I hate being in pain, so I think I'll make a full defense build
chapter-353-2-30041322

353 Part 2

“I wonder if they will open later? Huh?”

Kaede looked through the small glass part of one classroom door and realized that there was a girl sitting inside at her desk all alone.

“Hey, hey! Risa! There’s someone inside!”

And so Risa cautiously opened one of her eyes and peered through the small glass window.

Immediately after, the girl who had her face down suddenly raised her head to look at the two. And in the next instant, she seemed to disappear, only for a hand to bang on the glass window as a scream was unleashed.

“Wa!?”

“Eeee…”

A lifeless, pale face with dark black eyes was now staring back at them. Risa was now sitting on the floor, and Kaede had to pull her up by the hand so they could get away from this place.

“I-I think we should get out of here!”

“…”

She pulled the stunned Risa by the hand as they went back the way they had come. And though she looked over her shoulder as they ran, she didn’t see any ghosts following them.

“Phew…we’re safe. What a shock that was.”

While she had been surprised, they had been able to run away from it. And so Kaede sighed with relief.

“I’m at least fast on my feet here, so I think I’ll be able to run away just fine!”

Kaede was optimistic about any future encounters they might have. On the other hand, Risa looked weak and ready to burst into tears.

“Uh, what do you want to do?”

“I…I’ll keep going!”

Her voice sounded very forced as she said it. Then she stretched her legs, which looked like they were about to collapse underneath her, and took in a deep breath to calm herself.

“I-I decided that I’m going to overcome this!”

She was likely able to recover like this because Kaede was with her. In the first place, she wouldn’t have even been able to function, let alone recover if she was alone.

“Okay! Then let’s go left!”

“Y-yes…phew…okay.”

Kaede pulled her and they went to the left. And like before, they checked every classroom. They discovered several other tutorial-like memos as well, which told them that they had to escape and how to use items. It was then that they found something very useful.

“Ah! Risa! Look! Look! Flashlights!”

Kaede showed her by turning it on, and then Risa tested to see if hers worked as well.

“Now it will be easier to explore.”

“Yes. It’s better if there’s light…”

It was just as they were pointing their flashlights around the room, that the two sensed something coming towards them from the hallway, and they quickly turned the flashlights off. There was a cardiogram like mark on the top right of their vision, and it swung wider like a sensor when the thing got closer to them.

“…”

“…”

As the two hid quietly behind the shadows of the teacher’s desk, the cardiogram began to settle again, and then it disappeared entirely.

“Phew! It looks like we got away! But I guess this means we have to be careful about using the flashlights.”

According to the memos they had found, the ghost they had seen earlier was patrolling the school. And they had to avoid it as they explored and searched for a way to escape. Even though it was very realistic, it was still a game, and so there was a system in place that allowed you to get away.

While it was easier to get caught if you turned the light on, there were some items you couldn’t find without it.

“Let’s search this floor first!”

“Yeah…”

“Ahaha. It’s usually the other way around with us.”

Risa was the gaming veteran who always decided what they would do. However, things could not be the same within a horror game. Still, Kaede had watched Risa all of this time, and had absorbed some of her abilities in that regard as well.

“That’s true…to be honest, I just don’t have it in me right now…”

“Hehe. You should rely on me more often!”

“Yes. Thanks.”

They checked the cardiogram to make sure that there were no ghosts nearby, and then they quietly left the classroom. After that, they went around and checked the other rooms for an escape route. However, this was a large school with three floors. The only saving grace was that there was an inventory just like in ‘New World Online,’ so they didn’t have to carry anything as they moved.

“Risa, over here!”

After exploring for quite some time, Kaede realized that her sensor was detecting something, and she frantically turned off her flashlight as the two ducked into the shadows.

“Did it see us…?”

“Please don’t find us…please don’t find us…!”

Risa was closing her eyes tightly as if accepting her fate. And Kaede watched to see what would happen. After some time, the ghost moved passed them and kept moving on. Kaede sighed with relief.

“Phew. This really makes me nervous! So this is what a horror game is like!”

“…Uuu…”

Risa was already exhausted from the repetition of nervousness and relief.

“Why don’t we finish once we reach the next classroom? We already played quite a bit, and this school is so big…”

They had only explored the second floor, which meant the first and third were completely untouched. And while their goal had been to clear the first stage, Risa looked like her soul was ready to leave her body, and Kaede could not push her much further.

“Yes, can we do that? Can we do that?”

“Alright, it’s decided then! The only room left is the art room!”

They waited for the right time to move so that they wouldn’t encounter the ghost, and managed to make their way to the art room safely. Once they were inside, they turned their flashlights on to see if there was anything inside.

“Wow. There are so many canvases.”

“Did you find anything…?”

“Statues and canvases and paint… Hmm. Ah!”

“Wh-what!?”

As Risa closed her eyes every time that something happened, Kaede had to lead her by the hand towards the item. It was a key with a tag.

“Ah, this is an easy clue! Uh…the science room?”

The key automatically went into Kaede’s inventory when she picked it up, so it was stored as an item. As this was the only thing they found here, that meant their next destination was the science room.