Ghost Story (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Ghost Story (3)
"Should we head in first? Knowing our president, he'll probably just make his own way in once he gets here."
They had been waiting for Kang Geomma for twenty minutes. Everyone nodded in agreement at Weapon's suggestion.
"I brought this just in case, but do you think we'll need it?"
Just before opening the door to the Aaron Annex, Abel held up and shook the flashlight she had brought.
Weapon shook his head and replied.
"No, not really. Even though this building is old, it has automatic motion-sensor lights. And even if they don't turn on, our smartphones will be more than enough."
"Ah... then I brought it for nothing."
Abel smacked her lips in disappointment. Rachel suddenly snatched the flashlight and spun it around on her hand.
"Still, you never know. It's not a bad idea to have one of these, right? It adds to the atmosphere, too! Nyaha!"
"...From what I can see, that's probably the most useless for you, Rachel. Since your blonde hair is practically glowing."
After entering the annex, they followed Weapon. He grumbled about not wanting to take the lead.
But under the sharp glares of the four women, he had no choice but to stand at the very front.
Anyone would have done the same if subjected to those suddenly freezing stares.
The line was ordered from front to back: Weapon, Saki, Chloe, Abel, and Rachel.
As they climbed the stairs, Saki, who was walking right behind Weapon, spoke up.
"Weapon, where did you say you saw the ghost?"
"The piano room in the middle of the third-floor hallway. The soundproof booth I practice in is at the very end of the hall, so there's no way to avoid passing by it."
"The middle of the hallway... By the way, I'm only asking this now, but are you sure the kids you saw were actually ghosts? Couldn't they just be students using the facilities because they're nice, like you?"
At Saki's words, Chloe, third in line, answered.
"They probably aren't normal cadets. I asked Nox before coming here today, and he said cadets are restricted from entering this annex due to safety hazards. Even though it looks clean, the building itself is hundreds of years old."
Abel, walking second from the back, added,
"True... After all, we had to sneak in at night to avoid getting caught by the instructors. If over a dozen people were constantly coming and going like Weapon said, there's no way the Academy wouldn't have noticed."
Just then, a faint chuckle drifted from behind Abel. She didn't think much of it.
It was just Rachel playing around. She had been excited even before they entered.
I don't even need to look to know.
She was probably holding the flashlight under her chin, sticking her tongue out, and trying to scare her.
The scene played out clearly in Abel's mind. Rather than giving a reaction and inviting more annoyance, ignoring her was the best option.
Abel kept her eyes fixed on the back of the person in front of her, Chloe.
Nyahuuuuu...
The teasing continued even after several minutes. Normally, if ignored once, Rachel would huff, say "No fun, hmph," and stop pushing.
With her fickle nature, Rachel gave up just as quickly as she got excited.
But this time, she was surprisingly persistent. Had Rachel finally realized that giving up too quickly wouldn't make Abel look back?
Oh, so that's how it's going to be?
Abel's nerves were already frayed from a recent lack of sleep. She decided to take this opportunity to give her a piece of her mind.
Taking a breath, Abel whipped around. The very next second, her eyes widened in surprise.
"...Huh?"
Rachel, who should have been at the very end of the line, was gone.
Where did she go? No, that was impossible.
She had clearly felt a presence behind her just moments ago.
Sensing presences was a fundamental skill for any swordsman. It allowed them to read an opponent's movements in advance or prepare for a surprise attack.
She had trained this skill every single day without fail. Abel was more confident in her sensory perception than anyone else.
Even if she had made a temporary mistake, there was no way she could have missed such a distinct human presence.
Then where was Rachel? Abel hurriedly turned her head back to the front.
"Guys, Rachel is go—!"
Abel swallowed the rest of her words back down her throat.
She froze, unable to believe the sight before her eyes.
"W-why are you there?"
The person occupying the third spot instead of Chloe. Braided blonde twin-tails filled her vision.
"R-Rachel, when did you... when did you get in front of me?"
"Sorry. You were walking so slowly, Abel, so I asked Chloe to swap places with me. Right, Chloe?"
Suddenly, Chloe's voice drifted from behind her.
"Yes, that's right. Rachel wanted to go ahead, so I swapped with her. Now, let's keep moving."
Chloe poked Abel's back with her finger, urging her forward as if trying to deny her any time to think.
"Yeah, let's go, hurry."
"Yes, we should go. Chop chop."
The two in front, Weapon and Saki, chimed in as well.
They were all creating an atmosphere that made Abel out to be the strange one.
Abel stopped dead in her tracks. She placed her hands on her hips and snapped,
"Who are you people?"
The air instantly turned freezing cold. Rachel, her back still turned, tilted her head at an unnatural angle.
"Stupid Abel."
It was Rachel's voice. She began to pour out a torrent of words.
"You couldn't even step forward that day, hiding among the cadets. Why are you acting so brave all of a sudden now? If you had acted like this back then, you wouldn't have let Saki beat you to the punch."
"..."
"Kang Geomma was closer to you, Abel. Think about it. You lived under the same roof, sharing joys and sorrows for a whole month. But look at you now. Clinging to your useless pride, too cowardly to even visit the Wolf Class."
"..."
"Deep down, aren't you secretly thinking you're better than the other girls?"
"..."
"Ah, our pathetic, miserable Abel. Hypocrite Abel, trying so hard to look like a selfless saint. Abel, who claims looks are just superficial but asks Shail about basic skincare. Cowardly Abel. Leech Abel. Abel... Abel—"
"Pfft, hahaha."
Abel burst into a light laugh. The mouths that had been incessantly babbling instantly shut.
"You things wearing my friends' faces. I get that you're trying to mess with my head, but hearing you point everything out so precisely actually makes me feel refreshed."
Shring.
Abel's hand slid down to her waist and drew her sword.
She held the blade upright before her chest. Her own reflection stared back from the polished steel.
The sheer contempt and mockery they had poured onto her. It was so raw that she felt completely stripped bare. Yet, a smile played on her lips.
Abel spoke.
"You're right. I am a coward who always relied on Kang Geomma and couldn't even step up when he was in danger."
"..."
"But you made one mistake. We of the Nibelung family always humbly accept our shortcomings. And we correct them immediately. So, pointing out every single one of my flaws like this... I couldn't be more grateful."
Abel brought the raised blade to the tip of her nose and closed her eyes.
Hypocrite, coward, inferiority complex.
She accepted all of it. And at the same time, she reflected on it.
For that cycle was the very essence of growth.
Abel slowly opened her eyes.
She was standing in the middle of the second-floor hallway. Before she knew it, the four of them had backed away.
They were glaring at her with murderous intent, thick red tears of blood dripping from their eyes.
Bloodshot pupils gleamed dangerously from the center of dark, hollow sockets. The pack of ghosts was still wearing the skins of her friends.
Abel felt a chill run down her spine. The hairs on her arms stood on end.
Trying to intimidate her with such a gruesome appearance—it was cheating.
The creatures gripped weapons in their hands. They were kitchen knives, the cliché weapon of choice in horror movies.
Their weapons are knives too.
They weren't ghosts; they were just fellow wielders of blades. Flipping her perspective like that seemed to chase away her fear.
Besides, she knew someone who consistently used nothing but a sashimi knife as his weapon.
Compared to him, she wondered if their kitchen knives could even peel an apple properly.
Abel let out a soft chuckle. Just thinking of Kang Geomma washed away the tightness in her chest.
"Dieeeeeeeee!"
The ghosts shrieked curses as they charged down the hallway. Their arms flailed limply as they swung their kitchen knives, as if their joints had been dislocated.
I must slay these ghosts.
Staring at them, Abel thought calmly. Her gaze grew deep and focused.
If it were Kang Geomma...
Abel sheathed her drawn sword. Gripping the hilt tightly, she lowered herself into a quick-draw stance.
She crouched low and heavy, as if carrying a boulder on her back.
Bending her right knee, she stretched her left leg far back. An unstable center of gravity.
It was a posture that looked like it would collapse at a single gust of wind. Yet, that very instability was the key to an explosive leap.
Abel mimicked the swordsmanship of the person she had once envied.
The footsteps drew closer. A distance of about twenty paces. The ghosts thrust their kitchen knives in twisted trajectories. It was a literally ghostly onslaught.
"Haaah."
Abel exhaled a hot breath through gritted teeth. A long trail of white mist escaped her lips. Chhhhh— It sounded like a train releasing steam.
Abel snapped her eyes open. Instantly, her foot shattered the stone tiles of the hallway. A silver thread sliced through the corridor, splitting it cleanly down the middle like a twin popsicle.
Slash!
At the vanishing point of the hallway, Abel stood holding her posture.
Clack. The moment the handguard clicked against the sheath, the ghosts crumbled, diced into neat little cubes.
* * *
I slashed through those ghostly bastards left and right, obliterating dozens of them.
But despite that, the bastards didn't seem to thin out at all. Instead, their numbers only grew as they burst into bizarre, grotesque laughter.
Nyahahahahaha!
At first, there were only three of them: Saki, Weapon, and Chloe. And I took them out with a single strike.
But I had made a grave mistake. I had uttered the ultimate taboo: "Did I get them?"
As if determined not to disappoint, ghosts began pouring out from every direction.
The piano room, the art room, the ceiling.
Basically, they spawned from anywhere a ghost could possibly appear.
Their entrances were utterly bizarre.
Some had kitchen knives clamped in their teeth, some crawled on all fours across the ceiling, and others bounced on the floor headfirst. It was a veritable variety gift set of ghosts.
Individually, their combat power was mediocre—around C-rank magical beasts. But coming at me in a massive horde made them a massive pain in the ass.
If this turned into a war of attrition, I would be at a disadvantage. As luck would have it, I could only activate the [Blessing of the Sword God] for sixty seconds.
So, to draw up a plan, I slipped into the third stall of the men's restroom. It wasn't much of a tactical retreat, but every other spot was already fully booked by ghosts.
Sitting on the toilet lid, I organized my thoughts.
First of all, there's no way I can defeat... no, deal with all of these bastards.
I concluded that this ghost den shared a very similar nature to a dungeon.
I got a feel for it after slicing a few of them. Those things running wild and cackling in the hallway felt more like magical beasts than actual ghosts. The sensation of cutting through them was exactly the same.
I had tried to escape through a window, but whatever glass they used, it wouldn't even scratch.
Once you enter, you can't leave until you clear it. This, too, was a characteristic shared with other dungeons.
I put aside the question of why there was a dungeon inside the Academy for now. That wasn't what was important right now.
If this place shared the properties of a dungeon, there had to be a way to clear it.
The problem was that I didn't know how. Back when I played the game, there was no such "Korean Ghost Stories" style event.
If only I knew the strategy, I could find a way to break through.
Usually in times like this, Saki or Weapon would put their heads together with me to come up with a plan.
Just as I was realizing their importance all over again, an exclamation mark flashed in my mind.
I immediately pulled up my status window while activating the [Blessing of Communication]. Then, I spoke to it bluntly.
— Hey, give me a hint.
[...]
Silence, as if it were buffering. I guess it was too much to ask.
I thought it was useful since I'd received pretty good information during emergencies before.
But when it actually matters, it's useless...
Flash!
...?
* * *
[Tip: Find and destroy the core of the 'Horror Maze'. Doing so will allow you to escape.]
[...]
[...]
[Believe it or not. Bye.]
* * *
"The core, huh."
It seemed the solution wasn't to wipe out every single ghost after all.
It would have been nice if it went a step further and told me where the core was, but no matter how many times I called out, there was no further response.
It's sulking.
Still, thanks to that, I had a lead. I'd figure out where the core might be from here before making a move.
Though...
It had gotten awfully quiet outside.
I hadn't watched many horror movies, but I knew exactly what this silence meant.
A restroom, and a sudden, heavy silence. Could there be a more perfectly set stage?
Most of all, I was currently crouching on the toilet. Because of that, I could see a pair of pink shoes standing neatly through the gap under the door. The pointed tips of the shoes were aimed directly at me.
I slowly raised my head.
A monstrously tall figure, almost reaching the ceiling, poked her head over the top of the stall door. A hideous, grinning arc stretched across her mouth.
"Peekaboo. Found you."