Boooom—!
A sudden crash seized everyone's attention. The source was none other than Ryuga, who had violently flung the closet aside.
Dust filled the air, and the already unbearable stench grew even stronger.
Hina couldn't take it anymore. Her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach as if to hold it in place. A knot tightened in her throat, and she felt as though worms were crawling inside her belly. In the next second, she bolted out of the room, panic written all over her face.
"Wait! Hina!"
Sayo uncovered her nose and reached out toward her. She tried calling out again, but her voice didn't reach.
The moment her hand left her nose, the foul stench assaulted her senses. Her stomach twisted violently. Before things got worse, she clamped her hand back over her nose and rushed out of the room for fresh air.
Finally, as the dust settled, Ryuga muttered, "Booyah."
Ryouma's eye twitched. "Seriously? You're celebrating finding a body? Brother, not to be rude, but you're messed up."
Souta zoomed the camera closer to the body and gave Ryouma a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Bro, don't act surprised. We all know that if he ever did something sane, the world would end."
"Tch. You guys just love to slander me. I'm such a righteous and upright citizen. Do you even know how many people I've 'saved'?"
"Yeah? From whom… ghosts?" Souta scoffed. "Oh right! The so-called ghost hunter. You sure love to 'save' people from imaginary entities. You know what? Last time I checked, that was called scamming, not saving."
Ryuga raised a finger and pointed at Souta, his glare sharp enough to pierce. "You guys call me a ragebaiter? Look at him! He's the embodiment of it!"
"Okay, fine!" Ryouma snapped, rubbing his temples. "How about we leave this catfight aside and focus on the major issue we have at hand? Can you all be serious for one goddamn second?"
From all the shenanigans, there was one person who was affected the most… Fuyumi.
She was fuming at the moment—but more than fuming, she was shivering. Her body trembled at slight intervals, her forehead glistened with beads of sweat, and her fingers kept clenching over and over. Her eyes darted frantically, trying to glimpse the body now surrounded by Souta, Ryouma, and Ryuga.
Ryuga noticed the change in her demeanor and gave Ryouma a light nudge with his shoulder.
Ryouma immediately understood the signal. He nodded and approached Fuyumi.
"Ahm, Fuyumi. How about we let Souta and Ryuga handle the situation with the body? We should go check on Hina and Sayo. They're all alone, and this mansion is quite big—they might lose their way… or you know, get spooked."
Daichi was also still in the room, but he was too preoccupied to notice. He was busy searching for a picture of a "hot historical beauty." Unfortunately for him, even after rummaging through every drawer, closet, and corner, his efforts were in vain.
Now he stood by the window with his arms crossed, staring outside like some tragic poet mesmerized by the beauty of the night.
Fuyumi gave one last desperate glance toward the body, but Souta and Ryuga effectively blocked her line of sight. She understood what they were doing and quietly appreciated the thought.
With a small nod, she followed Ryouma out of the room to check on the others.
Once they were gone, silence swallowed the room. Only the faint sound of breathing lingered.
Souta adjusted the camera, Daichi ended his poet act, and Ryuga finally turned serious.
"The veins have darkened, the skin's gone soft, oily residue's built up beneath it, the clothes have fused with the body, and insect shells are scattered all over… yeah, it's been months."
Daichi was the one slowly assessing the state of the body.
The body was of a girl, possibly in her late teens. She was wearing normal casual clothes, but with time, they had fused with her skin. Her body was hidden behind the closet Ryuga had violently thrown aside.
A square hole had been dug behind the closet, and the body was crushed to fit inside. Her spine was broken, forcing her face to touch her feet flatly.
The body's face had become utterly unrecognizable, and in certain areas, the bones were clearly discernible. Remarkably, aside from the large, triangular pendant necklace adorning her neck, there were absolutely no other accessories present on the body.
The more gruesome detail was the drawing on the inner wall of the hole. It was a circular design with smaller circles spaced evenly around it. One of those smaller circles had a strange symbol drawn inside—something that resembled the letter "S," yet it was both mirrored and normal at the same time.
And the creepiest part… it was all written in black.
"That creepy drawing was what I saw in the picture before. The only difference is that it was red, not black. That drawing being near the body too… Something's fishy here. Do you think the people who killed her were doing some kind of ritual?"
Ryuga shook his head, then crouched beside him and pointed toward the drawing. "Look closely. It's not drawn with black paint."
Souta zoomed the camera, focusing on the drawing more clearly. Daichi also squinted his eyes.
The drawing looked droopy, as if it was sliding down. There were faint patches of crimson along the edges—barely noticeable, but there.
"Wait a minute…" Daichi mumbled.
"Yeah… that's blood."