Eriri shot Yui a glare from the side, her resentment obvious.
It was no surprise people always talked about Yui.
To fit in with the popular clique, Yui had gone all-in on the gyaru style, even adjusting her uniform to look a bit bolder than the rules allowed.
“If you’re staring that hard, you could at least start with your Senpai,” Utaha said, her smile sly.
She stretched her arms over her head with calm confidence, making it seem like she meant to do it.
The other girls in the room immediately turned their glares on her.
“…”
Ren blinked himself back to the present and gave a small shrug, completely unfazed.
“I was just thinking about what kind of urban legend we’re dealing with.”
Privately, though, he had to admit Yui’s style made her hard to ignore.
“So, can you tell us the story exactly as you heard it?” Ren asked, shifting back to business.
The trigger seemed to be the story itself.
The very same tale Yui’s classmate had whispered to her.
Yui hesitated, the color draining from her face.
“I don’t know why, but I have this awful feeling that if I tell you guys, you’ll be in danger too.”
She might look like a flashy gyaru, but underneath, she cared more about others than herself.
“It’s fine,” Utaha said, easing her voice.
“Our Kouhai will know what to do.”
“Yeah.
As long as he’s here, we’re safe,” Eriri added.
“His exorcism skills are reliable,” Megumi said in her usual flat tone.
Hearing how much the others trusted him, Yui glanced at Ren.
He stood there with his arms crossed, calm enough to make the situation feel almost normal.
“O-Okay,” Yui said at last.
She drew in a shaky breath, then slowly repeated the story her classmate had told her.
At first, nothing happened.
It sounded like any other ghost story passed around after class.
But the longer she spoke, the more the atmosphere in the room shifted.
Click.
Clack.
Click.
This time, everyone heard it—a frantic clatter of high heels rushing straight toward them.
“Shut up!
Shut up!
Don’t say another word!” A woman’s voice cut through the air, hoarse and rough.
Yui jumped at the voice and fell silent. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“Keep going,” Ren said.
His arms stayed crossed.
He didn’t even flinch.
“B-But I’m basically at the end!” Yui stammered.
“Then start over from the beginning.”
Yui looked at him like he was crazy, but after a tense moment, she nodded and started over.
Click.
Clack.
Click.
The frantic footsteps came back, even closer this time.
Every time Yui got close to finishing, Ren told her to start again.
The room kept getting colder, and the presence pressing down on them became harder to breathe through.
Utaha and the others edged closer to Ren without even noticing.
“Shut up!
Shut up!
SHUT UP!”
The hoarse voice grew louder until it seemed to shake the whole room.
“I SAID SHUT UP!”
SMASH!
The clubroom door burst open.
A woman in a blood-red dress and red high heels rushed in, her face hidden behind a mess of long black hair.
“AHHHHHHH!”
Yui screamed, pure terror in her voice.
The other girls flinched, but after everything they’d seen, they managed not to panic.
The Woman in Red didn’t pause.
She threw herself straight at Yui.
Yui was frozen with fear.
She could only watch as the monster’s hand reached for her.
“Eradicate.”
A yellow talisman shot past Yui’s shoulder and hit the Woman in Red, throwing the spirit backward across the room.
“Weaker than I expected,” Ren muttered.
She was an evil spirit, no doubt, but her spiritual pressure was pitiful.
Ren didn’t even need to use Palm Thunder.
He flicked his wrist, sending several more talismans flying through the air to pin the writhing spirit in place.
“Raging Fire Talisman.
Eradicate.”
A violent burst of fire filled the room.
The Woman in Red shrieked as the flames consumed her, reducing her to ash within seconds.
[Demon successfully exorcised: Woman in Red!]
[Reward: Yin Energy +800!]
Only eight hundred points?
That explained why she seemed so weak.
Of course, she only seemed weak to Ren.
For anyone else, facing an urban legend like her would have been deadly.
Yui stood rooted to the spot.
It was the first time she had ever seen Ren fight, and her mind couldn’t process what had just happened.
“You never cease to amaze me, Kouhai,” Utaha said, unable to hide the awe in her voice.
Even after seeing his power before, it still left her shaken.
“It wasn’t anything special.
She wasn’t a strong spirit,” Ren said with a shrug.
The tension finally broke.
Yui’s knees buckled, and she sank to the floor.
“T-Thank you…” she whispered, her voice trembling.
It was finally over.
For days, she had been trapped in that nightmare—hearing footsteps, waking from bad dreams, always afraid the thing would come for her.
She really thought she would die.
Now, she was finally safe.
Ren walked over and looked down at her.
“You should stop listening to ghost stories from other people.”
Urban legends always had some kind of killing condition.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman asked if she was pretty, and Sadako needed someone to watch her tape.
The Woman in Red was no different.
“Her trigger is the story itself,” Ren explained.
“Once you hear it, the curse sticks to you.
The only way out is to pass it on by telling someone else.
In other words, the classmate who told you that story used you as the scapegoat.”
It helps new readers find it.
And of course, your Power Stones help push the story forward.
Thanks for reading.