The Unintended Suicide

Ares posted:

The gallery members rushed in even at dawn. Made sense, since they were already dead and didn't need sleep.

A little later, after quickly scanning the video, they started throwing out questions and guesses one by one.

"Already a dead-end ending…?"

Somewhere along the way, I'd already failed…?

Where?

If that was the case, then when we met in the hallway…

Should I have properly explained when she questioned me about cheating?

Or should I have admitted to cheating and gone a different route?

"……"

"Ares…? Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah…. I was just thinking for a second."

If I'd just let that girl go back then…

And her suicide was the dead-end trigger…

If that was it…

"What happens now…?"

If I survived tonight, could I avoid the dead end?

Or…

……Would I be dragged back to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠school every night to take the exam?

The gallery members leaned toward the latter.

"Do this every single night…?"

There was no way I could live a normal school life.

Like someone denying a terminal diagnosis, I pleaded with the gallery.

The essence of the ghost…

I understood it immediately without needing an explanation.

Open Lana's door and you die.

Don't change the future in Ellie's diary and you die.

Don't follow the manual in the night school and you die.

Don't find the real culprit in the movie theater and you die.

Just like everything I'd experienced so far, the ghosts had clear cause and effect.

Cause and result.

If you figured out the cause, you could avoid the result.

But this ghost story was giving me a headache.

"What's the cause…? Me getting first place in the whole school? Cheating…? Or that girl committing suicide…?"

I tried recalling each situation.

But none of them had a clear answer.

"Ares…."

"……"

Ellie looked at me with a worried face.

Thanks to her voice and warmth, I could barely stay calm.

"It's fine, I just have a lot on my mind…."

"…Don't worry too much."

"……"

"Let's escape safely together."

Ellie smiled gently as she took my hand, as if to reassure me.

Squeeze…

Her soft, warm hand.

At that touch…

I remembered the sight of Ellie with not a single thread of clothing on her body.

"Yeah…, I can't die here…."

I held Ellie's hand back and thought of the reasons I couldn't die.

The reasons I couldn't give up.

━━I can't die without even having sex.

"Think…, think…, there has to be something…, something I'm missing…."

Once I calmed down, something stirred in my head.

Instinct.

My survival instincts were activating my brain, and my subconscious was picking up on something in my memories.

"What's bothering me…? What is it?"

If I'd triggered a dead end, what was the trigger?

First place in the whole school?

No, that couldn't be the direct trigger.

Cheating?

Not that either, since the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ghost hadn't even clearly caught me cheating in the first place.

Then it had to be…

"Suicide."

Her falling from the rooftop.

The image was vivid in my mind.

Yeah, it must have started there.

"Let's watch the video again…."

Memories weren't reliable.

But if I uploaded the video to the gallery, I could confirm my memories for sure.

Ares posted:

Ignoring the gallery members' shocked comments, I carefully examined the video.

On the way out through the school gate—

━━Whoosh.

The girl fell.

And crack.

Her head split open and she died.

"Something…, something's bothering me…."

And then—

Slide.

A comment appeared on the video I uploaded.

It was a simple question.

"Why did she die…? Obviously because she was trying to kill me…."

It was such an obvious question that I ignored it.

I kept rewinding the video, trying to find anything strange.

But—

Slide.

"……"

What…?

It was like the comment was pressing for an answer.

Slide.

"……"

It wasn't even a chat, but since I wasn't replying, it kept posting the same question.

It was an unsettling comment.

Then someone replied to it.

A familiar username.

One of the users who often gave useful advice.

He gave a clear answer.

But—

Slide.

Even so, the anonymous comment didn't stop.

This time it wasn't the same question.

"Expression…?"

At the anonymous comment, I quickly replayed the video.

And saw the expression the anonymous user mentioned.

"Ah…."

"What's wrong…?"

I opened my mouth and paused the screen.

The moment the girl committed suicide.

Something about that moment felt instinctively wrong.

So I kept rewatching the video, trying to find the reason.

And the reason was in that scene.

Ares posted:

If the suicide was the trigger for this ghost story…

Then the suicide was what the ghost intended.

…But that didn't add up — the girl's expression was filled with fear.

"……"

Yeah.

The only reason someone falling would make that kind of face…

Was because they didn't jump themselves.

Which meant…

"There was something that made her fall."

I felt like I'd grabbed a clue.

And just like me, the gallery members sensed something was off and started posting various theories about the ghost story.

Among them, one title caught my eye, so I went in to check the opinions.

Other gallery members posted similar opinions.

And I also felt this was closest to the truth.

The existence of another ghost.

"……"

A clear path was starting to form.

What I needed to do now—

━━Find the second ghost connected to that suicide ghost.

"Ellie."

"Huh, huh? What's wrong?"

"Do you know who that girl walking backwards was earlier?"

"That girl earlier…?"

"She probably got second place in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠whole school this exam. Do you know anything?"

At my last words, Ellie answered as if something had come to mind.

"Ah, now that you mention it, I heard second place came from Class 3!"

"Class 3?"

"Yeah, I just overheard it while passing by…."

"……"

First-year Class 3.

"If the second ghost exists… and it's connected to the suicide ghost…"

Then there was probably a hint about the second ghost in that girl's classroom.

No, there had to be.

If it wasn't there, I wouldn't even know where to start looking for traces of the second ghost.

But there was a problem.

"How do I get to Class 3…?"

The place I'd just escaped from was the first-year floor.

It was probably crawling with those faceless fake humans.

To investigate Class 3, I had to lure them away from there.

"……"

After thinking for a moment, I looked at Ellie and spoke.

"Ellie."

"Uh, yeah."

"Do you think you could climb down a rope…?"

"Huh…? A rope…?"

After that, Ellie and I left the science prep room and tore down all the curtains in the science lab.

"Is this okay…?"

"Yeah, you're doing great."

"It's amazing…, tying it like this makes it so sturdy…."

Fortunately, the curtains were just long enough to reach the first floor.

Then we checked the hallway.

There was no one on the fifth floor where we were.

Since the suicide ghost had already swept through once, they were probably searching other floors.

"Let's go…."

"Yeah…."

We moved classrooms while holding the long rope made from curtains.

The location was the classroom where first-year Class 3 would be.

The cooking practice room.

"Ready?"

"Just need to lower the rope now."

"Good."

After hearing Ellie's words, I took a deep breath.

"I hope they take the bait…."

It might not go as planned.

If that happened… in the worst case, Ellie and I would have to escape to the dorm through the schoolyard….

The night outdoors was full of all kinds of ghosts, and I absolutely wanted to avoid that.

So—

I inhaled as deeply as possible.

So my voice would echo throughout the entire school.

"━━━Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!"

I screamed.

My voice echoed repeatedly through the quiet school building like a reverberation.

Anyone listening from the lower floors would clearly hear it coming from above.

And a moment later—

Thud thud thud thud thud….

A tremendous sound of footsteps started approaching.

"Ellie!! Now!!"

"Got it!"

Whoosh!

Ellie dropped the curtain rope.

At the same time, I locked the cooking practice room door with the master key.

Click.

"Huuuup!!"

Creak, creak….

Without stopping, I pushed a heavy shelf in front of the door and knocked it over.

Thud.

This should hold for a bit.

"Let's go! I'll go down first, so follow me!"

"Uh, yeah! I can do it!"

"Good!"

I immediately climbed out the window and grabbed the rope.

Just then, a voice came from beyond the cooking practice room door.

[There you areeeee!!]

Thud!! Thud!! Thud!!

The suicide ghost's voice.

The sound of pounding on the door to break it down.

"Ellie!! Hurry!!"

"I'll be right there…!"

At that, Ellie also grabbed the rope.

Fortunately, Ellie did exactly as she said and climbed down the rope without much difficulty.

Since she'd chosen the swordsmanship class, her athletic ability was better than expected.

So I relaxed and climbed down to the first floor first.

"Please…, please…."

There shouldn't be any.

There couldn't be.

Even if there were, they'd probably be gathered in the classroom where I took the exam.

Class 3 should be fine.

"Please…!"

And when I reached the window of first-year Class 3, I carefully looked inside.

"Yes!!"

There was no one inside Class 3.

Slide.

Even the window was open.

If it had been locked, I'd planned to break it.

But since all doors in this school were open by default, I figured the windows were the same.

"Ellie, I'll catch you…! Don't be scared and jump down!"

"Uh, yeah!"

We'd arrived safely, but we were still short on time.

I urged Ellie on, and she slid down the rope as I said.

But then—

[Climbing out the window is against school rules!!]

A voice came from above.

Someone from probably the third floor, closer than the fifth, had grabbed the rope.

And because the rope shook, Ellie slipped and fell.

"Kyaaaaah!!"

"Uwaaah!"

Reflexively, I reached out and caught Ellie.

"I-I got you…!!"

"Kyaaah!! Ares!!"

But unfortunately, my timing was a bit too early.

I ended up hugging Ellie's thighs, and as a result, my face was buried between her legs.

"Mmph…!"

I couldn't panic.

This was an accident.

I just needed to lower her naturally.

"I'll put you down…! Be careful…!"

"Uh, yeah…."

Like that, Ellie held onto my head and slowly descended through the window.

Tap.

"That was close…."

"Yeah…."

After safely arriving in Class 3, Ellie and I awkwardly avoided each other's eyes for a moment.

But we quickly snapped back to attention at the sound coming from above.

Bang! Bang! Crash!

"The fifth-floor door's been breached…, they'll be down soon. Let's search quickly…!"

"Ah, okay!"

Ellie and I headed straight for the teacher's desk as we'd discussed beforehand.

And pulled out the attendance book from the desk drawer.

"Where…, where is it…."

I checked the photos in the attendance book one by one, looking for the face of the girl I'd encountered in the hallway yesterday.

"This is her…! Ellie, check the locker!"

"Yeah!"

Fortunately, it didn't take long to find the photo.

Attendance number 6.

Since the photo even had the seat location written on it, Ellie went to locker number 6.

I headed to the girl's seat.

Thud thud thud….

The floor above rumbled.

They were probably searching another floor for us again.

"Some of them will come here…, so before that…!"

While desperately searching for hints about the second ghost—

"Ares…! How about this?"

Ellie called me and showed me a piece of paper.

"I don't know what it is, but it feels creepy…!"

What Ellie held up was a black piece of paper.

Something was written on it in gold letters.

"That's it…!"

I felt it instinctively.

This was definitely going to be the clue.

I immediately took the paper from Ellie and examined its contents.

This was clearly a clue about the second ghost.