What the Hell!

Several students huddled on the floor in a room resembling a storage area. Their faces were tired and filled with fear. 

Old, worn-out items were scattered everywhere, and stacks of cardboard boxes filled the space. Broken desks and chairs were neatly stored but covered in dust. Even cobwebs occasionally clung to the ends of their hair. 

"For now, we're safe here," said a young man with messy brownish-black hair. He glanced at the students who had taken refuge in this place. They were all huddled in silence, trembling with fear. 

"We're going to die..." 

Hearing those words, the young man turned toward a female student sitting at the room's far end. 

"We're going to die. When they manage to get in here, we'll all die..." the long-haired girl repeated in a hoarse, trembling voice. 

The young man slowly approached the girl, who was staring blankly at the dusty floor. "Calm down, Nao. Everything will be fine." 

The girl looked up, revealing a pair of round, beautiful eyes clouded with despair. "But Riku, no help has come. No one is coming." 

Kuroda Riku, the young man with messy hair, fell silent. He looked down for a moment. It was true—they had been hiding in this place since noon. Now, as evening approached, there was nothing they could do. They all just sat there, seemingly waiting for death to come. 

"I... I'm sure help will come. We have to hold on until the police arrive." 

"Even if the police come... how will they know we're here?" Nao asked. 

Riku fell silent again. Nao had a point. "I-I don't know. But we can figure that out later." 

Hearing his response, Takeda Nao slumped back down, defeated. 

"Besides, being stuck in the school storage room isn't too bad. As we're safe as we can keep that door secure, we glanced at the door—the only way in and out of the room. It was their barrier from the terrifying world outside. 

"Are you kidding? We'll suffocate in here!" Suddenly, one of the students spoke up, responding to Riku's words. 

"Yeah! We can't stay here for too long," another student agreed. 

It was true—the place was filled with dust everywhere, making it uncomfortable. The air was stuffy and hot, and the ventilation holes above were clogged with dirt, making it hard for air to circulate. 

"If you hadn't dragged us here, maybe we could've escaped to our homes by now," they complained. 

"What are you talking about? If You'd be dead by now hadn't taken shelter here, you'd retort. 

In their desperation, they began blaming each other. Their minds were filled with unanswered questions, and the chaotic situation made it hard for them to think clearly. 

Five students, including Kuroda Riku and Takeda Nao, escaped and hid in the storage room. They were avoiding the horrifying tragedy that had suddenly unfolded. 

"We can't stay here forever!" one of them exclaimed. 

"Then what should we do?" Riku asked. 

"We need to get out of this cursed school and go home!" another student replied. 

"Huh? Are you crazy? How? The moment we step out that door, we'll be attacked!" Riku shot back, pointing at the storage room door.

Someone suddenly grabbed Riku's uniform collar with an annoyed expression. "Listen, we're all stuck here because of you!" 

Riku's face tightened. It was clear he was trying to hold back his anger. "Why do you always blame others, huh?" 

"If you want to leave, then go. Stop yapping here," Riku added. 

"What did you say?" 

The atmosphere in the storage room grew increasingly tense. No one wanted to back down or admit fault, and they kept blaming each other. The dust floating around in the storage room probably clouded their minds. 

"Riku, enough!" 

The young man turned toward Nao, who was trying to mediate. However, the girl suddenly collapsed onto the dirty floor. Riku clicked his tongue, pushed the student who had grabbed his collar and rushed over to help Nao. 

"Are you okay, Nao?" Riku asked. 

"Don't fight at a time like this," Nao murmured, advising Riku. 

The messy-haired young man fell silent momentarily, then bowed his head before Nao. "...Sorry." 

The other three students stared at the two of them. "Are you two dating?" one of them blurted out. 

"Seriously? Hey, are you dating that paralyzed girl?" another chimed in. 

Riku's breathing grew heavy. It felt like blood was rushing to his head. His jaw tightened, and his teeth gritted. Feeling Riku's anger, Nao grasped his arms and shook her head slowly, motioning him to disregard them.

"Seriously, I can't remain in this suffocating storeroom any longer. I must get out of here and head home," the student fighting with Riku replied.

"I agree. If we stay here, we'll starve to death. Without food or water, there's no way we can survive. The only way is to get out of this school and find help," another student added. 

"Riku, are you coming with us or staying in this dump?" 

Riku ignored the question. He remained silent, bowing his head next to Nao. All eyes were on the two of them. 

"Don't blame us if you two rot in here," the student said as he grabbed the storage room door handle. 

Meanwhile, Riku was overwhelmed with confusion. What they said was true. They couldn't stay here forever without food supplies. Humans could only survive for three days without water. There was no sign of when help would arrive, no indication that the police or anyone else was coming. Riku was drowning in his uncertainty. 

"Listen, from here, we'll run as fast as possible toward the school gate. If we keep running, those creatures won't be able to catch us." 

"But the school gate is still closed." 

"That's fine. We'll climb over it!" 

"Alright. Let's get out of here before sunset." 

The three students discussed how they could escape the Koryo High School grounds. Riku and Nao remained silent in the corner of the room. 

"If you want to go with them, it's okay. I won't go because I'll slow you down," Nao said softly. 

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Riku asked, looking at the girl. 

"Go, Riku. Save yourself." 

"No, Nao. What are you saying? Listen to me carefully. We'll survive. Believe me. We need to wait until he comes," Riku insisted, trying to reassure Nao. 

"...Him?" 

"That's right. Him—"

Before Riku could finish his sentence, he heard the sound of the door being opened. The evening sunlight streamed into the dark, stuffy storage room. Riku and Nao looked up, watching as the three students in front of them began running out. 

"Hey, wait! Don't go out!" Riku shouted, standing up and rushing after the three students. But it was too late. They had already run out of the storage room. 

Riku reached the doorway. He could only watch as his friends ran as fast as they could toward the school gate. For a moment, Riku thought they might make it. But unfortunately, the transformed students began chasing and surrounding them from all directions. One by one, Riku's friends were brought down. 

"Get away from me! Get away!" 

The three of them struggled, trying to break free. Sadly, none of their efforts succeeded. More and more of the transformed students swarmed around them. 

Nao struggled to reach the storage room door, dragging her legs, which she couldn't move. When she finally reached Riku's side, she was horrified by the gruesome scene unfolding before her. 

Their three friends couldn't escape. Surrounded and attacked in the middle of the path, their screams of pain echoed throughout the school, drawing even more of the undead. 

Riku and Nao stood frozen, unable to do anything. Only stunned expressions were visible on their faces. Once again, they witnessed the horrors of this school of death firsthand. 

. 

. 

. 

Takeshi didn't know exactly what had happened between Ryuji and Karin in the school hallway. Takeshi and Emi had left them behind at that time. But if what Ryuji said was true, this could be valuable information. 

Takeshi tried to recall what had happened earlier. The students had chased and bitten each other, attacking relentlessly. Many of them had collapsed on the classroom floors and hallways, drenched in blood. But moments later, they got back up. Takeshi saw it as if they had become something different—something he had never imagined. 

They rose and began blindly chasing other students—what Ryuji had referred to as the walking dead. Remembering the incident before the faculty room, Takeshi felt these undead might be in pain. No matter how many times they were hit, they kept standing and attacking again. 

"At the very least, what we need to remember is not to let them bite us," Takeshi said, looking at Ryuji and Emi individually, emphasizing the point to both of them. 

"So we'll turn into them if we're bitten?" Emi asked, seeking confirmation. 

Takeshi looked at Emi seriously before finally giving a slight nod in response. "No matter what happens, none of us can get bitten by them." 

Ryuji got up from his seat and began pacing around the room. His left hand rested on his hip while his right hand scratched his forehead in confusion. "Well, our original plan was to come here and ask the teachers for an explanation. But look at this now. The room is empty, filled with useless stuff." 

"I'll try calling for help," Takeshi said, using the office phone in the faculty room. 

He tried several times to call the emergency number 110 to contact the local police station, but there was no answer. Takeshi then switched to 119 to call for help from the fire department. Still, the result was the same: No one answered his calls.

"The emergency numbers aren't working. It seems like their lines are busy," Takeshi informed them. 

"Huh?" Emi's face showed confusion. "Doesn't that mean... out there is also..." 

The three of them exchanged glances, falling silent as their thoughts raced. Ryuji snorted in frustration. "So, no one's coming to save us, huh?" 

"I'm trying," Takeshi said, continuing to use the school phone. 

Emi bit her finger, her anxiety starting to overwhelm her. "Then what should we do..." she murmured. 

"Dammit." Takeshi slammed the phone down hard. He couldn't reach anyone. Takeshi felt that they might genuinely be isolated right now. 

Ryuji walked over to the computer on the desk. "Takeshi, let's try using this." 

Takeshi approached his friend. He sat in the chair and tried to operate the computer before him. 

"It's not working," he said after a moment. 

"Huh?" Ryuji was puzzled. "Why isn't it working?" he asked again. 

Takeshi then checked every part of the old tube computer, from the monitor to the CPU. Nothing seemed out of place. He bent down under the desk, hoping to find something wrong. His suspicion was correct. Takeshi pulled out the power cord and showed it to Ryuji. "...The cable's cut." 

"Let's try another computer!" Ryuji said, moving to another teacher's desk. 

There were seven old tube computers in the room. Emi quickly joined in to help. The three of them separately tried each laptop, hoping to find one they could use to gather information about the horrifying events. 

"Guys! Come here quickly!" Emi shouted after a while. 

Ryuji and Takeshi immediately rushed over to Emi. Sure enough, Emi had found one computer that was still functioning normally. 

"Try looking up today's news," Takeshi said. 

Emi's slender fingers danced across the keyboard, searching for news sites as Takeshi had instructed. The unstable internet connection forced them to wait patiently for the news to load on the screen. 

"Here it is!" Emi exclaimed as the site she was looking for finally opened. 

The three of them read the news article with serious expressions. The article detailed various incidents happening outside the school. Some sites reported road accidents, while others mentioned unusual behaviour from residents attacking each other. 

Emi, Takeshi, and Ryuji exchanged glances. What was displayed on the computer screen was almost identical to what was happening inside their school. 

"When were these articles published?" Takeshi asked. 

"Hold on," Emi replied, searching for the publication time of the articles they had read. "This was released this morning," she added. 

Takeshi lowered his head and sighed. The situation outside was just as chaotic. No wonder he couldn't reach anyone. From the police, ambulances, and fire department to his home phone—none of them were reachable. 

Ryuji left Takeshi and Emi and walked over to the room's window. His hands gripped the cream-coloured curtains, then pushed them aside. Ryuji slid the window open wide. 

The soft glow of the setting sun greeted him. What lay before Ryuji now was a world outside the school in complete disarray. Thick black smoke rose between the streets and tall buildings. Ryuji's jaw tightened. In his heart, he wondered about all of this. About what was happening. 

"What the hell is this..."

…