The exam was a trap—one cunningly disguised as a simple question about the invigilator's panties. Yet, the answer led to a realization: she wasn't wearing any at all. The question itself had been a deliberate trick.
Amamiya scrutinized the vengeful spirit of the invigilator standing before him, his gaze lingering on her form, accentuated by her tight skirt. In his mind, he reprimanded her sharply.
"Really? A teacher, in school, wearing nothing under her skirt? Isn't that a bit too much?" He thought. "Although, as a ghost, I suppose she doesn't have to worry about any kind of social disgrace…"
He shook off the thought and turned his attention back to the test.
"Poke, poke—"
Chika, seated nearby, tapped the table and wrote with her finger: '"Natsuki-san, stop staring at the teacher's body! That's so rude."'
Amamiya raised an eyebrow. "Rude? To a ghost?" he thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. 'If we weren't so powerless right now, half the players in this room would be fighting to pull her skirt up!'
'"I wasn't staring at her,"' Amamiya muttered. '"I was trying to figure out the answer."'
"Eh?" Chika blinked in surprise, then crossed her arms over her chest. '"Does Amamiya have X-ray vision or something?"'
Amamiya gave her a deadpan look. "Even if I could see through things, it's not like there's anything new to discover under those clothes…"
'"Kaguya-chan, cover yourself!"' Chika exclaimed suddenly, shooting a glance at Kaguya.
"There's no need for that," Amamiya thought with a sigh, his eyes flicking toward Kaguya briefly. "She's flat as the Great Wall."
Ignoring the distractions, he whispered the correct answer to Chika. Afterward, he glanced down at his blood-stained test paper again, where the next question appeared:
[How did Hayato Aoki, who is in this room, die?]
Amamiya frowned. "Another impossible question," he mused, his thoughts drifting. "Even if Shinomiya was the top student in the country, she wouldn't know this."
Slowly, the rules of this deadly game were becoming clear. If you just sat there answering questions quietly, you were doomed. You had to take risks—cheat if necessary.
Some students were already trying to figure out the invigilator's secrets by peeking under her skirt. Others were eyeing their classmates, trying to deduce who among them was Hayato Aoki. Everyone was looking for some sneaky way to get through the test.
And if you were caught cheating, well... you'd be dead.
Fortunately, Amamiya had found a unique loophole: bribery.
A little while later, as the invigilator made her rounds, she passed by Amamiya's desk again. He casually nudged a coin onto the surface and pointed at it.
'"Teacher, you dropped your money again."'
This time, without any hesitation, the invigilator bent down, picked up the coin, and marked the correct answer on his test paper.
Amamiya smirked. "Invigilators—true gods of exams!"
His actions didn't go unnoticed. The other human players watched the scene unfold, whispering among themselves.
'"What's that guy doing?"'
'"I think he's figured out how to cheat the system."'
'"Typical big boss stuff."'
Amamiya ignored their stares, but suddenly, a folded note appeared on his desk. He glanced over his shoulder and caught the pleading eyes of a boy sitting a few seats away.
Amamiya hesitated for a moment before opening the note. It read: '"Boss, help me out!"'
"I'm not a big boss," Amamiya thought wryly. "I'm just a regular player who's barely passed the newbie stage."
Yet, it felt wrong to deny someone help. They were all human, after all, and leaving each other to die didn't sit right with him.
Just as he was contemplating his next move, another note landed on his desk, accompanied by a strange object—a black cat-ear hair accessory.
The note continued: '"I know how this works. This is all I have left!"'
Amamiya picked up the cat ears and examined them. Immediately, a game panel popped up in front of him.
[Item: Cat-Ear Hair Accessory]
[Source: Blind Box Lottery]
[Effect: Wearing these cat ears will make you appear as a cat to evil spirits.]
[Compatibility: 40%. The higher the compatibility, the less likely it is to be seen through.]
[Note: Now become a cat-girl!]
Amamiya chuckled. "A blind-box item?" He quickly understood what the boy had done—offering up a relatively useless item in exchange for answers.
He hesitated only briefly before nodding slightly in agreement. After all, even without the cat-ear bribe, Amamiya would have helped. Letting fellow players die just wasn't his style.
Seeing Amamiya's nod, the boy looked relieved, almost joyful.
As Amamiya scribbled down the answer for him, he thought wryly: '"Glad I can trade for something, though."'
Unfortunately, not all ghosts were as respectful as human players. A resentful spirit seated behind him reached out, its cold, bloody hand trying to grab Amamiya's test paper.
Chills swept over him, and he felt his body stiffen. With quick thinking, Amamiya shouted, '"Teacher! Someone's trying to steal my test paper!"'
The invigilator whirled around in an instant, her cold gaze locking onto the ghost.
The spirit froze, stammering, '"But… they're all cheating..."' before he finished his excuse, the invigilator silenced him with a swift strike of her bloodstained triangle ruler.
The room fell eerily quiet.
Amamiya smirked. "That's what you get for not paying for help."
Moments later, the invigilator announced in her chilling voice, '"The exam is over. Those who passed may leave. Those who failed—prepare for the next exam."'
Amamiya, Chika, Kaguya and the other human players stood up and left the room under the resentful gazes of the spirit students.
Outside, Chika let out a relieved sigh. '"I thought Kaguya-chan would breeze through this, but those questions weren't meant for humans at all!"'
'"Of course not,"' Amamiya agreed. '"It's a ghost school."'
Chika then curiously pointed at the cat-ear accessory. '"Is this special?"'
Amamiya handed it over. '"Have a look."'
Chika examined it and her eyes widened. '"It's from a blind box! Hey, my compatibility is 70%. What about yours?"'
'"Forty percent,"' Amamiya replied dryly.
'"So low!"' Chika exclaimed, passing the accessory to Kaguya. '"Kaguya-chan, check yours!"'
Kaguya calmly took the item, her expression unreadable. After a brief silence, she replied: '"Ninety-five percent."'
"Figures," Amamiya thought with a sigh.
Just then, an ominous announcement echoed through the school:
[Alert: Players "The Evil of This World, Cancer of the Earth, and the Weak and Helpless Kaguya-hime" are now wanted after being reported by multiple students.]