You've been stuck in this school for at least five months. What have you been eating to get by?

Before she could comprehend what was happening, Charles sternly said, "Come out. I'll say this only once."

Frozen for a moment, Linda then heard a rustling noise behind her. Turning around, she was shocked to discover a disheveled man lurking behind a pile of debris.

The man raised his hands, revealing a sinister smile, "Don't... don't shoot me. I'm not a bad person!"

...

"Human: Low-Level Danger"

"Note: Congratulations, you've actually found a living person here! But there's no reward."

...

Slowly, Charles lowered his gun and asked, "Who are you?"

The man chuckled, "It's a long story. This place isn't safe. Ghosts will soon be here. Let me take you to the basement."

Charles nodded.

The man then moved a floor tile under his feet, revealing an unexpected source of light beneath!

The two followed the man into the basement, where he meticulously restored the entrance and checked it multiple times before finally relaxing.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Matthew, a federal investigator. Here is my ID."

Matthew handed over his identification to Charles, and the two exchanged some brief information.

"You came alone?" Charles arched an eyebrow, his finger brushing across the edge of a table lamp. No dust.

Matthew settled himself onto a worn-out sofa and exhaled deeply.

"No, about five months ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation took note of this school. All the students and teachers had mysteriously vanished. Under increasing public pressure, we had no choice but to come investigate."

Matthew began recounting his tale with deliberate care.

"As it turns out, the team I led here for the investigation had thirty-two members in total. However, on the very day we arrived, the mist arose, just like now. 

We were attacked by terrifying unknown entities within that mist. Despite our advanced weaponry and equipment, we were nearly annihilated without even laying eyes on our assailants."

"I managed to escape with the remaining six members of my team into a dormitory building, where we found temporary sanctuary."

"After the mist lifted, we realized there was no escaping the school. The gates were enshrouded in that horrifying mist."

"So we've been reduced to merely surviving in this eerie school!" Matthew said.

"If I may ask, what happened to the six teammates who were with you?" Charles questioned, as he noticed a further change in Matthew's already troubled expression.

"Dead," Matthew said.

Charles pressed on, "According to you, you've been stuck in this school for at least five months. What have you been eating to get by?"

Matthew's countenance turned even graver. "Can we not talk about that?"

Just then, a bizarre noise emanated from above them—a screech, as if a rusted machine had suddenly been set into motion, producing a grating sound. This was immediately followed by a cacophony of frenzied, jumbled footsteps overhead.

The trio held their breath, too unnerved to even exhale forcefully, all ears focused on the unsettling footsteps. 

They found it nearly impossible to imagine what sort of creature could generate such scalp-tingling footsteps. It paced to and fro for an agonizingly long time before finally leaving.

"I only discovered this refuge not long ago; otherwise, I would have been dead by now," Matthew whispered, lowering his voice and moving closer to the other two.

Looking at the man beside him, Charles asked, "You've been living in this school for five months and haven't encountered anything horrifying?"

Matthew gave a wry smile. "How could I not have encountered anything? Although I don't know how you got in here, it's evident you haven't been here long."

"The dangers in this school far surpass anything you could possibly imagine! Most of the people you've seen in here so far... they're not living."

As his words fell, Linda was so startled she nearly wet herself—again.

"This school is ensnared in a terrifying cycle of recurring curses, taking place every seven days," Matthew continued. 

"These students and teachers, who are like walking dead, will die one by one within those seven days, only to be reborn and relive the cycle of death."

"As you get closer to the final day of the cycle, increasingly horrific events will unfold."

"I've witnessed it myself. On the seventh day of the last cycle, every teacher and student in the school was walking around holding their own bloody heads, patrolling every nook and cranny of the campus."

"If they find you..." Matthew shivered involuntarily at this point. 

Clearly, the experience had left an indelible scar on his psyche. He didn't wish to recount or describe it any further.

"So... how did you manage to evade all this?" Linda asked, her face tinged with desperation.

"If this man has survived in this high school for five months, then surely he can help us get through seven days," she thought.

Matthew patted the sofa beneath him as if hinting at some untold strategy.

"Ah, yes—" 

Matthew began, "I had taken refuge in the storage room at the time, and by chance, I found this basement. That's how I narrowly escaped."

Linda's eyes lit up upon hearing this. She excitedly grabbed Charles's arm. "I get it! The storage room must be a hidden safe zone. As long as we stay put and don't wander off, we'll make it through the seven days!"

Charles's face, however, remained devoid of any relief or joy.

Matthew looked at Linda's buoyant expression and let out a regretful sigh. "Miss, the situation is likely far more complicated than you're imagining."

The smile on Linda's face began to fade. "What do you mean?"

Matthew elaborated, "The power of the curse within this school is growing stronger. True, the storage room used to be a safe haven; those ghosts outside would completely ignore it, not even giving the room a second glance."

"But later on, they started lingering around the storage room, even knocking on the door, testing to see if anyone was inside. And eventually... they forcibly entered the storage room, searching everything in it."

"During the seventh day of the last cycle, I was hiding in this basement and came perilously close to being exposed."

"So, I surmise that the curse's influence has already spread to this area. If we continue to hide in this basement during this cycle of the curse, I fear—"

Matthew suddenly shut his mouth. Overhead, the sound of footsteps had resumed, and this time... they were alarmingly more frequent. The tension among the three was at a breaking point.

They held their breaths, daring not to exhale too forcefully. It was clear that there was more than one ghost presence above them. If their location were revealed, death would be a certainty.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Suddenly, a series of impacts resonated from the ground below them. It was as if some cunning ghost above was inspecting the floor!