Chapter 26: A Guardian of the Gate? A God of the Abyss!

"Brother, I’m begging you, can you please stop dragging me to my death?"

The chubby boy’s round face was scrunched up in agony. Wu Wang had already cajoled—and largely threatened with a dagger—his way to the stairwell of the second floor. Wu Wang intended to keep going up, but the chubby boy’s knees were already knocking together.

"It’s fine. That guy definitely isn't in the broadcast room; he’s long gone," Wu Wang reassured him. "My buddy is handling things outside the building; they’ll keep him occupied."

Even Liu Yang chimed in, "Breaking and entering is a great opportunity right now."

He was also curious about the situation upstairs. To be precise, he was curious about what secrets were hidden within this Art Building that Gaoshan Middle School kept tucked away. In the past, he had never possessed such intense curiosity; his mind had been filled with nothing but study. Today, however, he had discovered things beyond his textbooks. He couldn't resist wanting to see the truth for himself.

Wu Wang looked at the chubby boy’s tearful expression and asked, "Are you really that afraid of it? Has it ever hurt you?"

"Well, no, not exactly..."

"Has it hurt anyone else in the Art Building?"

"No, they can't even see each other..." the boy replied, his voice as thin as a mosquito’s buzz.

Wu Wang was so annoyed he had to laugh. "Damn, then what are you so scared of?" he asked, feeling a bit frustrated by the boy's cowardice.

The question made the chubby boy frown and ponder for nearly ten seconds before answering uncertainly, "I’m afraid of seeing his face? I don't know! I’m just scared, okay!"

*Whoosh—*

As they were talking, a blackboard eraser covered in white chalk dust flew toward them. Wu Wang tilted his head to dodge, stepping to the left to avoid a lightbulb that had fallen due to lack of maintenance. His stride was slightly exaggerated, landing perfectly over a puddle of murky paint water on the floor.

"I’ve been meaning to ask, isn't your agility a bit too excessive, classmate Chu? Have you had training?" Liu Yang couldn't help but remark.

This was the fourteenth time Wu Wang had perfectly dodged something inexplicable since they had started climbing from the first floor. Once or twice might be a coincidence, but this many in such a short time was clearly wrong. An invisible hand was manipulating everything. It seemed that if Wu Wang were to be stained by the color, something would happen.

"I’m a physical education student! Don't underestimate my training! Back in the day, I could take down a tiger with a single sliding tackle!" Wu Wang spouted nonsense with a straight face.

The frequency of the color-stained objects appearing was increasing, which actually proved he was on the right track. There was definitely something in that broadcast room! The closer he got, the more anxious the hidden ghost became.

"Tell you what, chubby. I’ll ask you a few questions. If you can answer them, I won't force you to go upstairs anymore," Wu Wang said, a flash of wisdom in his eyes.

"?" The boy looked up, clearly wanting to know what Wu Wang intended to ask.

Wu Wang’s expression turned serious. "What do you think of Chen Nan?"

The chubby boy clearly hadn't expected such a shift in topic. He stammered in confusion, "Sister Chen is great, of course! Everyone likes her, and she’s been especially kind to me. If I could find a girlfriend like her in this life, I’d wake up laughing in my dreams. No, I mean, I like her in the way classmates do, you know..."

"?" Wu Wang had an epiphany, wearing an expression that said he understood everything.

In truth, he had only wanted to motivate the boy to solve the situation by suggesting that Principal Wang would sooner or later harm everyone around him. He hadn't expected his bait to catch such a big fish. The chubby boy definitely liked Chen Nan. That made things much easier.

"Listen to me. The guy on the third floor is the current principal of Gaoshan Middle School. He plans to demolish the Art Building. Everything you cherish is about to turn to dust," Wu Wang stood up and said coldly. "Are you just going to wait for the day Chen Nan disappears?"

"!" The boy was stunned. That monster was the principal! If the principal was going to demolish the Art Building, then what of Chen Nan’s hope—the dream that teachers and students would eventually notice they were missing and come to the rescue? Was it all just a pathetic fantasy?

"Either come up with me now to find a way to escape this place, or let Chen Nan wait for death in her own cozy, pathetic fantasy," Wu Wang said with icy indifference.

With that, he turned and walked toward the stairwell. One step, two steps, three steps...

"I'm coming!" the chubby boy gritted his teeth. Though his legs still trembled, he struggled to pull himself up by leaning against the wall.

Liu Yang looked to the side, hoping to see a look of inspiration or gratitude on Wu Wang’s face. As expected, he only saw a devious smirk of success. *That bastard! The demolition story was definitely made up on the spot!*

But he didn't call Wu Wang out. Since the guy wanted the chubby boy there so badly, he must have had his reasons.

They walked side by side as they continued upward.

*Thump-thump... hummm...*

As soon as they stepped onto the third floor, before they could even locate the broadcast station or clearly see the hallway, the three of them felt their heart rates spike. They experienced mild tinnitus, their vision blurred, and inexplicable whispers echoed in their minds. The chubby boy and Liu Yang nearly collapsed on the spot.

[Sanity: 35 — 34]

Wu Wang’s sanity began to drop. It wasn't very fast, still within an acceptable range. Perhaps he had developed some resistance to this kind of "Sanity-draining" pollution—after all, the "Deep God," whose mark was the red vertical pupil on his wrist, was the greatest source of mental pollution he had ever encountered. A being that would cause one to mutate or explode just by looking at it—even now, just recalling it made Wu Wang feel as if his skin were itching, ready to sprout tentacles.

Indescribable, unspeakable, unlookable.

"This isn't right... the third floor wasn't like this before..." the chubby boy rubbed his head, his voice trembling.

In his memory, the horror of the third floor came only from the bloated principal monster; there had never been this kind of whispering pollution that caused headaches just by walking up. But the more it happened, the more it proved that what Wu Wang said might come to pass. Even if the principal didn't demolish the Art Building, allowing this bizarre situation to develop would eventually cause the building to rot from the inside, polluting the students below who knew nothing.

"The broadcast room is at the end of the hall!"

Liu Yang helped the chubby boy up, and the two leaned on each other, shuffling forward slowly. Wu Wang took the lead. *Mental pollution? Bring it on!*

But halfway there, he stopped. He looked at the scene with a slightly playful expression. "Oh? Done playing hide-and-seek with me?"

He saw a figure standing before a wooden door at the end of the hall. The entity was facing away from him, letting out an angry hiss that sounded hauntingly familiar. It was the very ghost that had been trying to kill him throughout the building. Its frame was slightly bloated, and it wore a pitch-black garment—the style completely unrecognizable—that was so tattered it hung in strips.

Hearing his voice, it turned slowly.

The playful expression on Wu Wang’s face froze.

There were two reasons for his shock.

First, he saw something familiar on the wooden door the ghost was guarding—a crude, red vertical pupil drawn in chalk.

*Damn it! The Deep God!*

Clearly, the out-of-place tentacles appearing in this "instance" and the whispers he heard while climbing the stairs came from this. Even Principal Wang, who stayed in this broadcast room every night, likely drew his absurdly powerful strength from the red vertical pupil. That indescribable existence had polluted this land just with its aura; no wonder the [Blood-Stained School Uniform] had guided him here.

"Brother Deep God, you’re still in this broadcast room rapping?" Wu Wang muttered, looking at the mark on his wrist.

And the second reason... well, that was harder to explain.

"Chubby, I have a question I should have asked earlier. It might be rude to ask now," he turned back, looking uncertain.

"Huh? What is it?" the chubby boy frowned. He felt his head was about to split; the whispers were drilling into his brain even through his covered ears, like thousands of ants gnawing at him.

"What is your surname? Or rather, what is your full name?"

*Damn, I’ve been dragging you to your death and I don't even know your name?*

Though the chubby boy was annoyed, he answered truthfully, "My surname is Wang. My full name is Wang Zhiyong."

As he spoke, the boy froze in place.

He had just caught a clear look at the bloated, malicious ghost at the end of the hall.

It was the principal’s face.

Except, it was younger.

So young that... it looked exactly like him.