Night, eight o'clock.
The campus was pitch black.
Although Komagome Academy still had dormitories, the annual accommodation fee was over two million Japanese Yen, and they were built off-campus in an apartment style.
Therefore, at night, besides approved club activities, there were only scattered Teachers on duty and security guards on the main campus.
Near the main entrance of the Old Teaching Building, five new delinquents had managed to stay until now by climbing over the wall and hiding on campus beforehand, gathering punctually.
Inoue, along with Hosokawa and Sato, scrutinized these five newcomers, making them instinctively straighten their backs, not wanting to leave a bad impression.
"To become a true delinquent, the most indispensable qualities are boldness and a resilient heart. Otherwise, you'll only have the appearance!" Inoue walked around in front of them with his hands behind his back, then stood before them, spouting nonsense with great presence.
Yet, these people were most susceptible to presence; if the presence was sufficient, whatever he said seemed reasonable to them.
"Tell me, are you afraid of ghosts?"
"No!"
The few of them shouted loudly, making Inoue's eyebrow twitch. Sato even glanced around nervously, afraid of attracting security guards.
However, there were still one or two clubs active on campus at this time, which could help cover for them somewhat.
"Very good! Full of spirit!"
Inoue naturally couldn't show fear of the security guards, so he could only force himself to encourage them.
"Hosokawa, hand out the maps. Your goal is to find the three mysterious items marked on the map within half an hour, and bring them out intact. No teaming up, no helping each other," Inoue added in a strange tone, "No matter what those things are."
The few of them exchanged glances instinctively, all showing an expression of unwillingness to admit defeat.
In this darkness where it was hard to distinguish who was who even from a distance, no one noticed that on a locust tree right beside them, a person with a stiff expression and pale skin was squatting, his eyes glowing red, watching their every move.
"Minor ominous, major ominous, major ominous, minor ominous... Haha, it's really a rich second generation opening a falcon party—more ominous than auspicious, indeed."
"Dongshan Shen" glanced at the general fortune of the few people. Only one person with trembling hands and feet didn't show an ominous sign; everyone else had at least a minor ominous sign.
It was clear they were collectively going to encounter misfortune.
"Fortunately, this paper doll body can directly mobilize the main body's abilities."
The Dongshan Shen squatting on the treetop was not the main body of Dongshan Shen, but the paper doll he had left here before.
As soon as it turned eight o'clock, he activated the possessed paper doll, infusing a trace of his clone into the paper doll that he had dotted the eyes of with his blood, turning it into the size of a real person. However, to avoid unnecessary trouble, the appearance had been modified.
After possession, the spiritual fire eyes and Lodging Star Master abilities were still present, and he could even mobilize items from the reward warehouse.
It was just that the paper doll's magic power was limited. Once it ran out, it would spontaneously combust and turn to ash.
"We'll go ahead. We'll wait for you on the top floor. Remember, you only have forty-five minutes."
After Inoue assigned the tasks, the three of them went up to the teaching building first.
Then, the five people below exchanged glances, took out their phones or flashlights, and began to study the map.
Soon, four people went up one after another.
Only the last student remained, taking several deep breaths, pacing back and forth at the entrance, looking at this eerie teaching building. Countless horror movie scenes flooded his mind, making him unable to take the first step, trembling all over.
The delinquent who was in the same class as Dongshan Shen was the first to go in. He seemed very confident and not afraid of ghosts at all.
But the other two delinquents he usually hung out with didn't come to tonight's selection meeting.
"Hmm?"
Dongshan Shen's expression suddenly turned serious. This dilapidated formation... seemed to have been activated?
When did it activate?
When he saw it before, it was severely incomplete, only retaining some simple Yin-gathering functions and barely operating. Now, it had quietly started running without him knowing when.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Before he could think further, less than a few minutes passed, and suddenly, a ghostly wail echoed from inside the teaching building.
This scream scared the newcomer at the entrance terribly. His pants immediately became wet, and then he scrambled away, crying and rolling.
Such a loud sound would definitely attract the security guards. It shouldn't lead to death... unless there was really something unclean present.
Dongshan Shen jumped down from the treetop, raised his head, and in a trance, everything before his eyes underwent a strange change.
The reinforced concrete teaching building rapidly corroded and weathered at a visible speed. Pieces of wall plaster fell off, revealing not brick walls, but old wooden walls. Finally, in Dongshan Shen's eyes, it turned into a wooden teaching building no more than three stories high.
The original night actually turned into an afternoon with a slightly hazy, memory-like filter.
"Although I don't understand formations very well, but..." As his spiritual fire eyes opened, the wooden teaching building before him scattered like white mist blown away by a strong wind, the afternoon filter shattered, and everything quickly returned to normal.
He wanted to see if what was behind this was human, ghost, or monster.
Inside the teaching building.
As soon as Sato followed Inoue in, he felt that everything was wrong. The atmosphere was extremely oppressive, making him feel like he couldn't breathe. A musty smell constantly emanated from everywhere, and the entire building seemed to have aged another ten years, appearing even more dilapidated.
Rumbling.
A sound like something rolling on the floor attracted Sato's attention, making him look a few more times in the direction the sound came from.
And in just those few glances, only one or two seconds, by the time he turned his head back, Inoue and the others were already several meters away from him.
"Hey! Boss! Boss, wait for me!"
How could Sato dare to stay alone? He quickly ran, but it was already too late. He could only watch as Inoue and the others walked into a classroom and closed the door behind them.
"I haven't gone in yet, Boss!"
He quickly sped up a few steps to catch up, then pulled the door open.
Immediately, a dazzling white light flashed before his eyes, making him instinctively cover his eyes with his arm.
He pulled a door, not a flashbang!
After a few seconds like this, his eyes slowly adjusted to the light. Squinting, he slowly lowered his hand.
But the scene that came into view the next moment plunged him into a state of stunned brain freeze.
This is...
A classroom?
Sato stared dumbfounded at everything before him. The originally abandoned classroom was now... filled with people.
Students wearing old-fashioned school uniforms sat neatly at old desks and chairs. Outside the window was dazzling sunshine. On the podium, a Teacher wearing national uniform and with a sallow face was giving a lecture.
He held half a piece of chalk, and wore an old-fashioned watch on his wrist.
Inoue, Hosokawa, and the others... where did they go?
They had clearly just walked through this door right before his eyes...
"Sato-kun, what are you spacing out at the door for?"
The Teacher coughed a few times and looked at him with an unfriendly gaze.
Then, all the students in the classroom uniformly turned their heads towards him, staring at him with stiff smiles as if frozen.
Sato's scalp tingled. Such a classic horror movie scene made him want to turn around and pull the door open, but he found that no matter how hard he pulled, this door, which looked like it could be broken with a light kick, didn't budge.
Crack.
At this moment, a charred hand rested on Sato's shoulder, bringing with it an indescribable strange smell.
All of Sato's movements stopped instantly. He could only show a face full of terror, not daring to look back.
"I hate... disobedient children the most."
A faint voice with a smell of burnt flesh came from behind him.
"Ah... Ahhhhh!!!"