That Guy was obviously in both Class 1-1 and Class 1-2. The popular student with an effortless smile, he was very close with the NPCs and well-liked by the players. Yes, the one and only… Ray.
I stepped out of the classroom.
Ray, tilting his small head, could be ignored for now. I definitely felt my sanity slipping a bit after that.
"H-Hannah, I'm really flustered right now. My mental state is worse than when Tiki was next to me. Can you please check the next classroom?"
"Uh, I'm a little scared to look, too."
"Oh. Then I'll go check it out. I might as well scout around to other classrooms while I'm at it."
"Wait, if Tiki goes…"
"Ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke!"
Just as I realized what was happening and tried to stop Tiki, she had already charged into Class 3.
"G-gyaaaah――――!?"
"Kyah――――――――――――――!?"
The classroom erupted into chaos, primarily among the players.
Students rushed out of the room, and following them was Ms. Tiki, heading toward Class 4.
As for what happened next... you can guess, right?
"It's like a hellscape of screams and despair," I thought, rolling my eyes in exasperation.
Hannah, hearing the cries and shouts, let out a wry smile.
It seemed Ms. Tiki had already reached the third floor, with the screams spreading even to the upperclassmen.
Wait, were there only first-year players?
Perhaps some were manipulating their ages for upperclassmen roles to assert dominance over other players.
"Wow, what a tragic incident," I said.
"It's still ongoing, Henry."
"Truly, it's an outrageous act."
"Yeah... Huh!?"
I thought I was responding to Hannah, but I realized the voice was different when I turned around. There stood Lady Tamamo.
Today, for some reason, she was dressed like a female teacher, adjusting her glasses.
She wore a big smile, but the intensity was overwhelming.
This was someone who was downright furious.
"T-Tamamo? What are you doing here?"
"Hannah, I'll ask you this: after all this commotion, why wouldn't I come?"
"Ugh, but it's not my fault! School terror incidents happen all the time, right?"
"That was an event, this is a hazard, okay?"
"No, no, no! That's not it! Tiki did that on her own... I tried to stop her, but her arms and legs are too fast!"
"…Sit up straight."
"Yes, ma'am!"
For a while, Hannah and I found ourselves sitting properly, listening to a lecture.
"What did you do, Henry? And Tamamo?! What have you gotten yourself into!?"
Oh no, is that Yuki and her group?!
Don't look at me! Don't see my disgrace!
"The discussion isn't over. Do you want a penalty?"
"N-no! I don't need a punishment, Tamamo!"
"Henry— it turns out that person was in every class! Oh, is that…?"
"Hm? Someone you know, Henry... GYAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!?"
"Yuki, what a terrible scream... What the hell!? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?"
Three distinct, panicked screams echoed around us.
"Tiki, come here."
"Uh? E-excuse me, but no, I think? Ah, it seems there's no escaping this."
Realizing the situation, Tiki shook as she made her way to my side, unable to sit up straight, but remaining there in a sort of crouch instead.
"I've never seen Tiki like this before."
"Ugh, I can't handle ghosts! I really can't handle ghosts, Yoshi!"
"Hey, don't stick so close to me, Lark. It's not like I'm happy about having another guy all up in my space!"
"I'm a girl, you know! Eek, it's looking over here!"
So, Lark seems to really struggle with ghostly encounters.
"Come on, Tiki, you should know better. Your appearance is clearly the kind that instills fear in players. Just think about what would happen if something like that suddenly burst into the classroom! This time, it's the AI that's gone rogue, so I'm just giving you a stern warning, but if this had been a player's doing, it would have resulted in serious penalties. Do you understand?"
For about an hour, Tamamo berated us while we could do nothing but hang our heads in shame.
Thanks to the administration's intervention, Tiki was allowed to become incorporeal. Since Tiki wasn't initially intended to be tamed, the unfortunate incident of her daytime classroom invasion occurred, but the administration also bears some responsibility. As a result, I faced no penalties, just a warning to avoid causing trouble for others.
It seems they're fine with players engaging in villainous acts, but panic horror is a no-go. It's bizarre that while there are likely players who would execute suicide bombings or storm into classrooms, Tiki bursting in is unacceptable. It feels completely unreasonable.
I held back my objections, knowing it would only anger my sister, and decided to quietly accept her reprimands.
"...So, what's going on?"
After Tamamo left, Yuki and the others cautiously approached and asked for an explanation. Following a discussion with Hannah, I concluded that it would be okay to be honest with them. I mean, my actions were already broadcasted live anyway.
"Um, last night at school, I managed to tame Tiki. Today, I asked the NPC about the Seven Wonders. They told me that there's one character in every classroom. Tiki took the lead in confirming this. Screams erupted from the players who didn't have a clue; the same scene unfolded in every classroom. That's when Tamamo got furious. Now we're here after her lecture."
"Of course she would be upset."
"Wait, wasn't Tiki treated like a boss character? How could you tame her?"
"I guess you can tame boss characters after all. Although the chances are incredibly low during combat, I managed to negotiate with her."
"N-negotiated? You mean you talked to a ghost?!"
Lark visibly recoiled. "Hey, no need to back away like that—oh, Tiki, don't materialize behind Lark like that!"
"Ah, so, what you're saying is, Ray the Explainer is one of the Seven Wonders?"
"It seems that way. I've heard Ray's in other classrooms too. Is he in your class?"
"Yeah... but now I'm wondering how I'm supposed to meet him starting today. I thought he was just a friendly NPC, but it turns out he might be a ghost."
"Hey, we can't be sure he's a ghost, Lark. The seven mysteries don't necessarily mean they're ghosts; it just means there are seven unexplained phenomena."
"Oh, so Ray isn't a ghost, then? That's a relief."
He might not be a ghost, but there's a high chance he's something otherworldly. The question is whether I should tell him or not. For now, I'll just ask him indirectly.
I enter the classroom before class starts and call out to Ray.
Oblivious to everything, Ray approaches us without a hint of paranoia. However, he doesn't step outside and simply asks, "What's up?"
"Uh, hey Ray, do you know about the seven mysteries?"
"The school ones? Yeah, I know them. Which school's mysteries are you interested in?"
"Wait, you know the mysteries for all schools?"
"No way! Even the people involved in the mysteries don't know about all of them!"
"Okay, then how about the seven mysteries of a small rural school?" Yuki asks, testing him.
"Um, there's the moving statue of Kinjiro Ninomya. Apparently, it reads books in the library sometimes. Then there's the moving human anatomy model, which occasionally runs around. And lastly, there's the moving plaster hand."
Isn't that a bit too many moving things?
"The Blue Hand and the Red Hand in the bathroom. The blood-soaked cherry tree. And the old school building that appears at midnight, wandering within it… is it the burning person?"
"Seriously? Didn't the Wonder Investigative Team ask Ray about this? This seems incredibly important!"
I should take notes—oh wait, I'm recording this, so I can just leave it as is.
"Uh, what about the prestigious school?"
"Well, there's the glowing eyes of Beethoven, the talking portraits of the principals, and you know about the Mona Lisa's moving eyes. There's also the pool ghost and the endlessly falling spirit, the kid in the nurse's office, and the headless boy in the gym."
This guy knows way too much! I'm starting to feel a bit creeped out.
"Can you go in order from middle school to high school, then university?"
"Sure! The middle school's mysteries include a student reflected in the windows, gym hallucinations, Ms. Yamiko in the bathroom, a shadow walking down the hall, the thirteenth classroom, the phantom thirteenth staircase, and the illusion of the fourth floor. For the girls' middle school, there's the suddenly broadcast announcement in the broadcasting room—once you hear the chime, you can't go back. Flying knives, the red-caped figure in the bathroom, the purple mirror, the germ teacher wearing gloves on his right hand, the skeleton specimen rumored to be real, and the ceiling and hall flipping over at midnight."
There are definitely some life-threatening mysteries here. Do I have to solve this? I can totally see Hannah wanting to check out the mysteries at other schools too.
"High school is classes held at midnight, ghostly sports events in the gym, and desks and chairs left unoccupied. The mirror on the landing should never reflect the time 4:44. There are restless spirits wandering the school grounds, a female student hanging in one classroom, and headless samurai in the kendo hall."
"Isn't high school a playground for ghosts?"
"In an all-boys school, there's a bathroom ghost named Taro or Jiro, and just one beautiful girl. Soldiers roam the yard, leading to an underground interrogation room for captives. There's a noisy shoe locker, male students dwelling inside a cleaning locker, and if two boys enter the nurse's office at night, they might succumb to sleep and find themselves naked in bed together."
"That last part is disturbingly concerning!"
"Haha, I kinda want to see a big sister ghost. Hey, Henry, why not go with Lark-chan or Yoshi-chan?"
"Who would go?"
"University, well, that's where you find dead bodies soaking in the water tank, and the school turns into a graveyard at night. Zombies swarm around, dancing in the music room, paintings come to life, and there's a vast cavern underground, plus two principals. That makes seven, right?"
"So, what are the seven mysteries of this school?"
"Yuki, you really like mysteries! Well, the seven mysteries here are: a dog with a human face wandering around, Tiki running through the hall, Hannah in the bathroom, bouncing balls in the gym, hearing the piano play at midnight four times leads to death, entering the locked room at night is fatal, and... there's an identical person in every classroom."
"Why are you smiling now, Ray? That grin of yours seems to hide something, and it's really terrifying!"
"By the way, if someone manages to find out about that same person and confronts them with the truth, will anything happen?"
"Who knows? So far, no one has confronted anyone, so I really can't say."
Wait a minute, that statement is absurd! It implies that just because no one has asked, it doesn't count! Why reveal that yourself?!
Calm down. I have Hannah and Tiki with me. We can handle whatever happens if a fight breaks out here.
"Then, allow me to point something out, Ray. The person present in every classroom... it's you, the Explanator Ray!"
I thrust my finger towards him and declared it.
I actually said it.
What will happen now?!
I heard someone swallow nervously.
The boy in front of me hid his smile, looking down to cover his eyes.
Only his mouth smirked, and I noticed his shoulders starting to shake.
"You think I'm one of the Seven Mysteries? Heh, heh heh..."
Then, in the next moment, the Explanator Ray looked up.
"That's right, I'm one of the Seven Mysteries—the student who exists in every classroom, Explanator Ray. Congratulations, Henry, you're the first to notice me!"
He announced this with a beaming smile.
"'...'"
Huh? Is that their whole reaction?
"Hey, Ray. Is that it?"
"Uh-huh? That's all there is to it. My role is just to explain things."
Wait, seriously?
"Out of all the Seven Wonders, this one's the easiest, so it's rated a one."