Chapter 76: The Neck-Twisting Statue

Looking at the red dot on the system panel, Haruto recalled Sobu High's emergency evacuation map.

The location... seemed to be the school infirmary.

The anomaly was still about ten meters away, so Haruto couldn't see its specific details yet.

But Sobu High had nearly ten thousand students and staff. As one of the "Big Three" elite schools, if something went wrong here, the public outcry would be catastrophic.

So, he had to act fast.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, I'm not feeling well. I need to go to the infirmary," Haruto suddenly announced, standing up.

Hiratsuka's lecture was interrupted.

She glared at Haruto.

This kid, with his sturdy build, was suddenly causing trouble. Was this payback for earlier during roll call?

But seeing the urgency in Haruto's eyes, Hiratsuka sighed.

"Do you need someone to go with you?"

Haruto quickly shook his head.

Then, bracing himself on the desk, he vaulted right over Yukino's head.

Yukinoshita: !?

Hiratsuka's face darkened.

At least pretend a little!

Kid, is this what you call "not feeling well"?

That hurdle, that sprint, that speed...

Are you training for the Olympics or something!?

Hiratsuka took several deep breaths to calm herself.

'Fine, let him do what he wants. He's the top scorer, after all. If his grades drop, I'll just beat him up later.'

With that thought, Hiratsuka prepared to continue the lesson. However, at that moment, a girl raised her hand.

"Hiratsuka-sensei, I'm not feeling well either. I'd like to go to the infirmary."

Hiratsuka frowned as she looked at the girl.

Yukino?

The second daughter of the Yukinoshita family?

Hiratsuka was puzzled.

While she taught at Sobu High, she was also a wealthy woman in her own right, so she was familiar with prestigious families like the Yukinoshitas.

There were rumors about this second daughter; cold, serious, and perfectionistic.

She wasn't the type to cause trouble.

"Go ahead," Hiratsuka finally said.

Yukino left the classroom.

As soon as the door closed, she found herself staring at the empty hallway, lost in thought.

What am I even doing?

Why did I follow him out?

Yukino couldn't understand her own actions.

That boy, aside from having good grades, had nothing noteworthy about him.

He wasn't her type at all.

So why was she so fixated on him?

Why had she, a perfectionist, resorted to skipping class; something so uncharacteristic, just to chase after him?

Despite her confusion, Yukino began moving toward the infirmary.

-------------

Meanwhile, in the infirmary of Sobu High...

Kasumigaoka Utaha, as usual, was pretending to be sick to skip class and read in the quiet infirmary.

Although she was reading, her mind was elsewhere, mostly focused on waiting for school to end so she could go meet someone.

The image of a certain underclassman flashed through her mind. Unconsciously, Utaha's lips curved into a smile.

Aside from Utaha, there were only two nurses in the infirmary.

They were used to Utaha lounging around here. It had been two years, after all. If her homeroom teacher didn't say anything, they weren't going to bother either.

In the midst of this peaceful atmosphere, one of the nurses suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh? Where did that statue come from? Since when did the infirmary have such a weird statue?"

She pointed to a corner of the room.

There, a two-meter-tall humanoid concrete statue had appeared out of nowhere.

The statue was covered in strange red and brown paint, with a peanut-shaped head and a face painted with odd-colored features.

"Where did this thing come from? Who put an art statue in the infirmary? Seriously!"

The other nurse also noticed the strange statue and complained.

Utaha, lying on a bed in another corner, heard the nurses' conversation and felt curious. She pulled back the curtain to see what this "weird statue" was all about.

The two nurses had already walked over and were examining the statue.

"It's so bizarre. Is this what they call art? I don't see any beauty in it," one of them muttered.

The other nurse waved her hand.

"Ugh, I'll go call the art department and have them take this thing back. What's it even doing in the infirmary? It's not like it's a human anatomy model."

With that, she turned to leave and fetch someone from the art department.

(T/N: Big mistake.....)

Upon hearing this, the first nurse let out a sound of acknowledgment and curiously observed the sculpture.

Then...

She blinked.

'Crack!'

A crisp sound of bones breaking echoed.

The nurse who was about to check on the person turned around in confusion upon hearing the sound. To her surprise, she saw the sculpture, which was originally in the corner, now standing not far behind her.

The other nurse who was with her lay motionless on the ground.

This nurse's head was twisted 180 degrees.

In reality, except for a very few individuals with soft bone disease, most humans cannot twist their necks to a 180-degree angle.

(T/N: No shit.)

Therefore, this nurse had undoubtedly suffered severe physical injury and was already dead.

Her eyes were wide open, staring in disbelief.

"Ahhhhh!"

Unable to comprehend the situation, the remaining nurse let out a high-pitched scream. She then turned and ran towards the exit, trying to escape. However, the moment she looked away from the eerie sculpture,

'Crack!'

Another crisp sound of breaking echoed.

She didn't even take a step before the sculpture appeared behind her, instantly twisting her neck 180 degrees.

With a thud, her body fell to the ground, blood trickling out.

Utaha lifted the bed curtain and witnessed this horrifying scene.

Her eyes widened in shock, and she covered her mouth, suppressing a scream.

What was that thing?

A sculpture?

Why was a sculpture moving and killing people!?

Various terrifying thoughts flooded Utaha's mind.

But at this moment, she dared not move, speak, or even blink. Fearing that she might be the next to die. She had promised her Kouhai to meet again at the start of the school year.

She couldn't die here!

Her eyes began to dry out, and her body trembled violently from the prolonged muscle tension.

Utaha didn't know why the sculpture hadn't moved or come to kill her.

But she didn't dare to move.

Who... who could save her?

This thought crossed Utaha mind. But she knew it was unlikely.

In light novels, the hero always arrives just in time to save the heroine from danger, but such clichéd plots don't happen in real life.

"Senpai! Keep your eyes on it, don't blink!"

Suddenly, a boy's shout echoed from the hallway outside.

Utaha: !

Such a clichéd plot actually came true!

However, in her moment of relief, Utaha's dry eyes couldn't help but blink.

"Za Warudo!"

A power named The World instantly froze the world, stopping time. Everything turned gray, and all movement ceased.

Haruto rushed into the infirmary and saw the eerie sculpture teleport behind Utaha. Its concrete arm reached out to twist her head 180 degrees.

Haruto let out a sigh of relief.

On his way, Haruto had already sensed three people in the infirmary.

As he approached, he recognized one of them as his senpai, Kasumigaoka Utaha. In the hallway, Haruto had seen abnormal records. So, he quickly shouted a warning to Kasumigaoka Utaha.

But feeling uncertain, he used The World's power to stop time.

Fortunately, he had used The World's power.

Otherwise...

Haruto quickly walked over and picked up Utaha, moving her away from the sculpture.

The World's power faded.

Time began to flow again.

Utaha kept her eyes tightly shut, bracing for the pain to come. Or perhaps, she would die instantly without feeling any pain. But soon, she felt herself in a warm embrace.

Looking up, she saw her Kouhai right in front of her.

"Such a clichéd plot... is actually so powerful?"

Utaha murmured.

Haruto heard her and felt a bit helpless.

"Senpai, after experiencing such a terrifying ordeal, your first thought is about light novel plots?"

Utaha, realizing what she had said, quickly looked around.

She saw the eerie sculpture standing next to the bed where she had been lying.

She had almost died!

Utaha's heart raced.

"What is that thing?"

Utaha asked, still shaken.

"An anomaly. It's hard to explain in a short time. Let me put you down first; I need to save someone."

Haruto said.

Kasumigaoka Shiro understood that this was not the time to be sentimental.

She got down from Haruto's arms.

Haruto kept his eyes on the sculpture while casually reaching into the air. His fingers seemed to disappear into space, and when they reappeared, he was holding two red syringes.

This was the application of the Divine Might space.

Haruto had stored some items in the Divine Might space for easy access.

Like now.

The syringes Haruto held were a research achievement of the Foundation.

Ghoul-2 Injection.

Made from Ghoul RC cells, it can temporarily activate a person's body repair function. Without even looking, Haruto precisely injected the serum into the necks of the two nurses.

Then, he manually twisted their heads back into place.

Seeing this, Utaha shivered.

"Can the two nurses be saved?"

"They should be fine. Their bodily functions haven't stopped for long, so they can be revived."

Just as Haruto said this, there was a thud at the door. It sounded like someone had fallen to the ground.

Haruto instinctively looked over and saw Yukino wide-eyed and pointing at them, looking terrified.

Haruto: Oh no...

Why did it have to be Yukinoshita again?

Who would be so unlucky to encounter anomaly containment twice?

But the bigger problem was...

'Crack!'