Chapter 33: Beyond the Ghostly

“Nemesys, are you alright?” Hao Ren anxiously pulled the raven from his chest and asked with concern.

“We’ll settle accounts when we get back.” The bird fixed him with a sharp glare, and Hao Ren instantly wilted. He was still fretting over whether his rough handling just now had hurt her and pondering how he might make it up to her, never expecting that Nemesys was angry for reasons entirely different from what he imagined.

Guild Communication Passage B6.

Outside a suspicious-looking corridor, Hao Ren deliberately tugged Shiina to the back of the group, then put on a contrived stumble right before they entered. His eyes brimmed with feigned well-wishing as he watched the trap door spring into action.

“Though witnessing the classic laser trap from Resident Evil is a unique experience, I’d still rather not be neatly sliced in two.” As screams echoed from within, Hao Ren made the sign of the cross with theatrical solemnity.

“Oh, the door’s open.” In less than a minute, the mechanism had been disengaged.

A wave of… the scent of roasted meat wafted out.

What met their eyes was… Matsushita Five’s body, perfectly dismembered.

Hao Ren recalled that the final volley of lasers should have been two horizontal lines and one X-shaped in the middle, so he counted with idle curiosity—Matsushita’s unfortunate appendage included, there were twelve pieces in total. Interested readers may imagine the scene themselves.

Watching Oyama retch uncontrollably after witnessing Matsushita’s fate, Hao Ren could only hope the poor boy wouldn’t lose his appetite and starve to death—even in this afterlife where death was impossible.

Ha! What a morbid afterlife joke!

…

Hao Ren felt a pang of guilt for his middle school literature teacher and covered his face.

“Matsushita was the one sacrificed this time? Well, with that build, it couldn’t be helped.”

“Told him he should lose weight ages ago.”

Nice, some comforting words.

Guild Communication Passage B8.

A spacious square room, the ceiling slowly descending.

“Crap, I forgot this is the room with the crushing ceiling!” Oyama’s hindsight was as reliable as ever.

“I told you not to forget something this important!” Otonashi never missed a chance to quip.

Brave TK braced against the falling ceiling. Setting aside his curious strength, this scene reminded Hao Ren of that arc in Yu Yu Hakusho’s Four Beasts Fortress.

“Hurry up! There’s still time! Oh~ fly over here, hold on tight.” Hao Ren still couldn’t make sense of TK’s way of speaking.

“Thanks.” “See you.” “Take care!” Everyone responded with unusual cheer.

“Sorry.” Only Otonashi had the decency to apologize.

“Even TK was sacrificed…” Yuri gazed mournfully at the dust swirling from the trap.

Hao Ren no longer knew what expression to wear around these shameless people.

Truly, being immortal is convenient—you can be abandoned by your comrades at will.

What a hateful convenience.

“We can’t let their sacrifices be in vain. Let’s press on.”

Guild Communication Passage B9.

Aside from a single main platform connecting both sides, every floor tile had collapsed.

“Crap, I forgot! This is—” Once again, unreliable Oyama, along with his sense of presence, plummeted into the abyss.

Originally, the five remaining members were in dire straits, but with Hao Ren’s 47 points in strength, things were different. He easily pulled all five up, and no one questioned his extraordinary power.

“Didn’t expect you two newcomers to make it this far,” Fujimaru said, a hint of admiration in his eyes as he looked at Hao Ren and Otonashi. “But next time, it’ll probably be your turn.”

Guild Communication Passage B13.

“So he’s a landlubber after all…” Otonashi looked on awkwardly as Fujimaru drowned from swallowing water.

“The exit’s this way. Follow me,” Shiina, ever the strong swimmer, had found the underwater passage.

Hao Ren looked speechless at Nemesys, who was now a muskrat nestled in his arms.

Guild Communication Passage B15.

“Oh no! The puppy’s being swept away by the current!” Watching Shiina leap after the drifting puppy plush and tumble over the falls, Hao Ren’s face darkened.

“Ah~ Not good~ I’ve fallen in~ Help!” With all the flair of a background actor, Hao Ren feigned a misstep and plunged into the underground waterfall.

…

Otonashi and Yuri rolled their eyes in perfect synchrony, though Hao Ren couldn’t see it.

With a textbook dive, Hao Ren landed at the base of the falls.

“I’ve brought shame upon myself. I shall commit seppuku immediately to atone.” Having shed her drenched uniform, leaving only a chest wrap, Shiina gripped her side dagger with one hand, aiming at her belly, while the other still clutched the puppy plush—the culprit.

Shiina, is your resistance to cute things nonexistent? And Guild, are your traps meant for the Angel or your own comrades? In such a short time, nearly everyone had been wiped out.

“Let it go, Shiina. You can’t die anyway, so don’t waste your blood.” Restored to her usual form, Nemesys ignored Hao Ren’s protests, kneading his slowly recovering stomach as she snarked.

“A blunder.” Shiina slumped, thoroughly dejected.

“There, there, it’s one of your charming traits. Besides, it wasn’t a required mission just now, no need to stick to Yuri’s group,” Hao Ren tried to smooth things over.

“I’ve decided. I must remind myself with a lesson of blood.” Suddenly, Shiina darted forward, pushing Hao Ren to the ground and straddling him.

“What? A lesson of blood?” Hao Ren was completely baffled by Shiina’s logic, but what happened next left him utterly stunned.

With trembling hands, Shiina tugged at the knot at her hip, revealing everything below her waist to Hao Ren.

“Completely bare…” Having never seen a real woman so intimately before, Hao Ren’s excitement triggered a nosebleed for the first time.

Damn it, so this is my lesson of blood.

Three choices flashed through Hao Ren’s mind: push her down, push her down, and push her down.

“Wow! So sneaky! I want a turn too!” The petite Nemesys grabbed Hao Ren’s right hand and pulled it under her skirt.

“Oh, oh, oh!” Hao Ren’s blood was boiling, and his body was more than ready.

“What are you doing?” A cold, emotionless voice interrupted.

All three turned at once toward the source of the voice.

Angel, Kanade Tachibana.

In an instant, Hao Ren wilted, his passion snuffed out.

Damn it, if this keeps happening, I might end up impotent.

“What a coincidence, President!” Hao Ren, still pinned beneath Shiina, greeted Kanade. “Hey, you two, put your clothes back on!”

“What’s the problem? Even if someone else sees, it doesn’t matter.” It matters to me!

“Master, punishment must be carried out immediately.” Can’t you think of your own modesty for once?

Right, he’d almost forgotten—these two were utterly indifferent to others’ gazes.

Damn, please, just give me a break.