“Hah… we’re back.”
Yu Qingxue gathered her loose black hair into a waist-length ponytail, her signature combat style. Gao Sijin also picked up the Glock pistol Qingxue had handed him earlier. The Old School Building harbored genuine supernatural entities. In this situation, they absolutely could not let their guard down.
A bizarre melody reached their ears.
“It’s coming from upstairs.” Gao Sijin furrowed his brow. Before midnight, exploring the Music Room yielded no supernatural activity, yet now, the piano piece “Canon” suddenly drifted from that very room.
The eyes of the famous portraits lining the corridor blazed with a crimson glow. A malevolent aura pressed in on them, as if intent on devouring them alive. All the mysteries they had previously investigated—once seemingly harmless—were now manifesting as reality. Gao Sijin’s heart slammed against his chest; even his breathing turned ragged and grating.
There really was no time to rest…
Uzuki’s eyes, wide with terror, sought refuge in Gao Sijin’s embrace. Yu Qingxue, meanwhile, drew her tachi. With a few casual swings indoors, she systematically destroyed every red-eyed portrait hanging on the walls.
“Don’t be afraid. Sister Yu will protect you.” The crisp clack of Qingxue’s high heels echoed through the Old School Building’s corridors. “Whether they’re frauds or real ghosts, today, we’ll kill anyone who stands in our way, be it man or Buddha.”
The overbearing Qingxue radiated more safety than ever before. Gao Sijin remained ready to fire. As the portraits were destroyed, shadowy figures clad in samurai armor charged at Qingxue. The rain outside was mingling with a girl’s sinister, crooning laughter.
The walls of the Old School Building began to take on a fleshy, red hue, as though they had entered the gullet of a monster.
“Go to hell!”
The tachi traced a streak of silver light. A fierce, mournful wind howled past their ears. Amid the clash of blades and flash of steel, Qingxue moved as if dancing. The shadow-formed samurai, cleaved by the tachi, disintegrated into powder.
“Qingxue, shouldn’t ghosts normally… be immune to physical attacks?” Gao Sijin was astonished by the sword technique Qingxue had just displayed in a split second.
“Who said my attacks are purely physical? This blade can cut through any evil.”
The tachi blazed with an azure glow. Wielding the sword in one hand and illuminated by its radiance, Qingxue’s exquisite, sensual features took on an added, bewitching allure. She took the lead. Gao Sijin, gripping Uzuki’s hand, stayed close behind, ready to provide suppressive fire at any sign of danger to support Qingxue in combat.
Though, in all his current memories up to this point, Gao Sijin had never actually fired a gun.
“Help me! Anyone, please, help me!!!”
A familiar voice rang out from the Art Room. Uzuki froze for a moment upon hearing it.
“That’s Shiori!” Uzuki recognized the voice instantly.
She could never forget the image of Nakajima Minako, the role Shiori had once played.
“Hurry!”
Hearing Shiori’s cries, Uzuki seemed to forget all fear. She sprinted on her legs, terrified that any delay might lead to misfortune.
“Wait, Uzuki!”
Gao Sijin and Yu Qingxue hurried after her.
Inside the Art Room, an unbelievable sight greeted them. Hikita Shiori was being sucked into a painting. Specifically, a canvas depicted the mouth of a monster, its tongue coiled around Shiori’s ankle, dragging her slowly but surely inside.
Shiori’s eyes were filled with utter despair. Part of her ankle had already entered the canvas, becoming a component of the illustration, transposing from three dimensions into two. The sight was eerily grotesque.
“Hurry, save me, Uzuki!”
Without a second thought, Uzuki rushed forward and grabbed Shiori’s hand. Seeing this, Gao Sijin seized Shiori’s other hand. Though they had only met once, this was still someone’s life at stake.
The creature within the painting seemed enraged, as more and more tentacles sprouted from the canvas.
“Tch. Disgusting. Take your tentacle play and screw off!”
With a flash of the azure tachi, the tentacles were severed at their midsections. In its pain, the slimy tongue released Shiori’s ankle, and with the help of Gao Sijin and Uzuki, her foot was pulled free from the painting.
“So this is the truth of the Art Room…”
The Seven Wonders had been officially activated, their boundary set at 3 a.m.
— Don’t leave. Please, I beg you, stay.
It was an unfamiliar girl’s voice.
Yu Qingxue sidestepped, dodging another wave of tentacles that burst from the painting.
“One Strike Slashes All!”
The slashed painting let out a tortured shriek before vanishing entirely.
Flames began to rise inside the Art Room. Qingxue turned her head.
“Alright. That’s one more mystery solved.”
“The four of us really are strong,” Gao Sijin remarked, looking at the wailing painting.
After they left the Art Room, the flames that had just ignited within it subsided, returning the room to calm. The sinister painting of the monster’s maw had vanished along with the fire. Shiori, still in shock, breathed heavily through ragged gasps.
Uzuki, full of concern, patted Shiori’s shoulder.
“Are you feeling better now?”
“Yeah… a bit.”
“So, why are you here?” Gao Sijin did not hold a particularly good impression of Shiori, one of the former instigators.
“Well…” Shiori took a deep breath. “I heard you were all going to save Aoi and the others today. I’d been researching the supernatural in my spare time and uncovered some secrets about the Old School Building. I wanted to help Uzuki, so I rushed over immediately. But I never expected to get caught by a monster in the Art Room and nearly eaten.”
“You’re safe now, Shiori.”
“Uzuki… I truly am sorry about what happened before…” Shiori spoke again.
She genuinely seemed to be reflecting on her actions.
“So what did you actually find out?”
“A Senpai from the school’s Supernatural Club told me. She said a girl was bullied right here, in Kaijo High School’s Old School Building. After school, she was struck from behind on the head with a heavy object and thrown into the bathroom. When she didn’t get up, the bullies thought she was joking around and left in a hurry.” Shiori spoke in a low voice, cautiously watching everyone’s reactions. “But the next day, when the students returned to school, they found the girl’s body, already cold. She had died there alone, in the Old School Building’s bathroom. From then on, supernatural phenomena frequently occurred in that bathroom… and all the girls who bullied her later ended their own lives by hanging…”
“You came back and put yourself in danger again, just to tell us this?”
“Uzuki and Aoi… they’re different. Uzuki said she would forgive me, that she wanted to be my friend…” Shiori said, a little shyly.
“My opinion of you has changed somewhat,” Gao Sijin said softly. “Thank you for being willing to take this risk for Uzuki.”
Uzuki lowered her head. Though she had tattoos, she realized that a true heart could indeed win true friends.
