Chapter 016: The Truth Emerges

In that split second, as soon as Su Cheng sensed something amiss, the tachi at his side was already unsheathed, slashing fiercely toward the white-robed female assassin who had appeared behind him.

Takizawa Masami's syringe had not yet pierced Su Cheng's neck—she saw only a flash of cold light before her eyes.

With a swish, a single stroke left a grotesque wound across Takizawa Masami's masked face, cleaving it cleanly in two. Thick, pitch-black, putrid blood seeped from the hideous gash, and the syringe in her hand crashed to the ground, shattering and spilling its blue contents.

"It's the neurotoxin we found in the infirmary," Reiko Sato's heart skipped a beat. If not for Su Cheng's quick reflexes, that needle might already have been in him. Had he been unfortunate enough to be injected, he might have ended up as monstrous as Tomio Harano.

"That was close—almost fell for it," Su Cheng said, his expression hardening. The nurse who had become a vengeful butcher must possess some unique concealment abilities; otherwise, with his enhanced senses, no ordinary person should have been able to stand silently behind him unnoticed.

But now that she had revealed herself, things would be easier.

The vengeful butchers haunting this school each had their own bizarre abilities, but their strength was only marginally greater than an average person's. This infirmary nurse was even weaker than the pig-headed butcher; as long as the players could overcome their fear and find the right strategy, they could use their numbers to subdue her.

Yet overcoming their terror and fighting back wasn't easy for these novice players. Other than Su Cheng, the rest were already trembling and panicked at the mere sight of the butcher.

Having failed her ambush, the nurse-turned-butcher spun around to flee. But she must have spent her life in labs and the school infirmary, rarely exercising. Even as a vengeful spirit, she lacked athleticism; her awkward, ungainly running form was painfully slow.

"She's running! Should we go after her? She might have valuable clues," one of the players suggested, emboldened now that the butcher was fleeing, though none dared give immediate chase.

Su Cheng, ever the man of action, dashed forward before the others could decide, and drove his blade through Takizawa Masami's heart from behind.

For an ordinary human, such a wound would be instantly fatal, but physical attacks had limited effect on vengeful spirits. With the blade chilling her core, Takizawa Masami let out a beastly roar, her nails lengthening, their tips shimmering with an eerie blue sheen, as she lunged at Su Cheng.

"Poison!" Su Cheng sensed the danger—Takizawa had coated her nails with toxin. If even a scratch broke his skin, he might go mad and perish like Harano.

As those blue-tinged claws swiped at his face, Su Cheng deftly blocked with a short blade in his left hand, narrowly deflecting the attack. With a swift twist, he severed all five of Takizawa's elegant fingers.

Reiko Sato and Uncle Toyota watched anxiously, too weak to intervene; any rash move would only get in Su Cheng's way.

Driven mad, the vengeful butcher attacked with reckless abandon. These butchers, murderers roaming the school, were hellish spirits for whom death was no threat, but rather a release.

Dodging another wild lunge, Su Cheng slipped behind her and swung his longsword in a cold arc.

The keen edge sliced through flesh and bone, severing half her shoulder and sending her arm sliding from its socket.

To prevent her escape, Su Cheng stabbed her through the knee, expertly dislocating her lower leg. Watching him dismantle the spirit with such practiced ease, Maruyama Kotaro and the greasy uncle stared at Su Cheng with horror, as if he were some deranged butcher himself.

"Reiko, what does this guy do for a living? Why is he so skilled?" whispered Uncle Toyota, voice trembling.

"He's still a university student, but he's a hardcore horror gamer—very strong," Reiko replied.

Are gamers these days really this terrifying?

Su Cheng had intentionally spared Takizawa Masami's life, hoping to extract some information. But as a vengeful butcher, she could no longer communicate—she only writhed on the ground like a corpse-maggot, eyes blazing with hatred.

Left with no choice, Su Cheng drove his blade through the back of her skull, putting her down for good.

Afterward, as Su Cheng stepped forward to search the corpse for clues, Reiko Sato stopped him.

"Leave the body to me!"

Su Cheng looked at her curiously. "Weren't you afraid of corpses?"

"She's a woman, after all. It's not right for you to search her. Besides, one must learn to conquer their weaknesses," Reiko declared with resolve.

Su Cheng didn't mind; to him, a corpse was a corpse, regardless of gender.

Forcing herself past her fear, Reiko searched Takizawa's remains and found a black notebook.

"We have a lead."

Inside were pages of chemical equations and notes on drug reactions.

Su Cheng, not a medical expert, could make no sense of it. Only Reiko could parse the contents and piece together the truth.

After a careful read, anger flashed in Reiko's eyes.

"This is outrageous! That teacher experimented on students, recording their reactions to dangerous drugs!"

Through his investigation, Su Cheng had already suspected as much, but he hadn't expected the teachers to be so bold as to secretly inject students with dangerous substances.

"Weren't they afraid the police would find out?" Shizuko asked indignantly.

Reiko shook her head. "They were very discreet, only injecting students with tiny, diluted doses. The drugs affect the nervous system, leaving no obvious physical symptoms. But an overdose could be fatal—or turn someone into a monster like Harano."

Su Cheng surmised that the murdered schoolgirl must have discovered the secret and was silenced by Koji Tezuka. What troubled him was that Kanako, after finding her head and uncovering the school's hidden crimes, might now be in grave danger.

"Those monsters will get what's coming to them."

"Hey, are you all taking this too seriously? It's just a game! We should focus on getting out of this damned place," Maruyama Kotaro said, spreading his hands. He had no interest in playing detective—finding a way out was his priority.

"Did Takizawa have any other useful clues?"

"Nothing else—just this notebook."

So, the trail ended there.

"No, we must have missed something." Su Cheng racked his brain, suddenly recalling a detail he had overlooked.

"Kanako's last diary entry mentioned the principal. If Takizawa and Tezuka were conducting illegal experiments, wouldn't the principal know?"

According to Kanako's diary, the principal stayed in his office every weekend. Would such a diligent headmaster really be unaware of his teachers using students as test subjects?

His instincts told him the final clue lay in the principal's office.

But as Su Cheng and the others prepared to act, they failed to notice a pair of cold, watchful eyes observing their every move.

"We found it—the principal's office," someone announced.

Ten minutes later, the surviving players reached the top floor. Su Cheng checked the time—half an hour until dawn. The game was nearing its end.

"We didn't find the office key. How do we get in?"

"No time to look for it. I'll break down the door," offered Uncle Toyota, bracing himself and charging at the door.

To their surprise, the door wasn't locked. It flew open with ease.

Inside, a hellish scene awaited.

Blood.

Splattered everywhere—walls, floors, bookshelves—along with scattered limbs.

And before them, a ghastly specter gnawed at a mangled corpse.

Uncle Toyota's gaze fell upon the corpse's head, and he froze as if struck by lightning.

The body being devoured was his son—Kota!