For a brief moment, it almost felt as though those eyes were alive.

  "Raoul, look over there. That doll."

  Rumi pointed at the doll with her finger.

  The doll was in a pce that made no sense—hidden among the sacred relics on the top shelf of a nearly five-meter-high storage unit.

  Raoul frowned as he looked up at the shelf.

  "How did that even get up there?“

  "Do you think it's... a possessed doll?"

  Rumi shivered, her shoulders hunching as she spoke.

  "...But if it were possessed, it wouldn’t have been able to enter this pce in the first pce."

  "True... And how did it even get wedged between the sacred relics? There’s no way Medina could’ve put it up there alone."

  "Exactly..."

  "But... how are we supposed to get it down from there?"

  Rumi squinted, sizing up Raoul’s height with a doubtful look.

  Raoul stood on the desk, and Rumi banced herself on his shoulders.

  "Can you reach it?"

  Raoul asked, his face strained.

  "I opened the gss panel, but I still can’t reach the doll."

  Rumi’s small hand fell far short of the shelf where the doll sat.

  "Raoul, I’m really sorry, but can I step on your head?"

  "Uh... fine, just be careful not to fall."

  Rumi grabbed the shelf and stepped onto Raoul’s head, lifting herself up.

  "Ugh..."

  Raoul groaned in pain.

  Rumi stretched her arm as far as she could, aiming for the doll’s foot hidden among the relics.

  "I... I got it!"

  She struggled to grab the doll’s leg and pull it out.

  As the doll came into view, Rumi felt a chill run down her spine. It looked like a real, shrunken child. Its short, permed hair and delicate features made it hard to tell if it was a boy or a girl.

  Thinking of Raoul, Rumi quickly lifted the doll.

  But the doll was heavier than she expected.

  The moment she lifted it, she felt her body tilting backward.

  "Whoa!"

  Rumi lost her bance, and Raoul began to topple over with her.

  "Ahh!"

  Are we really going to fall and break their necks and die like this?

  Rumi shut her eyes tightly.

  Thud.

  But just then, Malcolm, who had been standing below, caught both Rumi and Raoul.

  All three of them colpsed to the floor in a heap.

  Crash.

  "Malcolm...?"

  Malcolm, now pinned under Rumi and Raoul, looked at them with disbelief.

  "What are you two doing? Trying to get yourselves killed?"

  "Ugh, if it weren’t for you, we’d be dead."

  Raoul struggled to get up as he spoke.

  "Geez... Malcolm... I can’t believe you actually came in handy for once..."

  Rumi also rolled off the floor, groaning.

  "What’s that you’re holding?"

  Malcolm pointed at the doll Rumi was clutching.

  "This?"

  Rumi showed the doll to Malcolm.

  "Haha, this is the doll! We almost died trying to get it."

  "That... that’s the doll?"

  Malcolm asked, visibly creeped out.

  "Yeah, it was on that damn top shelf... Wait, why are you even here?"

  "Oh, crap. I almost forgot. We need to hide. Someone’s coming this way."

  "What, now?"

  "Yeah!"

  Rumi and Raoul immediately followed Malcolm’s lead and crawled under the desk to hide.

  "What... what’s going on? Is it that bck magician again?"

  "I don’t know. Medina just said someone’s coming and then disappeared."

  "Ah, but what about the statue? If it’s back in pce, they’ll know someone’s been here..."

  "As long as they don’t know it was us, we’re fine."

  Raoul replied.

  Rumi and the kids held their breath, waiting. Moments ter, a boy ghost walked into the principal’s office.

  "What...? the boy ghost?"

  The boy ghost moved with an oddly light step.

  It was strange how a ghost could enter such a sacred pce.

  But when the bck magician followed him in, the kids tensed up reflexively.

  "What the...? Is that boy ghost the one possessing Medina’s corpse...?"

  The two members of the witch cult passed by where Rumi and the kids were hiding and began fiddling with the door to the inner office.

  "...They’re not here for the doll? Why are they going there...?"

  "Guys, now’s our chance. Let’s go."

  At that moment, Raoul quickly assessed the situation and grabbed Rumi’s arm, pulling her toward the exit.

  Rumi and the kids took advantage of the witches’ distraction and practically crawled up the stairs, running as fast as they could.

  They made it to the door and slipped through safely.

  But as they reached the door, the cursed statue had turned back to its original position, and it spotted the kids sneaking out of the principal’s office.

  "Intruders! You’re doomed. Doomed!"

  "Ah! That damn statue!"

  The kids knew they were busted and didn’t even look back as they started running.

  Now, all they had to do was get back to the dorm and pretend to be asleep. Even if they were caught, it wouldn’t matter.

  Rumi and the kids ran like their lives depended on it, each fleeing to their own dorm rooms.

  When Rumi entered her dorm room, Eve was gently patting Niel’s back as she slept.

  "Why are you here alone...? And what’s that doll?"

  "Eve, Niel, pretend to sleep! Hurry!"

  "...?"

  "Hurry!!!"

  Seeing Rumi more frantic than ever, Eve left Niel and jumped into her own bed.

  Rumi also threw herself onto the top bunk.

  In an instant, the dorm room fell silent, as if everyone had died.

  Rumi hugged the doll, trying to calm her racing heart, and anxiously waiting to see if anyone would come to the dormitory room door.

  Rumi and Eve had already been exposed to Medina’s corpse, so if there was even the slightest hint of suspicion, Medina’s corpse could come straight to their dorm room at any moment.

  And just then, something pale seemed to pass through the door and enter Rumi’s dorm room.

  It came in without any warning.

  Rumi shut her eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep, but she could feel the ghost’s gaze piercing her face.

  The doll was hidden under just a thin bnket, and if they were caught now, Rumi’s strange life would truly be over.

  "What are you all doing? Pying dead?"

  "... ...?"

  The voice was Medina’s.

  Rumi frowned, still lying down.

  "Was it you, Medina?"

  She peeked open her eyes to see Medina looking down at her with a displeased expression.

  "Of course it’s me. Who did you expect?"

  "Didn’t you see the boy ghost in the principal’s office?"

  "What ghost? How could a ghost enter the principal’s office? Are you talking about the bck magician?"

  "No... never mind..."

  "What? So did you find the doll?"

  "...Are you sure there’s no one outside?"

  "Yeah."

  Rumi silently threw off the bnket.

  "Wow, you found it! My doll! Where was it?"

  Medina suddenly burst into ughter.

  "It was on top of the damn sacred relic dispy shelf!"

  "Huh...? Why was it there?"

  "Hey, this doll isn’t possessed, is it? It didn’t move on its own or anything?"

  "No... haha... Anyway, you need to take good care of it now. Think of it as your precious baby."

  Just then, Niel sat up and stared at the doll.

  "What’s going on? Is it safe now? Was someone chasing you?"

  "Yeah..."

  "What were you even doing...? What’s with that doll?"

  Eve also sat up and silently looked at the doll.

  "This doll is the reason Medina died."

  "What?"

  "The ghost possessing Medina’s corpse and that masked bck magician worked together to kill Medina, and they were looking for this doll."

  "What’s so special about this doll?"

  Eve asked, her face uneasy.

  "That’s the problem."

  After answering Eve, Rumi turned to Medina as if sizing up prey.

  "Medina! What kind of doll is this?"

  "That’s... not important anymore. What matters is that it didn’t fall into the hands of the witch cult. I can die without regrets now."

  Medina was being evasive again.

  "You’re already dead! Come on, are you really going to be like this? We risked our lives to get this doll.“

  Just then, there was a knock on the dorm room’s side door.

  "Rumi, it’s me, Raoul."

  Rumi opened the door to let Raoul in, and Malcolm quietly followed.

  With the two of them joining, the room fell silent for a moment.

  "So... the witch cult didn’t follow us."

  Raoul broke the silence.

  "Yeah..."

  "Medina, what about that boy ghost? Was he the one possessing your body?"

  Raoul asked Medina.

  "What are you talking about? Why do you keep bringing up this boy ghost? I don’t know anything about it!"

  "I’ll expin... This might be a bit shocking for Medina, but I think it’s time to talk about it."

  Rumi interjected.

  "...?"

  "Medina, the ghost possessing your body... seems to be a boy."

  "..."

  "..."

  Medina’s face showed the most confusion she had ever dispyed.

  "Why... why are you saying it like that? Can’t a boy ghost possess someone...?"

  "No... I just thought it’d be weird if some random boy I didn’t know possessed my dead body... Do you know who he is?"

  "What are you talking about? How would I know a boy I’ve never even seen before? And do I look okay to you? A boy ghost is possessing my body!"

  "Well, it’s better than some middle-aged man, right?"

  "Are you serious right now? There’s a line, and you’ve crossed it! Disrespecting the dead like this!"

  "Alright, alright. I get it. You don’t know who he is either. I just thought you might be hiding something."

  "What?"

  "Okay, next question. What kind of doll is this?"

  All eyes turned to Medina.

  "......"

  Medina remained silent.

  "Hmm... then where did you get that cursed book?"

  Rumi pressed again.

  The kids all focused their attention on Medina.

  "I... I don’t remember, haha. Why are you all staring at me like that...? It’s making me uncomfortable..."

  "You don't really expect us to believe that...?"

  Rumi smiled creepily as she replied.

  "Hey... it’s... it wasn’t my book. It’s a really hard-to-find book."

  "So what kind of book is it?"

  "I don’t know..."

  "Hey, seriously!"

  Rumi finally got so frustrated that she reached out to strangle Medina’s translucent neck.

  "Eek! help!"

  Medina exaggeratedly acted scared, then disappeared through the wall.

  "Did... did she really just run away like that?"

  Rumi was so frustrated she felt like she was going to explode.

  "Fine, run away... but the doll’s in my hands now. I can do everything with this now."

  Rumi held up the doll and examined it closely.

  Looking at it again, it was a child doll whose gender couldn't be determined. It wore a suit, and its blond, curly hair—no, it was originally long hair, but it looked like someone had permed it.

  "Do you feel any cursed energy?"

  "I wouldn’t be able to tell even if there was."

  "Then give it to me."

  Raoul gestured for the doll.

  Rumi handed it over.

  Meanwhile, Eve subtly moved away as the doll got closer to her.

  Raoul also touched various parts of the doll, examining it closely.

  "I don’t feel any cursed energy at all. We might need to use litmus paper."

  "I have litmus paper."

  Eve opened a drawer and pulled out a neatly organized bundle of litmus paper, handing it over with trembling hands.

  Raoul took the paper and held it up to the doll. The litmus paper, soaked in holy water, didn’t change color at all.

  "What the...? There’s really no ghost in it? It’s clean."

  Rumi asked, watching the scene.

  "Eve, Raoul, and Malcolm, do any of you know anything about this kind of doll?"

  "Hmm... there are plenty of possessed dolls, but I’ve never seen one like this. What about you, Eve?"

  Raoul answered first, then turned to Eve, who seemed to shrink back.

  "Honestly... if I had to guess, this is definitely connected to Medina’s family. As you all know, the Mora family has been famous for generations as doll makers. Who knows what kind of dolls they might have... So it’s highly possible that this doll is a very special one from the Mora family."

  "That makes a lot of sense."