What should I do?
Refuse to be bait and lure the ghost away? That would mean breaking ties with Hayato. Any hope of Hayato helping him in the future would be impossible.
But if he accepted?
Kazuya looked at the ghost's twisted appearance. That disheveled, floating black hair seemed like threads from hell come to claim souls, each strand oozing bloodthirsty killing intent.
He absolutely didn't dare go.
"H-Hayato-san, what if we return to the art room first and think this through?"
Kazuya's idea was to find someone to share bait duty with. At least it couldn't be just him alone.
His hundred-some pounds of flesh wouldn't even fill the gaps between the ghost's teeth.
"You two wait here for me."
After saying that, Hayato walked straight over.
Tap tap tap...
Each footstep rang out clearly.
Fujibayashi Ryou's fingers intertwined, her heart in her throat as her eyes locked onto Hayato, terrified something would happen to him.
Kazuya's eyes welled up. Hayato would rather face the ghost alone than make him be bait. Not even his own brother would treat him this well!
Ten meters.
Eight meters.
The ghost still hadn't made any moves.
Hayato glanced at the chairman's office door. Black strands of hair crisscrossed and covered the entire doorway, densely packed like a spiderweb forming a substantial barrier that completely blocked the entrance.
Unless he had a way to deal with the ghost and remove those strands, even with time-stop, he couldn't enter.
Five meters.
Hayato stopped, his gaze fixed on the ghost and the black hair scattered on the floor.
But despite his approach, the ghost still made no obvious movements. She just turned her blood-stained, twisted face toward him, her gaze seemingly falling on him.
"I've actually been thinking about something."
"Why do you show clear aggressive behavior toward others, but toward me, your aggressive tendency is weak, or basically nonexistent?"
At this distance, if the ghost took just a few steps forward and used her hair in a short burst, she could attack. A normal person wouldn't escape.
Fujibayashi Ryou and Kazuya in the distance froze when they heard this, also starting to think.
Why was it like that?
"And now I have a bold hypothesis..."
Hayato slowly raised his right hand, his fingers moving slightly.
"Honda, come here now. Walk over step by step."
"Huh!"
Kazuya froze, but faced with Hayato's request, he gritted his teeth and didn't refuse.
So with an uneasy heart, he slowly walked forward step by step. Each footstep felt like it took all his strength.
Rustle rustle rustle...
The sound of hair scraping against the floor suddenly rang out, especially obvious and clear in the silent night.
Many strands began moving, gradually spreading toward Kazuya's direction.
Kazuya grew even more scared, his expression darkening.
Why?!
Was it because he wasn't as handsome as Hayato, so she targeted him like this? Wanted to attack him?
This was too much! Being disliked and discriminated against by girls at school was one thing, but in this cursed school building, even this female ghost discriminated against him!
Kazuya didn't dare keep walking, but Hayato hadn't said to stop, so he didn't dare turn and leave either.
"H-Hayato-san... should I keep going?"
His footsteps had slowed to even slower than a snail's crawl.
"Keep going."
Those words made Kazuya grit his teeth and take another step forward with a decisive stomp.
Rustle rustle rustle...
The hair strands trembled even more noticeably, almost standing up.
"I... I'll... walk."
Kazuya went all in and took another step.
The black hair rose up like a dance.
Kazuya froze completely in place, not daring to move. His expression had solidified entirely, sweat beading on his forehead.
Definitely targeting me. Are otaku really this disliked?
"Go back!"
Like heavenly music descending from paradise. With that order, Kazuya immediately dragged his legs backward carefully. Once he'd put enough distance between them, his retreating footsteps quickened. Finally reaching Fujibayashi Ryou's side, he let out a long breath.
Now he was safe.
"Fujibayashi-san, you come over too."
"Okay."
Fujibayashi Ryou was nervous too. To avoid being too scared, she kept her gaze on Hayato and walked toward him at a steady, measured pace.
Up ahead, the ghost's black hair that had returned to its initial state changed again.
After this round of testing, Hayato had a clear understanding.
"Fujibayashi-san, you can go back now."
But unexpectedly, Fujibayashi Ryou walked to stand behind Hayato instead.
The purple-haired girl brushed back her bangs, revealing a faint smile.
"It's safest by your side."
She believed that even if they encountered real danger, he wouldn't abandon her. Plus, she figured Hayato must have reached some conclusion.
"Remember what was recorded in all those notes?"
In the distance, Kazuya also perked up his ears. Feeling like he was too far away, he even walked a few steps closer to hear more clearly.
"If you see her, don't panic, don't be afraid. Fear will make her more..."
Hayato repeated one of the hints.
"The rest should be something like 'excited, agitated, with higher aggression.' At first I thought this hint was telling us to stay calm when we encounter her, to better think of escape methods."
"Now it's obvious she has higher aggression toward people who feel fear. To use gaming terms, characters with fear emotions will be more easily attacked, with higher aggro."
At this point, Fujibayashi Ryou finally understood the purpose of that series of tests.
Because she and Kazuya harbored intense fear, their approach provoked a stronger reaction from the ghost.
Then...
She looked at Hayato standing there with a calm expression, realizing he wasn't afraid of this ghost at all. He had no fear emotion whatsoever, so the ghost hadn't reacted strongly to him.
"So that's it."
The intensity of fear was linked to attracting the ghost.
Kazuya remembered his friend, and also remembered why the ghost had ignored Kawasaki at the shoe lockers and come after him instead.
Because at that time, he and his friend Sawano had been the most scared of everyone present, so the ghost prioritized attacking them.
"As long as you're not afraid, you won't be attacked."
"As long as your fear is less than others', you won't be the priority target."
This also explained why more people made it easier to attract the ghost.
They'd figured out the survival rule, but what should they do next?
The skull was inside the chairman's office, and they couldn't get in.
Fujibayashi Ryou looked at Hayato's profile, unable to help thinking.
"I have a method to lure the ghost away."
"I'll help."
Fujibayashi Ryou didn't hesitate at all.
"Fujibayashi-san, having you as a teammate really puts me at ease."
"I just want to contribute something. I can't let you handle everything alone, Hayato-kun! That wouldn't be right."
"You're really a good person. Truly. Whoever marries you will definitely be happy."
Fujibayashi Ryou's face immediately flushed red.
The timid girl had shown a brave side in this cursed school building, but fundamentally she was still an introverted, shy girl.
"Alright, you leave here first. Before I try to lure her away, I want to test another method. Maybe it'll work."
Fujibayashi Ryou didn't leave immediately.
"Your fear emotion will affect her. I need you and Honda to get far away. No, go directly to the nearest teachers' office!"
"I understand."
Since Hayato said so, Fujibayashi Ryou had no reason to stay here any longer. She'd stayed to help Hayato, and now leaving would help him. Naturally she wouldn't continue staying.
After Fujibayashi Ryou rejoined Kazuya, she spoke to him.
"Hayato-kun wants us to go to the teachers' office."
"Okay. Hayato-san, we're leaving."
After getting Hayato's hand signal, Kazuya and Fujibayashi Ryou headed to the third floor teachers' office.
Left on the fourth floor confronting the ghost, Hayato quickly noticed her hair retracting significantly, eventually pulling back to her feet.
However, the hair tangled around the chairman's office door hadn't decreased by even a single strand. It still densely covered everything, leaving absolutely no gap for entry.
Destroying it was impossible.
He'd already tried.
These black strands were harder than steel.
Hayato had considered using fire, but he understood this scenario's rules were completely different from "using water against a burning ghost."
He looked at the ghost's face, clearly feeling it had less of that twisted quality and more of a cold aloofness.
Yes, cold.
Just like the untouchable flower's distant temperament from the movie's opening, and like the proud aura in the portrait at the art room.
"My name is Hayato. I'm basically just a passing visitor to this school. I know quite a bit about your situation. Though it's incomplete with a lot of key information missing, I want to help you."
The ghost in his vision stood in place, motionless, without any reaction.
Hayato almost thought his guess was wrong again—that the ghost before him could communicate.
Fear attracted the ghost and also affected her rationality. Did that mean he also felt fear toward the ghost? So she was still in a state where communication was impossible? Or maybe she just didn't want to communicate.
Hayato stroked his chin, suddenly noticing the problem.
"Sorry, I'm a bit too far from you."
Five meters really wasn't a normal conversation distance.
He walked closer, stepping onto the hallway that had been covered in hair.
"I want to help you."
He gazed at the ghost's face half a meter away, and her eyes were calm as still water.
Didn't work?
What now?
His words seemed to lack persuasiveness.
[You used the Persuasion skill (Level lv1)]
"I truly want to help you."
But still no reaction.
Fine then!
Here goes.
[You used 1000 game points to upgrade the Persuasion skill.]
[Current Persuasion skill level lv2. 45 seconds until skill cooldown ends.]
"I can find your missing skull."
No reaction. Wait, there was a reaction—the ghost blinked. That was a reaction.
But this small reaction wasn't enough. He still hadn't successfully persuaded her to trust him.
[You used 3000 game points to upgrade the Persuasion skill.]
[Current Persuasion skill level lv3.]
Cooldown ended.
"I can help you get revenge."
She stared at Hayato.
In that moment, her reaction was obvious.
Guessed right.
The ghost wanted revenge.
The target of her revenge was also somewhere in this school building.
A lot of information became clear.
"I can help you. I can even try to arrange an opportunity for you to take revenge personally. These words contain absolutely no falsehood or deception."
Still... not enough?
Rustle rustle rustle...
The ghost's long black hair floated before Hayato's eyes. Quickly, the black strands wove and braided themselves into a uniquely patterned black bracelet.
It floated quietly in the air, and under the streetlight's illumination, seemed to emanate a faint, strange aura.
Hayato reached out and picked it up. Information about the black bracelet appeared in his vision.
[Name: Girl's Bracelet]
[Category: Supernatural Object]
[Quality: ???]
[Ability: Cannot be used]
[Usage Conditions: ???]
[Background: Made from the long black hair of a high school beauty named '??', woven into a bracelet.]
[Note 1: Wear it, and you will receive either a blessing or a curse.]
[Note 2: When you violate your agreement with her, the bracelet will transform into cursed strands that bind and consume you to death.]
[Note 3: When you fulfill your agreement with her, the bracelet will become your aid.]
[Special Reminder: If you can gain the recognition of the supernatural object's creator, the mental exhaustion and supernatural erosion you face when using it will be greatly reduced.]
So it was a supernatural object.
This was how you obtained supernatural objects.
If all other supernatural objects required similar methods to acquire, their rarity was obvious.
How many ordinary people would dare face a ghost so directly?
Even supernatural game players couldn't maintain a normal mindset when confronting a ghost.
His lack of excessive fear toward the ghost was built on the foundation of his own abilities. For anyone else, this possibility simply didn't exist.
Hayato looked at the bracelet in his hand. Without hesitation, he immediately put it on his left wrist.
The next second, the bracelet tightened, fitting his wrist at exactly the right width.
"Now you can trust me, right?"
She still didn't answer, but the information conveyed by her eyes had already given Hayato his answer.
"Now, will you allow me to enter?"
Hayato pointed at the chairman's office, but the ghost didn't seem to have any intention of letting him in.
"I'm guessing your skull is inside the chairman's office."
She remained quiet, no reaction.
"How about this—you should be able to control this bracelet now. If it's yes, make the bracelet tighten. If it's no, don't do anything. If it's something you don't know, blink. How does that sound?"
The bracelet tightened.
Communication established.
Clearing this scenario was now just a matter of time.