Night of Terrors (3)

"Splat!" Contrary to what Will Ren had expected, the ground was not rock hard. Rather, it had a meaty and squishy texture to it, which had cushioned the impact of his fall to a miraculous degree. He had splashed the stagnant rainwater on the surface before his whole body had sunk into this meaty ground.

Only his head and arms stayed above the surface of the ground. A steady stream of water touched his neck and arms, but the rest of his body was nested deeply in that meaty hole, untouched by the rainwater.

"I'm fine! I'm alive!" Wu Ren had expected that he wouldn't die, but he still had uncertainty in his heart. Now that he had survived, those uncertainties were gone. There was definitely a way to survive past these deadly scenarios!

Wu Ren took a few shaky breaths as he looked around him. He had been dropped far away from the school buildings, and was on the short path between the school buildings and school gate.

"The rainwater looks exactly like the color of the bricks they used." Grey bricks were used to pave the pathway. When Wu Ren was high above the ground, he couldn't see any difference, but with the water flowing against his body, it was made extremely clear.

The dirty rainwater also carried a chill that froze Wu Ren to his bones. He had stayed in the rainwater when he was in the air, which minimised his contact. Now that he was in the ground, the pathway was sloped towards him. The cold water had formed a steady stream, which accelerated the chill in his body.

"Being in water is too dangerous. It only started raining after all the ghosts became active… there are no signs of it stopping either." Wu Ren moved his arms to lift himself out of the water, but he quickly found out that it was not possible.

"What? What's this strange object in my hand?" Wu Ren had punched the window using his right arm, which was subsequently grabbed by the mysterious ghost. Now, it was holding a strange hand mirror that seemed weightless. He had not even noticed it before he needed to use his right hand.

The hand mirror was made out of some kind of wood. Some curls had been etched onto the handle of the hand mirror. They possessed strangely hypnotic qualities, which made Wu Ren wanted to observe them more the longer he looked at them.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed into the mirror. His hand started trembling again as he was forced out of his hypnotic trance from the curls. That was… the weird ghost that looked like him!

"Does this mirror have something to do with that ghost? If that is the case, should I throw it away?" It was too dangerous to keep an unknown item around. Wu Ren did not want to die without even knowing what happened!

[Do you wish to sell your Vanity Mirror for secrets?

Mission Active Cut: 50%

Market Cut: 5%

Total Secrets Remaining: 45 Secrets]

"Vanity Mirror? Secrets are that thing required to quit a mission right? When did I get such a valuable item?" Wu Ren racked his brains and finally realised the source of the mirror. "This is a reward from completing the mirror ghost's mission?"

"What does it do though? Maybe I will get the information if I ask nice-" Wu Ren's thoughts were cut short by a strange feeling that came from his body that was buried inside the ground. That feeling was cold and chilling, just like the rainwater. This feeling numbed the searing hot pain that he was feeling.

"Someone kicked me!" The moment Wu Ren thought this, it was accompanied by the feeling of two hands grabbing each of his legs. The grip was weak, but it was definitely growing in power.

"OUT!" Wu Ren's instincts were blaring. If he did not run now, he would die without a doubt! He was still mentally exhausted, but the adrenaline in his bloodstream gave him a sudden burst of power as he used his arms to pull his whole body.

"Don't go! If you stay here, I will protect you!" As Wu Ren climbed out of the hole, he heard a voice coming from beneath him. It was the voice of one of his classmates, Faye. Hearing Faye would normally fill him with joy, since she was his only friend in Sacred High School. He was targeted by the bully duo because he defended her in his first day of school after all.

However, how could someone buried in the ground still be alive? She was definitely a ghost! A ghost that would tear you apart in an instant! Wu Ren didn't believe in benevolent ghosts. If they were so nice, there wouldn't need to have an option to be the "last survivor"!

"UP! UP! UP!" Chanting these words in his mind, he shook free from the hands. Wu Ren lifted his whole body up and used his momentum to throw himself onto the pavement. He was now lying spread on the ground, but the danger was not over yet.

"I will protect you! Trust me! Look!" Wu Ren trembled with fear as multiple elongated arms stretched out from the hole. These arms were made from multiple arms being stitched together. Contrary to his expectations, he was not the target of these arms. The arms moved to the carpark that was a short distance away from the road.

Shattering the car windows, the arms grabbed the bodies that were inside the car. A red fog came out from the bodies that exploded from the pressure the arms applied on them. They let out a horrifying shriek and shrivelled away into nothing. The red fog clumped together, obscuring Wu Ren's view of the carpark.

"Ghosts are fighting ghosts?" Wu Ren was in disbelief. Weren't they hunting humans together? He had thought that this was the case, but he had just saw the underground ghost kill all the ghosts in the carpark. Maybe some ghosts were good after all…?

"Ahhhhh! So nice! Need more, need more!" The underground ghost screamed with delight. "BAM! BAN! BAM!" The cars in the carpark were being smashed by the underground ghost, which drew Wu Ren's attention.

Inside the red fog, the arms of the underground ghost were waving madly. Wherever they touched, the striking red color of the red fog dimmed. Some of the places the fog had covered were already clear enough for Wu Ren to see through.

"Stale, but still so tasty! Give me everything!" The underground ghost's yells turned even more maniacal with more arms extending outwards to the carpark.

With a glance, Wu Ren could tell what was happening. "The ghosts are preying upon each other!" This was a double sided sword. On one hand, there was a high chance the underground ghost obtained stranger powers once it had devoured the red fog, but while it lost its rationality now, it was the perfect time for escape!

[You have discovered the existence of supernatural powers. Congratulations. You have touched the first layer of the Sequence.

Rewards: Character Profile, Space Worm Head]

[Character Profile

Assigned Name: Shi Wu Ren

Strength: Too weak to be quantified

Agility: Too weak to be quantified

Spirit Power: Non-Existent

Race: Lower Human

Capabilities: Nil

Grade: G-]

A white skull appeared inside Wu Ren's mind. At first glance, it looked like a human skull, but on closer inspection, there were curved horns extending out of the sides of the skull. Within the eye sockets of the skull, there was a fierce flame burning within.

From those flames, there was a shout. It was a strange, foreign language that Wu Ren could not have comprehended. However, if he knew how to, he would recognise it to be "LET ME OUT! I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE HERE!".

After the shout, there was no more noise that came from the flames. Eventually, the flames burned out, and the skull looked a little redder than before. The skull had also returned to a normal human's skull, with no abnormalities protruding from it.

Of course, Wu Ren was not paying attention to the skull. He was startled by the large information flow that had just happened inside the brain. He could now see the text box that had appeared before the ghosts started attacking in his mind.

"Too vicious!" Wu Ren was again reminded of how cruel his situation was. If he had not seen the red mist, he would have had to rely on his memory to guide himself through until he became the last one standing. There was a high possibility his memory would have failed him, and he would die for no reason while walking.

"Never mind, let's get out of here first!" His white shoes had been lost while he was dangling in mid air, so he could only run with his socks. It was lucky the socks were still there in the first place, since the alternative was barefoot running.

"Splash! Splash! Splash!" The flowing water prevented Wu Ren from running at his maximum speed, as he was cautious not to slip on the ground. With his condition, he wasn't sure if he could get up again if he slipped. He had started to slowed down to a snail's crawl when he heard something.

"There you are, little cockroach!" It was the most horrifying sound Wu Ren had heard in his life. It was Faye's voice, but there was a powerful malice contained within.

"Haha… hahaha!" Wu Ren started laughing in disbelief. The ghost actually figured out he ran away this fast? "No! I can still survive!" He screamed maniacally as he ran with all the might in his body.

With the momentum Wu Ren was moving at, he eventually fell onto the floor. There were numerous cuts on his lips and face, but he did not feel anything. There was no energy in his body to lift himself up, so he crawled.

"Gahahaha… you look so pathetic now!" Wu Ren ignored the ghost's remarks as he monotonously crawled forward. He could see a golden light in front of him, as long as he passed through it, he would survive. Survive!

"It's so fun to see them struggle!" Bloody arms extended behind Wu Ren, ready to pounce on him and kill him completely. As they reached out to him, there was a sudden flash from Wu Ren's right hand.

"AHHH!" Hundreds of different voices screamed at the same time. Inside those voices were a mix of both fear and anger. The arms fell limp to the ground, as a thin stream of red mist was released by them.

The red mist rushed towards Wu Ren, who was still unaware of everything that was happening. It entered inside the mirror in his hand. After all the red mist was absorbed, a face mask was reflected in the mirror.

The underground ghost did not continue to pursue Wu Ren. The arms were left on the ground, but they started shrivelling as the rain continued to fall on them. In no time, they completely dissolved in the rainwater.

"Ugh… I'm so tired…" Wu Ren had crawled for quite a distance now. He was almost at the end of the pathway, and had reached the security guard's post. He wanted to continue running away from the ghost, but his eyelids felt like they were tremendously heavy.

"I can't help it… no… I need to continue…" The mind was willing, but the flesh was weak. Unconsciously, Wu Ren drifted into the realm of dreams, leaving him exposed to the various ghosts that lingered around the school.