DNLYHS Chapter 1 (Part 3)
by BrieThankfully, this time the man acted first. He grabbed the young man’s arm with one hand and aimed the mirror toward the masses of flesh with the other.
Maybe they were the same as the shadows, only their forms had changed. Because the moment they saw the mirror, they collapsed instantly.
Thud, shhk. Despite the hollow sounds, the process of the flesh collapsing was horrifying. The countless red-tinted eyes trembled violently, and then split down the middle, vomiting out pale, wriggling things in torrents.
Maggots. No, these weren’t insects. They were eyeballs twitching spasmodically like living creatures, their origins impossible to guess.
“This way! Run!”
The man held the mirror and sprinted down the hallway, away from the direction they had come from. His grip on the young man’s arm was strong and warm, almost comforting enough to lean into. That sensation helped the young man regain clarity.
“D-do you know where we’re going?”
“The third floor! There’s an art prep room right at the top of the stairs!”
“The art prep room…?”
“It’s one of the hiding place candidates listed in the Code. We have to stay there today!”
His Code had listed safe rooms? His didn’t mention anything like that… But he had no time to complain. The two immediately dashed up the stairs to the third floor.
The stairs and hallway on the third floor were just as shattered as the others. They ran over broken glass and writhing eyeballs without hesitation.
Just as the man said, as soon as they reached the third floor, the sign [Art Preparation Room] came into view. Unlike other rooms with wooden sliding doors, this one had a metal door, and it even had a door lock. When the man turned the handle, the lock slipped open without any resistance, almost as if welcoming them.
“Go in, quickly!”
He pushed the young man inside, stepped in after him, and shut the door immediately. Right as they entered, the door lock beeped sharply and engaged.
Before they had time to breathe, something heavy pounded against the floor outside and slammed into the door with a violent thud. The metal door rattled from the force.
The young man knew instantly that it wasn’t the eyeball creatures. It felt more like some new, unseen monster they hadn’t encountered yet.
“Wait, what if it can open the door? We got in without any trouble earlier!”
“I’ll handle it. Just lean your weight on the door as much as you can!”
Though his body was weak, the young man pressed himself firmly against the door. Meanwhile, the man pulled a metal rod from his pocket. He gripped it tightly and struck the door lock.
“What, what are you doing?!”
Instead of replying, the man kept hitting the lock. Crack, bang. After several jarring blows, the lock’s exterior panel shattered and wires spilled out. Unsatisfied, he struck the inside components repeatedly, as if trying to break the machine entirely.
Is this really okay…? Just as the young man wondered that, the internal mechanical parts broke apart and scattered all over the floor. The man grabbed the handle and shook it several times; despite the force, the lock mechanism didn’t budge.
Even in the chaos, the man looked pleased.
“…Looks like it worked.”
“It worked?”
“This door lock is old. Once the power is cut, there’s no way to open the latch.”
“Wait. Then…”
“I destroyed the circuit and motor. It’s completely dead. Unless someone brings a chainsaw, nobody is opening this door. Not from the outside, and not from the inside.”
“……”
“We’ll be safe tonight.”
“And tomorrow morning?”
“Well… we’ll think about that later.”
So he had, in fact, heard correctly, they were now completely trapped inside this room.
Speechless, the young man stared at him. Maybe this person was a lot less prepared than he looked.
After some time passed, everything around them grew completely quiet.
The violent pounding against the metal door stopped soon enough. Whatever had been hitting it must have decided there was no point in continuing.
The bubbling, boiling noise coming from the shadows also faded entirely. Whether everything had vanished, or whether those things were still rolling their eyes around the hallway in the same form as before, he couldn’t tell… but either way, it didn’t seem immediately dangerous.
That alone was a relief.
“…….”
“Think about it. Do you really believe I smashed the door lock without any thought?”
“…….”
“There weren’t even instructions inside the lock on how to change the password. If some monster out there knew how to open doors, we’d be done for. For tonight at least, this was the only option that made sense.”
Now that things had calmed slightly in front of the art prep room door, the young man stared at the broken lock in silence while the man kept giving excuses. His words sounded reasonable enough, but the uneasiness in his voice was obvious. This wasn’t something written in the Code, he had made a desperate decision in the moment.
“I know…. And the end-of-day broadcast said the same thing. It has to be a place where, once the door is locked, no one can get in or out.”
He didn’t think the man was wrong. There were several ways to make a place that no one could enter, but making a place where no one could leave as well? This was probably the most certain way.
Even so, knowing that didn’t make the anxiety disappear. He might make it through tonight, but what about tomorrow morning? What if they couldn’t fix the lock? What if they couldn’t find another exit? What if they ended up stuck here for two weeks… or worse, forever?
Was that end-of-day broadcast even real? It hadn’t sounded fake, but what if it was just bait meant to lull them into lowering their guard? What if its true purpose wasn’t to protect them from dangers outside, but to trap them here inside…?
No, don’t think that far.
The man had done the best he could in a crisis. They were alive because of his choice, so it would be better to trust his judgment for now. Doubting him wouldn’t magically produce a better plan.
“I don’t know if breaking the door lock was the perfect answer, but it doesn’t seem like the wrong one either. Thanks for explaining it all.”
When the young man exhaled the words like a sigh, the man looked at him with a strange expression, still grumbling under his breath.
“What’s the point of thanking me now? We won’t know if it meant anything until we see what things look like tomorrow morning. Honestly, even I’m not confident everything will go smoothly…”
“Don’t act anxious when you’re the one who did it. Anyway, since we’re inside the hiding place, we can finally relax a little… right?”
The moment he swept the art prep room with the flashlight, the young man let out a reflexive scream.
“What is that…!”
At first he thought severed heads were hanging in the air. The plaster busts dangling from the ceiling glowed stark white in the beam of the flashlight, giving that illusion.
The art prep room wasn’t even that large, yet a dozen ropes hung from the ceiling, and several of them had plaster busts tied around their necks.
Even the ropes without plaster busts had looped knots at the ends, like they were waiting for someone else to slip their neck into them. To make matters worse, beneath some of the ropes, two chairs were placed side by side as if inviting the next victim.
“Don’t shout. The monsters outside might hear you!”
“S-sorry. I was just so startled.”
“I understand the feeling. I have no idea what sick joke that’s supposed to be. It’s disgusting, really….”
The man climbed onto one of the chairs with an irritated look. The young man’s heart dropped, but instead of putting the rope around his own neck, the man untied each rope fixed to the ceiling and threw them down. Seeing this, the young man hurried to help.
It was better than leaving them hanging, and the ropes might come in handy later. They looked sturdy enough to support a person’s full weight. As for the plaster busts that had originally been hanging, he carefully took them down and piled them in a corner, though they didn’t seem useful right now.
Fortunately, aside from the ropes, the art prep room itself was completely ordinary. Wooden shelves lined the walls, and the baskets on them were filled with supplies used in art class.
There was a wooden table pushed into a corner, with a small lamp on top. Thanks to that lamp, they could see well enough without the flashlight. The chairs beneath the dangling ropes must have originally belonged near that table.
They looked around for anything they could use as a mattress but found nothing. Sleeping on the hard, dusty floor seemed miserable, so resting with their heads on the table would be better. They dragged two chairs over and sat down. Both the table and chairs were old but clean, without dust, so they weren’t uncomfortable.
“This hiding place is a bit rough, but… for tonight, how about we rest here? You must be tired too.”
“Huh? Already? I thought it’d be better if we talked a bit first. Wouldn’t it be good to at least introduce ourselves properly?”
“I thought we already did. You’re the librarian, and I’m the disciplinary committee member. Neither of us remembers our names or backgrounds. What do you want, to chat like kids on the first night of a school retreat?”
With that blunt reply, the man rested his head on the table. The young man frowned at him quietly. It didn’t feel like the man was sleepy, more like he wanted to avoid talking to him altogether.
Even after showing up in a dangerous moment to save him, after healing his shadow, after guiding him here to the hiding place… the man still acted wary of him, as if the young man’s very existence made him uneasy.
Was it simply because he thought he was useless? Did he think talking to him was pointless because he wouldn’t contribute anything? Or maybe… after spending one hectic day together, he planned to go his own way starting tomorrow? The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became, until he couldn’t help raising his voice.
“B-but still! There’s so much we should talk about!”
“What could possibly be that much?”
“There’s a ton! Should I list them one by one right now? What is this school even supposed to be? How did we get dragged into a place like this? Those weird eye-creatures we saw, what actually are they? Why do they only move in moonlight? Why were they just shadows at first? Why did they show their real forms right when the end-of-day broadcast started? And who even did that broadcast? Did the person who brought us here do it? Or is that person trapped just like us, reading from some script? Can we trust their announcements at all?”
He couldn’t bring himself to ask, “Do you not trust me?” so he threw out every other topic he could grab. They had begun as excuses, but once he started talking, all the questions swirling around their situation rushed to the surface.
The man frowned, clearly annoyed by the noise, but the young man kept going.
“No, really, think about it, tomorrow…”
“And who gave us the notebook with the Code of Conduct? Was it the one who dragged us here? Following it helped today, sure, but will it keep helping us? What if it’s a trap?”
“…….”
“Even if it isn’t a trap, what do they want from us? Did they steal our memories too? It says we can escape after two weeks, but can we really? What happens if we can’t? Do we die? Or maybe… something worse…”
“For heaven’s sake, be quiet! You’re driving me crazy! I don’t know any of this either!”
The man shouted loud enough to crush the flood of questions and shoved the young man away. It wasn’t even a very hard shove, but it was enough to snap him back to his senses.
Maybe he really had made a mistake. He had been so wrapped up in voicing every fear and thought that he hadn’t paid attention to the man right in front of him. And now that he actually looked again…
The man’s face had gone completely pale, and when the young man looked closely, he even saw a slight glimmer of moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes. As if he had been frightened.
Only then did the young man realize. The man hadn’t been curt because he didn’t trust him, he was simply anxious about their situation. While the young man was at a loss for words, the man forced his expression back into a sharp, emotionless mask.
“S-sorry. You must’ve been tense already, and I just made it worse….”
“No, well… I’m sorry for yelling out of nowhere too. But calm down a little. All those questions you’re asking, they make sense. But do you really think we’ll find even one real answer just by talking about them between ourselves?”
“Uh… well.”
It was true. None of those questions could be answered right now. They could come up with guesses, maybe, but those weren’t real answers, just theories that could be overturned at any time once they had more information.
“There’s no point stirring up fear with unproductive talk. Better to sleep early, wake up early, and try to gather whatever information we can.”
“…I guess that’s true. But wouldn’t it help to talk about something productive at least? Like… agreeing on how we address each other…?”
“Is that really important? And even if it is, it can wait until tomorrow morning. Besides, honestly? I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to stay awake too long.”
“W-why?”
“You heard the end-of-day broadcast, didn’t you? It didn’t just warn us about someone coming in, it told us to prevent anyone from going out. There must be a reason for that. The longer we stay awake, the higher the chance something strange might happen to us.”
Something strange happening to them…?
At those words, the young man remembered what happened earlier in the staff room. The pain of something sharp lodged in his throat. The sensation of shoving his fingers down his own neck as if hypnotized.
Maybe something like that could happen again. Maybe they’d suddenly lose control and try to run outside the hiding place, driven by some irrational fear. If that was a possibility, then… yes, sleeping was safer.
But there was no way he could fall asleep. Those unanswered questions kept spinning in his head. At this rate, he’d spend all night awake. He really wanted to talk, even a little, just to calm down.
As he quietly squinted at the man, a thought suddenly struck him.
“Hey, what about the Code of Conduct? What if we read it ahead of time?”
“The Code? What are you talking about?”
“Didn’t your notebook say it too? The next day’s rules appear right after the end-of-day broadcast.”
“…Ah.”
The man’s expression changed, meaning his notebook said the same thing. If that were true, then flipping to the next page now would reveal the previously blank section, the second day’s rules.
Wouldn’t reading ahead help them prepare? The young man glanced at him, and the man’s eyes lit up as he flipped through his notebook.
“You’re right… this could be useful. Let’s read it now.”
“I thought so too! Let’s hurry and read it before sleeping.”
“But don’t peek. Read only your own. Understood?”
“Why? Got something to hide?”
“Didn’t your Code say it too? That some parts shouldn’t be shown to others. It didn’t say the Code itself was forbidden, but still….”
“Oh. You’re right.”
His Code had said something like that…”Don’t show others the records you write.” If tomorrow’s instructions told him what he needed to record as the librarian, then maybe keeping that private would be necessary. There could be other things he wouldn’t want to show too.
“Okay, let’s read separately.”
“Fine. And when we finish, we go to sleep. Got it?”
“Not sleep right away. If there’s something the other person needs to know, we should at least share that much before resting.”
“That’s something we can do tomorrow morni…”
“You might forget after closing your eyes, telling yourself you’ll say it in the morning.”
“And what if you forget when I tell you?”
“At least one of us will remember. Two brains, double memory, why waste a lucky chance like that?”
“Unbelievable.”
The man grumbled in annoyance, and the young man secretly felt proud of himself. At the very least, he’d secured a chance to talk to him. If they were to survive together, getting along would help.
Then both of them angled their notebooks away from each other and began reading their own Codes.
[Rules for Day 2]
[If you completed your task and successfully stepped into your hiding place, your current chance of escape is 11%.]
[1. Use the rope on the face you see the moment you open your eyes. Their complexion must turn completely pale, and the mark on their neck must be unmistakable. If you strike while they sleep, you will succeed without difficulty.]
…Good thing he didn’t show it. Thank goodness he didn’t show it!
Cold sweat streamed down the young man’s back as he fought the urge to glance at the man sitting just a few steps away.
The Code of Conduct written in the notebook explained the librarian’s role calmly, without telling him why he had to do something so strange.
[2. Starting from Day 2, you must record at least one important piece of information per day. This is the librarian’s duty.]
[You may record anywhere you like, and if you chose a proper writing tool, you will be able to record on paper, walls, floors, any surface. Even places you never imagined may serve as a means of recording. However, this notebook is solely for the Code of Conduct, so do not touch it.]
[2-1. You may record multiple things in a day, but there are two important restrictions on “recording.”]
[First, never let anyone see you while you are recording. It is fine if someone discovers the record after you leave the place, but showing the act of recording itself is forbidden.]
[It would have been best if you hadn’t revealed that you record anything at all, but since you foolishly shared secrets with someone you just met, nothing can be done. Be more careful from now on.]
[Second, never speak about information you have already recorded. The information is preserved for what comes next. If you mention it now, it becomes meaningless.]
[Choose what you record very carefully with these restrictions in mind. These records will help you later, but the information written cannot be used right now.]
[3. For today, simply get used to the school. Look around the school’s layout, eat in suitable places, get official documents if needed, and meet others.]
[Whether you trust them or not is up to you. You need information, but it is difficult to assume everything they say is true.]
“……”
To be honest, it didn’t feel very helpful. There were plenty of tasks, but the notebook said nothing about the dangers lurking in the school or what he needed to overcome them. The man claimed his Code contained all sorts of useful tips, wasn’t this unfair?
The young man muttered in a tired voice.
“There’s nothing special in mine. I hoped it’d have something helpful, but it really doesn’t.”
“…Mine is a mess too. There’s a bunch of nonsense written in it, and I have no idea what the actual goal is supposed to be.”
It seemed the man also disliked his own Code. He frowned so hard it looked painful, grumbling the whole time. From the way he spoke, maybe his notebook had plenty of survival tips but no explanation of the true objective. A complaint the young man found rather enviable.
“From what I can tell, my Code assumes I’m supposed to act together with someone. I’ll probably have to move with you tomorrow as well. I’m not thrilled about it, but….”
“……”
“Hearing what you said earlier, you don’t seem helpful at the moment. And when you open your mouth, all you do is get on my nerves… Honestly, I’d be more comfortable alone. If it weren’t for that condition about needing to bring someone with me to enter the hiding place, I wouldn’t have bothered saving you today.”
“Whatever you think, we’re sticking together tomorrow anyway, right? Like I said, I’ll try my best to repay the help you gave me.”
The young man shrugged off the grumbling. As expected, the man suddenly looked embarrassed, coughed awkwardly, and glanced away.
He clearly didn’t mean half of what he said. The part about needing someone for the hiding place was probably true, but the rest? He was too straightforward, too openly emotional for his annoyance to be genuine. Even now, he seemed worried he might have hurt the young man’s feelings.
He was sharp-tongued but clumsy. He said unpleasant things, yet somehow those words carried sincerity. It was only a first impression, but the young man felt he wanted to trust this unfriendly man.
“Is there anything in your Code about where to go or what to collect tomorrow? Mine says I should get food somewhere appropriate.”
“…That was in mine too. Probably means the cafeteria or some kind of dining hall… but I don’t recall seeing anything like that on the map.”
“Then we’ll have to look around ourselves. We can’t starve.”
“That’s true. Assuming we can even get out of here safely tomorrow.”
He probably meant the issue with the broken door lock, but the young man’s mind jumped first to the instruction about the rope.
He debated for a long time whether to tell the man. If he opened his eyes tomorrow morning, the first face he’d see would almost certainly be that of the disciplinary committee member. The person in question should know what was written.
After all, the Code said… he was supposed to use the rope on that face.
But thinking about it more carefully, it wasn’t something he could decide so easily.
It wasn’t simply because he didn’t trust the man. Of course, if the man had ill intentions, he could switch to a mindset of “kill before being killed,” but that wasn’t the real reason the young man hesitated.
It was something else entirely.
‘It really feels like the first instruction appeared because I shared information about recording today.’
The Code of Conduct seemed to strongly dislike the idea of the librarian sharing records with others. Maybe it wasn’t just records, maybe it didn’t want him sharing any information at all. If he went as far as revealing the first instruction too, he didn’t even want to imagine what might show up on the Day 3 Code of Conduct.
What was the right thing to do?
While the young man was struggling to think through it, the man let out a sigh and slumped forward on the table.
“It looks like we’ll only know what to do once we wake up tomorrow. All right, let’s get some sleep. Sorry, but I’m really exhausted….”
“Oh, are you going to sleep first? I want to look around in here a bit.”
“…Why all of a sudden?”
“I just thought there might be something useful. Go ahead and sleep first.”
The man gave him a suspicious look, but the young man ignored it and walked toward the shelves.
After checking through a few baskets on the shelf, he came up with a pretty decent idea. Maybe it was a good thing they ended up in the art prep room. It fit well with how vague the Code of Conduct had been…
“What are you doing? Why are you touching that statue?”
“You’ll understand in the morning. Go to sleep.”
With his back turned to the man, the young man quietly continued preparing. This should work. It might be a loophole, but if it didn’t, he’d just have to find another way…
He covered the prepared plaster bust with a cloth, placed it on the table, then lay down and, the moment he closed his eyes, fell fast asleep.
[Day 2 Code of Conduct]
[If you have completed your duties and successfully entered the hiding place, your current chance of escape is 0.0001%.]
[First, trust the judgment made by your companion. If he chose your face, it means your own judgment was wrong.]
The man repeated that strange Code of Conduct over and over in his head as he drifted to sleep. Confusion, fear, and the desperate hope that all of this was nothing more than a dream swirled violently within him.