Thud—
The corpse jerked upright with a dull thud as its feet hit the floor.
The girls who had been hurling abuse instantly fell silent. Several of the more timid ones screamed outright.
Yotsuya Miko, who had been standing behind Takakai trying to assess the situation, froze completely, her breath catching in her throat.
As for Takakai himself, who was closest to the corpse...
Holy shit!
It's alive?!
His face remained expressionless, but internally he couldn't help cursing.
Admittedly, seeing a headless corpse suddenly spring to life had startled even him.
Not that he was scared of the thing itself—after everything he'd been through, this level of horror didn't faze him. But the abruptness of its movement, going from complete stillness to standing in an instant, had caught him off guard. Despite his enhanced physical abilities and reflexes, he hadn't been able to react in time, breaking out in a cold sweat.
However, he quickly realized the corpse had merely stood up—it remained dead, not truly revived nor transformed into a full specter. It seemed that after the candle was relit, the curse's rules had forced it into a ["living"] state, animating its body against its will.
An interesting mechanic. But we need further testing.
Takakai stood up, candle in hand, and took a step back.
Thud.
The headless corpse followed, swaying unsteadily toward him—or more accurately, toward the candle.
Takakai suddenly accelerated backward, putting distance between himself and the corpse. In response, the corpse scrambled after him, even tripping and falling before springing back up with unnatural speed.
The scene was almost comical.
Miko might have laughed if the performer hadn't been a headless, blood-drenched corpse.
But she quickly noticed Takakai's expression had turned grave.
Placing the candle on an empty desk nearby, Takakai watched as the corpse shambled over and stood motionless beside the flame. He circled around it, tossed Miko a lighter, then pulled out another one himself and moved toward the other bodies.
"The dead turn into specters quickly once their candles go out. Move fast—we can't leave them unlit."
Hearing this warning, Miko felt her hair stand on end. She immediately rushed to the other corpses to relight their candles.
Most of the remaining girls kept their distance, still cowed by Takakai's earlier display of power and the subsequent verbal abuse they'd hurled at him. Those who had been shouting insults earlier were now silent, their expressions unreadable as they watched Takakai and Miko work.
Under the gaze of the nineteen surviving students, Takakai and Miko each lit a candle, guiding two more headless corpses to stand with the first. Soon, three blood-soaked, headless girls stood motionless in a corner of the classroom, facing the three candles placed before them.
They seemed harmless now, but when Takakai had moved the candle away earlier, he had sensed a growing malice within the corpse. This confirmed his suspicion—like the victims claimed by the knocking specter in Shirakawa Apartments, these dead students would gradually transform into servants of the curse. The candles, somehow representing the ["living"], seemed to suppress this transformation as long as they burned.
Examining the other corpses, Takakai detected the same creeping malice. It was unmistakably supernatural, yet so subtle that his blessing hadn't reacted unless he consciously focused on it.
Maybe it was the same with that ghost hand earlier.
A Red Moon-class curse could partially suppress his blessing's detection. That was why, when he'd closed his eyes earlier, he hadn't sensed the ghost hand at all. Only by opening his eyes and looking directly at what was gripping him had his blessing—even weakened—allowed him to realize he was holding something that shouldn't exist.
Not that hindsight helps much now. But at least I understand better.
His gaze shifted to the candles surrounding the corpses.
They were burning significantly faster than those held by the living. At this rate, they'd be extinguished in maybe ten minutes.
And then...?
He really didn't want to find out what would happen after that.
Meanwhile, Miko reached the last corpse—only to find no candle nearby. After Takakai's warning, she too had noticed the unsettling aura around the body, despite its outwardly normal appearance. She quickly searched for the missing candle but found nothing.
"Looking for this?"
A hand extended toward her, offering an extinguished red candle.
"Ah—yes! Thank you, Shigeno-san?"
Miko blinked in surprise as she took the candle, recognizing the bespectacled girl with braided hair—Shigeno Rika, the class vice president.
They'd never been close, but now, Shigeno kept glancing at Takakai before steeling herself and stepping closer to Miko, ignoring the headless corpses nearby.
"Yotsuya-san... you and that man—Takakai-san, right? You know what's happening here, don't you?"
Shigeno clutched her own candle tightly. Behind her, a small group of girls had also retrieved their candles and rule sheets. These were the ones who hadn't joined in the earlier accusations—some had even defended Miko.
"Takakai-san understands more than I do. He... shouldn't even be here. I dragged him into this."
Miko kept her voice low as she lit the candle, her emotions conflicted.
She knew Takakai was their only hope—the only one with the experience and ability to navigate this nightmare and possibly get them out alive. And given her own unique sight, he would undoubtedly prioritize protecting and guiding her over the others.
But at the same time, even he wasn't entirely confident in surviving this place. For him, this was an undeserved disaster—and she was the one who had caused it.
The guilt twisted inside her, mingling with a shameful flicker of relief that she, at least, stood a better chance than the others.
Still, she didn't let it slow her down. She quickly used the candle to guide the last corpse to join the others.
Speaking of which...
Some students still hadn't retrieved their candles, leaving them untouched on their desks.
Shigeno and her group, despite their terror at the headless corpses, had moved closer to Takakai and Miko, clearly seeking protection.
Takakai paid them no mind. Instead, he lifted his candle, studying the darkened ceiling lights.
The lights are off—so this must be thenight phaseof the scenario.
No sign of the [Elephant Teacher] or [Giraffe Inspector], and the half-open curtains revealed only darkness in the hallway. If it was night, the main threats would be [Flashlight Sister], [Statue Uncle], and—
His thoughts cut off as a realization struck him.
His expression shifted slightly as he turned toward the classroom's front door.
A girl had been fruitlessly trying to open it for some time, now leaning against the wall to catch her breath.
She hadn't taken her candle—another skeptic—but that wasn't what drew his attention.
His blessing—Hredal's power to detect the abnormal—had activated.
Not because of the girl.
But because of something behind the door.
Something had approached.
Something was pressing against it from the other side.
Click.
The sound of a key turning in the lock.
Then, the door—previously immovable—began to creak open.
In the candle's faint glow, Takakai saw them.
Eyes.
Staring from the darkness beyond.
"We're leaving."
He turned to Miko, his voice flat.
"Hey—the door's open! We can get out!"
A girl near the entrance shouted in relief, sprinting forward without hesitation.
A black arm shot from the darkness, seizing her and yanking her outside.
Crunch.
The sound of breaking bones.
A scream—cut short.
At the same time, the classroom's back door swung open silently.
Behind the half-drawn curtains, a small hand reached out, pulling the fabric aside.
From the fully covered window, scratching sounds began.
Screams erupted again.
The stench of blood thickened.
A candle rolled to the floor, its flame flickering—then dying.
In the last moments of light, the edges of the flame illuminated them.
The hallway was packed.
Dozens of figures, standing motionless.
All staring into the classroom.
The girl's dying wails faded into silence.
Takakai saw him then—a towering man, at least two meters tall, wearing a duck's head as a mask.
Silent.
Watching.
He grabbed Miko's shoulder, pulling her against him.
Without another glance at the panicking students, he turned and slammed through the back wall, bursting into the adjacent classroom in a shower of plaster and dust.
His blessing flared and faded in an instant.
As the debris settled, he took in the new room.
The candles.
The irises and white chrysanthemums neatly arranged on each desk.
And the students.
Dozens of them.
All seated perfectly upright.
All wearing identical uniforms.
All with their hands covering their faces.
The moment Takakai and Miko crashed in, the hands lowered in unison.
Revealing hollowed-out eye sockets.
Gaping nasal cavities.
And mouths—
—excavated.
No lips.
No teeth.
No tongue.
Just a raw, bleeding pit.
"Oh... oh god..."
One of the girls who had followed them in collapsed to her knees, whimpering.
Takakai's gaze snapped to the candles on the desks.
They were burning fast.
In the few seconds since their arrival, the wax had already halved.
They would be gone in minutes.
Ding-dong.
A crisp chime echoed through the room.
White light flooded the classroom—sterile, funerary.
The students lowered their heads in unison, opening books that had been placed before them.
They did not move again.
From the classroom they'd just fled, screams and sobs still rang out.
And outside the window, visible through the glass—
A woman.
Wearing a sheep's head mask.
Walking past.
Watching.