The Eldritch Files

”How fascinating...”

Han Su carefully looked at the photo of the female classmate who had hanged herself, comparing it to the person sitting beside him. ”Because of that fanatical faith, even after death, they can remain in the physical world, becoming a Ghost Believer dedicated solely to spreading the word of the Gods?”

’So it’s not that I’d never encountered the bizarre before. Not only had I encountered it, I’d even had a close-up encounter. It’s just that back then, everything seemed normal—so normal that I wouldn’t even remember it afterward.’

’Then why, now that I’ve met her again, can I finally see her true nature?’

’Is it because I’ve Mastered normal Spiritual Penetration and my Spiritual Power has awakened? Or is it because that monster is currently metamorphosing, so it can’t spare the effort to watch me?’

As he spoke, he picked up the briefcase by his feet, clicked it open with a SNAP, and grabbed the electric baton.

Then, he squeezed the trigger and jabbed it directly against the long-haired female classmate.

With a loud CRACKLE, the female classmate was sent flying. Her entire body flickered twice, like an unstable current. Though thrown back by the baton, she didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, with a series of bone-popping CRACKS, her body slowly straightened in mid-air.

Her feet didn’t touch the ground, as if she were hanging in mid-air. Her head tilted to one side, her expression one of astonishment, twisted, cold, and strange.

Her figure shot backward, then slowly came to a halt in the air, perfectly overlapping with her image in the photograph.

”So this is a Ghost Believer?”

Han Su stood up, electric baton in hand, and carefully studied her appearance. A dazed feeling crept into his mind.

’A grotesque being, contaminated by a Mysterious Power that has seeped out of history...’

’Her constant talk about the return of the Gods... why does it inexplicably remind me of...’

’...what the old butler said about the Seven Days of Divine Descent?’

’Is history, especially the history before the reconstruction of civilization, the source of all this Penetration?’

Rule three of the Disaster Management Bureau’s operational code flashed through his mind—the one they took extremely seriously, which stated that one needed a certain level of clearance to view any information from before the Reconstruction Era.

...

...

”Despicable, filthy, ignorant! When the Gods break free from the dust of history, you will all be destroyed by a calamity from the heavens!”

A single jolt from the electric baton had turned the pure and lovely long-haired classmate into a bizarre, twisted monster that now exuded a putrid stench.

It smelled as if she had been buried underground for a long, long time.

All around them, the lights began to flicker erratically. Her voice was filled with disgust and venomous hatred. Han Su could even tell that this disgust wasn’t directed at him, but at all of humanity.

WHOOSH!

A cold, sinister wind blew out from her, flipping the pages of all the surrounding books up and down with a frantic FLAP.

Han Su felt as if he were facing a swirling, distorted shadow that was rapidly enveloping him.

Wherever the writhing shadow touched him, his body began to grow cold and stiff. It felt as if the chilling aura was seeping into his bone marrow, controlling his body, invading his mind, and imprinting a jumble of words into his thoughts.

”Worship the Gods...”

”Humanity is doomed to perish...”

”Becoming one of God’s Believers is the only path to salvation...”

”...”

’So this is spiritual contamination?’

Han Su felt the linguistic contamination rushing at him from all directions. The effect on him wasn’t significant, but he remained vigilant.

He abruptly lifted his briefcase to block part of the shadow lunging at him, then took a step back and silently recited in his mind:

[I Enter the Abyssal]

[...]

As he took that step back, his figure seemed to blur, and the cold restraints fell away from him.

The next moment, Han Su lunged forward again, raising the electric baton with the intensity cranked to the max.

100% intensity.

With another CRACKLE, the long-haired classmate’s whole body seemed to start rotting as she was thrown back hard. A 100% intensity electrical attack had reached a terrifyingly lethal level.

The only problem was that it consumed power too quickly. A couple more zaps like that and the battery would be dead.

But clearly, that single jolt was enough to terrify the Ghost. She let out a startling shriek and her figure retreated swiftly between two rows of bookshelves.

As she neared the thick, ancient tomes, her form seemed to faintly dissolve, as if she were trying to hide inside the books.

This strange power was hard to Understand, but Han Su already had an idea. Watching her retreat into the bookshelf, he stood his ground and slowly chanted:

[I command you to appear in the Light!]

[...]

The moment the Spell left his lips, a sinister wind swept through, more than ten times stronger than before. The Ghost Believer had already begun to dissipate, but because of the Spell, her body unexpectedly solidified again against her will and even started to drift toward Han Su.

She couldn’t control her movements, and an expression of terror, just like a living person’s, appeared on her face.

As for Han Su, he could only let out a low sigh. He cranked the baton to 100% again and met her drifting form with another jab. This time, the dazzling electric arc became the last trace she left in this world.

With the collapse of her will, the sinister wind dissipated, and her final, faint scream faded into nothing.

”Hm?”

But Han Su, who was certain that last jolt would have annihilated her, suddenly heard a strange phrase in his mind as he uttered the Spell. It sounded like scraping metal, and he could vaguely make out words like ”copper” and ”reflection.”

The voice seemed to have been hidden deep within his mind, only to be unintentionally triggered. It roamed through his thoughts for a moment before gradually falling silent again.

’That voice again...’

Han Su stood motionless and slowly raised his left hand. On the back of it, the Cross Copper Scar was faintly visible.

It was as if the scar, a remnant from a previous lifeline, was trying to reappear on his hand.

’Why would this voice appear now? A coincidence? Or did the Spell I recited activate it?’

’...’

Han Su stood quietly for a while. Once the conflicting voices in his head faded, he slowly raised his head, walked a lap around the library to confirm the Ghost Believer was well and truly gone, and only then sent a mission report to Miss Ai.

[Complete]

Miss Ai replied: [Thank you for your contribution to the defense of Qinggang City’s reality, Mr. Butcher. Please leave the scene now. Professional personnel will arrive to scan the Penetration area.]

[Two other missions have also been sent to your email, Mr. Butcher. Please arrange your own time to complete them.]

[...]

A very strange feeling still lingered in Han Su’s mind. He tentatively replied: [Can you send me some information about this Undead Believer? Or, rather, about the Gods from history she mentioned?]

After a thought, he added an explanation: [I’d like to Understand more. It would make future jobs easier.]

But all he got back was a big smiley face from Miss Ai: [Mr. Butcher has not yet obtained an Investigator License. Your clearance isn’t high enough! 😊]

[Also, a friendly reminder for Mr. Butcher: Gods do not exist in this world!]

[The so-called Ghost Believers are just an anomalous spiritual state. In life, they observed some kind of anomaly in historical records and were contaminated, which gave rise to intense world-weariness and a desire to inform others of the anomaly’s existence.]

[That is why they choose to remain in libraries, waiting for someone interested in that period of history to appear, so they can then contaminate them.]

[...]

Han Su frowned as he put down his phone. He picked up his briefcase and turned to leave the library, but just as he reached the entrance, he unexpectedly saw someone arguing with the old man at the door.

”Why can’t I go in to study just because it’s too late?”

”I brought my girlfriend to the library at night to study. What’s wrong with that?”

”Don’t give me that ’there are cameras’ crap. Who says you have to do *that* in a library? This is a sacred hall of learning...”

”...”

Hearing that familiar voice, Han Su froze on the spot. He took a closer look and finally confirmed that the guy trying to get into the library with his girlfriend was indeed his problem child.

He coughed lightly.

”Huh?”

The person turned his head, and upon seeing Han Su, he was completely dumbfounded.

He blinked hard, and after confirming that it was really Han Su before him, he let out a wail and cried, ”Old Han, I missed you like crazy...”

Han Su lifted his briefcase to block Xu Ji, who had tossed his girlfriend aside and was lunging at him excitedly. ”Aren’t you supposed to be grounded at home?” he asked, surprised.

”I’m grounded, not in prison.”

Xu Ji said, ”I was so bored! So I told my mom I was going out to study. But she’s gotten smarter; she didn’t even completely buy such a good excuse and insisted on having someone trail me. That’s why I had to bring my girlfriend here...”

”I was actually hoping I might run into you here, but who’d have thought you’d actually be here?”

”...”

’It’s not like I come here every day...’

Han Su thought with a sense of helplessness, but he immediately recalled the reason for Xu Ji’s grounding and the problem he had just dealt with here. His expression suddenly turned serious.

He shoved Xu Ji away and said, ”I don’t care how bored you are, stay away from me. I’ve already taken your family’s money, and they told me not to get close to you again.”

”Damn, that’s my family’s style, alright.”

Xu Ji cursed, then said, ”But Old Han, our friendship has to stand the test of time! You can’t just abandon me like this...”

”Get lost.”

Han Su said, ”From now on, you’re not allowed to be anywhere I am. Got it?”

Xu Ji got angry when he heard that. ”Old Han, you’re being...”

”I mean...”

Han Su looked him in the eyes and said, ”From now on, you’re not allowed to be anywhere I am. If you see me, you leave immediately. Understand?”

Xu Ji froze for a moment. He suddenly seemed to realize something, and his gaze fell on the black briefcase in Han Su’s hand. He lowered his voice and said, ”You mean... like that thing we ran into last time...”

Han Su: ”Scram!”

Xu Ji: ”You got it!”

With that, he immediately scurried away, leaving the young woman who came with him staring blankly. ’What kind of guy is he?’ she thought. ’He acts like some big shot young master, but runs off the second someone yells at him...’

’My taste in men is really terrible. And here I thought I’d actually met a rich guy this time...’