Rapid footsteps broke the silence under the night.
The rain was sparse. Dirty water splashed up as he fled, soaking his pants, but David could only run.
The footsteps following close behind were like hunting dogs that had caught the scent of blood, impossible to shake off.
"Damn it! There's no road here!"
David growled, his voice hoarse and rough.
There was a bloody gash in his chest, with a Bone knife embedded inside, emitting an eerie glow under the moonlight.
Footsteps sounded again behind him. Demon Hunter Raphael was already standing at the only exit of the alley, his back to the moonlight.
He raised the silver revolver in his hand.
Bang!
The first shot hit David's left knee.
The power of the large-caliber Anti-Demon bullet was astonishing.
With a single shot, it shattered the hard kneecap.
Bang!
The second shot hit David's forehead with precision.
His skull cracked and blood splattered everywhere, David's body, fueled by inhuman vitality, refused to die.
His eyes crimson as he stared at the Demon Hunter.
David covered his forehead. The blood was dark red, almost black, and a blade-grinding shriek came from his throat.
The sharp sound waves layered upon each other, shaking the air and lifting trash from the ground. The swirling dust bought him precious time.
He seized the opportunity and took out the delicate mirror from his pocket.
A shadow charged in like a cannonball, accompanied by a dull tearing sound through the air.
A fist wearing a black glove struck heavily into David's abdomen, the force so great that his entire abdomen caved inward.
Another punch slammed into David's chest.
The hand gripped the handle of the Bone Knife and yanked it out of his body.
As David opened his mouth, intending to unleash another shriek, Raphael had already turned the blade tip and stabbed it straight into his throat.
"Ah hahaha! Raphael!
This time I fell into your ambush, but next time, who will be the hunter?
Who will be the prey?!
That's not decided yet!"
The flesh on David's chest grew a skinless mouth, letting out a rampant laugh.
And the only response to him was the silver revolver in Raphael's hand.
The muzzle blocked his mouth. As the bullet roared, his head burst apart like a watermelon.
David's body completely collapsed onto the ground, losing all signs of life.
Raphael wiped the muzzle and reloaded.
The shadow beneath his feet spread up the wall, twisting and stretching into the shape of a Demon.
It 'watched' David on the ground and shook its head, as if saying 'not here', and the shadow slowly pointed toward Alan University not far away.
Raphael checked the area and found a shattered mirror in David's pocket.
"Damn it. A mirror substitute technique. He set up the ritual in advance and got away."
Raphael put away the gun and picked up the Bone knife that was not stained with a single drop of blood.
At this moment, it had lost its eerie coloration, looking like an ordinary piece of art, but with a hard texture.
"Maybe it has something to do with the D-Fraternity behind him."
As urgent sirens sounded in the distance, Raphael could only abandon the pursuit and put away the Bone knife.
He cast one last look at Alan University.
"I will find you, David. No matter the cost. I will hunt you down."
…
Alan University consisted of four tall buildings.
One of them had not been repainted for a long time, and the marks left by time on it far exceeded those on the other buildings.
This was once Teaching Building No. 2.
Now abandoned, the dilapidated structure had become a topic of idle discussion among college students.
But tonight, inside the abandoned building was different from usual, as four girls were quietly walking up the stairs.
The wooden staircase from over a decade ago creaked with each step, making one wonder whether it would collapse with the next.
Spider webs clung everywhere, as if silently greeting the newcomers.
"My heart's beating so fast… This pladce is full of spider webs, they're all over my hair. Tsk, it's filthy."
Elena, with blonde hair and green eyes, was the first to speak.
The stairwell was narrow, and their clothes inevitably became free cleaning tools. The brightly colored school uniforms now looked dirty.
The corridor had no windows. It lacked air and had no light.
The girls could only huddle together, relying on the lantern in the leading girl's hand for illumination.
After leaving the stairwell, the girls all let out a breath and headed straight for Classroom 402, known as one of the urban legends.
Elena became visibly excited.
"Finally! This is Classroom 402."
Paulanna, holding the lantern, nodded.
"It's said that the reason this building at our university was abandoned, even with all the windows sealed with iron bars, is because four students died in this classroom, one after another!
And every death was strange. It's still a widely circulated legend in District 22."
A girl who was clearly not here of her own will lowered her head.
"Isn't this bad? Could we be disturbing someone?"
She watched as Elena skillfully pried open the lock.
The long-sealed classroom smelled unpleasant, and the wooden door screeched as it scraped against the floor.
Inside Classroom 402, dust covered the desks and floor.
Chairs were scattered about, and abandoned pencils and papers lay on the ground.
Clearly, the students had left this building in a hurry. Above the seats near the window, there was also a suspicious rope.
It looked exactly like the kind of rope used for hanging in movies.
"Disturbing what? Ghosts?
Come on, Jessica.
What era is this? How could there be ghosts? I don't believe it."
The tall girl Sofia retorted dismissively, even though her legs were trembling slightly.
"Everyone, let's keep it down. We're just missing this one for our urban legend challenge. Once it's done, we'll leave."
Elena was impatient.
After waiting for a while and seeing that it was indeed quiet, the girls also relaxed.
The urban legend they were challenging today was called the Ghost of Classroom 402.
It was said that in this cursed classroom, performing three specific actions would cause a ghost to attach itself to you.
"The first one is: don't make loud noise in Classroom 402 at night. It's said it will attract prying eyes, and what you say will be answered by someone invisible…"
Sofia was the boldest of them. She took a deep breath and then shouted loudly.
After a moment, a similar sound echoed back, and nothing else happened.
Seeing this, she gave a dismissive smile.
"Just an echo. See, Jessica? Everything can be explained by science."
Seeing that nothing happened, the other girls grew more confident as well.
Paulanna immediately began testing the second legend:
Don't run wildly in the classroom, or you won't be able to stop, and your legs will break.
Paulanna ran back and forth across the classroom several times.
Seeing no reaction at all, she smiled and high-fived Sofia.
"Nothing happened. This proves that urban legends are all lies!"
Elena set up the half-length mirror she had brought and greeted her reflection.
"It's said that you shouldn't greet yourself in the mirror in Room 402.
Otherwise, you'll be replaced bit by bit by the version of yourself in the mirror, even your family and friends—"
Bang! Bang!
Before she could finish, two gunshots rang out from outside the window, startling the pigeons nesting outside the abandoned building.
Elena shivered and exchanged glances with her friends.
Jessica looked toward the door. "Are we in danger?"
Before Elena could answer, another series of gunshots rang out.
"Girls… maybe we should leave first. Could it be a gang shootout?"
Jessica looked at Elena, her face instantly turning pale.
"Elena! Look at the mirror!"
"What?"
Elena lowered her head in confusion, only to find that the reflection in the mirror was half a beat slower.
She had already lowered her head, yet the other was still 'looking' at Jessica!
"What…?"
Elena refused to believe it and shook her head from side to side, walking back and forth, but every time, every movement, the reflection lagged behind by half a beat.
It was like it was imitating her. There was even a faint smile at the corner of its mouth, but she had not smiled at all.
Elena felt cold all over.
In panic, she grabbed the mirror frame and smashed it hard onto the floor, shattering it, no longer daring to look.
"Girls, go! Let's go home!
No, let's find the police!"
Paulanna was the first to move. She ran out of the classroom like mad, and the other girls didn't dare linger and followed after her.
Chaotic footsteps echoed in the stairwell. Elena felt her heart pounding rapidly, as if it were about to leap out.
At a turn, Paulanna, who had been running in front, vanished from sight.
Elena didn't dare think further. The building was only a few stories high, yet at this moment it felt extremely long, but the exit finally appeared ahead.
"That scared me to death. I thought we'd entered some kind of inescapable looping stairwell."
Sofia let out a breath and looked around.
"Paulanna runs so fast? She didn't even wait for us…"
After complaining briefly about their friend, the girls were just about to leave when a black shadow slammed onto the ground with a loud smack.
"…Huh?"
"No…"
"Ah!!!"
Jessica screamed in terror.
It was Paulanna.
Her flesh was mangled, her eyes staring at the sky.
Blood stained the concrete ground, flowing along the cracks. Both of her legs were completely broken.
"No… how could this…"
Elena's legs trembled as she collapsed to her knees on the cold ground.
She covered her face with both hands, on the verge of breaking down.
Clatter.
Her phone fell to the ground.
On the black screen, the reflected Elena 'looked' at her.
Then, very naturally, it raised its hands to cover its face, imitating her movements as it sobbed.
At first, it was a bit slower.
Then.
Gradually synchronized.