The bell rang for lunch, releasing a flood of students into the hallways.
Ren didn't go to the cafeteria. He walked straight against the flow of traffic, heading for the desolate staircase at the end of the East Wing.
His hand was in his pocket, clutching the Vial of Morning Dew.
He ducked into an empty janitorial closet, locking the door behind him. It smelled of bleach and wet mops—a scent Ren associated with covering up crime scenes.
"Bottoms up," Ren whispered.
He uncorked the vial and downed it.
It didn't taste like dew. It tasted like swallowing a mouthful of ice-cold mouthwash mixed with rocket fuel.
GULP.
A jolt of cold electricity shot down his throat and exploded in his stomach. Ren gasped, bracing himself against a shelf of paper towels. His veins pulsed with blue light for a split second, visible even through his skin.
[ SYSTEM ALERT ] [ ITEM CONSUMED: VIAL OF MORNING DEW ] [ MANA RESTORED: +50 ] [ CURRENT MANA: 50 / 1000 ]
Ren exhaled a cloud of cold mist. His headache vanished. The heaviness in his limbs lifted.
He looked at his hand. He flexed his fingers, and the air hummed. It was a pathetic amount of power—barely enough to light a candle in his old life—but right now, it felt like adrenaline.
"Fifty mana," Ren muttered. "Better than nothing."
He kicked the door open and stepped back into the hallway.
Now, he needed to find the leak.
"Spirit Sight."
[ SKILL ACTIVATED: SPIRIT SIGHT (TIER 0) ] [ COST: 1 MANA / MINUTE ]
The world washed out into grayscale. The students walking past him turned into blurry shapes of white mist. But the walls... the walls were bleeding.
Black veins of necrotic energy were pulsing through the school's concrete, pumping like a circulatory system.
Ren followed the thickest vein. It didn't lead down to the basement. It led up.
He climbed the stairs, ignoring the burning sensation in his eyes. Third floor. The "Old Wing."
The black veins converged on a single wooden door at the end of the hallway. The air around it was freezing. The floor tiles were cracked.
Ren stopped. He looked at the sign on the door.
GIRLS (Restroom)
Ren blinked. The Shaman King stared at the stick-figure woman in the pink dress.
"You have to be kidding me," Ren deadpanned.
"Ren?"
Jian appeared behind him, holding a half-eaten sandwich. He adjusted his glasses, looking at the door, then at Ren.
"Ren," Jian said slowly. "Why are you staring at the girls' bathroom with that intense 'I'm going to conquer a nation' look?"
Ren pointed at the door. "The source. It's in there."
Jian took a bite of his sandwich. "The source of what? The smell of cheap perfume?"
"The miasma," Ren said, his voice serious. "The spiritual pressure is off the charts. There's a rift opening inside. If we don't close it, this entire floor will be a Dead Zone by sunset."
Ren stepped forward, reaching for the handle.
Jian grabbed his shoulder. Hard.
"Whoa, stop," Jian hissed. "Ren. Look at the sign. That is the forbidden zone."
"It's a room with porcelain bowls," Ren argued, trying to shake him off. "I am a Grand Sh— I am a concerned student trying to save lives."
"You are a male student," Jian corrected. "If you walk in there, you don't get a medal. You get a suspension and a permanent record. My dad can fight demons, Ren, but he can't fight the PTA."
Ren looked at the door. The black energy was seeping out from under the crack now, curling around his ankles like dry ice.
"Jian, there is something crawling out of the spirit world in there. Are you seriously worried about school policy?"
"Yes," Jian said instantly. "I have a reputation. I'm invisible. If I get caught in the girls' bathroom, I become 'Pervert Jian.' That's a debuff that lasts until graduation."
Jian stepped back, leaning against the lockers. He crossed his arms.
"I'll stand guard. I'll cough if a teacher comes. But you go in alone. If you get caught, I don't know you."
Ren rolled his eyes. "Coward."
"Civilian," Jian corrected.
Ren checked the hallway. Empty.
He took a deep breath, channeled a tiny bit of mana into his feet to silence his steps, and pushed the door open.
[ ENTERING ZONE: THE WEEPING TILES ] [ WARNING: HIGH SPIRITUAL DENSITY ]
The inside didn't look like a high school bathroom. It looked like a swamp.
The lights were flickering rapidly. The air was thick and humid, smelling of stagnant water and rotting hair. The mirrors were fogged up, but the condensation was red, not clear.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Water was overflowing from the third sink, spilling onto the floor.
Ren stepped carefully over the puddles. His sneakers squelched.
"Show yourself," Ren commanded softly.
He walked past the stalls. Empty. Empty. Empty.
He reached the sinks.
He looked into the mirror above the overflowing basin.
His reflection didn't look back.
The glass rippled like a pond disturbed by a stone. The surface was black, deep, and infinite.
[ ANOMALY DETECTED: MINOR RIFT ] [ CLASS: MIRROR GATE ]
"A portal," Ren whispered. "Someone is trying to commute."
Suddenly, the black water in the mirror surged.
A hand shot out.
It wasn't a human hand. It was pale, bloated, and dripping with black slime. The fingernails were long, jagged shards of broken glass.
It grabbed the edge of the sink, the porcelain cracking under its grip.
Then came the head.
Long, wet black hair plastered over a face that had no eyes—only a mouth. A mouth that was stitched shut with red thread.
[ BOSS ENCOUNTER INITIATED ] [ ENTITY: THE MIRROR MAIDEN (SPECTER) ] [ LEVEL: 5 ]
The creature pulled itself halfway out of the mirror, its joints cracking audibly. It turned its eyeless face toward Ren.
RIIIIIP.
The red threads on its mouth snapped one by one.
"Hhhheeelllpppp..." it gurgled. The voice sounded like water draining down a pipe.
Ren didn't scream. He didn't panic.
He looked at his mana bar. 48 / 1000.
He looked at the ghost.
"Level 5," Ren noted, a cruel smile touching his lips. "Finally. Something worth looting."
The ghost shrieked—a sonic blast that shattered the other mirrors in the room.
Glass exploded outward.
Ren didn't flinch. He raised his hand, pointing two fingers at the creature's forehead.
"You're in the wrong restroom," Ren said. "And you didn't wash your hands."
[ COMBAT START ]