Surviving in a School of Ghost Stories-Chapter 7

I vaguely recalled reading somewhere that ghosts do everything backwards.

If that’s the case, maybe if I speak backwards, I can blend in naturally with them.

After a brief moment of thought, I decided to try mimicking their speech.

“Give me the laborer”

Lady Lanatte stared at me for a moment without responding.

Please, react. Please.

Gradually, the strength drained from her hands. Lady Lanatte, who had been looking at me with unfocused eyes, slowly walked backward, getting farther from me.

I let out a sigh of relief as I wiped my chest.

One more person left. I just needed to find one more person to inform before nap time.

But then,

"They bought, they bought, they bought, they bought, they bought, they bought."

"They beat Rasagadi Romel, they beat Rasagadi Romel, and they beat Rasagadi Romel."

Suddenly, people began searching for me.

This is bad. Where did I go wrong?

This wasn’t part of the plan.

“When they notice your absence, you’ll have to act like them as much as possible.”

‘Act like them’ means doing everything backward.

I quickly dressed in my clothes backward and began walking backward.

The servants of Lanatte’s mansion, seeing me, walked past me without a second glance.

"They defeated Rasagadi Romel, they defeated Rasagadi Romel and they defeated Rasagadi Romel."

They kept muttering about how "Melody disappeared," but seemed to not recognize me at all.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

‘What should I do?’

I forced myself to keep my steps steady, trying not to let my nervousness show.

The servants kept scanning the area, looking for me.

Luckily, since I was walking backward, it seemed like they couldn’t see me and passed by.

I slowly opened the front door and stepped out of the mansion. Of course, I was still walking backward.

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead.

If I did anything even slightly out of the ordinary, they would notice the change in me.

What would happen then? Would they trap me so I couldn’t escape, or would I become their prey?

“It’s so hard. Can’t I just run away right now? I could just run without being caught, hide somewhere.”

“Once you realize the ghost story, you won’t be able to just leave the village. You don’t know where the path you take will lead. It’s more likely to turn into a road you can’t come back from.”

I couldn’t help but wonder why this was happening to me.

At that moment, I heard it.

Meow.

A cat’s cry echoed from somewhere.

I raised my head in confusion, and there, on the wall, stood a black cat staring at me.

Its jewel-like, deep blue eyes were fixed on me.

The cat had a strange aura, as if it were watching me closely.

Could this cat be some kind of incomprehensible monster, like the others?

"Where did you come from?"

Meow.

“Where did you come from?”

Meow.

Just as expected, the cat only meowed and didn’t speak human language.

“Daejira sagadi romel Daejira sagadi romel Daejira sagadi romel Daejira sagadi romel”

At that moment, frantic voices from inside the mansion began calling my name.

This wasn’t the time for this.

I grabbed the bag I had hidden earlier and opened the front gate of Lanatte’s mansion. The same gate I had marked with an X in red paint.

“If you fail to inform more than five people, escaping the village will be difficult. At that point, you’ll need to sneak out by opening the gate with the X mark without being caught.”

The black cat, which had been sitting on the wall, jumped down and followed me.

But I couldn’t afford to worry about the cat right now.

Where I stepped out from was an entirely different place.

A dark, dim room.

People, covered in bright red blood, were gathered together, eating something noisily.

To my shock, the inside of the village chief’s house was now spread out inside the front gate of Lanatte’s mansion.

Nothing made sense.

"Remember, Melody. Opening the X gate is just the beginning. After that, all the doors will lead to different places."

The Student Council President’s advice echoed in my mind as I swallowed dryly.

"I don’t know where these doors will lead, but one of them will be an escape route. Good luck."

I paused for a moment, startled, and felt a soft, furry sensation against my calf.

Looking down, it was the black cat again.

It was rubbing against me, almost like it wanted me to pay attention to it. Maybe it was a cat that liked people.

I waved my hand to shoo it away, but the cat kept following me.

After a while, the cat that had been meowing nonstop became quiet. It seemed like it knew it shouldn’t make noise here.

I decided to ignore the cat and surveyed my surroundings.

The villagers inside the house were still eating something, not noticing us.

I spotted another door in the distance.

The problem was getting past the people who were eating.

If I die here, all the time I spent turning back a year would be for nothing.

‘Did I make the right choice?’

In a flash, I regretted making a deal with the Student Council President.

Of course, my regret was short-lived. I had to overcome this for Raven.

‘Yeah, get a grip.’

I slowly took a step forward.

Click clack. The sound of my feet splashing in the blood puddles echoed.

The villagers in the living room were getting closer.

The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓.

All the time I had spent in Chesswind Village flashed in my mind.

Even though the circumstances weren’t ideal, I really wanted to send Raven to school.

If I looked like I was struggling, Raven would refuse to go.

That’s why I never showed any signs of hardship.

For me, Chesswind Village had always been a place of salvation and light. Everyone was kind and gentle.

Even as a young girl, they never cheated me and always paid my salary regularly.

The village chief had been just as helpful as Lady Lanatte had been to me.

When had they started hiding their true identities? If they were never human, it must have been from the very beginning.

Why didn’t I notice that until now?

"Detenhalia and Ajab were divided and they were abandoned and Rasagadi Romel was abandoned."

“If I don’t want to be a sanggodang, I’ll be a sanggodang.”

The villagers, still eating something, continued muttering in reverse that I had disappeared.

I turned around and began walking backward slowly.

It was almost noon, yet the room was excessively dark.

The curtains were drawn ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ over the windows.

Click clack.

Chew chew.

The sound of my footsteps splashing in the blood and the villagers chewing filled the room.

I carefully passed by the gathered villagers.

Then, suddenly, the people who had been eating abruptly looked up and started talking.

"Hey, did you hear? Melody disappeared this morning. Where did she go?"

"Could she have gone to another village? Poor thing."

"Our savings are all gone, right? Maybe we should just let her go."

I had no choice but to stop in my tracks.

Savings.

Could it be that the money I earned working in the village...