Chapter 任务目标：解决七起灵异事件，当前已完成3/7

The Plague Doctor and Black Steed's grim expressions eased slightly as they heard the system notification, but the tension in their hearts remained.

After a long while, Li Ang's figure was projected onto the wall of the dormitory building's first-floor lobby.

He waved casually at his two teammates, greeting them as he walked unhurriedly.

The Plague Doctor and Black Steed exchanged glances, not rushing to greet him. Instead, they used their equipment skills to scan Li Ang for paranormal energy from a distance.

From their perspective, Li Risheng's failure to respond to the walkie-talkie for so long was highly suspicious.

Echo Location and the glasses revealed nothing unusual about Li Ang.

The Plague Doctor and Black Steed approached him with some skepticism and asked, "Why didn't you answer the walkie-talkie just now?"

"Ran into a bit of a special situation."

Li Ang, who showed no signs of a struggle, said calmly, "I had a little chat about life philosophies with a ghost and guided him onto a bright, righteous, and hopeful path."

The Plague Doctor and Black Steed were dumbfounded, completely clueless as to what Li Ang was talking about.

"Anyway,"

Li Ang cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "I got a lot of information from that guy. If this information is accurate, our current situation is quite grim."

The Plague Doctor choked and quickly asked, "What do you mean?"

"This place isn't the real Tsumugi Middle School, but rather a middle ground where the real world and the spirit world intersect."

Li Ang said somberly, "Throughout Japan, in 'school' settings, people who die with extreme resentment and anger have a certain probability of being trapped here as jibakurei (earthbound spirits).

Only after the sun sets can these ghosts break free from the shackles of 'Tsumugi Middle School' and go to the real world."

The Plague Doctor couldn't help but gasp. "All of Japan?"

The many geographical characteristics of Japan—surrounded by sea, narrow land, scarce arable land, scarce resources, and frequent natural disasters—have fostered a unique island nation culture.

Humble and gentle yet savage and belligerent, polite yet stubbornly arrogant, weak and fickle yet unyielding, possessing minor propriety but lacking great righteousness.

The pervasive pragmatism, collectivism, and hierarchical thinking have twisted and warped the national character of the Japanese people, making them prone to extremes if they are not careful.

In 2003, the total number of suicides in Japan was 34,427. In 2017, the number of suicides decreased slightly to 21,321.

However, the number of student suicides in Japan remained high, even increasing in some cases. On average, more than two hundred and fifty students commit suicide each year due to bullying, family problems, and academic pressure.

Even if only one-tenth of these vengeful spirits enter Tsumugi Middle School,

the accumulation over the years is a terrifying number.

How many vengeful spirits are lingering in Tsumugi Middle School?

A dozen? Dozens, or even hundreds…

Li Ang looked at his two silent teammates and said with a smile, "That ghost told me that, to his knowledge, there are at least five or six hundred vengeful spirits wandering in different buildings throughout Tsumugi Middle School.

However, we've only seen three on our way here, and haven't been attacked.

I think the system is actively shielding us from some of the ghosts, so we're not immediately swarmed by hundreds of them."

"Shielding… huh."

The Plague Doctor exhaled a breath of stale air and looked at the setting sun hanging in the sky.

Black Steed looked in the direction of the sunset, extended his arm straight, joined his fingers together, bent his palm inward at a 90° angle to his arm, and placed his palm between the sun and the horizon.

After a rough measurement, Black Steed turned his head and said, "There's about half an hour left before the sun sets.

If the system removes the restrictions then, and all the ghosts are released, we won't stand a chance."

Half an hour, four paranormal events.

"It's going to be difficult to make it in time."

The Plague Doctor glanced at his two teammates and said gloomily, "Then, should we split up?"

"We have no choice," Li Ang said. "Each of us searches different buildings, communicating with each other via walkie-talkie.

After searching a building and solving a paranormal event, notify your teammates in a timely manner."

"Okay."

Black Steed nodded and added, "To prevent a teammate from being controlled by a ghost, we should set up a code.

To use during communication to check."

The three decided on a code and began to split up.

The Plague Doctor was responsible for the girls' dormitory and the school infirmary.

Black Steed was responsible for the cafeteria and the art building.

Li Ang was responsible for the gymnasium and the swimming pool.

And the final meeting point was the club activity building in the northwest corner of Tsumugi Middle School.

————

Thump, thump, thump.

In the silent gymnasium, the sound of a basketball hitting the ground echoed.

Li Ang held a flashlight in his left hand, scanning the dimly lit gymnasium.

His right hand dribbled the basketball, and after a few bounces, he took a one-handed shot from beyond the three-point line.

The basketball arced through the air and easily sank into the net.

As various attributes increase, players will develop in the direction of "superhuman." Running faster, jumping higher, stronger.

If players don't want to expose their identities, they must be careful to hide themselves in daily life, for example, by not playing basketball, soccer, high jump, or long jump, to avoid unintentionally showing their abnormalities.

"No ghosts here."

Li Ang walked through the entire gymnasium and didn't see any ghosts. He had no choice but to walk out the door.

Chapter 任务目标：解决七起灵异事件，当前已完成4/7

The system notification sounded in his ears, and Li Ang was a little surprised. "So fast?"

Was it Black Steed or the Plague Doctor?

The walkie-talkie "beeped." Li Ang pressed the answer button.

The Plague Doctor's strained voice came from the walkie-talkie, "The air is trembling, as if the sky is burning."

That was the code.

"Yes, the storm is coming." Li Ang frowned slightly and answered with the code.

Black Steed's voice was normal. "You have done your duty, leave the rest to me."

These three sentences are from the Yugoslav film *Walter Defends Sarajevo* from the 1970s. The probability of matching them by chance is extremely low.

And if one of the three has doubts, they can re-enable the second set of codes.

On the other end of the walkie-talkie, the Plague Doctor was breathing with great difficulty. "Hiss, ha, hiss, ha."

Li Ang narrowed his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"No, it's quite bad."

The Plague Doctor said with difficulty.

At this moment, he was lying on his back in the innermost cubicle of the girls' bathroom on the first floor of the school infirmary, his limbs broken and twisted into grotesque angles.

His elbows and knees had pale broken bones piercing through the skin, sticking out. Just looking at them was frightening and chilling.

The black cloak on his lower body was soaked in a massive pool of blood. The sticky sensation clung to his skin, like being submerged in honey.

"Huff, huff."

The Plague Doctor rested his head on the dirty toilet lid, breathing laboriously.

On his chest, which had been beaten into a sunken state, squatted a female student wearing a blood-stained school uniform and disheveled hair.

She was staring at him unblinkingly with eyes full of white.