Through the lenses of his glasses, Black Trojan stared unblinkingly at the two motionless marble female statues.

Currently, all the supernatural events within Ibaraki Middle School, whether it involved middle school students slamming their heads on the ground or middle-aged men in disguise asking others their favorite color, all seemed to follow discernible patterns.

What exactly did I do that caused her to change? Was it because I initiated an attack?

Black Trojan's mind raced, his body remained rigid, not daring to move carelessly anymore.

As the sun continued to sink, grazing the ridges of distant, rolling hills, clouds gathered in the sky. A piercing Gale began to blow throughout Ibaraki Middle School.

The wind howled, prying open the wooden door of the art classroom. Glass windows trembled, and curtains fluttered and danced like skirts. Scrolls on the wooden desks were whisked up by the Gale, drifting around the classroom.

Fine sand, carried by the wind, slid into the corners of Black Trojan's eyes. Involuntarily, he blinked.

When he opened his eyes again, the marble female statues had increased from two to four.

Their pure white, smooth feet had, at some point, left their pedestals. They stood rigidly, treading on the cold floor of the art classroom. What was more terrifying was that the light veils lightly covering the statues' faces had been lifted. This revealed faces that no longer appeared peaceful and elegant but had become distorted, hideous, and ferocious.

They opened their mouths wide, revealing teeth as sharp and serrated as saw blades. The tongue hidden within each mouth had forked at the end, hissing at Black Trojan like a Snake.

The statues, once so divine and pure, beautiful and graceful, were now wicked and brutal, greedy and venomous.

...What's happening?

Black Trojan took a half step back. Fortunately, all four statues remained motionless, their outstretched arms about two meters away from his chest.

When did...

Black Trojan was petrified with horror. Even with the assistance of the Code Observer glasses, he still hadn't clearly seen what had just happened.

He took a deep breath, his feet moving toward the door at an extremely slow pace, while his hands reached into his backpack and pulled out a clunky Individual Rocket Tube.

The distance between them was too close; he had to get outside the classroom to ensure the rocket's blast wave wouldn't harm him.

Bit by bit, he braved the Gale and reached the doorway of the art classroom. However, the wind was so fierce and violent that just as Black Trojan stepped out, the old wooden door behind him was toppled by the Gale. It fell askew and, with a BANG, struck the doorframe, perfectly blocking his view of the four statues.

Black Trojan's heart skipped a beat as a sense of crisis rang an alarm within him. He kicked the obstructing door open, only to see eight neatly aligned marble statues standing behind it.

These eight statues were bent at the waist. Their five fingers had fused into three. Their already slender faces became even longer and narrower, with short, coarse black bristles even growing on them.

And within their wide-open mouths, the teeth that resembled serrated blades had formed an interlocking ring. ThefullserieslivesonMyVirtualLibraryEmpire(*).

They resembled some kind of Worm.

These statues were even more terrifying. You could say they were gradually losing all human semblance and transforming into some form of "crawling beast."

The numbers had increased yet again...

Black Trojan forced himself to remain calm. Every time the statues transformed, it was when they fell out of my line of sight. Does that mean as long as I keep watching them, they won't change?

Black Trojan stood in the hallway, staring intently at the eight statues inside the room, slowly backing away to a safe distance.

While keeping his eyes wide open, he hoisted the Individual Rocket Tube onto his shoulder, aimed roughly, and squeezed the trigger.

The rocket flew out, hitting the leading marble statue squarely.

BOOM—

The blaze was incredibly dazzling, and smoke billowed into the sky. Black Trojan obstinately kept his dry eyes open, fixated on the center of the thick smoke.

Suddenly, he thought of something.

If the statues can only move when not being watched, then during the blaze, with all this billowing smoke, can they move freely...?

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK—A sound like fracturing stone echoed from beneath and behind Black Trojan. He abruptly realized something and whirled around.

Behind him, seven or eight statues had, at some point, burrowed through the steel-reinforced concrete of the walls, floor, and ceiling. They were now standing behind him, poised to strike—four razor-sharp claws already pressed against his spine, neck, and waist.

But when Black Trojan's gaze swept over them, the statues, previously baring fangs and brandishing claws, once again became stiff and motionless.

BOOM—The sound of walls shattering rang in his ears once more. Black Trojan, forcing his bloodshot eyes open, retreated swiftly, using his peripheral vision to watch the walls.

Within the walls, a dozen or so statues digging through the steel-reinforced concrete with their fingers and palms stopped moving as soon as his peripheral vision touched them.

If these statues split into two every time they escaped his sight, Black Trojan feared that with just a few more blinks, the entire art building would be flooded with an endless number of marble statues.

Not even a rocket could kill them. Moreover, the thick smoke from the rocket would cause him to lose sight of their forms, allowing the statues to continue multiplying.

This is fucking insane...

Black Trojan felt his eyes so dry they seemed on the verge of exploding. He propped open his eyelids with his hands to prevent himself from blinking unconsciously.

Humans need to blink to spread tears evenly over the cornea and conjunctiva, keeping the eye surface moist. In an unconscious state, a normal person blinks about a dozen times a minute, usually once every two to six seconds. Each blink takes about 0.3 seconds.

The statues were moving faster, their numbers increasing. This brief 0.3 seconds was enough for them to split into several groups, move behind Black Trojan, and use those arms—which had morphed into beastly claws—to sever his head.

Or use their gaping, Worm-like mouths to bite off his entire head.

The only way to survive this supernatural incident, I'm afraid, is for one player to enter the art classroom, pick up this statue without blinking even once, and carry it downstairs. Three people would then have to take turns watching it, blinking separately, to keep the statue immobile and prevent it from splitting. Ultimately, those three would need to figure out a way to destroy it directly.

Black Trojan stood at one end of the hallway, looking at the sixteen statues frozen in place, his mind racing.

When there's only one statue, it's easy to deal with. But when their number increases to double digits, the mission difficulty skyrockets... How, exactly, can I deal with them...?

Fine sand and dust, carried by the wind, coated Black Trojan's eyeballs. The intense itch felt as if it were piercing his very skull, causing him to shiver all over.

He exhaled a ragged breath, staring at the sixteen statues. After a moment of hesitation, he blinked his left eye.