Chapter 2 : Chapter 2
Chapter 2: This School Romance Manga Feels a Bit Off
“What exactly is this world? Does it have ghosts? If ghosts exist, where are they? How can you see them and hear their voices? After completing the game, you will find the answer in your heart.”
“Warning: This mission is extremely dangerous. Please choose carefully.”
Inside the apartment, the black phone’s screen emitted a faint, eerie glow, illuminating the delicate face of a young girl in the darkness.
Zhao Mingyue held the black phone in her hands. She read every word on the screen without missing a single line. Taking a deep breath, she hesitated over the option: “Accept the mission? If no decision is made within twenty-four hours, this mission will permanently disappear.”
Her older sister had been missing for two years.
She had used every method she could think of to find her, but nothing worked. This black phone—tinged with a hint of the supernatural—was her final hope.
After hesitating for a moment, her finger finally moved toward the “Agree” option on the screen.
“To see the other world, you will need a small ritual and a bit of assistance. The following game is called Hair Combing: At 12:40 a.m., enter the bathroom alone. Close the door tightly, turn off all lights, and tie a red string around your right wrist. Leave the other end of the string outside the door. Then face the mirror, light a red candle in front of it, close your eyes, and use your right hand to comb your hair while silently repeating the name of the person you most want to see.”
“An old saying goes: ‘The mirror reflects the world. Do not comb your hair before a mirror at night, and do not speak of dreams before a mirror in the morning.’ At midnight, yin energy is at its strongest. If you comb your hair in front of a mirror at midnight, you will see another world. Perhaps you will see the face of the person you miss… or perhaps you will see a stranger staring coldly at you.”
“After fifteen minutes, the mission will be considered successful. Note: No matter what happens during this time, you must follow these rules—do not make any sound, do not perform any unnecessary movement, and do not open your eyes.”
After reading the entire task, Zhao Mingyue swallowed nervously and glanced at the time.
It was already 12:20 a.m. Only twenty minutes remained before the ritual had to begin.
“Forget it. I’ll try it first. Maybe it really will work.”
She encouraged herself silently, though in truth she had little confidence. After all, she had only found this black phone three days ago in a mysterious package left at her door.
There had been no sender information—only her name as the recipient.
Inside, there had been no clues, only a single sentence.
“Do you want to find your family?”
When she first turned on the phone, the first thing she saw was a slightly yellowed photograph on the home screen.
In front of an old children’s welfare home stood a little girl wearing a white dress. She stood quietly by the entrance.
She looked perfect like a doll and comforting like an angel.
A bright smile spread across her adorable face as she hugged a rabbit doll in her arms.
The doll itself was poorly made—almost unsettling in appearance.
Yet the little girl clutched it tightly, as if it were a priceless treasure.
In the lower-left corner of the photograph, a small line of text was written:
Bai Sisi and her Miss Rabbit.
Aside from that, the phone only had two applications.
One had an icon resembling a Ferris wheel, which could not be opened for the time being.
The other was a completely black icon—the application that had issued her mission.
She still remembered that when she first obtained the phone, several floating comments had appeared on the screen, apparently left a few days earlier.
“Run, you foolish child! You picked up something you shouldn’t have!”
“Wow wow wow, is this the female lead? She’s so cute qaq.”
“Girl, congratulations on starting with an SSR reward. But listen to my advice—throw the phone downstairs.”
“I’ll mourn for you for one second (smirk).”
“Never say Bai Sisi’s name. She looks cute, but her brother is insanely dangerous (serious face).”
“Shh, let me tell you quietly. The previous owner of this phone was a very gentle and refined person.”
From these comments, Zhao Mingyue could infer a few clues.
For example, the phone’s previous owner seemed to be the older brother of the little girl in the wallpaper.
This person was apparently very powerful, and possessing the phone might put her in danger.
Of course, it was also possible that these comments were nothing more than someone’s prank.
But she did not have the time to think about that.
She had to try this mission.
Whether the black phone was a cruel joke or something truly mysterious would become clear through this task.
Twenty minutes was plenty of time.
Zhao Mingyue put away the black phone, took out her own phone, turned on its flashlight, and began searching through the apartment.
“A red candle, a red string, and a comb.”
She found the red candle in a drawer. She also had a red string—leftover yarn her sister had once used while knitting a scarf.
After grabbing a comb from the bedroom, she walked to the bathroom door.
She took a deep breath.
The bathroom, normally so familiar, suddenly felt extremely terrifying.
Due to a power outage, the entire apartment was pitch black. The bathroom door creaked softly as an unknown breeze pushed it back and forth.
The apartment building she rented in was quite old.
Even the bathroom door inside the room was an old yellow wooden door.
Entering the bathroom, she closed the door and locked it.
She tied the red string around her wrist and tossed the other end outside the door.
Then she stood in front of the mirror, bent down, and lit the candle, fixing it onto the sink directly before the mirror.
Only five minutes remained before the ritual began.
The phone showed the time: 12:35 a.m.
Turning off her phone’s flashlight, Zhao Mingyue looked at her reflection in the mirror under the faint candlelight.
Perhaps it was the wind, but the candle flame flickered weakly.
Normally, it would illuminate the entire small bathroom, yet now it barely lit the area around the mirror.
The flame swayed gently, giving the eerie impression that darkness was swallowing everything around her.
She stared at her reflection.
For some reason, the reflection felt unfamiliar.
It was as though a stranger were standing there instead of her.
“12:39… only one minute left.”
She glanced at her phone again.
As the time drew closer, her heart began beating faster.
Her palms grew damp with sweat.
Gripping the comb on the sink with her right hand—the one tied with the red string—she closed her eyes tightly at the exact moment.
The comb slid gently through her short hair.
Nothing unusual happened.
At the same time, she silently repeated her sister’s name in her mind.
Zhao Yi.
Zhao Yi…
To Zhao Mingyue, time now passed painfully slowly.
It felt as though someone were squeezing her throat.
She had no idea what might happen next.
Before this, she had always been a firm atheist.
Even now she kept telling herself that her fear was only psychological suggestion.
The strange game and eerie instructions constantly hinted that ghosts existed in the world.
Now she was alone in the bathroom—the place with the strongest yin energy.
Feeling frightened was inevitable.
Darkness surrounded her body.
She repeated her sister’s name again and again while counting down in her mind.
It felt like a countdown to death.
Because of this, every tiny sound in the room seemed amplified infinitely in her ears.
She heard a drop of water fall from the faucet onto the ceramic sink, making a steady drip… drip sound.
Outside in the hallway, someone seemed to be walking slowly.
Even worse, she clearly remembered closing the bathroom window.
So why did she feel an icy cold wind blowing against her body?
In such a small, enclosed space, there should not be such strong airflow.
It felt as though an invisible person were standing behind her, blowing cold air onto her neck.
Her scalp tingled.
A deep sense of unease filled her heart.
Zhao Yi…
She continued silently chanting her sister’s name.
Ten minutes passed.
During those ten minutes, nothing happened.
All the unease seemed to be nothing more than fear created by her own mind.
At that moment, she even felt a trace of disappointment.
Was the black phone really just someone’s prank?
But just as the tenth minute passed, she suddenly heard a voice.
“Mingyue…”
“Zhao Mingyue!”
Zhao Mingyue trembled violently, almost opening her eyes.
She was absolutely certain she had heard it correctly.
The voice had come from behind her.
It sounded familiar—she had definitely heard it before somewhere, yet she could not remember where.
The voice grew closer.
It moved slowly from the living room toward the bathroom.
With every step, it softly called her name.
“Zhao Mingyue…”
The rhythm matched the way she had been silently repeating her sister’s name.
Who exactly was outside calling her name?
No…
Was that thing outside really a person?
The voice was soft.
But when it reached the bathroom door, it suddenly became sharp and intense, almost distorted, as though something urgent had happened.
At that exact moment, Zhao Mingyue suddenly felt the red string tied to her wrist jerk violently and tighten.
It felt as though the other end of the string had been tied to someone else’s wrist outside the door.
Her combing motion froze.
A chill ran down her spine.
For the first time in her life, her worldview felt completely shattered.
BANG BANG BANG BANG!
Rapid knocking sounded behind her.
That “person” continued calling her name.
When she failed to respond, it began pounding on the door violently.
No.
More precisely, it was smashing the door.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The strikes grew faster and stronger.
The thing outside stopped calling her name.
Instead, the sound of fingernails scraping fiercely across the door echoed through the bathroom.
Scratch… scratch…
Zhao Mingyue’s nails dug into her palms.
Cold sweat had already soaked the back of her clothes.
The red string tightened painfully around her wrist.
Her movements while combing her hair became stiff.
Her eyelids trembled uncontrollably.
She desperately wanted to open the door and see what was outside.
Finally, fifteen minutes passed.
When the last number of her silent countdown fell, every sound in the bathroom disappeared instantly.
The red string on her wrist loosened and dropped to the ground.
It was as though nothing had ever happened.
The silence in the room was terrifying.
To be safe, she counted another full minute before opening her eyes.
The moment she opened them, the first thing she saw was her reflection in the mirror.
Nothing seemed different.
Instead, the candle—barely used before—had already burned down completely.
A candle burned out in fifteen minutes.
Zhao Mingyue swallowed.
She quickly pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it toward the wooden door behind her.
The door was completely intact.
She could not tell whether the thing that had been smashing it was still outside.
She did not dare to approach and open it.
But when her gaze moved downward, she suddenly noticed something.
“Why is there a doll here?”
For no apparent reason, a rabbit doll had appeared on the floor.
The doll leaned against the wooden door with its head lowered.
It looked as though it had appeared there earlier and blocked the door, saving her life.
After calming down for a while, Zhao Mingyue gathered the courage to walk over.
She picked up the rabbit doll stained with dried blood.
The moment she held it, she suddenly realized something.
“Isn’t this the doll from the photograph… the one the little girl was holding?”
Before she could inspect it further, the black phone in her pocket vibrated.
She took it out.
Several lines of blood-red text had appeared on the screen.
【Congratulations. You have obtained a Fierce Ghost item】
【Bloodstained Doll】
【Her sister told her not to be afraid at night. Miss Rabbit was her good friend and would protect her in the darkness. So on that rainy night, the killer chopped off her head and dismembered her body, yet she still never loosened her grip on the doll.】
【Holding this item will allow you to summon the female Fierce Ghost: Bai Yu】
【Warning: This Fierce Ghost is extremely dangerous. Please approach with extreme caution.】
Just as she finished reading the message, the red string around her wrist suddenly tightened again.
CRACK!
The mirror behind her shattered.
From within the mirror came a shrill male voice.
“Is anyone there…”
“Is anyone there?!”
“Is anyone there!!”
“If no one answers… I’m coming in…”