9 Chapter 9 - The clock struck nine thirty

They returned to their room about ten minutes before nine-thirty. As for the others, they had not returned yet. Chu Han peered at the doors of the NPCs with a small frown. "Jun, should we protect them too, right?"

Jun Siwoo coldly looked at the doors. "They are meant to die to give us clues."

"But it doesn't sound right," Chu Han clenched his fist tightly. He had talked with these girls; he had been with them for a while, so he inevitably wanted them to be safe. Irrespective of whether they were real living people or NPC characters of a game.

"Is there any way to stay together?" He paused by the seniors' room.

Jun Siwoo looked back at him. "Coming?"

"I just want to talk to them for a bit."

Nodding, he glanced at his watch. "You have ten minutes; if you don't return, I'm locking the door," he coldly whispered and left.

He could sense impatience in Jun's tone. 'Sorry, Jun, I can't go against my consciousness.' He knocked on the door. Inside, he heard nothing. Even the lights were not on. "Sister? Are you guys in? I've just returned from the mini-mart. I've got snacks."

The door did not open, even so. He waited and waited and waited… nothing. No one opened the door. Sighing, Chu Han decided to give up on this idea. He moved to his room and checked the doorknob. It was surprisingly open. He poked his head in first. Jun had already laid down on the bed and seemed to be breathing.

"Are you asleep?"

"You're noisy. Come in."

Chu Han rushed in and closed the door after him. With a frown, he looked at the door. The lock was broken. "Do you know of any DIY ways to lock the door?"

"Do you think a locked door is going to stop a ghost?"

Chu Han glanced back at him with a pout. "But it will make us feel a bit secure."

"Just lie down; you're making a racket."

Sighing, Chu Han laid down on his single bed. His eyes sought out Jun with a pout. "Are you upset with me because I suggested we protect them?"

Jun suddenly opened his eyes and turned to his side. His upturned eyes looked like they were glaring at him, but the warmth in his pupils told otherwise. "Don't be swayed by beauty."

"Huh? But I wasn't."

"Just saying," he turned to the other side, showing his back to him. "Now sleep."

Like clockwork, at nine-fifteen, the current went out.

The whole room was shrouded in darkness. He silently opened the chip packet, but that cover gave out a loud crumpling sound.

Jun, who had closed his eyes, gazed his way accusingly.

"so hungry… I wish we had a stove. We could have cooked the ramen." He simply chowed down on the crunchy ramen and ate the chips in a hurry.

Quickly, time went by. His Apple Watch beeped, indicating that it was only two minutes before nine-thirty. He quickly laid down, silently unmoving. His eyes peered at the moldy ceiling. His mind was racing. The clues they found were ample. But the thought that they had to sacrifice the NPCs to get more clues left a bad taste in his mouth.

'Do they really have to die, though?'

Those girls seemed to open up to him after just a few hours. Maybe in a day, he would be able to bring out many other clues just by talking to them.

He sat up. 'I'm not going to let them die.'

He gripped the torchlight in his hand tightly and searched around the room for weapons.

Suddenly, he noticed a piercing pair of eyes peering at him from the other bed. "Oh, Jun… I thought you were sleeping. Sorry, did I disturb you?"

"What are you doing?"

"Searching for weapons." Chu Han crawled under the bed and found a small nail with bits of hair stuck to it. He wedged that between his fingers and made a fist. "I can try to punch the ghosts?"

Jun sat up, exasperated by this new roommate of his. "I can try to. But im not sure I can live to tell the tale,"