Shadow Plastic Surgery: The Second Attempt
Night had fallen once more, and Everlight Academy was shrouded in profound silence. The dark corridors, untouched even by moonlight, were trapped in a suffocating stillness utterly unlike the vibrant bustle of daytime.
The second challenge. Paranormal incidents rarely unfolded in bright atmospheres, but the mood in the Paranormal Investigation Club felt heavier than ever. The members' faces, scarred by the bitterness of one previous failure, were etched with tension and grim determination.
And this attempt wasn't just about resolving the ghost story. It was to save Rone. That weight pressed down on us all.
"Teacher…."
Elaine Astraea's voice was lower than usual, subdued.
"Will… will this method really work?"
"It has to. It's the only way to bring Rone back."
Rozalia Soline clenched her fists, her face set with resolve.
"This time… this time, we'll definitely succeed!"
Aurora Victoria adjusted her glasses and spoke coolly.
"If we follow Teacher's plan, it's theoretically possible. The issue is how many variables crop up in practice."
I looked around at them all. Their eyes held fear—and the fierce will to conquer it.
"Ready?"
At my question, they nodded without hesitation.
Rozalia headed up to the club room to prepare for any regression, while Elaine and Aurora silently took positions at my sides. And then, in that heavy silence, I stood before the fourth window.
The dead of night. The academy's fourth floor, fourth window. When all those conditions aligned, Shadow Plastic Surgery would make thee beautiful.
The opening line of the rumor swirling through the academy echoed in my ears. In that instant, I felt my shadow sharpen into vivid clarity.
The plan to save Rone. Truth be told, it was so simple it barely qualified as a strategy. The ghost story's power lingered only with the last person to attempt Shadow Plastic Surgery. So if someone else tried it, Rone—whose body had been lost to it—should return.
This time, I'd be the one performing it. I just had to attempt it—no special actions required. No need to twist my appearance. Even if altering one's looks was the trigger, I'd minimize the risk to something trivial, like growing out my hair a bit.
With that in mind, even as I confirmed my shadow's unnatural sharpness, I did nothing—just observed.
Would this bring Rone back? Or did I need to change my body myself?
After watching for a while… my body began to warp.
"Wh-what the hell!?"
A startled yelp burst from my lips. Elaine and Aurora at my side blanched, their faces draining of color at the sight.
"Kyaaah! Teacher!!"
"Th-this is…."
Elaine's sharp scream sliced through the corridor as Aurora recoiled in horror.
My body was stretched like a rubber band yanked by a child for hours and then released—limp and floppy. My arms dragged along the floor, elongated and limp; my torso stretched into a taffy-like strand beyond recognition. My legs, grotesquely pliable, couldn't hold my balance. As if every bone in me had turned to rubber, I collapsed in a wobbling heap like sentient jelly.
"Wh-what's happening!?"
I hadn't done anything yet.
"Teacher!"
Elaine lunged toward me in panic.
"Stay back! You could get caught up in it!"
I reflexively blocked her. Then I scanned our surroundings.
Rone hadn't returned.
This absurd emergency. In the chaos, I urgently activated Observation.
There had to be a clue. In crises like this, stay calm and survey everything.
I already knew the secrets of Shadow Plastic Surgery went beyond what Emma had told us. This was just forcing those secrets into the open sooner.
Thinking that way, the pattern clicked.
First: Emma, whose chest had ballooned out in terror.
Then: Melissa, whose face twisted into a monster's.
Next: Rone, whose body vanished entirely.
And now: me, stretched like a rubber band without even trying.
...The failures were escalating with each attempt at Shadow Plastic Surgery?
Rone suffered the worst, but that was because we'd botched the resolution by trying to erase her shadow, leading to her body's erasure.
Compared to that, I'd done nothing—yet my body was wrecked worse than Melissa's.
Insight hit like lightning.
Ghost stories never benefit humans. I should've seen it sooner.
Yes, Melissa had botched the procedure midway and fled, mangling her shadow. But her distorted face was too bizarre to be a mere byproduct of a botched shadow tweak.
I recalled Melissa's face from the girls' dormitory before regression.
Her head was swollen to at least twice a normal person's size, her skin pocked with jagged granite-like ridges. One side of her forehead was unnaturally gouged, as if crudely excavated, and her mismatched eyes formed a grotesque mismatch—one protruding halfway from its socket, bloodshot and focusless, staring blankly into void. Her jaw jutted out like a shovel, mouth agape to reveal jagged, weed-like teeth thrusting wildly from the gap.
After regression, I'd confirmed Melissa's real face: freckled, not strikingly beautiful but perfectly ordinary and attractive.
Pre-regression, I hadn't known her original looks. Post-regression, I'd been too focused on saving Rone to notice.
But I should've realized it ages ago.
Melissa's face couldn't result from simply mishandling her shadow.
In other words, Shadow Plastic Surgery's price was heavier than her mistake alone!
This ghost story made you uglier with every attempt, regardless of user error!
Like a rigged gambling table—letting you win small at first, only to strip you bare once you bet big.
"Damn it! Failure isn't from the botched action—it's inevitable from the attempt itself!"
I shouted my revelation to Elaine and Aurora.
But I was too late. At this rate, I'd fall to the ghost story too.
My body kept warping, more grotesquely by the second.
"We have to stop this ritual somehow!"
"It's like some invisible force is stretching Teacher's body!!"
Elaine and Aurora stomped in frustration.
"...Wait! That's it!"
Hearing Aurora, Elaine suddenly fumbled in her pocket, eyes lighting with realization.
"Did you figure something out?"
Elaine didn't answer, muttering urgently as she rummaged.
"It always appeared in my pocket when I needed it…. Ah! Found it!"
She pulled something out—a small item wrapped in paper, no bigger than a couple finger joints.
The moment she produced it, I recognized it.
"The white candy!"
The relic we'd gained after resolving Brandon. Sucking on it let you see the unseen.
Its paired red cookies were all eaten, but the candy's nature meant half remained despite reuse.
"Elaine! Toss it to me!"
She'd started unwrapping it for herself but froze.
"But…!"
"You can't come near or you'll get dragged in!"
"I'm fine!"
"I'm not! And if it's about better 'sight,' my Observation makes me the best fit!"
"But we can't put just Teacher in danger…."
"Hurry! My body's stretching more!"
After a brief hesitation, she squeezed her eyes shut and lobbed the white candy my way.
I barely caught it, fumbling with my grotesquely elongated arm to peel off the wrapper.
It was sticky from prior use, unpleasantly so.
...Hygiene aside, this was fine, right?
Doubt flickered, but now wasn't the time. Between food poisoning and becoming a permanent rubber man, any doctor would pick poisoning.
With that, I popped the white candy into my mouth.
And the instant it touched my tongue…
I saw them: tiny ghosts clinging to my shadow, cackling as they stretched it.