Second Place Envy
“You cheated, didn’t you…?”
“……”
I didn’t answer.
“You cheated, right?”
I just stayed on guard, my mind racing.
“You cheated? You did, didn’t you? You did, right?”
What kind of ghost is this?
What triggered it?
Cheating…? Top of the school…?
Neither mattered right now.
“You did, right? You did? You did? You did? You did? You did? You did?”
I didn’t have much time.
The ghost was already grinning like it was about to explode.
I needed to say something—fast.
Then—
“You did, so why can’t you answer?”
Before I knew it, the girl had closed the distance, shoving her bloodshot eyes right into my face.
“Uwah, aaaaaah━━!!”
I swung without thinking.
“…━━Aaaaaah!! You fucking bastard!!”
“You did, so—khh.”
My straight punch landed clean on her face.
The girl staggered backward.
For a second, I regretted it.
“Ah, aah…! S-sorry…!! I didn’t mean to…!!”
“……”
“You shoved your ugly mug right in my face! Of course I freaked out!!”
“……”
Huh…?
Then I saw it.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
‘…Blood?’
Nosebleed. She was bleeding from the punch.
In any normal fight I’d be celebrating, but this was Wonder Academy.
And she was clearly one of its ghosts.
‘But why is she bleeding…?’
Physical attacks don’t work on ghosts. I’d confirmed that with Ellie’s mom and the night-school granny. Same with B when Jack possessed him in the theater incident.
‘No… B’s neck did break, though.’
Lana had bite marks too.
So physical force works under certain conditions…?
When the ghost’s trigger hasn’t fully activated?
Then if I kill her now…
No, no—if I can kill her, maybe I shouldn’t…
Drip. Drip. Drip.
While my head spun with theories, the girl spoke again.
“See…? You cheated, so you can’t even answer and you lash out with violence.”
“……”
“Right? Ehehehehe, right? Right? You did, didn’t you?”
Her face was smeared with blood, yet she kept smiling creepily while pressing the accusation.
Yeah. She was definitely a ghost.
But since physical force worked to some degree, I could probably beat her up and run if things went south.
So instead of running, I decided to deny her.
Maybe that was the key.
“No, I studied properly and took the test fair and square.”
“……What?”
She kept asking if I cheated, yet she already seemed convinced.
If she really believed it, why not report me to the school instead of grilling me?
She wanted me to admit it.
So I wouldn’t.
“I didn’t. Got any proof?”
“……”
I denied it outright.
Her upturned lips slowly lowered.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
With a chilling expression, she stared at me through the blood still falling from her nose.
Then the questioning resumed.
“…You’re lying.”
“That’s just what you want to believe.”
“Then why did you hit me?”
“You shoved your face right in front of me like an idiot and you’re blaming me? You really are a piece of shit.”
“…Then why couldn’t you answer at first?”
“Not answering means I cheated? Are you stupid? No wonder you’re not number one. What a moron. Tsk tsk.”
“……”
Did that work…?
Logically flawless.
Besides, even if I had cheated, what could she do about it?
What could she prove?
The future diary only showed up to yesterday.
Even if she checked it now, it would just look like yesterday’s entries.
“……”
“Nothing else to say? Then I’m leaving…?”
I took a cautious step back, watching her reaction.
If the questioning had stopped, maybe I could run.
And in that moment—
The girl clawed at her hair and screamed.
“You did it you did it you did it you did it you did it you did it you did it you did it you did it you did it you did it!!!”
Blood-smeared and wild-eyed, she tore at her own hair.
A chill ran down my spine. I tensed my legs, ready to bolt.
Had the trigger fully activated?
If it had, I needed to run.
I watched her warily—
Then she suddenly stood straight, staring at me.
And grinned.
“I can find out whether you cheated or not.”
“……”
I swallowed hard and glared back.
But instead of continuing the interrogation, she turned and walked down the opposite hallway.
“What the fuck…”
‘Second place…’
It was a common ghost story. I knew it well.
The second-ranked student who envies the top student.
There were many variations, but the most famous one was… the second-place student who kills the top student out of jealousy.
‘But in that story the top student becomes a ghost…’
I had no idea how this version would play out.
Especially since the usual story never mentioned the top student cheating to get there.
‘First, the diary…’
The safest move was to check Ellie’s diary.
It was locked inside the drawer in my dorm room.
I still had time.
But Rapori-sensei would be leaving soon.
I needed to get back to the dorm and retrieve it quickly.
Tatatat!
I rushed down the stairs toward the main entrance.
Just as I reached the door—
━━━━━Whoosh.
“Ah…”
“……”
Our eyes met.
For a split second, the world froze.
Upside-down.
Terrified face.
That girl.
Crack.
“……Hey.”
“……”
She had fallen from the roof and smashed her head into the ground.
The impact separated her head from her body, chunks of flesh scattering everywhere.
Of course, it splattered all over my clothes and face too.
“Diary, diary…!”
I sprinted toward the dormitory.
The body in front of the school…
The school would handle it.
The real problem was the diary.
I needed to see the future through it.
To know what was coming.
“Why the hell did she die…!”
I couldn’t understand it.
Was this the trigger for the ghost story?
She said she’d expose my cheating, then suddenly died.
It made no sense, but…
That’s what ghosts were—things that didn’t make sense.
Tatatatat!
I reached the dorm and flung the door open.
It wasn’t locked.
…Had I forgotten to lock it?
Whatever. The diary.
Click.
Fortunately, the diary’s lock was still intact.
I opened the drawer, grabbed it, and bolted back outside.
“Please!”
My lungs burned, but I didn’t stop.
If possible, I needed to recharge the diary today.
Ten minutes later, I was back at school.
Of course, people had gathered in front of the building.
Mostly teachers.
“Suicide, huh…”
“Isn’t this the girl who came in second this time? Why would she…?”
“She must have wanted first place.”
“Still, to commit suicide…”
A white sheet covered the body.
Every teacher looked shocked.
And among them was Rapori-sensei, towering over two meters tall.
Easy to spot.
“Sensei!”
“Po? Ah, little friend. What’s wrong? …Oh my, you’re covered in blood.”
“Ah, this is… well, more importantly, Sensei! Could you cast a spell for me right now?”
“A spell?”
No time.
The sun was already setting.
If I was too slow, it would be gone.
So the moment I saw her, I asked for magic.
Rapori-sensei glanced at the other teachers, then nodded.
“Come this way for a moment…”
She led me inside the main entrance.
“Little friend, are you okay? You’re covered in blood. Are you hurt?”
“No! This is… it’s that girl’s blood! She fell right next to me…!”
“Po-po? Where were you coming from just now?”
“The dorm!”
“Even though a student died?”
“She was already clearly dead, so I went straight to the dorm. Someone else would find her anyway, and I had no obligation to report it.”
“……”
What?
Was she interrogating me?
But I was innocent.
Besides, the blood on me was proof.
She fell from the roof while I was standing beside the impact point.
Even if someone pushed her, I was the least likely suspect.
So I spoke confidently.
“That’s really all there is to it, Sensei.”
“Po-po-po… I’m not suspecting you, little friend. It’s just…”
“What…?”
“Little friend, you’re… unusual.”
“Huh…?”
“Never mind. You wanted magic, right?”
“Ah, yes! Can you do it right now?”
I took the diary out of my bag and held it out to her.
But Rapori-sensei shook her head apologetically.
“I’m sorry, I can’t right now.”
“What…?”
“A student died. The teachers are holding an emergency meeting. I have to attend.”
“Th-that’s…”
“So come see me on Monday. I’ll do it in the morning.”
No, Monday was too late…
‘That fucking bitch…!’
I glared at the sheet-covered body.
Dying suddenly was already ridiculous, and now it was blocking me from recharging the diary too.
“S-Sensei… I really need this. Is there any way…?”
“I’m sorry. You know casting magic takes time, right?”
“Can’t you make an exception…?”
“If I rush it, your head will be damaged, little friend.”
“Ah…”
I remembered the sensation of her magic rummaging through my brain.
Yeah, that was dangerous.
‘Damn it…’
No choice.
The diary couldn’t be recharged right now.
I’d have to face tomorrow without the future diary.
Could I manage…?
“Don’t be too scared, little friend.”
Then—
Swish.
Squish.
“Ugh…”
Rapori-sensei pulled me into her chest to comfort me.
My face sank into that massive softness.
Well, not that I minded, but…
This wasn’t really the time…
Uoooo…
Pat. Pat.
“I can’t help with that book right now, but… you did recharge another artifact with magic today, didn’t you?”
“Ugh… yeah…?”
“That will be a big help. So don’t worry too much.”
Another artifact.
That was obviously the puppet doll.
The doll that could take curses in place of its owner by wrapping hair or other body parts around it.
‘Ah…!’
And I remembered—
Even though it couldn’t copy the target’s appearance like a doppelganger, the mutual curse effect still worked.
“This should do…”
Back in my dorm room, I locked the puppet doll inside the drawer.
Thanks to its effect, I could probably survive one instant-death-level event.
No matter what that girl-ghost tried, I’d have one chance to live.
‘Of course, if the doll gets damaged, I take the hit instead…’
So I had to keep it in the safest place possible.
Right here, inside my locked dorm drawer.
Simple, but in this horror academy, it was the safest spot.
“Now… time to sleep.”
The sun had set. Night had fallen.
There was nothing else I could do.
‘Whatever happens tomorrow…’
No matter what came, I would survive.
I’d already survived this long while resisting Lana and Ellie’s temptations.
At the very least, if I had to die, I wanted to do it after sleeping with one of them.
So I wouldn’t have regrets.
Absolutely.
Absolutely not dying.
With that, I fell asleep.
Praying that nothing too big would happen tomorrow.
And when I opened my eyes—
“Ah, fuck…”
I realized I’d been completely wrong.
“What the hell is this…”
I thought something would happen tomorrow.
But it wasn’t tomorrow.
“Now, everyone, take your seats.”
I opened my eyes.
In the middle of the night, inside the classroom, sitting at my desk.