The senior student closed her eyes and began to sing, while Lilian passed the ball to the person on her right.
In that instant, the sky suddenly darkened.
Qi Zhimu reflexively went on alert, his gaze quickly sweeping across the surroundings before instantly freezing.
Those sitting in a circle were no longer students; they were clearly hideous, malevolent ghosts.
One had only half a head left, another had several bloody holes in their chest, one was headless, and yet another had most of their face gnawed off by something.
Looking again at the ball being tossed around—it wasn't a ball at all, but a terrifying skull.
Out of the twenty-five people, only Herta and Lilian retained their original appearances.
The students exercising around the square had also vanished, leaving only Green and the others patrolling nearby.
"Herta?!"
"...I'm fine, don't worry."
Herta's tone remained relatively calm, unfazed by the sudden change.
However, she couldn't help but frown as she looked at Lilian.
The other girl had a normal smile on her face, clearly unaware that the environment and the people had changed.
The Reaper could strike at any moment, and the method of killing must be hidden within this game.
Was it a matter of whose bad luck led them to catch the ball, or...?
While she was thinking, the ball had already completed a circuit.
"Herta~" a female student said with a smile as she handed the ball over.
Just as Herta caught it, the senior student's singing stopped.
"I didn't expect you to be the one to catch the skull-ball." Lilian's eyes squinted into crescents.
"...Bad luck." Herta looked toward the senior student—or rather, the headless ghost.
How ironic that she could sing without a head.
The Headless Senior Female Student's voice sounded quite normal: "Herta, do you plan to perform a talent or choose Truth?"
"Truth."
"Alright, then—have you ever killed anyone?"
In the distance, the expressions of Green and her two companions changed instantly. Asking such a question was abnormal no matter how you looked at it.
What terrified them, however, was that Lilian had no reaction at all, as if what she heard was different from what everyone else heard.
All eyes converged on Herta.
Although the Reaper wouldn't normally move against task participants ahead of time, magic still surged in Qi Zhimu's palm, ready to respond to any unexpected situation at a moment's notice.
He was also curious about how Herta would answer.
Under the spotlight, Herta remained silent for a few seconds before uttering two words: "I have."
Green felt another jolt of shock in her heart.
Was it really okay to lie? What if it triggered an unexpected incident?
However, the twenty-three malevolent ghosts had no objection to this answer, and neither did Lilian.
"Since Herta answered the Truth, let's continue~~"
The singing resumed, and this time it wasn't hard to detect a slight sense of eeriness.
The same thought drifted through the minds of the others: That's it?
Qi Zhimu narrowed his eyes. Lilian's perception had likely been tampered with, or in her eyes, everything about this game was normal.
Green and the other two ignored their fear of facing the ghosts and gathered their courage to approach and watch, taking out their phones to find Herta's contact and send a text.
Herta took a moment to glance at it.
Green was asking: could the way to change Lilian's fate be related to waking her up?
Right now, she looked as if her mind was being controlled, unaware of the reality.
Herta replied that it was hard to say for now, while simultaneously observing how the ghosts reacted to the three people approaching.
The result was unexpected.
"You three students, do you want to join in temporarily?"
The Headless Senior Female Student asked enthusiastically, frightening the three into reflexively waving their hands in refusal.
"That's a pity then..."
...Calling them students?
A whisper that only Qi Zhimu could hear echoed in Herta's heart.
Qi Zhimu also realized something was wrong; those three were wearing guard uniforms, not student uniforms.
It seemed that not only was Lilian's perception tampered with, but the ghosts were as well. Perhaps this was a restriction from the Reaper, making them unable to distinguish who was of their own kind?
Did that mean the trigger for the Reaper's move was seeing through Lilian's identity?
While thinking, the ball passed through Herta's hands once more.
The singing stopped, and it landed exactly in the hands of someone two spots to Lilian's right—perhaps they shouldn't be called a person, but a terrifying ghost with a hollow head.
"This student, talent or Truth?"
"Truth."
"Ooh~~ can you tell everyone how you died?"
"..."
The corner of Green's eye twitched.
Now she was certain that Truth would never yield a normal question.
Correspondingly, what kind of abstract behavior would a talent performance be?
"A lot of time has passed, over a hundred years... my memory is a bit blurry. Oh, I remember now—"
The hollow-headed ghost's voice rose significantly as he looked toward the Headless Senior Female Student.
"It was you who killed me. I had just enrolled two days prior when you lured me into the small woods at night and sucked out my brain marrow."
Hearing this made some people's skin crawl, but the scene was mostly filled with a matter-of-fact calmness, as if they were just chatting about daily life.
The ball began to circulate again, coming to an abrupt halt after a full round.
The male student holding the skull-ball still looked quite handsome even as a ghost, standing out from the rest.
If not for his skin tone being a corpse-like ashen white, one wouldn't be able to tell he was a ghost at all.
"I choose to perform a talent."
"Yay, someone's finally doing a talent!" the senior student said excitedly.
The male student stepped out of the line, suddenly fell backward, and shouted 'no'.
Seconds later, his limbs suddenly detached from his body, and not a single drop of blood flowed from the severed surfaces.
"Done. Is the senior student still familiar with the talent I performed?" The male student returned to his seat.
"Familiar, how nostalgic..."
The senior student's tone became even more excited.
"If I recall correctly, eighty-some years ago, I forced myself on you, drained you to death, and then dismembered you."
Scalps tingled, but before the three could recover their wits, the game continued once more.
This time, the one who caught the ball was a female student who also chose a talent, curling herself into a ball of flesh.
"It leaves an impression, doesn't it, senior student?"
"Hahaha, that was thirty years ago. Who told you to have such good flexibility that it drove me mad with jealousy? I just couldn't help but make you a bit more artistic."
A few minutes flew by.
There were only 6 minutes left until Lilian passed her moment of death.
During this time, seven people besides Herta had caught the ball, and the content became increasingly hair-raising.
For example, performing the act of skinning oneself, or answering how after being killed at a certain time, a certain body part was eaten by the Headless Senior Female Student in various ways...
"Mr. Creditor, I have a theory."
"Herta brat, I have a theory."
In the team channel, the two spoke almost simultaneously.
"You go first," Herta said first this time.
Qi Zhimu stated his insight and found it was basically consistent with Herta's view.
"Try it boldly; I'll back you up."
"...Mm." Herta's gaze was profound as it landed on the constantly passing ball.
After four more people, the ball landed in Herta's hands for the second time.
The Headless Senior Female Student's body turned toward her, asking the familiar question.
"Student, it's you again. Is it Truth this time as well?"
"Yes."
"Then... please tell the truth: Who... did you kill?"
Herta didn't answer immediately, looking toward Qi Zhimu with a faint gaze...