Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 204

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Editor’s Survival Manual: Chapter 204

ep28. Blossoms in Bloom (6)
Crash!
A crushing sound erupted directly behind me.
I barely rolled out of the way, slipping between the legs of the Graduate Student I’d mistaken for a column.
I was about to bolt forward when—
Another memory surfaced.
What happened to me the last time I ran in a straight line like this.
“Ugh!”
I recalled that ending and grabbed the Graduate Student’s leg instead.
Then I quickly changed direction.
Whoosh!
A massive hand swept past my head where I’d been standing.
The Graduate Student, thinking I’d already dodged backward, twisted at the waist and brought that umbrella-wide hand crashing down again.
Boom!
From that point on, I started counting in my head.
One, two, three…
Crunch-crunch!
The Graduate Student, in a fit of frustration, clawed at every flower lining the corridor with both hands.
Ten, eleven, twelve…
Red petals and crumbled floor debris were flung all the way to the ceiling, then came raining down.
The Graduate Student brushed them away and reached for me again.
I slipped between their legs once more.
Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three…
The Graduate Student stamped and tried to step on me, to kick me aside.
Boom!
I threw myself to the side before being crushed.
Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine…!
Just as the Graduate Student was about to stomp on me again—
“Nngh!”
I threw myself with every ounce of strength back toward my original corridor.
Thud!
Once I cleared the corridor threshold, silence returned.
“Huff…”
God, I barely made it.
I gasped for breath, dusted myself off, and got to my feet.
But the moment I stood up, I froze solid.
Something was there down the corridor.
A woman standing gracefully on the tips of her toes.
With her hair perfectly twisted into a bun and wearing an ethereal tulle dance costume—the Ballerina.
With her arms stretched toward the sky and her head bowed, the Ballerina slowly looked up and gazed at me.
Where her face should have been was the shape of a flower bud not yet in bloom.
What I’d taken for twisted hair was not hair at all, but flower sepals.
The Ballerina, with a pure white flower where her human face should be above her neck, stretched her slender arms out to the sides.
Then she began to dance toward me.
The Ballerina moved in delicate turns, and with each rotation, the flower bloomed further.
The white petals gradually took on a pale pink hue.
It was grotesque, yet beautiful—the sight held me transfixed.
I forced myself to stay calm and began counting again.
Seven, eight, six…
I had to endure thirty seconds.
If I turned back before then, I’d encounter the Graduate Student again.
I kept counting, watching the Ballerina approach.
Its spinning speed was accelerating.
The flower on its head continued to bloom, growing ever larger.
Fifteen, sixteen, fourteen…
The distance between the Ballerina and me was now barely twenty meters.
Twenty-three, nineteen, twenty…
That’s when the Ballerina’s hair came undone.
Simultaneously, pale pink petals scattered in all directions.
The fragrance grew thick and heavy—I choked.
I found myself thinking it wouldn’t be so bad to let that creature drain me.
No—I actually wanted it. I had to.
Just as that deranged impulse threatened to overtake me—
Twenty-nine, thirty!
I forced myself to count that final number and turned the corner of the corridor again.
In that instant, I broke free from the intoxication, and before me lay another corridor lined with red blooms.
“Haa… haa…”
I exhaled long and hard into that quiet landscape.
I seemed to have finally shaken both the Graduate Student and the Ballerina.
Thump.
My energy spent, I slumped down on the floor for a moment.
My mind was a complete mess.
I’d just remembered.
How the Graduate Student had chased me relentlessly.
How I’d encountered other entities while fleeing.
But how was I still alive?
Surely it wasn’t the Big Cat’s older sister saving me again…
I don’t understand any of this, but even now the flowers on the ground keep sprouting, urging me to move.
Dammit, I’d like just a moment to think.
I grimaced but forced myself to stand.
As I did, some instinct made me turn my gaze toward the window.
And there I found it.
Is that… a note?
I rushed over to the note stuck in the window frame.
The paper was identical to my notebook sheets.
“It can’t be…”
I unfolded the note immediately.
And there, written in my own handwriting, was this:
—
I am Seo Do-un.
This note must be returned to its place.
I do not die in this place.
Instead, when death becomes certain, I lose my memory and awaken in a safe location.
Memory returns gradually, in sequence, after I wake.
So endure as long as possible to recover your memories.
—
Was this the best I could manage…
I sighed at my own callousness, then forced myself to accept it upon seeing the hastily scrawled handwriting.
I must have been short on time.
And if all I had to do was endure for memories to return, there was no need for detailed explanation.
Yeah, that much I get.
So how long have I been wandering here?
Judging by this note, I must have gone through considerable trial and error.
I swallowed my frustration and placed the note back in the window frame.
So that next time I lose my memory, I can regain my wits by finding it.
But something bothers me.
Why tell me to recover my memories?
Why not just escape or call for help?
Or is there a reason I need to recover my memories first?
I don’t know.
Either way, the note says memories return as long as I endure.
So right now, I should stop thinking about anything else and focus on buying time safely…
“Fat chance of that.”
I sighed, looking at flowers already grown up to my knees.
These flowers keep forcing me to move, and after passing through, the next corridor could have anything in it.
And the Graduate Student.
It seems to appear whenever I peek into the corridor and then retreat before re-entering.
So to avoid meeting the Graduate Student, I’d either need to enter the next corridor in one burst, or somehow sprint like a madman to escape through the opposite end.
Both options were equally insane.
There are multiple Anomalous Phenomena in this corridor more dangerous than the Graduate Student.
But going back the opposite way—the flowers grow too fast.
And I can’t break or cut the flowers.
—
■ Notice for Smart Campus Living
3. Precautions Regarding Landscaping Plants
Do not arbitrarily break or cut the flowers growing in the corridors.
These flowers, if broken or cut, grow more rapidly and regenerate the damage.
—
“Sigh…”
There’s no way out.
No matter what else happens, the Graduate Student appearing without fail on the second exploration is an incredibly unfavorable situation.
How am I supposed to endure this?
Maybe hiding in a room instead of the corridor would be…
“Huh…?”
As my eyes scanned the doors in the corridor, another memory returned.
Why I was being chased by the Graduate Student in the first place.
I’d entered the Seminar Room to escape from some danger in the corridor.
And that’s where I encountered the Graduate Student.
—
■ Notice for Smart Campus Living
7. The Correct Attitude Toward the Graduate Student
① If you encounter the Graduate Student in the corridor:
The Graduate Student is our proud senior. Though they suffer from chronic fatigue, anxiety, and depression, they do not indiscriminately attack fellow students they encounter in the corridor. So please quietly give way. However, if you are also a graduate student, be careful not to follow the Graduate Student. Following them leads to the Lab Room, and once you enter, you cannot leave. If you are a professor, there is no need to worry. The Graduate Student will naturally avoid you.
① If you encounter the Graduate Student in the corridor: The Graduate Student is our proud senior. Though they suffer from chronic fatigue, anxiety, and depression, they do not indiscriminately attack fellow students they encounter in the corridor. So please quietly give way. However, if you are also a graduate student, be careful not to follow the Graduate Student. Following them leads to the Lab Room, and once you enter, you cannot leave. If you are a professor, there is no need to worry. The Graduate Student will naturally avoid you.
② If you encounter the Graduate Student in the Seminar Room:
That Graduate Student is quite likely preparing for a thesis presentation.
They are in a heightened state of tension, and drawing their attention is decidedly unfavorable. So play dead.
Pretend to be as inanimate as possible and slip away quietly.
This applies whether you are a fellow student or not.
However, if you are a professor, there is no need to worry. The Graduate Student will approach you with a pleading attitude.
—
Right, when I entered that Seminar Room, I should have played dead immediately.
But I didn’t realize the column standing before me was the Graduate Student.
So I wandered around the Seminar Room and found materials on the lectern, and I rifled through them.
Looking for our survival manual, just in case.
That’s when I spilled something like coffee that was sitting nearby…
And that’s when it started.
The Graduate Student began chasing me down.
I really did wander around quite a bit…
So what do I do now?
How do I deal with the Graduate Student who’s already harboring a grudge and won’t leave me alone…
Wait, actually.
Now that I think about it.
The bulletin board said this is Main Building 3rd Floor.
—
If you are being pursued by the Graduate Student, open the Black Door on Main Building 3rd Floor.
This is the only way for a student to escape from the Graduate Student.
—
I started being chased by the Graduate Student in Building A.
But my current location is Main Building 3rd Floor.
…I made it this far while being chased by the Graduate Student.
Past me did pretty well.
Only now does the situation finally make sense.
What I need to do now is open the Black Door and shake off the Graduate Student.
I recognized my task clearly and entered the next corridor.
* * *
Past me did pretty well.
Only now does it finally make sense.
What I need to do is open the Black Door and escape the Graduate Student.
I recognized the task and entered the next corridor.
* * *
Past me did well.
Now I open the Black Door.
I entered the next corridor.
* * *
Past me did well.
* * *
I did well.
* * *
I did…
* * *
Past me did rather well, I’ll admit.
What I need to do now is open the Black Door and escape the Graduate Student.
And yet—is this real?
The Black Door was right here in the corridor I happened to be in.
My luck had turned.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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