"The ghost's purpose isn't to kill."
"It wants to find something on the skin!"
"The ghost entered my mind because if it can't find it under Ruru's skin, then I'm the backup..."
To survive required an exceptional mind, but also extraordinary courage.
Putting those three pieces of information together, Xu Chan had found a solution that could perhaps be called a way out. But it would be terrifying—and excruciatingly painful!
"If it isn't on Ruru's skin, then it's on mine. As long as I find that thing before the ghost does, then according to the rules and the outcome, it will have failed."
A way out had appeared, but carrying it out required immense courage, even for Xu Chan.
This young girl, barely twenty, had been born into a wealthy family and was still in the bloom of youth. She should have had an incomparably bright future, a life others envied.
But ever since she had set foot on that road leading to Branch No. 8 so long ago, the rest of her life had contained nothing but endless gambles with death, recurring nightmares, and a mire she could never escape.
The color visibly drained from Xu Chan's face. Fear and madness were compressed within her constantly trembling pupils.
Her right hand slowly rose, its fingers tightly gripping the iron fan engraved with bizarre eyeballs. Her left hand reached with difficulty toward the cord tied around the fan's handle.
Swish!
When the cord binding the fan blades was untied, sheets of fan paper scattered across the floor, covering more than half of Ruru's human skin.
One iron blade after another, like knives, was clutched between her thumb and forefinger. Their polished backs reflected the light, carrying a chill that stung her skin.
"I won't die. According to the rules, that