127 School Ghost Story

His head was spinning badly. Ian stared silently at the girl clinging to his arm like a cicada while his mind raced.

‘Where am I now?’

Beyond the front gate of Sayo High School. The cherry blossom-lined path to school was no different from the one he had seen at dawn. The number of street trees, the shape of the playground, and, most importantly, even the school building were exactly the same. There was no room for doubt.

‘What time is it?’

He swallowed and pulled out his phone to check the time.

[???? year ? month ?? day ??:??]

The clock plastered with question marks was welcoming Ian with a bright smile.

This wasn't a figurative expression. Beyond the phone screen, which had definitely been colorless a moment ago, he could clearly see someone running toward him with a smile. The faint laughter he'd heard began to grow louder.

Press.

There was no need to listen to all of it. Ian immediately powered off his phone, confirmed that nothing was wrong with it, and slipped the device into his pocket.

‘It's definitely a ghost.’

The strangely appearing time. The wallpaper that had changed without him setting it. And a woman in a white mourning dress charging at him with a kitchen knife, and so on.

Things that could never happen in reality were happening one after another in just a few seconds. Ian let out a long breath and glanced up at the sky.

“…….”

Strangely enough, there was no sun in the sky. Only the blue sky and clouds existed. But sunlight was real, and the heat of it could be felt plainly against his skin. Only the shadows remained frozen in place.

The ghost story hadn't hidden the sun. It was more likely that he'd entered a completely different space.

It wasn't yet clear whether this was a space-type anomaly or one that eroded reality, but given that the time of day had changed completely, it was at least no ordinary one. If he let his guard down, he might be done for in an instant. If Seo-ah had come here alone, it would be hard to guarantee her survival.

Thinking that way, it really did seem like bringing someone along had been the right call. Ian shoved aside the girl who resembled the Lord of the Outer Sea and checked whether Seo-ah was nearby. The girl whined, 'Ah, senpai!' but he ignored her for now.

“……Ah, there she is.”

Fortunately, Seo-ah was easy to find.

On the second floor of the main school building, her face was clearly visible through the window of what looked like a classroom. Since the distance wasn't very far, he could make her out.

As for mental control... it didn't seem like she'd been affected. Judging from how her face was full of confusion and irritation instead of calm, it looked like she hadn't lost her mind. That was at least a relief.

‘For now, should I meet up there?’

Ian let out a long sigh and rummaged through his clothes for a cigarette. For a moment, he realized this place was a school and stopped moving.

Naturally, smoking was forbidden in a school. In the first place, students couldn't even smoke to begin with. If rules existed here too, like in a library or a hospital, then carelessly lighting a cigarette might make whatever enforced them try to kill him while throwing around punishment or demerit points.

“……”

This was the time to act carefully. There was still far too little information. It wasn't even certain whether this place was truly a spatial mystery, and he couldn't tell whether the students walking around over there were really human.

And above all...

‘Is this being really the Lord of the Outer Sea?’

Ian frowned and glared at the girl who kept clinging to him.

“Uh, u-uh... senpai...? Why are you looking at me like that...?”

Her pupils trembled with fear, and her shoulders hunched slightly.

No matter how he looked at her, she was the very picture of a frail girl, but Ian didn't let his guard down. He didn't know exactly what 'that' was, but the fact that it had taken on the form of an Outer God made it something to be wary of.

‘I don't think that's the main body. If it were, there's no way this space could hold together.’

Outer Gods were such common fixtures in all kinds of fiction that their name recognition wasn't what it used to be, but reality and fiction were still separate things. Even if it wasn't the Lord of the Outer Sea, if a cosmic being revealed its true form here, there was no way a mere ghost story could hold up. A being that made a school its base and a god that swam through the cosmos could never be on the same level.

Moreover, the Lord of the Outer Sea was an exalted existence ranked among the highest-tier Outer Gods. If it came here in its true form, not only the school ghost story but even the Earth itself would surely collapse. The weight of their ranks was simply different.

Still, just in case, Ian swallowed hard and murmured her name under his breath.

“……Lord of the Outer Sea.”

Ian's voice made her react.

“Lord of the Outer Sea...? What's that? A newly released game?”

The girl, whose appearance was an exact match for the Lord of the Outer Sea, tilted her head adorably.

“Is it a game you play, senpai? Then I want to play too! Does that game have a couple system too?!”

Eyes sparkling, she approached Ian. Ian backed away two steps for every one step she took and let out a long breath.

‘……She isn't reacting.’

‘Did she really not know? Or was she pretending to?’

He couldn't tell. That made it even more unsettling. It felt like something wearing human skin and pretending to be a person. An unpleasant sensation seemed to race up his spine and through his whole body. It was very hard to explain.

If she were the true body, Ian would have felt a little more at ease too. Whatever her form, he had already spoken with the Lord of the Outer Sea once before. Perhaps a few words might be enough to make her back off.

But what was in front of him now was an unknown. An unidentified being. He didn't even know its name. Only the ridiculous name ■■■ was engraved on its name tag.

He had no idea what to call it. Square-square-square? Or Blank? Otherwise, should he just call it whatever he wanted?

Maybe it recognized itself by whatever name it was called. Either way, it was equally unsettling.

“……”

Ian first turned it over in his head. He thought about whether it was right to play along with this damned puppet show for now, or whether it would be better to act strictly as a magician. He wondered which option gave him the better chance of making it out alive.

“Tsk.”

Before long, he reached a conclusion.

“……For now, let's go inside.”

Saying that, Ian started walking toward the school building. The Lord of the Outer Sea—no, ■■■—walked after him.

“Yeees. But senpai, why are you so prickly today? You usually hug me whenever we meet.”

“Probably because something bad happened.”

“……Because something bad happened? Why are you speaking in guesses? Did something bad happen or not?”

“Strictly speaking, something bad did happen.”

Ian glanced at his wrist. A watch was hanging there on a wrist that had definitely been empty before. Like handcuffs, the impossible-to-remove watch flashed as it told the time.

[AM 08:25]

The phone he had brought in from outside had gone dead, but the watch was working perfectly. That meant the watch was an item belonging to the 'School Ghost Story.' Ian twisted his lips and tapped the watch lightly.

The metal watch didn't react. It simply kept silently turning its second hand clockwise.

“Senpai? Why did you suddenly stop?”

“……No, it's nothing.”

He brushed off ■■■'s question and tugged at his sleeve. The watch was hidden beneath his pure-white school shirt.

“Let's go in.”

Since he'd decided to go along with this damned farce, now was the time to match his pace to the ghost story as much as possible. Mysteries with rules carried severe risks when those rules were broken, so he had no choice.

If he kept acting like he was openly asking to be gutted and something on the level of a hospital director popped out, even Ian couldn't guarantee his survival.

‘……For now, let's meet up with Seo-ah. Then it would be best to discuss countermeasures.’

Thinking that, Ian slowly stepped into the building. Inside the school, utterly free of any eerie chill, it was filled with the excitement of a new semester and the fresh scent of youth, and he couldn't find anything strange.

“……”

And that, more than anything, felt bizarre.

*

“Then, senpai! See you at recess!”

■■■ was in Class 1-3. She slid the back door open with a rattle and flashed Ian a bright smile. Between the swaying folds of her skirt, her pale skin showed.

“And you know we have a joint PE class in third period today, right? Heehee... I'll be your partner, so don't even look at those other girls...”

“Just hurry up and go inside.”

“Yep.”

After winking at Ian, ■■■ closed the door and walked toward her seat. Ian watched her expression shift from a smile to a blank face in an instant, clicked his tongue, and went up to the third floor.

The third floor housed the second-year classrooms. He found his own classroom with practiced ease, went inside, and flopped into his seat.

The back row by the left window. It was the seat right next to Seo-ah. She was sitting still and looking out the window with a serious expression when she abruptly turned her head at the presence beside her. Her gaze was rather fierce, but after confirming that the person there was Ian, she immediately relaxed.

“Ah, Ian...! You’re safe!”

“Somehow. Are you okay?”

“I'm not hurt. My mind's fine too. But my phone's dead, so I don't think there's any way to contact the outside world.”

“Mine got corrupted too. Instead, I got a watch...”

“Me too. A watch I'd never seen before was hanging on my wrist.”

She rolled up her sleeve and showed him a black leather watch. Ian let out a low groan.

“The time's the same though. It must be the time of this space.”

“Probably. Haah... I was just planning to stroll around the school at midnight and catch some ghosts. What is this?”

“We didn't know what we were walking into, so it can't be helped. For now, tell your parents you're going to be late today. I'll do the same.”

“Got it.”

Seo-ah nodded. Ian swept his hair back and casually hung his bag on the hook.

“……Ah?”

At the same time, his eyes flew wide open. Ian hurriedly turned to Seo-ah, his face twisting.

“No, shit. We're both orphans. Where the hell are our parents supposed to be?”

“……Huh?”

Seo-ah's face, after hearing Ian's words, went blank before quickly turning pale.

“……You're right? Then whose memory is this?”

“……”

“I definitely ate with my parents and went for a walk until yesterday? No, no, wait. Yesterday I was just taking a magic exam, and then I heard you were coming down, huh? Huh? Uh...?”

Her pupils trembled violently. Ian cursed inwardly and bit his lip hard.

For the first time in a very long while, chills ran down his spine.