Surviving Among the Entities

The test was over. The test papers vanished in the blink of an eye and soon appeared floating around King Sejong.

[It’s time for grading.]

King Sejong, who had been diligently rolling his eyes, let out a broad grin.

[You! It’s not ‘jjajangmyeon’ but ‘jajangmyeon’!]
“Your Majesty King Sejong, as of August 31, 2011, the National Institute of Korean Language officially acknowledged ‘jjajangmyeon’ as standard Korean as well.”
[…Is that so?]

King Sejong fell silent.

[You! It’s not ‘taekkyon’ but ‘taekkyeon’!]
“Your Majesty King Sejong, as of August 31, 2011, the National Institute of Korean Language officially acknowledged multiple standard spellings for ‘taekkyon’.”
[…Aha! Here’s one! It should be ‘sonnabak’ not ‘sonnapak’!]
“As of the third quarter of 2014, ‘sonnapak’ became the standard spelling for that word, not ‘sonnabak’. Since it’s no longer considered to have multiple standard spellings, only ‘sonnapak’ is accepted!”

King Sejong’s suffering continued thereafter.

“‘Infant malnutrition’ has been changed to be written as one word, ‘yuaayoungsiljojeung’.”
“‘Frame composition’ has also been changed to be written separately as ‘akjasik guseong’.”
“‘Bakkwissal’ is now standardized as ‘bakkhussak’.”
“‘General term’ has been changed to be written separately as ‘ilban yongeo’.”

Entities sometimes engage in wordplay.
Since they may try to deceive the other party and lead them into traps using various grammar rules or words, the first training agents receive is to thoroughly learn the language of the country they’re being dispatched to, which is why all agents are dictation experts.

“All of these are the official stances of the National Institute of Korean Language that governs Korean orthography, so these are the standard spellings.”
[…Please just stop changing them!]

The frustrated King Sejong cried out and collapsed.
Seeing the entity petrify back into a statue in that state, the agents let out sighs of relief.

“Thank goodness. It was easy because it wasn’t the real King Sejong.”
『That’s right. After all, it was an entity born from the students’ ghost stories, so it couldn’t be the real King Sejong.』
“If it was the real one, there would be no spaces, we’d have to use obsolete letters, and all the words and speech would be in Middle Korean, right?”
“Just imagining that is terrifying.”
『It’s fortunate this is a high school. If it had been a college of humanities and social sciences with departments like Korean literature, history, etc., we might have faced a ‘Middle Ages King Sejong’ that closely resembled the real one.』
“Oh! Don’t say such terrifying things!”

Since the entity’s solution was easier than expected, the tension among the agents dissipated.
At that moment, the schoolyard speakers activated.

[♬♪♬♩]
[Class is now beginning. Students in the schoolyard, please enter the classrooms.]
[Students who do not enter will be directly disciplined by the student affairs teacher.]

The cheerful announcement played over the speakers.

“Entities born from information bodies often issue warnings to enforce their peculiarities.”
“If the warnings aren’t heeded, they often manifest their peculiarities. Let’s go inside quickly.”

Kim Go-deuk took the lead towards the main building.
However, a colossal statue blocked their path.

[Ah, there are only a few pages left.]

It was a white statue of a girl reading a book.
The statue turned the pages with a sad expression, genuinely shedding tears of sorrow each time.

[If I finish reading this book, all the students who haven’t graduated by then will die. Sob! It’s so sad! But I have no choice but to keep reading this book! I can’t do anything but read books all alone!]

This was an entity they couldn’t ignore.
Before anyone could say anything, another announcement began playing.

[One minute remains. Students, please move to the classrooms immediately.]
[59, 58, 57, 56……]

Kim Go-deuk pushed the agents’ backs.

“All of you, go inside.”
“Pardon? Then what about you, Master?”
“I must confront that entity. If we leave it be, who knows what peculiarity might activate? According to its words, everyone remaining in the school could fail to graduate and die.”
“But! If that’s the case, let’s all stay and confront it together!”
“You must have dozed off during training. Didn’t I say that all entities have a means of neutralization? You find that method. And disciple, why do you speak as if I will surely die?”

He bared his teeth in a grin. The pristine teeth he had restored upon becoming an agent shone brilliantly, exuding presence.

“Not entering the classroom doesn’t mean death. It just means corporal punishment, something a martial artist should be able to withstand.”
“…You must definitely survive. We’ll finish this quickly.”
“Kehkeh! Of course! No martial artist enters a battle prepared for defeat!”
『Master Go-deuk! We’ll be right back after finishing this quickly!』

The other agents all entered the main building.
After waving goodbye to them, Kim Go-deuk took a stance.

“However, we do prepare to seize victory at the cost of our lives.”
[What? Are you going to play with me? I’m so happy! Let’s play tag!]
“Is that what you want?”
[Yes! If you don’t chase me for over a minute, I’ll read the book!]
“I’ll gladly play with you.”
[Then let’s start!]

The girl reading the book began running away. Fortunately, her speed wasn’t very fast.

‘I mustn’t catch her. I just need to keep chasing her.’

His concern was the announcement.

[4, 3, 2, 1, end.]
[The student affairs teacher sleeping in the student council room has woken up.]

To be precise, the existence of the “student affairs teacher” was concerning, but it didn’t immediately reveal itself.

‘It’s still manageable for now!’

As he maintained a suitable distance while chasing the girl reading the book, something suddenly entered Kim Go-deuk’s field of vision.

[I think, therefore I am.]

A deep teal-colored statue of a person in contemplation addressed Kim Go-deuk.

[Think along with me. Realize the principles of the world and become a philosopher.]
“My apologies, but now is not the time for me to cultivate my mind techniques, so I must refuse.”
[No, you must.]

The contemplative statue rose from its spot, its over 5-meter stature following closely behind Kim Go-deuk.

[Those who do not think shall be forced to think!]
“This is madness.”

Considering King Sejong’s peculiarity, if the contemplative statue caught him, he might be forced into a thinking pose and become immobilized.

[Kukahaha! How fun! I don’t feel like reading the book anymore!]

Then he wouldn’t be able to play with the girl reading the book, putting the agents’ lives at risk.

‘This is no time for moderation.’

Kim Go-deuk unleashed his form.

“Hwaryongpacheon-su!”

Creating a river of fire, smashing the sky, and soaring like a dragon.
His silhouette slicing through the wind captured the girl reading the book.

[Ah! I’m caught! Then let’s change the rules again!]

At that moment, the girl reading the book vanished.

[If you can’t catch me within 3 minutes, I’ll read the book! But I won’t go into the building, so don’t worry!]

Oh no, did she teleport?
Now he had to play hide-and-seek in addition to tag.

‘The difficulty has increased.’

But that wasn’t the end of it.

[Orrewa!]

In the distance, the armored statue of Yi Sun-sin, sword drawn and eyes blazing, came for him.

[Isunshinmoo-desu!]

With a swing of his sword, a long gash was left on the schoolyard.
Kim Go-deuk narrowly dodged the attack, but his clothes were sliced, prompting a bitter smile.

“A school built by traitors to the nation?”

『Will Grandfather be alright?』
“He’ll be fine. Master is tougher and more tenacious than you can imagine.”

The agents who had entered the main building began searching the area.
As a result of their search, they found a method to resolve this situation through a notice.

[Graduation Requirements]
[Pass 6 exams]
[Exam Subjects: History (Not Taken) / Physical Education (Not Taken) / Art (Not Taken) / Mathematics (Not Taken) / Music (Not Taken) / Science (Not Taken)]
[The pass/fail status of each subject is shared among all students.]
[If all six subjects are passed, the entire grade level will graduate.]

“So we graduate if we pass six subjects.”
『It seems to target all the students.』
“Since it’s a high school, the basic premise is that an entire grade level graduates together. But ‘graduation’, does that mean being freed from the entity?”
『The context suggests a high probability of that.』

Kim Mi-ri suggested splitting up the personnel.

“Let’s divide into two groups and quickly complete the subjects before Master gets too exhausted. The entity might treat Master as part of the same grade level as us, and there’s a possibility the entity’s manifestation will stop if we graduate.”
『Let’s do that.』

With Kim Mi-ri as the center, there were 6 agents.
With Shin Yeong-mun as the center, there were 5 agents.

“See you later, then.”
『See you later.』

The exam locations weren’t specified. So the two groups split up to search for the exam locations separately.

“That room looks suspicious.”

It was the only clean classroom in the dilapidated school building.

“Let’s go in.”

As soon as Kim Mi-ri entered the classroom, she scanned the interior.

The cleaning closet at the back of the classroom.
The wooden, old-fashioned desks and chairs, and the green chalkboard that still used chalk.
On the bulletin board, posters that said “We’re a water-scarce nation, let’s save water!” and “Drive out the Communists!”

“The style is quite old-fashioned. By any chance, did any agents born in the 80s or 90s study in classrooms like this?”
“It’s a nostalgic classroom. With over 50 desks, it could even be from before the 90s. During the baby boomer era, classrooms were overcrowded.”

An agent born in ’91 kindly added an explanation.

“It’s unimaginable these days.”
“That’s why corporal punishment was so severe back then. With so many students, strict punishment was necessary for control. Group punishments were common too. There was one time when our entire class ranked last, so our buttocks were……”

The agent trailed off, abruptly closing his mouth.
Then, after gesturing for silence, he pointed to a corner of the chalkboard.

[Talkative Person]
[Hong Seong-woo 一]

Following that, the chalk began moving on its own, writing on the blackboard.

[The history exam will now begin.]

The agents took their seats.
As soon as they sat down, test papers were laid out before them.

[There are a total of 10 questions. Passing requires correctly answering 5 or more.]
[If even one person passes, the exam ends there.]

The agents checked the first question.

[1. Become the Gwangbokgun (Liberation Army) of the Republic of Korea and alter history. Altering 50% or more will be considered correct.]

The moment they finished reading the question, the world changed.

“Chun-ja! You’re awake!”
“Oh my! Thank you, Lord!”
“?”

Suddenly, people were crying out while looking at them.
The startled Kim Mi-ri asked:

“Who are you?”
“Girl! Can’t you even recognize your own parents?”
“Oh no! Our daughter has lost her memory!”

After a brief conversation with the ones claiming to be her parents, Kim Mi-ri grasped the situation.

‘So it’s currently August 29, 1910?’

She had become Park Chun-ja, born in Korea at the start of the Japanese occupation.

On a bright moonlit late evening.
Just past midnight, on the cusp of Sunday, a group of people arrived at the quiet abandoned school.

“Ugh, why did we get dragged here like some ghosts?”
“What, are you scared of ghosts? A former marine is afraid of ghosts?”
“Ah, I’m not scared!”
“Hi hi everyone! We ended up coming here after all! There’s definitely supposed to be someone receiving a penalty, but why do we have to receive the penalty too? Am I imagining things?”

The group of about six people each carried equipment and began filming.
Among them, the overwhelmingly shortest person stepped forward.

“Ddeu……”

And shuddered while looking at the eerie abandoned school.

“Ddeuddaei……”

BJ Ddeuddaei.
Her real name was Lee So-hee, and she inwardly berated her past self.

‘Aish! I should have just refused this!’

Her broadcasting concept was a tough guy style.
Of course, she could only say “ddeuddaei” verbally, and her outward appearance was that of a pretty young girl, making the gap a major appeal factor.

Naturally, she possessed remarkably mismatched abilities like outstanding physical prowess.
Or drawing exceptionally well.
Or having outstanding singing abilities despite only saying “ddeuddaei”.
Or being highly skilled at making music.
Or being insanely good at games.
Or delivering top-notch acting despite only being able to say “ddeuddaei” for her lines.

She was a popular broadcaster adored for her seemingly superhuman talents bordering on savant syndrome, but even she had a weakness.

“Our Ddeuddaei is scared, isn’t she?”
“That’s why you shouldn’t make bets. The footage of her fainting during ‘Hell or Heaven Drop’ is still circulating online.”

Her weakness was being easily frightened.
Her transformed body had no resistance to fear, and just recently, when she went to Sarang Industries’ amusement park to perform a penalty, she tried acting tough but ended up having to perform another penalty.

“Is our So-hee scared? Should your sister hug you?”

Her manager and older neighbor sister, Lee Ye-seul, approached with a beaming smile.
As a man, Ye-seul would have been an unattainable beauty, but as a fellow woman now, she was just a wicked older sister mocking her.

“Ddeuddaei!”

So-hee protested.
Ghosts do exist, she argued, and what would they do if a real ghost appeared?

“So-hee, there are no ghosts. Ahahaha! Why are you so cute?”

This was her philosophy that since the miracle of a man transforming into a woman had occurred, ghosts must also exist, but no one understood her.

“Are you going to go in right away? As expected of our Ddeuddaei!”
“But why did we come here?”
“To leech off her views while pretending we can’t stop her.”
“Yam-ma, you’re saying it so bluntly!”

In the midst of this, a mechanical sound came from someone’s smartphone.

[Ddeuddaei is love]
[1,000 won donation]
[Yah yah, wasn’t there a police line there earlier? I think I just saw it?]

Alerted by the donation message, they zoomed their cameras in on the back gate.

“There’s nothing there?”
“Ai, our Ddeuddaei is just trying to scare us, isn’t she?”
“Isn’t Ddeuddaei crying?”
“Ddeuddaei!”

Lee So-hee strode forward with determination.

‘Let’s finish this quickly and rest.’

Following her, the remaining five also entered the school through the back gate.

[Ddeuddaei is love: No, I really did see it.]

Shortly after.

[The broadcast has ended.]

Their broadcast had ended.