As Firefly glanced over, the bizarre human mannequins seemed to sense her gaze. Almost simultaneously, they swiveled their heads in her direction.
Their movements were unnervingly synchronized, like a grotesque ballet.
Firefly could clearly see that the mannequins lacked distinct facial features. Instead, crude eyes, noses, and mouths—resembling a child's scribbles in black ink—were scrawled across their faces.
Some gaped with mouths agape, frozen in silent screams or twisted grins. Others sported crooked features, their ugliness intensified by a chilling eeriness.
The sight sent a shiver down Firefly's spine. After all, she had always been terrified of ghosts and the supernatural. In her previous life, she had avoided horror movies and games like the plague.
During Longcheng's last Dimensional Rift—the White Specter Incident handled by Robin—Firefly had managed to remain calm and complete her mission only because of detailed intelligence and Robin's ability to suppress fear and enforce composure.
But now, she wasn't Robin!
Yet, precisely because she wasn't Robin, while fear still lingered at the edges of her mind, it wasn't overwhelming.
All fear stems from insufficient firepower. These ghostly apparitions might be terrifying, but what if Firefly possessed the ability to obliterate this entire instance with a single punch?
In other words, Firefly could flip the table at any moment. The only reason she hadn't done so yet was to protect SAM's true identity and avoid accidentally harming her teammates. But if they pushed her too far, none of them would get out of this unscathed.
"Whew..." Firefly patted her soft chest, calming her racing heart as she secretly vowed revenge. You think you can scare me? Just wait! I'll burn you all to ashes in no time!
"W-what's wrong?" Soup Dumpling, who had been tightly embracing Firefly, naturally felt her tremble. Unlike Firefly, she hadn't been looking around and had no idea what had just happened.
"Nothing. Let's go."
Soon, the pair arrived at their assigned classroom: Class Two of the first-year students.
Firefly placed her hand on the classroom door. The paint had long since peeled away, revealing cracked, weathered wooden planks beneath. Through the gaps in the cracks, she could even hear the faint rustling of spiders or other insects crawling inside.
Creak...
As Firefly pushed the door open, a piercing screech, starting high and descending sharply, filled the air. She scanned the classroom. Just like Class One, Class Two was filled with mannequins, except for two empty seats. Every single one of them turned to stare at her.
Having already experienced this once, Firefly remained unfazed. But Soup Dumpling, standing beside her, reacted differently. A deafening soprano scream shattered the silence, echoing clearly throughout the entire first floor and even up to the second.
"Yaaaaah—!!!!"
Simultaneously, a dark shadow behind the lectern abruptly stood up. Firefly saw it slam its hand on the desk, but Soup Dumpling's ear-splitting scream completely drowned out the sound.
"Student! This is a classroom, not a place for such loud outbursts!"
There was no doubt that the "Dark Shadow" was the teacher. Now fully upright, it towered at nearly two meters tall. It had no legs; instead, its torso merged directly into a solid black column rooted to the floor. There were no eyes or nose, only a massive, shark-like maw filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth that dominated its entire head.
And you! What does the school rule say? Girls are forbidden from wearing their hair down, from having hair longer than their shoulders, and from dyeing their hair!" As the Dark Shadow spoke, its mouth stretched wider and its voice grew increasingly shrill. The more rules students broke, the greater its power to punish them.
Firefly's lips twitched involuntarily. This so-called "school rule"... was actually starting to sound somewhat reasonable.
For an ordinary person, the solution would likely be to "immediately comply with the school rule." In other words, if Firefly cut her hair short on the spot, tied it into a ponytail, and dyed it black, she might be able to evade the Dark Shadow's attack.
But that was utterly impossible!
Staring at the Dark Shadow teacher and the rows of anatomical models in the classroom, Firefly's delicate brows furrowed slightly. If she had initially intended to play along and follow the normal progression of the instance, she now slammed the classroom door shut without hesitation.
This time, the wooden door creaked shut from the bottom up, the reversed sound causing Soup Dumpling to whirl around. But she only saw the door swinging shut on its own.
This was the final straw for Soup Dumpling. She had always been deathly afraid of ghosts, and the moment she entered the classroom and saw the scene, she was already on the verge of panic. Now, the classic horror movie trope of the door slamming shut and locking itself behind them had come to pass.
Gulp!
Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted dead away from sheer terror.
"Well..." Firefly hadn't anticipated this. She glanced down at Soup Dumpling, now clinging to her in a deep sleep, a mix of helplessness and exasperation on her face. In a way, though, this actually made her next move easier.
Cyan light coalesced in Firefly's palm as she gripped the Transformation Device. This time, she chose not to transform into SAM, but instead activated another of its functions.
Hum—
Like a Jedi's lightsaber, a cyan blade of light erupted from the device's tip. Holding Soup Dumpling with one arm and wielding the glowing sword in the other, Firefly aimed it at the Dark Shadow looming before her.
"Sorry, I'm not a good student. So what if I break the School Rule?"
Even without transforming into SAM, Firefly was far from defenseless.
The next moment, Firefly surged forward, initiating the attack. Eschewing any flashy techniques, she delivered a simple, straightforward slash. A cyan blade of energy sliced through the air, leaving a clear afterimage in its wake.
As the afterimage dissipated, so did the Dark Shadow, now cleaved in two.
In truth, Firefly had no idea if her "Lightsaber"—this technological weapon—would even work against the ghost before her.
Well, might as well give it a try, she thought. If it doesn't work, I'll switch to something else.
The result was clear: success. The "teacher" from Class Two shattered like an overturned ink bottle, splattering across the floor.
"Is that it? A ghost that can't even resist a technological weapon? How lame!"
What Firefly didn't realize was that it wasn't the Dark Shadow's vulnerability to technological weapons, but rather the overwhelming power of her own weapon.
It was a simple principle: a ghost might be immune to bullets, but could it withstand a nuclear explosion?
Probably... perhaps not.