NOVEL NEXT Chapter 991
<991 – Regained Innocence (5)>
Most of the second years looked at the national treasure-level magical card bundle given by the principal and thought it was a relief they weren’t getting dragged into that mess with Sadi.
Considering the difficulty of the weekly event, the cards handed over to Oknodie were undoubtedly like nuclear land mines for the event.
“Oh, no! This can’t be happening…!”
“Cooking Oknodie? Why the sudden freak-out?”
“The Ghost Warlord that was reborn after receiving an escape judgment from the Tomb of the Sword is in there!”
Ziang realized too late that Cooking Oknodie hadn’t just inherited Oknodie’s incompetence.
Kindness, a good-natured temperament, and the tendency to meddle in others’ affairs also came included.
Naturally, it made sense given that they’d be categorized as ‘weaknesses.’
Having attended the academy with Oknodie, Ziang couldn’t disregard the overwhelming urge to step in when seeing Cooking Oknodie, a nostalgic early best friend.
“Seriously… ugh!”
“Nope. Just hang in there; I’ll help. If we let one person need help turn into two, it’ll be harder.”
“What on earth are we supposed to do then?!”
“We can assist from the sidelines. Oknodie, you won’t block outside assistance, right?”
“That’s fine!”
With Oknodie’s confirmation, the glances for help from Ziang and Cooking Oknodie shifted to Sing.
“Of course, I’ll help.”
“Thanks, everyone. Hehe. The joint apprentices of the 50,000 spirits that defeated Sword Saint Reinhardt are banding together for this Roseblim. What an honor?”
Although she spoke casually, her expression revealed everything.
Just how tense she was.
“Alright, let’s get into the easy rule explanations!”
The rules were straightforward.
Every turn, each person draws one card.
The card types are <Character> card, <Location> card, <Time> card, <Object> card, <Action> card, and <Reason> card.
If the conditions to activate a card are met, you activate it and end your turn; if you fail to meet the conditions or refuse to fulfill them, the card returns to the deck, and your turn ends.
Repeat this process every turn.
If someone activates all six cards, causing a locked-room murder case without being discovered by anyone else’s cards, the game ends.
“However, since this game is ‘Figure out the locked-room murder case,’ if the crime is discovered within five turns after it happens, that person wins.”
“So it’s about activating all six cards first to create a locked-room murder case—or catching the culprit who set the case off. Catching them should be easy, right? Just find whoever flipped those six cards.”
“That’s not easy! You can play the same position card multiple times, you know. And finding the culprit has to be done using a ‘card’ too. Plus, whoever fails their deduction gets banned from acting for two turns! It’s gonna hurt if you take a guess, you know?”
The spirits’ expressions soured.
“Where’s the simplicity in that?!”
From Oknodie’s perspective, the game seemed easy, but that didn’t mean it was easy for the spirits!
“So, is there some kind of penalty like with ‘Meals’?”
“There’s always the Foundation Chairman’s teaching to take games seriously!”
Oknodie, having picked up the notebook left by the Chairman, flipped through the pages and chuckled gleefully.
After finding the mentioned phrase, he closed the notebook and embraced it tightly, making anyone watching realize that even Oknodie still had some ‘good kind of innocence’ left in him.
“So this time, the winner gets to dictate that all chosen participants have to go to the summer camp!”
“Everyone?!”
“Is this for real? All of us?”
Anger flared on the spirits’ faces.
That snide, devilish grin guaranteed it.
“But you bunch are a bit older, right? I thought you wouldn’t be vulnerable to this. Isn’t 1 against 14 manageable?”
Even Sadi Chocolate, who had been quietly listening, felt his pride wounded.
“It’s not a physical fight, and thinking we could lose in a simple board game is a ridiculous misunderstanding. That annoying Oknodie should be sent to summer camp once!”
“Try it if you can!”
Oknodie vs. Sadi Chocolate + 12 Ghost Swordsmen + Ghost Warlord Roseblim + external support (Cooking Oknodie, Ziang, Sing).
The match started, appearing to be overwhelmingly one-sided.
“Alright, we’ll go in order, starting from the one closest to the window and moving clockwise!”
The first turn went to the Ghost Swordsman, who confidently drew a card from the central deck.
━━━
[Action] Pull
Activation condition – succeeds in <Trial of the Card: Pull>.
Activation failure penalty – you’re pulled into the Netherworld.
━━━
“?!”
They had no expectation of easily activating the card.
But the penalty for failing to activate was unimaginably brutal.
“What will you do? Activate? Or return it?”
“Ah, what the heck. I’ll give it a shot.”
Even the nameless Ghost Swordsman was confident.
Having resurrected from the Tomb of the Sword of Sword Saint Reinhardt.
Though he hadn’t directly participated, the sword skill he passed on contributed, even if just a little, to the defeat of the Sword Saint.
If that contribution hadn’t been recognized, he would still be trapped in the Tomb.
Having received worthy rewards for generously sharing his teachings, this was only natural.
[<Trial of the Card: Pull> activates.]
[The principal’s secret passage in the Netherworld activates.]
The card flipped over, revealing a pitch-black door in the air.
Everyone’s skin crawled at the sight.
Darkness. Despair.
That place was off-limits for living beings.
In the language of all life.
A prison for the dead.
It opened to become a place for the soul to purify its sins after being stripped away of its personality.
“!!!”
The Ghost Swordsman’s grip on the chair tightened with tremendous force.
His arm swelled as if about to burst, but the Ghost Swordsman’s body jerked towards the door.
‘I’m getting stronger, little by little!’
Unlike living people, who might return to the Middle Realm based on power of connection and memory, the already dead spirits could not escape the Netherworld.
If they get trapped, it’s the end.
Worse still, the pulling force only grows stronger.
If time passes like this, the inevitable outcome awaits: heading to the Netherworld.
An unavoidable demise.
The Ghost Swordsman was desperate.
As if in response to that desperation, a way to close the Netherworld’s door emerged.
[Lever to Close the Netherworld’s Door]
If he gets up from his chair and walks to the wall to pull the lever, he can close the door just like that.
But as soon as he took a step, the Ghost Swordsman’s body began to float halfway into the air.
“!!”
Panicking, he grabbed the chair’s backrest and realized something.
He couldn’t stand up.
He couldn’t approach.
The act of trying to pull was directly linked to his demise.
But he was a swordsman.
He had a sword.
‘There’s no time to stand up and approach, but a moment’s swing of the sword is…!’
The Ghost Swordsman’s once-in-a-lifetime gamble unfolded.
Balancing himself on the chair, he released his grip on the backrest and swung the sword.
The slash extended toward the lever in a sweeping arc, its energy wrapping around the lever like a net.
‘Gotcha!’
As he swung the sword, his body floated in the air.
That was the Ghost Swordsman’s cunning plan.
As long as he continued the slash, the force pulling him into the Netherworld would also pull the lever.
‘My pull relies on the sword’s arc. And I’m also using the pulling force of the Netherworld’s door!’
His mastery as a swordsman, and his quick judgment.
All of that culminated into this spectacular strike!
The legendary mad movie of the deceased was echoed by the lever.
UwU I’m a wooden lever.
I’ll break.
The Ghost Swordsman couldn’t even let out a scream.
This is unfair.
He was being pulled by the Netherworld’s door from behind, and to balance that force while expertly pulling the lever without breaking it…!
It was a wicked trap designed to pinpoint the Ghost Swordsman’s attempts to exploit the door’s power.
Unaware of the Evil Dragon’s wicked intellect hidden within the trap, the Ghost Swordsman vanished beyond the door of the Netherworld.
Boom!
As the first Ghost Swordsman’s turn ended, the door of the Netherworld automatically closed.
The door spun around in the air, morphing into a card that displayed a horrific system message.
[Activation failed; the participant was pulled into the Netherworld’s door.]
[The failed activation card returns to the deck.]
The card, lacking a master, silently sunk into the bottom of the deck at the empty table.
[Turn ends for the first participant due to lack of participants.]
[Turn 1, the second participant’s turn.]
Just trying to hold on against the impact made their head a swirling mess, and the spirit exerted tremendous effort.
The second Ghost Swordsman looked down at the card and glanced back at the air where the Netherworld’s door had been.
A balance game unfolded in the Ghost Swordsman’s mind.
Losing the game and being pointed out to go to the summer camp
vs
Activating the card and suffering the penalty
“Return.”
I’d rather just go to the summer camp than deal with the Netherworld—no way!
With grim faces, the spirits declared returns one after another as their turns came.
“What are you all doing just returning? At this rate, I’ll end up winning as the last turn!”
Oknodie’s cheerful face couldn’t be more irritating.