Chapter 883 - 11: Mikko
A certain household, a plain and ordinary bathroom.
A girl dressed in pajamas was brushing her teeth, instinctively looking out the window.
Outside, night had fully descended, with the city enveloped by the thick atmosphere of darkness. Yet, countless high-rise buildings were lit brilliantly, forming an outline like a dragon as cars flowed continuously, their lights drawing patterns in the night.
This familiar scene made her feel more at ease, already calmed by being home.
——Indeed...
——It must have just been the pressure causing those illusions...
Walking from the window back to the mirror in the bathroom, the long black-haired girl thought as she sighed with relief while brushing her teeth. Then, she picked up the cup at hand, started rinsing her mouth... Before long, she bent down to spit out the water, then raised her head again.
The next moment——
Her pupils slightly trembled, and the expression of the beautiful girl in the mirror froze along with them.
"..."
"..."
The mirror clearly reflected a twisted dark figure, standing quietly behind her.
Amidst the swirling dark aura, one could see a figure in a black suit, dressed impeccably, like a well-dressed office worker about to go to work.
If only...
It wasn’t for the neck twisted three hundred and sixty degrees, the head turned completely downwards, features completely inverted, even without taking into account the malicious, hateful gaze, the posture was especially terrifying and horrifying.
"..."
"..."
Her mind went blank, almost completely unable to think.
The long black-haired girl silently placed the cup back on the shelf, instinctively acting as if dust got into her eyes, raising her hand to rub her eyes, mumbling a few words, then lowered her head directly to open the faucet, splashing handfuls of clear water onto her face.
At the same time, these actions concealed her slightly trembling body.
No more...
She truly couldn’t anymore...
Inside, waves of lament echoed, her small face tightened, completely unsure of what was going through her mind at this moment. She desperately comforted herself, slowly raising her head, hiding behind the veil of water droplets on her face, her eyes slightly moist as she looked into the mirror.
An empty bathroom, nothing there.
Disappeared...?
Or never existed? Anyway, either way, it’s really so, so good...
An instant passed, and the beautiful girl in the mirror showed a relieved expression.
"..." She firmly held onto the sink, pursing her lips noiselessly, feeling her calves weakening, nearly unable to stand.
...
Meanwhile.
"I see, only the eyes are special, huh?"
On the rooftop, a young man in white with black hair sat cross-legged, thoughtfully and casually crushed the Evil Spirit he had just caught in midair.
The remnants of Spiritual Essence turned into black smoke, swiftly dissipating into the air.
"Such sharp and powerful observation ability, capable of seeing the truth of the world... Yet having no countermeasures, it’s truly unfortunate."
He lamented, this girl is rather unlucky, her eyes are overly powerful as mere "Yin Yang Eyes," even in pure observation ability, matching the power of some B-grade Demon Eyes.
However——
Having talents beyond ordinary people isn’t necessarily a good thing.
Situations like this one are really tough for this girl... But it seems that today is when her special Pupil Power awakened, yet being able to rely purely on willpower and acting to get through is quite an achievement.
So——
Could this girl be a suitable entry point?
...
...
The night passed without words.
The next morning, golden rays of sunlight streamed down. At this early morning hour, the black-haired girl, looking obviously unwell mentally, stepped out of her home.
The night went by without further incidents, but she had found salt, piled it high in a bowl, and placed it in her room... Whether it had any effect is uncertain, but until morning, she indeed encountered nothing unsettling.
Whether merely avoiding bad luck or if the salt repelled evil, she thought it better to keep this in her room in the future.
——Even for a bit of peace of mind.
"Hmm..."
Not far from home, she paused momentarily, noticing activity at a house nearby, with a moving truck displaying a moving company advertisement parked at the door, uniformed workers wiping sweat from their foreheads as they carried items aboard.
Neighbor’s house...
Is it moving away?
With this thought rising in her mind, the girl silently watched, saying nothing, simply passing by the truck, heading toward the end of the road.
Seemingly without incident, we arrived at the school safely. The girl with long black hair had been slightly anxious, but now felt relieved, as if a heavy stone had been lifted off her chest. Not seeing those things anymore, it seemed they had all disappeared... They must just have been hallucinations, not real at all.
Feeling immensely delighted, she thought to herself and couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief, her mood suddenly brightening.
"Good morning!"
"Haha..."
In the corridor of the school building, the early-arriving students greeted each other, some weakly, others energetically, presenting a scene of youthful campus life. That’s the atmosphere in the ivory tower; regardless of the circumstances, the students’ world remains relatively
Witnessing all this, the girl felt her heart at ease, a sense of security dispelled the helpless confusion and tension... This is good, this is good.
—"Mikko! Good morning!"
A lively voice suddenly came from behind, followed by a soft bounce coming from her back... Even though she’d quickly realized what was happening, the girl called Mikko was still startled by the surprise.
"Don’t scare me like that, Xiao Hua..."
She squatted down on the corridor floor, holding the wall of the nearby classroom, her body trembling slightly.
Finally recovering a bit, she complained irritably while keeping her hand on her chest, breathing lightly.
While her mood had just improved, it didn’t mean that the accumulated fear and stress could instantly disappear! She was truly frightened almost to the point of losing her soul, her heart pounding violently in her chest cavity.
But this accumulated fear and stress seemed to have found relief—
Even though she was thoroughly startled, she simultaneously felt a sudden lightness in her heart, as if the oppressive discomfort was rapidly being extracted. Like riding a roller coaster in an amusement park, after screaming freely, despite feeling weak-kneed upon getting off, it was exhilarating.
"Hehe, how did Mikko know it was me..."
At this moment, the energetic girl with short hair who launched the surprise attack was smiling widely, clasping her hands behind her back, seemingly curious as she asked.
"... How could I not recognize your voice."
The girl with long black hair pursed her lips, turning around to look at her friend, who had a well-endowed bust, making her uniform stretch. Just looking at her made it seem this must be astonishingly elastic, but she decided not to voice that reason.
"Hehe..." The short-haired girl touched the back of her head, then curiously observed Mikko: "Speaking of which, what’s wrong with you, why are you so easily scared?"
"..."
"..."
"It’s, it’s nothing..."
Though tempted to vent about her experiences yesterday, the girl still shook her head slightly; looking at it now, it seemed the stress had led to hallucinations, and today there’s nothing wrong. Plus, her friend is prone to fear; no need to relay these things and frighten her.
Just as the girl with long black hair sought an excuse to brush the subject aside, out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed a shadow passing outside the corridor.
"..."
"..."
Isn’t this the third floor?
What was that, Lord Eight Feet or something even more ridiculous?
For a fleeting moment, the girl’s mood seemed fragile, like precarious building blocks, outwardly beautiful but ready to crumble at a touch. Her expression turned wooden, trying hard to keep her face tight, her body vaguely starting to tense up.
It’s over...
She seemed to vaguely glimpse her future, appearing as nothing but darkness.
...
Time at school felt both short and endless, offering no relaxation.
After one day, Mikko felt utterly exhausted—
Not only needing to focus on classes and studying, but also constantly on edge, wary of frightening paranormal developments.
Like an arm stretching out from her friend’s desk drawer...
And the deformed head in the locker room’s cabinet...
These were truly torturous experiences; she didn’t even understand how she endured them. As the school’s dismissal bell echoed through the campus, she couldn’t help but feel completely burnt out.
"Let’s go for some donuts; they’re fifty percent off at the shopping street today!"
Probably noticing her friend’s fatigue, despite not understanding why, the short-haired girl felt Mikko needed something to eat, seeming that this day had been particularly tough... Though she didn’t know why, it was still hard for her.
Faced with the suggestion, the girl felt she needed to eat some sweets to soothe her weary, pained soul.
The two left the campus together.
Their shadows stretched long in the sunlight of the approaching evening’s westward slant.
On the road were many people passing by, with many classmates chuckling, grouped together. No longer seeing those twisted, chaotic, ominous figures emitting black energy, all of this reassured the girl, who forced herself to perk up and chat and laugh with her friend.
Just to divert her attention might as well... It can’t go on like this.
In conversation, without realizing it, they arrived at the shopping street not far from the school. Just yesterday, it was here that, forced by rain, she had to wait for a long time at the bus stop, where the nightmare began... Recalling something unpleasant, her expression subtly changed.
Nervously and anxiously, she glanced around, intending to check for any unwelcome presences.
"Hey, hey, Mikko, over here—"
However, her friend tugged her forward, still with endless energy, saying: "Wow, what a long line, we’ve come late... Let’s hurry, or it’ll be too late."
"Ugh..."
Mikko, somewhat helpless, was dragged forward quickly, and when she tried to look more closely, the crowd obscured her view.