Chapter 6: Is It Wrong to Bully a Ghost?
The sound of a countdown rang in his mind.
"Eh? I hear a weird countdown now." Chika covered her ears, tilting her head and patting them like a hopping bunny. "Do you guys hear it too?"
Unfortunately, no one paid her any attention.
This wasn't a countdown—it was a death knell!
Natsuki silently turned his gaze to Kaguya, his eye twitching again.
This is such a scam!
Team formation was a forced action? No confirmation required at all?!
"...I'm sorry." As the young lady of the Shinomiya family, she knew she had to own up to her mistakes—only cowards ran away. She bit her lower lip tightly. "I just got the notification. To improve player experience, the game optimized the team formation process. Physical contact is enough to trigger it."
This wasn't an optimization—it was outright sabotage!
"I didn't touch either of you, did I?"
Natsuki couldn't help but ask.
Chika becoming your teammate was one thing, but why was he dragged into this?
Did eye contact count as a valid trigger too?
Kaguya continued:
"Any players within three meters are automatically registered as teammates..."
It's too late for that kind of intel now!
Natsuki closed his eyes and sighed in resignation.
Idiot teammate count: +1.
"What are you guys talking about?" Chika blinked, looking back and forth between them. "I don't understand."
"Don't ask. You'll find out soon enough."
[Countdown: Three, Two…]
Natsuki felt a slight dizziness, and in the next instant, he found himself standing on the school grounds, surrounded by students in unfamiliar uniforms—or rather, ghosts.
His face was deathly pale, devoid of any color, with empty black voids where his eyes should be. His body was covered in horrifying bloodstains, and the dilapidated playground floor was smeared with dried blood, littered with chaotic scratch marks from desperate fingers.
Noticing Natsuki's gaze, one of his 'classmates' turned towards him, grinning to reveal razor-sharp, jagged teeth.
[Location: School of Resentful Spirits]
[Game: Seven Wonders of the School]
[Clear Condition: Complete at least three challenges or survive until 4:44 AM]
[Current Challenge: 1, 2, 3, Wooden Man. Press the button on the back of the Daruma doll within the time limit. Those who fail will be eliminated.]
[The game is about to begin. Wishing all players a pleasant experience.]
As the spine-chilling announcement ended, Natsuki felt the pressure on his throat lift, regaining the ability to speak and move.
"Eh? Ehhh?!" Chika's voice rang out in disbelief. "W-what on earth is this?!"
Her loud exclamation immediately drew the attention of all the players and vengeful spirits.
"Keep your voice down," Kaguya quickly covered her best friend's mouth, then leaned in to whisper, "Last night... I'm sorry. This is all my fault."
Though Chika often acted in ways beyond ordinary comprehension, she was indeed Kaguya's only friend.
Dragging her into such a dangerous game, Kaguya could no longer maintain her usual unshakable composure, her eyes filled with guilt and remorse.
"I see... This isn't your fault, Kaguya," Chika clenched her fists, her expression serious, radiating an almost dazzling determination. "For you to be involved in such a perilous game... As your friend, how could I stand by and do nothing? From now on, I'll protect you!"
I don't want to interrupt your yuri moment, but how about apologizing to the innocent bystanders you dragged into this?!
Chika raised a thumb with confidence. "I'm a gaming expert, after all. I'll breeze through this easily."
Natsuki could practically smell the death flag.
In horror movies, the ones who cheerfully declared such things were usually the first to bite the dust.
"Tch."
A mocking scoff came from nearby.
"Thinking about protecting others in a game like this? You must be a total newbie."
Aside from Natsuki's trio, there were other players on the field—clearly not rookies. Though none were as openly shocked as Chika, their expressions were grim.
"Eh? How did you know?" Chika blinked in surprise. "This really is my first time. Please take care of me!"
"Impossible," the woman muttered in disbelief. "A first-timer's game would never be this difficult."
Kaguya hung her head in shame.
[Game Start—]
As the cold, emotionless voice echoed, the massive Daruma doll standing at the playground exit slowly turned its back to the crowd.
Natsuki felt the invisible restraints vanish, his body free to move again.
Eerie, unsettling music began to play—something straight out of the underworld—as everyone on the field, from players to ghostly students, sprang into action.
No one knew when the Daruma doll would turn around, so every player moved with extreme caution. The ghost students were no exception—most of them had stiff bodies, and some even wore expressions of unmistakable fear and helplessness on their faces.
"The distance is about two hundred meters... very far..."
Natsuki silently estimated the distance, his gaze fixed on the Daruma doll as he racked his brain for a way to clear the stage. "The doll is roughly three meters tall, and the button is right below its head..."
"Huh?!"
His eyes suddenly narrowed. In his vision, a line of text abruptly appeared on the Daruma doll's body.
Blame not the billion, but the long-lasting cold.
[La la la, I'm a happy Daruma doll. My vision can't penetrate objects. Current turn countdown: three, two...]
Natsuki quietly halted his steps.
As the countdown ended, the giant, swaying Daruma doll spun around with unimaginable speed. A ghost student who reacted too late was caught off guard—a black shadow flashed through the air, and in the next instant, the ghost student's head exploded. Fortunately, there was no splatter of blood, only a surge of black mist gushing out before the body collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Even so, the sight was enough to turn anyone pale and break them out in a cold sweat.
The playground fell into deathly silence.
After a moment, the Daruma doll slowly turned back around, and the eerie nursery rhyme resumed.
"S-So scary..." Chika clutched her chest, completely panicked. "I thought the penalty for failing was just being sent back to the sidelines!"
Thinking you can just retreat to the sidelines—what, is this a game of house to you?!
Natsuki continued watching the Daruma doll.
A dozen seconds later, the same prompt appeared again.
"Stop."
Timing it perfectly, Natsuki froze in place a second before the doll turned.
In the next instant, the Daruma doll spun around right on schedule. This time, luck was worse—a player accidentally moved their arm and suffered the exact same penalty as the ghost student.
A few seconds later, the doll turned back, and the game continued.
One particularly tall ghost student seemed to have decided to throw caution to the wind. Suddenly, it turned its head and reached out with bloodstained hands toward Chika—probably aiming to warm someone's heart before its demise.
Thwack.
Natsuki stepped forward and grabbed the ghost's wrist.
"Th-Thank you, Amanomiya-kun..."
Chika, pale-faced, hurriedly expressed her gratitude.
The ghost student, meanwhile, turned its furious glare toward Natsuki, baring a mouth full of sharp fangs.
[Turn countdown...]
The prompt appeared once more.
A split second before the doll turned, Natsuki abruptly bent down and crouched behind the ghost student.
As the Daruma doll spun around, two more unlucky souls were eliminated, leaving the playground eerily silent.
"Now's the time."
Natsuki took a quiet breath, clasped his hands together, and fixed his gaze on the ghost student's back.
"Ghost Ninjutsu: Thousand Years of Death—!"