DNLYHS Chapter 4 (Part 1)

4. Fourth Day

[Hello. We will begin the morning broadcast. Day 4 has begun. I hope everyone stays safe without major trouble….]

Perhaps because hunger and thirst had been resolved, the broadcasting club adviser’s voice sounded brighter than yesterday. Since it was at least certain they hadn’t gone mad, Yeonseo let out a sigh of relief.

The moment they woke up, the two dragged their stiff bodies down to the first floor, ate breakfast, and received a lunchbox from the cook. By now, eating the moment they woke felt like part of a daily routine.

While Yeonseo quietly moved his spoon with a disheveled look, Yeongwon chatted with the cook about this and that.

“So… you’re saying you saw the janitor walking around the hallway again yesterday?”

“Yeah. He was wandering around after the end-of-day broadcast, same as before. But, you know.”

“Yes?”

“Wasn’t yesterday’s end-of-day broadcast a little… how should I put it? Strange? It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what was odd, but still.”

“I’m not sure. Was there something unusual in it? Should we ask the broadcasting adviser?”

“No, it’s fine. Maybe I misheard it half-asleep….”

Had the cook really slept the entire time from the moment they left until the end-of-day broadcast? While Yeonseo stared at the mattress in the corner of the cafeteria, wondering what misunderstanding had occurred, Yeongwon brushed Yeonseo’s hair aside with his fingers and quietly checked his eyes.

“You look drowsy. Must be because you didn’t sleep well yesterday. Let’s go to the first-floor equipment storage today.”

“No, I wasn’t looking at the mattress because I wanted to sleep. I’m not sleepy at all.”

Even his earnest objections didn’t work. When even the cook started chuckling, Yeonseo felt needlessly embarrassed.

Still… since when had Yeongwon started touching people’s hair so casually? Over the past few days, he had always seemed sensitive, a person who drew clear boundaries, but now he was acting a lot more freely.

‘It doesn’t feel bad or anything… wait, no, let’s not say that.’

Maybe brushing his messy, bird-nest hair was just his way of being kind. It didn’t feel reckless so much as careful, as if he was tending to him with effort, and more than that, his hands were strangely warm….

“You two seem to have gotten close.”

As the cook stared at them curiously, Yeongwon flinched and pulled his hand away. Instead of making excuses, Yeonseo just shrugged and stood up, and the two headed straight to the broadcasting room on the third floor.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong today when they delivered the lunchbox to the broadcasting room. Maybe it was because they opened the lock, pushed the lunchbox inside, and shut the door again without even a moment of hesitation.

Beyond the door, the broadcasting club adviser let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly picked up the plastic bag. After locking all five padlocks, Yeongwon spoke up.

“By the way, I have a request. Could you make an announcement to look for missing people?”

[An announcement to look for people?]

“We need to find the remaining people trapped in this school. The janitor is the priority, but the others must be found quickly as well. They’re likely starving right now, so leaving them too long could put their lives in danger.”

[Hearing it that way… it does sound important. But how are you planning to do it?]

“We’ll ask them to leave a mark somewhere they can reach. I know it’ll be difficult for those who can’t come out, but right now that’s the best option we have.”

[Uh… can we even do that? Hang on a moment.]

A loud rustling of paper echoed from behind the door. It was obvious the adviser was struggling to decide whether it violated the Code of Conduct. Since they often slipped their own comments or requests into the morning and evening broadcasts, Yeonseo had assumed it wouldn’t be a problem, but perhaps not….

If it wasn’t allowed, they would have no choice but to wander the school without any real plan. Yeonseo worried, but unexpectedly, a good answer came.

[Oh, it looks possible! I can’t do it right this moment, but sometime today should be fine!]

“Can you tell us when exactly? Do you mean during the end-of-day broadcast?”

[It’ll be earlier than that…. I already have to make a broadcast at midnight, so I can slip your request in then.]

“Midnight, huh.”

It sounded late, but it was actually the midpoint of their daily schedule. Considering how day and night were reversed in this school, it was practically lunchtime. Even after that broadcast, they’d still have about six hours to explore, so with luck, they might find at least one person’s mark today.

“What time is it now, by the way?”

[According to the digital clock in here, it’s ten. Two hours left.]

“We’ve barely done anything, and an hour and a half of work time has already passed…. Anyway, can you tell us why there’s a broadcast at midnight?”

[Ah… sorry, but that’s restricted by the Code of Conduct. It’s nothing dangerous, though, so don’t worry.]

Yeongwon looked uneasy but nodded. Maybe he decided that if it were dangerous, it would have been written in his own Code of Conduct. For now, there was nothing to do but wait for midnight’s broadcast.

“Then we’ll explore the school a bit more until then. Thank you.”

[Ah, yes! I need to eat now too…. I’ll try my best with the broadcast. And if you hear anything about the others, please tell me as well!]

For the next two hours, they would have no choice but to wander aimlessly as usual.

The two walked along the third-floor hallway with the intention of going downstairs. They planned to carefully recheck the second and first floors and figured they might as well examine the nearby map before taking the stairs.

As they walked down the corridor, Yeonseo’s mind grew busier and busier.

‘What could that midnight broadcast be about? It’s rare to hear a broadcast outside of morning or end-of-day announcements.’

Of course, it wasn’t the first time. They had heard a broadcast inside the cafeteria, after all. But that had been an emergency announcement meant to resolve the strange phenomenon happening there. Today’s midnight broadcast, however….

“It might not be dangerous, but it might be important.”

Yeonseo muttered without thinking. When Yeongwon gave him a worried look, he regretted it for a moment, but since he had already said it, he continued.

“Why do you think that?”

“…If you look at the schedule, that’s roughly the halfway point of the week. And one quarter of the entire cycle.”

Of course, depending on how you counted the end-of-day broadcast or other factors, it wasn’t a perfect calculation, but it was hard to ignore the symbolic meaning of ‘midday of Day 4.’ There must be a reason the adviser chose that moment for a broadcast.

After thinking for a moment, Yeongwon nodded. He didn’t deny the possibility.

“Maybe they want to give us a new mission. The Code of Conduct is flimsy, so maybe they want to keep us alert with something else.”

“If that’s the intention, they could’ve just written it in the Code…. What could it be?”

“Well, thinking about it now won’t give us answers. It might be more efficient to forget about the broadcast until the time comes.”

The way he cut the topic short was just like him. Not wrong, either.

While Yeonseo nodded and looked around, he suddenly noticed a strange-looking flower pot placed in an unnatural spot. There were no pots like that on any other floor, only on the third-floor hallway, so it naturally drew attention.

‘Come to think of it, I wrote something behind that flower pot yesterday.’

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember what he wrote, but he remembered vowing to check it tomorrow. But he couldn’t check now. The rule about not showing his writing to anyone meant he couldn’t ignore Yeongwon’s presence beside him.

If he tried to look behind the pot now, he would definitely get caught. He needed something, anything, that could distract Yeongwon’s attention…. While he was thinking that, Yeongwon suddenly frowned and strode toward the map.

Was it now?

Yeonseo subtly slowed his steps to try approaching the flower pot, but at that moment, Yeongwon’s hand closed around his, almost as if covering it.

“Uh, uh?”

“What’s wrong? You suddenly slowed down. Are you really tired?”

“No, I’m not tired.”

He had slowed down because he saw Yeongwon walking ahead, but how did he notice the change so quickly…. Things weren’t going according to plan, and Yeonseo felt a bit anxious, but he couldn’t show it. The man in front of him was showing obvious worry.

“I understand you might be tired. But let’s look at the map first and then rest.”

“No, we don’t need to rest. I mean….”

“Don’t bluff. Even if your injuries have healed, this is about the time mental fatigue starts building up. But right now we need to check the map. Something looks different.”

Wait, the map changed?

The moment he heard that, Yeonseo snapped fully awake. If that were true, there was no time to waste. Just like on the second day, when the cafeteria passage suddenly appeared, it meant a new area had opened.

There was still plenty of time. His record wouldn’t run away. Checking behind the flower pot could wait…. Thinking that, Yeonseo walked straight toward the map.

At first glance, he couldn’t tell what had changed. It didn’t look much different from yesterday. But Yeongwon, who was still holding his hand while staring at the map, pointed toward the bottom section with his free hand.

“…Here. This definitely wasn’t here yesterday.”

The spot he indicated had the word “Infirmary” written on it. Even at a glance, it looked important.

* * *

The infirmary was located in the west hallway on the first floor, right next to the library where Yeonseo had first woken up.

“Seriously, this is like not seeing what’s right under your nose…? I don’t remember it at all.”

“It probably didn’t exist on the first day. The janitor must have unlocked it, which is why we’re able to see it now…. Anyway, shall we go check it out right away?”

Without hesitation, they ran down the stairs. Would they meet someone new in the infirmary? If so, would it be the school nurse, or maybe a student who just happened to be there by chance…?

‘Come to think of it, we’ve barely met any students so far. Other than Mr. Yeongwon.’

But they had no time to ponder that strange sense of discrepancy. As they rushed down the hallway, they reached the infirmary entrance almost instantly. Was the first-floor hallway always this short? Or had they just gotten used to running so much that it no longer felt far? Either way, it wasn’t an important issue.

“Here we are.”

Below the sign marked [Infirmary] was a wooden sliding door, no different from the other classrooms.

Being similar to the other classrooms meant it slid open and wasn’t locked. The door was even ajar, slightly open as if someone hadn’t closed it properly. Just like when they first discovered the cafeteria passage.

‘…Should we go in?’

The two exchanged bewildered looks. Even though it was the new area they had been hoping to find, the hardships of the past few days made anxiety and suspicion rise before excitement. What if some monster or danger was lurking inside?

But both knew hesitation wouldn’t change anything.

Yeongwon spoke first.

“The inside is quiet. It doesn’t seem dangerous.”

Yeonseo nodded. Peeking through the small opening, the infirmary didn’t give off a threatening aura. The dark room smelled faintly of disinfectant, and a lamp on the table provided enough light to make out the interior.

It wasn’t a very large space. On the left were two or three beds hidden behind bluish curtains. On the right were cabinets filled with medicine and various medical instruments. In the corner was a small water dispenser that used old bottled jugs. Though it was dim, the jug seemed to contain some water.

“If there’s water, someone could survive even after missing meals for a long time. That’s fortunate.”

“…Should we go in?”

“This time, we go in together. From what we’ve experienced, leaving you behind doesn’t make much difference anyway.”

Yeongwon suggested it with a quiet sigh. His tone sounded resigned, but the meaning felt more like he trusted him, relied on him, so Yeonseo gathered his courage and nodded. It was better together than alone, no matter what awaited inside.

After knocking lightly and hearing no response, they stepped in.

Maybe a monster would appear in the cafeteria. Or maybe something strange would happen, like in the broadcasting room. They braced themselves for anything and pushed forward into the room, but….

“Huh?”

What awaited them was something entirely unexpected.

There were no monsters in the infirmary, no strange phenomena. Just….

“Mr. Yeongwon, look at this!”

The moment Yeonseo carelessly pulled aside the curtain around the bed, he doubted his own eyes.

There lay someone who was practically a corpse. A human who lay on a blood-soaked bed, barely breathing, completely unconscious.

“…Are they alive?”

“They’re breathing, at least! If we shake them, maybe they’ll wake….”

“No, don’t touch them! Even if it isn’t dangerous for us, it’ll be bad for them!”

Only after hearing that did Yeonseo snap back to himself. He definitely shouldn’t touch someone this severely injured. But he couldn’t just leave them like this, either. Pacing anxiously, he first checked the patient’s condition.

The man looked older than Yeongwon, but younger than the cook. Maybe in his mid-thirties to early forties. Since he was lying down, it was hard to guess his height, but he looked frail and skinny, so skinny that the wounds all over his body stood out even more.

The injuries were so horrific, it was confusing how he was still alive. His limbs were ripped open as if someone had sliced into them with a blade, chunks of flesh exposed. His body was covered in bruises, as if he had been beaten mercilessly.

But the most striking part was the handprint around his neck. It looked as though someone had violently choked him. The malice and rage required to leave such a vivid mark were terrifying to imagine.

Had someone assaulted this man? But why? When…? As Yeonseo froze in confusion, Yeongwon’s expression suddenly changed drastically.

“This is impossible.”

“What? Why all of a sudden?”

“These aren’t his own wounds. They must be someone else’s injuries transferred onto him.”

“What? What are you talking about…?”

“Look at this handprint. Doesn’t it match the size of my hand? This is the mark I left when I strangled you yesterday!”

Only after hearing that near-scream did Yeonseo finally understand. Come to think of it, the wounds on this man’s body looked very similar to the marks left when the cook was devoured by the students. Because the cook had been massive, and this man was painfully thin, he simply hadn’t noticed the resemblance at first glance.

In that moment, Yeonseo turned his head. Not because he couldn’t bear to look at the injuries, but because he instinctively realized what “role” this person held.

He rushed toward the lamp, the only light source in the room, and examined the table. The table surface was clean, but when he opened a drawer, he found a notebook in a familiar format.

[Your occupation is School Nurse.]

[Time remaining until escape: 14 days (2 weeks).]

[Trust the Code of Conduct. It is something you must follow absolutely. However, considering the nature of your occupation, nothing will change even if you distrust it. Do not complain.]

[Your current probability of escape is 86%. Take on the injuries of others. Regularly receive a “payment” from them to create medicine. Do not die. As long as you remain alive, your chance of escape stays fixed.]

As expected. Yeonseo swallowed a sigh that was basically a groan. Ever since he heard that wounds didn’t disappear but transferred, he had suspected this. If someone was passing wounds away, someone else had to be receiving them.

Even though he felt guilty for reading it without permission, he flipped the page. He needed more information from the Code of Conduct if they were to save this man.

According to the first page, they had to make a medicine to heal him, either apply it or feed it to him, to save his life. It couldn’t be helped. This was the only way to create treatment. Reasoning that to himself, Yeonseo carefully read through the Code of Conduct, but…

“This person’s Code of Conduct… wait. It’s even more lacking than mine?”

When Yeonseo muttered that, Yeongwon hurried over in shock.

The contents of the Code of Conduct were absurdly simple.

[Day 1 Code of Conduct]

[1. You will take on injuries regardless of your will. Endure it. You cannot create medicine yet.]

[2. The infirmary door will not open today. Wait.]