Chapter 5
Chapter 5
My body felt light. Maybe it was because of the training in the waiting room.
My muscles had been damaged and restored over and over again under the room’s authority, almost like they had gone through rehabilitation.
Even without the help of internal energy, moving my body felt easier now.
KUUUNG—!
The sound of a massive slab of metal crushing the ground echoed through the darkness. Even in the dark, I could see an even deeper darkness.
Those eyes, writhing like earthworms. Those disgusting eyes were looking at me.
“You said not to look away.”
I didn’t look away. I faced it head-on.
And then the statue stopped moving. Only its wriggling eyes remained vivid.
“Huuh…”
As I walked toward it, I exhaled deeply.
Hot energy seeped out between my lips. The flame at my middle dantian surged wildly through my twelve meridians.
As if refusing to submit to something so insignificant.
The flame, as if it had a will of its own, flowed down my arm and into the sword.
It was the same sensation I had repeated all day.
I thrust the sword toward its side.
Cheollak Mountain Severing Strike.
CLANG—!
My wrist went numb.
Blocked.
Its halberd had intercepted my blade.
So it does defend, huh?
A shock that felt like my bones were about to shatter ran through my arm, but the muscles I had trained through countless repetitions in the waiting room held firm.
Look at me.
I didn’t avert my eyes.
I wasn’t afraid anymore.
The halberd came crashing down from above. Compared to the first time I died, its movement felt slower.
So the girl from the gallery was right.
Ghost stories had rules. And not looking away was probably one of the most important ones.
I didn’t block it. I sidestepped instead.
BOOM!
The halberd smashed into the ground, sending fragments of concrete flying.
Sea-Splitting Strike.
Instead of targeting the statue directly, I swung my blade at the horse beneath it.
SHHHHK—!
The blade cleanly severed its neck.
As the horse collapsed, I gathered all the flame in my dantian and poured it into the tip of my sword.
Heaven Piercing Strike.
BOOM—!
The condensed flame exploded from the blade.
It pierced through the statue’s neck without resistance.
Sssss—
Its body crumbled into ash and scattered.
“Haa… haa…”
The backlash hit me late. My hand trembled as I held the sword. My dantian felt completely drained.
Even if this was only the first trial out of five…
I had taken revenge on that damn decapitation maniac.
Who said revenge was empty?
My legs gave out, and I leaned on my sword. Even like this, it felt exhilarating.
So revenge is hollow? That must be what people say when they’ve never done it.
“Hm?”
Something glittered where the statue had disappeared.
A small bead, the size of a candy, lay under the faint streetlight.
CRACK—
The moment I picked it up, it shattered.
A dark, ominous energy seeped into my body through my meridians.
My flame immediately reacted and devoured it.
The dying flame reignited, growing stronger as it fed on the energy.
Before I could even enjoy the strange sense of refreshment—
Clink. Clink.
A sound like chains echoed nearby.
A chill ran down my spine.
I had just finished a fight. Could I handle another ghost story now?
My energy had stabilized thanks to the bead, but I still needed time.
I slipped into a nearby building, suppressing my breathing and presence.
Clink… clink…
The sound of chains drew closer.
Then it stopped right in front of me.
I wanted to look, but I held back.
Curiosity kills the cat.
I waited.
I don’t know how much time passed.
Clink… clink…
The sound began to fade.
Eventually, silence returned.
I peeked out.
Nothing.
Status window?
Nothing appeared.
Then—
The objective list finally showed.
Clear Conditions
Inshin Middle School’s Five Ghost Stories
???
Ah. It updated.
The statue was marked as complete.
Human specimen would probably be in the science room.
I was at the edge of the main building.
There should be a floor map in the center lobby.
I moved carefully through the dark hallway.
Every step in the pitch-black school made my nerves tighten.
Something could jump out again like before.
Thankfully, nothing appeared.
In the center lobby, a huge floor map was posted on the wall.
Second floor: science rooms.
Fourth floor: regular classrooms.
As I looked between the map and the stairs, I realized something.
There was a basement.
Murderer.
Just reading the word made me uneasy.
If there really was a “murderer ghost story,” where would it be?
Probably the basement.
Criminals hide underground.
But fear wasn’t what held me back.
It was hesitation.
Could I kill a real murderer?
Even if it was evil, if I cut it down, I’d become a murderer too.
I stopped at the basement stairs.
But this wasn’t the real world. It was the tower.
Just a ghost story.
Something that disappears when I reset.
Even if the murderer was human, it wouldn’t be a living person.
Let’s just think of it that way.
I tightened my grip on my sword and went down.
A cold, moldy air rose from below.
The basement was a single floor.
A narrow corridor stretched ahead, with a machine room and a storage room at the end.
Light leaked faintly from the storage room.
Sobbing echoed softly.
“Sniff… sob…”
I stepped inside carefully.
A small figure was curled up in the corner, facing the wall.
Long black hair. A small body.
A schoolgirl?
She turned around.
“Wh-who are you?”
She asked calmly, far too calm for someone in this situation.
I had expected screaming, but she wasn’t reacting at all.
“Someone here to deal with what’s happening,” I said.
She looked me up and down.
“…Our school?”
“My uniform is camouflage. Ignore it.”
“Ah… sniff…”
She wiped her tears and stood up.
Even in the dim light, she was clearly pretty.
Big blue eyes looked at me.
“Can you explain what happened?”
“I don’t really know. My friend sent me a creepy ghost story on TalkTalk, so I tried it… and then it got dark, something weird appeared…”
A girl alone in the place tied to the murder ghost story.
I glanced behind her.
“Your friend was with you?”
Her shoulders shook slightly.
“No… I was alone… I was hiding because I got scared and somehow ended up here…”
“Last question.”
“W-why are you so scary…”
“Why don’t you have a shadow?”
I stepped back slightly, gripping my sword.
The flame in my dantian flared violently.
“Shadow? Wh-what do you mean? Why wouldn’t I have one?”
She looked down at her hands.
She couldn’t hold anything.
Her eyes filled with tears again.
“Then… you’ll stay here?” I asked.
“No! I’m too scared to be alone!”
She immediately refused.
As expected.
“Then there are conditions.”
“Conditions?”
“Don’t interfere. Stay away if I fight.”
“But I’m a ghost… what could I even do…”
“That’s exactly the problem. Neither of us knows what you can or can’t do.”
She looked at her hands again.
“…I won’t cry.”
“Good.”
But right then—
Clink… clink…
The sound of chains echoed from outside.
I signaled for her to hide.
She nodded and quickly crouched in the corner, covering her mouth with both hands.
Good girl.
The next ghost was probably the murderer or the water spirit.
Clink…
A massive shadow fell across the doorway.
My flame surged.
The heat of my middle dantian flowed through my meridians into the blade.
The Cheonma Sword Technique is a “first strike wins” style.
BOOM—
I kicked off the ground, flames erupting as I charged forward.
