The deadline was only three days.
Once the time was up, Aoi, Amano, and Kaoru would vanish from this world forever. The precious, colorful memories of the past froze into bone-chilling black and white in Uzuki’s mind. Despite the temperature being above thirty degrees, the air conditioner’s cold draft inside McDonald’s blew over Uzuki, making her feel unbearably frigid, trembling uncontrollably.
“Uzuki, you don’t have to save them at all!” Eiko said indignantly. “They tormented you first. Even if they die, it’s exactly what they deserve!”
“If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t go either,” Yu Qingxue added, rarely offering her opinion. “Anyone who dares to mess with me will pay it back double.”
Gao Sijin looked at Uzuki with deep heartache. Although those schoolgirls hadn’t directly attacked her, they had indirectly inflicted wounds upon her soul. School bullying and workplace harassment were rampant in J-Country. Every year, many vibrant lives veered down twisted paths—depression, insomnia, bipolar disorder, dissociative disorders were all too common.
Calling those girls who took pleasure in teasing Uzuki murderers would not be an exaggeration.
“Sijin…”
Uzuki looked at Gao Sijin with a questioning gaze.
“Don’t force yourself,” Gao Sijin said, stroking Uzuki’s silky hair. “Just speak what’s in your heart. Don’t worry—we’re all on your side.”
Uzuki was kind-hearted. Ordering her to ignore those who had harmed her would be far too cruel to Uzuki. Yet deep down, Gao Sijin hoped she would abandon them—partly because he wanted those who hurt her to pay for their actions, and partly because Shiori Hikita had just said that supernatural phenomena truly existed in Kaijo High School’s old school building.
If they recklessly barged in, Uzuki would also be putting herself in danger. Gao Sijin wanted Uzuki to stay alive and well.
“I still want to save them…”
When Uzuki spoke these words, it was within Gao Sijin’s expectations. She was still the same kind-hearted girl she had always been—even after being hurt by them, she couldn’t bear the thought of exacting revenge or harming others in return.
“What on earth are you thinking, Uzuki?” Eiko’s cherry lips parted as she stared wide-eyed, radiating a fury born of frustration. “Why save people who hurt you?”
“Because what they did doesn’t deserve the death penalty. And besides, I…”
The supernatural entity had specifically demanded that Uzuki go to the old school building. The moment Shiori Hikita recounted everything that happened the night before, Uzuki already knew who this entity was.
It was Uzuki’s former “Friend”—the one who kept her company when she was at her most helpless, who helped her kill her mother when she was being brutalized.
After being taken away from that living hell by Cousin Rio, Uzuki began living the life of an ordinary high school girl. She completely forgot her “Friend” and never wrote in that diary again.
“It must be so lonely.”
They once promised to be friends forever, only for Uzuki to forget. She also remembered all the recurring nightmares now. It had been waiting for her all this time.
“Alright. In that case, I’m going with you to the old school building.” Gao Sijin held Uzuki’s slender, soft hand.
“No! Sijin, you absolutely cannot go!”
“If you won’t let me go, then you’re not setting half a step into that old building either. I said I would protect you. How could I possibly let you go to such a dangerous place alone?” Gao Sijin gripped Uzuki’s shoulders.
A faint blush surfaced on Uzuki’s pale, lovely face. This was just how Gao Sijin was—the kind of person who would put himself in harm’s way for others’ sake. The night before, when they slept together, it was Sijin who helped her settle into peaceful slumber. Uzuki liked Gao Sijin. She also liked the little bedtime stories he told her.
She couldn’t drag Gao Sijin down because of her own selfishness.
“If you insist, then I won’t go.” Uzuki took a deep breath, putting on the coldest front she could muster. “Eiko and Qingxue are right. They hurt me. Whether they live or die has nothing to do with me anymore. I have to pick myself up and live a better life.”
“Is that your decision?” Shiori Hikita stared blankly at Uzuki. “Fine. I’ve delivered my message. They’re getting what they deserve.”
Gao Sijin secretly observed Uzuki’s face with his peripheral vision. Unfortunately, when compared to Shiori Hikita’s acting skills, Uzuki’s performance could only be described as clumsy.
“Since Uzuki has made her decision, let’s consider this matter closed.”
“A satisfying ending.”
After finishing the fries and chicken nuggets they’d ordered at McDonald’s, the group drove Uzuki to school.
By the time Uzuki arrived at school, the first-period math class had already ended. Three students were absent today: Shiina Aoi, Ninomiya Amano, and Hamada Kaoru. But even without them, the class continued to function in an orderly fashion.
“Uzuki, hurry back to your seat.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Uzuki quickly sat down. They weren’t here—yet she faintly felt them glaring at her with blood-red eyes. What would happen to them in the end?
A flood of irrepressible thoughts made it impossible for Uzuki to focus on the lesson.
—Help me!!!
Surely only the teacher’s lecturing voice should have been audible, yet Uzuki suddenly heard other sounds, seemingly coming from the old school building. She turned her head toward that ancient wooden structure. A piece of chalk flew through the air—thwack—and landed squarely on her head.
“Tsukiyuki Uzuki! Even if your grades are decent, you still need to pay attention.”
Uzuki immediately stood up and bowed apologetically to the teacher.
“I’m sorry!”
“Forget it. Just be more careful next time. The school you applied for is the Faculty of Letters at the University of Tokyo. If this keeps up, you won’t get in.”
The old school building was wrapped in utter silence, with a few students playing off to the side. Though Kaijo High’s old school building was famous for its Seven Wonders, many students had already ventured inside on explorations—and nothing strange had ever happened.
“Help!!!” Amano shrieked, her whole body bound by chains, staring in sheer terror at the scene before her—like a bug caught in a spider’s web.
Last night, she was supposed to be killed by Hanako of the Toilet. The agony of those arms wrapping around her body and snapping her bones one by one was still excruciatingly vivid. Yet when the clock struck midnight, she had come back to life.
The charred corpse on the operating table radiated searing heat. Before being reduced to blackened charcoal, that had been a living, breathing person—the core member of their circle, Shiina Aoi.
She had experienced having her internal organs gouged out alive, her torso ripped apart, every single orifice on her body sewn shut with silver thread. She was forced to eat her own eyeballs, her tongue torn out, her fingers severed…
Hanging dead on the other side was Kaoru. Her hair was ripped from her scalp strand by strand, and countless screws were driven deep into her gleaming, bald head. Blood dripped and trickled steadily down the screws. Kaoru hadn’t fully died yet—inside this alternate dimension, their vitality was unnaturally tenacious.
Once Kaoru was tortured to death, it would be her turn. Then rebirth, then being tortured to death all over again. An endless, eternal cycle. The supernatural entities used their bodies to compete over whose “artwork” was more artistic.
“Hang in there, Kaoru! This much pain isn’t enough to kill you, right?”
The thick stench of blood filled the old school building’s classroom.
Just outside the window were passing students. But even if they poked their heads in to look, they would never see the three of them undergoing the most brutal torture right now. They would only see rows of quietly arranged desks and chairs.
It was exactly like the Outer World and Inner World from Silent Hill. No matter how loudly she screamed, no one would ever hear her.
