You say this is a love game?

But strangling its head was not the end. Mizutani Makoto looked down and saw that the chest cavity of the bronze statue was indeed hollow. There was a ball of green light beating slightly like a heart, pumping out wisps of green mist.

This is the heart.

Mizutani Makoto didn't hesitate and stabbed in with the knife.

Soul +120

A reminder from the soul popped up before my eyes.

The bronze statue beneath his feet quickly collapsed and turned into sand, which was blown away by the wind, leaving only a crystal-like crystal in its place.

Inside the translucent colorless crystal, curled up is a miniature turquoise bronze statue.

[The Spiritual Core of the Ninomiya Statue]

[Description: A spiritual core on paper, an inorganic heart pumping in the void, filled with admiration for academics, as well as anger and worry about some students' lack of enthusiasm for their studies.]

[Comment: How come you don't understand, kid? Only those who endure the most hardships can become the best!]

Another spirit core.

Mizutani Makoto put the spirit core into his backpack. It would take time for Sanatori Yoshiko to digest the spirit core, so this place was not suitable.

Now, what is the progress of the task?

Mizutani Makoto looked up at the night sky. The air was still filled with an uncomfortable chill... He suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart.

Click on the task list.

"Why wasn't the mission completed?"

In the [Emergency Mission: Concerned Citizen? It's me!] task interface, there's no pop-up notification indicating the mission is complete, and no progress can be checked.

This task just lay there quietly, causing Mizutani Makoto to ponder for a while.

“…Isn’t that right?”

Why do you have the feeling that you finally defeated the BOSS, but found that the copy has not ended and the BGM suddenly changed?

[Quest Requirements: Within 36 hours, kill the campus ghosts that have infiltrated the real world to weaken the erosion of the cracks on the real world.]

Mizutani Makoto reviewed the mission again and found that there was no such thing as "kill the statue of Ninomiya" in the mission requirements... Damn it, what Touko said was "kill the campus ghost that sneaked into the world"!

You mean, there's more than one campus ghost story here?

Small head, big question mark.

As Mizutani Makoto was thinking, his eyes suddenly fixed. He heard subtle footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw that it was the girl who had just fallen into the water.

Her hair was wet and matted, and her face looked strangely familiar.

Ota Akemi, who was not wearing glasses, stood still, shivering slightly in the cold wind, looking particularly reserved.

Seeing that she didn't know how to start, Mizutani Makoto took the initiative to reveal his identity as a "classmate" to lower the girl's vigilance.

"Student, do you know what happened here?"

After all, she was the victim being chased by the Ninomiya statue, and it seemed that she got here before him... For the time being, I will remain skeptical about the fact that "girls came to school late at night" and carefully investigate what happened.

"I, we were captured!"

When Ota Akemi heard Mizutani Makoto's question, her emotions suddenly surged.

The tortured girl collapsed to the ground, covering her face and sobbing.

"Things have been going wrong since we heard that piano music yesterday."

"I knew something was wrong, and I looked up a lot of information... It's a school ghost story, and anyone who listens to the piano piece four times will die..."

"So, I was hiding at home, but I suddenly fainted at some point in the night. When I opened my eyes again, we were at the door of the music classroom again..."

"The door is open!"

"Behind that door, the piano is still playing... This is the second time. We are all very scared, but we really can't leave. We can only be forced to listen to the piano music..."

"When we regained our freedom, we all ran away, but this school suddenly became very different. We got separated as we ran, and I was the only one left on the playground when I encountered the bronze statue..."

"It chased me all the way. I wanted to shake it off, so I jumped into the lake..."

In the girl's intermittent crying, Mizutani Makoto gradually understood what happened to her...or what happened to them.

In the music classroom, the piano plays "Für Elise" even though no one is playing it.

Combining the key words together, this is exactly one of the seven incredible events on campus.

Chapter 79 Let’s fight our way through!

What the girl said was a classic murder story.

In an empty music classroom in the middle of the night, the sound of Beethoven's "Für Elise" can be heard. After listening to the complete performance four times, the audience will die.

The story is said to be about a security guard who heard piano music while on night duty. He went to check but found no one there. Every time he touched the piano keys, water stains appeared on them. After the fourth time he listened to "Für Elise," the water stains on the keys turned into blood stains. The nearby window reflected his face, revealing that the blood had flowed from his head.

So, the security guard in the story died.

Mizutani Seiri cleared his mind, narrowed his eyes slightly, and fell on the teaching building in the distance.

He had thought about this question before - where does the light in the teaching building come from?

At first he thought that this twisted barrier was only related to the Ninomiya statue, and was deeply confused about it. Now this question seems to have an answer.

This place also hides other campus ghost stories.

These strange stories are about escaping in a group...

Mizutani Makoto was silent for a moment, then made a prompt decision and asked Satori Yoshiko to prepare to enter the reverse zashiki posture.

"Next, we have to go to the teaching building."

If you hesitate, you will lose.

When Mizutani Makoto hung the Immortal Totem on his body, he already had an extra "resurrection coin".

As for retreat, there is no chance now.

Before entering the barrier, he could still do some intelligence work and make basic preparations, but now that he is in the twisted barrier of the ghost story, there is no need to think about temporarily avoiding the limelight. As for expecting to kneel down and admit his mistakes so that the ghost story will spare his life, that is even more impossible.

There is no way back.

All that remains is to maintain a will as sharp as a knife and forge ahead to carve out a path.

"Old Black also said that strange stories like The Thirteenth Staircase cannot be separated from the cracks for the time being."

"The only items that can come out at this point are paper-grade... and only paper-grade items can remain in the real world for a long time if the cracks don't erode deeply enough."

The seven campus ghost stories also have different strengths and weaknesses.

For example, the statue of Ninomiya that was beheaded by Makoto Mizutani, and the human model that was frightened by fear that he encountered, both of them are paper figures.

On the thirteenth staircase, when talking with Kurosawa Yoshihito, Kurosawa Yoshihito revealed that he was the real BOSS who had surpassed the paper level and reached the "Bing" level.

Kurosawa Yoshihito did not explain clearly what exactly was used to classify the strength. There were too many factors that could affect the strength of a Kwaidan, such as legends, the souls of the living, and even some special external forces could create a powerful Kwaidan.

"There's no absolute gap between paper levels. This isn't the first time I've killed an enemy above paper level."

Makoto Mizutani explained the information to Yoshiko Satori, and the two of them prepared to rush towards the teaching building.

As for Ota Akemi, who was rescued by them nearby, she listened carefully to the conversation between the two.

She was very surprised by the sudden appearance of Satori Yoshiko, especially after discovering that the girl could change size at any time, the surprise turned into a hidden fear.

It is obvious that this little girl in a red kimono is definitely not human.

But when she heard that Mizutani Makoto was planning to go to the teaching building to fight against the ghost story, she immediately mustered up her courage and stood up, pinching the wet hem of her skirt.

She gritted her teeth and said, "I want to go with you."

Water droplets continued to drip from the girl's clothes, leaving a trail of wet marks on the ground.

Mizutani Makoto pondered for a moment and did not refuse.

This is also a way to survive.

When the Ninomiya statue crawled out from the bottom of the lake, he discovered that there might be some "miscellaneous soldiers" in the barrier who were also brought into the human world.

Maybe the number is relatively rare.

He rushed all the way here without encountering any soldiers blocking the way.

However, if a tough character like Miss JK also appears in the barrier, it would be safer for the girl in front of her to follow him all the way. At worst, she will be prohibited from passing before the BOSS battle.

Seeing that Mizutani Makoto did not refuse, Ota Akemi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked cautiously at the boy in front of her whose face was blurry, not daring to get too close, nor too far away from him.

She clutched the hem of her skirt tightly, pushing out all the inappropriate thoughts in her mind—whether they were doubts, curiosity, or admiration—and then whispered, "Classmate, my name is Ota Akemi, and I'm in Class B, Grade 11 of this school. Ota Akemi, what about you?"

I don’t know if it’s an illusion.

Why did she feel...the air suddenly became quiet?

Ota Akemi felt like she'd said something wrong, but she didn't know what was going on. She wanted to see the boy's expression clearly, but she was afraid that squinting to focus would upset him. So, she could only lower her head slightly, using her wet bangs as a cover, and sneak a few glances at him through squinted eyes.

Why does it feel like... the more I look at it, the more familiar it looks?

She thought this action was very covert.

But in fact, this girl is still thinking too much... She is just like the students under the podium. She is indeed a master who can make more than ten fake moves in one second, but the teacher standing on the podium can see everything clearly.

The young man muttered, "...Mizutani Makoto."

The smile on Ota Akemi's face froze and gradually turned into an incredible expression.

Finally, she shuddered violently, like a child who had done something wrong. She lowered her head, stood there at a loss, her whole body tense like a taut bowstring.

She finally remembered why the voice sounded so familiar.

This is Mizutani Makoto!

It was Makoto Mizutani who elbowed Mai Yajima hard when he was ordered to bully her!

Mizutani Makoto also looked at her strangely.

For a moment, both of them fell silent.

"Please! Don't, don't leave me! I'll listen to you no matter what!"

"Stop, I'm not going to leave you here to die."

As soon as Mizutani Makoto raised his hand, Ota Akemi immediately took two steps back in fear.

He wasn't surprised, but simply asked, "I heard from Zhenyi that you apologized to her? Do you still want to be friends with her?"

Ota Akemi was stunned for a moment, then nodded imperceptibly: "Yeah, yeah..."

"So what kind of person do you think she is?"

Mizutani Makoto continued to ask her.

"Yajima-san? She, she..."

She wanted to offer compliments, but facing Mizutani Makoto's earnest gaze, Ota Akemi silently swallowed the flattering praise and whispered, "She's a very simple person, very pure, and very enthusiastic... She's completely different from us. I think it's nice to be friends with her."

"Okay, then remember what you said now and let's go."

Ota Akemi looked at the back of the boy in front of her and suddenly realized something.

Makoto Mizutani is really a very protective person.

He could beat them mercilessly for Yajima Mai, but at this time he could also be kind to her because of Yajima Mai's feelings.

Ota Akemi's feet stepped on the cold ground and she staggered to catch up with Mizutani Makoto.

She pleaded softly, not knowing what she was feeling. "Mizutani-san, please... could you please save us? It's not just me, but also Rika, Tsubaki, and Eiri. They all heard the piano music and were dragged in here."

"We got separated before, and I don't know where they went..."

Mizutani Makoto nodded: "If there is still time, I will do my best to save him."

"Besides, you reminded me of something."

"You're the only one who apologized to Mai, right?"

He was going to put an end to this mess.

Just like the happiness of the Satori family, Makoto Mizutani always likes a happy ending with a good beginning and a good end.