Chapter 74: Hyakumonogatari (100 Tales)

The discovery of a corpse in the girls’ dorm caused an immediate uproar. Jessica, who had been researching in the school library at the time, was found and cooperated with the investigation.

At first, many suspected that Jessica, overcome by grief, had sneaked into the cemetery to dig up Edward’s body herself. People sympathized with the tragic couple and were moved by Jessica’s obsessive devotion, sincerely advising the poor girl to see a psychologist.

Edward’s parents quickly received the news and rushed to the school, hastily taking his body away and reburying him in his grave.

However, that very night, Edward—his corpse now in an advanced state of decay—once again left the cemetery and appeared at the girls’ dormitory, banging on the door with his skeletal forehead just as he had the night before.

The third and fourth nights followed the same pattern.

During this time, Jessica remained huddled in her dorm room, too terrified to go anywhere. Meanwhile, multiple people at the school witnessed Edward’s corpse wandering alone at night.

By this point, people realized something was seriously wrong. The events were so bizarre that they even drew the attention of the church.

A priest personally recited prayers over Edward’s body to guide his soul to heaven. After the ritual, his family sent Edward to the funeral home for cremation and buried his ashes in an empty coffin.

From then on, nothing unusual occurred at Edward’s grave. People assumed that, under the priest’s guidance, Edward had finally let go of his obsession and passed on to heaven.

The only exception was Gina, the girl living in the dorm next to Jessica.

“I’m a bit sensitive and often wake up from the smallest sounds,” she explained. “So only I know that every night, Edward’s spirit still makes its way past countless obstacles to reach Jessica’s door. You’ve probably heard that Jessica is obsessed with the occult and knows a few little tricks. I don’t know what she did, but Edward—trapped as a ghost—can never enter her room. He can only pace outside her door day after day, banging on it with his forehead, making a dull, muffled sound.”

“Just like this—thud… thud…”

The girl straightened her posture, expressionless, leaning her forehead forward bit by bit to mimic the ghost banging on the door. In the candlelight, her deliberately lowered voice and slightly upward-rolling eyes gave off a thoroughly eerie vibe, sending chills down everyone’s spine.

“Edward and Jessica once promised to be together forever. So even if one of them has died, the other will drag their broken body across countless obstacles, stubbornly returning to their lover’s side to be reunited… That’s why Edward keeps banging on the door, over and over. With each strike, his forehead pushes through the door a little further. I believe that, sooner or later, he will break through the barriers and meet Jessica. By then… I suppose even my insomnia will be completely cured.”

With that, she took a deep breath and—pff—blew out the candle in her hand.

The last flame vanished, and the entire science lab was plunged into absolute darkness.

In the pitch-black, where they couldn’t see their own hands, the four students swallowed nervously and began to count in turn.

“One,” the first student said.

“Two,” the second followed.

“Three,” said the third.

When the three finished counting, it was finally Gina’s turn—the same girl who had just told the story of Edward. Listening to the heavy breathing in the room, she strained her voice and carefully counted, “Four.”

The words fell, and everyone held their breath, waiting in silence. The classroom was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

One second… two seconds… three seconds… Just when everyone began to think the legend was fake, that no ghost could possibly appear, a faint voice echoed from a dark corner.

“Five…”

“Ahhhhh!”

“It’s real! There really are ghosts in this world!”

The students’ panicked screams echoed one after another. One of them, who happened to be near the window, groped his way over and yanked open the heavy blackout curtain with a whoosh. Sunlight poured back into the science lab, and in the bright light, the four of them saw a young woman standing in the corner, arms crossed and smiling.

She wore a slightly retro blazer with a fitted skirt, a red plaid scarf around her neck. She looked to be around thirty, with long blonde hair cascading down to her hips. She didn’t look like a student—probably one of the teachers. Katak High, being a private school, had a strong faculty and a large staff; even students who had been there since enrollment might not know all the teachers.

“Sorry, sorry! Did I scare you?” the woman said, standing at the closed door, waving to the four students with an apologetic smile. “I was just passing by and heard someone counting inside, so I couldn’t help but join in for a second.”

“Oh, it’s a teacher! You scared us to death!”

“We even thought the ghost-summoning legend was real.”

The four students finally relaxed.

“Legend? What legend?”

“We were playing a game that came from Japan,” one explained. “The idea is, in a completely dark room, four people each hold a candle and take turns telling ghost stories. After each person finishes, they blow out their candle. Once all four candles are out and you count again, there’s suddenly a fifth person in the room—someone who wasn’t supposed to be there. That fifth person is the ghost summoned by the stories.”

“Wow, that sounds really fun,” the blonde woman said, smiling brightly.

A boy among them named Bright shrugged. “Fun? Not at all. We almost got scared to death just now.” He laughed as he remembered how terrified the group had been, shouting and crying, and found himself unable to hold it in.

“I’m Bright, president of the school’s Supernatural Research Club. Those three are our members—Baron, Darcy, and Gina. We were just holding this week’s club activity. Teacher, what do you teach? We don’t think we’ve seen you before.”

“Hello, I’m Berlin, the visual arts teacher. If any of you are interested in sculpture, you’re welcome to take my class… Oh, so you’re part of the Supernatural Research Club. Well, I happen to know a few little tricks for boosting your luck. I have some free time—maybe you’d like me to share them?”

“Really? That would be amazing! We’re very interested!”

…

The chaos set off by the monkey’s paw finally settled only after Edward’s body was cremated. Though rumors persisted that Jessica was still haunted by Edward’s ghost, Everly didn’t care at all. Whatever consequences occurred were entirely Jessica’s own doing.

By contrast, Everly’s focus was on the upcoming SAT exam.

After summer break, she would enter 11th grade—a critical year for college preparation. She had already researched in advance: to stay competitive, she needed to maintain a high GPA while also preparing for the SAT. Her dream school, New Osebuch State University, required an SAT score above 1300. It wasn’t an extremely high bar, but she couldn’t slack off either. Ideally, she wanted to take the exam in October, so if the results weren’t satisfactory, she’d still have enough time to retake it.

Outside academics, Everly also needed to continue excelling on the tennis court. A strong athletic record could significantly boost her college applications—a valuable advantage.

Although juggling so many priorities was tiring, since she already had a target university in mind, she was determined to give it her all.

To achieve this, during the summer after 10th grade—when everyone else was soaking up the sun and enjoying their youth—Everly spent time every day working through practice problems, reinforcing various concepts. Once she entered 11th grade, she devoted nearly all her time outside of extracurriculars to solving problems and studying.

Still, Micano was a relatively remote, little-known city. Even though Katak High was the best private school in town, its academic environment couldn’t compare to the ordinary high schools Everly had known in her previous life. In her class, students like Everly, who had already set goals and started preparing early, were in the minority. The vast majority were still busy with romance, rivalries, or showing off their energy and skills on the sports field.

“The tuition here is 30,000 dollars a year. Didn’t they come to a private school to prepare for college? Why aren’t they even a little worried?” Everly asked Misha privately, shocked by her classmates’ relaxed attitude.

Misha shrugged helplessly. “Honestly, if you hadn’t gotten me started early, Everly, I wouldn’t be studying this diligently either. You see, 11th grade has just begun, and it feels like there’s still plenty of time to prepare. It’s hard to feel any sense of urgency yet.”

“…”

Well, that did fit Everly’s stereotypical impression of American high school students.

Regardless of everyone else, Everly followed her plan. She registered for the October SAT at the very start of 11th grade and scored 1487.

Not bad—decent, with room for improvement.

Misha had also signed up for the October SAT. However, her math was weaker and held her back, so she only scored 1203—about 100 points short of New Osebuch State University’s requirement.

“I’m so jealous of you, Everly. If you pass in one try, the rest of the year you only have to worry about schoolwork and tennis competitions. If only my math were as good as yours…” That evening, Misha sat at the computer in the study, propping her chin on one hand, staring at her score report with a worried frown and a long sigh.

“You still have November and December to retake it. Just raise your score then. And if you need tutoring, I can help you.”

“No need! You’ve got your own stuff to focus on. I’m going to ask Gina in the class next door for advice. Did you know her math score on the SAT this time was perfect? It’s unbelievable! Back in August, she only got 350 points in math. She must have figured out some secret study method!”

“Gina?”

“Yeah, the one who claims she’s extremely sensitive but joined the Supernatural Research Club.”

“Oh… her math score was perfect this time?” Everly glanced at her own score report. With her memories from her previous life and the effort she had put in this one, her math scores were already pretty solid, but even so, out of a perfect 800 she only got 775—missing 25 points. She remembered one tricky problem that involved a bit of a mental trap. For Gina to suddenly score perfectly in math… it was truly extraordinary.

And in the world of survival in horror films, one unbreakable truth applies—when something’s off, there’s always a reason.

Horror Movie Survival Rule #1: Pay attention to hints.

A sudden surge in math scores, combined with the “Supernatural Research Club” label—a high-risk identity—immediately put Everly on alert.

Of course, nothing is absolute. Maybe Gina really had studied diligently, suddenly had a breakthrough, and mastered the key to acing math…

After thinking it over, Everly decided that tomorrow she and Misha would go see Gina and get her insights—figure out what was really going on.

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Author’s Note:

The original version of the Hyakumonogatari game required 100 players, but that’s difficult, so a common variation is for 4 players because 4 is an unlucky number that sounds like “death.”