"You said you wouldn't bring that thing here, didn't you?" Edward looked at the Tomie before him, his expression a mixture of shock and disgust.
Yes—disgust.
Tomie's face was beautiful, flawless even.
But the moment a slug's body slithered out of her mouth, that beauty turned into something deeply nauseating. It wasn't mere revulsion—it was a gut-twisting, visceral disgust that made Edward's skin crawl.
For a fleeting moment, he had the almost uncontrollable urge to rush forward and stomp that head into pulp.
But along with his disgust came confusion.
Logically speaking, Tomie's regenerative and parasitic abilities were top-tier. The original Tomie had weaknesses; back then, if you completely burned her body to ash, you could end it for good.
But this version—this complete Tomie—was different. Unless a conceptual deity stepped in, killing her through normal means would be nearly impossible.
So, by that reasoning, if a Tomie had truly been parasitized by a brain slug, it should've been the other way around. Tomie should have infected the slug. The creature might look grotesque, but in essence, it was weak—so weak that even an ordinary person could kill one. Its true lethality lay only in its ability to disgust and terrify.
Imagine it: a severed human head still alive, its eyes blinking and moving with human emotion—sadness, confusion, pain—but unable to speak or move, only gurgling out a sticky slug-like mass from its mouth. The very image defied reason. One could hardly fathom how anyone could stay sane after seeing such a thing.
"I said I wouldn't bring it here, not that I wouldn't use it for fun~."
Tomie smiled mischievously as she toyed with the slimy creature in her hand. The Tomie-head in her grasp glared at her with venomous hatred—its eyes filled with resentment and malice. Edward doubted that hatred had anything to do with the slug itself.
Every time multiple Tomies existed in the same space without an external threat, they inevitably turned on each other—competing, scheming, tearing each other apart.
That was simply the nature of Tomie.
"These two are my precious little darlings~," Tomie said cheerfully, her tone disturbingly affectionate.
Edward stayed silent. He'd figured it out by now—the regeneration abilities of these two Tomie heads were being suppressed by the one in front of him. Truly befitting of Tomie: though she looked human, her essence was monstrous. She was a creature that existed outside the boundaries of normal humanity.
"Wait—two, you said? Then where's the other one?" Edward asked, frowning. He saw only one Tomie head. So where was the other?
Tomie's expression stiffened. She instinctively reached for her side—only to touch nothing. Her eyes flickered with a brief moment of surprise.
"Eh? Oh… looks like I forgot it. I think I left it in the amusement park," she said sheepishly.
Edward's eyelid twitched. Of course she did. This woman was a walking disaster. Still, a single head-slug shouldn't cause too much trouble… right? Even so, he told Tomie to go back and retrieve it immediately. The last thing he needed was another unnecessary mess.
The last time Tomie had acted on her own, she'd given three of her fanatics an experience they'd remember for the rest of their lives. And now, Edward could only hope that no one would come across that stray head-slug.
Unfortunately, Edward seemed to have forgotten about Murphy's Law—the principle that the more you don't want something to happen, the more likely it will. Though originally a scientific observation, it had become synonymous with bad luck for good reason.
…
"Huh? Wait, didn't we choose the 'Hanging Balloons scenario?"
Not long ago, three tourists John, Haley, and Will had come to the Ghost Amusement Park, drawn by its reputation. After waiting in line for nearly half a day, they finally entered what was supposed to be the "Hanging Balloons" haunted house.
Yet strangely, once inside, there were no floating heads anywhere.
"This looks more like a school," Haley muttered, glancing curiously around.
Indeed, the surroundings resembled a perfectly ordinary school—hallways, classrooms, lockers—except the entire building was deathly silent. Not a single person could be seen. The eerie stillness made all three uneasy.
While some people enjoyed solitude, when confronted with an utterly lifeless environment—completely devoid of sound—most humans felt instinctive discomfort. It was a primal response, buried deep in their subconscious.
After all, nature was never truly silent. Whether it was the chirp of insects, the rustle of leaves, or the whisper of the wind, there was always some kind of sound. When all that vanished, the brain started to panic.
Now, inside this school, the silence was total. Not even the faintest noise. It was suffocating.
The only thing visible in the dim light were patches of black slime splattered across the floors and walls.
"Bro, what the hell is this? We studied the 'Head Balloon' walkthrough online for hours, and now it's useless!" the third member, Will, complained, looking exasperated.
They had come specifically for that scenario. The first time they'd played, they were wiped out within five minutes—hung by the neck by their own floating heads. It was horrifying… and addictive.
Now they had finally taken time off to come back for revenge—only to be thrown into some completely different setup.
"No idea," John said, frowning. "But since we're already here, let's check it out. Maybe it's some hidden variation."
The three wandered through the silent halls for quite a while, but met no one. The deeper they went, the more unsettling it became. Still, joking among themselves helped lighten the tension a bit. They even snuck into the girls' restroom at one point, earning a furious glare from Haley. John only calmed her down after promising to treat her to an all-you-can-eat buffet afterward.
"This is getting ridiculous. Where are the staff?" Will muttered impatiently. "We didn't come all the way here just to play ghost students!"
"I know…" John said, unease creeping into his voice. "By now, the NPCs should've appeared. Why hasn't anyone shown up?"
Just as he said that, he caught a glimpse of movement—a fleeting shadow in a nearby classroom.
"Someone's there." He immediately pushed the door open.
The classroom was empty. Silent.
"What is it?" Haley asked, stepping in behind him. Her tone was bored more than scared. The place was eerie, yes—but dull.
"I could've sworn I saw someone," John said, scanning the corners. The classroom was small. There was nowhere to hide. So what had he seen?
Then Will called out. "Hey! Come look at this!"
He had found an old, slime-covered notebook in one of the desks. Grimacing, he wiped the sticky fluid from his hands. "Ugh… what the hell is this stuff? Gross."
"Probably just a prop," John said. "Let's see what's inside."
Will opened it.
(…Wednesday, Sunny)
(Fujimoto didn't come to school again today. It's already the third day. But the teacher and classmates don't seem to care. It's like I'm the only one who's worried. I hope he's okay.)
(…Thursday, Cloudy)
(He still hasn't come back. No one talks about him anymore. It's as if Fujimoto never existed. But his seat is still there. He once told me it was the perfect spot—where the teacher can't see you.)
(…Friday, Cloudy)
(Fujimoto's still missing. I asked the teacher, but she said there's no one named Fujimoto in our class. That's impossible! I think it's connected to what Fujimoto said before, about how people can—)
The next lines were smudged with slime, unreadable.
"There's definitely something important there," Will said, squinting. "But man, this scenario's actually kind of interesting. At least it's not an instant-death one like the balloon event."
He smiled, getting into the game. "The pattern's clear—Fujimoto is being erased from everyone's memory, except for the diary writer. We should find his desk. Maybe there's a clue."
The others agreed.
They searched the classroom carefully—but just as they did, the lights suddenly flickered, and the entire room was swallowed in darkness.
Will quickly fumbled for the switch. When the fluorescent bulbs sputtered back to life, their light was pale and cold, accompanied by a faint buzzing sound.
"Looks like we triggered a key event," Will said with a grin.
The others weren't so calm. The atmosphere felt heavier now.
"Hey, Will…" John said after a moment, glancing around uneasily. "Don't you think this place looks familiar?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean… everything. The desks, the chalkboard, even that poster in the back. Doesn't this look exactly like our high school?"
Will froze. He hadn't noticed before, but now that it was mentioned… the resemblance was uncanny.
"Probably just a coincidence," he said uncertainly. "Or maybe they used the same design template."
John didn't answer. He walked to one of the desks—his old seat, he realized—and brushed his hand over the wood. His face darkened.
"What's wrong?" Haley asked.
Wordlessly, John beckoned Will over. On the surface of the desk was a strange carved symbol—one that both of them recognized instantly.
It was a bizarre sigil John had doodled during his cringy high school "edgy phase," claiming it was a dark magic array imbued with his "unparalleled cursed energy." He'd even bragged that anyone sitting there would always score one point below passing on exams.
Will had laughed about it for years.
But seeing it here—in this nightmare recreation of their school—made his blood run cold.
Their eyes met. Neither spoke. Both remembered the same thing.
"Back then… two of our classmates…" John murmured.
Will nodded grimly. That incident was something they could never forget.
But before he could finish the sentence, Haley suddenly screamed. Her eyes widened in horror.
John and Will spun around—
—and froze.
A human head was crawling across the window glass, leaving behind a trail of thick, glistening slime. Its body was that of a grotesque slug, with two twitching feelers extending from its scalp. The head's human eyes stared right at them—blank, yet filled with torment.
Will's breath hitched. He knew that face.
It was one of their classmates—the one who had died back then.
Then a sickening realization struck him. The sticky slime he'd touched earlier—
His stomach lurched. His skin crawled. His neck suddenly itched. He scratched it instinctively—then his scalp began to tingle too.
"Will, your—your neck—!" John's voice trembled in panic.
Haley had fainted dead away.
Will blinked, confused. "What's wrong—"
Then he felt something moving inside his mouth.
His jaw locked open in horror as something cold and wet slithered up from his throat. His field of vision dropped lower and lower—he was looking up at his own body.
A grotesque slug writhed from his mouth.
His body began to melt. Flesh dissolved into a pool of black slime, bubbling and merging with the ooze already coating the floor.
"The slime… oh god… that's why there's no one left here…"
Those were his last thoughts before consciousness faded—swallowed by agony and despair.
All around, countless human heads emerged, crawling across the walls, wriggling slugs beneath them. Their dead eyes all turned toward John.
Then—
"Ah, what a relief~"
The scene vanished.
The classroom was gone. The school, the heads, the slime—everything.
Will gasped, touching his neck. He was back to normal.
"Congratulations, dear guests!"
Tomie appeared before them, smiling sweetly. "You've just unlocked the hidden level~"
(End of Chapter)