Chapter 6: Ghost Gathering
Suddenly,
a white arm reaches out from the depths of the darkness.
The delicate white arm gripping the rotting floor of the old school building is beautiful and slender, like a white fish. Seen alone, it is a beautiful arm like a doll, but next, when Houzuki sees something crawling out of the darkness, her heart lurches.
Messy black hair and a body bent in an unexpected direction, the only beautiful parts are both arms, the rest of the body is in such a terrible state that it is hard to look at. A red tongue sticks out from a torn mouth and looks up at Houzuki with bloodshot eyes.
The woman, who was clearly not alive, let out a strange shriek as she crawled on the floor.
“Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!!”
“Noisy.”
Yuiru approached the woman crawling on the floor with big strides, then stomped on her head with all his might. The floorboards were rotten in that exact spot, and a hole appeared as it could not withstand the impact of Yuiru’s stomp.
The female ghost’s head was buried in the floor by Yuiru’s stomp, and her beautiful, unblemished arms were thrashing about. She tried to pull her head out of the hole, but Yuiru stomped on it even harder, making it difficult.
Yuiru stomps on the female ghost’s head and says,
“Let’s go, Houzuki. I don’t have time to bother with this small fry.”
“I envy you for having the mental strength to call this a small fry…”
Houzuki responds in an exasperated tone and chases after Yuiru.
She must try not to get too far away.
The old school building is a dangerous place, especially now that it can be called late at night. Without the presence of the high school boy named Yuiru Enen, Houzuki would not be able to walk properly inside the old school building.
Even so,
“Hey, aren’t there too many ghosts…?”
Houzuki looks around.
Behind her is the ghost of someone only from the knees down, and on the floor is the ghost of the woman from before, whose arms are just beautiful.
The girl in the poster on the wall chases Houzuki and Yuiru with just her eyes, shedding red tears, and the swarm of calligraphy-like works turns into ominous characters such as “death” and “hell.” As she passed a classroom, she heard chanting coming from behind the closed door.
The number of ghosts here was incomparable to anything she had experienced up until then. It was enough to make even the ghost-filled general hospital pale in comparison.
“All kinds of ghosts gather at the old school building,” Yuiru said, moving to the side of the corridor. He beckoned to Houzuki, so Houzuki followed his lead and moved to the side of the corridor.
“Bow your head,” Yuiru whispered.
Houzuki followed his instructions and bowed his head, and heard the sound of something being dragged nearby.
Zuru, zuru.
Zuru, zuruzuru.
Becha, zuruzuru.
Zuru…… zuru, zuru.
A foul stench like sludge hit my nose along with an eerie, dragging sound. It was a smell that reminded her of the area around Swamp House in the Western Forest.
With her head bowed, she couldn’t see the whole thing, but something like black mud was wriggling and pushing its way down the corridor.
Several muddy legs protruded from a huge, semi-solid thing that reminded her of slime. There were no signs of movement, and they were probably those of someone who had been swallowed up in the black mud. The soles of their feet were covered in cuts, which made her wonder if they were resisting, or if there was some other reason.
“—-!”
Houzuki hurriedly covers her mouth.
At this moment, she is thankful to Yuiru.
There is no telling what will happen if she lifts his head. Even Houzuki will not survive if she is swallowed by that black mud.
“–Okay, he’s gone.”
After making sure that the black mud has left, Yuiru says, “Houzuki, you can lift your head.”
“W-what was that…”
“It used to be in the middle of the road. You know, have you ever heard of Betobetosan*?”
“Yes, but…”
“It’s a more vicious version of that. If you stand at the edge of the hallway and not lift your head up, it won’t notice you.”
Yuiru tells Houzuki, “Don’t ever look back,”
“It has eyes in the back of its head, so the moment your eyes meet it, it’ll chase you.”
“I-I get it.”
Houzuki decides that he absolutely won’t look back, no matter what. There’s still a long way to go, and she can’t die.
“Yuiru, have you decided where you’re going?”
“I don’t know where the real one is. With so many of them, it might be mixed in somewhere.”
Yuiru glances at the ghost of a male student wandering the hallway with his head bowed,
“Let’s go to the second floor.”
TN: Betobetosan, also known as Betobeto-san, is a yokai or mythical creature from Japanese folklore. It is recognized by the sound of its wooden clogs, “beto beto,” and is often associated with the feeling of being followed in the dark. Betobetosan is not considered dangerous and can be easily escaped by stepping to the side of the road and saying “After you, betobetosan.” It typically appears in alleys and narrow, sloped roads at night.
