𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞

While you were sleeping

ⓒ Baek Nara

That night, I didn't return to the dormitory. Instead, I stayed at the school library. Perhaps due to the exams, there were quite a few students even past midnight. Since there were many eyes around, I wouldn't suddenly be grabbed by the neck and thrown onto the stone floor.

Pretending to study among the other students, I slowly made my way to the archives. Mainly used by school staff and teachers, the archive room's lights were off. I entered with a portable electric lamp from the entrance of the archive room. The school's digital processing was not thorough. Being isolated deep in the forest, there would be no way to respond if a disaster cut off electricity. Instead, manual work was meticulously done. One such manual record was the dormitory entry log. Although it wasn't typically filled out when entering or exiting the dormitory, names and signatures were required upon moving in or out. On my first day at the school, I filled out this record with Anna, the staff member who gave me the scarf.

Therefore, it wouldn't be difficult to find out the names of my predecessors. Once I got their names, I calculated that I could somehow find a way after that. As I slowly crossed the tall bookshelves of the archive room, I finally found the record book I was looking for. The most recent record book had my name on it. A copy was always made along with the original and kept separately in the archive's record book.

After pulling out two or three books in front of me, I sat down on the floor. I hung the electric lamp on the bookshelf and opened the last book. My hands trembled slightly with excitement. The last page had my documents attached. I looked at the previous page.

Some guy named Tim... Room 301 in Building A... Moved out.
Thomas... Room 102 in Building C, Moved in.
Damon, Room 102 in Building A, Moved out.
Matt, Room 202 in Building B, Moved in...

Flipping the pages forward, I suddenly stopped. A chill ran down my neck. I shuddered without realizing it.
■■■■■■, Room 401 in Building B, Moved out.

The name was erased. It was blotted out with black ink and could not be seen. I quickly flipped to the previous page. ■■■■■■, Building B, Room 401, admission. Both the admission and resignation records had the names blotted out. A chill ran down my spine. I thoroughly searched through the three ledgers. After reviewing records up until last spring, I found that a total of twelve pages had their names erased. The admission and resignation records of six people were all erased. There was only one person whose admission to Room 401 in Building B had not been erased: Raymond. It was my name.

The facts I discovered after searching through the ledgers all night were as follows:

Their admission periods:

<Jerome>: Spring of '97 (19 years old). Building B, Room 402. Before that, no one had used Room 402 in Building B.<Simon> : Winter of '96 (18 years old). Building B, Room 401. It was certain that the person who shared the room with him was my first predecessor.<Hugh> : Spring of '97 (19 years old). Building B, Room 401. The admission date was the same as <Jerome>'s. It was possible that they knew each other before attending school.<George> : Fall of '97 (19 years old). Building B, Room 401. Since <George> 's name was not erased, it became less likely that he was my predecessor. If <George> was an accomplice, he would have joined the group the latest among them. However, it was still difficult to rule out the possibility that he was my predecessor.The admission and resignation periods of the victims.

2-a. <First Predecessor>: Joined in the summer of '96. Left in the spring of '97. Was at the school before <Simon> but left after <Jerome> and <Hugh> joined.