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Six in the morning, the next day.
Andrew yawned his way through the gates of Hanasaki High.
He'd been pounced to death by the headless girl around six the previous evening in Urban Legends. Twelve hours later, the cooldown was up—his substitute paper doll had just refreshed.
Gaming's simple: set alarms, hit your timing, grind like hell.
He reached the path beside the cherry blossom grove, leaned against a sakura tree, and pulled out his phone.
Urban Legends… launch!
The light around him dimmed. The crisp morning air turned thick and murky. In an instant, Andrew was back in that bizarre game world.
The first thing he saw, as always, was the faintly glowing wooden shrine box.
In his mind, it worked like a save point—a bonfire, basically. Every time the player died, they'd respawn here before starting over.
"There's definitely more of these scattered around… but man, it'd be nice if one was near my house. Taking the early train just to play this is torture."
He pushed himself up.
A breeze drifted through the grove. Mixed into the wind—soft sobbing. A girl's.
The headless girl was at it again.
This time, Andrew wasn't about to walk in and hand himself over. And for now, fighting wasn't even on the table.
Last night, pinned beneath her, he'd felt the gap in strength firsthand.
With his pathetic total of ten points across strength, agility, and stamina? Yeah—no way he was winning.
Nope. Time to bail.
He turned and ran.
Since he hadn't gone deep into the grove this time, his tactical retreat worked perfectly. The headless girl never even spotted him, let alone chased him down.
From here, the "underworld version" of Hanasaki High had three main areas to explore.
East side.
The athletic field, plus training areas for clubs like kendo, kyudo, and swimming.
North side.
Classroom buildings. Pretty self-explanatory.
West side.
Cafeteria, convenience shop, and an artificial lake—a hangout spot for students to relax or flirt.
Honestly, it didn't matter where he started.
He was still in early exploration mode. He'd have to map everything eventually—and maybe knock out that "explore 80%" quest along the way.
If he died during exploration? No big deal.
He had a paper doll ready to burn.
"Let's just clear the map first and see what rewards I get."
"As for exorcising Hanako… yeah, that can wait. The random mobs already bully me to death—no way I'm picking a fight with a famous urban legend."
He steadied his breathing, calmed his nerves, and strode toward the eastern part of the school.
…
About ten minutes later—
"Crap! Crap! Crap!"
At the entrance of the kendo club, Andrew was sprinting for his life.
Behind him: six headless girls… and four headless boyss.
"Uuuu—"
"Kehehe—"
The brainless high schoolers cried, giggled, and chased him relentlessly, moving way too fast.
To explain how things got this bad, we need to rewind ten minutes.
The moment he stepped into the east zone, Andrew realized just how malicious Urban Legends really was.
In reality, Hanasaki High was just an ordinary public school.
In this garbage game? It was packed to the brim with monsters.
Headless girls. Headless boyss. Everywhere.
They were scattered across campus like normal students.
Thankfully, they seemed just as brainless as they looked—slow to react, dull in behavior.
Some sat blankly. Others paced in small circles. A few gathered in groups, laughing and crying like they were chatting.
As long as he kept his distance, they didn't seem to notice him.
Thinking back, the headless girl in the cherry grove had been the same—only attacking once he got too close.
So Andrew crouched low, moved quietly, and kept his distance as he explored the east side.
For a while, everything went smoothly.
Until he reached the kendo club.
A few headless students wandered outside, so he stayed cautious, planning to skirt along the flowerbed and slip past.
That's where everything went wrong.
There was a headless boy crouching behind the bushes.
Who knows what the guy was doing—taking a dump, maybe.
Either way, sneaking along the flowerbed put Andrew right into its detection range.
"Heh… heheh!"
The headless boy shrieked and burst out of the bushes.
That scream drew the attention of every nearby headless student.
Andrew wasn't stupid—his reflexes kicked in instantly. He bolted.
And that's how he ended up being chased by a whole pack of them, screaming his lungs out.
Back to the present.
The headless students were ridiculously strong—physically and explosively.
He'd already learned that the hard way last night.
He knew he couldn't outrun them.
Didn't plan to.
Rounding the flowerbed, Andrew poured everything into one last sprint—straight for the kendo club doors.
His thinking was simple:
Dying is fine. But at least struggle a little. Make it count.
If he died inside the kendo club, he'd at least get a glimpse of what was in there. Better than dying outside like a chump.
While running, he even triggered a static-version Five-Thunder spell—whether it helped or not—sparks crackling around him as he sprinted.
Cold air brushed his back.
One of them was right on him.
But just as he was about to be tackled—
His hand hit the kendo hall door.
Bang!
The doors flew open like a black maw, swallowing him whole before snapping shut behind him.
The frenzied headless students were left outside.
"Uuuu—"
"Kehehe—"
They cried. They laughed.
But none of them dared touch the door.
…
The wooden floor inside was smooth—freshly waxed, by the look of it.
A ridiculous handwritten banner hung on the wall:
"A real man should fence!"
Dim light filtered in through the windows, dust motes drifting in the air.
At first glance, the kendo club looked just like it did in reality.
Except for one thing that absolutely didn't belong.
A massive red oni.
Huge body. Wild hair. A single horn on its forehead. Bare upper body, thick with muscle. Its face looked vicious enough that you'd believe it had eaten someone five minutes ago.
The oni sat properly in the center of the hall.
In front of it lay a katana.
"…What is that? A red oni?"
"So the headless students are scared of this thing? Did I just walk into the east zone boss room?"
Andrew studied it carefully—but oddly enough, he wasn't that scared.
To him, death was death. Whether it was a mob or a boss didn't really make a difference.
"Welp. Guess I'm done for."
Seeing no way out, he flopped flat on the floor.
"Come on, wreck me. Don't hold back just because I'm delicate."
"....."