Chapter 35: Ghost Story Hotel Escape (7)

Before my eyes, the world turned blood-red, and wicked thoughts began surging endlessly through my mind.

Dozens of ways to kill a person.

The ecstasy of murder.

And the irresistible urge to mercilessly torment and slaughter the fragile, helpless prey before me.

Ahh. Look at that delicate, snow-white skin.

How euphoric would it be to twist their necks, tear open their arteries, and shower in the cascading fountain of blood?

“Kuhh…!!”

No.

The madness was overwhelming me in an instant.

I had expected it to some extent, but the speed at which the insanity took hold was far beyond what I’d anticipated.

Clutching desperately at the last shreds of my rationality, I forced out my final words to Rosalia—

As if inputting a prompt into an AI,

I conveyed my intended course of action to her.

“The desire… to kill you all… burns like a furnace… Kehehe… But I didn’t come here… just to slaughter some worthless girls who could die anywhere. Kihihi… So after you deal with that other murderer… I’ll take care of you… myself.”

Fortunately, it seemed my directive was properly registered— the violent impulses that had been screaming for me to tear the students apart began to gradually subside.

And with that, my consciousness was completely swallowed by darkness.

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What happened afterward, I only heard from Elaine and Rone.

It couldn’t be helped.

I had lost all reason by then.

Apparently, after fully succumbing to the urban legend’s curse, I immediately engaged the hotel’s serial killer in battle.

The fight was said to be on a level where no ordinary human could even think of intervening.

Even Rone herself couldn’t bring herself to step in.

Who would dare interfere when two murderers— one capable of scaling walls in a single leap and hurling a full-grown man weighing at least 100 kg with one hand— were locked in combat?

Luckily, both I, consumed by the curse, and the hotel’s killer were too fixated on each other to remember the students’ existence.

While we fought, the students escaped through the secret passage the killer had emerged from.

Naturally, the passage had no murder traps or iron bars to block their way.

By the time the fleeing students turned back to look, the hotel was already engulfed in flames, slowly collapsing.

Along with the unforgettable murderer from their haunted courage test.

Both the murder hotel and its killer were swallowed by the inferno.

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[Urban Legend: The Murder Hotel has been resolved.]

[The urban legend has been resolved, purifying the grotesque and absorbing its lingering resentment.]

“Oww… Tomorrow morning, getting out of bed is going to be torture.”

When I came to my senses, the first things that registered were the mission completion message floating before my eyes and a body-wrenching muscle pain.

It felt like someone had ripped out all my muscles, tossed them into a washing machine, spun them around, and then stuffed them back in.

Just how recklessly had I pushed my body?

But the fact that I was alive and well enough to see the resolution message meant my gamble had paid off.

My plan was to get infected by the urban legend myself and engage in a mutual kill with the hotel’s murderer.

Even if I died at the hands of the killer, as long as my companions escaped and secured a chance to return, that alone would count as a success.

And if I, infected by the urban legend, managed to kill the murderer of the Murder Hotel in return? That would be a total victory.

And the result was exactly that— a total victory.

“Hah. Is this the first time? Clearing an urban legend without regression.”

A one-coin clear, huh?

If that’s the case, maybe I can forgive this muscle pain.

Was this the euphoria of resolving an urban legend?

My whole body was burning up.

Screeeech

“…Screech?”

The ominous sound scratching at my ears finally snapped me back to full awareness, and I looked around.

Crackle crackle

The surroundings were completely engulfed in flames.

No wonder my whole body felt like it was on fire.

So it wasn’t the thrill of victory—it was literally scorching heat?!

Just what the hell happened while I was unconscious?

…Wait, then that terrifying screech just now was—?

I really didn’t want to, but—

Reluctantly, I lifted my head and looked up, only to see one of the hotel’s pillars collapsing straight toward me.

No wonder it felt weird that the urban legend was marked as resolved while I was still alive.

The stage of murder, crumbling and burning away along with the killer.

Nothing beats this for a horror movie finale.

The moment the mansion collapses in flames, there’s no way for me to survive— so that’s why it counted as a resolution!!

“Gaaahhh!! So I’m dying after all?!”

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Fortunately, I didn’t die and was safely rescued.

It was because Teacher Lydia, suspicious that neither I nor the students had returned even long after the courage test had begun, soon realized the strange phenomena occurring in the hotel and immediately called for help.

Of course, it would have been better if they had rescued us before we were chased by a murderer, but then again, isn’t it a cliché for rescue teams to only show up after everything is already over?

The incidents that took place in the murder hotel were officially dismissed as a gas explosion caused by the building’s deterioration.

Ah, how convenient— the excuse of a gas explosion.

Let’s take a moment to silently thank all the gas management workers across the country.

Aurora and Rosalia, upon seeing me carried out unconscious, insisted that I was a serial killer who needed to be locked up immediately.

But their claims were dismissed as hallucinations caused by gas poisoning.

The two desperately tried to explain to Teacher Lydia what had happened during the courage test, but by the time the ghost story had been resolved, any evidence of a murder hotel or a serial killer had long since vanished.

To make matters worse, Elaine and Rone, who had escaped with us, immediately flipped their stories, testifying that nothing unusual had happened inside— they just smelled gas during the courage test, started feeling dizzy, and then suddenly a fire broke out.

This further undermined the credibility of Aurora and Rosalia’s claims.

In the end, their insistence only resulted in them being sent to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

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And so, three days passed since the gas explosion incident that had thrown the academy into chaos.

By then, I had regained consciousness and, against the doctor’s advice to stay hospitalized, immediately returned to the academy.

Honestly, staying in the hospital wouldn’t have felt like resting anyway.

I was too afraid of some hospital related ghost story popping up at any moment.

Upon returning to the academy, I instantly became a celebrity.

“Hehehe. I heard the story. Truly remarkable, Allen. Staying behind in the hotel to ensure the safety of students disoriented by gas poisoning, sacrificing yourself until the very end… You’re nothing short of a hero, aren’t you?”

“Ah, well… It’s just what any teacher would do, Professor Fresian.”

“Gah! And so humble! I’ve served in education for years and thought I’d lived a life I could be proud of, but standing before you, Allen, I can’t help but feel ashamed! But remember this— while it’s important to cherish your students, you must also cherish yourself. This time, you were lucky to be rescued in time, but it could have ended in disaster!”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Before I knew it, I had become known throughout the academy as a passionate teacher who had risked his life to save his students.

All I did was fight a murderer to get the students out of the mansion…

Huh? Now that I think about it, is that really so different?

As I was lost in thought, Teacher Lydia approached me with a face full of guilt, bowing repeatedly.

“I’m so sorry! It’s all because I suggested the courage test!! No, if only I hadn’t proposed the training camp in the first place…! How can I ever make up for this sin…?!”

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s not like you knew what kind of place it was when you suggested it, Teacher Lydia.”

“But still, how could I…? I must atone for this mistake with my whole being…!”

“Really, I’m telling you, I’m fine!”

And so, my return to the academy began with being treated like a hero and ended with being endlessly apologized to by Lydia every time she saw me.

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However, not everyone regarded me as a hero.

“Mr. Allen. Can we talk for a moment?”

“Just a brief moment is fine.”

Aurora and Rosalia stood before me, blocking my way in unison.

“You two seem to have gotten quite close since I last saw you.”

“Please don’t change the subject.”

“That’s right!”

While I had successfully deceived everyone else, it seemed impossible to fool these two— the very people involved in the courage test.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“We remember everything that happened during the courage test clearly. The murder hotel we navigated, the fight with the serial killer— all of it! You’re not going to pretend you don’t know, are you?”

“That’s right!”

“Ah, are you talking about the hallucinations you saw? Wasn’t it already concluded at the hospital that those were hallucinations caused by gas poisoning?”

“No. At first, I thought that might be the case, but what Rosalia and I saw that night definitely wasn’t a hallucination! And we’ve already cross-checked our memories about it. If it were really a hallucination, there would have been inconsistencies in our accounts, wouldn’t there?”

“That’s right!”

“Mass hallucinations, where different people experience similar visions and sounds, are rare but not impossible.”

“Huh? Is that so…?”

“Ah! Come on!! Don’t fall for it, Rosalia! That’s obviously just a lie to cover things up! I checked the clothes you were wearing when you were brought to the hospital, Mr. Allen. The tears weren’t from being crushed under the debris of the mansion— they were clearly from being slashed by a sharp blade.”

Oh? So they investigated that far.

I looked at Aurora with amusement.

Still, there was no decisive evidence.

The way the clothes were torn couldn’t serve as proof.

The traps in the murder hotel had already vanished along with the resolution of the urban legend, and I had Elaine and Rone— witnesses who would vouch for me.

“And during the courage test, I didn’t realize it at the time, but after it was over, I slowly pieced things together and realized something. You and the other two students definitely knew the truth about the hotel before the test even started, didn’t you? And what you said about the serial killer before we escaped the hotel— that was a lie too, wasn’t it? You weren’t a serial killer. You had a different reason for visiting the hotel.”

“W-wait, really!? I had no idea!”

“Hmm~.”

But I didn’t feel particularly inclined to keep the truth hidden from them.

“Very well. I’ll tell you the truth about what happened during the courage test that day.”

“Really!?”

“…”

Rosalia reacted with unguarded excitement, while Aurora remained wary, even though I’d agreed to explain.

They truly were polar opposites in temperament.

“However, once you hear the truth, you’ll bear the responsibility that comes with it. You won’t be able to take it back or pretend it never happened. Even so, do you still want to hear it?”

“Yes! I’m prepared for that!”

“…I’ll hear it too.”

The two steeled themselves and demanded the truth from me.

In that case, I had no reason to hesitate.

“…You two. By any chance, would you be interested in joining a club?”

That day, the final members needed to establish the club were gathered.