[25]: Thirteenth Step

"It's said that at midnight, if you walk on the staircase in the school building, a thirteenth step will appear, even though it shouldn't exist. Whoever steps on it will cross the boundary between the living world and hell…"

The three members of the Occult Club listening to Keisuke's story had tense expressions, but Nao seemed unaffected and even asked, "Everyone knows that story. Has anything like that actually happened?"

Keisuke, who had been trying to set a spooky mood, hesitated at her question. "Well… actually, yes. But it happened about four years ago, and I only heard it from the seniors…"

He cleared his throat and continued, "Apparently, a security guard went missing during his rounds in the main school building. The police were called, but they couldn't figure out what happened. The school's surveillance cameras didn't show him leaving, and after searching everywhere, they still couldn't find him.

"At the time, there were all kinds of scary rumors—some said he was killed by an evil spirit and that his body was buried under the school field. They said his vengeful spirit would come after any students wandering alone at midnight… There were lots of stories like that. Eventually, the school tried to calm everyone down by banning any talk about it, and the incident became a quiet rumor.

"And ever since then, the security staff turnover has been unusually high. Some people think it's because of that incident."

Keisuke hesitated for a moment, then addressed Nao directly. "Nao, you're not planning to try this paranormal experiment, are you? Even though we've done ghost hunts before and never been scared, we all know those were just rumors. People who got frightened only did so because of the atmosphere or because they scared themselves.

"But… this story feels different. You really shouldn't mess with it. I heard from someone in Class 3 that Risa and her friends made a girl try the thirteenth step at midnight, and she got seriously freaked out. I don't know all the details, though…"

Nao frowned. "Was that girl named Ayako? The one in my class, the quiet girl?"

Keisuke nodded uncertainly. "Yeah, probably. Those girls pick on the weak ones, using their family connections to get away with it. Nao, is she your friend?"

Nao's expression darkened, and she nodded. "Yes, I noticed something was wrong with Ayako recently, but I didn't realize it was because of this…"

"Keisuke, I need to go find her. Thanks for the information."

As Nao and Shin left the room, Keisuke called after them, "Please, don't be stupid! Don't try it!"

"I won't."

Nao led Shin to her classroom, where there weren't many students at the moment. She spotted Ayako sitting quietly at her desk and waved to Shin, indicating for him to wait outside. Shin leaned against the wall, listening as Nao greeted several of her classmates. After a short while, she returned with Ayako in tow.

Ayako was shy and timid, walking with her head slightly lowered, as if she didn't want to meet anyone's gaze. When she noticed Shin standing outside, she hid behind Nao and softly asked, "Nao, who is he?"

Nao reassured her friend as they walked toward a more private area on the school grounds. Shin followed behind, carrying his instrument case while observing the building. As expected, there were no traces of any curse-related aura. According to Keisuke's account, the last disappearance or death had been four years ago, with no incidents since then.

If there truly was a curse, it must be one with very specific or rare conditions for activation, or perhaps it was a weak one. Otherwise, something more serious would've happened by now, and a jujutsu sorcerer would have already been sent to deal with it.

In a shaded pavilion, surrounded by thick vines, Nao hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Ayako, were Risa and her friends bullying you?"

Ayako flinched slightly at the mention of the incident. Fear flashed across her face as she gripped the hem of her skirt tightly. After a brief silence, she whispered, "Nao, please don't get involved."

Nao's frustration was evident. "Risa and her group have gone too far! I… I'm going to report them to the principal. Ayako, I heard from a friend that they forced you to try the thirteenth step…"

Ayako's fear intensified. She grabbed Nao's hand, pleading, "No, Nao, don't ask about that… because…"

Shin, who had been quietly observing from a short distance, spoke up. "Because it's real, isn't it?"

Ayako looked at him but said nothing. Nao gently held her hand. "Ayako, this is Shin. He's here to deal with things like this. You don't need to be afraid. If you know anything, you can tell him."

After a moment of hesitation, Ayako finally spoke, her voice trembling. "I didn't see anything, but… something was there. After I saw the thirteenth step…"

Nao and Shin exchanged a glance. It made sense—Ayako couldn't see curses, but the fact that she felt something was significant.

Ayako's eyes were fixed on the distance as she continued in a soft voice. "Even though I didn't see anything, I could feel something hidden in the darkness. We all heard faint crying, like someone was in pain. Risa and the others ran away, but I was so scared I couldn't move. I thought I was going to die. But somehow, I managed to get away without encountering whatever it was…"

Sensing that Ayako was becoming overwhelmed, Shin gave Nao a signal, and she quickly moved to comfort her friend. After some gentle reassurance, Nao arranged for Ayako to take the rest of the day off and escorted her back to her dormitory.

"What should we do next?" Nao asked as they left the dorm.

Shin didn't answer immediately but instead asked her, "Are you sure you want to come with me?"

Nao's response was firm. She seemed ready to say more, but Shin raised a hand to stop her. "As long as you're prepared. We'll head out tonight. In the meantime, I'll teach you some basic techniques so you can defend yourself."

He spent the afternoon teaching Nao how to control and manipulate her cursed energy. The previous time she had repelled a curse had been mostly by chance, with Dojigiri playing a significant role. Though the campus curse seemed relatively weak, it was better not to take any risks.

By the time evening arrived, Nao had made decent progress. She had learned how to channel cursed energy to enhance her body, giving her strength beyond that of an ordinary person, much to her delight.

Nightfall came quickly. In addition to Nao's training, Shin had been coordinating with higher-ups, specifically with Gojo-sensei. The school had been cleared out, with all faculty and students moved to the opposite side of the campus. The main building and its surroundings were now deserted.

Shin and Nao stood at the base of the dimly lit school building. Neither of them showed any sign of fear. Shin muttered a chant under his breath: "Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure."

A curtain descended over the school, isolating the building. Nao watched in awe before following Shin inside. With a quick motion, Shin removed both Dojigiri and his sword, Chometsu, from the instrument case. Together, they began to ascend the staircase.

"One, two, three… twelve."

Nao finished counting the steps and sighed in disappointment. "Still only twelve steps. Will there really be a thirteenth step?" White Wolf, accompanying them, showed no signs of alarm. Shin continued climbing toward the fourth floor, responding, "Be patient. We'll see soon enough."

When they reached the rooftop, there was still no sign of the thirteenth step. Nao glanced at her watch. "Maybe it's because it's not exactly midnight yet. We still have five minutes."

Although the rumor stated that the thirteenth step only appeared at midnight, Shin wasn't sure if the curse would actually follow that rule. Still, they decided to wait.

Returning to the first floor, they stood at the base of the staircase, watching the clock. As the final second of the day passed and midnight struck, Shin's expression shifted. White Wolf also became alert, adopting a defensive posture.

"It's here."

From Shin's perspective, it was as if an extra step had suddenly appeared out of thin air, seamlessly connecting to the rest of the staircase.

Nao gasped. "The thirteenth step! It's real!"

The step looked just like any other, blending perfectly with the stairs. If it weren't for the faint curse aura emanating from it, there would've been no way to tell anything was wrong.

"There's another possibility—this could be a type of innate domain that activates under certain conditions. I'm guessing stepping on it is the trigger, but first…"

Shin released a small burst of cursed energy toward the thirteenth step, causing it to crack like ordinary stone. However, what happened next was far from ordinary. The broken pieces disintegrated into black mist and vanished, leaving the step intact once more.

Shin considered the situation for a moment, then tried again with more cursed energy. This time, a larger section of the staircase exploded under the force of his attack. But again, the shattered remains quickly evaporated, and the thirteenth step reappeared, floating in mid-air without any visible support as if it had never been damaged.

Shin thought for a moment and then activated his ability, "Time Wheel: Reverse."

The damaged staircase was instantly restored to its previous state, catching Nao by surprise. She was about to question what had just happened but decided to chalk it up to the eerie nature of the place.

"Let's go," Shin said, leading the way up the stairs. As they reached the thirteenth step, Shin paused and turned to Nao. "We'll step on it together. If I'm right, stepping on this will trigger the curse's domain. There's a chance we might get separated, so be prepared. Take Dojigiri with you. If we do get split up, hold your ground—I'll finish things quickly and come to you."

He handed her the sword, and Nao accepted it nervously. Then, both of them, along with White Wolf, stepped onto the thirteenth step simultaneously.

Instead of being separated, as Shin had anticipated, the entire environment around them began to shift. The school walls, the floor, and the staircase itself began to distort, stretching and pulling away like the lens of a camera zooming out. Within moments, they found themselves standing in what seemed to be an endless corridor, with doors lined on either side, leading into darkness.

Shin gestured to White Wolf to sniff out any traces of the curse. As they cautiously advanced, White Wolf suddenly growled at one of the doors ahead, its hackles raised in warning.

Shin motioned for Nao to hand him back Dojigiri. They watched as the handle of the door slowly twisted from the inside. After a moment, the door creaked open, and a pale, lifeless hand pushed it further ajar. Emerging from the doorway was a boy dressed in a school uniform, his face expressionless, his eyes blank.

"Is… is he also a curse?" Nao stammered, her voice shaking as she stared at the eerie figure.

Before she could finish her sentence, Shin's figure flickered, and in an instant, he was behind the boy. The next moment, the boy crumpled to the ground, his legs severed cleanly from his body. Shin watched the collapsed figure with a cold gaze. Instead of blood, a dark, purplish fluid oozed from the wound.

"As I thought… There's no way a living person could survive here. This thing, whatever it is, might look human, but it's something else entirely."

With one swift motion, Shin decapitated the figure, pinning its head to the floor. The cursed energy flowing through Dojigiri surged, and the body quickly disintegrated into black ash, crumbling into dust.

Shin stood up and examined Dojigiri for a moment. For some reason, cutting through the strange entity had felt unusually effortless, as if the sword itself held a hidden power beyond what he'd sensed before. He wasn't entirely sure if it was the curse being weak or if the sword possessed some unique quality.

But before he could dwell on it, something far more concerning demanded their attention.

The doors lining the corridor began to shake and rattle one by one. In a cacophony of creaking hinges, each door slowly opened, and from every door emerged more of the cursed figures, shambling forward like a horde of grotesque mockeries of humanity.

Shin handed Dojigiri back to Nao, his expression calm. "Take them down. I'll be right behind you."

Nao looked at the approaching figures, her heart pounding in her chest. "But… I…"

Shin placed the sword firmly in her hands and smiled. "Don't worry. You've got this. These aren't the real curse—they're just manifestations, and they're weak. Remember what I taught you: channel your cursed energy into the sword, and just swing. You don't need to be a master swordsman, just cut them down."

Her hands trembling, Nao nodded. "I… I'll try. "

°°°

A/N: Gimme stonez, plzz

If you want to read ahead and access 20 advanced chapters, check the patreon

Link: Patreon/Moziel