Chapter 9. The Awakening (2) (1/2)
[Sender: The Guide][1. Escape from the assembly hall and arrive at the second floor waiting area of the main school building before the time runs out.][2. Remaining time: 03:59:38]
KWANG!!
The door seemed to almost break as the fierce pounding continued, and it issued a harsh metallic protest. No, it was better to describe that the door would break, very soon.
KWANG, KWANG!!
Even seeing with naked eyes, it was difficult to believe that this was really happening; the thick metal door was struck only twice, yet it caved in as if it was made up of paper. Several thick metal hinges were hanging dangerously loose, ready to fall at the slightest impact.
“W– we need to block that!!”
Rather than shouting, it was more like everyone fell into a frenzy.
The movements of humans when their lives were under threat were remarkably swift. Yi Seol-Ah picking up her chair and running towards the door signaled the beginning; dozens of bodies all rushed to the door.
Someone brought along unoccupied chairs, someone climbed up the stage to see if there was anything useful up there, while the rest simply used their bodies to push against the door.
“Kkheuk!”
The noisy, consecutive pounding on the door seemed to contain a certain amount of anger, and the force from the resulting impact managed to knock four, five guys away as if they weighed nothing.
“Move out of the way!”
Just in time, a group had brought down the pulpit from the stage and jammed it against the door. Although that alone wouldn't be enough to completely block the door, it was still better than nothing.
Chairs got piled up alongside the pulpit in the blink of an eye. On top of that, twenty-odd men propped the door up with everything they had. Soon, the door no longer looked like it'd break down. And, after a man placed a chair below the door handle like an improvised doorstop, the crowd began sighing out in genuine relief.
“Haa…”
Yi Seol-Ah stopped propping the door with her back and squatted down on the floor as if she was feeling dizzy.
Perhaps the sight of a young frail girl fighting desperately looked pitiful to him, as a middle-aged man spoke to her while wiping the sweat off his brows.
“You’re very quick-witted for someone who is so young.”
He was speaking about her making the move first. People who acted after she had made hers nodded their heads in agreement. If it weren't for Yi Seol-Ah's quick actions, the door might have broken down by now.
Yi Seol-Ah didn't know how to respond and shyly lowered her gaze.
“No, it wasn't like that….”
“I froze up from the fear myself. But boy, was I shocked or what watching you react like that. When I realized, heh, I was also moving, you see.”
“Everyone did their best to help. I wouldn't have been able to block the doorway by myself.”
Yi Seol-Ah's embarrassed appearance helped to alleviate some of the tense atmosphere permeating within the assembly hall. Her gentle personality really did suit that bright and pretty appearance perfectly. Also, the fact that she was an Invited, as well as the first person to respond, were enough for the group to develop a favorable impression towards her.
Unfortunately, the event that happened just now was far too shocking to instill a warm and cordial atmosphere.
“So, what should we do next, then?”
Someone's resigned sigh-like muttering brought everyone back to reality. Some turned their expectant eyes towards Yi Seol-Ah's direction, but even she was at a loss.
Soon, the collective gazes of the Contracted were focusing on the Invited.
Once the chaos had died down, Seol turned his attention back to his phone. Besides the message from the Guide, he had received two more. One of them happened to be the 'diary of an unknown student', his so-called bonus item.
[Sender: Unknown]
[#Assembly Hall (an excerpt from the Diary of an Unknown Student, page 2.)]
….There was only one door in and out of the assembly hall. We did somehow block it up, but at the same time, we also ended up blocking our only way out.
Before long, the outside became quiet.
Sadly, my classmates were divided into two groups.
One group wanted to wait and see for a while longer, while the other group wanted to go outside to take a look…
By the time the infighting became heated, we forgot about the existence outside the walls.
….Soon, we all got to learn that ‘that thing' was not a simple monster or a zombie.
[#Assembly Hall (an excerpt from the Diary of an Unknown Student, page 3)]
It was a total pandemonium. No other words could describe it.
The door we had desperately blocked became useless.
….During the chaos, I was able to somehow discover the 'hole'.
'Hole?'
Seol was paying attention to the last line. But by the time he raised his head, the group of Contracted had somehow inched closer to his general location, almost managing to surround him.
“Wowsers. It's just the beginning, yet they aren't messing around. Look at the goosebumps on my arms!”
Kang Seok was busy rubbing his arm, but he seemed to have more than enough leeway as he spoke those words.
“Now that the door is all blocked up, I wonder what we should do next….”
His words and attitude raised hopes in the hearts of the Contracted that a quick solution to their problems would be found soon. However….
“Let's go. Let's just poke around here and there, see what's what.”
Kang Seok only took his lackeys, Yi Hyungsik and Jeong Minwoo, along with him, prompting those waiting for an answer to their prayers to be dumbstruck instead.
The bespectacled middle-aged man wearing a worn-out business suit — the man who praised Yi Seol-Ah earlier — hurriedly stepped in front of them.
“E– excuse me.”
“Hey, Hyungsik, check out the back of the stage. And Minwoo, you should….”
“Excuse me, young man!”
“….What, me?”
Kang Seok's reply arrived some breaths later.
The middle-aged man couldn't be sure if he made a mistake or not, but he felt that Kang Seok did that deliberately.
“What are you all trying to do?”
“Uh…. Searching around the assembly hall?”
“Around the assembly hall?”
“Yeah. Like those guys.”
Kang Seok pointed towards the stage, where Yun Seora and the man named Hyun Sangmin — the man with the green baseball cap — were busy searching around, their heads turning this way and that while doing so.
“To find what, exactly?”
“Not really sure. Now that the exit is all blocked up, I guess we gotta find something, right? We don't know what might happen next, anyways.”
“Right, right. That's right. Of course.”
The middle-aged man nodded his head quite enthusiastically, necessitating him to catch the falling glasses and put it back on his nose.
“So, you want us to help as well?”
“Eh?”
Kang Seok frowned slightly.
“Why are you…. Do what you want, mister. It's not like I'm the boss here or anything.”
“That's true. But, you guys, well, how should I say this… Hmm. You guys are different from us, isn't that right?”
“Sure, we're different. So, what is it that you want to say?”
The tone of Kang Seok's voice remained curt. He even sounded quite similar to how the Guide sounded when talking to the Contracted.
“What I'm trying to say here is, we should help each other out. That’s all.”
The middle-aged man ignored the hostile tone and pleaded his case, but all he got back instead, was a dismissive chuckle.
“I'll have to ;politely ;decline. It'll get very annoying with more people clinging on us, so I don't want to.”
“What do you mean, annoying?”
“Whatever. You take care of your own business, okay? The three of us, we will go our own way.”
Kang Seok refused the middle-aged man's offer without hesitation and turned around to leave. The middle-aged man shouted out, “Hey, wait a minute, young man!”, but Kang Seok didn't bother and kept on walking away.
“What a petty bastard.”
Kang Seok's steps came to an abrupt halt. He stared at the ceiling for a moment or two, spat out a long sigh, and turned his head to look at the source of that name-calling.
He found a woman sitting with her knees tucked under her staring at him with venomous eyes. It was Shin Sang-Ah.
“What did you call me?”
“You're a selfish bastard. You only care about your own neck.”
“What the hell…. Hey, you're wrong about that, though? I care about these two fellas too, you know?”
Kang Seok wrapped his arms around the shoulders of his lackeys as an oily smile formed on his lips. Shin Sang-Ah's eyes became even more hostile.
“Oww, man. Look at how she glares! You might kill someone with such eyes, lady.”
“Hey, isn't she that dumb woman who threw a tantrum just now? You know, asking for a bag of her own and shit.”
Yi Hyungsik and Jeong Minwoo giggled hoarsely at her expense. Didn't the old saying go along the line of 'the sister-in-law trying to stop the mother-in-law is more hateful than the mother-in-law beating you up'?
“Can't you see these people over here? There are women and children here!”
“I can see just fine. I've got good eyes, you know.”
Shin Sang-Ah shouted at him in anger, but Kang Seok didn't even bat an eye.
“And, and you three…. just want to survive all by yourselves?”
“What do you expect us to do when we're also in a hurry?”
“That's why we said we'd help, didn't we!?”
“God, how can you be this dense? Hey, listen up. We don't need your measly help nor do we want it in the first place. Stop trying to lump us with useless baggage like you.”
“Useless baggage!?”
“Yep. You are nothing more than baggage. Even a blind fool can see that you're trying to leech off of us. So, shoo, shoo. Go away.”
Shin Sang-Ah became flabbergasted and her mouth gradually opened up in disbelief.
“You three…. are you even human beings?”
“Oh? Maybe you're all parasites, then?”
Kang Seok sarcastically retorted right until the end. Shin Sang-Ah couldn't hold her anger anymore and stood right up, getting ready to slap him. Kang Seok snorted derisively and retracted his arms from the shoulders of his lackeys.
And just as the volatile situation was about to blow up, a young girl hurriedly jumped in between the two parties and intervened. It was none other than Yi Seol-Ah.
“Please, both of you, stop!”
Shin Sang-Ah opened her mouth to say something, but must have thought that it was unwise because she simply turned her head away instead, and said nothing. But her clenched fists were trembling in rage. Meanwhile, Kang Seok simply shook his head in derision.
“It's barely enough to get through this even when we're working together, yet why are you two fighting like this?”
“Working together, my ass.”
Kang Seok shot back with a shout.
“We three, we go way back. Even before we got here, you know? That's why we came here with a plan of our own.”