I Became A Ghost In A Horror Game-Chapter 42: [Boss Battle] Mary of the School

Mary swung her sharp dagger. It was so sudden and fast that instead of dodging, I reflexively swung my own blade in response.

Clang!—A deafening metallic clash rang through the air, sending a sharp vibration down my arm.

Both Ella and Mary were ghostly entities in the form of young girls.

Despite being the subjects of horror, their childlike appearance gave them an unsettling familiarity. In ghost stories, girls were often depicted with weapons capable of inflicting real harm.

Even a child becomes terrifying when armed with something sharp.

That being said, a young girl wouldn’t typically be associated with brute strength, right?

Yet, the force of Mary’s attack sent me skidding backward.

Despite having grown stronger by absorbing supernatural entities, I had completely lost in a contest of raw power.

Mary in her current state was not weakened by relics.

She was much stronger than in the game.

My hands tingled from the impact.

"You're pretty aggressive, Mary...!"

"Of course. Ella lied, and I hate liars."

With a flick of her wrist, the park's vines reacted. They surged toward me as if alive.

I dodged, moving diagonally just as I had seen in the game.

However, there were far more vines than before. I had to cut them down with my blade.

Which meant—

Thud!

—I didn’t have the luxury of avoiding another attack.

Mary floated forward in an instant, delivering a swift kick to my stomach.

I clenched my teeth as I tumbled across the ground.

"Ella, you’ve gotten stronger. But you’re still weak."

"Hah...! That didn’t even tickle!"

"I see. You’re still lacking."

A strange, ominous power radiated from Mary.

The ground trembled as something massive emerged from the park.

A giant sunflower slowly rose into view, its enormous eye forming at its center, staring directly at me.

That was Mary’s weakness—and the symbol of her boss room.

In the game, the sunflower would squirm grotesquely every time Mary used her abilities.

It would never stop staring at the player, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

"Will you all help me?"

The abandoned phone booth in the boss room suddenly reacted.

A sinister presence filled the air as the dial began to spin on its own.

Riiiing... Click.

Mary spoke.

"Hello? Who is this?"

They responded.

[[[Hello!]]]]

[I'm Satoru.]

[I'm Rika!]

[I'm... Momo..]

[[[We're right behind you.]]]]

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

Ghostly figures appeared behind me—the Phone Ghosts.

They were mysterious, unknown entities—perhaps spirits, perhaps reapers, or something else entirely.

Urban legends about haunted phones varied widely, with different versions appearing over time.

In the game, the maximum number of Phone Ghosts was five, but with Mary’s current power, there was no telling how many could appear.

Mary alone was already overwhelming. There was no way I could handle more supernatural entities at the same time.

I had to retreat.

Mirror Travel.

As long as I had a marked mirror, I couldn’t be caught or killed.

I slipped into a mirror inside the school.

In that fleeting moment of transition, I heard Mary’s voice.

“You gave me a drink, so I’ll wait... just a little.”

...She’s going to follow me to the school, isn’t she?

That damned little brat!

The moment I arrived, I gathered everyone.

They looked at me with curiosity, but I had no choice but to douse their enthusiasm with reality.

"Listen up! Mary is coming to attack!"

"Wait, what?!"

"Sorry, but that’s how it is. Somehow, she figured out you’re here."

Even Piero was staying put, so why was Mary suddenly targeting people?

Was it like Piero’s murderous instinct?

Feeling hostility toward a target that isn’t even in front of her?

...Probably not.

I remembered something from a past conversation.

She had said that her greatest wish was to find a specific person and stab them to death.

It looked like she had chosen children as her targets.

"So what do we do? Fight?"

Soo-ho asked.

I immediately answered.

"No."

There was no way I was letting the kids face Mary.

Not only was there no strategy for dealing with her without relics, but we didn’t have time to come up with one.

That didn’t mean we were just going to run away like cowards.

"Mary uses the phone as a medium."

"She can ignore barriers that stop supernatural intrusions and enter the school.

If she invades our domain... then we’ll invade hers."

In other words, we’ll rob her house!

Mary’s weakness was in her boss room.

Of course, there were other ghosts in there, but...

There was no other choice. We had to try.

"James, Maria, I’m really sorry, but take the relics and head to the park. The map I gave you has the marked location.

Guys, go with them and help out."

"But Ella! You said Mary is insanely strong! You can’t fight her alone—"

"Idiot! This isn’t the time to be picky! We have to avoid a pointless death—"

Jingle-jingle-jingle-jingle!

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The Cheshire Cat’s Bell rang.

It was a transparent bell that chimed whenever an unregistered entity was nearby.

Mary had entered the school.

"Listen carefully! Don’t answer the phone! Watch your back! Her weakness is the giant sunflower! Take this and get moving!"

I tossed an item to James and turned toward the presence I felt approaching.

Behind me, I heard the sound of James leading the team as they dashed outside.

I hope they succeed.

Victory depends on them. I’m just stalling for time.

Ratatatatatat—Thunk.

The toy soldier, acting as the replacement for the security guard, had stopped firing.

Damn it, that was a rare item...

Step... Step... Step.

From the darkness at the end of the hallway, a girl with blue eyes emerged.

Wearing a hat adorned with growing sunflowers, she gazed at me with a neutral expression.

Then, she greeted me.

"Hello, Ella."

"...Yeah, hi, Mary."

I made the first move.

"Now get lost!"

Clang—!

I pushed forward with all my strength.

Mary couldn’t be allowed to notice James and the others leaving the building.

This time, she was the one who staggered backward.

‘She’s... lighter than I expected?’

Mary tilted her head slightly, as if puzzled herself.

So... her behavior still follows her in-game patterns.

Mary was annoyingly fast, making it hard to land a hit.

At the same time, her direct attacks were limited.

Instead, the boss room was filled with supernatural entities and traps that launched relentless attacks.

The key strategy was either hitting Mary mid-air or targeting the giant sunflower.

But here, outside her stage, her patterns are predictable, and her power is significantly weaker.

...The kids aren’t around, so I can swear a little, right?

"You're dead, you little bitch!!"

"Ugh...!"

Fury surged through me.

I had gone looking for Piero for help, only to get attacked instead—

I seriously almost died!

With that anger as fuel, I kept pressuring Mary with attacks.

But soon, she started floating to evade my strikes.

"You called me an idiot earlier!"

"Ella is an idiot."

Behind Mary, a telephone appeared.

Riiiiing—!

The ringing sound echoed in my head.

It wasn’t just my ears—my entire skull vibrated, rattling my brain.

A death curse.

A wide-range instant kill attack that made your head explode.

"How many times do you think I died to this damn pattern?!"

Without other stage hazards interfering, I had a way to cancel this curse—even without Eun-jung’s artifact.

I grabbed two mirrors—one tucked in my skirt and another secured at my chest—and threw them.

Finally, I hurled a blade at full speed.

Mary, seeing all three projectiles coming at her at once, instinctively dodged them all.

One mirror landed behind her, the other to her side.

The blade, which she dodged, flew into the mirror behind her—

—and reappeared from the mirror beside her, aiming straight for her phone.

"...!"

It was the same trick I had used to strike the Radio-Head Demon.

Connecting mirrors into portals.

Taste this!

The blade smashed her phone.

Pieces of the telephone fell to the floor, and her death curse shattered into nothing.

A wide-range instant kill attack?

Yeah, no. You don’t get to spam that. That’s just bad game balance.

"...Not bad, Ella."

"Glad you get it. Now get lost. There’s no one here. Especially not the person you’re looking for!"

"I see..."

Was she... actually backing off?

"But if I leave..."

Mary’s expression didn’t change as she spoke.

"Ella, you have to leave too."

"?!"

Before I could even ask what she meant, something grabbed my ankle.

I instinctively slashed at it.

A green vine.

Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m freewebnøvel.com.

Vines?!

Why are there vines here...?!

In my narrowed vision, I finally noticed it—

A sunflower.

Sunflowers, vines, and telephone booths were sprouting throughout the school.

The structures of Mary’s stage were invading reality.

Taking over the entire school, swallowing it up.

I rushed to the window, looking outside to the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) schoolyard.

And there it was—

A massive sunflower stalk.

"No way. Is this even possible...?!"

The school was turning into Mary’s domain.