Sitting inside the police van, Mercy smiled at Michael, and none of the officers had even the slightest idea that the two people they were proudly escorting to headquarters were calm only because the police headquarters itself was their destination. Otherwise, with the kind of powers Michael and Mercy possessed, they held enough strength to destroy the entire world in a single moment.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the Ghost Mentors team had connected the pen drive to the computer and were going through all the saved files. With every case they opened, it became clearer that this postcard game had been played since ancient times. In Egypt, a king had once commanded his sorceress to invent a deadly game to kill the powerful ruler of a neighboring kingdom. The king had gifted that game to his rival, and after playing it, the ruler of the neighboring kingdom and his entire family had died within fifteen days.
"Stephnie, what do you think? How is this game played? And is it some kind of curse?" Claire asked, her eyes fixed on Stephnie, who was studying the computer screen with deep focus.
"Claire," Stephnie said, settling into her chair, "based on whatever Sophia told us, all we know is that this game is cursed—created to take people's lives. But what the players feel before death, or what exactly happens to them… there's no mention of that anywhere."
Lily, who had been quietly listening until now, suddenly spoke up. "But this game is dedicated to the Goddess of Death—the Dark Lord. Which means, once someone plays it, their death is guaranteed."
The three girls were confused. How were they supposed to uncover the complete history of this game?
Then Stephnie said, "There is one way I can find out about this game… but it's extremely dangerous, and my life might be at risk."
"What way are you talking about?" Claire asked, startled.
"Look," Stephnie began, "we know there are three levels of existence. First is the sky, where Heaven lies and the gods reside. In the middle is Earth, where humans live—God's own creation. And at the very bottom are the demons, the realm known as Hell, ruled by the demon lord Lucifer. But maybe you two don't know that between the human world and Hell, there is another dimension. A place where the souls of those who die untimely, accidental, or unnatural deaths reside."
She took a breath before continuing. "If I go to that world and contact Aaron's spirit, I might find out where he got this game and how it's played. Because if we learn the method of playing it, we can also find a way to stop it."
"Stephnie, you explained everything… except how exactly your life is in danger," Lily asked, her eyes widening.
Claire, too, turned to Stephnie with a questioning look.
"The danger," Stephnie said with fear in her voice, "is that to reach that world… I will have to die. And I must return to the human world within five minutes. That place is known as 'The Ghost Bridge.' Five minutes in the human world equals one hour there. But we don't even know where Aaron's spirit is at the moment, so searching for him will take time. And if I spend more than five minutes there… my soul will be trapped forever."
Hearing Stephnie's words, Claire and Lily grew terrified. They had no idea how they were even supposed to react.
Then Claire spoke. "I think you're getting drunk without drinking today, because you're talking absolute nonsense. You're saying you'll have to die first and then come back to life within five minutes? Are you out of your mind?"
"And how can you even think we'll let you take such a ridiculous step?" Lily added sharply. "Tell us if there's any other way. Otherwise, we'll drop this case right now and refuse to help Sophia."
But Claire and Lily didn't understand that once this postcard game began, it wouldn't stop until it claimed thousands of lives. Stephnie understood this far too well—because Aaron's death had already triggered the death circle, which would now continue claiming victims one after another… and who knew how many had already died.
"Lily, Claire… you both aren't understanding," Stephnie said, trying to calm her friends. "I belong to the Shamon family. It's my duty to help anyone who comes to me seeking help. And before starting Ghost Mentors, didn't we promise each other that we would help every spirit and every person tormented by one?"
But Lily and Claire were still not convinced. They insisted there had to be another way to handle this disaster. They agreed they would go to the police headquarters to meet Harper, and if they found no alternative, they would drop the case.
Meanwhile, at the LAPD headquarters, Michael and Mercy's entry was being recorded.
"Put this woman in a single cell," one officer said, looking at Mercy with mockery. "She acts like she's the world's most beautiful lady. These cops keep staring at her butt."
"Well, none of it is untrue," Mercy replied, bending slightly and swaying her hips in a deliberately sensual way. "You humans eat garbage and then sweat in the gym trying to shape your bodies… but mine is completely natural—built from burning who knows how many souls in Hell."
Hearing her, Michael and a few prisoners burst into laughter. The officer grew even more furious and tried to drag Mercy away. But to his shock, even with all his strength, he couldn't move her an inch. Mercy simply stood there, smiling as if amused.
"Didn't I tell you? You people eat garbage. One girl you can't even handle. Tell me, do you carry your wife or girlfriend to the bed yourselves, or do you call your staff on wireless? 'Alpha, alpha, need backup for my wife!'" Mercy laughed loudly.
The officer finally lost control and raised his hand to strike her, even though he knew a male officer wasn't allowed to use physical force on a female prisoner. The next instant, Mercy lifted him effortlessly and slammed him onto the floor. Chaos erupted inside the headquarters as officers rushed in and pointed their guns at her.
But in the very next moment, Mercy slipped out of her handcuffs, closed her eyes, and summoned her blades. A heartbeat later, the glass ceiling shattered, and the blades descended straight into her hands.
"So in the end, even after being told not to, you still managed to ruin the atmosphere here," Michael said as he stood up from the bench where he had been quietly sitting with the other prisoners.
Seeing Michael rise, one of the officers warned him, "Stay where you are, or I'll have to shoot you."
Michael smiled at that. He raised his hands, showing the cuffs still around his wrists. Then, right in front of the officer's eyes, he snapped them apart with a single jerk and tossed the broken pieces toward the officers.
"Mercy was right about you people," he said calmly. "You really do eat garbage… that's why you always end up hurting the ones who actually think well of you."
"Well, Michael," Mercy said, tying her hair back, "I think this is the perfect time to use one of those nice knockout spells from your magical spellbook. Otherwise, if I start putting them to sleep, their eyes will open only at the gates of Hell or Heaven."
"It's okay," Michael replied. "Fix your makeup. The chief guest must be waiting for us in the underground prison. These rented guests here… I'm enough to handle them."
He placed both hands near his chest, then pressed the crystal on the magical ring worn on his right hand with the finger of his left. The moment he did, his eyes burst into a fiery, hellish red, and he rose four feet above the ground.
For a few seconds, the officers couldn't believe what they were seeing. They weren't sure if it was real or if they were all having the same dream together. Some officers were so terrified by Michael's transformation that they began firing at him. But every bullet passed through or around his body as if he were made of smoke, and nothing harmed him. Michael looked at them and said in a heavy voice, "What can you kill that is already dead?"
"Michael," Mercy said, laughing, "if your heroic—or demon—act is over, will you put these humans to sleep now? Or are you waiting for one of them to record your video and post it on TikTok so you can go viral?"
At her words, Michael responded, "Now watch the magic of my 'Nap-Null Whisper' spell. They'll all fall into deep sleep at once, and when they wake up, they won't remember a thing."
As he finished speaking, Michael blew a strong breath, and with it, a green mist spread across the entire police headquarters. Every human who came into contact with it fell unconscious one by one.
"See that? The magic of my spell," Michael said. "Now it's time to welcome our chief guest."
He slowly descended back to the ground.
"You never miss a chance to praise yourself, do you?" Mercy muttered as she walked toward the path leading underground.
"I learned it from you," Michael replied playfully, following her. "You could say it's the effect of your company."
As they reached the passage leading to the underground stairs, they saw the door had been locked. A clear warning was written across it: "No Entry."
"I think these humans also knew about that police officer's spirit," Mercy said as she struck the large lock with her blades, shattering it in a single blow. "They just did what they always do—if you can't face the problem, run from it."
The moment the two of them entered the passage, a cold wave swept over their bodies.
"The temperature here is extremely low… low enough to freeze a normal human to death," Michael said, sensing the danger ahead.
"This spirit is very clever. She knows we're here, and she knows exactly who we are," Mercy replied, scanning the area with sharp eyes.
Walking further down, they reached the old cell block—long abandoned, likely because of the very spirit that haunted this underground section. Michael and Mercy moved with great caution. A heavy negativity lingered in the air, as if the place was soaked in the pain of many people.
Despite checking the entire block, neither of them had seen the spirit yet.
"Michael, I can feel her presence… but she isn't visible anywhere," Mercy said, opening the gate of one of the cells.
"I can sense her too—her power is all around us. But I can't see her either. Let's go a bit further. According to the old map I saw upstairs, there should be a monitor room and an officer's office ahead," Michael said, moving forward.
But in the very next moment, both of them stopped in their tracks.
They could hear sounds coming from the monitor room on the right—like a TV playing. Michael looked at Mercy, and she signaled to him that someone was inside. Together, they began moving toward the monitor room.
Meanwhile, in New York, Claire, Lily, and Stephnie had searched the entire internet and Wikipedia, but none of it contained the method for playing the postcard game—or the way to stop it.
"Guys, if we can't even figure out how this game is played, then how are we going to stop the curse?" Claire asked in frustration.
"You're right," Lily replied. "Everyone who ever played this game is already dead. And even if someone is alive, we don't know who they are… and they'll die soon anyway."
"There is one person who's still alive," Stephnie suddenly interrupted, cutting into their conversation. "Someone we all know, and someone we can meet."
Claire and Lily stared at her in surprise. "Who are you talking about, Stephnie?"
"I'm talking about Harper. Sophia told us Harper shared the same information that Aaron told Sophia before he died. That means Harper is still under the curse. And if she doesn't get help soon, she'll die next," Stephnie said, jumping from her chair.
"Oh, yeah! If Harper knows everything Aaron knew, that means she played the game too. And that means we can learn everything from her and break the curse—maybe even save her life," Claire said, excitement rushing into her voice.
"Then what are you two waiting for? Call Sophia quickly! She said if we wanted to meet Harper in the evening, we should call her before coming," Lily said, unlocking her phone in a rush.
"But the business card Sophia gave us… it was right here on the table, and now it's gone," Claire said, pushing things aside on the table as she searched for it.
"Oh God. Hurry! We have to find that card, or who knows whether we'll even be able to save Harper. And if the postcard game takes her life too, then the only hope we have left will be gone," Stephnie said, immediately searching everywhere. Lily and Claire joined her.
After searching for quite a while, Claire spotted the card fallen near the computer table—likely dropped while picking things up earlier. She quickly grabbed it and said, "Hey! I got it!"
"What are you waiting for, Claire? Call Sophia fast!" Lily shouted.
At Lily's words, Claire immediately dialed the number on Sophia's card. On the other end, Sophia's voice answered, "Hello! Detective Sophia here. How can I help you?"
"Sophia, the three of us need to meet Harper right now. We've gone through all the files in your pen drive, and for the next step of our plan, meeting Harper is extremely important."
"Oh, Claire, is that you? Do not worry. I'm still at the office—just come straight here. Harper is still in custody because no one has come to bail her out. But you need to hurry… because she called some teacher just now, asking them to come bail her."
"Look, Sophia, even if someone comes to bail Harper out, don't let her leave the police headquarters under any circumstance. Her life is in danger. I, Stephnie, and Lily are on our way right now," Claire said before quickly hanging up.
She turned to the other two. "Harper is still in custody because no one has bailed her out yet. We have to go fast. If someone bails her and she walks out, the curse will kill her."
Hearing this, the Ghost Mentors team hurriedly changed their clothes, rushed out of the house, and locked the door behind them.
"Lily, you drive. Only you can get us to the police headquarters in time," Stephnie said, tossing the keys to her.
"No problem, baby! Let's go. Now tighten your seat belts. It's showtime," Lily said as she started the car.
With that, Lily sped the car forward. Claire began writing today's important notes in her notebook, while Stephnie continued studying Egypt's ancient inscriptions on her laptop, hoping to uncover something about the postcard game.
Meanwhile, Michael and Mercy were slowly making their way toward the monitor room—the place where they felt another presence.
The Ghost Mentors team, and Michael and Mercy—both groups were fully immersed in their missions. Yet none of them had any idea what they were about to discover next… or whom they were about to meet.