Surviving in an RPG Maker Horror Game

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

Seeing my expression, Dayeon brought her face close to mine.

“What’s wrong? You look bothered.”

“…Are you seriously asking me that?”

I brought up the message for Key Number 1 again.

[Key Number 1]

【Small key. The number 1 is engraved on the surface. There’s a small notch as if it could connect with something.】

Key Number 1 had a line of text that Key Number 2 didn’t. Just as I suspected, the secret lay in this key. I almost overlooked that detail. And that was intentional—Dayeon had planned it that way.

“Relax that face.”

Dayeon took the corners of my lips with her fingers and forced me to smile. Of course, I wasn’t even close to laughing. I was more on the verge of blowing up.

“You planned this all out, didn’t you?”

“What?”

Dayeon tilted her head as if she didn’t understand anything. Her face remained expressionless. Her blatant act made my stomach churn.

“You said you checked all the locked doors in the school.”

“Yes. And?”

“That had nothing to do with this key.”

“Yes. And?”

“…”

Ugh. Those sharp, wide eyes clearly showed she didn’t think she had done anything wrong.

My head started to hurt. Was this what she meant by her ‘test’?

The secret file room was just a trap meant to mislead me about the key’s use.

‘She wants me to think differently.’

I took out Keys Number 1 and 2.

And then a new message appeared.

[Would you like to combine the two items?]

…Knew it.

I’d finally found the true function of these keys. I inserted Key Number 2 into the slot on Number 1—they fit perfectly.

Click.

[You obtained the Secret File Room Key 1.]

‘Got it…’

[Secret File Room Key 1]

【A key made by combining two small keys. Used to open Secret File Room 1.】

Just as I deduced. I finally had the key to the file room.

Dayeon clapped lazily.

“Congratulations. You passed the test.”

Then she pulled out another key from her clothes. It was about the same size as the one I’d just assembled. Dayeon twirled it between her fingers.

“What kind of key do you think this is?”

Looking closely, it had the number 2 engraved on it. Obviously.

“The key to Secret File Room 2.”

“Correct. Smarter than I thought.”

“You thought I was dumb or what?”

“Want a prize?”

She pulled out a pen and scribbled something in her notebook. Then she tore out the page and handed it to me.

“Here.”

“What’s this?”

“Your prize.”

I accepted it, puzzled.

[You received a prize from Jin Dayeon.]

The contents of the page were incredibly simple. Just a red doodle that read: ‘Great job!’

Why did that count as an item? I took the paper with a sigh.

“Didn’t like the prize?”

Dayeon stared at me. Who would enjoy getting something like this? For a second, I thought about tearing it up, but ended up putting it in my pocket out of respect.

“You don’t look too happy with it.”

“Would you be?”

“I have another prize, if you want.”

Dayeon rested her right arm on the desk and leaned forward. She looked at me with a slight smile.

“I’ll grant you one wish.”

That offer came out of nowhere. The idea was so absurd, I snapped back immediately:

“…What kind of nonsense is that?”

“It’s your reward. You passed the test—you deserve a prize, don’t you think?”

Dayeon spoke in her usual neutral tone. With her, you could never tell if she was joking or serious.

‘A wish, huh…’

A thousand ideas crossed my mind. But even that could be one of Dayeon’s traps.

Now was the time to stay cool. I needed to ignore any dirty thoughts and keep my focus.

“My wish is to get the hell out of this school. If you got that, follow me without any complaints.”

“Oh.”

Dayeon let out a surprised sound.

“Didn’t expect that. It was the opposite of what I thought.”

“…Shut up.”

Finally, she stood up. Calmly, she waved the key she held.

“Let’s go escape this school.”

She gathered her books and headed toward the secret file room.

“Since when do you follow orders so easily?”

“A promise is a promise. What, is that a problem?”

“No, just hurry up.”

I followed without another word. When we reached the file room door, Dayeon turned to look at me.

“There’s still one final puzzle left.”

“Again?”

“Don’t worry, it’s not another test.”

She pointed to the sign next to the door. I had it memorized by now from reading it so many times.

[When both hearts become one, the door will open.]

“Know what that means?”

Dayeon asked, eyes full of intent. Based on my recent reasoning, the answer was obvious.

“Well…” I started to speak.

But Dayeon scowled suddenly.

“Wrong. Pervert.”

“…What am I even being accused of?”

“The correct answer is ‘turn the keys at the same time.’ Not that garbage you were thinking.”

“No, wait—”

Dayeon accused me out of nowhere. I wanted to defend myself, but she didn’t even bother listening.

“What are you waiting for? Insert the key already.”

“…Alright.”

I inserted the Secret File Room Key 1 into the lock. Dayeon did the same.

“When I give the signal, turn it. One, two, three.”

Click.

[You used the Secret File Room Key 1.]

Finally, the door to the secret archive opened.

Dayeon’s eyes widened in surprise.

“It opened.”

“Yeah, it did.”

Maybe for me it was just another door opening, but for Dayeon, this had to be a special moment. The secret archive was a puzzle that couldn’t be opened without two people.

That’s why Dayeon had been stuck in this library for ten years. Now, she’d finally opened a door she could never open on her own.

Even if her face showed no emotion, maybe deep down, she was happy.

“Let’s go in.”

“Uh-huh.”

We stepped into the secret archive. It was more spacious than I expected.

I thought there were two separate archives behind the two doors, but it was just one room. A room with two entrances—a rather inefficient design.

I examined the interior silently. The layout was very odd.

Starting from a decorative shelf in the center, the right side was clean and tidy, while the left side was a complete mess.

“If you’re gonna clean, at least do it right.”

Of course, I had ended up on the messy side. The floor was completely covered in books and trash, with barely any room to step.

In contrast, Dayeon’s side was so clean there wasn’t a speck of dust.

It was all because of the door order—door 1 led to the left side, door 2 to the right. I picked the wrong door.

What crappy luck I have.

‘I’ll go to the other side first.’

It wasn’t even possible to inspect things properly like this. I figured it was better to cross over to the clean side and assess the situation.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and come in.”

Dayeon had already been inside for a while. I didn’t know where she got a cushioned chair from, but she was fully reclined in it.

She motioned for me to join her. Her eyes were closed, looking extremely comfortable. A blatant provocation.

“What is this? Are you mocking me?”

I looked down at the archive floor. It was so full of books and trash that I couldn’t even walk.

I struggled to take a step, searching for small gaps to place my feet.

“Almost there.”

I was past the halfway mark. With a good jump, I could make it.

I leapt toward the other side.

Thump!

Something invisible blocked me. I smacked my forehead right into it.

From the pain, I fell backward.

“Ugh…”

Lucky or not, the pile of books cushioned the fall, so I wasn’t seriously hurt. It just hurt—badly.

So badly I couldn’t even scream. I rolled on the ground, clutching my forehead.

“You okay?”

Dayeon asked about my condition. But her expression was just as cold as ever, like she was saying it out of courtesy.

Plus, she hadn’t moved an inch from her chair. I guessed her comfort was more important than me—not surprising.

“Uugh… What the hell was that?”

Holding my head, I was dazed. I had a decent lump on my forehead.

“…What happened just now?”

Dayeon shrugged like she didn’t understand either.

“No idea. You just jumped, smacked something hard, and rolled on the ground.”

“…I see.”

What a helpful description. And I thought she’d be useful. How naive of me.

“Looks like there’s an invisible wall or something.”

An invisible wall? Those words snapped me out of it.

I carefully approached the center of the archive.

Thump!

Just as I thought. I couldn’t cross to the other side. As Dayeon said, there was an invisible wall right in front of me.

“What is this…?”

I touched the wall with my hand.

From the other side, Dayeon watched and commented,

“You’re good at that. You look like a mime.”

I ignored her and kept examining the transparent wall.

“It’s glass…”

Looking closely, it was a glass wall. Not just any glass—reinforced.

This archive wasn’t a single room. It was clearly divided into two spaces. The glass wall in the center had created the illusion that it was one large room.

“They were two separate rooms from the beginning.”

“That’s why they’re called Secret File Room 1 and Secret File Room 2.”

Dayeon slowly closed her eyes, still sitting in her chair. Clearly, she had zero interest in escaping.

“I thought you said you were going to help me escape? Now’s not the time to lounge around.”

“Still, there doesn’t seem to be any clues here.”

“Could you at least pretend to search?”

“If you really want…”

Dayeon got up begrudgingly.

She opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper.

“Found one.”

“That fast?”

Dayeon handed the paper to me through a gap in the glass wall. There was a hole in the middle, about the size of a book, where objects could pass through.

The contents of the paper read:

[Look at each other.]

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just what it says. We should look at each other.”

Dayeon started staring at me.

“What are you doing?”

“You look too. Come on.”

“…”

I had no choice but to meet her gaze. She was definitely looking at me, but her eyes were strange—like they weren’t really focused.

“…”

“…”

Who knows how long passed? We kept staring at each other. But nothing happened.

“…Guess that’s not the way.”

“Yeah?”

Dayeon agilely jumped onto the chair.

“I’ll sit here while I think of another way.”

“…Sure. Find the solution.”

I averted my eyes, not expecting much. I was the only hope here.

I inspected the archive carefully.

‘Anything glowing around?’

Even though it was a mess, there was probably at least one item. I began digging through the scattered books and looked around.

Suddenly, I found something familiar.

[You obtained Ink.]

‘Oh.’

Some good news at last. I quickly took out my journal and used the ink.

[You’ve recorded your progress so far.]

‘Whew.’

Now I could relax. With my save point updated, I had nothing to fear.

“There’s an item over here.”

Just then, Dayeon seemed to have found something too. She was holding a book.

“If it’s a book, there’s tons in here.”

“Yeah? But this one’s different.”

Dayeon handed the book to me through the hole in the glass wall.

It had no title on the cover and was marked with a strange, disturbing symbol.

At a glance, it was clearly a sinister book.

[You obtained the Book That Kills Upon Reading.]