Chapter 757: Escalation [2]

"Huh? What? What are you talking about?"

Zoey stared at Kyle in disbelief. Did he just ask her to loan him money? What?

"What has suddenly gotten into you?"

"...Just how much money can you provide me? There’s not much time."

"What are you even...?"

Zoey’s confusion only grew. Staring in Kyle’s direction, she struggled to understand his sudden actions or what exactly he was trying to do.

He really seemed to have lost it.

And yet⎯

"I know that this might sound confusing, and I’m not sure myself if this will work, but it’s the only thing that I can think of. Just tell me how much money you can lend me. I can give it back to you later."

"....."

Zoey’s lips parted as she looked at Kyle, but eventually, she closed her lips and nodded.

"Alright."

She didn’t know why Kyle was acting like this, but after being with him for as long as she had, she knew he must’ve thought of something. Taking out her phone, she opened her bank account and pressed her lips together.

"There’s a limit to how much I can give you unless I go sign some paperwork. It’s capped at 1 million. Is that enough?"

"Yes, it’s more than enough."

Kyle glanced back towards the passage, straining his ears for any sound of footsteps. Thankfully, nothing came, and when he checked his phone, the transfer notification appeared a moment later.

"I’ve sent it."

There was a short pause before she added.

"...I don’t know why you’ve asked me for money, but I’ll trust you on this one. What exactly are you planning on doing?"

’I’d like to know that myself...’ Kyle muttered to himself, just low enough that Zoey couldn’t hear him as he looked at his bank account and sighed. After that, he scrolled through his phone before sending the remaining money directly to Seth.

Added to the million Zoey had given him, Kyle put in another two million of his own.

Unlike her, his transfer limit was a little higher, and he was practically giving Seth everything he had available. It wasn’t that he didn’t have more money, but most of his assets were tied up elsewhere, and he wasn’t particularly liquid to begin with.

’You better make this work.’

Kyle’s jaw clenched as he sent the money.

Unlike Zoey, he knew.

He knew about Seth’s need for money and the secret surrounding it. He didn’t know everything, but he understood enough to know that Seth desperately needed it, and that money was somehow useful to him.

’Right, you better make this work.’

Kyle stared at his now-empty bank account.

’...If something happens to you, I’m equally screwed.’

After all, their lives were now tied together.

***

I remained frozen for several seconds, my eyes fixed on the back of the classroom.

"Mara...?"

The little girl who had been bothering me since the start of the situation was no longer beside me or behind me.

Instead, she stood near the doorway.

For the first time since I had entered this place, I could actually see her properly.

She was small, around the same age as the other children, with dark hair falling loosely around her face. Her uniform was wrinkled around the sleeves, and several strands of hair stuck against her forehead as though she’d been sweating.

’She looks quite... normal.’

That was the first thought that entered my head.

More importantly...

She looked frightened.

"...You’re Mara?"

Her eyes moved towards the front of the classroom before returning to me.

She didn’t answer.

Instead, she leaned slightly past the doorway and looked into the corridor, checking one side before the other as though making sure something wasn’t there.

My expression slowly changed.

"What are you looking for?"

Again, nothing.

She simply stepped into the corridor and disappeared beyond the door.

"...Wait."

I immediately moved.

Several of the children had already left the classroom, and the teacher was long gone, which meant there wasn’t much keeping me here anymore. I moved between the desks and stepped into the corridor, looking towards where she’d gone.

But it was empty.

My brows furrowed.

"Seriously?"

There weren’t that many places she could’ve—

A certain movement caught my attention through one of the windows farther down the hall.

I turned.

Something peeked from one of the doors.

"..."

She was looking directly at me.

For several seconds, neither of us moved. Then she stepped away from the door, disappearing from sight.

’Is she trying to lead me somewhere?’

That would’ve been nice to know before I started following ghosts through an infinite school, but considering everything that had happened to me these past few days, this was a nice change of pace.

I headed towards the classroom.

The door was already open, but the moment I looked inside, Mara was gone again.

"Come on."

There was nobody there.

All that was present were rows of empty desks sitting beneath the faint light from above.

I hesitated for a moment.

This was different.

Every classroom I had entered since the first night had been occupied by the time I arrived. Even when the corridors changed, the children were always there, sitting quietly and waiting for the lesson to begin.

But why was it not the case for this classroom?

The air smelled stale as well, heavy with dust and something faintly damp that reminded me of wet paper left for a very long time inside a closed room.

"...Mara?"

My voice travelled through the classroom before fading somewhere near the back.

There was no reply.

Not that I was expecting one to begin with.

I stepped inside.

The floor creaked faintly beneath my shoes as I passed the first row, my attention moving from one desk to the next. Most of them were covered in scratches, and several chairs had been pushed at strange angles as if the children inside the room had left in a hurry.

Something about the place made the hair along my arms rise.

Not because I could see anything.

Because I couldn’t.

For the first time since the entire event had started, the school felt completely empty.

And somehow...

The strange silence felt unsettling.

’I’m starting to miss the teacher.’

My steps slowed down near the second row.

Creak...!

"⎯!"

My head turned immediately, only to be greeted by the same empty sight.

"..."

My gaze lingered towards the empty classroom before I continued towards the back, keeping one hand near my side despite knowing there wasn’t much I could actually do without my nodes.

I moved from one desk to another before finally stopping towards a certain desk.

The moment I blinked, she appeared.

Sitting in Seat 27 was none other than Mara, her little hands rested neatly against her lap while her head remained lowered, dark hair hiding part of her face.

"So you are Mara."

I spoke softly, trying my best to maintain my breath.

This time, she reacted.

Slowly, her head lifted, and her eyes met mine.

Unlike the other children, there was something very human in them. Her eyes... they felt alive. But within those eyes, I spotted something else.

Something akin to⎯

Fear.

"...It’s already started."

Her small voice drifted through the air.

"What?"

Mara’s fingers tightened slightly against her skirt.

She looked towards the door behind me before speaking again, her voice so quiet that I nearly missed it.

"What happened to me."

My expression gradually stiffened.

"It’s happening to you."

"..."

The warmth beneath my collar suddenly became much harder to ignore.

For several seconds, all I could hear was my own breathing.

Then I swallowed.

"What exactly happened to you?"

Mara didn’t answer immediately.

Her attention shifted towards the empty seat beside her, as though expecting someone else to be there.

When she finally looked back at me, her expression had changed.

"You don’t have much time."

My heart started beating faster.

"What does that mean?"

Mara’s lips parted.

Then stopped.

Her eyes moved slightly as she looked past me.

Towards the classroom door.

I didn’t turn around.

Not immediately.

But then, my head slowly turned, and a figure appeared right outside the door, his empty eyes staring right at me.

Elon?