The night was thick and oppressive, as if the entire academy were sealed in an airtight glass dome.
Li was searching the Night Stalker Club's archives for information, originally intending to research the history of the "Spirit Summoning Research Association." As soon as he pulled open the bottom metal cabinet—
Click.
A hidden compartment he had never seen before sprang open.
Inside was a ledger so black that it seemed to absorb light. Its surface was devoid of titles, illustrations, or wear and tear—as if it were freshly printed yet also as if it had been sealed away for a century.
Li frowned and reached out to touch it.
The next second, as if alive, the ledger snapped open automatically.
"...?!"
Before he could grasp it properly, it stopped on a particular page.
The paper glowed with a faint reddish light, like blood seeping and flowing between the lines.
It read:
The Register of Sins, Academy Records.
Only appears when the concentration of sins reaches a critical point."
Li felt a chill run down his spine.
"Is this a ledger of sins?" he muttered to himself. As if the ledger understood, it automatically flipped to the next three pages.
It flipped so quickly that it was as if it was urgently showing them to him.
The case records began to flash:
• Bullying leading to attempted suicide
• Mistakenly concealing a spell, which resulted in serious injury or death.
• Former members of the Nightwalker Club illegally summoning spirits
• A collective mental breakdown caused by the backlash of forbidden arts.
Three undisclosed "barrier breach incidents."
Next to each crime was a sketch resembling residual spiritual energy.
But the ledger kept turning.
Snap. Snap. Snap—
The speed increased as if to prevent any escape.
It stopped on a page of a file obscured by a deep black mark.
The mark seemed to be etched into the paper, completely covering the original text.
However, the ledger seemed to recognize Li, and the black mark began to recede, driven back by the residual power of the "Eye of Judgment" within him. Tiny cracks appeared.
Li's heart skipped a beat.
He instinctively reached out and touched it.
The black mark exploded instantly.
The sealed title was revealed—
"The School Massacre: Erased Records."
At that moment, all the lights in the archives flickered simultaneously.
Li's throat was dry; he was unable to utter a sound.
The next line stunned him:
"Recorder: Unknown (suspected "Key" holder).
Death List: 89
—Event Type: Seal Out of Control × Sin Rampage × Leakage from Another Dimension
Li's vision turned white.
Eighty-nine people?
The school hadn't mentioned it at all, not even in the history of the Night Stalker Club.
Even stranger, the recorder was "Key."
Could it be that the previous Key…
—also heard the sounds of those cracks, just like him?
His thoughts continued when the ledger suddenly flipped open on its own.
It was as if it were urgently showing him the most crucial page.
The last page slowly appeared:
The starting point of the massacre. A new member of the Night Stalker Club lost control.
—The root marker: The same psionic energy fluctuation as Li Liansi.
Li froze, his breath catching in his throat.
"This is impossible." His voice was almost a whisper.
But the ledger seemed to answer him, with new words appearing on its pages:
"It's not impossible.
You are the Re-enactment."
In that instant, a chill ran down his spine to the back of his head.
Snap!
The archive door slammed shut behind him.
It was as if the entire academy was telling him:
This was not a ledger of sins.
It was a "book of judgment and prophecy" awaiting his return.