Brown hair.
An ordinary school uniform.
A neat smile.
He wasn't looking our way.
To be exact, he was looking at the door.
His left hand kept scratching the inside of his right wrist.
Red dots were spreading again at his cuff.
Rine swallowed her breath.
Mia’s ears lay completely flat.
Ereuka quietly closed the metal box.
There was no clicking sound.
She pressed the lock all the way down with her fingertips, killing the sound.
I slowly lowered my immobilized hand.
Kail raised his head.
His eyes weren't smiling.
Only his mouth was.
And his lips moved very slightly.
This time, a bit of sound could be heard.
“Give... it... back.”
Mia let out a low growl.
I looked at Kail's wrist.
Blood was spreading at the edge of his sleeve.
But Kail was still smiling.
Nice.
So what we brought was what called him over?
Kail was at the end of the hallway.
But strangely, he looked close.
Ssk.
Ssk.
The sound of nails scratching flesh crept along the hallway wall.
Rine stood frozen at the door, clutching a book to her chest.
A position where she couldn't enter, nor exit.
The worst possible spot.
I spoke in a low voice.
“Rine.”
Rine's shoulders trembled very slightly.
“Yes.”
“Come inside.”
Rine looked at me.
“But—”
“Don't stand in front of the door.”
I pulled my immobilized hand slightly behind my body.
“Don't come to my side. Go to Ereuka's side.”
Only then did Rine move.
Carefully stepping inside, she retreated toward Ereuka.
Kail took a step.
I hid my immobilized hand completely behind my back.
I made sure the palm wasn't visible.
Holding out a hand stained with powder wasn't really my preference.
“Kail.”
When I called the name, Kail stopped.
His head tilted very slightly.
It wasn't the reaction of someone who had heard his name.
It was closer to a puppet reacting to a sound.
“What are you asking me to give back?”
The corners of Kail's mouth remained the same.
His eyes didn't move.
“Give... it... back.”
“So what exactly?”
Kail couldn't answer.
Instead, he scratched his left wrist harder with his right hand.
Blood spread more at the end of his sleeve.
The red dots grew larger,
and a thin line flowed toward the back of his hand.
Rine swallowed her breath in a small gasp.
At that sound, Kail's eyes moved.
Toward Rine.
I immediately extended my foot and pushed the small wooden chair by the door.
The chair scraped against the floor and slid between the door and Kail.
Screech.
Kail's gaze returned to me.
He reacts to sound.
Rine swallowed her breath in a small gasp.
At that sound, Kail's eyes moved.
“Kail.”
Kail was smiling.
“Give... it... back.”
“So what the hell?”
Mia said in a low voice.
“It hurts.”
“I know.”
“But it won't stop.”
That's the problem.
It hurts, but it won't stop.
The kind that moves following a command embedded inside, not the body.
Kail took another step closer.
His toes touched the chair leg.
I shook the chair slightly with my foot.
Screech.
Kail's eyes lowered toward the chair again.
Kail opened his mouth again.
“The... remaining... thing.”
Ereuka's hand stiffened.
I looked at Kail.
“What remains?”
Kail couldn't answer.
He only kept scratching his wrist.
Ssk.
Ssk.
Blood spread further on his cuff.
I didn't ask anymore.
Repeating the same question would probably bring back the same words.
“Kail.”
This time, I only called his name.
Kail's hand paused for a very brief moment.
His nails stopped, embedded in his wrist, and the corners of his mouth followed a little too late.
I didn't miss that opening.
“Is that what you're looking for?”
Kail's eyes wavered.
His mouth was still smiling.
But his eyes looked as if they had momentarily forgotten how to smile.
“The... remaining...”
Those words again.
The same beat.
The same sound.
But the ending crumbled slightly.
“The... remaining... thi...”
Kail's Adam's apple moved.
Not swallowing his words,
but like forcefully pulling up words stuck inside.
I asked in a low voice.
“What are you looking for?”
Kail's hand tried to scratch his wrist again.
But this time, his fingers didn't move right away.
Blood-stained nails trembled in the air.
“My...”
A voice leaked out.
I held my breath.
“My?”
Kail's lips trembled.
The smile hadn't crumbled.
Another expression had merely surfaced briefly over the smile.
“My... room...”
Kail began scratching his wrist again.
Ssk.
Ssk.
This time, the sound was coarser.
“My room... where...”
The words couldn't connect to the end.
A white hem was visible at the end of the hallway.
A person from the Sanctuary.
Their steps were quiet, their face gentle.
“Student Kail.”
At those words, Kail's shoulders stopped.
The hand scratching his wrist also stopped.
The wavering that had briefly lingered at the corners of his eyes disappeared too.
And only his mouth smiled again.
Too neatly.
I clenched my teeth.
“My room... where...”
The words couldn't connect to the end.
A white hem was visible at the end of the hallway.
A person from the Sanctuary.
Their steps were quiet, their face gentle.
“Student Kail.”
At those words, Kail's shoulders stopped.
The hand scratching his wrist also stopped.
The wavering that had briefly lingered at the corners of his eyes disappeared too.
And only his mouth smiled again.
Too neatly.
I clenched my teeth.
The person from the Sanctuary slowly approached Kail.
“You cannot come this way.”
The voice was gentle.
Those words were directed at Kail.
Kail was smiling.
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
The voice that had been looking for his own room until just now was gone,
and all that remained was that neat answer heard during roll call.
I watched him from behind the chair.
“His wrist is bleeding.”
The person from the Sanctuary's gaze lowered to Kail's wrist.
“I shall treat it.”
“Now?”
“I'll take him and treat him.”
“Can't you do it here?”
He looked at me.
“This is not something to be done in the hallway.”
“But it's fine for him to walk around bleeding?”
A brief silence.
Rine swallowed her breath.
“We will move him quietly so the students are not surprised.”
“They're already surprised.”
“Student Balteureu?”
“Everyone here.”
At those words, his gaze briefly entered inside the door.
Rine. Mia. Ereuka.
And the box.
His gaze didn't linger long.
That's why it was more irritating.
He was only pretending not to see.
“Student Kail.”
He called Kail again.
“Let's go back.”
Kail nodded.
“Yes.”
He tried to pull away the hand that had been touching the door frame.
Blood-stained fingers fell away from the wood.
A red mark was left in that spot.
It wasn't just blood.
Very fine powder was mixed inside the blood.
Though lamplight didn't reach it, it glinted once in the low light coming through the door crack.
“Senior.”
“Yeah.”
“That.”
“I know.”
Red powder was mixed inside the blood smeared on the door frame.
If it were just blood, it would only be a stain.
But that wasn't it.
The problem was that we weren't the only ones who saw it.
The person from the Sanctuary's gaze also grazed the door frame very briefly.
He immediately pulled a white cloth from inside his sleeve.
The door frame before the student's wrist?
I pushed the chair with my toe.
The chair leg caught in front of the door frame and bumped it lightly.
Tuk.
The person from the Sanctuary's hand stopped.
He looked at me.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Are you trying to wipe the blood?”
“It's a cleanliness issue.”
“Shouldn't Kail's wrist come first?”
The person from the Sanctuary's smile thinned very slightly.
“We are in the process of taking him for treatment.”
“Then take him.”
I pointed at the chair caught in front of the door frame with my chin.
“You can clean the door later.”
A brief silence fell.
The person from the Sanctuary was still smiling.
“This is a hallway that students pass through.
If blood remains, they may feel uneasy.”
“They are already uneasy.”
I looked at Kail.
Kail was smiling.
Blood was still coming from his wrist.
Background students in the game changed easily.
Even if a face from yesterday disappeared today,
a different student would fill that spot in the next scene.
No name, no room, no cafeteria record.
If they were just passing background, they were handled that way.
But students caught in the records were different.
A name called once in the attendance log.
A count marked at the serving counter.
A dormitory room.
And traces someone had tried to erase but left unfinished.
If several of these caught, they couldn't be erased immediately.
It was the same in the game.
Not deletion, but pending.
Outwardly fixed to look normal,
slowly swapping out the inner records.
I didn't know who Kail was.
At least, he wasn't a main character I knew.
But now, it was different.
The name Kail was caught in the attendance log,
and caught in an erased room.
So this wasn't just blood.
It was proof that a student the school had tried to erase had been here.
I looked at the person from the Sanctuary.
“A student was standing in the hallway bleeding while smiling,
and you're worried about a door frame stain?”
The person from the Sanctuary folded the white cloth.
He didn't put it away completely.
“Student Balteureu.”
“Yes.”
“Would you step aside?”
“Am I blocking you?”
I slightly raised my immobilized hand.
“As you can see, my hand is in this state, so I'm hardly in a position to block anything.”
His gaze touched my hand.
“That hand also needs to be checked.”
“Everyone seems to like my hand today.”
“The inspection following the resonance assistance is not complete.”
“But it seems Student Kail's wrist hasn't been completely checked either.”
This time, he couldn't answer immediately.
Good.
I was right.
I looked at the red mark on the door frame.
“Take the student away before wiping this.
Because the one bleeding is Kail, not the door frame.”
The person from the Sanctuary's smile thinned a little more.
“You worry a lot.”
“It's not worry.”
I looked at Kail.
A face smiling with only its mouth.
A bleeding wrist.
And the red mark left on the door frame.
“I'm trying to remember.”
“What do you mean?”
“That a student named Kail was bleeding here.”
For an instant, Kail's eyes wavered very slightly.
The person from the Sanctuary spoke no more.
He pushed the white cloth back inside his sleeve.
“Student Kail. Let's go.”
Kail nodded.
“Yes.”
The answer was neat.
The person from the Sanctuary placed a hand on Kail's shoulder and walked to the end of the hallway.
I didn't move until they completely disappeared.
And I looked at the mark left on the door frame.
I had to check before it was too late.
They would definitely come back to wipe it.
The answer was neat.
The person from the Sanctuary placed a hand on Kail's shoulder and walked to the end of the hallway.
I didn't move until they completely disappeared.
And I looked at the mark left on the door frame.
I had to check before it was too late.
They would definitely come back to wipe it.
“Ereuka.”
“I know.”
Ereuka tucked the metal box under her arm,
and picked up a thin glass fragment from the experiment table.
This time, she didn't take long choosing.
They had to look before the blood dried.
“The paper?”
“Later. The paper absorbs it.”
Ereuka approached the door frame and stopped.
“Mia.”
Mia answered while still looking at the end of the hallway.
“Yeah.”
“Tell me right away if anyone comes.”
“Yeah.”
Mia pricked her ears toward the hallway.
I looked at Rine.
“You, inside by the experiment table.”
Rine stepped back without a word.
If she stood by the door, she'd be the first one caught if something like Kail jumped out again.
Having just seen that, Rine didn't ask anything more.
Ereuka touched the end of the glass fragment very lightly to the red mark on the door frame, then pulled it away.
Blood stained the tip of the glass.
Inside it, red powder was mixed very finely.
Even soaked in blood, its color dulled,
but when the angle changed, it caught the light like dust.
Ereuka spoke in a low voice.
“It's the same type.”
“As what was on my hand?”
“Similar.
I can't say it's exactly the same yet.”
“What about the thread?”
“It's similar to that side too.”
The red thread from the room.
The powder stained from the resonance board.
Kail's blood left on the door frame.
Now the line was connected into one.
But it wasn't the answer yet.
The name Kail was not on the list of main characters I knew.
So he wasn't someone originally at the center of an event.
But now he was caught in the records.
Attendance log.
Dormitory room.
Cafeteria.
And the words he himself let slip.
My room.
Even in the game, there was a pending state.
A student about to disappear didn't vanish immediately,
but spent several days mixing in as usual.
Attending class, receiving meals, answering roll calls.
Outwardly, they looked fine.
The problem was the surroundings.
Their seat changed, but no one asked.
Even if they answered a beat late to roll call,
the students next to them didn't even turn their heads.
No one approached even as blood flowed from their wrist.
It wasn't that people avoided them because it was strange.
They simply passed by as if they had always been at that distance.
That was the pending state.
But by then, it was already over.
What the player saw was the result.
A shell before being sorted out.
A decoration that wouldn't change no matter how you touched it.
But Kail had just looked for his own room.
What remains.
My room.
Those were words that had leaked from Kail's side.
It wasn't over yet.
That meant there was still room to intervene,
and at the same time, that not much time remained.