Surviving in a School of Ghost Stories-Chapter 4

I Couldn't Understand a Single Word He Was Saying.

These were words I never expected to hear in this moment.

I swallowed dryly and pulled down my sleeve to cover the goosebumps rising on my arms.

‘Stay calm, Melody. This guy is definitely a fraud.’

The very idea that the Student Council President of an elite, notoriously closed-off school had come all the way to this rural village was already suspicious.

"Mr. Eglinton. Honestly, I don’t even know how to react. Did you think I’d be scared? What exactly do you want?"

"Do you think I’m lying?"

"If I’m being honest, you look very much like a conman right now. You won’t deny it, will you?"

"......."

"I don’t know why you’d joke about something like this, but there are plenty of people in this village. There are elderly folks, children..."

"Those villagers... have you ever seen any of them outside during the day?"

I froze.

His words echoed in my mind.

And then he continued.

"Have you ever seen them eating?"

...No.

I had always assumed it was because they were elderly and had small appetites.

"Has anyone from outside the village ever visited? You’ve received letters, sure, but...?"

I had assumed they simply didn’t go out much, which was why no one ever sent them letters.

Then, suddenly, I remembered what the middle-aged messenger had said when he came with the news of Raven’s death.

"The address I was given said Chesswind Village, but it took me a long time to actually find the place. My apologies for being late."

Was... was that what he had meant?

Chesswind Village wasn’t inhabited, and yet... it had been written as my address?

Things I had never once questioned suddenly seemed disturbingly wrong.

If what this man was saying was true...

What kind of place had I been living in for the past two years?

Just then, the Student Council President asked me an abrupt question.

"Miss Hastings. If you could turn back time, what would you do?"

"What kind of nonsense is that in a situation like this?"

"I can make it happen."

"...Make what happen? Are you saying you can turn back time?"

"Yes. But there will be a price."

A price?

"I will send you back one year. To when Raven Hastings was still alive. That is the best I can do."

Turn back time.

Go back.

To a time when Raven was alive.

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It was absurd. Completely irrational.

But I found myself listening, captivated, as if entranced.

He was saying I could go back. Save Raven. Mend the misunderstandings between us.

Just imagining it made my hands tremble.

Finally, unable to suppress my shaking, I asked in an unsteady voice,

"What’s the price?"

"When you return to a year ago, come to Saint Gloria Private School. That’s all I ask."

The Student Council President’s face was devoid of any amusement now.

He was serious.

"...I just have to go to the school? I’ll be taking Raven and leaving immediately."

"That’s fine. You ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ just have to come to the school. What do you think? Not a bad deal, right?"

"Before that. You said you’d tell me the truth about Raven’s death. Can you at least tell me that first?"

"If you go back one year, you’ll find out naturally."

I hesitated for a long time.

But no matter how much I thought about it, this wasn’t a decision that required deliberation.

"To be honest, I don’t believe a word you’re saying, Mr. Eglinton. About the village. About turning back time. You’re asking me to believe something ridiculous."

"I understand."

"But sometimes... sometimes you just want to believe in something ridiculous."

"......."

"And this is that moment for me."

This wasn’t a gamble.

It was the only choice.

A life without Raven had no meaning.

I reached out my hand to him.

"I’ll do it. What do I need to do?"

Even if this man wasn’t the Student Council President, even if he was some lunatic who wanted to turn me into a puppet for his own twisted play—I didn’t care.

I would bet everything on this one chance to bring Raven back.

A flicker of strange satisfaction passed over his face as he looked at my outstretched hand.

Then, he smiled.

"Good. I will send you back one year. Do as you wish, Miss Hastings."

"And the price... it’s really just that?"

"Yes. I want you at the school. I need you there."

"And you’re still not going to tell me why?"

"You’ll find out in due time. For now, your only concern is bringing your brother back, isn’t it?"

I closed my mouth.

He was right.

As long as Raven was alive, nothing else mattered.

Even if this was a trap. Even if it meant I would die instead.

If I could trade my fate for Raven’s...

That was enough.

"If I go back a year and enter the school, will I find you there?"

"Yes. But the me from a year ago is different. I won’t recognize you. At that time, I knew nothing. If I act like an insufferable jerk, just bear with it."

"What does that even mean...?"

"Oh, and one more thing. Once you go back, the ‘beings’ in Chesswind Village will notice you’ve changed. You need to escape the village before they figure it out. Move quickly."

"But it’s a small village. If I try to leave, people will notice immediately."

"Then make an excuse. Say you’re leaving for a long trip to visit your brother. Something they would believe."

"As long as I convince them, it’ll be fine?"

"Yes. As long as they don’t realize that you know the truth."

His expression turned serious.

"Let me emphasize this again. Do not let them suspect you’re trying to escape."

"And if they do?"

"Then pray. Pray that they at least let you die peacefully. Though I wouldn’t count on it."

The Student Council President gave me a few more final warnings.

And then, he smiled.

"It’s time."

He bid me farewell.

"I’ll see you in the past, Miss Hastings."

And with that...

The world shook.

I didn’t know if it was my vision trembling or if my entire being was coming apart.

The space around me distorted.

The Student Council President vanished from sight.

The sky collapsed. The ground disappeared.

Maybe it was real.

Maybe it was just my imagination.

I didn’t know.

All I knew—was that time itself was unraveling.

And as the world twisted and tore apart—

I lost consciousness