Chapter 179 – Ghost Story (3)

“Shall we go in first? Knowing the president’s personality, he’ll probably go in on his own when he gets here.”

After waiting twenty minutes for Kang Geom-Ma, everyone nodded at Speedweapon’s suggestion.

“I brought this—think we’ll need it?”

Just before opening the door to Aaron Pavilion, Abel showed them the flashlight she’d brought.

Speedweapon shook his head.

“No, it’s not necessary. Even though the building’s this old, it has automatic sensors. The lights turn on by themselves. And if they don’t, a phone flashlight’s enough.”

“Ah… then it was pointless to bring it.”

Abel clicked her tongue, a little disappointed. Rachel snatched the flashlight and spun it in her fingers.

“But you never know. Having something like this isn’t bad. Besides, it adds to the mood, nya-ha.”

“…If you ask me, you’re the last one who needs that, Rachel. Your blonde hair shines enough on its own.”

Once inside the building, they followed Speedweapon. He complained about leading, but the four girls’ cold stares gave him no choice.

Anyone would’ve caved under those looks.

The order was Speedweapon, Saki, Chloe, Abel, and Rachel bringing up the rear.

As they climbed the stairs, Saki, just behind Speedweapon, spoke up.

“Where did you say you saw the ghost?”

“In the piano room halfway down the third-floor hall. I practice in a soundproof booth at the end, so I always pass by it.”

“Halfway down the hall, huh… By the way, are you sure it was a ghost? Maybe it was just some student using the rooms like you.”

Chloe, third in line, answered.

“I doubt they were normal students. I asked Knox before coming, and he said this building’s off-limits for safety reasons. Even if it looks clean, it’s centuries old.”

Abel, walking fourth, added:

“Yeah… we also snuck in at night so the instructors wouldn’t see us. If ten people were regularly using it like you said, the academy would know.”

That’s when a faint laugh came from behind Abel. She didn’t think much of it.

‘It’s probably Rachel messing around. She’s been excited since before we came in.’

She could imagine it clearly—Rachel holding the flashlight upside down and sticking out her tongue to scare her.

‘Better ignore her and let her get bored.’

Abel kept walking, watching Chloe’s back.

Nyaaah…

The teasing continued for several minutes. Usually, when Rachel was ignored, she’d say “so boring” and give up.

She was easy to hype up but gave in just as fast.

But this time, she kept going. Maybe she’d realized that quitting quickly didn’t get her attention.

‘Oh, so that’s how you wanna play?’

Lately, Abel had been irritable from lack of sleep. She’d take the chance to set things straight.

She took a deep breath and spun around—only for her eyes to go wide.

“…Huh?”

Rachel, who should have been at the end of the line, wasn’t there.

Did she move ahead? No, impossible. Just a moment ago, Abel had clearly felt her behind.

Sensing presence was a basic skill for any swordsman. It helped detect movement and ambushes.

Abel trained that every day without fail. She was sure she hadn’t made a mistake.

So where was Rachel?

Abel quickly turned to the front.

“Guys, Rachel disa—”

She swallowed her words. What she saw left her speechless.

“Y-you? What are you doing there?”

The person now in third place was Rachel. Her twin blonde braids gleamed in the light.

“Ra-Rachel… w-when did you get in front of me?”

“Sorry. You were going too slow, so I asked Chloe to let me pass. Right, Chloe?”

Chloe’s voice came from behind.

“Yeah, it’s true. Rachel said she wanted to go ahead, so we switched. Come on, keep walking.”

Chloe gently pushed Abel’s back with a finger. Like she didn’t want to give her time to think.

“Yep, let’s go, let’s go.”

“Yeah, let’s keep moving. Come on, come on.”

Speedweapon and Saki chimed in from the front.

They were making it sound like Abel was the weird one.

Abel stopped dead in her tracks. Then, she put a hand on her hip and said in a dry tone:

“Who are you people?”

The air turned cold instantly. Rachel, still facing forward, tilted her head at a bizarre angle.

“Silly Abel.”

The voice was Rachel’s. And it didn’t stop talking.

“That day you hid among the other students doing nothing, and now you think you can play brave? If you’d done this from the start, Saki wouldn’t have outpaced you.”

“……”

“Kang Geom-Ma was closer to you. Think about it—you lived in the same house for a month. But look at you now. With that dumb pride of yours, you can’t even approach the Wolf Class.”

“……”

“Deep down, don’t you think you’re better than everyone? Even if you don’t say it, you believe it, right?”

“……”

“Poor Abel. Pathetic, miserable Abel. Pretending to be selfless, but you’re just a hypocrite. You say looks don’t matter, but you ask Shail what basic skincare she uses. Cowardly Abel. Parasitic Abel. Abel… Abel…”

“Pfft.”

Abel let out a small laugh. All those mouths went silent.

“You’re using my friends’ faces, trying to mess with my head. But being that blunt is kind of freeing.”

Shing.

Her hand dropped to her waist, and she drew her sword.

She raised it vertically before her chest. Reflected in the blade was herself.

All that scorn and mockery felt like being stripped bare. Yet a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Abel spoke:

“Yeah. I’ve always been a coward, only ever receiving help from Kang Geom-Ma, but never helping him when he needed it.”

“……”

“But you missed something. In the Nibelung family, we accept our flaws with humility. And then, we correct them immediately. So thank you for pointing mine out so clearly.”

Abel raised the sword’s edge to the tip of her nose. She closed her eyes.

Hypocrite. Coward. Inferiority complex.

She accepted it all. And she regretted it too.

That cycle would be her path to growth.

Abel opened her eyes slowly.

They were halfway down the second-floor corridor. Without noticing, the four had backed away, watching her with eyes dyed red.

Their pupils, bloodshot, gleamed from sunken sockets. Those ghosts were just wearing her friends’ skin.

A chill ran down Abel’s back. Every hair on her body stood on end.

Trying to intimidate her in that form was a dirty trick.

They held kitchen knives in both hands. Classic horror movie weapons.

‘Even their weapons are knives.’

They weren’t just ghosts. They were swordsmen, like her. That realization eased her fear.

Besides, she knew someone who only used sashimi knives.

Compared to that, those ghost knives were barely good for peeling apples.

Abel snorted a short laugh. Just thinking of Kang Geom-Ma eased the pressure in her chest.

“Diiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”

The ghosts charged down the hallway with cursed screams. Their arms swung the knives as if their joints were dislocated.

‘I have to exorcise them.’

Watching them, Abel thought calmly. Her gaze turned deep and heavy.

‘If I were Kang Geom-Ma…’

Abel re-sheathed her sword. Then she gripped the hilt tightly and lowered her stance.

Her body coiled like she was carrying a boulder on her back, crouching as low as possible.

Bending her right knee and stretching her left leg behind, her center of gravity was so unstable she looked ready to fall with the slightest breeze.

But that fragility was key to an explosive leap.

Abel mimicked the technique of the one she once envied.

The footsteps closed in. At about twenty paces, the ghosts threw their knives in crooked arcs. A cursed-energy-charged assault.

“Haaah.”

Abel let out a hot breath between clenched teeth. A long vapor escaped her lips. Hisss—like steam from a locomotive.

Abel’s eyes snapped open. In that same moment, her foot shattered the floor beneath her.

Two silver lines shot across the ground in parallel.

Clang!

At the vanishing point of the hallway, Abel stood in a draw stance.

Tac. The guard of her sword tapped against the mouth of the scabbard.

The ghosts were diced into chunks like radish cubes and collapsed.

***

I cut down all those damn ghosts without mercy. I took out dozens of them.

But even so, those bastards didn’t decrease—on the contrary, they kept multiplying, letting out grotesque cackles.

Nyaahahahahahahahaha!

At first, there were only three—Saki, Speedweapon, and Chloe. I took them down with a single swing.

But I made a fatal mistake.

I said, “Did I get them all?”

And, not wanting to disappoint me, the ghosts started pouring in from everywhere.

From the piano room, the art room, the ceiling.

In short, from every place a ghost would normally pop out.

And the way they appeared was terrifying.

Some with a kitchen knife in their mouth, others crawling on the ceiling with all four limbs, and some slamming their heads against the floor. It was like a complete set of horror movie clichés.

One by one, they weren’t that strong. Like a rank C magic monster. But coming in waves, they were a real pain.

If this turned into a battle of attrition, I’d be the one to lose. Unfortunately, I can only maintain the [Blessing of the God of Swords] for 60 seconds.

So, to rethink my strategy, I holed up in the third stall of the boys’ bathroom.

There weren’t many places to retreat to. The others were already full of ghosts.

Sitting on the toilet, I tried to collect my thoughts.

‘I can’t… I can’t wipe out all those bastards. That’s clear.’

I came to the conclusion that this ghost nest was like a dungeon.

After cutting a few down, I was sure. The ones sprinting down the halls screaming like lunatics were more like magic monsters than ghosts. I could feel the impact when I cut them.

I tried escaping through a window, but the glass was so tough it only left marks.

Once inside, there was no getting out without completing the “mission.” Another dungeon-like trait.

Why is there a dungeon inside the academy? Doesn’t matter right now.

If this place works like a dungeon, then it must have a way to be cleared.

The problem is—I don’t know how. In the game, there was never an event like “traditional ghost stories.”

‘If only I knew how to clear it, I could handle this.’

Normally, in situations like this, I’d sit and brainstorm with Saki or Speedweapon.

As I remembered how helpful they were, a brilliant idea crossed my mind.

I opened the status window and activated the [Blessing of Communication]. Without hesitation, I spoke:

—Hey, give me a hint.

[…]

Like it was buffering… nothing. Dead silence. Just as I thought—it wasn’t that easy.

And to think it used to give me helpful info in critical situations…

‘Now, when I need it the most, it’s useless…’

Flash—

‘…What?’

***

[Hint: Locate and destroy the core of the “Horror Maze.” Doing so will allow you to escape.]

[…]

[…]

[Don’t believe me if you don’t want to. Good luck.]

***

“The core, huh.”

So the strategy wasn’t to eliminate all the ghosts.

It’d be perfect if they told me exactly where the core was, but no matter how much I called, there were no more responses.

‘Got offended.’

Still, I had a clear direction now. I needed to focus on finding the core.

Only…

Suddenly, it got really quiet outside.

I haven’t watched that many horror movies, but I know exactly what this kind of silence means.

A bathroom. Sudden silence. This setup couldn’t be more perfectly staged.

And the worst part—I was squatting on the toilet.

That’s why I could see a pair of pink shoes perfectly lined up beneath the stall door. The pointed heels were facing directly toward me.

I slowly raised my head.

Above the door, a grotesque, tall figure had poked its head in. A twisted, hideous smile spread across its face.

“Peekaboo. Found you.”