bookbashuk Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Chapter 70: You're the Challengers
11:55 PM.
He pushed open the door to the infirmary.
Aside from the Pig-Slaughtering Knife hanging at the entrance as a display piece, the interior of the infirmary was immaculately clean.
It was obvious—this was Fujino Juro's territory.
The moment Jiang Nan stepped inside with the 3 people behind him, he spotted Fujino Juro bent over a table, meticulously carving away at its latest work of art.
At the sound of the door opening, it raised its head and immediately broke into a smile that came from the heart.
"Oh? Isn't this my Class Representative?"
Fujino Juro set down the scalpel in its hand and wiped its palms.
"Coming to find me this late—are you here to discuss the art of medicine?"
"Perfect timing. Let me show you my newest creation."
As it spoke, it stepped aside to reveal what lay on the dissection table—Izumishita Mukon, who had been sutured into a human stump and was now displayed before everyone.
"Sss!"
The 3 people behind Jiang Nan collectively sucked in a sharp breath.
Izumishita Mukon's 4 limbs had all been severed.
Then reattached—to his buttocks and his back.
He looked exactly like a human-shaped spider.
But...
This was just the sort of thing a ghost would do. Nothing particularly surprising about it.
Jiang Nan's expression remained blank. He shook his head, pulled out a note he had written in advance, flicked it with his finger, and sent it sailing over.
【What happened at the school?】
【Why did class start early? Why did the rain stop?】
Fujino Juro caught the note, glanced at it, then spread its hands open with a helpless shrug.
"Apologies, my Class Representative."
"I've been absorbed in carving my artwork, immersed in the joy of creation—I'm afraid I have no idea what's been happening outsid—"
Ring ring ring!!
Its words were cut short.
On the table beside it, the vintage rotary telephone made from a human skull suddenly rang.
Fujino Juro's brow furrowed slightly. It stepped forward and picked up the receiver.
From the other end of the line came a familiar voice.
It was the Faceless One.
"Fujino."
"Have you seen that outstanding student of yours?"
"An emergency situation arose within the school. To protect student safety, I used my authority to transfer them urgently to the Rose High School Campus."
"The crisis has now been resolved."
"If you see him, have him come out of the Rose High School Campus immediately."
"I need him."
Upon hearing those words, Jiang Nan and the others' brows instantly locked tight.
From the Faceless One's seemingly calm tone, they detected something clearly off.
Combined with the sudden forced teleportation and the abnormal phenomenon of the rain stopping...
"Need him?"
"What kind of need?"
"As food? Or as a bargaining chip?"
The Faceless One sounded urgent—even, somehow...
Impatient.
Fujino Juro gripped the receiver and tilted that oversized head of its, glancing at Jiang Nan standing before it.
It deliberated for a moment, then slowly opened its mouth.
"Principal, I understand what you mean."
"But I need a reason."
A few seconds of silence fell on the other end of the line, followed by a response utterly devoid of emotion.
"I know you're reluctant. So am I."
"But this is the only way I can expand the school's scale—to spread Ghost Middle School across the entire Savage Realm!"
"We need to grow bigger and stronger!"
"Someone has offered a new school plus 200 living student bodies—all in exchange for a single 'Outstanding Student.'"
"This deal...is not a loss."
"By then...I will hand full control of the Rose High School Campus over to you. You'll be promoted to Vice Principal."
Upon hearing the Faceless One speak of Jiang Nan as though he were merchandise to be traded, the expressions of everyone present began to crack.
Guo Shuai in particular—his hands had already condensed a miniature cyclone, ready to unleash Wind Force Heavy Pressure at any moment.
Yekaterina activated her golden Dragon Eyes, muscles tensed.
Hoshino Hikari was frightened, but even she raised both hands, green light blooming from her palms, braced to heal.
A new school. 200 students. A promotion and a raise.
The offer was too enticing.
Would a ghost really turn that down?
And yet—
Jiang Nan, the person at the center of all this, didn't move a muscle.
Not even a flicker of emotion crossed his face.
He simply watched Fujino Juro quietly.
Fujino Juro was watching him too.
Their eyes met.
Then, suddenly, the corner of the ghost's mouth curved upward.
It spoke into the receiver.
"Your terms...I accept."
"I knew it!"
Guo Shuai erupted in fury and moved to strike. "Wind For—"
Slap!
A hand pressed down on his shoulder.
Jiang Nan's.
Jiang Nan shook his head at him, eyes calm.
Guo Shuai was full of confusion—but in the very next second, the words that followed from Fujino Juro gave him...
An answer that left him stunned.
"However..."
Fujino Juro's tone shifted, and it spoke with a tinge of genuine regret.
"What terrible timing, Principal."
"He did come looking for me earlier, it's true."
"But he shouldn't still be in the Rose High School Campus now."
"As you know, he has that badge—his legs belong to him. He's likely already left the school grounds."
"After all...good students always long for freedom."
"If he comes back, I'll notify you."
"......"
Guo Shuai, Yekaterina, and Hoshino Hikari all went silent.
None of them had expected it—this ghost teacher who took such pleasure in dissection would, for the sake of keeping a single human student safe...
Lie to its own direct superior.
And willingly forfeit a promotion that was right within reach!
But.
The very next second.
The Faceless One's challenge came through the receiver.
"You're lying, Fujino."
"I hired you to be a teacher, not to work against me."
"My perception covers the entire school. He never left."
"Apologies, Principal."
Fujino Juro's voice cooled as well, and it dropped all pretense:
"I came to this school to explore literature and medicine. To teach and to nurture students."
"Not to sell out my own Star Pupil."
"Rules exist for a reason."
"Selling out students without any bottom line like this...is no way to run a school."
The moment those words were spoken, all pretense was stripped away.
The Faceless One's tone instantly turned savage.
"Enough talk!!"
"Either hand him over and I'll give you the promotion!!"
"Or...I'll kill you right now and come take him myself!!"
Fujino Juro laughed.
It tightened its grip on the receiver, just about to respond—
When a slender, powerful hand suddenly reached over from the side and snatched the phone clean out of its grip.
"You—"
Fujino Juro blinked.
Jiang Nan's eyes signaled it to stay quiet.
Then.
Under the utterly dumbfounded stares of three humans and one ghost—
The man who had been so sparing with his words ever since entering this school...
Lifted the receiver to his lips, and in a tone of cold, unhurried arrogance, let out 4 words.
"Go wait for your death."
Crack!!
The instant the words left his mouth, he slammed the skull-made telephone straight into the floor and shattered it to pieces.
"......"
The infirmary fell so silent that a dropped pin could have been heard.
4 words—brief, yet carrying an arrogance that could make ghosts and gods tremble.
But most importantly...
The three humans and one ghost stared at Jiang Nan, their eyes brimming with shock and something close to disbelief.
"Boss, you're not actually mute?!!"
The most stunned of all was Guo Shuai.
He'd witnessed Jiang Nan slay the Scarecrow Overlord with his own eyes.
But because Word Spirit·Silence had been active at the time, he had never once heard Jiang Nan speak a single word!
As for that "Bang!" from before...
Come on—even a genuinely mute person could make that sound!
Jiang Nan had no time to address their shock.
He raised his head to glance at the clock on the wall.
【23:59:00】
One minute left.
Day 5 was nearly upon him.
The 5th Word Spirit was nearly upon him.
He turned and walked straight out the door.
The 3 of them, stomachs full of unanswered questions, had no choice but to hurry after him.
"Wait!"
Just then, Fujino Juro called out to stop him.
Whoosh!
It flung the Pig-Slaughtering Knife it had always guarded like a treasure—
Not at Jiang Nan.
But at Guo Shuai, embedding it into the floor just before his feet.
"Take it."
Fujino Juro watched Guo Shuai reach out with trembling hands to pick up the knife, and laughed cheerfully.
"He doesn't need tools like this—but you little ones do."
"This knife is a treasure of mine. Remarkably effective against ghosts that don't know their place."
After that.
It walked up to Jiang Nan and drew from inside its coat a blood-stained 【Special-Grade Teacher's Certificate】, which it placed solemnly into Jiang Nan's hands.
"I don't know what gives you the nerve to stand against the Principal and that mysterious figure..."
"But...go take down this rule-breaking Principal, my Class Representative."
"Where there is oppression...there is resistance."
"Go take back the power that belongs to you~"
"This certificate will allow all of you to move freely through this Ghost Domain, bypassing the majority of its restrictions."
Jiang Nan accepted the certificate and held the gaze of this creature called a ghost—
This monster that was more human than certain humans.
He gave a single nod.
Then turned, and left in long, unhurried strides.
......
After leaving the infirmary.
Guo Shuai clutched the heavy Pig-Slaughtering Knife, panting as he asked:
"Boss! Where are we going?"
Jiang Nan stopped in his tracks, pulled out a note, and pressed it flat against Guo Shuai's chubby face.
【Wherever is most conspicuous—that's where we go.】
Then.
He led everyone swiftly back down to Basement Level 1—the Archive Room.
The pool had returned to calm.
Jiang Nan reminded Chen Tong and Wang Meng, who had stayed behind, not to step outside—regardless of what happened out there, they were not to move.
Then.
He produced the Special-Grade Teacher's Certificate and gave it a light wave over the surface of the pool.
Hum!!
Dense black smoke instantly enveloped all 4 of them.
A spatial shift.
......
At the same moment, in the central courtyard of the Rose High School Campus.
The Faceless One—who had just had its call cut off—stormed out of the Principal's office radiating a terrifying killing intent.
At the doorway, Huang Hun asked placidly:
"Did you find out what you needed?"
Kamiya Konan too stretched that mouth wide open and sneered with theatrical mockery:
"Let me guess~"
"Did that guy have one of his lackeys insult you?"
"Something like...who do you think you are, maybe?"
The Faceless One stopped walking. It raised its head, voice low.
"No."
"He said it himself."
"He said...to go wait for my death."
The moment those words landed.
Kamiya Konan burst out laughing—laughing until he was shaking.
"Hahahaha!!"
"That's exactly like him! Arrogant! Presumptuous! Ignorant!"
Huang Hun shook his head as well, his gaze full of contempt.
"Humans are always like this."
"Always blinded by some trivial scrap of power."
"Not realizing...that his laughable S-Grade ability is nothing more than the entry-level threshold for those of us in the Arashin-kai."
The Faceless One did not grow angry.
Or rather—it had already gotten its anger out.
Fujino Juro's betrayal had infuriated it. And at the same time, it felt an inexplicable...
Guilt?
"Nevertheless..."
The Faceless One's eyes went cold.
"When faced with the greater cause, all personal sentiment can be cast aside."
But it failed to notice—the white lines on its own face were warping rapidly.
And right at that moment.
Hum!!
The pool in the distant courtyard suddenly began to churn violently.
4 silhouettes slowly materialized within that dense black smoke.
Jiang Nan had arrived with his squad.
Both sides stood a hundred meters apart, gazing at one another across the distance.
Dong!!
The midnight bell rang.
Day 5 had come.
In Jiang Nan's mind, that familiar mechanical notification tone arrived right on schedule.
【Ding! The time has reached midnight 00:00】
【Daily settlement complete.】
【Word count quota refreshed: +1 (Current Balance: 6175)】
【Current Location: Rose High School·Ghost Domain Campus】
【Check-in successful!】
【Congratulations, Host—you have received Word Spirit·Dragon God Imperial Armor (?-Grade)!】
......
【Word Spirit·Dragon God Imperial Armor】
Effect: Summons the most powerful armor forged by the Dragon God—a conceptual armament that any person can wear.
Mechanic: With each line of the corresponding Dragon Tongue spoken, the Imperial Armor's Dragon Bloodline purity and might increases by 10%.
Grows progressively stronger, until its final form is unlocked.
Trait: No lower limit. No upper limit.
To bear the crown, one must bear its weight.
When bloodline and physique meet the requirements—no side effects; duration is unlimited.
If the requirements are not met, the Imperial Armor will forcibly elevate the user's bloodline and physique.
If the user cannot endure it, they will either transform into a savage dragon that loses all reason, or die when boiling dragon blood detonates their body.
......
After reading through the skill description.
The corner of Jiang Nan's mouth curved upward.
'What a perfectly tailored counter-card.'
'What was my bloodline at, in my past life?'
'Forgotten—but it doesn't matter. Because now I have this.'
Then.
He pulled out the Scapegoat Straw Doll at his waist and glanced at it.
Then looked up toward the 3 formidable figures on the opposite side, radiating their terrifying auras.
Jiang Nan slowly tucked the Straw Doll away.
"Hee hee hee......"
An eerie, melodious laugh broke the silence first.
Kamiya Konan's face contorted with extreme excitement.
He stepped forward, psychokinetic waves surging around him, pulverizing the ground beneath him to rubble.
"Jiang Nan..."
"Surprised to see me? We're meeting again so soon."
Kamiya Konan spread his arms wide, as though presenting his own perfect body for admiration—looking down on all.
"Look at me now! How perfect! How powerful!"
"Do you regret it? Regret not saving that 'pitiful' me back in the classroom?"
"If you had reached out then, perhaps I'd still be the little hanger-on trailing behind you right now..."
"But now! It's too late!!"
Kamiya Konan pointed at Jiang Nan, eyes brimming with greed.
"The way I see it now, you're nothing more than a stepping stone I'll use to test my new power!"
"I'll crunch through your bones piece by piece—and let you become the nourishment for my evolution into a god, drowning in regret!!"
He reveled in this feeling.
This sensation of rising from the weak to become the ruler!
The thrill of pinning beneath his feet someone he once had to look up to—it was enough to send his mind into ecstasy!
Off to the side, Huang Hun had both hands tucked in his lab coat's pockets, and he asked with an air of detached indifference:
"This is that man?"
"The one suspected to possess S-Grade Air Manipulation?"
"Yes! That's him!"
Kamiya Konan snapped back an answer before anyone else could, impatient to make his move.
And yet.
At this razor-edge moment of total tension—
Hum!
The Faceless One standing in the center suddenly convulsed violently.
The white dotted lines on its originally black face began darting around in a frenzy, and its aura instantly fell into chaos.
"No...no, this won't do!!"
"He's a good student! He's my Class Representative!!"
The Faceless One's voice changed—it became like a child's.
"I'm the Principal! I must protect students! We can't kill him! I want to be his friend!!"
It was the white personality!
At this critical moment it had awoken—and was now fighting frantically for control of the body, trying to stop this slaughter.
"Shut up!! You idiot!!"
The black personality roared, pressing down on its own head with both hands.
"He broke the school rules! He's trying to take people and drop out!!"
"Not listening! Not listening! Whatever a good student does is right!"
"We must be civilized! We must—"
"Damn it!!"
The black Faceless One was so rattled it felt its head might split.
It knew—if it couldn't pacify this infuriating white personality, it wouldn't be able to fight at full capacity. It might even crash and shut down on the spot.
Left with no choice.
The Faceless One's face went half-black, half-white. It bellowed at Huang Hun:
"Enough!!"
It gasped in heavy breaths and made a concession.
"Rules! We must follow rules!"
"If this is a grudge between students...then let them settle it themselves!"
The Faceless One pointed at Kamiya Konan, then pointed at Jiang Nan.
"1V1!!"
"Let this Starving Wraith fight my student in a duel! They're responsible for their own lives and deaths!"
Then it turned its head toward Huang Hun, its tone glacial.
"Huang Hun, keep your new apprentice in line."
"If my student wins, you are not permitted to touch him! Let him take his people and leave!"
"Otherwise...that idiot, when it goes berserk, I won't care about any consequences!"
"We can all die here together for all I care!!"
Upon hearing this.
Huang Hun pushed up his glasses and glanced at the Faceless One, who was teetering on the edge of a breakdown.
He weighed the stakes—then shrugged with indifference.
"Fine."
"If he can't even beat a human student..."
Huang Hun cast a cold sidelong glance at Kamiya Konan.
"Then a piece of trash like that has no right to become my disciple."
"Dying would be what he deserves."
"Good! It's settled!"
Kamiya Konan didn't care in the slightest—his self-confidence was overflowing.
"Teacher, Principal, just watch!"
"3 minutes! No—1 minute! That's all I need to deal with him!"
......
Faced with the arrangements and dismissiveness of these 3 who looked down on him from on high.
Jiang Nan suddenly laughed.
"Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"
‘Boss...’
Guo Shuai was startled into silence by that laugh—because he could sense it...
Jiang Nan was genuinely angry.
Hoshino Hikari and Yekaterina, who hadn't witnessed Jiang Nan's terrifying side before, felt only confusion—the same confusion the other 3 felt.
But Jiang Nan kept laughing, shoulders trembling faintly.
Because he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
At this point, he couldn't care less about the cost of these words.
What kind of strong person lets themselves be shackled by something like that?
And besides...
Compared to what he spent exterminating those crows on Day 1, this amount was nothing short of a drop in the ocean.
What does a person live for, in this world?
Most people go through their entire lives without ever knowing the answer to that question.
For money?
For power?
Or just to survive by any means necessary?
But if it were Jiang Nan—
He would answer without a moment's hesitation.
A heart unclouded.
Put plainly:
Satisfaction.
If there was no satisfaction—
Then what was even the point of being alive?!
To be ridden over by a pack of ghosts who arranged his fate as they pleased?
To have some little Sakura Nation runt spout off in front of his face?
No.
Jiang Nan slowly raised his head.
He felt it—the blood inside him, turned pure by excitement.
Burning hotter than ever.
He felt that surging, chest-splitting fighting spirit clawing to get out!
Swish swish swish!
Jiang Nan's fingers blurred into afterimages, and notes went flying forward!
Every word a blade. Every sentence a killing blow.
【Stop running your mouths, you pieces of trash!】
【Who gave you the right to think you're the ones making the calls?】
【Don't you dare look away—you in the white lab coat, and you, the faceless one.】
【I'm talking to both of you.】
Jiang Nan's gaze swept over them all with sovereign contempt—seeing through every rule and every act of oppression for what it was.
【I'm informing you now...all you're entitled to hear from me is my death sentence for you, and my laughter.】
【The final boss of this game—is not you.】
【It's me.】
【You...are the challengers!!】