FPIH Chapter 2 (Part 2)

It seemed clear the monster before them was the demon named “Amon.” Its bizarre appearance—a grotesque combination of a wolf and a serpent—fit perfectly with what one might expect of a demon.

The demon Amon slowly lifted its upper body from where it had been crouching. Its gaze locked precisely onto the fire shutter’s emergency door, and its eyes met Jiho’s directly.

Jiho’s heart plunged. Cold sweat instantly soaked her back.

‘This is bad,’ she cursed inwardly.

At that very moment, she sensed movement behind her. Reacting instinctively, Jiho swiftly dodged. The broom girl, who had attempted to shove Jiho forward to use her as a shield, lost her target and collided heavily with the emergency door.

Bang!

The emergency door flew open, and the broom girl stumbled helplessly into the 7th-floor hallway.

Jiho quickly followed her out, knowing she couldn’t return to the 8th floor anyway. She had no choice but to hurry onward to the next staircase.

The broom girl staggered momentarily, struggling for balance, while Jiho threw herself toward the next fire shutter blocking the stairs down.

Amon didn’t move from its position. Just as Jiho was cautiously about to relax, the demon opened its mouth wide as if yawning, revealing razor-sharp white teeth, a red tongue, and a dark, round throat.

‘What is it?’

Jiho flinched, but nothing happened immediately. Deciding it was safe to ignore Amon, Jiho carefully watched the demon from the corner of her eye while pushing her shoulder firmly against the emergency door leading down to the 6th floor.

The broom girl quickly followed, eager to stay close.

The door began to open. At that precise moment, a violent burst of flames erupted from Amon’s gaping mouth.

As flames exploded from Amon’s mouth, someone suddenly appeared and grabbed Jiho, pulling her away. Losing her balance, she stumbled and fell into his chest, knocking him off his feet. They both collapsed, tumbling onto the floor together.

“Aaaaaaaagh!”

The broom girl’s entire body was engulfed in flames. Her shrill screams abruptly ended, as if her vocal cords and lungs had instantly burned away. The fire consumed her swiftly, reducing her body to ashes in moments.

Jiho remained seated, mouth agape, staring in horror at the scene.

“Get up, quickly!”

A familiar voice urgently shouted. The man roughly grabbed Jiho’s arm, pulling her to her feet again. Still in shock, she allowed herself to be dragged along, incapable of thinking clearly.

“Hurry!”

Jiho recognized the voice. She moved as the man led her, stumbling into room 701. Just as they entered, Hwang Siwoon swiftly slammed the door shut behind them and locked it securely.

Her strength completely drained, Jiho collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily and trembling uncontrollably.

“Are you okay?”
“No…”

Someone had burned alive—someone who’d been breathing, talking just moments before. The twisted body of the girl from room 820 resurfaced in Jiho’s mind. She’d never experienced death herself nor witnessed it firsthand until today.

Her whole body trembled violently. The agony in the broom girl’s distorted face, the sickening smell of burning flesh, the roaring of flames, the searing heat, the blinding light…

The broom girl’s final moments replayed continuously in Jiho’s mind, a scene so horrific and brutal that she felt she’d never forget it. It was different from what she’d experienced with the girl from room 820. The eighth floor had felt surreal, almost dreamlike, but this was painfully, horrifyingly real.

Suddenly, Hwang Siwoon firmly slapped Jiho’s back.

“Breathe.”

Only then did Jiho realize she’d stopped breathing. She forced herself to inhale and exhale slowly.

Jiho turned her gaze toward Siwoon.

“Hwang Siwoon…”

Rimless glasses, an ever-present cheerful smile, lips slightly curled inward when he laughed, and the deep dimples Jiho always vividly remembered. But now, Siwoon’s expression was stern, his eyes full of genuine concern as he looked at her.

Hwang Siwoon was one of the few classmates Jiho actually talked to. They weren’t exactly close friends—just acquaintances who occasionally exchanged words, and even that was mostly thanks to Siwoon’s cheerful personality and sociable nature.

Having someone familiar beside her made Jiho’s tension ease somewhat, even after she’d just witnessed the broom girl betraying her own friend.

“You… Aren’t you shaken up at all?”

Jiho asked softly. Unlike her own pale, panicked face, Siwoon looked somber yet oddly composed. Siwoon smiled bitterly.

“I saw it earlier, too. I already got my share of shock… We almost ended up like her.”

Jiho pressed her hand against the floor, trying to rise, but her arms and legs were drained of strength. She couldn’t move at all.

Siwoon clicked his tongue and reached out a hand. Jiho accepted his help and stood up shakily. On Siwoon’s left ring finger shone a stylish rose-gold ring. The ring was extremely familiar to her—it was the matching couple ring Siwoon always wore.

The earthquake hadn’t spared room 701, either; the room was in shambles. Broken and fallen objects were scattered across the floor. Cracks spider-webbed across the walls, and a draft blew through the shattered windows.

“You should thank Pyeonghwa. If it weren’t for him, your back would’ve been completely scorched.”

Jiho made a bitter expression at Siwoon’s words.

“Not just my back, probably… But wait, Pyeonghwa?”

“You don’t know Pyeonghwa? Go Pyeonghwa. He’s our classmate, freshman year, computer science.”

Siwoon’s eyes widened, and he pointed toward the man who had pulled Jiho away earlier. Only now, regaining some composure, did Jiho finally look at him clearly.

He had brown hair and unusually light-colored eyes for a Korean. Beneath a pale denim jacket layered over a shirt and a white T-shirt, his skin appeared strikingly fair, highlighted by his choice of bright-colored clothes.

His features were so striking they didn’t look real—almost too sharp, too vivid, lending him a strangely wild aura. In short, Go Pyeonghwa was ridiculously handsome. He was the kind of handsome you might glance back at on the street, impossible to forget once seen.

Which was why Jiho couldn’t make sense of it.

‘He’s supposedly my classmate, yet I’ve never seen him or even heard his name before? That makes no sense. Sure, I don’t participate in department events and have no friends, but someone with a face like that would be impossible not to notice, even if I tried.’

Pyeonghwa’s face was essentially a walking billboard. Even living with her eyes closed and ears plugged, there was no way Jiho could’ve missed someone like Go Pyeonghwa.

‘Wait, did he say Go Pyeonghwa?’

Jiho quickly pulled out her smartphone again, double-checking the screen.

[ Remaining Chances: 4 ]
[ Relationship with Go Pyeonghwa: Strangers / You don’t know each other yet. ]

‘Who exactly is this guy?’

Jiho stared intensely at Go Pyeonghwa, suspicion and confusion mingling in her gaze—as if looking at an alien who had fallen straight from the sky.

Perhaps sensing Jiho’s openly wary stare, Go Pyeonghwa’s expression turned uncomfortable, but he didn’t avert his gaze. Instead, he stared right back at her, almost as if he couldn’t look away either.

They silently observed each other for a moment.

Hwang Siwoon broke the awkwardness with an easy laugh.

“Well, there are over two hundred students in our class, so it’s understandable if you haven’t met. Pyeonghwa only returned from military service a few months ago. Hey, Pyeonghwa, do you remember Jiho?”

Pyeonghwa shook his head.

“It’s my first time seeing her here.”

“Then you two can get acquainted now! Haha.”

Siwoon laughed heartily again. Jiho was amazed at how Siwoon managed to smile even in a situation like this—clearly built with a completely different set of nerves than herself.

Though Siwoon’s words somewhat eased her anxiety about Pyeonghwa’s identity, Jiho still found something unsettling about him. He felt suspicious and ambiguous in every way.

‘He really feels like he just fell from the sky—almost like one of those demons…’

Jiho shook her head quickly.

It was a ridiculous idea—Pyeonghwa couldn’t possibly be a demon.

‘Siwoon wouldn’t call him our classmate if he was.’

Still, the fact remained: Go Pyeonghwa had saved her. Without him, she would have been dead by now. Jiho knew very well how hard it was to throw yourself into danger to save someone else. She might not know him yet, but she owed him thanks for her life.

Jiho opened her mouth to express gratitude, but Pyeonghwa suddenly spoke first.

“Something’s strange.”

His face was cold, expressionless. Siwoon tilted his head curiously.

“What do you mean?”

“What’s strange? You mean the demon?” Siwoon asked, puzzled.

“No, her. She’s strange,” Pyeonghwa replied bluntly, staring directly at Jiho.

Jiho, startled, glanced down at herself quickly, wondering if something about her was off. She’d traveled back in time once already, but there was no way Go Pyeonghwa could know that.

Siwoon also looked puzzled, turning toward Jiho. He quickly scanned her from head to toe but clearly saw nothing unusual.

“What’re you talking about? Jiho looks perfectly normal to me,” Siwoon said with a short laugh, clearly baffled.

But Pyeonghwa’s expression remained firm, filled with suspicion.

“How come I don’t remember her, then?” he insisted stubbornly.

Jiho was dumbfounded.

‘That should be my line, not yours…’

Siwoon seemed equally bewildered by Pyeonghwa’s reply. He chuckled awkwardly, shaking his head.

“Come on, man. You can’t possibly remember everyone—”

“I wouldn’t forget someone like her,” Pyeonghwa interrupted decisively.

He hesitated briefly, then continued with a displeased frown, his pride evidently wounded.

“How could I possibly forget someone who looks like that?”

Jiho’s face flushed hot at his blunt remark.
She briefly debated whether to confront him about his rude comment or to let it slide, given their current circumstances. Jiho caught Siwoon’s uncomfortable glance, making her feel even more embarrassed.

“Hey, come on now,” Siwoon intervened quickly, sensing the rising tension. “Even I mix up names all the time, and I’m the guy who spends half his time drinking with everyone. There are over two hundred classmates, after all. Maybe you’re just confused—”

Pyeonghwa started to say something, but Siwoon quickly waved his hand, cutting him off.

“Anyway! Since we’re all here, let’s introduce ourselves properly. Look, we’ve all met for the first time today, right? Funny thing is, with how many of us repeated years, our combined tuition from retaking classes could probably pay for four years of tuition! Haha!”

Siwoon laughed awkwardly, clearly trying hard to smooth things over.

Jiho decided to let the matter pass out of consideration for Siwoon, who was clearly trying his best to mediate.

Still wary, Jiho changed the subject.

“So, what brought you guys to the girls’ dormitory anyway?”

Originally, male students weren’t allowed inside the girls’ dormitory. Getting caught would result in immediate expulsion from the dorm. Jiho wondered why these two had entered the girls’ dormitory in the first place.

“Well, we were both in the lounge area on the 7th floor when the earthquake started. And it was no ordinary quake—honestly, I thought we might die. But thankfully, the shaking eventually stopped. Then, out of nowhere, this weird announcement started playing.”

Siwoon promptly responded to Jiho’s question.

“Weird announcement?” Jiho asked.

“What? Didn’t you hear it too? Something like, ‘You’re all dead,’ and so on. It was insane. My heart’s still pounding just thinking about it.”

“Oh, that one. Yeah, I heard it too.”

“Anyway, that’s when I realized something was seriously wrong. I turned to Pyeonghwa and said, ‘Hey, something’s really off. This doesn’t seem like a prank.’ And then suddenly I remembered my girlfriend. She lives here in the dorms too, on the 5th floor. When we last talked, she said she was alone in her room, so I got worried and came over. Pyeonghwa tagged along with me. But I never imagined we’d end up trapped like this…”

The girls’ and boys’ dormitories were in the same building. Floors 1 and 2 were common areas shared by both genders, but from the 3rd floor upwards, living quarters were strictly separated. Therefore, normally there was no movement possible between floors 3 through 10.
The only exception was the 7th floor, which had a shared lounge space accessible to both genders. The lounge Siwoon mentioned was precisely that common lounge area on the 7th floor.

“Getting into the girls’ dorm wasn’t difficult, but we almost died when we ran into that demon. Fire was shooting out everywhere, people were screaming and panicking, shoving and trampling each other…. Honestly, it felt like a war zone. We even saw several people get burned alive…. It was horrifying. At least the demon didn’t seem to chase people into the corridors. Those who ran into the hallway survived.”

Siwoon grimaced, clearly shaken by what he’d witnessed.
Jiho could easily imagine what Siwoon had been through: a demon breathing fire, students screaming and scattering in every direction—toward hallways, stairs, or the lounge. Those who made the wrong choice had likely perished, while others survived by sheer luck or at the cost of someone else’s life.

Jiho shivered briefly, then changed the subject.

“To be honest, I have no clue what’s actually happening right now. Do either of you know anything?”

“Nope… I doubt anyone does,” Siwoon said, scratching the back of his head and shaking it helplessly.

Jiho turned her gaze toward Pyeonghwa. Her question had initially been aimed at him.

‘Maybe Pyeonghwa knows something. If his name appeared explicitly on my phone, he must have some key information…’

Meeting Jiho’s eyes, Pyeonghwa slightly twitched his eyebrows and lips, looking uncomfortable. He opened his mouth as if about to speak—

Suddenly, static burst through the speaker, interrupting him.

『Attention, please.』

Everyone went silent immediately. Jiho focused tensely on the announcement.

『Floors 8, 9, and 10 of both the girls’ and boys’ dormitories will now be sealed off immediately.』

As soon as the announcement ended, another violent earthquake shook the building.

Jiho lost her balance, collapsing onto her knees and bracing herself with both hands on the floor. Siwoon and Pyeonghwa similarly struggled to stay upright.

‘Floors 8, 9, and 10 just collapsed. That’s what they meant by “sealed off.”’

Vivid memories of the agonizing pain and terror she’d experienced during her previous death surged through Jiho’s mind. Her face went pale.

Suddenly, her smartphone vibrated briefly in her hand. Jiho froze, feeling as though she held a large insect rather than a phone. The buzzing felt repulsive, eerie, unnatural.

After a brief vibration, the phone fell silent again.

Then the earthquake ceased as suddenly as it had begun.

Jiho swallowed nervously and checked the screen.

[ Remaining Chances: 4 ]
[ Relationship with Go Pyeonghwa: Barely acquainted classmates / Computer Science, Class of ’19 ]

‘The content changed!’

Jiho stared at the phone screen in disbelief.

The entry under “Relationship with Go Pyeonghwa” had completely changed. Originally, it read:
[Strangers / You don’t know each other yet.]

Now it read:
[Barely acquainted classmates / Computer Science, Class of ’19.]

Jiho’s eyes darted anxiously back and forth between the phone and Pyeonghwa. Noticing Jiho’s strange behavior, Pyeonghwa stared back at her with genuine confusion—his expression seemed completely natural, like any ordinary guy his age. He certainly didn’t appear like some terrorist hiding a sinister plot.

‘But what if this is all an act? What if I’m being deceived?’

Jiho’s eyelids trembled nervously.

Suddenly, static crackled ominously from the speaker. Jiho quickly slipped the phone back into her pocket, focusing her attention entirely on the announcement.

A calm, indifferent voice flowed from the speaker:

『You are now on the stage of judgment. Those who pass the trial will ascend to heaven, while those who fail will be condemned eternally to hell. Thank you.』

“What?!”

Siwoon shouted, his eyes darting frantically between Jiho and Pyeonghwa. Jiho herself stared up at the speaker, utterly baffled.

Her head began to throb. She desperately needed a quiet moment to piece everything together. The overwhelming amount of information was swirling chaotically inside her mind, causing a sharp pain that felt as though it had been there all along.

“What’s all this nonsense? Seriously, I’ve never heard such crazy stuff in my entire life…”

Siwoon shouted again, failing to hide his distress, but nobody answered.

Pyeonghwa stood quietly, eyes lowered, biting his lip thoughtfully as he swept his hand across his forehead. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. This place feels like some kind of afterlife. You know—like the underworld, purgatory, or hell.”

“What? Why would you even think that?” Siwoon asked, eyes widening in shock.

“Ever since that first announcement, things felt off. Words like ‘demons,’ ‘judgment,’ ‘death’… all of those strongly imply something related to the afterlife.”

“But hell? Come on! What could we possibly have done to deserve hell?”

“It all began with the earthquake,” Pyeonghwa continued calmly. “The simplest explanation is that everyone in the dorm died during the quake. We might not actually be alive right now—we could be spirits or something.”

His analysis was strikingly composed. He barely seemed bothered by the idea of his own death. Jiho couldn’t tell whether it was just his personality or if he knew something more.

“Are we in some kind of movie? So, we’re being judged, and if we pass, heaven—and if we fail, hell?” Siwoon clutched his hair dramatically. “God, that’s seriously creepy! It’s actually so plausible that it’s disturbing. Am I really dead? At such a young and beautiful age…? I mean, the nation has lost its greatest treasure today. No, no, wait! Nothing’s certain yet! Right? It’s probably nothing… Ah, god, no…”

Siwoon anxiously ruffled his hair, looking genuinely distressed.

Jiho shared Pyeonghwa’s suspicions. It seemed plausible that the dormitory had collapsed due to the earthquake, killing everyone inside.

She’d worried her thoughts were overly paranoid, but hearing Pyeonghwa voice a similar opinion and Siwoon agreeing in part made her feel more certain.

‘Three heads really are better than one… even if one of those heads is still suspicious.’

Jiho remembered the words that first appeared on her smartphone:

[ A life for a life. Congratulations on earning your opportunity. You have been given five possibilities and one choice. ]
[ Remaining Chances: 5 ]
[ Relationship with Go Pyeonghwa: Strangers / You don’t know each other yet. ]

The phrase “a life for a life” still baffled her. But she had a rough idea of what “five possibilities” and “one choice” could mean.

At first, she’d had five chances. That meant she could likely die four times and still revive to try again. Indeed, after dying once, her chances had decreased to four. This assumption felt almost certain.

The “one choice” probably referred to choosing between heaven and hell. However, something felt slightly off—the announcement mentioned “judgment,” which implied something passive, while the smartphone mentioned a “choice,” implying something more active. The contradiction nagged at her.

But the most puzzling part was the entry labeled “Relationship with Go Pyeonghwa.” She had no clue what it meant, and the fact that it had updated after exchanging names with Pyeonghwa made it even more unsettling.

‘And what exactly is the connection between this smartphone and the announcements? Are they working together or separately? Or maybe they’re opponents?’

So far, the smartphone and the announcements seemed to be sending different messages, making it impossible to draw a clear conclusion.

Another sharp headache crept up on her. Jiho pressed a hand to her temple, observing Siwoon and Pyeonghwa quietly. Pyeonghwa stood silently, deep in thought, while Siwoon paced nervously around the room.

At that moment, perhaps sensing her gaze, Pyeonghwa turned to look at Jiho. Their eyes met.

Jiho flinched, feeling as though she’d been caught staring. Pyeonghwa regarded her with an unreadable look for a moment before turning his gaze away first.

‘What’s his deal…? He’s definitely suspicious.’

Jiho continued to stare intensely at Pyeonghwa’s profile. His unrealistically handsome appearance only made it more difficult to figure out what he was really thinking.

At that moment, an idea flashed through Jiho’s mind:

‘Could Pyeonghwa also have strange messages appearing on his phone, just like mine?’

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it became. Just as Jiho’s phone had a mysterious “Relationship with Go Pyeonghwa” section, perhaps Pyeonghwa’s phone had something similar about her.

‘And what about Siwoon…?’

Now that she’d grown suspicious of Pyeonghwa, she began to doubt Siwoon too.

‘Does either of them remember the previous loop? How exactly does the timeline reset work? Is it triggered by my death? Am I certain of that? Do other people’s deaths matter at all? And could there be others like me?’

One thing was certain: the girl from room 820 who turned into a gray wolf, and the others transformed into animals on the eighth floor, definitely didn’t recall the previous loop.

Thinking of the eighth floor brought back vivid memories of the broom girl—the way she’d burned alive was painfully clear in her mind. Jiho struggled to suppress a wave of nausea.

‘Then… does that mean she’s not actually dead, since she was already dead? Did she fall directly into hell instead?’

Jiho wasn’t sure which option was worse. She shook her head to clear it, refocusing on the main problem.

‘I need to check Pyeonghwa’s phone first. There are too many possibilities right now.’

“By the way…,” Pyeonghwa began to speak.

Both Siwoon and Jiho instantly turned their attention to him.

“Why?” asked Siwoon.

“Should we really trust everything the announcements say?”

“Huh? Where’d that come from all of a sudden?” Siwoon seemed startled, which was understandable, given that Pyeonghwa had just cast doubt on everything he’d previously said. Jiho silently observed him.

“The information’s entirely one-sided. They talk; we listen. They already control all the information. Even if they manipulate or distort things, we wouldn’t know.”

Jiho quietly agreed that Pyeonghwa’s words made sense—but she chose not to say it aloud. Her previous experience had been too vivid. Hadn’t the announcement clearly warned about the closure of the girls’ dorm eighth floor? And because she ignored it and stayed in room 810, she’d died horribly.

Given that painful memory, Jiho thought it would be foolish to completely disregard the announcements.

Siwoon scratched his head, looking frustrated and confused. Jiho, meanwhile, wondered about Pyeonghwa’s true intentions. Was he genuinely stating his thoughts, or was he trying to manipulate them toward a specific outcome?

Without hesitation, Jiho suddenly stepped closer to Pyeonghwa and bluntly asked,

“So? What exactly are you suggesting we do?”

Pyeonghwa blinked, momentarily caught off guard. But in an instant, he regained his composure, returning to his usual calm expression.

“I’m just saying we should stay cautious.”

Jiho carefully studied Pyeonghwa’s expression, but at that moment, the announcement interrupted her:

『This is an announcement for those currently on the 7th floor of both the girls’ and boys’ dormitories.』

Jiho immediately turned her attention to the speaker, forgetting about Pyeonghwa.

『Movement between floors is now prohibited. All residents currently on the 7th floor of both dormitories must gather in Room 721 of the boys’ dormitory. The demons present on the 7th floor are Amon, Allocen, and Andromalius.』

Both Pyeonghwa’s and Siwoon’s expressions changed simultaneously, neither able to hide their shock.

“Oh, this is insane… This makes no sense!”

Siwoon cursed loudly. Pyeonghwa grimaced and glared suspiciously at the speaker.

“Why?” Jiho asked, sensing the sudden tension.

Siwoon pulled at his hair in frustration.

“This is crazy! The boys’ dorm doesn’t even have a room 721!”

Pyeonghwa’s face darkened, eyes fixed coldly on the speaker.

“What do you mean?” Jiho asked.

“The boys’ dorm doesn’t have a room 721. It doesn’t exist. How are we supposed to gather somewhere that isn’t even there? They’re just messing with us at this point!”

Siwoon groaned, gripping his hair anxiously.

Go Pyeonghwa picked up a piece of paper and a pen from the scattered debris on the floor, then quickly sketched something out.

“The boys’ dormitory looks roughly like this…”

He showed Jiho the neatly drawn layout of the boys’ dormitory’s seventh floor. It mirrored the layout of the girls’ dormitory’s seventh floor. Thanks to that, Jiho could easily picture a rough overview of the entire seventh-floor structure in her mind.

Dormitory 7th Floor Layout

“There’s no room 721,” Pyeonghwa stated firmly.

Jiho considered that. Technically, the lounge could count as the 21st room on the boys’ dorm side.

“Could they mean the lounge? After all, it’s still technically the twenty-first room on the boys’ dorm side.”

“Or it might be the emergency staircase next to room 720,” Pyeonghwa added, building on Jiho’s thought.

Siwoon nodded enthusiastically. “Both seem possible. Honestly, either way makes more sense than just giving us a nonexistent room.”

Jiho silently repeated the lesson she’d learned from her death:
‘If you ignore the announcements, you die.’
That meant they had no choice but to find room 721, or whatever it referred to.

In a crisis like this, numbers meant safety. Jiho desperately needed allies. Although she still couldn’t fully trust Pyeonghwa, cooperating was safer than going alone. Trusting him blindly wasn’t wise, so maintaining a cautious distance would be essential.

Now was the time for the three of them to put their heads together and find an answer.

Fortunately, Siwoon seemed capable of mediating smoothly between Jiho and Pyeonghwa.

‘We should definitely find this mysterious room 721. Ignoring the announcement would only get us killed. It’s probably smartest to move together for safety, then split up only if we have to cover more ground once it feels safer.’

Just then, Siwoon shouted urgently:

“Hey, guys! Look at this—there’s something weird here.”

Jiho turned away from the drawing Pyeonghwa had made, glancing at Siwoon. He was holding something small and black, which Jiho couldn’t immediately identify from a distance.

“It looks like some kind of note,” Siwoon said, approaching quickly and holding out what he’d found.

Jiho squinted slightly at the note. The shape and texture felt oddly familiar.

She read the small, black scrap of paper closely:

〈Marbas. Great president of Hell. Appears as a golden lion with a black mane. Turns humans he dislikes into animals. Answers truthfully when asked about hidden things. Has an affinity for mechanical devices and craftsmanship, thus favors skilled humans.〉

“This is really weird, right? The paper’s unusual too. I can’t tell if it’s handwritten or printed… And the timing! Isn’t it strange that something like this would appear right now?”

While Siwoon continued to chatter excitedly, Jiho secretly slipped her phone out of her pocket and checked the screen.

The text on her smartphone matched exactly the font and style on the black note—white letters on a black background.

Jiho quickly shoved the phone back into her pocket.

‘What does this mean…?’

Between the announcements, the smartphone, and now this mysterious note, Jiho felt her head might burst. The note and the smartphone clearly originated from the same source, but she couldn’t guess who or why.

“Look here—it says he’s a ‘Great president of Hell.’ Doesn’t this ‘Marbas’ sound like one of those demons?” Siwoon said, his voice excited.

In stark contrast, Pyeonghwa’s expression was cool and skeptical. When Siwoon finally paused for breath, Pyeonghwa spoke calmly.

“Can we really trust this information? How do we know it’s factually correct?”

“You think it’s fake?” Siwoon shot back immediately. “Why? Which part?”

Pyeonghwa raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced.

“Does it seem real to you? The source is totally unclear.”

“Still, doesn’t it have kind of a mysterious vibe, or a certain aura?”

“Not really. It just seems made up. Besides, this name wasn’t even in the announcement.”

“The announcement…? Oh, right. It mentioned Amon and Andro… something… Anyway, there were three, right? But who’s to say there aren’t more demons besides those three?”

Pyeonghwa frowned slightly, clearly unconvinced.

“Then that’s even more suspicious. How did the announcement know about a demon it never even mentioned by name? The intent seems shady.”

While Jiho was gathering her thoughts, the conversation was starting to drift off-topic. She quickly interrupted.

“Marbas is real. I’ve seen him myself. He’s the monster who was on the eighth floor of the girls’ dormitory.”

At Jiho’s words, Pyeonghwa and Siwoon simultaneously looked at her. Hwang Siwoon frowned and asked,

“You mean the demon?”