Intensive Crackdown Period
Ares posted:
Title: What the hell is this intensive crackdown period??
Checked Ellie’s diary for next week and it says they’re doing some kind of intensive crackdown. Looks like Ellie even lost points. Anyone know what this is??
“Huh, so it’s nothing big.”
Ellie’s diary entries didn’t mention anything particularly dangerous either. If something bad was going to happen to me, she would’ve written it down.
But then another comment appeared.
“Huh…? Why me?”
I haven’t broken any school rules so far.
Improper heterosexual relationships. In other words, sexually promiscuous dating.
“What kind of bullshit…!!”
Killing students just because they couldn’t control their youthful impulses. I was reminded once again that this was a horror academy.
“So you can die from breaking school rules too…”
I’d heard that most of the gallery members who crossed the line and died had done so after sleeping with a ghost girl who then killed them. Come to think of it, I think I’d seen something about the rules before…
‘No way the school actually kills you for breaking the rules…’
Well, if failing grades could get you killed, this wasn’t that surprising.
“……”
Just then—
“Huh…?”
My gaze suddenly snapped toward the drawer where I kept the sealed puppet doll.
Ares posted:
Title: Listen to this
I’ve been thinking for a while…
About how you die if you have sex…
Couldn’t I avoid that with my all-purpose ghost item?
For example, the puppet doll blocks one death for me, right?
So even if I cross the line with Lana, I wouldn’t die, right???
Then I get to have sex, keep my life, and expose the ghost too.
Three birds with one stone, right????
I’m a total genius;;;
“Ghh… damn it…”
My chest had swelled with hope for a second, only to be thrown straight into the gutter. Of course. This damn horror academy. Nothing’s ever that easy.
The gallery members wouldn’t understand how torturous this was. Maybe even more torturous than the periodic ghost story events. Both Lana and Ellie were insanely attractive women… Any normal guy would be drawn to them even if they were ghosts.
“You’re laughing…?”
The anonymous user just kept mocking me. Then the usual high-profile nicknames joined in with more teasing comments.
Of course none of them understood. I was alone in my suffering.
“Haa… this is really tough…”
I let out a sigh and slumped over my desk. On top of everything, I’d just witnessed the real-time handjob diary entry from Ellie, so my head was a mess.
And then—
“Ow, shit…!!”
Something jabbed my thigh and I shot upright. Carefully reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the culprit.
“Ah, this…”
It was a flower with thorns on the stem. I’d forgotten I’d picked it up after dealing with the suicide ghost last night and spending the night in the duty room.
“Wait… a wish…?”
Another possibility flashed through my mind.
Ares posted:
Title: How about this????
I still have one of these left, right??
Doesn’t that mean I can make one more wish??
The wish disappears after it’s used so I can’t turn it back into magic, but I can still make one more wish, right??
In the end, the conclusion was the same as always: don’t cross the line.
‘More importantly… I guess I can’t use this flower.’
This was the second-place ghost story for the whole school. Or more accurately, the monkey’s paw ghost story. The flower I’d obtained after last night’s incident. I’d hoped the byproduct of solving a ghost story could be useful, but…
‘Since the wish disappears after use, even if I weaken the power it probably won’t work.’
I’d talked about using it to cross the line, but I knew full well how dangerous it actually was. Ghost stories that granted wishes in twisted ways always ended badly. In every tale, the only wish they granted cleanly was canceling the wish itself.
“Alright, you’re sealed.”
Click.
I tossed the black flower into the second drawer and locked it with the key. I probably wouldn’t open that drawer until graduation.
…I shouldn’t.
I flopped onto my bed and opened the gallery. A new comment had just been posted, and its content was surprisingly alarming.
“Huh…?”
Girls stick to you more…? What did that mean?
They were already all over me as it was. If they got any clingier the only thing I could imagine was them gluing themselves to me naked.
‘Well, it’ll probably be fine…’
I decided not to overthink it. This event was just about not breaking the rules, unlike the movie theater ghost story or the suicide ghost. It was a simple event where you could survive by staying in the middle.
More importantly, I should focus on resting this weekend. My thigh still hurt from yesterday’s bite.
Ares posted:
Title: This is supposed to be a fantasy academy though
We’ve got magic and stuff
Don’t we have healing potions??
Like instant wound recovery
So I spent the weekend lazing around in the dorm. I’d been busy preparing for midterms until last week, after all. It was a rare sweet break.
And when the weekend ended, Monday arrived.
‘Starting today…’
I headed to school with a slight sense of tension. For reference, I wasn’t walking with anyone. Normally I’d go with Lana or Ellie, sometimes Levin, but since this week was the intensive crackdown period, it was better to avoid contact with female students to prevent point deductions.
‘The atmosphere doesn’t seem any different…’
The road to school was peaceful as ever. Everyone looked relieved after exams, laughing and chatting. While walking and staying alert, I noticed something different when I reached the school gate.
“You there, improper uniform. Minus 3 points.”
“What?! Why?!”
“Fix your tie properly.”
Unlike usual, a female teacher stood at Wonder Academy’s main gate, carefully watching students and pointing out violations.
‘Huh? I feel like I’ve seen that teacher before…’
Her face looked familiar, so I tried to recall where I’d seen her. It didn’t take long.
‘Ah, during the Ellie Maman incident…!’
Back when Ellie’s diary ghost story happened, I’d gone to the staff room after the homeroom teacher got possessed by Ellie Maman and taken a test. That pretty teacher who had briefly drawn the homeroom teacher’s attention.
Her name was definitely…
“Huh? What was her name…”
I couldn’t remember. Come to think of it, I never learned it.
“It’s Teacher Bell.”
A familiar female voice came from behind me.
“Aaaah! Levin?!”
“Pfft, sorry. Did I scare you?”
“N-no, it’s just… you appeared out of nowhere. Haha…”
“You were muttering to yourself so I answered without thinking. Sorry.”
Levin smiled prettily, her snow-white hair swaying as usual. She still carried that mysterious aura. Standing in front of her made it hard not to stare like I was enchanted.
“They said the intensive crackdown period starts today. Did you know?”
“Ah, yeah… sort of?”
“It’s to keep everyone from relaxing after midterms. Isn’t that a bit much?”
“Haha, yeah, they could at least let us relax after exams.”
Levin nodded along and let out a cute giggle. Then—
“Huh? Hmm?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ares… did you put on some kind of perfume?”
Sniff sniff.
Levin closed her eyes slightly and leaned in, inhaling my scent. Wow… her eyelashes…
“No, I didn’t put on any perfume…”
“Hmm… but there’s this… nice smell…”
She took another step closer, trying to smell more. Her nose was almost touching my neck now. I stiffened in panic.
“W-wait, Levin…!”
And then—
“━━You two are standing too close. Improper heterosexual relationship #1. Minus 10 points.”
“Aaaaaah!!”
Teacher Bell had appeared behind us out of nowhere and was already writing something down with a scratch-scratch sound. When had she gotten so close…?
More than that, her eyes…
She was smiling, but it didn’t feel human. Like a machine.
After deducting the points, she quietly walked back to the gate.
“Ah… sorry, Ares. Because of me.”
“N-no, it’s fine…”
Levin apologized sincerely, but I didn’t blame her. Something else had occurred to me.
‘Is this what NightRat meant by girls sticking to you more…’
It probably wasn’t a big deal for other gallery members. Just that girls showed more interest, and if you handled it well you’d be fine. But in my case…
“A~res.”
“L-Lana.”
“What? Why do you look so stiff? Aren’t you happy to see me?”
“N-no, it’s just…”
Before morning assembly, in the classroom. Lana, who had just arrived, approached me. Smiling playfully as usual, she came closer.
“Huh…?”
Sniff sniff.
She too pressed her face against my neck and started smelling me.
“Ares… you smell… really good…”
“W-w-wait! Hold on…!”
“Eeh… why… hmm~, nice smell. Let me smell a little more…”
Lana placed her hand on my thigh, completely absorbed in my scent, breathing heavily.
‘Is this dangerous…? No, there’s no supervising teacher here right now, but…!’
There was no way this was okay. Her soft parts pressed against me as she leaned in. This was 10000% an improper situation. Yet Lana paid no attention, completely intoxicated by my scent, her breathing growing ragged.
“Haa… wow… what is this smell…?”
“Lana, so just step back a little…”
“Why? You don’t like me being close?”
“That’s not it…!”
“Then it’s fine…”
“This is the intensive crackdown period…!”
“There are only students here… Everyone’s looking the other way…”
“S-still…!”
The scent coming off me seemed to have some strange effect. Lana’s usual playful, relaxed smile was gone. Instead she looked at me with slightly intoxicated eyes, smiling.
And then—
━━Thud!!
“Aaaaaah!!”
“Kyaaah! Y-you scared me!”
A bag had fallen onto my desk. Startled, Lana and I looked at the bag, then at its owner standing in front of it.
It was Ellie.
Ellie was staring at Lana with a murderous gaze.
“Ares told you to stop.”
“You could’ve just said it! Seriously! I was really surprised!”
I was definitely surprised. But honestly, Ellie had just saved me. If things had continued, I might’ve forgotten we were in a classroom and done something worse.
‘Still, since it’s a classroom there’s no teacher, so it’s fine, right…?’
Fortunately it was still arrival time, so only a few students were in the classroom. The supervising teacher was probably still at the gate.
But then—
Swish…
‘……Huh?’
I looked up.
Beyond Ellie.
At the front door of the classroom, a face peeked in at a bizarre angle. Tilted horizontally in a way no normal person could manage.
━━Teacher Bell was peeking in, smiling at me.
……Oh, fuck.