The shocking footage I saw immediately upon returning.
I vomited at it.
My senior frowned upon seeing me like that and spoke.
"Are you okay?"
"…S-sorry… I'm sorry."
He was asking if I was okay, but.
Reading the mood of my senior, whose tone, expression, and actions were not kind in the slightest, I had to clean up my vomit.
"…Tch."
"S-sorry… I was wrong……."
At those words, my senior sighed.
I had to keep my head bowed.
* * *
The woman in the footage killing people so cruelly.
Having seen that, Yeonu forwarded the video and spoke.
"You and I are alike."
"…Senior?"
"Why, we both killed people, didn't we?"
For the guy who had been so dejected until just now to say this, he really seemed like a psycho.
"…I-I'm scared."
"I don't kill people as cruelly as that… So shouldn't you be grateful?"
If I wasn't grateful, he would probably start killing me cruelly from now on.
My senior might not have meant it that way, but at least to me, that's how it sounded.
As I trembled and apologized, he sighed and soon kept replaying the end of the footage.
I just sat beside that senior and trembled.
Watching that footage, I thought.
Just what… what had been the problem.
'…What, what had been the problem.'
That we had left too early?
What if we had just dealt with the teacher?
If we had taken the teacher and crossed over…….
'Then… wouldn't there have been no reason for people to die?'
While thinking that and bowing my head deeply, gritting my teeth, at that moment.
"Hey, rookie."
"…?"
Minjun's voice was heard.
I raised my head and looked at my senior.
"Don't feel guilty."
"…."
"People dying is an everyday thing here. It's not your fault."
"Ah…."
"Well, since you're a monster, you'll probably catch some resentment."
After saying that, Minjun turned his gaze to the Observer who was carefully examining the footage.
'…I guess he's a good person at heart.'
Thinking that, I looked at the Chief.
"Why so?"
"Umm… th-then what should we do now…?"
"According to the report, we'll go around the schools where the homeroom teacher is presumed to be and catch her."
Having said that, the Chief—
I thought she had already vanished and we couldn't chase her.
Surprisingly, traces of her moving elsewhere remained.
At the basketball court behind the school field.
"…Isn't that… where I es-, escaped from?"
"Was it?"
"Yes…."
As I nodded, the Chief said it might have learned my actions and continued.
"Anyway, we discovered the monster's unique secretions there. And we discovered that the monster itself has not been destroyed."
"…."
"Which means, the monster phenomenon has moved to another school."
Of course, due to the incubation period, it won't be easily revealed.
Just as it had been when it was at our school.
"Anyway, that's why we'll be splitting up."
Having said that, the Chief said we should move out immediately.
"The dozing Observer will go with Yeonu, Minjun with Sion, and I will take a temporary teaching position and go around the two schools."
"Ch-Chief, why are you taking a temporary teaching position…?"
At that question, the Chief tilted her head, removed her sunglasses, and pointed at her own face.
"With these old eyes, you want me to play a high school student?"
"Ah…."
"Pfft."
Minjun laughed.
At that, the Chief frowned, sighed, and brought a map.
"…We'll be going to Ammyeon High and Garam High. Two high schools."
"…."
"I have a question."
"Yes, Yeonu, go ahead."
Yeonu raised his hand slightly and said he had a question.
The Chief told him to speak.
Curious as to what the question would be, I listened closely as the senior asked.
"Why are Sion and I being separated?"
Yeonu asked with a bright smile.
From that smile, I could sense killing intent.
"You don't know either."
"…Hiiik?!"
"…Hiiik?"
"Ah, guk…."
As I panicked, the Chief told me to stop and sighed.
"…It's because of combat."
"Combat…?"
"The Observer can infiltrate anywhere, so he's paired with Yeonu, who isn't good at long-range combat. Minjun is long-range, while Sion serves as a close-range shield, so I paired them together."
The Chief told us to go train if we understood.
At that, Yeonu nodded, got up from his seat, and looked at the Observer with dead eyes and spoke.
"Hey, come with me. I'll half-kill you."
"…Haa."
The Observer sighed and followed the senior out.
'I would have just killed him…….'
While I was thinking that at least it was fortunate.
"Rookie… It was Sion, right?"
"Y-yes…."
The bright-eyed psycho spoke to me.
When I answered with a squeak, the senior giggled and drew the gun from his waist.
"You revive, right?"
"…Uh, umm… Yes."
For some reason feeling like I shouldn't answer, I hesitated slightly, but my throat tightened and I ended up answering.
Then, the corners of the senior's eyes curved upward menacingly.
"…S-spare m—"
"We need to go train."
I desperately begged the Chief to save me, but Minjun covered my mouth and gripped my face tightly, dragging me out of the office.
I tried to resist by thrashing about wildly, but.
'What is this grip strength…!'
Against truly monstrous grip strength, I couldn't resist.
"Wow… With strength this weak, I wonder if you can be entrusted with anything."
"Urp…."
"Well, since you revive even if you die, I guess it's fine."
Minjun smiled a frightening smile.
At that, I was dragged to the training ground in tears.
* * *
"Sorry for dragging you here so roughly."
Having said that, Minjun, having changed into training clothes, smiled brightly and called me in.
"What are you doing? Come in."
"Uh… umm…."
The senior was in black clothes.
I was in white clothes, like a test subject.
When I asked why the clothes were like this.
"Ah… I'm the only one who's going to train."
"…Yes?"
Having said that, the senior told me to step inside first.
So I entered the training field, and the senior smiled brightly.
"…I'm curious how fast you revive."
"…!!"
—BANG!!!!
He pulled the trigger.
* * *
"Heup…!!"
My last memory was the senior's horrifying face.
And when I woke up again, the floor soaked red with blood and a churning nausea in my stomach greeted me.
Panicked, I fumbled at my head.
"…If I don't cut the neck, 15 minutes."
"…!!!"
A creepy voice came from beside me.
"You're up?"
"…Please spare me."
I asked with a trembling voice, but the senior smiled brightly and said.
"Isn't it better than Yeonu?"
"…."
"At least the gun kills instantly."
Having said that, the senior reloaded the pistol.
My breathing grew rough.
"What are you doing, not getting up."
But there was nothing I could do.
I could only pray this experiment would end quickly.
"Next is… how fast you revive when your neck is cut."
"…It's in the report… So please stop now…!"
I said that and tried to resist at least minimally, but.
"No."
"…!!"
"The Management Bureau lies a lot."
"…."
The senior's eyes changed frighteningly, and the gun barrel pointed at me.
"This time… I wonder if you'll go down after about two shots."
"Spare m—"
—BANG!!
Terrible pain spread, and red blood blossomed.
But I didn't die.
I couldn't breathe.
Tears welled up, and my gaze turned to the human… no, the monster before me.
"One shot left."
The senior said as if teasing me.
This person… likes monsters.
"Would be fun if you held out… yes!"
—BANG!!!!
In a somewhat twisted direction.
He completely likes monsters as toys.
And I am a monster.
To him, I'm nothing but a toy.
* * *
How many times had I died.
"…S-stop… Please stop… I want to live… Please… please…."
There on the drenched floor, I begged like that.
My white clothes had already turned red.
There were holes everywhere.
"…Head 15 minutes, heart 16 minutes, one lung 16 minutes, both lungs 20 minutes, kidneys, stomach, intestines, liver 17 minutes… and neck is 2-3 minutes."
Muttering so, the senior jotted them down one by one in his notepad.
"Why is only the neck so fast?"
"…Sp-spare me…."
"Yeah, I'll stop now."
The senior only waved his hand without even looking at me.
Yet despite that attitude, I shed tears of relief.
"Hic… aack… eugh…."
The tears wouldn't stop.
Seeing me like that, the senior smiled creepily and spoke.
"Good work."
"…."
I'm scared of this person.
Too scared to endure it.
'Senior Yeonu….'
I had thought there was no way I would miss Yeonu.
Even after losing everything to a monster, I even felt gratitude toward the senior who had been so generous to me.
* * *
After training ended.
After washing myself and completely removing the smell of blood, I put my uniform back on and came outside.
"…It hurts… It hurts."
I muttered so and hugged myself.
It hurt so much, but the reality that I couldn't resist was pure agony.
I had become nothing but a screaming target.
As I was trembling in fear.
—Chill.
"…!!"
Something extremely cold touched my cheek.
Startled, I turned to look.
"A gift."
"…Ah… g-g-g."
"You got too scared. Relax, it's over now."
Having said that, Minjun handed me a banana milk.
As I received it with trembling hands, the senior said it had been fun after a long time.
"It was fun after a long time."
"…."
"After washing up, this is definitely the way to go."
Saying so, the senior drank down his banana milk.
I shed tears and.
"…I d-drank it…."
"Really? That's a relief."
I drank the banana milk.