Chapter 219

Chapter 219

Everyone kept taking deep breaths, trying to muster all their energy.

Charles reached into his pocket and pulled out a stone, hurling it at the balcony window, creating a crack.

The empty hallway soon echoed with the eerie sound of a birthday song.

“Happy... birthday to you…”

The voice of the "Smiling Boy" mingled with the others.

These voices moved quickly, and in no time, they were right outside Charles and his friends' dorm room.

The four huddled together inside the dorm suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold seeping through the door cracks.

The cold air invaded the entire dorm room in an instant, making everyone shiver. Through the peephole, they saw a decayed, grotesque face suddenly press against it, staring at them with venomous eyes and an exaggerated smile.

The smile was terrifying, as if it took every ounce of strength to maintain.

Briar, scared by the sight, screamed and stumbled backward, falling hard to the ground.

At that moment, Briar felt incredibly grateful that there were three other people in the dorm with her. If she had been alone tonight, she wouldn't know how to face such a horrifying scene.

Charles could sense Gabriel's ghostly power growing stronger as he looked at the time on his watch, pondering Mabel's progress in getting there.

Then, he pushed past the others and walked straight to the door, opening it.

Everyone, including Gabriel at the door, was stunned by Charles' strange action.

“Tonight, someone wants to see you... Gabriel.”

Gabriel froze when he heard his real name, but then his aura of resentment grew even stronger. His exaggerated smile stretched to his ears as he raised a blood-stained, sharp knife and lunged at Charles!

But in the next second, a hand suddenly grabbed the knife tightly.

When Gabriel saw who was blocking him, his smile froze, and his pupils trembled slightly.

“Why, Gabriel? Why have you been hiding from me?”

Gabriel's hand holding the knife trembled as he silently faced Mabel. Then, as if snapping back to reality, he let go of the knife, and Mabel immediately threw it away with force.

It clattered loudly in the empty hallway.

Gabriel's smile, built with all his strength, showed a hint of sadness on his decayed face.

Slowly, the seven ghostly figures behind Gabriel began to fade, and his decayed body gradually returned to normal, though his skin still had a deathly pallor.

He wore a large school uniform, and lowered his head, but his mouth still maintained a smile.

He didn't dare to look at Mabel, who had cared for him like family for three years, and now had quite a bit of gray hair.

"Gabriel, you didn't do anything wrong. I really miss you."

"I've kept all the secrets you told me. You are truly a brave kid."

"But I have a secret I never told you. When you started as a freshman, I noticed you."

"Because you reminded me of my younger brother who passed away. He was your age when he took his own life. You were both smart and optimistic, though often misunderstood by others, you always faced the world positively."

"But I couldn't save him back then, so I placed my longing for him onto you. I thought God had given me another chance to see my brother again. But... why couldn't I save him, and later... couldn't protect you either."

"Why didn't you give me a chance to say goodbye? Why didn't you tell me you were being bullied by those monsters?"

Mabel cried, gently hitting Gabriel with her fists. "When you were in the hospital, your mom told you to live with a smile. But she meant for you to continue living positively and happily even without her, not to force yourself to smile through life."

"You have the right to feel wronged and to cry. No one is forcing you, so don't force yourself, okay?"

"I know the pain of losing a loved one, and I understand how much you've suffered. I don't think you did anything to let me down, nor do I think you failed me. I hope you understand... you deserve the best love and the best life. So can you forgive me for not taking better care of you?"

She hugged the deflated Gabriel tightly with her frail arms, crying. "You don't have to smile anymore... I know you're tired. Can we cry together for a while?"

Gabriel's once upturned mouth slowly drooped, finally turning downward.

He buried his head in Mabel's neck, and amidst Mabel's sobs, he began to whimper softly. "Ms. Simpson, I'm really tired."

"I want to rest..."

Gabriel's voice was muffled, and his body started to become transparent.

Meanwhile, in a dark, damp city dump, a wrinkled and dirty birthday card began to burn slowly.

It lay quietly in the most hidden corner of the dump, unnoticed, without any beautiful flames, just silently burning until it turned to ashes.

As the birthday card burned to ashes, Gabriel and the seven bloody figures behind him gradually disappeared in the wind in the hallway of the abandoned dormitory at Serenity School for Girls.

In the empty hallway, a middle-aged woman sat on the ground, a relieved smile on her face.

Behind her were four adventurers who had completed this room task.