Chapter 96: When The Morning Dawns

Chapter 96: When The Morning Dawns

I had explained the situation over the phone earlier, but since Senior Fuma was not aware of the events that transpired afterwards, I had to explain everything once again.

With no suitable place available, we sat around the kotatsu in the duty room, and the Fuma Ninja Clan people looked at me with pure admiration after hearing about my exploits.

I heard you were strong, but I never imagined you could take down a special-grade yokai with your bare hands.

Whats special-grade?

Hyoneko answered my question.

In the underworld, yokai are usually graded based on the amount of negative energy they possess.

According to Hyoneko, like grading meat at a butcher shop, yokai were classified into grades like first, second, and third, and particularly strong ones were given specific names.

She mentioned that entities like the three great evil spirits of Japan or the Nue from old tales were examples of this.

In the case of special-grade, it seemed to be a term collectively used for those stronger than first-grade yokai, even if they didnt have specific names.

While drinking tea prepared by Ms. Mizuki, Senior Fuma asked,

You said the yokai you caught had a white mask floating in mid-air, right?

Yes.

Perhaps the white face from the schools ghost stories and the creature you faced are the same yokai.

Oh, you know about it too, Senior Fuma? The so-called Seven Wonders or something?

Senior Fuma nodded with a serious expression.

Well, its related to the school I attend, after all.

What do you mean by that?

Why are you having a conversation only you understand?

For the benefit of the other ninjas who didnt understand, I recounted the six ghost stories that Satoru had explained to me over the phone.

Hyoneko, rubbing her chin, murmured with interest,

So, this time the yokai was a materialization of the ghost stories?

Materialization of ghost stories?

Like the old proverb, Three men make a tiger, if enough people repeat the same story, even something without physical form can gain one.

Senior Fuma added further explanation,

Especially in a school, a place where many people live together, negative emotions tend to accumulate. And such negative emotions can serve as nourishment for yokai born from these rumors to grow.

After listening to their explanations, I asked a question that occurred to me,

But why did that creature act up today, of all days?

Senior Fuma then looked at Ms. Mizuki, who was sitting in the corner like a sack of barley.

Traditionally, yokais favorite prey has been shamans, shrine maidens, or monks with spiritual power. In that sense, Ms. Mizuki must have seemed like a very attractive prey to those creatures.

An attractive prey?

As I was still trying to grasp the meaning, Hyoneko made a straightforward comment.

Miss, are you really a virgin at your age?

Ms. Mizukis face turned bright red.

What are you talking about all of a sudden?! Besides, Im only 25 years old!

Curious, I asked,

Whats so good about being a virgin?

Saying this, Fuma looked at Ms. Mizuki.

Ms. Mizuki, you should leave for the day as well. Weve done the minimum necessary, but tonight is a full moon, so its a particularly noisy night for peculiar things. Well escort you home.

Thank you, Fuma

It was only a few hours, but with so much happening, Ms. Mizuki seemed exhausted.

Afterward, we gathered our things and left the school in the middle of the night.

Probably, todays events will remain an unforgettable memory for both me and Ms. Mizuki.

After all, they say people remember scary or unhappy memories better than happy ones.

Eventually, I got home at 4 a.m.

Normally, it would have been the time I just woke up.

But, after getting entangled in all sorts of incidents while retrieving my Korean book left at school, I was so exhausted that I chose to sleep over my morning jog.

After falling asleep like I was fainting in bed, I woke up again to find it was well past 1 p.m.

Since starting to exercise seriously in my first year of high school, it was the first time I had woken up so late.

Anyway, with only two days left until the exams, I ate a late lunch and then holed up in my room to study all day.

The next day, I went to a library near my house and finished my final exam preparations by studying for about 12 hours straight.

The late-night yokai commotion on Friday felt like a lie, as I had perfectly regained my daily rhythm.

Then came Monday again.

Thanks to my weekend study marathon, I was able to perfectly ace Mondays exams in Korean Language and Classical Literature.

It was worth focusing on these subjects, which were my weakest.

After the exam, Class 2-B was filled with groans due to the difficulty of the test, which was much harder than the midterms.

To lighten Satorus gloomy mood, who was packing his bag with a darker expression than usual, I grabbed his shoulder and said,

Hey, Satoru, you wouldnt have dared to pull such a prank last Friday, would you?

Then, Satoru turned his head and said, Huh?

What are you talking about? What prank did I pull on Friday?

Are you trying to feign ignorance? When I called you on Friday evening and mentioned the school, you rattled off about the schools seven mysteries.

Then Satoru looked at me as if I were making even more nonsensical statements.

What are you talking about? When did we ever talk on the phone? I had my phone turned off on Friday evening because of a cram school class.

What?

Hearing that, I hurriedly took out my smartphone from my pocket.

And then, I checked the call history.

Its not there

Despite having definitely talked to Satoru from school last Friday, his name wasnt in the call history.

Seeing my reaction, Satoru tilted his head and said,

Why are you saying such things all of a sudden, Yu-seong? Did you get heatstroke or something?

But Satorus teasing words didnt register with me.

Then, who was the Satoru I talked to at school?

I had no way of knowing who it really was.