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Portrait
[6:37]
When I came to, I was at the entrance to the teachers' office.
I could even see the wall I had scrubbed to wipe off the ink.
I had returned.
To before I entered the teachers' office.
'I had a feeling this would happen...'
My legs gave out, and I sank down.
It was a good thing I had written in the diary.
I had almost started over from the beginning.
I felt relieved that I wouldn't have to see the security guard again.
On the other hand, I wondered why I had died.
I had simply looked at the monitor, then died feeling my consciousness snap.
So the computer wasn't the answer?
I entered the teachers' office once more.
Loud typing noises struck my ears.
Tadak! Tadadadak!
Tadadak! Tadadadak!
I ignored them and checked the key cabinet.
Examining it carefully, wondering if I had missed anything.
[Emergency Spare Key Cabinet]
No suitable clues were visible.
Only the note I had found earlier was stuck there, all alone.
[The password is on the computer!]
'Like hell it's on the computer.'
Tadadadadak! Tadadak!
Tadadadak! Tadak!
The computer produced noise, clacking and clicking. And looking at the monitor killed you.
It was truly incomprehensible.
Was this some kind of demonic computer or what?
I cautiously approached the computer.
I averted my gaze as much as possible to avoid looking at the monitor even by mistake.
Swish.
I quickly reached out and turned off the monitor. The brightly lit screen went dark.
But the keyboard and mouse were still moving on their own.
At least this way, I wouldn't die.
With peace of mind, I searched around the computer.
[The drawer is filled with all sorts of documents.]
[Workbooks are arranged by type.]
[The timetable is organized by subject.]
I checked every place I could check.
But there was no sign of any items.
Then there was only one thing left.
Only the computer.
'Is it really here?'
To inspect the computer, I crawled under the desk.
The tower was humming.
Would rebooting work?
I followed the cables connected to the computer.
Soon I found the plugged-in outlet and was about to pull it to cut the power.
The hand reaching for the power stopped.
The power strip connected to the computer wasn't lit. The OFF button was pressed.
'It's off.'
Then how was this computer running?
Whir, whir.
The tower's fan spun with a hum.
The computer was undoubtedly running.
I was dumbfounded.
I pulled the plug from the power strip.
But the computer was still running.
This time, I pulled everything—the monitor cable, keyboard cable, mouse cable. Even so,
Tadadadadak! Tadadak!
Tadadadak! Tadak!
The keyboard and mouse moved. Likewise, the monitor's power button activated.
'Weird.'
I picked up the disconnected keyboard and checked. The keycaps were pressing down on their own, typing.
The mouse and monitor were in similar conditions.
They moved on their own without being connected to a single thing.
There wasn't even a hint of a clue about the password.
No, they said the password was on the computer.
By now, I had a reasonable suspicion that the note might be wrong.
'Did I miss something?'
Tadadak! Tadadadak!
Tadak! Tadadadadak!
'But I've checked everything.'
Tadadadak! Tadak!
Tadadadadak! Tadadak!
'Maybe there's a hidden clue in the gym clothes...'
Tadak! Tadadadadak!
Tadadak! Tadadadak!
So fucking loud.
My patience was reaching its limit.
Fury surged through me, and I was just about to hurl the keyboard to the floor with all my might.
Suddenly, the security guard's face flickered through my mind.
'Hold it, hold it...'
I immediately set the keyboard down.
My heart swelled at the thought of the security guard.
Tadadadadak! Tadadak!
Tadadadak! Tadak!
The keyboard was still clacking.
I wanted to stop this maddening noise.
I looked for another way besides simply throwing and smashing it.
Should I pull out the keycaps?
I racked my brain for a way to quietly deal with the keyboard in a direction the security guard wouldn't notice.
Tadadak! Tadadadak!
Tadak! Tadadadadak!
I used the repeating typing sounds as background music.
Like a broken record, there was no sign of it ending.
'Wait, repeating?'
Suddenly, I felt a sense of déjà vu.
I subtly pricked my ears at the typing sounds.
Tadadadak! Tadak!
Tadadadadak! Tadadak!
It was ear torture rivaling a blue switch keyboard.
Suppressing the urge to yank out the keycaps, I focused on the sounds.
Tadadadak! Tadak! Tadadadadak! Tadadak! Tadadadak! Tadak! Tadadadadak! Tadadak! Tadadadak! Tadak! Tadadadadak! Tadadak!
'What the hell.'
The typing sounds strangely formed a rhythm.
I hadn't noticed because I'd been ignoring it, but it was clacking in a specific pattern.
"!"
In that instant, my mind flashed.
I sorted the sequence according to the length of the sounds.
Tadadadak!
Tadak!
Tadadadadak!
Tadadak!
This kind of pattern came out.
It was as if hinting at something.
Like Morse code, or a cipher.
'Wait, a cipher?'
Then an outrageous idea bloomed.
I strode over to the key cabinet and checked the lock.
[Please enter the password.]
[0000]
...It's a 4-digit cipher.
I immediately recalled the typing sounds.
If I associated the keyboard with a 4-digit number,
Tadadadak rang four times, so 4.
Tadak rang two times, so 2.
Tadadadadak rang five times, so 5.
Tadadak rang three times, so 3.
If so, the password was 4253.
I didn't know if it was a coincidence, but the circumstances fit perfectly.
'No way, they couldn't have made the password this stupidly, right?'
Half-doubting, I turned the dial.
I entered the numbers I had deduced earlier.
[4253]
-Click.
...The lock opened.
I couldn't believe it, but it was real.
The answer to the key cabinet's password was the keyboard's typing sounds.
'So it was just this...'
Rather than happy, I felt empty.
If I'd known, I wouldn't have suffered so much.
I saw the note under the key cabinet.
[The password is on the computer!]
Come on, at least write the explanation properly.
Calling it a hint and wrapping it around in circles—no wonder I couldn't figure it out.
My insides seethed.
The owner of this note was utterly detestable.
You'd better not have left out the key.
I barely composed myself and took out the key cabinet. I prayed that there would be something inside.
And slowly opened the case.
-Creak.
Unfortunately, the basement stairway key wasn't there.
Instead, there was another key inside.
[Acquired Art Room Key.]
The art room this time?
The destinations grew more complicated the further I went.
At this rate, I'd have to scour the entire main building.
'I'll find out when I get there...'
I didn't know about anything else, but as long as there was no security guard.
Before heading to the art room, I picked up the gym clothes I had found before I died.
For the record, I had absolutely no impure intentions.
They were women's clothes to begin with, so they didn't even fit me.
I was taking them in advance in case they were useful as a clue.
And while I was at it, I planned to return them to their owner.
I left the teachers' office like that.
Next destination: the art room. Even if I wanted to go somewhere else, this was the only key I had.
This time, I desperately hoped there would be a clue for escaping.
I didn't want to set foot in this bizarre, chilling school any longer.
'I want to meet a person...'
Mentally and physically, I was exhausted.
Though I had lived my life keeping my distance from people, today of all days, I was especially hungry for human company.
But all that was in this damned school was a security guard popping and locking, and a computer that had reached a singularity and moved on its own.
If I stayed in a place like this a moment longer, I felt like I'd go crazy.
I wanted to meet a human being with intact arms and legs who could hold a conversation.
To do that, I had no choice but to escape this school quickly.
Leading my exhausted mind and body, I forced my feet to move.
'Where was the art room again?'
I remembered it was on the 4th floor.
It was when I was passing through the main lobby to go up the stairs.
Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump.
I heard familiar footsteps.
A chill ran down my spine.
Half-hoping it wasn't, I turned to look down the hallway.
And of course, it was the security guard.
The security guard ran at me with both arms spread wide.
As if he wanted a tight hug with me.
"Fucking hell, seriously."
I quickly ran to the cleaning supplies cabinet.
**
After an intimate date for two with the security guard,
'Is it here.'
I had finally arrived at the 4th floor of the main building.
Fortunately, the security guard was nowhere to be seen.
If he'd followed me all the way here, he'd really be a thug.
Walking down the hallway leading from the stairs, I found a classroom sign.
[Art Room]
'Here it is.'
As expected, the entrance was locked.
I took out the key I had acquired from the teachers' office earlier.
[Used Art Room Key.]
-Click.
The door opened.
I was anxious that something might jump out like what happened at the main lobby.
I cautiously entered the art room.
A pungent smell of paint stabbed at my nose.
After forcing myself to bear it, I quickly glanced around the entire classroom.
'Seeing it like this, it's huge.'
Normally, large groups of 20 or 30 students gathered here, so I couldn't feel how spacious it was, but seeing it like this, it was easily more than twice the size of a regular classroom.
I carefully examined the art room.
First, I searched mainly around the desks.
[Art supplies including palettes are scattered in a mess.]
[A water bucket used for washing paint. It is stained red like blood.]
[A plaster statue about the size of a human head. It is too heavy to budge.]
Nothing particularly useful was visible. This time, I turned my gaze to search the walls.
On one side of the art room wall, paintings were lined up in a row.
When I approached, descriptions of the paintings came to mind.
[Michelangelo – The Creation of Adam]
[Leonardo da Vinci – Mona Lisa]
[Vincent van Gogh – Sunflowers]
There were paintings called masterpieces of the century, and also crude, clumsy-looking paintings that seemed to be drawn by art club students hanging here and there.
Among them, one painting caught my eye.
It was a portrait of a female student.
Wearing a neat school uniform, she seemed to be a student at our school.
Black hair with a blue gleam, and white skin.
An expression that seemed to hold slight contempt created a strange atmosphere.
Her face was overall cat-like with sharp eyes. Before I knew it, my gaze was drawn to her.
The more I looked, the more it felt like the girl was glaring at me.
'Wow, it looks like a photo, not a painting.'
The craftsmanship of delicately drawing each strand of hair drew admiration naturally.
I wondered who on earth had painted such a surreal portrait.
But unlike the previous paintings, no description came to mind for this portrait.
I tried a few more times after that, but it remained the same. Interacting with this painting was impossible.
'Why is it like this?'
I wondered if the system was broken, but other paintings appeared properly without issue.
The problem seemed limited to only this painting.
What was this, a bug?
Stopping my survey of the other paintings, I turned my gaze back to the portrait.
But I couldn't find it.
'Huh?'
I doubted my eyes. The girl's portrait had vanished into thin air.
Wondering if I had mistaken the location, I swept my eyes across the art room wall.
Among the various paintings lined up in a row, one spot was conspicuously empty.
It was where the girl's portrait had been.
There was no doubt. Nothing was hanging in the spot where the girl's painting had been.
'No, fuck, there was a painting here.'
Instead, it revealed the hallway openly through the empty space.
When I approached, a description came to mind.
[It is an ordinary window. You feel as if someone passed by beyond it.]
'...A window?'
No matter how I looked at it, it was an ordinary window. Then there was only one answer.
'No way.'
My heart dropped.
Cold sweat drenched my spine.
'There's someone else in this school besides me...'