Chapter 31: Ghost Story Hotel Escape (3)

“Hoo, hoo-hoo….”

“Why did it suddenly get so quiet? Why don’t you say something, like you usually do?”

“W-what do you mean it got quiet? When did I ever—?”

Fortunately.

After the courage test began, both Aurora and Rosalia fell silent.

They were trying their best to feign composure, but from a distance, it was obvious at a glance that they were tense and frightened by the sight of the haunted hotel.

In contrast, Elaine and Rone, though nervous, weren’t as openly terrified as Aurora and Rosalia.

They seemed less scared of the haunted hotel itself and more wary of the impending ghost story’s attack. 

That was a relief.

“Teacher Allen didn’t say anything about groups of four…”

“Did something go wrong?”

However, one thing was clear— even for them, Aurora and Rosalia’s sudden inclusion was unsettling. 

They kept glancing around uneasily, waiting for my instructions.

I watched them from a hidden position, out of sight, and thought to myself.

Originally, the plan was for the courage test to proceed in pairs, with Elaine and Rone naturally grouped together as the first team to resolve the ghost story.

But who would’ve thought the situation would suddenly shift to groups of four?

Trying to solve the ghost story while dragging along Aurora and Rosalia— two dead weights— was nearly impossible.

So, to deal with the ghost story, I’d have to separate those two from Elaine and Rone somehow.

But that was its own problem. 

Even if I managed to separate them, while it might allow the ghost story to be resolved, Aurora and Rosalia would be left defenseless and exposed to the ghost story’s attack.

Unlike the standby group waiting together in the garden outside the hotel, these two had already stepped inside— meaning they were already within the ghost story’s grasp.

Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.

In the end, should I just regress?

No. I can’t.

Wishes are a finite resource.

The regression ability is undoubtedly powerful. 

If I kept regressing over and over, there’d be no ghost story I couldn’t eventually defeat— that’s how strong it seemed.

But ironically, the key to conquering ghost stories is to conserve regression as much as possible.

If I ran out of wishes before figuring out how to resolve a ghost story, it’d be an instant bad ending. 

In other words, conquering ghost stories is like a game of Minesweeper with a limited number of coins to spend.

Not only that, but wishes are also used to strengthen gifts.

Repeated regression means fewer opportunities to enhance gifts.

And without strengthening my abilities, overcoming ghost stories would only get harder, ultimately reducing my chances of defeating the Outer God lurking beneath the academy.

So, regression must be saved for truly desperate moments.

And there’s another reason why I absolutely shouldn’t regress right now.

Because if I regress now, I’d go back to the second day at the academy!

After making it this far, go back to the second day?

No way!

If things keep going like this, returning to the second day of the academy every time something happens, I’ll be the first one to lose my mind.

I absolutely cannot die until I find a way to update the save.

“Miss Elaine. Isn’t that the checkpoint Professor Lydia mentioned?”

“You’re right. Originally, Professor Allen was supposed to join us long before we reached the checkpoint… But I guess he couldn’t risk approaching carelessly because of those two who suddenly tagged along.”

While I was being cautious, we had already gotten close to the first checkpoint without me realizing it.

The contents of the courage test were simple.

The haunted hotel consisted of three floors, each with designated points.

At each point, there were symbols marked with the floor number. 

The goal was to collect the symbols from each floor and then exit the hotel.

And the fact that we were nearing the checkpoint meant they had already ventured deep into the hotel.

At this point, it was too late to cancel the courage test.

“What do I do now…?”

“Eek! Wait a second! Did you just hear something? It sounded like a man’s voice!”

“D-don’t lie! Are you just trying to scare me?”

Oops.

Did they hear my muttering?

I must have neglected to hide my presence while lost in thought.

I should conceal my presence again now…

…Wait. Why do I need to hide?

“Hahaha. Oh well. You caught me. I was hiding to give you a surprise scare.”

“Eek! P-Professor Allen, the assistant homeroom teacher?”

“Just Professor Allen is fine.”

Aurora, who was about to scream, stopped when she recognized me.

I awkwardly laughed and casually revealed myself to them.

Since I’d already been caught, I decided to brazenly join them with that excuse.

It was already impossible to send the two of them away now.

So, I had no choice but to improvise. 

The only option was to move with the students and naturally deal with the ghost stories along the way.

“Since I’ve been caught, mind if I tag along? I don’t have much to do by myself anyway.”

“Of course. I’d feel much more at ease if you led us, Professor.”

“Hmm. It might be close to cheating to proceed with the courage test like this… N-not that I’m saying no, of course.”

Naturally, when I expressed my intention to join, no one objected.

Far from objecting, the mood actually lightened, as if having an older male figure like me join them put their minds at ease.

Just like that, I smoothly inserted myself among the female students, and soon, we reached the first checkpoint.

The first checkpoint was in front of a vase at the very end of the hallway.

The symbol placed there, marked with the number “1,” was the proof that we had progressed in the courage test.

“I know where the token is. Well, of course I do— I was the one who placed it, after all. So, I’ll go ahead and retrieve it myself.”

“Huh? Professor, is it really okay for you to get involved like this?”

“Hahaha. Don’t you think it’s about time I enjoyed a little courage test myself?”

“If you insist…”

I flashed a playful smile and stepped forward.

Then, with a subtle glance from me, Elaine and Rone shifted their positions slightly, naturally blocking the two’s line of sight.

“Huh? Doesn’t something feel weird over there?”

“M-Miss Elaine, what are you suddenly talking about?”

“Where? Where is it?!”

“I saw it too! Something just passed by, I think!”

“Even Miss Rone… Stop it, you’re scaring me!”

“Eek! I don’t see anything at all!”

Almost simultaneously, as Elaine and Rone drew their attention, a poisoned needle shot out from the vase placed on the table at the end of the hallway.

In the darkness, illuminated only by moonlight, the needle flew swiftly and silently.

It was fast enough that an ordinary person wouldn’t even notice anything amiss before it pierced their throat— a stealthy, rapid attack so precise that even I, who had been warned about the ghost’s assault beforehand, might not have reacted in time.

That is, if it had succeeded.

The poisoned needle fired from the vase only managed to pierce halfway through the thick, layered cloth tightly wrapped around the vase’s opening before getting stuck, unable to go any further.

“Just as I expected.”

This was the reason I had been confident I could handle the ghost despite the unexpected circumstances.

The source of my belief that we could defeat the ghost swiftly, even before the second team made their move.

Some time ago, when we had come to conquer the haunted hotel but ended up leaving, we hadn’t failed entirely.

No— rather, it was the opposite.

We hadn’t returned empty-handed.

No, wait— was it the other way around?

We had left behind the items we’d prepared in the hotel and returned empty-handed.

In other words, the hotel was already rigged with preparations we’d set up in anticipation of the ghost revealing its true nature.

I pushed the vase that had fired the poisoned needle, letting it fall to the floor.

Crash!

The vase, which had been part of the ghost, shattered almost disappointingly easily.

“Eek! Did anyone else hear something break just now?!”

“I heard it too this time! Professor, what’s going on?!”

“Ah, my apologies. It’s so dark in here that I accidentally knocked over a vase on the table. I’ll have to warn the students entering next.”

“Oh, I thought it was something else…”

“Professor, are you hurt?”

“Thank you for your concern. Fortunately, I’m unharmed. I’ll clean up the broken vase later.”

I looked helplessly at the shattered vase, having just gently answered the questions of the female classmates who were worried about me.

Up until now, all the urban legends had simply ambushed me when I was off guard, attacking me defenselessly.

But this time was different.

Thanks to the training camp schedule, I could predict when the urban legend would strike.

Moreover, based on the location of the camp, I could even anticipate what kind of urban legend would attack.

An old hotel that was no longer in operation.

Just what kind of urban legend would haunt this decrepit hotel?

Why was this hotel abandoned?

What happened here that led to its ruin?

In my past life, there were far too many creative works set in murderous hotels like this.

Movies, games, novels, dramas— you name it.

As I had once recalled in the faculty office, the urban legends in this world bore striking similarities to those from my past life.

It wasn’t because this world had any special connection to reality, but rather because the things that scare people tend to be universally similar.

If urban legends are all more or less the same, then even if I hadn’t been particularly interested in them in this life,

I could still easily infer the nature of the legend by referencing the creative works from my past life.

A closed and confined space like the inside of a hotel.

The fear of the unknown, having to rest and sleep— activities that should take place in the safest of places— in an unfamiliar location.

The hotel staff, guests, and owner— all strangers.

The sense of alienation and discomfort felt by out-of-town guests.

There are many urban legends about old hotels, but given that a hotel is a public facility catering to an unspecified, transient population, the types of legends are limited.

The unique unease and terror that hotels evoke become the selling points of these urban legends.

So, what would be the most appealing product if a hotel were the setting?

If I were a seller marketing urban legends as products, how exactly would I package a hotel as one?

“Phew. For a second there, I thought the serial killer who used to live in this hotel had come back.”

“Ha! Miss Rosalia, are you actually believing that absurd rumor about this hotel being a place where a serial killer once murdered people?”

“The killer really did exist!”

Right.

A murder hotel.

That was the true nature of this urban legend.

[Murder Hotel]

[Category: Urban Legend]

[Gift: ???]

[Characteristics: A hotel once used by a serial killer for murder. Disguised as an ordinary hotel, it secretly slaughtered guests who came to stay. Though the killer is no longer present, the hidden rooms and traps they built remain, waiting for the next victim.]

And if I could identify the urban legend in advance and had enough time to prepare for it…

Then there was no longer any need to be afraid.

“By the way, everyone. We’ve obtained the first token. Shall we move to the next checkpoint?”

I smiled naturally and crushed the hidden automatic firing mechanism in the vase under my foot.

With this, one of the hidden traps in the Murder Hotel had been dismantled.

At this rate, I could probably clear the whole thing just by casually walking around the hotel as if I were out for a nighttime stroll.

At first, I was worried about suddenly being put into a group of four.

But now it looks like I won’t even need to regress— I might just clear it in one go.