Chapter 018: Final Redemption

“Kanako? In her last journal entry, she mentioned she was going to find Principal Kobayashi. Could it be…” Prompted by Su Cheng’s reminder, Reiko Sato’s heart sank with a sense of foreboding. It was highly likely that Kanako had already come to a tragic end.

“We searched Principal Kobayashi’s office but didn’t find Kanako’s body. That means there are only two possibilities: either Kanako managed to escape the school alive, or she’s dead and her corpse is missing.”

As she listened to his deductions, Reiko Sato felt a chill seep into her bones, making her shiver involuntarily.

“What do you mean?” Su Cheng suddenly turned to meet her gaze, his voice grave. “What if Kanako became a butcher as well?”

“But… we haven’t found a fourth butcher in the school,” Reiko Sato replied, bewildered.

“That’s because she’s been hiding among us. I suspect Kanako’s ability is to disguise herself as anyone.” As he spoke, Su Cheng’s eyes turned cold, and without warning, he raised his crossbow and aimed it at Reiko Sato.

She trembled, eyes wide in disbelief. “I—I’m not an evil spirit!”

“Move!”

A sharp command rang in her ear. Instinctively, Reiko Sato dodged to the side.

The arrow whistled through the air, embedding itself deep in the chest of the short-haired girl behind her.

“What the hell are you doing?” The sudden turn of events startled the surviving players, who eyed Su Cheng with alarm and suspicion. Uncle Toyota’s eyes reddened with rage, and he nearly rushed forward to punch him.

But what truly horrified them was the expression on the short-haired girl’s face as the arrow struck her heart—an eerie smile spread across her lips. With a delicate hand, she slowly pulled the arrow from her chest.

Reiko Sato and Uncle Toyota watched in terror as no blood flowed from the wound. Instead, a thick, black, oil-like liquid oozed out.

Everyone realized something was terribly wrong.

“When did you figure it out?” The short-haired girl’s features shifted, becoming the face Su Cheng had seen in the photograph—Kanako.

But this Kanako was nothing like the girl in the photo with the radiant smile. Wisps of black smoke seeped from her pores, and her presence was chilling and oppressive. Standing even a little closer, one could feel an icy coldness and an abyssal evil emanating from her.

“It was when Maruyama Kotaro died before our eyes. You acted frightened, but I noticed your eyes remained unnaturally calm—almost cold.”

Su Cheng took a deep breath. The aura Kanako exuded made his scalp prickle; he had never felt such terror and pressure before.

“Su, wasn’t Kanako a victim? How could she become an evil spirit?”

“In the real world, there are many true cases where cruel abusers were once victims themselves. Kanako’s soul has been corrupted by hatred and malice. It was likely she who killed Principal Kobayashi and the others, becoming an evil butcher and forever binding their souls—and her own—to this school.”

For the three criminals that were Principal Kobayashi and his cohorts, being eternally trapped in the school was a cruel punishment. Yet for Kanako, it was no less torment.

Just then, a line of blood-red text flashed across Su Cheng’s phone screen.

“Player Su Cheng has uncovered the truth of the Haunted Academy and triggered a hidden quest.”

“Quest: Purify the Haunted Academy and redeem Kanako’s soul.”

“Reward: One random mysterious item.”

A hidden quest?

In the instant Su Cheng was distracted, black, viscous liquid burst from Kanako’s palm, coalescing into a reaper’s scythe. Like a crescent of darkness, it slashed toward him with the speed of lightning.

A spray of blood marked its path.

Though Su Cheng managed to avoid a fatal strike at the last moment, the scythe still caught him. His police-issue bulletproof vest was torn apart, and a deep, bleeding wound appeared on his chest.

Agonizing pain washed over him, draining the color from his face.

“Death Ward!”

Alarmed, Reiko Sato hastily cast Death Ward on Su Cheng. Each use consumed a great deal of mental energy—three times per game was her absolute limit. This was her last.

But some powerful force clung to Su Cheng’s injury, rendering Death Ward ineffective.

Eight minutes and thirty-seven seconds until dawn.

Gritting his teeth against the burning pain, Su Cheng gripped his katana with both hands and charged, slashing upward from below.

A pale, slender arm was severed from Kanako the Lich’s shoulder.

The next moment, the arm on the ground melted into a pool of black viscous fluid, while a new, unblemished arm sprouted from Kanako’s wound.

“Physical attacks don’t work on vengeful undead?” The infernal agony in his wound made sweat bead on Su Cheng’s forehead. After more than five hours of this nightmare game, his stamina was nearly spent.

“Die, monster!” Suddenly, Okubo Toyota lunged at Kanako from behind, striking her shoulder with a club.

She didn’t move, but her head spun 180 degrees to stare at Okubo Toyota with black, abyssal eyes, a chilling smile on her lips.

Her hand transformed into a dagger and, without hesitation, stabbed into Okubo Toyota’s abdomen, tearing a bloody hole.

Blood and intestines spilled out with a wet sound.

His world turned crimson as he collapsed in front of Kanako, powerless.

At that moment, Su Cheng lunged forward, gripping his katana and bringing it down hard on Kanako’s pale neck.

The blade flashed. A clean cut appeared on Kanako’s neck.

Her head rolled to Su Cheng’s feet, yet her eyes remained wide open, staring at him with bitter hatred.

“No, there must be a way to destroy an evil spirit.”

Su Cheng desperately tried to recall every clue and detail they had uncovered in the school. The method to purify the Haunted Academy had to be hidden there.

Thick black fluid dripped to the floor as Kanako’s abdomen split open, and several black, tentacle-like appendages lashed out, piercing Su Cheng’s abdomen in an instant.

His katana clattered to the ground as all strength left him. His eyes grew vacant, as if he had fallen into a pit of utter despair.

Kanako’s head reattached itself, and she pulled Su Cheng close with her writhing black tentacles.

“Well then, see you in hell.”

But as Su Cheng hovered on the brink of death, his eyes suddenly opened. He coughed up blood, a victorious smile playing on his lips.

“Checkmate!”

In that instant, Kanako, whose soul had been dragged into the abyss by hatred and become a lich, let out a horrifying, piercing scream.

Before Su Cheng’s eyes, silver flames erupted across Kanako’s body.

The thick black liquid was instantly purified by the silver fire, the black smoke and evil spirit energy around her dissolving and fading away.

At Kanako’s heart, a silver cross was embedded.

“Yumi…”

With the evil power stripped away, Kanako’s malice vanished. Her clear eyes gazed at the silver cross, her face softening with relief and liberation.

This silver cross was a birthday gift from Yumi to Kanako, and now, it became the key to her redemption.

With Kanako’s soul saved, the dark mist and oppressive gloom shrouding the school began to dissipate.

A ray of sunlight pierced the darkness, shining into the campus. The butchers who had committed those crimes screamed as their bodies and souls evaporated inch by inch under the light.

Finally, dawn arrived.

A faint smile touched Su Cheng’s lips. Fortunately, his habit of collecting all manner of items in the game had led him to the means of purifying the Haunted Academy.

This was a victory for the Squirrel Party.

Before he lost consciousness, a message appeared on his phone screen:

“Instance [Dawn’s Killing] complete. System is calculating results. Please wait patiently…”