Seeing the fire axe in Amamiya Natsuki's hand, the smile on the female ghost's face suddenly vanished, and then she turned and ran.
Although she didn't have much intelligence, she wasn't like a goldfish with only seven seconds of memory. She clearly remembered the pain of the axe cutting into her body, and now she just wanted to escape quickly.
"You actually want to run? Don't you care about a female ghost's dignity at all?"
Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow, decisively leaped forward with a front kick, sending the female ghost flying into the wall.
Time was pressing, and he still needed to find Moeha and Chika as soon as possible. There wasn't really that much time to play a game of tag.
Boom!
The wall vibrated with a loud thud.
The female ghost slowly slid down the wall. After entering the mirror world, this thing had lost the ability to escape by turning into smoke. Hearing Amamiya Natsuki's words, she was immediately enraged and embarrassed, exploding with ferocity. She suddenly sprang up from the ground, her jaw tearing open to reveal a gaping, terrifying black hole of a mouth, and lunged at Amamiya Natsuki to bite him.
If it were an ordinary person, facing a terrifying ghost's sudden attack, they would surely be trembling, panicking, their mind blank, not knowing what to do.
Unfortunately, Amamiya Natsuki was not an ordinary person.
Facing the pouncing ghost, Amamiya Natsuki remained expressionless, calmly raising his right hand.
Then...
Smack!
A crisp slapping sound suddenly echoed throughout the entire mirror space.
The female ghost flew backward through the air, tumbled several times on the ground, and then knelt, covering her face in disbelief.
Chopping people was one thing, but hitting her face?
Do you know how much damage a slap does to a ghost?!
Without using weapons produced by the game, ordinary attacks caused negligible damage to ghosts, but an act like a big slap, while not highly damaging, was extremely insulting.
"Die...die die die die!"
The female ghost's originally pitch-black eyes quickly turned blood-red, and her vengeful aura surged. She suddenly leaped from the ground and pounced at Amamiya Natsuki again to bite him.
Amamiya Natsuki took half a step back, took a light breath, then swung his arm...
Smack!
A crisp slapping sound rang out once more.
Looking at the female ghost who was once again covering her face, Amamiya Natsuki nodded in satisfaction, "Good, now it's symmetrical."
"Kill you, kill you, kill you...!"
The female ghost let out a piercing shriek and pounced again.
Smack!
Amamiya Natsuki showed no mercy, delivering another big slap.
When Sakura first entered the space behind the door, it was this abandoned villa. At that time, there were only eight people, and in the end, only she and one other person survived. In other words, this ghost had already killed many people.
Naturally, Amamiya Natsuki would not show the slightest mercy to such a monster that killed for pleasure.
Slap, slap, slap!
After taking several more big slaps, the female ghost finally understood the difference in strength between herself and the human in front of her. She didn't pounce again but knelt on the ground, covering her slightly swollen cheeks with both hands, two lines of tragic blood tears slowly falling from the corners of her eyes.
Amamiya Natsuki's expression was calm, and his heart held no pity.
This thing had killed so many people; pitying her would be unfair to those ordinary people she had murdered.
"Not continuing?" Amamiya Natsuki rolled up his sleeves and placed the fire axe beside him. "Don't worry, I promise not to use the axe."
"..."
Even without the axe, she was no match.
The female ghost was like a salted fish who had lost her dreams, kneeling on the ground, her shoulders trembling, silently sobbing.
"Since you're not going to continue playing the game, then I won't be polite." Amamiya Natsuki stepped in front of the female ghost, grabbed her chin, lifted her face upwards, and commanded, "Open your mouth."
"Wahhh..."
Blood tears streamed from the female ghost's eyes as she was forced to open her mouth.
The next moment.
Something was roughly shoved in, directly reaching her throat.
"Ugh..."
A feeling of discomfort suddenly surged, making the female ghost want to spit out what was in her mouth.
"Don't spit it out!" Amamiya Natsuki commanded, "Swallow it, don't leave a single drop!"
"..."
The female ghost wanted to resist, but she immediately recalled the big slaps from earlier and could only reluctantly endure the discomfort, trying hard to swallow what was in her mouth.
Gulp.
With the female ghost's effort, the thing that was blocking her throat was finally swallowed.
Amamiya Natsuki commanded:
"Open your mouth, let me check."
"..."
The female ghost knelt on the ground, and for some reason, she suddenly felt Amamiya Natsuki was much more pleasing to the eye. So she obediently raised her neck and opened her mouth, allowing Amamiya Natsuki to inspect.
"Good, it's all swallowed."
Amamiya Natsuki checked carefully, then nodded in satisfaction.
As expected of a female ghost, her mouth was indeed big enough. Such a large rice ball could be swallowed directly without needing to chew.
As for why he fed the female ghost a rice ball, it wasn't out of mischief, but for a legitimate reason—
This female ghost could freely travel between the mirror space and the real world, but Amamiya Natsuki could not. To return, he needed the female ghost's help, so he had to first feed her a rice ball to turn her into a tool, then deal with her after using her.
Amamiya Natsuki stood up and asked, "Are there any other ghosts in the villa?"
"No...there aren't..."
The female ghost shook her head at the question.
Amamiya Natsuki was not surprised.
Although the villa looked large, it was actually just so-so. Ordinary people still had to survive in it for six hours. If there were many ghosts, no one would be able to last until the end.
However, to be safe, Amamiya Natsuki did not trust the female ghost's one-sided statement. Instead, he carefully searched the mirror space and, after confirming there were truly no other ghosts, he had the female ghost lead him out of the mirror space.
"President?"
As soon as he returned to the real world's restroom, Amamiya Natsuki heard Kaguya's voice.
"I'm back."
Amamiya Natsuki stepped out of the restroom and saw that, besides Kaguya, the other unlucky individuals were all following Kaguya, waiting nervously at the door.
Whoosh!
Seeing Amamiya Natsuki emerge with the female ghost, the unlucky individuals nervously retreated, causing a commotion.
"It's her, the ghost I saw in the mirror!"
"That's right, it's her."
The middle-aged man's face was grim.
"Wait, her cheeks...why do they look swollen? And she seems to be crying?"
"Um..." A passerby who hadn't seen the ghost before was a bit suspicious, hesitating and whispering, "She looks somewhat like a human."
"Human?"
Amamiya Natsuki looked at the woman who spoke softly, then gave an order to the female ghost: "Look fierce for her."
"Ha..."
The female ghost opened her mouth and let out a breath.
Everyone: "..."
Smack.
Amamiya Natsuki slapped her, his face stern: "I told you to look fierce, not to act cute."
The female passerby couldn't bear it and grew more suspicious of the female ghost's identity. She took half a step forward and said to Amamiya Natsuki, "Please don't hit..."
The next second.
"Ha!"
Having been hit again for no reason, the female ghost finally obeyed. Her jaw suddenly tore open, revealing a terrifying, abyssal black maw.
"Ahhh...!"
Seeing this scene, the kind-hearted female passerby immediately shrieked, stumbled backward in panic, and then fell onto the ground.
The other passersby were also startled; some were pale-faced, covering their mouths tightly, while others trembled and held their breath.
Before, some had doubted Amamiya Natsuki and Kaguya's identities, but now, all doubts vanished.
For a time, these unlucky individuals looked at Amamiya Natsuki with extremely complex gazes.
Whether the identity of the expert who could tame ghosts was real or fake no longer mattered. Whatever Amamiya Natsuki said now was law, and he could even demand anything from everyone, with no one daring to refuse.
"Let's go, let's get out first."
Amamiya Natsuki walked out with the female ghost. When he passed by the woman who had fallen to the ground, he didn't even look at her, let alone help her up.
Amamiya Natsuki completely ignored such a sanctimonious woman who couldn't grasp the situation.
The others followed suit.
Only the junior high school girl was the kindest, going over to help the woman up, and then everyone returned to the living room together.
Immediately after, Amamiya Natsuki, without mercy, eliminated the female ghost in front of everyone—this thing had killed many people in the previous round, so eliminating her naturally carried no psychological burden.
Unfortunately, the Door of Despair, which represented the clear condition, did not appear.
The mystery of the door should not have much intelligence. It said to survive for six hours, so they had to stay for six hours. Even if the stage boss was eliminated early, there was no way to leave.
Amamiya Natsuki looked around, crossing his fingers, and said, "As you can see, that thing just now was the ghost lurking in the villa. Its ability was to freely travel between mirrors and drag humans into the mirror to kill them. Of course, it has now been eliminated, so you don't need to worry about it."
"I just checked carefully, and there are no other ghosts in the villa. In other words, the villa is currently safe." He paused, then Amamiya Natsuki added, "So, everyone, this is where we part ways. I'll leave a few flashlights for you to use."
Upon hearing that Amamiya Natsuki and Kaguya were preparing to leave, these people immediately panicked.
"Please, please wait, why are you leaving?"
"What if there are still ghosts in the villa?"
"Please don't abandon us."
"…"
After witnessing the fierce appearance of the female ghost with their own eyes, these people no longer doubted the reality of the existence of ghosts. Upon hearing that Amamiya Natsuki and Kaguya were preparing to leave, they completely panicked.
Amamiya Natsuki could deal with ghosts, but they couldn't; facing ghosts, they could only be slaughtered.
"We have serious matters to attend to, we are not your nannies." Shinomiya Kaguya crossed her arms, her sharp gaze sweeping over them, instantly silencing the few clamoring passersby. Her voice was cold as she said, "The President's words just now were an announcement, not a discussion."
Unlike Chika, who 'loves all people,' Kaguya only cares about the important people around her.
When choosing between Chika and these passersby, Shinomiya Kaguya would, of course, choose the former without hesitation.
A Kaguya from a capitalist background naturally could not have a foolishly benevolent heart.
"Senpai, Senpai." The junior high school girl clenched her small fists, her gaze firm as she said, "I'll go with you to save Moeha-chan!"
A passerby quietly suggested:
"Um… can I also go with you?"
Compared to the abandoned villa, being with Amamiya Natsuki made them feel much safer.
"Of course you can come along; your legs are your own." Amamiya Natsuki's gaze was calm. "However, our goal is to eliminate the entire kaidan. The next actions will definitely be more dangerous, and a slight mistake could cost you your life. Whether to go or stay, you choose for yourselves."
Upon hearing this, the passersby who wanted to follow hesitated again.
Only the junior high school girl remained resolute, walking up to Kaguya's side and looking up with her small face, saying:
"I want to act with Senpai and Kaguya-senpai!"
Shinomiya Kaguya nodded slightly, saying:
"Then let's go."
"…"
In the end, except for the junior high school girl who chose to act with Amamiya Natsuki and Kaguya, all the other passersby silently chose to stay behind.
It wasn't a matter of right or wrong, but rather a very sensible choice.
The two parties parted ways. Amamiya Natsuki left a few flashlights; these items weren't worth much and could often be unboxed from Blind Box, so he didn't feel bad about giving them away. Then, he and Kaguya took the junior high student and left the abandoned villa together.
Stepping out of the villa.
Amamiya Natsuki looked up at the night sky, only to see a blood moon hanging high, its position completely unchanged.
Clearly, this thing was just a fake backdrop, not a real moon.
The junior high girl carefully followed beside Kaguya, curiously observing everything around her. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she softly exclaimed:
"Kaguya-senpai, there's a bus there."
"I see it." Shinomiya Kaguya said softly, "Let's go take the bus."
"Eh?" The junior high school girl froze. "…Can the buses in here be ridden too?"
Amamiya Natsuki waved his hand and said:
"Ordinary people cannot ride it, but we can."
"…"
The three quickly walked up to the ghost bus.
The bus door hissed open.
The Ghost Driver slowly turned his head to look, a pair of scarlet eyes on his withered face.
"The… the driver seems to be…"
The junior high school girl immediately panicked and quickly tugged at Amamiya Natsuki's sleeve to warn him.
"That's right, it's the Ghost Driver." Amamiya Natsuki said calmly, "Don't worry, the driver has already been bribed."
"Eh?" The junior high school girl blinked in confusion. "Bribed… what does that mean?"
Amamiya Natsuki stepped onto the bus, handed the Ghost Driver a rice ball, and said:
"It's simple, he's our private driver now."
Junior high girl: "…"
Shinomiya Kaguya reminded:
"Hanamaru, you must find a seat and sit down on this ghost bus."
"Mm-hmm." The junior high school girl nodded. "I'll sit with Senpai…"
"What did Hanamaru say?"
Shinomiya Kaguya smiled as she looked over.
The junior high girl quickly stuck out her pink tongue and corrected herself:
"No Senpai, I'll sit with Kaguya-senpai."
"…"
The two girls sat together, and Amamiya Natsuki sat on the other side across the aisle, waving to the Ghost Driver and saying:
"Let's go."
The Ghost Driver floored the accelerator, and the ghost bus roared into the rain and fog, quickly disappearing.
After an unknown amount of time, the ghost bus slowly decelerated and then stopped at the checkpoint boundary. A step ahead, the pouring rain abruptly ceased.
Amamiya Natsuki turned his head to look out the window, only to see a blood moon hanging high in the sky. Below the blood moon, a large building lay prostrate in the darkness.
"Let's get off."
Amamiya Natsuki stood up and walked out.
The Ghost Driver reached out to block the way, asking for payment: "Rice ball…"
Amamiya Natsuki took out a rice ball and handed it over, saying:
"Here's one for now; we'll give you the other rice ball when we return."
Seeing the Ghost Driver wolf down the rice ball, the junior high school girl curiously asked:
"Senpai, Senpai, do ghosts like to eat rice balls too?"
"That's not an ordinary rice ball." Amamiya Natsuki pinched the bridge of his nose, looking at the highly curious junior high student, and said eerily, "To be honest, ghosts actually prefer to eat delicious junior high students."
The junior high girl quickly hugged her arms, her pink cheeks puffing out slightly: "Senpai, don't scare me."
Shinomiya Kaguya pursed her lips and said softly:
"It looks like a school?"
"It is indeed a school; I can already see the school gate." Amamiya Natsuki nodded slightly. "None of those 'old players' on the ghost bus earlier had experienced the campus checkpoint."
"There's also another possibility…" Shinomiya Kaguya crossed her right arm over her chest and said in a low voice, "Those who accidentally entered the campus checkpoint have all died."
Upon hearing this, the junior high school girl shivered slightly and couldn't help but lean closer to Amamiya Natsuki, whispering:
"It feels very scary."
Amamiya Natsuki turned to look at her and said:
"The danger of this school should be higher than other places. How about you wait for us back on the bus first?"
"No! Absolutely not!" The junior high girl shook her head rapidly like a rattle drum. "I want to act with Senpai!"
Being alone on the ghost bus, with only herself and the Ghost Driver, just thinking about that scenario was super terrifying.
As they spoke, the three had already arrived at the main entrance of the school.
"Then let's go in together." Shinomiya Kaguya tried to push the door, but the iron gate didn't budge. "It won't open, the door is locked. We'll climb over the wall."
"Mm."
Amamiya Natsuki nodded, and with a movement of his feet, he jumped onto the school wall.
Kaguya didn't need help and easily climbed onto the wall, then looked down at the junior high student below, reaching out her hand and saying:
"Give me your hand."
"W-wait a minute." The junior high school girl's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "Kaguya-senpai, why are you so skilled?!"
"Hm?"
Shinomiya Kaguya tilted her head in confusion and looked over.
The junior high school girl clasped her hands to her chest, feeling as if her idol had been shattered: "When I was in my first year of junior high, I once saw Kaguya-senpai practicing archery in the Archery Club. At that time, Kaguya-senpai was beautiful, elegant, and intellectual. Since then, I've always admired Kaguya-senpai so much, but Kaguya-senpai was just too skilled at climbing walls!"
Shinomiya Kaguya: "…"
"That's why…" Amamiya Natsuki said eerily from the side, "Admiration is the furthest distance from understanding."
The junior high school girl couldn't help but retort:
"That's a manga line from how many years ago? Hardly anyone knows it anymore!"
"…"
Shinomiya Kaguya used a little force to pull the junior high student onto the wall.
Amamiya Natsuki jumped down first, then caught Kaguya and the junior high student as they jumped down.
"Hoo…" Looking at the eerie campus shrouded in night, Shinomiya Kaguya let out a soft breath. "It feels somewhat strangely familiar."
Amamiya Natsuki stretched his limbs and said:
"Once timid in Ghost Academy, today we strike back hard."