CH 77

[Dark skies ruled over all.

Late at night, the high school campus was so desolate that even only one or two crows hissed from time to time.

Caw! Caw!

Karina ran through the corridor on the second floor, cold sweat saturating her forehead.

She felt her every step becoming difficult, strained from running, her lungs convulsing in pain.

But she couldn’t stop.

“Hehehe, aaahhhh~”

Behind her, a mummy covered with dirty white gauze menacingly followed.

The corose’s long golden hair was wrapped in bandages, revealing only a few strands covered in crimson.

It was bleeding all over, blood-stained cloth everywhere she looked. 

No one could tell that this monstrous creature was once the popular cheerleader named Jenny. [1]

Slam!—

Karina finally shook off the lumbering monster and hid in her destination – the records room.

Closing the door forcefully, Karina’s voluptuous chest violently undulated. [2]

After a moment to calm her nerves, she took out a small flashlight from her pocket and began searching for Morris’s file.

There were many files stored in the record room, but fortunately, they were arranged neatly, so Karina quickly reached her goal.

Karina’s pupils narrowed, pulling out a portfolio with Morris’s name from a crowded shelf.

Traces of a dark, brackish liquid had soaked through, looking somewhat like dried blood.

Opening the envelope, the sight of a sunny and handsome-looking blonde teenager came into view.

“Name, Morris, home address, 44 Mill Street.” Karina softly mouthed.

Morris’s mother is named Emily, occupation: holy priest. The father is unknown.

Mainly known for fisticuffs on school property and other behavioral demerits, but also has excellent grades, straight A+’s. [3]

When Karina recalled how such a brilliant peer died in a violent way, pained sympathy flickered through her gaze.

She then proceeded to pull out a cell phone and take pictures of Morris’s files page by page.

If one wanted people outside to know the truth of all this, one needed a variety of evidence to persuade their trust, so she deliberately brought her new mobile phone in order to collect evidence.

Knock—knock—-

Outside the record room, someone rapped on the door.

Karina blew out slowly, immediately flicked off the flashlight, lightly snuck over to the door, and looked through the peephole.

The next instant, a bloodshot eye met Karina’s.

That monster was just outside the door! 】——From《Nightmare》

Today was Friday, and because the weekend is tomorrow, the students coming to class were more or less absent-minded.

Zhou Yu very seriously took notes in his notebook while listening to the lesson.

Seeing this, the biology class teacher at the lectern displayed a grin of satisfaction.

No one disliked a child who listened carefully, especially when everyone else generally tended to ignore him.

Zhou Yu didn’t notice the teacher’s gaze, he just continued taking notes earnestly.

He didn’t know why, but after waking up two weeks ago, he realized that he was very interested in the school courses that he’d been previously disgusted with.

The speed of his own studying had become very expedient, to the point that he could remember it immediately even after just reading it once. He was even confident enough to believe he’d take first place when finals came around.

Ring—

Class was dismissed.

Because Zhou Yu’s next class was in the same room, he didn’t even bother changing seats and continued to sit where he was, quietly reading.

It was just that he wasn’t looking at a textbook this time, but the thick volume that discussed the origins of gods and devils he’d borrowed before.

“Zhou Yu … Zhou Yu?” A thin, reedy voice echoed through the room, dragging Zhou Yu out of his thoughtful daze.

The dark-haired youth looked up and saw Johnny, a boy even thinner than he was, standing before him.

Considering that this was the guy who sold him out yesterday, Zhou Yu didn’t feel like playing nice, so he frowned slightly and urged, “What?”

Johnny pushed up his thick pair of glasses, dodging Zhou Yu’s glower: “Yesterday, about yesterday, I’m sorry, are you okay?”

Faced with this falsely cherishing tone, Zhou Yu just blankly replied, “Anything else?”

He ignored Johnny’s “concern”, because the first guy who ran out of the classroom after school yesterday was precisely this motherf**ker. [4]

Johnny froze for a moment; he hadn’t seemed to realize that Zhou Yu would respond unfavorably.

He timidly curled his shoulders in, still apparently wanting to say something.

Zhou Yu ignored him and looked down at his book.

“Well, uhm, I mean, after school today, Fen’s good buddy Vincent may come over to jump you, be careful!”

Hearing this, the hand turning the page paused, and the seated teen raised his head.

His dark green eyes were as cold and deep as mysteriously frozen ocean depths.

“Great, thanks for coming to send a declaration of war, I’m afraid…thanks for actually telli mg me this time.” It was the same as yesterday when he pulled him into the water. [5]

He really couldn’t understand his mind.

As a low-level student who has been bullied year-round in school, Johnny knew something like this, it was obvious that Vincent had told him personally.

Moreover, according to the despicable Johnny’s usual practices, he was afraid that this guy had orchestrated this entire incident.

Johnny, being startled by Zhou Yu’s chilly gaze, abruptly lowered his head and stopped talking, then turned to leave the room.

No one could possibly notice that after the cowardly guy left the classroom, his face had been overlaid with an aura of death, as if some unknown existence had marked his imminent passing.

A coal-black figure, out of the reach of human eyes, whispered, “Well – thank you for reminding him. Now, let me remind you of your death.” [6]

He wouldn’t let off any guy who dared threaten the personal safety of his friends.

As soon as he came over to visit a friend, he heard this farce. Morris narrowed his pair of blue eyes that emitted killing intent.

Why did people like trying to bully his cutest friend?

All those who dared go after Zhou Yu would suffer the pain he (ZY, I think) went through a hundred-fold over.

Morris thought of his friend’s beautiful green eyes, and his cruel intentions towards these scum deepened a bit.

The agony of his death caused his innocence to be twisted into hatred towards the entire world – only his friends were an exception.

That was the last bit of nostalgia he had for this filthy galaxy.

He refused to allow anyone to cause pain to the only friend he cares about.

“Hey Vincent, let’s play a game shall we? Jiejiejie~” Morris found the Vincent who was said to be planning trouble for Zhou Yu, bloodthirst clearly visible in his dagger-like gaze.

Woot! We got a donation from Monique again, thank her in the comments everybody!

Time passed quickly, and afternoon soon rolled around.

The instant the school bell rang, all the students rushed out of the classroom like horses broken free of their harnesses.

Zhou Yu waited until the people in the classroom were almost gone, then put the largely fascinating tome on gods and ghosts away, and began to pack his schoolbag.

The weather outside was still overcast, as if the torrent of rain yesterday hadn’t even started to drain the heavy clouds.

Zhou Yu wasn’t one to be skittish of bad weather, and he came prepared with an umbrella.

Bitzz—

The lightbulb above the teen’s head flickered slightly, so Zhou Yu observed the old fixture, but in the end couldn’t discover anything wrong with it.

“Ah!!! Help!! Save—”

A screech echoed in the hallways outside the classroom.

Zhou Yu’s packing routine paused for a moment.

He blinked those green eyes of his and gazed towards the door that had been closed when his classmates left the room.

***

Vincent, who was overly bulky compared to his peers, was standing next to a locker with a small handful of ** out, incessantly flipping them between his fingers. [1]

Behind him were two companions who were just as brawny as their leader.

“Kenny, Jean, this time, we must teach that ignorant son-of-a-bitch a lesson!” [2] [3]

Remembering how Morris’s little cronie had laughed and ridiculed him along with a crowd for being “all brawn and no brain”, Vincent huffed heavily in fury.

At that time, Morris was protecting the cheap-mouthed piece of shit, so he could only endure his humiliation.

But now, the words the thin-skinned chicken Johnny said resonated with him, it was time to get revenge!

Both Kenny and Jean’s grins stretched across their faces as they laughed maliciously: “Right! We’ll definitely help you ‘properly guide him’! It’s just coincidence that it helps us vent our own hatred!”

In the beginning, because Morris was out helping the weak everywhere, their habit of bullying the weak scholar tyrants was at once suffocated and they didn’t dare poke a toe over the line.

Now that Morris, who beat people up until they looked like they would die from lingchi, had transferred away, he could relieve his annoyance by bullying his little follower. [4]

Thus, they traveled to Zhou Yu’s classroom.

It was to Johnny’s information that this time, they knew the class schedule of the little lackey and had the opportunity to give him a thrashing. 

So they decided to beat Johnny as lightly as they could in the future.

They were laughing wildly and didn’t notice that the students who were already busy walking out of the building beside them had paused.

Everyone started staring at them with emotionless gazes.

Terrifyingly eerie.

“Uh, Vincent, I, I think something’s a little weird.” The slightly sensitive Jean was the first to recognize the abnormality.

“I … feel it, too.” Kenny swallowed, watching the students who were slowly getting closer and closer anxiously.

Vincent wasn’t one to think much; he glared at the others fiercely, scolding: “What are you looking at? Keep your eyes to yourself!” [5]

It would have been better for him to stay silent, as all eyes immediately focused in his direction.

The students, who were so rigid that they didn’t seem like real humans, all reached up, dug out their own eyes, and abruptly handed the bloody orbs to Vincent.

Vincent just felt his legs turn weak.

He shoved the arms in front of him away and slammed the eyeballs that had little optic nerves still connected to the ground. A resounding shriek rang through the entire building.

“Ahhhhhhh!—There are ghosts!”

The three teens had all obviously noticed that something was amiss by now, and they ran out of the monsters’ encirclement in fear, running side by side and crying out for help.

But it was odd, the entire building seemed to have been purged of life, and no one responded to their hollers.

They rushed rolling and scrambling out of the unnatural area and ran up to the third floor.

Right as they sprinted up the stairwell, the universe didn’t even wait for Vincent to take a breath before a charcoal-black figure suddenly appeared before him.

Those twinkling eyes stared at the group with an ominous smile.

“Jiejiejie—are you having fun?”

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” A startled Jean froze up and stumbled off the stairs into the air bow.

With a sickening crunch, the sound of bones snapping and dislocating reverberated through the wind.

Jean fell onto the landing between the first and second floors, blood saturating the surrounding area.

He wailed in pain, and even though his neck had contorted, he hadn’t died, only continuing to endure the inhuman agony.

Morris shook his head like he couldn’t bear it, mocking: “Oh, it’s terrible, so tragic. Jiejiejie!”

As soon as Vincent and Kenny perceived  the catastrophe before them, they turned paper white and fled up the rest of the staircase and down a corridor on the third floor.

Morris waved behind them and laughed, “Run quickly, because if I catch up-“

“Hell is waiting to welcome you!” The corners of Morris’s mouth ticked up, a savage smile widening.

“Ah!!!” Vincent couldn’t stifle his fear anymore; he shrieked in terror and restarted his bout of squealing for help.

“Let’s go! Let’s just hide in the classroom!” Kenny gulped blankly, simply feeling his heart close to exploding in dread.

Both were panicked, their legs limp noodles and body completely frozen in anxiety, stumbling forward hand over hand, helping each other take just one more step.

There was an unlocked door just in front of them; their complexions immediately lit up, hastily accelerating and readying themselves to hide and escape the black monstrosity.

But before they opened the door, it opened by itself.

A dark-haired and green-eyed teenager stared at them indifferently.

That’s – Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu observed the two gutless-looking students. Seemingly realizing something, he suddenly turned his head and looked at the end of the corridor on the third floor.

A man’s figure was reflected in his emerald-green irises.

The silhouette in an ill-fitting school uniform covered his face with a stiff hand, shielding the facial area from recognition.