Chapter 8: Echoes After Dusk
That evening.
Having flown back as a spirit, I reactivated my mimicry near home.
Back in human form.
No traces of spiritual energy nearby.
A perfect crime.
Dragging my tired body toward home, I heard a voice.
“Seol Haru?”
Turning, I saw Kim Dodam.
Sweaty clothes, a towel around his neck.
“Done with your errand?”
“Yeah. You heading back from the gym?”
“Yup. Crushed chest day today.”
I stared blankly, and he fumbled.
“Uh, chest day doesn’t mean that…”
“I know, dummy.”
What does he take me for?
Since we ran into each other, we walked home together.
“So where’d you go, Miss Haru? You hate going far.”
“Not really…”
In my past life, I loved exploring haunted spots.
But as Seol Haru, I rarely left the area.
Not by choice, but necessity.
‘This time wasn’t that far, and I got back quick, so it’s fine.’
I’d be more cautious otherwise.
“Just meeting a friend.”
“Friend? Who?”
“Someone you don’t know.”
“Don’t know…? You, who whined about not making friends in middle school…?”
“Hey, I didn’t whine!”
I didn’t have friends, but I didn’t whine.
Grumbled, maybe.
Couldn’t help it.
‘How could I hang with middle schoolers?’
My mental age made giggling with them impossible.
Especially back then, I was cold without meaning to.
Once that happened, acting normal was hard.
I’m not exactly warm by nature… anyway, that’s how it was.
‘I swore to do better in high school.’
Not sure if I’m succeeding.
No one I’d call a friend yet…
It’ll be fine.
Plenty of time.
“What kinda friend?”
“Hm? Uh…”
I pictured the nameless headless ghost.
“Hard to describe.”
“What kind of description is that?”
“Mysterious?”
“Same thing!”
Chatting, we entered the residential area.
A sensor light flicked on ahead.
“Ghost…?”
The skeptic’s cost-effective retort came instantly.
No spiritual energy, though.
“See you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. It’s dark, be careful.”
“I’m super strong, you know.”
“Pfft. Yes, ma’am~”
Cheeky guy.
Parting ways, I looked up at my house.
Quiet, empty, just me.
Before entering, I glanced back.
Toward Paradise High.
“…”
Looks like my outing would stretch a bit longer.
Late at night.
Paradise High, a prestigious school, was old, with a dated, worn exterior.
Recent renovations had started, but they were minimal, not yet covering the whole campus.
The school’s old charm, steeped in history, took on an eerie grandeur at night, enough to spark fear.
A yellow glow flickered at one end.
The janitor’s flashlight.
“Yawn~”
The returned janitor showed no fear.
Just another day of routine.
Behind him, a dark aura stirred.
The ghost from earlier, who’d reclaimed its head, appeared.
– …
Its neck was no longer empty.
Twisted grotesquely from its death, it glared at the janitor.
Blank eyes and pale skin screamed danger.
It approached, slow but deliberate.
Humans consist of spirit, soul, and essence.
When a person dies, the spirit ascends, the soul goes to the afterlife, and the essence lingers longest, wandering.
If this goes wrong—if spirit and soul don’t reach their destinations or get corrupted, or if the essence attracts malice—it becomes an “evil ghost” or “malevolent spirit.”
Exorcists may differ, but this is how shamans and spiritualists explain the afterlife.
There are always exceptions, though.
Like a ghost on the verge of becoming evil, harming humans without radiating malice.
Or one inherently wicked.
“Don’t deal with ghosts” is a saying for a reason—they can turn on you.
The ghost, driven by chaotic memories, lunged at the janitor.
Screech!
A speeding motorcycle.
A piercing scream.
Kyaaa—!
A moment staring at a blood pool, then a rough-looking man fleeing.
The headless ghost, fueled by jumbled memories, attacked.
It failed before, but this time it’d take a neck.
It would’ve succeeded.
If not for her.
“You blew your chance.”
The janitor vanished.
The hallway dissolved.
The ghost was yanked into another realm, overwhelmed by vertigo.
Its terrifying form now trembled in fear.
Whoosh—
A blizzard raged, and something white and blue surged.
Resistance was futile.
Sensing it, the ghost tried to flee.
“Go to hell.”
Plummeting endlessly—ground to underworld, deeper and deeper.
Its essence shattered, black energy rising.
She drew a silver hairpin.
The energy was sucked into it like a magnet.
Tucking it away, the blue-haired girl vanished.
“Achoo! Chilly tonight…”
The janitor shivered, hurrying his steps.
How likely is a high schooler to linger around school late at night?
Unless it’s for night study or a special program, pretty rare.
Especially here, with no entertainment nearby.
But there’s always an exception.
A job active at night.
Specifically, dealing with things that appear more at night.
It was a coincidence.
A red-haired boy, finishing a small task nearby, passed Paradise High.
“…Hm.”
A vile aura pricked his skin.
Tensing, he sprinted toward the school.
Speed beyond human limits.
Leaping meters in a single bound, he seemed superhuman.
This was the power of an exorcist wielding spiritual energy—a secret not to be revealed.
He avoided CCTV, and even if caught, the Association would handle it.
Most exorcists would be cautious, but he didn’t care.
His face twisted, as if suppressing rage.
“Ghosts should be saved…”
Muttering, he reached the gate, sensing vivid negative energy.
Hostile, ominous.
The kind when a ghost attacks a human.
He gritted his teeth.
“Who dares come here?”
The world belongs to the living.
The dead shouldn’t interfere.
Threatening the living as a corpse? Unacceptable.
Ascension was too good for it.
He’d exorcise it instantly.
As he leaped up the stairs, a new energy froze him.
“…”
Immense spiritual power.
Enough to engulf the entire school.
A moment later, it vanished.
As if it never existed.
But it was real.
He rushed forward but found nothing.
“What happened?”
No trace of the ghost or that power.
He hadn’t imagined it.
He reasoned logically.
“A sudden burst of immense energy… the moment it appeared, the evil ghost vanished. So it…”
Did something eliminate the ghost faster?
No other explanation fit.
No other exorcists were here.
It wasn’t one of them, and that energy felt inhuman.
Almost like it wasn’t alive…
“No way.”
Why would a ghost destroy another?
He only knew one being with such power.
But that was impossible.
He ran a hand through his red hair, shaking off confusion.
“Must’ve been a mistake.”
The most plausible conclusion.
A being that powerful wouldn’t vanish so fast.
In the hidden world, strange phenomena happen.
It was possible.
Still.
“Paradise High… I need to keep an eye on it.”
A faint suspicion lingered in his heart.