Honkai: Husband-Chasing Crematorium

"…Restarted..."

Li Mo touched his neck and traced it upwards, confirming that his head was still attached.

"My head is still here."

"This is… the academy entrance."

Li Mo quickly calmed himself, piecing together the bloody events that had just transpired.

Time wasn't on his side. He needed to act fast to resolve the anomaly here. Staying longer would only lead to more deaths—and more dangers.

"So, this anomaly must be tied to Kiana. Otherwise, she wouldn't have acted so inhumanly."

"The gate itself isn't the problem. But entering through it results in instant decapitation—no way to resist it."

"The broadcast is suspicious. The thermometer's temperature drop happened immediately after the voice spoke. And I didn't die right after the broadcast, which means Kiana's actions were unrelated. She only appeared after I was already dead. This leaves three possibilities—"

"First, there is someone in the broadcasting room, but a ghost is among them, using the broadcast to lure other anomalies to kill me."

"Second, the broadcasting room is empty, and the broadcast itself is the ghost."

"Third, the most severe case: the broadcast is a ghost, and there's also a ghost among the people in the broadcasting room."

Just one death was enough for Li Mo to deduce these reasonable possibilities.

He looked up at the silent school building. The answer was definitely inside.

To resolve this, he would have to enter the teaching building of St. Freya Academy.

The issue with the gate was something he'd already solved in his mind. But those three possibilities needed to be clarified first. If not, it would cause fatal errors in his future judgment.

"Now it's your turn to help."

Reluctantly, Li Mo took out the notebook—a tool he despised relying on.

The notebook never gave a perfect answer for clearing a challenge in one go. Even when it provided seemingly correct solutions, blindly following its advice would lead to repeated deaths.

And too many deaths would result in being consumed by the anomaly and losing himself completely.

"You don't want to respond, do you?" Li Mo said coldly. "I know you understand human language and logic. Listen closely: if you keep playing dead, I won't hesitate to leave right now. And when I do, I'll commission a container—one with an extremely dense, pressure-resistant frame reinforced by Honkai energy. A box perfectly sized to trap you inside with no room to escape."

"I'll seal you in and toss you into the deepest part of the ocean."

"Unlike the Titanic, no rich fools will ever spend fortunes to retrieve you."

"You'll sink forever into the abyss, endlessly plotting schemes that'll never see the light of day."

His tone grew sharper. "Afraid now? Then give me an answer. I don't care how many traps you set in your response, but I need a precise and accurate one. If you can't provide that, you're useless to me."

As Li Mo spoke, he turned and took a few steps away, as though ready to abandon the area altogether.

After a moment of tense silence, twisted, distorted characters began to appear on the notebook's surface:

[My name is Li Mo. If you're reading this, I am dying—or perhaps I've already died, and is about to be reborn.]

"Stop wasting time," Li Mo muttered, coughing awkwardly. "You start with this every single time. Get to the point."

[Currently, I plan to enter the teaching building. But before doing so, I need to identify the true source of danger from the broadcast.]

[At present, I have three theories: the first is that someone in the broadcasting room is human, but a ghost has infiltrated the group and is speaking through the broadcast to lure other anomalies to kill me.]

[The second is that the broadcasting room is empty, and the broadcast itself is a ghost.]

[The third—and most dangerous scenario—is that both the broadcast and someone in the room are ghosts.]

[Without confirming which is true, entering the school is a guaranteed death sentence. I cannot resist the ghost if I go in recklessly.]

Li Mo sighed and cleared his throat. "I can figure that out myself. Worst case, I'll summon my waifu to deal with these bastards."

The notebook continued:

[Currently, I see two options: the first is to temporarily retreat and summon Elysia. Using her unique 'traits,' I could resolve the anomalies in the school with ease. However, this would only address the symptoms, not the root cause, leaving this world's anomalous nature unresolved.]

[The second option—though less desirable—is to rely on this notebook for an answer.]

[The notebook's solution: The first scenario is true. A ghost has infiltrated the group in the broadcasting room and is using the broadcast to summon other anomalies to kill me.]

Li Mo snapped the notebook shut and exhaled deeply. "Good. At least it's not the third option. It won't be easy, but this is manageable."

Without hesitating further, he sprinted towards the school's perimeter wall.

"If the front gate is off-limits, I'll just climb the wall."

Li Mo leaped high, only to misjudge the height and land unceremoniously back on the ground.

"Tch… Forgot I've only died once in this world. My body's not as strong as it was after dying twice in my last mission."

Rubbing his sore backside, he recalled how his body had gained strength proportional to the number of times he had died in previous encounters.

One death would push his physique to human limits—he could sprint 100 meters in just over 9 seconds and achieve Olympic-level jumps effortlessly.

Two deaths would take him beyond human capability—his injuries would heal instantly unless fatal, and even a partially split skull would regenerate as long as his consciousness remained intact. He could shatter trucks with a punch and charge through bullets unscathed.

After three deaths, his strength would rival that of an average Herrscher. He'd gain no special abilities, but his raw physicality would be unmatched. A single punch could silence powers and leave his enemies incapacitated temporarily.

But the more he died, the closer he came to losing himself. Too many deaths, and he'd fall into the abyss, consumed entirely.

"I can't think about that now. The lazy bunch at home is waiting for me to cook dinner."

Li Mo shook his head violently to clear his mind—and to confirm it was still attached.

A running start was necessary this time.

With his boosted physical capabilities, scaling the wall was simple. He landed smoothly inside the school grounds, just ten meters away from the teaching building.

Above him, the broadcasting system whirred ominously. The blackened speaker seemed to shift slightly, its head tilting unnaturally to face him. The grinding sound of its rotation filled the air, like something alive was observing him.

"The problem really does start with entering the gate," Li Mo muttered, biting down on his finger—a human habit that grounded him.

Ghosts didn't possess unique behavior akin to a human individual. They followed rigid, programmed behaviors unless imbued with human consciousness.

"I'll start by finding the broadcasting room and locating the ghost."

Using the school's navigation map, he located the room—on the second floor, at the very end of the hall.

Li Mo moved carefully through the school grounds, heading towards the teaching building. His senses were on high alert as he ascended the stairs.

The atmosphere was oppressive; the silence seemed to grow heavier with every step.

As he reached the second floor, a putrid stench assaulted his nose—a sickening mixture of decay and rot.

Looking down the hallway, he saw the cause:

The corridor was painted in crimson, a grotesque river of blood. Corpses were piled at the doorways, their bodies mangled and broken.

Flies buzzed in the air, and writhing maggots feasted on the decaying flesh. In some places, only bones remained, white and stripped clean, yet still smeared with dried blood.

Li Mo gagged but managed to suppress his nausea. "...Disgusting."

The scene was horrific, but not unfamiliar to someone like him, accustomed to dealing with supernatural phenomenons.

"This isn't random. The bodies are concentrated at the doors. Looks like opening a door here triggers instant death."

Li Mo carefully examined the surroundings, noticing the windows were open in each classroom he passed.

Peering inside, he found the rooms empty.

"Interesting. Opening doors is lethal, but windows seem fine. The lack of bodies near the windows or staircases confirms that people could escape through them. But if they tried the doors…"

He glanced at the piles of bodies. "They'd end up like this."

Pushing through the nauseating smell, he moved forward, his footsteps crunching over dried blood and brittle bones.

Each time he passed a classroom, he stopped to peer inside, noting that no bodies were left in the rooms.

"Not everyone has the courage to escape."

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