The silent, moonlit hallway should've radiated a tranquil, serene, and romantic atmosphere. Yet, instead, it was eerie, unsettling, like something was watching Chen Mo at all times, like he had a second shadow.
The left of the corridor was lined with doors to various classrooms, while the right side held windows, their curtains neatly bundled up instead of wafting freely in the dilapidated class. Chen Mo could see a garden outside the window, as well as the general layout of the campus.
It was a box; four blocks enclosed a garden, with a fountain as its centrepiece.
The block right across from where Chen Mo currently stood was one storey taller than the rest, with an apparent entrance to the rooftop.
Chen Mo looked at the ajar backdoor of the classroom he had just emerged from. There was nothing there, not even a feeling, not even a scent. It was impossible to tell if Jack was still present or not.
Footsteps broke the eerie silence. It was Amelia, now with their dufflebag slung on her right shoulder. It slid down; she lifted it back up while grinning cheerily at Chen Mo. "Let's go swimming, Xiao Bai!"
"Sure." Chen Mo smiled faintly in return as Amelia sprinted off ahead of him.
That was convenient, as Chen Mo had zero idea where the gym and subsequently the pool was. Having Amelia, the NPC, enthusiastically lead the way was Chen Mo's intention; it was why he acted flirtatious before.
Chen Mo only followed behind, occasionally having to scamper to catch up to the overly elated Amelia. They turned a corner, descended a flight of stairs, then arrived at the exit towards the centre garden.
"You wanna risk it?" Amelia turned back with a cheeky expression. Her hands were on the knob of the exit, eager to turn.
Chen Mo couldn't be sure what was out there, and Amelia's wording implied a safer route. "We have all the time in the world. Let's spend more time together."
Amelia was defeated in an instant. "Urgh... Since when did you get so suave? Well, fine then."
The longer, safer route was simply circling around the garden rather than sprinting straight through it.
Nonetheless, soon enough,
thud. thud. thud.
It was faint, and in the dead of night, noises echoed through the hallways. It was hard to distinguish, but Chen Mo, after straining his ears, realised — that was a third, rogue rhythm of footsteps.
Chen Mo didn't even give a warning. He lunged in and shut Amelia's mouth tight with one palm, his other arm around her waist.
"Mm!" Amelia whimpered softly as Chen Mo pulled her along.
He yanked them both inside a random door, which landed them in the janitor's room. Meanwhile, a flashlight beam turned the corner into the corridor.
Chen Mo didn't close the door once they were both holed up inside the janitor's room. Leaving it ajar was less suspicious, since it had been ajar to begin with. Shutting the door would also cause unwanted commotion.
The beam reached the floor, visible to the two hiders.
Amelia wasn't as calm as Chen Mo. Her instincts told her to kick the door shut.
click.
"Shit," Chen Mo muttered quietly as he scanned his surroundings, hoping for a solution.
Through the door slit, one could tell the flashlight was approaching with caution and curiosity, perhaps even hostility.
Chen Mo first shoved Amelia into a corner before setting up a convenient excuse. He laid a broom quietly on the floor, perpendicular to the shut door. The tip was pointed towards the door, while the bristles were pointed away. He then moved all other cleaning equipments near the bristles.
The light seeping through the door slit was strong enough to paint Chen Mo's silhouette now. As the door creaked open...
creak...
Chen Mo narrowly escaped the sight of whatever had just entered by squeezing himself into the same corner as Amelia — the corner behind the opened door.
He clasped Amelia's mouth shut again, pressing her head against his shirtless chest, steadying her breathing with light strokes on her head. Amelia might've been scared of getting caught, but she was far more flustered than anything.
The holder of the flashlight witnessed the scene Chen Mo had set up. The broom caught its attention first as it walked deeper inside.
Its silhouette was visible to the two now. A dark feminine figure, formally dressed in a collared blouse and maxi skirt.
Instead of complete jet black, her dark skin seemed to be made of uncalculated, rough scribbles of a blunt pencil. Chen Mo couldn't see her face, as her back was turned to them the entire time. Nonetheless, the texture of her skin, resembling pencil strokes, was still enough to send something crawling beneath Chen Mo's skin.
Chen Mo extended her character profile:
[Apparition.]
[Threat: B rank]
Not even the name was mentioned this time, and she was ranked even higher in threat than the invisible Jack.
The apparition scrutinised the scene thoroughly with her flashlight in hand. The cleaning equipment was neatly organised, except for the broom, which had tumbled towards the door. She made the conclusion that the broom lost balance, fell, and closed the door — exactly Chen Mo's intention.
She thumped her high heels out of the room with a commanding presence, each step echoing and sending shivers down Amelia's spine.
She pulled the door shut behind her.
The two didn't dare to even breathe. They waited while staring intensely at the door slit, praying every second that the light seeping through would fade faster.
Eventually, it vanished.
Chen Mo let go of Amelia, and she immediately pulled away, sighing heavily in relief while also gasping for breath after being suffocated. "Ha... Ha... Oh my... That was close..."
"Mm." Chen Mo was still as calm as a cucumber. He hummed in agreement before deliberately turning the knob, its movement so slow that it made no noise at all.
He opened a narrow slit first to peek an eye through. The coast was clear.
"Phew..." Amelia wiped the sweat off her forehead as she stepped out and back into the corridor along with Chen Mo. "Mrs. Smith is as terrifying as always."
Mrs. Smith. A bell rang in Chen Mo's head. This name was on Jack's kill list.
"Well... thanks." Amelia massaged her shoulder awkwardly, azure eyes avoiding Chen Mo's brown ones. "I was panicking so hard, I would've totally gotten busted if you hadn't shut me up and set the scene."
"You're welcome." Chen Mo nodded flatly.
Then Amelia's gaze returned to the janitor's room, and something clicked in her mind that she couldn't stop herself from bringing up. "Isn't this where Faith and the gang always used to lock up Jack?"
Two familiar names. Faith was also on Jack's kill list, and her 'gang' was easy to deduce. Chen Mo didn't ask further; instead, he gave Amelia the freedom to continue by agreeing.
Amelia continued, "Yeah... Yeah, it was. It was one of their silly, funny pranks. Well! Anyways, let's go swimming now!"
Chen Mo felt something off. He glanced down, then into his left palm, which held the black notebook he had brought along. He flipped straight to the last page.
Amelia Cunningham was the latest addition.
Jack didn't seem to appreciate the earlier remark, Chen Mo guessed.
Nonetheless, there wasn't much he could do right now, so he sauntered forward, following Amelia's lead until they eventually reached their destination: the gym's pool.
It was behind two grey swing doors, which Amelia pushed wide open with all her chest and all her confidence. It was an outdoor pool, but fences still surrounded it.
Chen Mo's final objective in this minigame, as mentioned once by the system, was to escape the school. The fences were two storeys tall and reinforced with barbed wire; only an idiot would attempt the climb.
The pool itself was vast, but underwater lights were lacking. The area was brighter than before due to the moonlight above, but still not bright enough for visibility to be even halfway optimal.
Amelia could barely wait; she set down the duffle bag by a bench and retrieved her swimsuit. She changed right there, because no one would be watching aside from Chen Mo, and she didn't mind Chen Mo watching.
Chen Mo's attention, however, was elsewhere. He was engrossed in the sight of the pool.
The water wasn't still.
It wasn't frantically splashing either, but the ripples were largely unnatural. It wasn't the product of wind — it was the result of treading, by several swimmers.
Chen Mo squinted and found them: silhouettes disturbing the pool.
Just like Mrs. Smith, their skin was a graphite mess, doodled into reality in the style of an edgy thirteen-year-old.
This time, Chen Mo could see their faces: blank, dark, with only two dots that appeared like drops of white ink marking their eyes.
Those white eyes were all staring at Chen Mo.
Then their blank faces were further painted. Beneath the white eyes, white lips cracked open, curving slowly and unnaturally wide into smiles.
The edges of those smiles rose above their eye levels.
Those dark figures swam forward, treading lightly so as to not splash the water, until they reached as close as they could get to Chen Mo without leaving the pool.
They were eager, so eager, for Chen Mo to join.