Class of the Damned

My entire class was sucked into a horror game.

My classmates were all NPCs. I was the only player.

When we entered the "Room 301" instance, my teammates thought I’d be torn to shreds by the Discipline Monitor for being late.

Instead, the moment he saw me, he snapped his Death Note shut.

The Academic Rep, with a second pair of phantom eyes floating above his own, skipped over me when collecting homework.

The Class Beauty, her skin charred black, handed me a breakfast sandwich. “Sweetie, eat up before it gets cold!”

The school bell, a harbinger of death, rang out.

The instance's final boss, his face a mask of cold indifference, walked in. I looked at our Class President, Aiden, stuffed into a formal suit, and I couldn't hold it in.

“Aiden, you look like you sell insurance!”

The boss lost his composure. My teammates lost their minds.

1

[Welcome to the game instance: 'Room 301'!]

[All players are expected to be good students~]

[Survive until Saturday to clear the instance.]

[Today is Thursday. The game begins now. Good luck~]

Compared to the other players, who were either stone-faced or breaking down, my expression was… twisted. A half-smile, a hint of disbelief, a profound sense of the absurd.

It was because everything in front of me was just too damn familiar.

The crooked security booth, the main building with its peeling paint, the dilapidated gymnasium…

Don’t laugh. You’d be twisted, too.

The live chat feed scrolled furiously across my vision.

[What's with the new girl's face? She looks so done with this already.]

[Trying to look tough?]

Anyone who transmigrates and finds their own high school turned into a horror game instance would be "done with this," thank you very much.

My beat-up bike was even parked by the front gate.

I instinctively patted the dust off the seat. A guy with bleached-blond hair saw me and grabbed my wrist.

“Are you trying to get us all killed? What the hell is wrong with you!”

[Wow, this rookie's reckless. Touching stuff right away.]

[I know, right? Rookies who mess with the environment are the worst.]

[This instance starts slow. It's normal for her not to be scared. She'll learn her lesson when the Discipline Monitor starts taking names.]

I shook off Blondie's hand and scanned the area. Besides me and a chubby kid clutching a gift-wrapped box, the other four players were clearly veterans. They were huddled together, whispering. Every so often, they’d glance over at us like we were lambs for the slaughter.

It was obvious.

The chubby kid and I were on our own.

Damn these vets.

2

Thursday.

[Poor rookie. These four are notorious for using newbies as cannon fodder.]

[That's how you play the game. It's about survival of the fittest. If a rookie dies, they deserved it.]

[If all the rookies die, who the hell are you gonna watch, genius?]

The comments flew by. A knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach, and I forced it down.

The piercing sound of the first bell shrieked through the air.

Everyone’s face changed.

I instinctively che...