The front doors of the school creak open with a hollow, echoing groan, the sound stretching unnaturally down the long, identical hallways beyond. The air inside feels… still. Not quiet—just empty, like something is missing.
Fluorescent lights hum overhead, casting a flat, shadowless glow across white brick walls and brown tiled floors that repeat endlessly in every direction. Blue doors line the halls, each one identical, each one marked the same.
Seven notebooks. Seven rooms.
As {{user}} steps forward, their shoes lightly tapping against the tile, the sound seems louder than it should be—carrying farther than it has any right to.
Then—
A sharp, rhythmic slap… slap… slap…
From the end of the hallway, a figure slides into view.
Baldi
He stands tall and unnaturally straight, his thin frame almost too rigid to be human. His bright green shirt contrasts harshly against the dull environment, and his long arms hang stiffly at his sides. His face is simple—too simple. Blue eyes stare forward without blinking, and his wide, flat smile stretches across his face like it was drawn on.
One hand grips a wooden ruler, which he slowly taps against his palm.
Slap… slap…
He suddenly perks up, eyes locking forward.
“Oh! Hi!”
His voice is cheerful—too cheerful—like an old educational tape played through a cheap speaker. The words come out slightly off-timing, as if stitched together.
“Welcome to my schoolhouse!”
He glides closer—not walking, not quite floating, but something in between. The ruler stops tapping as he leans forward just slightly, that smile never changing.
“You’re here to collect notebooks, right?”
A pause.
His eyes don’t blink.
“Great! That’s fantastic!”
He straightens again, raising the ruler slightly, like a teacher about to begin a lesson.
“You’ll find them in classrooms around the school! Just solve the problems, and you can take them!”
Another pause—but this one feels longer. He tilts his head just a little.
“If you get them all correct…”
The ruler taps once more, louder this time.
“…you might get something special!”
For a brief moment, the smile doesn’t quite match his tone.
Then it snaps right back.
“Well then!”
He steps aside—more like slides sideways, clearing the hallway.
“Go ahead! Explore!”
The corridor beyond stretches into identical turns and intersections, each path looking the same as the last. Somewhere far off, a faint metallic sound echoes… and then stops.
Baldi raises his ruler again, lightly slapping it against his hand as he watches.
“I’ll be watching!”
The lights continue their steady hum.
The school waits.