Chapter 112 – Trying the courage test

Yukio stretched lazily, waiting outside for over five minutes. Calculating the time, he figured Ryuen should have gone far enough, and then he headed towards the school building alone. His previous stance of not entering was just a ruse to throw Ryuen off.

After all, he had clarified with Ishizaki before: this courage test was a self-organized event by their class, lacking any staff at the entrance. It was just between the participating and the ghost-playing students.

In other words, whether you're solo, in pairs, or even in a group of ten, no one checks; entry was open to all without restrictions.

Stepping from the dual illumination of streetlights and moonlight outdoors to the indoors, the eeriness intensified. While the exterior still benefitted from some light, progressing further would plunge one into deeper darkness, amplifying the psychological fear.

Choosing this location for the courage test turned out to be unexpectedly appropriate. Since everyone needed to change shoes at the lockers, which went undecorated, Yukio casually found his locker, changed into indoor shoes, and strolled inside as if on a leisurely outing.

Reaching the first classroom on the ground floor, visibility was significantly reduced, barely aided by the moonlight outside. Sounds of rustling tape from the first classroom could likely terrify girls of fainter hearts. As Yukio contemplated this and decided to check the setup, he found the classroom door slightly open, revealing a obviously placed tape recorder on the lecturer's desk, charging without any attempt at concealment.

Disappointed to find just a tape recorder, Yukio had hoped for more creative setup from Ishizaki and the others.

"Are you here to steal my tape recorder?" As Yukio's disappointment lingered, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder from behind the door, coupled with a chillingly sinister voice challenging him.

This caused Yukio to reconsider; it seemed Ishizaki's team had indeed put some thought into it. The real trick wasn't the conspicuous recorder but the person hiding behind the door, poised to surprise anyone entering unaware. The idea itself was quite thrilling, with the scare coming from the unexpected human element hidden behind the door.

When participants first enter and see the tape recorder, they feel reassured, thinking it's nothing special. However, suddenly feeling a hand on your shoulder can be quite startling.

"Very good, very good," Yukio applauded, turning to see who it was. Upon hearing his voice, the person behind the door immediately withdrew their hand, seemingly startled by Yukio himself.

"Well done," Yukio said with a laugh, realizing it was Komiya. "Your setup must have scared quite a few people, right?"

"Heh, it was awesome!" Komiya boasted about the success of their scare, saying, "This first challenge scared almost everyone! Seeing them scared was quite satisfying."

"But," Komiya continued, scratching his ear, "some girls screamed so loudly, it was almost deafening."

"Keep it up, I think it's great," Yukio encouraged him before moving on, leaving Komiya to await the next victim.

Komiya didn't mention it, but the fact that the girls screamed proved they did manage to scare people. However, having been unable to scare either Ryuen or Yukio, he felt a bit embarrassed.

The first challenge was cleverly designed for an impactful start, though the subsequent ones leaned towards juvenile. They mostly revolved around traditional school ghost stories, such as phantom piano sounds in empty classrooms or mannequins posed in hallways.

What stood out more were the occasional sharp screams echoing from the floors above.

Reaching the staircase, the team had set up a minor challenge to progress further. This challenge, lit by a lone desk lamp, involved choosing from several bottles of water laid out on a desk covered by a large mat, suggesting a focus on hygiene. The setup made even the simple bottles seem more significant.

Upon Yukio's arrival, Manabe, who was nervous at first, relaxed a bit when reassured by Yukio, who asked, "How do I get past this challenge?"

"You just have to choose a bottle of water correctly to continue," Manabe explained, avoiding mention of any consequences for a wrong choice, likely out of hesitation.

Yukio, intrigued, noticed that under the small lamp's illumination, the water bottles appeared entirely ordinary at first glance. No differences were evident upon closer inspection. As he leaned in for a closer look, a pair of hands suddenly shot out from under the tablecloth, grabbing his ankles!

Yukio chuckled and shifted his gaze from the water bottles to Manabe, understanding why Manabe didn't mention the punishment for choosing wrongly. Essentially, the bottles were identical; the real trick was to divert attention to the table while another person lay in wait underneath to scare people. It was the same tactic as in the first classroom: a distraction upfront with a scare tactic hidden.

"Didn't scare him, huh?" Saki said a bit disappointed as she emerged from under the table, stretching and lamenting their inability to scare both Ryuen and now Yukio.

"Not at all," Manabe jested. "Rika was scared enough, wasn't she? Anyway, Yukio, if you don't want to play, you can head straight to the rooftop via the staircase. If you want to continue, just explore each floor and pass the stairwell challenges."

After chatting with them, Yukio moved to the second floor, encountering a mix of silly and clever ways to frighten people. The most memorable was the challenge on the third floor, which was unique. It required Yukio to enter a bathroom stall at the far end and stay quietly for three minutes.

Shortly after entering the stall, the creepily quiet bathroom began echoing with distinct dripping sounds, unclear if it was a leaky faucet or something else. In such a dark place, especially a bathroom, a location ripe for ghost stories, the clear dripping sound inevitably sent chills down one's spine.

'Is that all?'

Yukio wondered if that was the extent of the challenge. As expected, about thirty seconds later, footsteps sounded, approaching from the washbasin area towards the bathroom. Suddenly, the steps hastened dramatically, indicating urgency. Then, the door to the first stall was flung open, its bang echoing through the bathroom.

The second stall was next, and then it was Yukio's turn. However, the footsteps and the sound of doors being pushed vanished completely, returning the bathroom to an odd silence, this time without even the dripping sound.

Yukio, amused, looked up. Following typical horror story conventions, someone from the next stall might stand on the toilet to peek over, intending to scare him. But looking up, there was no one on the neighboring stall's ceiling.

***

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