章節 2: Mist School
Charles harbored no fear of death.
Not long after losing consciousness, he found himself in a dark, familiar cage. Within this prison were over a thousand grotesque monsters, their shapes defying description, bound in iron chains to bronze pillars. These aberrations roared furiously at Charles.
Yet Charles was unfazed. Rather, it was these monsters who were in dread of him.
For it was he who had captured them from the external world and locked them here—extracted right out of the bodies of his patients.
To these creatures, Charles had no form.
He was an enigma, shrouded in mystery.
He was an inscrutable essence.
He was the lord who reigned supreme at the edge of this unknown realm!
Anger, envy, paranoia, tyranny, bloodlust... Charles could clearly name these monsters he had incarcerated. Whenever he walked by, the creatures that had roared at him in anger would lower their heads and feign death.
As Charles surveyed his dominion, a crack suddenly appeared in the ashen sky, and a beam of light broke through. He looked up, and a voice resonated beside his ear.
"Instance matching.
Matching in progress, please wait—
Match successful!"
Instance: Mist School
Participants: Charles, Linda
Survive seven days in the Mist School or uncover the truth
Task Reward: A ticket to the Endless Abyss
Failure Penalty: True death
Synopsis: You are now a student—however, you find that this school is brimming with oddities and horrors.
Surveying his surroundings, Charles found himself engulfed in a wasteland of decay and desolation. The walls looked as if they were rotting corpses oozing with a fetid, sticky fluid.
Not far from him, a beautiful girl appeared somewhat anxious as she scanned the area.
Spotting a man, her spirits lifted considerably. Regardless of how frightening the place was, the mere sight of another human offered significant solace.
"You must be Charles, right? Are we dead? Why else would we be in this strange place?" she asked.
Charles reassured her, "Don't be so pessimistic. We're not really dead—at least, not yet. There's still hope. From what I can see, we're likely in a place akin to an 'alternate world.' We need to explore."
Without another word, Charles began walking toward a building that appeared to be a school. Linda snapped back to reality just in time to see him already some distance away.
"Hey! Wait for me!" she hurriedly followed.
What an insensitive man, she thought. Shouldn't he be a bit more considerate of the lady by his side? Clinging close to Charles, she felt a semblance of security.
As they entered the school grounds, they spotted a shadowy figure in the distance.
"What... what is that?" Linda's voice quivered.
Charles strode purposefully toward the silhouette, replying, "I don't know, but it's definitely not human."
At that, Linda recoiled, her hand clutching at Charles's arm. "You're still going? Don't you want to live?"
"If it's a neutral entity, it might aid us in exploring this school," Charles explained.
"And what if it's not?" she persisted.
From his coat, Charles produced a surgical knife, dripping with blood. Smiling enigmatically, he said, "Then we'll find a way to make it neutral."
Linda was struck dumb.
In the dim light, the sight of Charles holding the surgical knife was far more terrifying than any ghost. Most unsettling of all was his slight smile—it instilled in Linda a sense of dread that transcended her earlier fears.
Taking strides toward the shadow, Charles found that the figure abruptly retreated into the school building upon seeing him approach.
Because the distance was too great, Charles couldn't make out the details of the shadow. However, its behavior suggested that it was not a highly dangerous ghost.
Charles entered the school building, with Linda closely following him. In reality, Linda wouldn't have had the courage to enter such a place on her own—especially knowing it was haunted.
She was simply fortunate that Charles was by her side; otherwise, her mental strength would plummet due to fear.
"Have you always been this brave?" Linda quipped.
Thud!
Before she knew it, she had collided into Charles's back.
"Hey! A little warning would've been nice—"
About to voice her displeasure, she abruptly halted and clamped her mouth shut.
The surrounding darkness made it almost impossible to see, yet they'd silently reached the back door of a classroom and peeked through its window.
Enough starlight seeped through to faintly reveal the room's interior, cutting through the overwhelming gloom.
To their astonishment, they saw numerous shadowy figures seated in what should have been an empty, dilapidated classroom.
Linda was horrified by the sight.
Her body involuntarily shuddered. Had Charles not been by her side, she would have probably run away by now.
What on earth were these shadowy figures?
Without uttering a word, Charles glanced briefly at the room and then continued walking to the next classroom.
The two of them made their way silently through eight classrooms on the ground floor.
In each one, they found the same haunting tableau: shadowy figures occupying various seats, absorbed in reading books. At the lectern in each room stood yet another shadow.
"What are these shadowy figures?" Linda whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Uncertain," Charles responded, choosing his words carefully. It was not that he didn't know; he was just not sure.
"Let's go upstairs," he said, providing no further explanation. He led the way up the staircase and toward the back door of their classroom. Inside, a significantly smaller number of shadowy figures were present.
Charles fixed his gaze on the figures inside, pondering deeply.
"Charles!" Linda's voice trembled as she suddenly spoke.
Charles furrowed his brows. "What's the matter?"
Unable to articulate her feelings, Linda simply extended her arm and pointed at the lectern inside the classroom.
Following her gesture, Charles found that the shadow on the lectern was, incredibly, aware of their presence.
Distinguished by his frame, it was evident that the shadow at the lectern was that of an elderly teacher.
However, what set him apart from any ordinary figure was the long sword impaled through his head.
At that moment, with chilling, eerie green eyes, he locked his gaze onto Charles and Linda.
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