Raid

It was midnight.

I heard the sound of someone swinging something at the end of the hallway, so I checked to see if it was an intruder.

There, Suho was wielding his shield.

"What are you doing at this hour?"

"Huh? Ella is here?"

Now you don't get surprised when I suddenly appear behind.

As if Suho had not swung once or twice, he was covered in sweat.

What are you working so hard on?

"I just practiced because I wanted to handle the shield a little better."

This is a wonderful thing. But it is dangerous to be alone.

I didn't sprinkle purifying salt in the classroom and club room for nothing.

"It's dangerous to walk around alone. Aren't you too careless?"

Suho scratched his head at my words. He was smiling softly. I felt annoyed and asked why he was smiling.

"Seeing it this way. Ella seems to worry about us a lot."

"...I'm just keeping my promise. I know you want to protect them, but it's not good to be alone."

Suho became sullen. I felt a bit sorry for him, so I added some words.

"...If you're practicing, I'll stand by your side."

I avoided Suho's gaze, looking as if my words were surprising. I did said I would help them, but it is still unexpected.

First of all, it's because I'm a monster. Protecting them is enough to fulfill the promise, but this right now was obviously kindness.

"I'll only protect you for a short while. Go to bed when you're done."

"Uh... Okay."

After that, Suho silently swung his shield.

He seemed to pay attention to his center of gravity, as if he knew that it was easy to be swayed by a shield because he had the body of a child.

He also showed an attitude of throwing his attacks at a stable angle, and thinking about it, Ha-rim, Kyeong-min, and Suho all showed to have good brains.

Why is Eun-jeong not included? She doesn't like to move and often shows a fierce personality...

It's awkward just watching without saying anything. Shall we try talking?

Usually, children with tendencies to protect others often have an object of protection from early on in their lives.

Recalling that, I indirectly asked him.

"Do you have a brother?"1

"Eh? How did you know? I have one younger sister."

"Just a feeling."

"But why did you ask if I have a brother?"

When I brought up the topic, Suho stopped his practice and started talking. Looks like this guy is close with his sister.

I was an only child, so I wondered what it would feel like to have a younger sister.

"What does it feel like to have a sister? Just asking."

"Hm... Annoying. Sometimes we have to share a lot, and she always messes with my computer."

"..."

"But I am her brother. I want to protect her."

Is it like that? If I had an older brother(♀), no, an older brother(♂), would he have wanted to take care of me?2

No matter how much I think about it, I'm sure he would try to kick me out of the house like my mother... Even if I listen to him, it is difficult to understand.

"Understanding it... It's difficult."

As I muttered, Suho looked sad. Is it something to be so sad about not being able to form a consensus?

"Even if it's not necessarily a family member like a sister, you might want to protect someone. For example... Friends with weak stamina like Eun-jeong. The more affection you get, the bigger your heart grows. What about Ella?"

"Um... Because you are weaker than me, I want to protect you..."

Aren't I saying something very strange right now? What is this guy talking about?

Looking back, I could see that the corners of Suho's mouth went up the more I spoke. Could he be doing this on purpose...

"Are you teasing Ella?"

When I narrowed my eyes, he shook his hand in embarrassment.

"What? No! I'm just glad you're worried about us."

"...I remember being tickled the other day, so you better be careful."

"Ahaha... We were in a happy mood at that time. Did you hate it that much?"

"Did you just ask if I hated it?! You tormented Ella so mercilessly!"

I was honestly about to cry.

"But Ella made fun of us too. At that time, we were very embarrassed. It was your own fault!"

This little boy... Retorted?!

This guy! You've grown so much!

Sigh...

Enough. What I am doing arguing with the kid.

It's good that he's comfortable, but I never thought he'd tease me the other way around.

I don't hate it.

"Now go to bed and sleep. It's late."

"Okay."

Suho wiped himself with a towel hung in the bathroom and cleaned himself with soap. As I was staring at him, he gave me a glance asking me not to look.

I moved to another nearby mirror. After confirming that he had finished cleaning up and entered the club room, I continued to patrol.

...The younger sister.

She must be out there.

"..."

No. I accepted it. It's already over. I am not a child!

I washed my face dry to break my thoughts. I need to get some fresh air outside.

It was the moment when I slipped out of the mirror.

The paws of a white beast appeared in my field of vision.

"Urgh?!"

A physical force that could not be resisted with a body with a small mass. I said goodbye to the floor and my body flew through the air.

While flying, I looked back. White fur. Looks like a tiger. It's [Jangsanbeom]!3

Why are you here?

And he jumped out of the mirror.

Plus, right at the moment I got out of it

The situation is dire. But even if I am flying, the wall is right behind. I just need to kick it and jump towards him.

[Ding dong!]

I bent my legs to land on the wall, but there was no collision between my feet and what I was waiting for.

There is no wall. What happened?

without knowing why, I was pushed into the space that replaced the wall.

"An elevator?"

I intuitively sensed a crisis. But before I could even put strength into my legs, the elevator closed.

[Ding dong! Going to the 666th floor.]

"Open it! Open the door!"

I punched the door, but it didn't even budge. This was a "gimmick" type, so it seemed difficult to physically interfere.

[Ding dong!]

When I woke up, I was in a dark space. The elevator that took me was nowhere to be found.

I can't move to a mirror.

Shit...

POV Switch - Ha-rim

Tweet tweet tweet...

The sound of birds chirping.

A symbol of morning.

Me and the others opened our eyes. As expected, the moon hung in the sky greeted us.

Oh, good morning!

I shook Eun-jeong, who was sleeping, for her to wake up and fix her clothes.

[Everyone, we have to go to class now.]

The teacher said vacation is already over.

Soothing my regret, I asked Kyeong-min.

"What was this class again?"

"It's math!"

Eun-jeong complained.

"Urgh... I hate math."

I rummage through my bag to find the textbook... Where is it?

I searched everywhere, but it wasn't here.

It was full of strange trinkets.

There were a lot of bouncy balls that looked like frog eggs. But since I'm in school, I need the textbooks.

I put on my bag and said.

"Teacher, I don't have any books."

I told the truth to the teacher outside the classroom.

But why didn't he enter already?

[The teacher will give you an extra, so come outside.]

Everyone stood up at the same time. Then, one after another, they lined up and headed for the door.

I'm having a headache. Why? Is it because I ate salty food from the convenience store?

No, something is weird...

"Ha-rim, what's wrong?"

Suho asks me.

"I just feel like I forgot something. Come to think of it, Suho, didn't you forget your shield?"

"Oh, right. It's important, but I forgot."

Then, Kyeong-min and Eun-jeong also said they forgot and pulled out their own items.

"Let's go now."

We stood in a line, starting with Suho, and me at the very end. We opened the door and took two steps outside.

We always did this, so why it feels so awkward?

My head hurts. As if resisting something that invades the mind.

It's weird.

It's so strange!

[Survival].

The moment I left the classroom, the necklace glowed.

Immediately, I threw myself at the children in front.

The others who were pushed by my body fell down one after another.

"Urgh?!"

The paws of a white beast passed over my head at the same time we fell. A single attack powerful enough to cut the air; If it hit, our heads would have become powder.

Without a chance for the beast to raise its head, I pulled out the pin of the fire extinguisher that was right next to me and blocked its vision.

[Ha-rim, what are you doing!!!]

"Don't imitate the teacher!"

He is someone who listens to even a simple counseling seriously!

Swoosh!

The front paw swings again in the place where I was. It heard my voice and attacked, but missed.

I strongly shook Eun-jeong to bring her to her senses.

She rang the bell with a hazy expression.

-Jingle.

Then, the mind became clear and the members who noticed this abnormal situation took their positions.

Suho raised his shield and Kyeong-min opened his red notebook.

The fire extinguisher mist gradually disappeared and the monster that attacked us was revealed.

Red eyes and white fur. A monster in the shape of a tiger. I know what it is, it's a very famous monster.

Jangsanbeom.

A beast that mimics human voices. Its pictured to have a brutal, warlike and bloodthirsty image.

Faced with danger, Ella naturally came to my mind. Where is Ella? Why isn't she helping us?!

The salt sprinkled on the front door must have worked since it didn't attack us when we were sleeping!

I decided we had to go back inside.

"!!!"

But there, instead of a door, an elevator was revealing its inner space, like a beast opening its mouth.

The door was obviously on the inside of where the salt was sprinkled.

This was the loophole in preventing the "physical" intrusion that Ella was talking about.

Before I could fully grasp the situation, Jangsanbeom tensed. Kyeong-min noticed it and warned us.

"Be careful! It's going to jump!"

Hearing those words, Suho stepped forward. As expected, it, who kicked the floor and jumped to attack us, collided with the shield.

"Urgh!"

It wouldn't be strange if Suho was pushed back, but thanks to the enchantment on the shield, it seemed to have helped him maintain his position.

[Don't ignore the teacher's words!!!]

Before even asking if he's okay, Jangsanbeom prepares for the next attack.

It's better to dodge this attack than to block it.

"Eun-jeong!"

After calling her name, she rang the bell again.

-Jingle.

My body becomes lighter. After reading my thoughts, Suho backed away little by little, and with lighter movements, he let go of the attack, not blocking it anymore.

Our bodies became lighter, but the beast is still too fast.

I threw the empty fire extinguisher, but it doesn't affect it.

Even if we run away, he is faster than us who have the bell's effect! What do we do now! 

At this moment, Kyeong-min looked at the red notebook in his hand and muttered something.

He waved his hand as if performing a ritual and sprinkled red powder that suddenly appeared at the monster!

[Cough! Cough! Who's throwing the chalk!!]

It's movement have slowed down! With this, even if we run away, we won't be caught!

"We have no means of attack! Let's run away for now!"

Without Ella, who had the biggest power, all we could do was hold out.

We have to retreat.

After saying that, I turned around.

Then Eun-jeong grabbed my arm. She looked like she saw something bad.

No way...

[Am I pretty?]

...A woman in a red mask was approaching from the other hallway.

I wanted to scream.

But no. In such urgent situation, we can't run away, and Suho, who keeps blocking the other monster, is also being pushed back.

We can survive if we take one side out.

Action rather than thought. All of a sudden, I ran towards the Jangsanbeom.

"Suho, stop him!"

"You're being reckless again!"

While Suho said that, he protected me with his shield from the attack. I deliberately hit Jangsanbeom and ran away.

[Oh my god~ Did Ha-rim hit me? I guess she wants to die?]

Now it even imitates Ella's way of speaking. It feels dirty.

"I'll take care of him! You guys, while dealing with that woman, find an opportunity and run away!"

I ran towards the stairs to the next floor. The monster moved at the same speed as me even while cursed by Kyeong-min. I rummaged through my bag.

I took a sticker among the frog eggs. How do I use this?

-Ella. How do we use this?

-It's a sticker. Just take it off.

The school stairs are in the form of a curved square staircase. When you climb all the first steps, the second part is faced the other way. The moment Jangsanbeom was going to pass by me, I used the sticker.

I felt a strange aura enveloping me.

I noticed my body became transparent!

I held my breath and leaned against the wall.

"..."

Fortunately, it passed by me and ran upstairs.

Did I barely escaped him?

I calmed my excessively beating heart and organized my thoughts.

Monsters broke into the school. The number is at least three. An elevator monster, a red mask, and the long-legged behemoth.

Let's see what I can do.

I sneaked up the stairs and thought of a way to kill the Jangsanbeom.

If I use the items I picked outside the school...

[Hahahaha! Kakakaka!]

Laughter interrupts my thoughts.

I put my body back against the wall and inspected the situation.

Kids my age walk by, laughing happily.

They shook like mirages.

Even so, the dangerous weapons in their hands scratched the walls and floors.

Thankfully, I was still transparent, so I wasn't caught, but if I'm chased by both Jangsanbeom and the kids at the same time, I will one-hundred percent die.

What's happening.

Ella, where the hell are you!