"We can't just walk out," Jian hissed, matching Ren's brisk pace down the hallway. "The hall monitors log exit times. If we leave five minutes after a spiritual detonation, it doesn't look like truancy. It looks like fleeing a crime scene."
Ren didn't slow down. He pushed the double doors open, squinting at the sudden glare of the afternoon sun.
"It is a crime scene," Ren said. "And walking fast is our best legal defense. Unless you want to stick around and explain to the Inquisitors why the girls' bathroom smells like a frozen cemetery?"
Jian paled. "Point taken. To the car."
They crossed the parking lot in silence. The sky was turning a bruised purple as evening approached, the clouds heavy with unnatural static.
Jian led them to a black hybrid SUV parked in the faculty lot.
"My dad's old patrol unit," Jian muttered, unlocking it. "He let me take it today because my scooter is in the shop. Don't touch the radio. It's encrypted."
They got in. Jian locked the doors instantly. He didn't start the engine. Instead, he turned in his seat and looked at Ren with the cold, analytical eyes of a junior Reaper.
"Okay," Jian said, the engine still off. "We're sealed. Now talk."
Ren was wiping blue ectoplasm off his neck with a wet wipe he found in the glove box. "Talk about what?"
"Don't play dumb," Jian said. "You just froze a water pipe with a single word. You harvested a soul with your bare hand. I've been watching you, Ren."
Jian pulled out a small notebook from his pocket.
"That hand sign you used in the bathroom? The Mudra of the Nine Tides. That hasn't been in a textbook since the Ming Dynasty. And the chant? That was Old Dialect, pre-unification."
Jian leaned in, his glasses reflecting the dashboard lights.
"You're not just 'remembering' things. You're an encyclopedia of banned magic. Who are you really?"
Ren looked at his friend. He realized Jian wasn't just a lazy gamer; he was a prodigy who had been raised in a house full of detectives.
"I am Ren," he said calmly, tossing the dirty wipe into a trash bag. "But the part of me that woke up... is from a time before your bureaucracy existed. A time when we didn't file reports. We just gave orders."
Jian stared at him for a long, silent moment. Then, he sighed, turning the key. The engine purred to life.
"You're a nightmare," Jian muttered, putting the car in reverse. "If my dad finds out I'm harboring an unregistered Ancient One, he's going to ground me for life. After he executes you."
"Where are we going?" Ren asked as they pulled out of the school gates.
"My house," Jian said. "You smell like dead ghost water. If you go home to your grandma like that, she'll have a stroke. Plus, my dad has a workshop. If we're going to survive the Reapers, we need better gear."
Jian's house was a fortress of suburbia.
It looked normal from the street—manicured lawn, sprinkler system, two-car garage. But the moment they stepped onto the porch, Ren felt the static charge in the air.
[ SYSTEM ALERT ]
[ BOUNDARY DETECTED: WARD OF SILENCE (TIER 3) ]
[ EFFECT: BLOCKS SPIRITUAL SIGNALS ]
"Nice security," Ren noted.
"Dad brings work home," Jian said, punching a code into the keypad. "The shower is down the hall. Throw your clothes in the incinerator chute—don't ask. I'll get you something to wear."
Twenty minutes later, Ren emerged. He was clean, but he looked ridiculous. He was wearing Jian's oversized grey sweatpants and a black hoodie that said INSERT COIN TO CONTINUE.
He found Jian in the basement.
Or rather, the "Man Cave."
It was a shrine to two things: High-end gaming and the afterlife. One wall was dominated by a massive multi-monitor PC setup with neon cooling pipes. The other wall was covered in shelves displaying "antiques"—weird compasses, jade tablets, and sealed jars containing swirling black mist.
Jian was at his computer, typing furiously. Three monitors displayed scrolling code and spirit maps.
"Okay, Ancient One," Jian said, spinning his chair around. "Here's the situation. You killed a Mirror Maiden. That leaves a mark. The Northern Office tracks spiritual spikes like seismic activity."
Jian pointed to the center screen. A red dot was pulsing over Northwood High.
[ ALERT: UNREGISTERED SPIRITUAL DISCHARGE ]
[ MAGNITUDE: CLASS 4 ]
[ INVESTIGATION TEAM DISPATCHED ]
"They're coming," Jian said. "And since you left your unique mana signature all over the bathroom, they'll trace it to you."
"Then we mask it," Ren said, stepping forward. "Give me Cinnabar Ink and yellow paper. I will write a Talisman of False Trails."
Jian looked at him like he was an idiot.
"A paper talisman?" Jian scoffed. "Ren, what century is this? You think the Reapers track smells? They track spectral frequencies. They use satellites."
Ren paused, his hand hovering over the desk. "Satellites?"
"Yes. The Spirit Web," Jian said, typing again. "If you burn a paper talisman, you're just making smoke. You're not changing the data packet. They'll see right through it."
Ren frowned. He felt... obsolete. In his time, a brush and ink could hide an army. Now, apparently, he was being outsmarted by a router.
"So my magic is useless?" Ren asked, his voice low.
"Your magic is raw power," Jian corrected. "It's gasoline. But you need an engine."
Jian pulled up a map of the city.
"We don't need ink. We need a signal spoofer. I can hack the Reaper Dispatch grid and tell them the signal came from somewhere else. But I can't fake the signature."
Jian looked at Ren.
"I need you to touch the server."
"Touch the... machine?"
"Yes. Put your hand on the hard drive. Push your Mana into it. I'll translate your 'Ancient Intent' into binary code. We're going to digitally throw a rock to distract the guard."
Ren looked at the blinking LEDs of the computer tower. It looked alien to him. But he understood the concept: Puppetry.
"Fine," Ren said.
He placed his hand on the warm metal casing.
[ SYSTEM INTERFACE DETECTED ]
[ COMPATIBILITY CHECK... ]
[ WARNING: TECH LEVEL UNKNOWN ]
"Push," Jian ordered, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "Visualize the location you want to frame."
Ren closed his eyes. He pictured the location he had seen on the map earlier—the place where the Mirror Maiden's trail had originated.
The Happy Ending Funeral Home.
Ren pushed his 1050 Mana into the machine.
ZAP.
The computer fans roared to life. The screens flickered green.
"Whoa!" Jian laughed, his glasses reflecting the cascading code. "That's not just Mana. That's Authority. You're bypassing the firewalls like they aren't even there!"
Ren felt the connection. He wasn't writing a talisman; he was rewriting reality through the copper wires. He felt the digital eye of the Reaper Satellite looking at the school, and he simply... nudged it.
On the screen, the Red Dot over the school vanished.
A new Red Dot appeared three miles away, directly over the Funeral Home.
[ DISPATCH UPDATE: SIGNAL RELOCATED ]
[ NEW TARGET: HAPPY ENDING FUNERAL HOME ]
[ SQUAD 6 RE-ROUTING... ]
Jian hit ENTER with a flourish.
"And... sent," Jian grinned. "Congratulations. You just committed cyber-fraud against the Afterlife."
Ren pulled his hand back, shaking out the numbness. He looked at the computer with newfound respect.
"Efficient," Ren admitted. "No chanting required."
"Welcome to the 21st Century," Jian said.
CLICK.
The sound of the front door opening upstairs echoed down the stairwell. Heavy boots on hardwood.
"Jian!" a deep voice called out. "I'm home early. Why is the perimeter alarm disabled?"
Jian froze. His face went white.
"It's my dad," Jian whispered. "He wasn't supposed to be back until midnight."
Ren stood up, his eyes narrowing. The green glow began to rise in his pupils.
"Does he have Spirit Sight?" Ren asked.
"He's a Section Chief," Jian hissed, leaping out of his chair. "He can see the sin on your soul from across the room. Ren, you're glowing with illegal mana. If he sees you, it's game over."
Jian looked around the room frantically. He grabbed a glass bottle from his desk—Eau de Despair.
"Spray this!" Jian threw it at Ren. "It masks living scents. And sit down. Act normal. You're playing video games. You're a nerd. You've never seen a ghost in your life."
Ren caught the bottle. He sprayed himself, choking on the smell of funeral lilies and formaldehyde.
He grabbed a controller.
"I am a nerd," Ren repeated, forcing his eyes to shift from glowing green back to dull brown. "I love... jumping Mario."
The door to the Man Cave opened.
Mr. Liu stood there.
He was a tall man in a grey trench coat that looked like it was woven from shadows. He had tired eyes, a five o'clock shadow, and a badge hanging from his belt shaped like a scythe.
He looked at Jian. Then he looked at Ren.
Mr. Liu's eyes narrowed.
"Who is this?" Mr. Liu asked, his voice sounding like gravel.
"School friend," Jian squeaked. "Ren, we're... studying."
"Studying?" Mr. Liu stepped into the room. The temperature dropped five degrees.
He walked up to Ren. He leaned down, sniffing the air.
"You smell like a graveyard, son," Mr. Liu said softly.
Ren gripped the controller.
[ BOSS ENCOUNTER: SECTION CHIEF LIU (REAPER) ]
[ THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME ]
"I..." Ren stammered, channeling his inner high schooler. "I have bad hygiene?"
Mr. Liu didn't smile.
"We'll see," the Reaper said. "Stand up."