Bakery Assault Without Recognition
Leaving Elaine behind in a daze, unable to keep up with Mr. Brandon's story, I moved forward without hesitation. The place I arrived at was the staff room—the same one I'd used in both my first and second attempts to gather the teachers.
"T-Teacher? You're not thinking of rounding up a bunch of people and charging in again, are you? In my personal opinion, that method..."
"No. It's different this time. But similar."
"...Pardon?"
"You'll see. Just watch quietly."
I entered the staff room and approached Lydia.
"Hey, Ms. Lydia. Could you help me out for a sec?"
"Ah. Y-yes, of course! What do you need? I'll do my absolute best to assist you!"
"Haha, it's not that big a deal. As a newbie teacher who's just arrived at the academy, I wanted to hand out some small snacks to the other staff as a gesture of goodwill."
"Pardon? Ah, no, you don't have to go that far...!"
"Hehe. Too late. I already placed the order at the canteen yesterday."
"But really, you don't need to... You've just started here, and your finances must be tight... Ah, probably not. But if you've already ordered snacks, what help do you need?"
"Well, there's a lot of bread, so it's too much for me to carry alone. Would you come with me to the canteen to pick it up?"
"Of course. I'd be happy to help with that."
As expected, she didn't refuse. In both my first attempt to tackle Mr. Brandon and the second, she'd always taken the lead in trusting my words. What a good person.
And then.
"I-I'll come too. For carrying stuff, wouldn't I be better suited than Ms. Lydia?"
"Ah, PE teacher. Thanks."
I flashed a subtle smile at the PE teacher who stepped forward offering help. In truth, he was my real target. Across multiple regressions, the PE teacher had always wanted to impress Lydia. So, if I created a situation where Lydia and I went off alone, he'd naturally tag along. On top of that, I asked a few other sturdy-looking teachers for help. No one refused free snacks for themselves.
That wrapped up the preparations.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
On the way to the canteen, Elaine, impressed by my scheming, asked,
"Mr. Allen, when did you reserve those at the canteen?"
"Total bullshit, obviously. When would I have had time for that?"
"...What? But more importantly, is it okay to just bring them along? Shouldn't we warn them about Mr. Brandon first?"
She stared at me in disbelief for a moment before shifting to a serious tone.
"No need. This is better."
"That's from your earlier realization, right? Explain it to me too!"
"Why are they called ghost stories instead of monsters?"
I shared the insight I'd gained through contemplation and what she needed to do.
"Mr. Brandon—no, all ghost stories grow stronger the more people recognize them."
All ghost stories gain power through people's recognition. The more people who become aware of a manifested ghost story, the stronger it becomes.
The message window floating before my eyes confirmed my theory. Ghost stories spread from person to person. And the more widely they're known, the more vitality they gain. Once a ghost story spreads to a certain number of people, it sheds its innate limitations as a ghost story and evolves into a separate entity that transcends the original tale—like a pupa breaking its cocoon to become a butterfly.
That was the true nature of the enhanced Mr. Brandon I'd witnessed in my previous two attempts.
She couldn't hide her surprise at my discovery, but as a sharp student, she quickly grasped my intent and nodded.
The canteen wasn't far, so we arrived soon after finishing our talk.
Ding-a-ling— Ding-a-ling— It was still early, so no thick stench of blood or students' groans filled the air.
"Hellooooo.... Welcome to Brandon's Delicious Bakeryyy...."
But the sight of Mr. Brandon greeting customers at the counter was so horrific that the peaceful atmosphere felt distant.
"Mmm. The smell of bread. It's always so nice, no matter when I visit."
"Haha. I was just thinking the same. Ms. Lydia."
Yet the other teachers, caught in perceptual distortion the moment they entered, felt nothing amiss and casually browsed the canteen.
I ignored them and approached Mr. Brandon directly, acting as if I knew nothing about him.
"Hello. I'm here to pick up the bread I reserved yesterday."
"I'm sorryyyy.... Sirrrr.... Our main storeeee has a new baker starting todayyy...."
"What? What are you talking about? I didn't hear anything like that. Don't mess around—hand over the reserved bread."
I provoked him deliberately. To make Mr. Brandon lunge.
"Our main storeeee only makes red cookies and white candiesyyy.... How about trying theseee...."
"Are you messing with me right now? I never reserved red cookies or white candies."
I put on an irritated face, nerves on edge. This was the hardest part. I prepared to leap back at any moment.
"But Brandon's Delicious Bakery only has red cookies and white candiesyyy.... Please choose oneee...."
"You think I'm an easy mark? Do you know who I am? One word from me, and your shop shuts down in seconds. Got it? You think you can just wait and see? A mere baker talking big... Red cookies? What a shitty name...."
"I'll kill you!!!"
Now! I hurled my body backward the instant Mr. Brandon snapped.
Screeech!
But it wasn't enough—his claws tore across my chest, gouging out a chunk of skin and flesh.
"Gahhh!"
It burned. Hurt like hell. But this was perfect.
"Kyaaah! M-Mr. Allen!"
"What the hell are you doing?! Mr. Allen may have spoken harshly, but that's going too far!"
This much blood sold the scene. Lydia rushed to support my blood-soaked chest, while the PE teacher grabbed Mr. Brandon as he lunged at me.
"That baker seems out of his mind! Mr. Allen was just here for his reserved bread, and he suddenly went berserk. We need to stop that baker now!"
As pre-arranged, Elaine put on a convincingly frantic, teary performance.
The PE teacher began wrestling to subdue the raging Mr. Brandon.
"Hey, you! Calm down! Damn, why's he so strong!?"
"Stay still! This guy's got some real strength!"
"I get that you're angry, but calm down!"
The other teachers joined in, restraining Mr. Brandon. The scene mirrored my first attempt's strategy almost perfectly.
But this time, there were no signs of Mr. Brandon enhancing. That was thanks to his perceptual interference ability.
Despite his grotesque appearance, Mr. Brandon could make people perceive him as an ordinary baker. But that ability had limits. It made people mistake him for a normal baker, but it didn't turn them into puppets who obeyed his every whim.
The key selling point of the Mr. Brandon ghost story was irrational choices and dilemmas. Forcing victims into puppets and killing them would mean nothing narratively.
Evidence? I'd chatted normally with him until Elaine snapped me out of it.
Now, I turned that against him. Ghost stories feed on recognition to grow strong. So what if we kept them from recognizing it as a ghost story while clashing with it?
The teachers weren't fighting the ghost story Mr. Brandon. They were just calming a baker with anger issues who'd flipped out over a difficult customer.
All that remained was the finish.
For now, perceptual interference kept him from enhancing, but if anyone sensed something off and truly recognized Mr. Brandon, it'd all be for nothing. Especially since the teachers saw him as just a baker—the odds of them dissipating him were zero.
I had to get to the kitchen fast and end it myself....
Splat!
"Die!"
Suddenly, Elaine appeared with a kitchen knife—having slipped into the back—and mercilessly slashed Mr. Brandon's back as he wrestled with the others.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!
"Gurrrghhh...."
Blood spurted with each slash, soon turning the shop into a bloodbath. The PE teacher, Lydia, and the others subduing him all fell silent in shock as only the sound of Elaine stabbing echoed quietly.
Splat.
Without giving anyone a chance to stop her, Elaine had ambushed and butchered Mr. Brandon in a brutal, creative cesarean fashion. He collapsed limply to the floor and, like the monster behind the infinite loop ghost story, slowly melted away.
"Whew. One down, right?"
Elaine wiped sweat from her brow with her bloody hand and flashed a refreshing smile.