NOVEL NEXT Chapter 359
<359 - Duplication>
Dorothy felt wronged.
“After all that hard work, there’s no way I got cut at the entrance from step one!?”
She had dug up the ground like a construction site, driven in stakes, hung beads on the threads, and even planted foul-smelling fruits in the gouged-out stakes while casting protective magic!
“Wait? Isn’t the ghost caught on the line…?”
“It’s not that it’s not caught. It got caught but then moved instantly, becoming invisible.”
“Wow. Jaku, even as a lower class student, you have sharp eyes!”
Dorothy was just confused, but Jaku honestly couldn’t grasp what was happening.
‘Why is that ghost that was so elusive when I experienced it easily trapped in Dorothy’s trap?’
Oknodie passed by it just fine.
“Won’t it try again if we wait a little longer?”
As Oknodie said, they continued working on their assignment, and from afar, they heard a ding ding sound again.
This time, it had fallen into the trap too.
The ghost would appear every now and then just to mess with them while they tried to concentrate on studying.
Jaku, who had initially been afraid, was now merely annoyed.
“Why doesn’t it just pass on by quietly?!”
Unable to take it anymore, Oknodie stood up.
“I’ll show it a demonstration real quick!”
With a flourish, Oknodie started bypassing the trap again.
Her movements were as light and carefree as dandelion seeds drifting in the spring breeze.
With a springy step, she generated a Mana Shield with tremendous power behind it, jumping into the air as if defying the very design of the trap itself.
Jaku felt an overwhelming gaze from the forest.
Upon closer inspection, he saw the hooked ghost with its long neck like a hook, staring intently at Oknodie’s movements through the bare branches.
Crack!
A broken twig fell where the ghost had jumped.
That one must be furious.
Jaku recalled just how futile their resistance had been as that thing started to go wild.
“Careful, Oknodie. It’s an ambush. With its eyes gone crazy, it could attack you without a second thought.”
Hissss…
The wind grew rough.
A sharp killing intent brushed against their skin from all directions.
Ding ding ding!
Once again, the bell rang out reliably.
A shout of “Another failure!” didn’t come out this time.
This time felt different.
Ding ding ding!
Ding ding ding!
Before they could even catch their breath, the sound rang again,
from the left.
from the right.
With ghostly speed, it toyed with their sight, making it impossible to dodge artfully!
Able to manipulate physical force yet move with ghostly speed!
“This thing doesn’t even plan to sneak up anymore, does it?!”
“It probably thinks since it’s been discovered, it might as well prove its strength and instill fear!”
The strategy of the ghost proving its strength in a terrifyingly blatant manner instead of meticulously circumventing the traps was eerily ghostlike and scary.
“Then, was my trap even necessary…?”
Dorothy felt disheartened.
They had been activating traps outright, and yet, what had she been doing until now…?
“No. Dorothy’s trap is doing its job right!”
“Really?”
“If it weren’t for Dorothy’s trap, the hooked ghost wouldn’t be so fired up right now!”
Having seen Oknodie’s skills firsthand, the hooked ghost flailed around wildly, yet it didn’t dare approach the stakes where Oknodie stood with her arms crossed.
The ghost held enough animosity to not run away but was also extremely cautious of her.
Jaku found this scene oddly disturbing.
‘That cursed sweet and sour pork priest must have provoked it just fine, huh?’
Could it be that Oknodie was stronger than a current priest invited to the academy that could face ghosts?
“Whoa! Get down!”
Dorothy, who had been spinning around like a turret while observing, suddenly yanked Jaku’s collar and dropped flat to the ground.
Something sharp whisked past right above Jaku’s head.
“W-What was that just now?!”
“Must have thrown a cursed knife!”
Even without being a curse item, it was a terrifying knife throw!
Despite facing the intent to kill from the ghost, Oknodie just stood there on the stake with a bright smile.
“Wow. There are new patterns now. Looks like Dorothy’s trap map was indeed effective?”
As another real knife swept through, Jaku let out a silent scream.
Why was she standing there unfazed instead of running away!?
‘Wait? Did Oknodie’s form just…?’
For a moment, it seemed her focus flickered, and her body appeared to disappear and reappear.
With phenomenal physical abilities combined with magical force, she evaded the knife that passed by for just an instant before showcasing this bizarre move of returning it back!
“No matter how angry you are, you can’t just throw knives at people, Mr. Hook!”
As the knife gusts whipped about, Oknodie expertly evaded the ghost’s attack.
Rumble rumble!
Observing the threads with bells getting cut and stakes falling apart, Jaku suddenly realized.
“It’s stealing the cursed item!”
Instead of attacking a calm child, the ghost rushed toward the cursed item.
Oknodie, who had been chasing it, suddenly turned pale and covered her mouth and nose with cloth, coughing uncontrollably.
Cough cough! Ugh!
“Ugh! The stinking fruit planted in the stake just bound Oknodie’s feet!”
Dorothy, who had never experienced a battle against a major ghost, hadn’t imagined a situation where only the person would suffer.
Hee hee hee!
With the ghost’s laughter, the hooked ghost dashed away, brushing off Oknodie’s pursuit.
Regret filled Oknodie as she saw the ghost coil its long body like a serpent upon the rock in the center of the open ground where the basket was placed.
“Ugh. I allowed this because of the smell trap…”
The hooked ghost grinned wickedly, lifting the basket.
As the nail it had hammered into the rock pulled out with a pop, Dorothy screamed and buried her face in the dirt like she was unable to bear watching a horror movie.
Was it scary because the hooked ghost was terrifying, or was it scary because the trap had become useless? Jaku couldn’t bring himself to ask.
Hee hee hee!
The ghost wickedly laughed and upturned the basket.
Whatever was inside, it would replicate right before their eyes.
And if they didn’t take it, it would abduct them!
The hooked ghost’s sinister plan focused on the item that emitted a seductive smell, capable of penetrating the horrible trap-filled ground.
Curious about its identity, the ghost’s head instinctively straightened into a hooked shape.
“What?”
The item that fell from the basket was a notebook.
Moreover, it was a cursed notebook that would belong to the first person who opened it.
━━━
Title: Class 981 Year 1 Strategy Guide
Writer: Oknodie
Warning: Big trouble if opened!
━━━
The hooked ghost couldn’t comprehend.
Why did the value emanating from the old notebook, worn down with charred edges after being flipped countless times, seem to be at the [Myth] level?
How could a mythical-grade item with tremendous inherent curse resistance possess a curse of ownership?
“Ah! Mr. Ghost! You shouldn’t open that!”
The ghost could only grasp the urgency of Oknodie’s frantic gestures.
Unease. Fear. And a faint glimmer of hope.
From its value, this was undoubtedly a book of prophetic doom.
Whoever opens it would not escape severe consequences.
It would never open.
And it would forcibly replicate this cursed item to own it.
[The hooked ghost attempts to duplicate a high-value object it can’t handle.]
[[Mental Defense] Target Score 500]
[[Curse Resistance] Target Score 350]
[[Mana Control] Target Score 350]
[All target scores failed]
[The hooked ghost fails to control the [Mental Defense], [Curse Resistance], and [Mana Control] functions.]
The hooked ghost fell into Oknodie’s trap.
“Hee hee! I told you not to open it! Oh no—this is a big deal! I don’t know anymore!”
As the devastating power of dark mana pierced into the ghost’s view, the glassy surface of its eyes shattered with a pop!
Dark mana, which infiltrated its brain through the optic nerve, stimulated the nerves, causing its long neck to twist like a pretzel.
Lastly, its skinny hands commanded the brain to destroy its body, causing it to choke itself to prevent its own demise.
“What?!”
The observing Dorothy and Jaku were horrified by the ghost’s chilling reaction.
They couldn’t grasp the principle behind it, nor did they want to.
Only the hooked ghost went into a frenzy, fighting for survival.
Oknodie didn’t allow even that.
The hooked ghost’s arms were cleanly severed by Oknodie’s blade.
With its strangling arms and escaping legs gone, the ghost writhed and died.
As the ghost lay in ruin, Oknodie spoke to it.
“Oh, by the way. There is one way to stop this—return the kidnapped students, and I’ll let it stop!”
The space around the hooked ghost twisted, revealing a different dimension in the air.
Students, who had been huddling together in the desolate forest, were hurled into view by the ghost’s telekinesis.
[The favorability of the character [Dorothy] exceeds 20.]
[Currently possesses the 1st privilege [Dorothy’s Hunting Time].]
[The innocent child knows a lot about the secrets of the forest. By going to the forest once a month with Dorothy, the item looting rate increases by 500%!]
[The item [Captured Hostage] will be released five times more.]
“Ugh!”
“Ah!”
“W-We’re back!?”
“Oknodie! Jaku!”
The three lower class students and a mob returned together, accompanied by a notification.
Thump thump.
Additionally, a skeleton, long estranged from its flesh, rattled along like a pair of bones.
Upon closer examination, it looked just like the Skeleton Instructor that Professor Sadako commanded.
“Hee hee hee.”
“Why is the Skeleton Instructor coming from there? Could it be that if the other students couldn’t save the lower class students in danger, they would sneak in to help by themselves?”
“That part is correct.”
“Which part was correct?”
“That part where the other students couldn’t rescue the lower class students in danger.”
“And what were you planning to do after that?”
“I intended to turn the students abandoned in everyone’s indifference into skeletons without anyone noticing and bring them out. Hee hee hee!”
“Wow…”
“Would you rather lose your flesh and be used as fodder for a ghost, or forsake your body and become a strong skeleton to escape? Isn’t it clear to even a fool? Hee hee hee!”
This instructor was genuinely a bit frightening.
Even Oknodie took a step back from the pure skeleton insanity.