Three Years Ago

Ko Shinobu declined another conversation with them ever since their last; he sat in the classroom and refused to move no matter what. There was nothing the four of them could do; they could only come again tomorrow to avoid drawing attention from other NPCs. When that time came , they would seek out a chance to have a proper talk with him. After all, he seemed to be holding the most important clues.

"We'll end it here for today. Let's return to our rooms early and get some rest." Ruan Nanzhu confessed with a yawn, "I am also quite exhausted."

"Alright." Li Dongyuan had never objected to Ruan Nanzhu's suggestions since they entered the door world. Whatever Ruan Nanzhu said, he did without hesitation; in a sense, it was quite considerate and gentlemanly of him.

The four of them ate something simple before returning to the school building, but upon arriving at the entrance, they saw the female newcomer walking around in circles with a panic-stricken face.

"What happened?" Lin Qiushi asked her.

The woman stammered, her voice plagued by heavy concern, "That… I have a friend… who hasn't come back."

"Where were you both going?" inquired Ruan Nanzhu.

"The old school building," The woman said, "I went to the bathroom before coming back and saw that he was gone. I looked all over the entire building, butI still couldn't find him. I grew more afraid the longer I stayed, so I came back after that."

"He went missing in the old school building?" Li Dongyuan tilted his head and glanced out of the window at the darkening sky, "There is no use in being hasty. It's impossible to look for him now that it's after dark. I would suggest that you rest for the night; we will accompany you to take a look tomorrow."

Although the woman looked very afraid, she nodded her head. It seemed like she, too, wasn't keen on returning to the sinister-looking old school building at a time like this.

And so, the group of people returned to their own rooms to take a rest.

The more experience they gained from inside the door world, the more they understood what a disappearance indicated. When someone went missing in a world riddled with death traps, the chance for their survival was zero to none. From the looks of it, that woman's friend was most likely already a goner.

As they all lay in bed, they analysed the clues they'd obtained today.

Ruan Nanzhu then mentioned a vital clue, "Aren't they going to take their final examinations soon?"

Lin Qiushi replied, "That's right. Why?"

Ruan Nanzhu: "The current season is certainly not winter; the temperature is moderate, if not warm. That being said, they're not taking the semester final exams students usually take before their winter vacation."

Lin Qiushi suddenly understood what Ruan Nanzhu was suggesting, "Do you mean their college entrance examinations are soon?"

"Correct." Ruan Nanzhu stated, "I reckon this is a crucial moment in time. Once final exam season ends, he will no longer be a student of this school."

The cogs in Xia Rubei's mind clicked in that very moment. "So the final examination is actually the college entrance exam; doesn't this mean this is our deadline? What if…what if we still aren't able to find the key by then?"

Ruan Nanzhu smiled, "There are two possible outcomes to such a situation: The first is that time will flow backwards and we will experience these past few days all over again. The second is that these supernatural entities will unleash a massacre and leave behind only one fortunate soul. The door will then open on its own." —Either situation was terrible, regardless.

Xia Rubei dared not to speak any longer, and she shrank herself into a ball.

"Mengmeng, how many doors have you been through?" Li Dongyuan asked all of a sudden, "You seem awfully experienced."

"Mr. Meng, didn't anyone teach you that you should never ask someone else about their trump card?" Ruan Nanzhu didn't even care to be polite, "Moreover, regardless of how experienced I am, I wouldn't be able to compare to the Leader of White Deer."

Li Dongyuan raised a brow, "That might not be necessarily so."

They went to get some shut eye after their discussion.

As he gazed dazedly at the bunk above him, his mind wandering elsewhere, Lin Qiushi slowly drifted off to sleep.

He had a dreamless night, one that was rather peaceful, as well. Lin Qiushi pleasantly welcomed the morning of the second day.

The four of them woke up on time at seven in the morning. After washing, they prepared themselves to accompany the woman from yesterday to check out the situation in the old school building.

"My name is Luo Xiaoyu." The newcomer timidly introduced herself. She'd obviously had a sleepless night. Massive dark circles hung under her eyes, and fear and alarm enveloped her, "You mean that he is dead…?"

"More or less," replied Li Dongyuan. "If he's still alive, he would not have spent the night in the old school building."

His words held truth; Luo Xianyu hugged her arms as cold sweat drenched her entire body.

They arrived at the old school building and saw that its unlocked metal gates were still wide open. Luo Xiaoyu said they had unlocked it when they'd visited this place earlier. When she left yesterday, she had used a stone to stop it from snapping closed in fear of her friend being locked inside. She didn't expect it to be untouched since yesterday, but at least they were now certain that her friend hadn't left the school building.

"On which floor did both of you lose contact back then?" Ruan Nanzhu asked.

"The fourth." Luo Xiaoyu remembered very clearly, "At the end of the fourth floor was a classroom; it seemed to be the Class 2 of the Second-Years…."

Hearing 'Class 2', Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu exchanged glances at the same time.

"Let us go up and take a look," proposed Li Dongyuan.

The five of them went up to the fourth floor. As he walked onwards, Lin Qiushi listened to his surroundings intently, afraid of hearing the same thumping sound from earlier, because this would mean that Satchan was nearby. But thankfully, the sound never appeared even after they had reached the fourth floor.

At the end of the classroom was a classroom name plate with the words "Class Two" written largely in kanji. They passed by the classroom's window and saw what was inside.

The classroom wasn't huge by any means. One could see everything from the outside at a single glance—desks and chairs sat in the empty classroom, but the friend Luo Xiaoyu mentioned was not there.

"Not here." Li Dongyuan said, "Perhaps he went somewhere else. Why did you guys separate again?"

Through her quivering lips, Luo Xiaoyu fretfully stammered, "I went to the bathroom during that time, and when I came back, he was gone. I didn't even see him after that…"

"Should we go to other floors to take a look?" Lin Qiushi suggested.

"No harm in doing so." Ruan Nanzhu nodded.

As the five of them headed into the direction of the stairs, a deafening clang echoed from behind them. It sounded like something had fallen from above and crashed heavily against the ground.

Everyone jumped at this sound. A few people began seeking the source of the sound and, very quickly, they noticed—it came from the empty Class 2 from before.

Inside the classroom that had previously held only desks and chairs, was now a bloody corpse. That corpse appeared to have fallen from the ceiling, throwing the neatly arranged desks and chairs into primal chaos.

At the sight of this, Luo Xiaoyu could not refrain from crying out loud. Xia Rubei was slightly better off than her, as she had kept quiet, only taking a few, staggered steps back, with a shaky hand over her mouth.

"Let us go in and take a look." Ruan Nanzhu said, before fishing out a bobby pin to pick the lock.

Lin Qiushi stood at the side as he watched the other, used to the way he worked. It was Xia Rubei who was both curious and scared, squatting down from afar with her chin propped onto her knees as she watched, looking a tad cute.

Before long, a furtive click sounded, and the uncomplicated lock of the school fell to the ground with a clank. Ruan Nanzhu entered first and was greeted by a scattered mess on the ground.

Having followed behind the other into the classroom, Lin Qiushi soon noticed something was odd, "These things…"

Ruan Nanzhu: "Interesting."

There were a few books on where the corpse had fallen. From afar, these books looked like teaching materials. It was extremely strange to see these books messily surrounding the corpse that had fallen down.

Li Dongyuan was also someone who had guts. He fearlessly walked to the corpse's side and picked up one of the books. "They are teaching materials."

Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu saw the object in Li Dongyuan's hand as they drew closer to the other.

Without a doubt, they were teaching materials; every single one of those books were textbooks. If not all, practically every page of these textbooks were marred with chaotic scribbles of red ink, defaced with hateful, illegible curses like "Die. Die. Die."

Ruan Nanzhu stooped down to randomly pick up another textbook similar to the previous one. Long story short, every page was full of curses. Ruan Nanzhu pondered over it for a while, and after closing the book, he flipped to another page. Standing just next to him, Lin Qiushi could clearly see the word written on its first page: Sachiko—to think these books belonged to Sachiko!!

The corpse in the centre of the classroom had also lost a leg; it seemed that Sachiko was behind this. Only, they didn't know what methods Sachiko had used this time to make that person read aloud the song that should never be sung.

*******

Nie Chenghe came to the old school building with Luo Xiaoyu.

When Luo Xiaoyu went to the toilet, he simply stood next to the classroom, waiting quietly and patiently. The entire building was eerily silent. In the empty corridor, even the slightest of whispers would result in some echoes.

Nie Chenghe looked at the endless corridor and felt a little frightened. He fished out his phone to play some mini-games to calm himself down, when his expression suddenly froze on the spot by strange voices he heard. These voices came from the classroom, resembling little private chatterings between students and making his hairs stand on end.

There wasn't a single soul in the school building, so how could there be chatterings? The voices became louder and louder until they finally turned into a deafening cacophony of jarring noises.

Nie Chenghe walked with slow steps as he moved towards the window. He passed by the window's pane and finally came to the source of the voices—the classroom in front of him.

To his surprise, what should have originally been an empty classroom was suddenly filled with students. Countless students were standing about and sitting around, chatting and excitedly discussing something.

This sight was far too frightening. Nie Chenghe couldn't help take a few steps back. Just as he was about to leave, the students in the classroom began singing a strange song: Satchan's name is actually Sachiko. But she's called herself Satchan ever since she was little. Oh, how funny! Satchan really loves bananas. But she can only eat half of her favourite bananas. Oh, how pitiful! Satchan has left for a faraway place. And she'll soon forget about me. Oh, how lonely, Satchan!...

Nie Chenghe had never heard such a song before. This song made him feel colder and colder, as if he was experiencing a bitter winter. He wanted to turn around to run, but, suddenly, his body froze on the spot.

"Satchan's name is actually Sachiko. But she's called herself Satchan ever since she was little. Oh, how funny! Satchan really loves bananas. But she can only eat half of her favourite bananas. Oh, how pitiful! Satchan has left for a faraway place. And she'll soon forget about me. Oh, how lonely, Satchan!.." The song repeated itself, and the people in the classroom noticed Nie Chenghe's presence.

They turned around and eyeballed Nie Chenghe through the window. Now in full view of their faces, Nie Chenghe realized that these students had no eyes; only the two large, pitch-black holes resting on their skulls stared back at him. Those gaping caverns, coupled with their ghostly-pale countenances, proved that these students weren't living humans.

Nie Chenghestaggered back a few steps in sheer fright. His jaws dropped, as he witnessed the student's chant the final line to the song: "My leg is gone, so won't you give me yours? My leg is gone, so won't you give me yours…?"

The final line repeated over and over again. Those lines were no longer lyrics to a children's song, but a Devil's wretched curse. Nie Chenghe's eyes began to gloss over; his lips parted slightly, and as if bewitched, he quietly uttered, My leg is gone, so won't you give me yours?

The instant these words spilled from his mouth, the entire classroom became silent.

Those faces of pale-white all broke into strange and eerie smiles.

Only then did Nie Chenghe realize what he'd done. The gravity of his current predicament struck him, and he swiveled around to run, but the booming sounds of thumping coming from behind him stopped him in his tracks, and he frantically whirled around to see the shadow of a person standing in the corridor. As the figure gradually approached him, her sing-song voice proceeded to echo down the corridor: My leg is gone, so won't you give me yours…?

Nie Chenghe felt a sharp pain shoot up his leg as darkness swallowed him.

*******

After coming out from the old school building, Lin Qiushi and the others wanted to look for Ko Shinobu to have a talk.

However, considering his behaviour yesterday, Ruan Nanzhu suggested stopping him by the gates of the school and taking him to a place where they wouldn't draw any attention to ask about everything in detail.

Li Dongyuan actively responded to Ruan Nanzhu's proposal. He expressed that he was formidable in strength, and that he alone could bring Ko Shinobu to them without any assistance.

Lin Qiushi thought that, thankfully, this wasn't reality. Otherwise, the four of them snooping around could have alerted security to drag them away.

It was already six in the afternoon at this moment. The students were successively ending classes and leaving the school premises..

In usual situations, Third-Year students would still be self-studying in the school at night. However, perhaps it was due to the incidents that happened in this school that all the students left before 7 PM. The originally rowdy school grounds soon became even more silent than a deathly-quiet cemetery.

The four of them kept their eyes on the school's gates, and yet even after half a day, Ko Shinobu didn't show up.

Finally, Xia Rubei could not hold back any longer and suspiciously asked aloud, "Did we miss him? Why haven't we seen Ko Shinobu until now?"

"It's impossible that we missed him." Ruan Nanzhu was extremely confident in his eyesight, "He indeed never came."

"Then should we head over to the school building and take a look?" Li Dongyuan suggested.

"Alright." Ruan Nanzhu said, "The two of you wait here. Yu Linlin, you and I will head over."

Just as Lin Qiushi was about to say 'alright', Li Dongyuan gave a half-smile: "Mengmeng, that wouldn't be particularly appropriate."

Ruan Nanzhu raised a brow. "Why wouldn't it be appropriate?"

Li Dongyuan said, "What if we ran into Ko Shinobu at the gate? Aren't you afraid that we would withhold the information we gathered from you?"

Ruan Nanzhu gave Li Dongyuan a once-over; it was obvious that Li Dongyuan was using themselves as an example, but in reality, he was worried that it was Ruan Nanzhu and Lin Qiushi who would withhold information from them. After all, they were people from different organizations; it was only natural to be concerned.

"Why don't you and Xia Rubei stand guard here, and Yu Linlin and I will head over to check things out." Li Dongyuan said, "This way, both you and I can rest assured."

Ruan Nanzhu pondered over it for a while and unexpectedly agreed to Li Dongyuan's suggestion. "Sounds good." He then turned to look at Lin Qiushi, "The sooner you leave, the sooner you can come back."

Lin Qiushi nodded his head.

Afterwards, Lin Qiushi and Li Dongyuan began heading towards the school building, wanting to see where Ko Shinobu had gone. Along the way, Li Dongyuan asked about matters pertaining to Zhu Meng, about Yu Linlin and Zhu Meng's relationship, and Zhu Meng's position in Obsidian. Lin Qiushi blatantly brushed off all of his questions without second thoughts, half-assedly answering with , "I don't know", "I'm not sure", and "I don't really understand".

Li Dongyuan wasn't even slightly angry at being dismissed in such a manner. With smiling eyes, he looked at Lin Qiushi, and remarked"Why are all of you guys from Obsidian so very interesting?"

Lin Qiushi: "We're not very interesting, just average."

Both of them reached the ground floor of the school building. Inside, everyone had practically left, leaving behind only a few classrooms with the lights still turned on. Among them was Class 3 of the Third-Years.

"Let us go up and take a look," said Li Dongyuan.

Lin Qiushi and he climbed up the stairs together and eventually arrived at Class 3 of the Third-Year. Just when they neared the classroom, a commotion came from inside. Listening more closely, one of those voices seemed to belong to Ko Shinobu; it appeared as though he was in the middle of a quarrel with someone else.

"You know something, don't you—" This was an unfamiliar voice, sounding very young; the owner was most probably a student.

"What do I know!!! I don't know anything. Don't come looking for me anymore. Once final exams are over, everything will be over!!" Ko Shinobu shouted, his voice severely afflicted by agitation.

"Over?! How could it be over! What if she follows us to college, huh? How do we know with certainty that such a curse will even come to an end?!" The other's voice grew louder. He appeared to be in such distress that he had even fiercely slammed his palms against the table, "Do you really not know anything?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything!" Ko Shinobu yelled exasperatedly. "If I knew, do you really think I would just watch all of them die so miserably?!?!"

"Then why aren't you dead—" That person shouted back, "You—You're the only one alive and well!"

Ko Shinobu grew furious at the other's words. Foul expletives spilled from his mouth and he angrily roared, , "What the fuck are you trying to say, huh! What the hell do you mean by I am the only one alive and well? Aren't you alive too!!!"

"If not for the things you told me, I would not be alive. Now they're all dead. What use is there for me to be alive? Let me tell you, Ko Shinobu—if I find out that this matter is related to you in any way…" That voice turned dreadfully chilling and foreboding,, incomparably cold enough to make one shiver in fear, "I swear to never let you get away with it."

Ko Shinobu exploded, cursing and swearing madly, "Leave! Get the fuck out of my face, you goddamned traitor!"

That person gave a cold laugh, and said, "There is no need for you to tell me. I will leave on my own. You… take care of yourself." And with that, he rushed out of the classroom, neglecting to notice Lin Qiushi and Li Dongyuan who were hiding around the corner, before quickly hurrying down the stairs.

Ko Shinobu cussed a few times after coming out of the classroom before finally calming himself, then he carried his bag and walked out of the classroom.

But upon seeing Lin Qiushi and Li Dongyaun the moment he exited the classroom, his expression immediately turned ugly. "What in the world do you guys want… I already said I don't know anything!"

Li Dongyuan smiled faintly at him. "Student Ko, we have not even asked anything of you yet."

Ko Shinobu cagily retorted, "Well whatever answers you want, I don't have. Link I said, I don't know anything—" After stressing this, he turned on his heels to leave, but Li Dongyuan caught him at that moment.

"What are you doing!" The string keeping Ko Shinobu's anger in check snapped.

The smile on Li Dongyuan's face dimmed. "Son, don't make me use force on you."

Ko Shinobu started, "You…"

Li Dongyuan interrupted him, "This school is experiencing frequent deaths, isn't it?"

Ko Shinobu's eyes grew wide as saucers.

Li Dongyuan continued, "If you went missing all of a sudden, do you think they'll believe you were killed by a human, or a ghost?"

Ko Shinobu stopped talking. It was obvious that Li Dongyuan's words had caught him by the throat and threatened him with his own life. There were a myriad of happenings that occurred in this school, yet none of these mysterious incidents had reached a conclusion, none of these accidents had been able to be explained. One could say that everyone in this school knew that the school grounds were haunted by inexplicable things, things beyond logic and rationality.

If not all, he had a special identity, and it was being a student from Class 2 who was known for its vanishing students. Even if he went missing, the school would merely dismiss his disappearance as a supernatural incident, a matter they couldn't do anything about.

"Fine then, what do you want to know?" Ko Shinobu sized up Li Dongyuan then took a look at his own physique, before deciding to give up on struggling, "What I know isn't much either!"

Only then did Li Dongyuan let go, returning to his usual gentle smile with curved eyes. Lin Qiushi inwardly remarked from the side, that Li Dongyuan was most definitely a thug. Although he carried a particular gentleness whenever he smiled like so, he was, undoubtedly, an expert, if not more, at threatening others.

"Linlin, don't look at me like that~" Li Dongyuan seemed to know what Lin Qiushi was thinking. He didn't even forget to explain, "I'm not usually like this."

Lin Qiushi: "Then do you usually just skip the threats and go on to talking with your fists??"

Li Dongyuan: "Haha, your sense of humour sure is second to none."

Lin Qiushi: "…" This person didn't even refute it.

Ko Shinobu crossed both arms over his chest in defiance,, obviously wary of and averse to Li Dongyuan and Lin Qiushi. He declared, "Just ask quickly. I still need to go home."

"Are you originally from Class 2? That person back there was a classmate from Class 2, wasn't he?" Li Dongyuan asked.

"That's right," verified Ko Shinobu. "He is also from Class 2."

"How many of you are left in Class 2?" inquired Li Dongyuan

Ko Shinobu replied, "Just the two of us."

Li Dongyuan: "So, you know what happened to Sachiko at school, don't you?"

Ko Shinobu's couldn't hide the fear that flitted across his features at the mention of this name. . As he violently trembled in place and gritted his teeth, he stiffly nodded.

"Tell us about your story with Sachiko." Li Dongyuan said, "As well as the sentence you mentioned yesterday, that she's not someone who should exist. Tell us what you meant."

Ko Shinobu wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. He cautiously explained, "There is nothing much to say. When she was in our class, she was often bullied, and those people who got used to bullying Sachiko…"

"Just like the writings in her textbook, they 'Died', didn't they?" guessed Li Dongyuan.

"How did you know about that?" Ko Shinobu gaped at Li Dongyuan in sheer fright and alarm. .

"That's not all we know about." Li Dongyuan chuckled, "That being said, think very carefully about your next words. If we notice any discrepancies between what you said and what we know… then don't blame us for being impolite."

Ko Shinobu swallowed his saliva, hard, his gulp clearly audible. .

"You know, sometimes humans are far scarier than ghosts." Li Dongyuan said, "If that person with me right now decided to make a move, I reckon all of you would surely wish you were dead."

At the side, Lin Qiushi, who hadn't spoken a word this entire time, thought to himself: Li Dongyuan, did Ruan Nanzhu infect you with his dramatical antics, too? Out of nowhere, the man just decided to play out a drama and give Lin Qiushi the role of a villain who was not to be messed with.

"Isn't that right, Linlin?" Li Dongyuan even had the nerve to glance back at Lin Qiushi, eagerly awaiting the other's response.

Lin Qiushi: "…That's right."

If that wasn't enough, that outrageous Li Dongyuan even winked at him, shamelessly.

Lin Qiushi: "…" From a certain degree, Li Dongyuan and Ruan Nanzhu are made for each other.

And yet, what was, perhaps, even sadder about this entire situation, was that Ko Shinobu fully believed in Li Dongyuan's words. He threw Lin Qiushi a look filled with pure fear and panic, and even took a few frightened steps backwards. He anxiously insisted, "I really don't know that much…"

Li Dongyuan demanded,"So, how did Sachiko die? Why is it that all of your classmates died, yet here you, the exception, are alive and well?

Ko Shinobu began, "It all started three years ago…"

Author's Comment:

I also watched Another before and knew the story, but the meaning of "the person who shouldn't exist" in this story is not the same as the one in the anime. Everyone will understand as they read. While I'm at it, let me promote this anime. It's very nice to watch ~