably somewhere nearby.”

Yang Juhui had a lighter to illuminate her surroundings.

She also had a knife and a magic wand, so she probably hadn’t been caught by a ghost yet.

Jeongseok said:

“This is a dream, right? Can it be this vivid even though I know it’s a dream? It feels so real. It even hurts when I pinch myself. Is this really a dream?”

Jeongseok seemed to find it hard to believe that the situation we were experiencing was not reality but a ‘nightmare.’

“They say dreams become more elaborate to prevent humans from realizing they’re dreaming. You know that story, right? About someone who was at school and realized it was a dream. When they said ‘Ah, this is a dream,’ all the students in the class closed their mouths and stared at them.”

“……”

“After that, their dreams became so elaborate that they couldn’t tell they were dreaming anymore. Yeongwon, have you heard a story like that?”

“I haven’t. You always tell scary stories when you’re scared. Man, it’s already scary enough without you adding those stories. It gives me the creeps.”

Jeongseok had a peculiar defense mechanism.

He always told scary stories when he felt fear. Was he trying to control the fear of external factors by muttering scary stories to himself?

I don’t know.

I’m not a psychologist.

“Anyway, I’m going to call for Yang Juhui now.”

“Call for her?”

Jeongseok seemed puzzled.

I pointed to the talismans that were plastered all over “1-4.”

“Ghosts can’t enter this room, right? So it should be safe to make noise in here. So I’m going to call out loudly for Yang Juhui.”

Of course, there was the risk of the variable “??? Ghost”…

But the return on quickly meeting up with Yang Juhui seemed greater.

Slide-

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

“Yang Juhui! Come to Class 4! You have a lighter, right? Come this way while shining your light!”

Thanks to the stamina developed by “Strong Heart” and the lung capacity of “Holding Breath,” my voice was thunderously loud even to my own ears.

Now.

What would happen next… As I was thinking that, I felt someone running towards us with a patter-patter sound from far away.

“Yang Juhui?”

Is it Yang Juhui?

Looking at the corridor with hope and expectation, I had to admit that my thoughts and guesses were way off.

The woman was Yu Dahui!

“Guys!”

Yu Dahui, who came rushing towards “1-4” in a hurry.

Seeing her panting, Jeongseok seemed slightly taken aback.

“Oh, it’s Dahui. Yeongwon, did you put her in too?”

“……”

No.

I only put in exactly three people this time.

Me, Jeongseok, and Yang Juhui.

Yu Dahui… after consideration, I didn’t include her.

I hadn’t explained about the “Nightmare Corridor” to Yu Dahui.

That meant she wasn’t an official member of the “Ha Yeongwon Pirates” yet.

So why was Yu Dahui in the “Nightmare Corridor”?

I swear to heaven, the players were only me, Jeongseok, and Yang Juhui!

Yu Dahui said:

“Guys! You made too much noise! Get out of there quickly! We need to get away from here! We need to leave this place right now! Guys, get out of that classroom quickly!”

Yu Dahui, standing in the corridor and shouting towards “1-4.”

Her urgent manner seemed quite desperate, but also puzzling.

Why was she telling us to come out?

Shiver-

At that moment, a chill ran down my spine.

A classmate who shouldn’t be here.

Could the identity of the third ghost, “???,” be…!?

“…Dahui. I’m sorry, but could you come into Class 4?”