We stepped down into a grass plain.

I turned back and see the mirror floating on the ground.

"The Mirror usually stays around until you're done with whatever it is that you need to do." Lando floated next to me, explaining.

"…Even in a bustling city?" I wondered.

I can hear Lando shrugging as he replied. "Who knows? I never tried and I can't use the mirror even if I wanted to try right now."

I turned, eyes furrowed at the heterochromic ghost boy. "And you're following us because…?"

He smiled dryly. "If you want the honest answer, I was bored."

Uh?

"You're the first ever human to ever be able to see me in person and added onto your situation as a dimensionally displaced kid? I'm intrigued."

He finished. "Besides, haunting and pranking on people gets boring after a while."

"…Right. Let's go with that."

I felt a tap at my left shoulder and turned to see the navy haired boy, Deuce.

Now that I noticed it, he has a Spade tattoo at his right eye.

"Were you… talking to a ghost?"

"Lando," I corrected him before I answered. "But for your answer, yes; He's been tagging along since we left the Headmaster's office."

Deuce's eyes widened. "So you really can see ghosts…" I hear him murmur.

"…I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves." I started. I know his name from the time the Headmaster asked him to tell his name earlier but that's hardly a proper introduction.

"Oh;" Deuce looked sheepish and introduced himself. "I'm Deuce Spade. You're…"

"Yuu;" I went with my first name instead. My surname isn't going to be of much use from this point onward.

"Ah, nice to meet you;" He then bowed his head down at me. "I have to apologize for getting you involved in this because of my reckless actions."

I shook my head. "It's fine Deuce. And besides, I think leaving both you and Ace alone by yourselves is a bad idea and I came along at my own volition anyway."

Besides, Grim probably jumped in because he wants a chance to lighten the Headmaster's sentence to prove his own self that he can be a student.

With Ace and Grim being at odds because of what happened early in the morning, not to mention, their personalities…

I held back the urge to sigh.

There's… honestly a lot that I need to unpack after I'm done with the day.

Beyond acknowledging the fact that I'm dead, reincarnated and isekai'ed into Twisted Wonderland yesterday, there's this feeling in my head that I'm also the protagonist who will be involved in the grand scheme of the story as a whole based on what I had to face today.

Kinda like Gran and Djeeta in Granblue Fantasy.

To be frank, I barely know anything about Twisted Wonderland beyond what I could remember of the Pre-Release trailers.

I don't know Diasomnia, I don't know Grim.

I also wasn't aware of the fact that the game even has a Player Character avatar like Granblue Fantasy did.

What I could remember about Twisted Wonderland's Pre-Release information is that there is not a single hint that a Player Character avatar even existed.

…I should have followed after the game's Pre-Release information more.

I would have an idea to what kind of monster Grim was if I do.

…Either way, I'm stuck in the position of the Player Character of this tale whether I like it or not.

I'll have to manage from here on out.

"What took you both so long? Let's get going!" Ace called for us in the distance.

I took a look at Deuce and nodded at him.

And we walk onward.

The merry group of two students, one monster, one isekai'ed person and poltergeist walked forward and I saw a house a good distance away from our location.

The house… reminds me of the one from Snow White.

With how quiet the forest had been when we headed for the mines, the house is probably abandoned at this point.

"This place used to be much more prosperous in the past due to the magical crystal mining… but I suppose this place is completely abandoned since the mines shut down."

Grim shivered at the eeriely quite atmosphere surrounding us. "Fnah, I feel like something's going to come out at any moment…"

"Oh hey there's a house over there, how about we go check them out-"

"No, let's head over to the mines right away." I interjected, stopping Ace's train of thought.

Before Ace could argue, I reasoned. "With the mines being shut down long ago, chances of anybody still staying in that house are close to zero."

"Are you sure about that?" Ace scrutinized me after I finished my explanation.

I raised a brow at him. "Does it look like we've seen any sign of life at all in this place?"

Really, unless there's someone who wounded up here and desperate for shelter, I doubt anyone is in that house.

Ace stares at me, I stare back at him straight in the eye.

We went at it for a while before Ace looked away, scratching the back of his head as he exhaled a sigh. "Fine, fine, you win."

And we walk away from the house and onward to the mines.

There's nothing but pitch black darkness as we reached the mines.

There's no light coming from there.

"…We have to go in there?" Grim, who had been in front of us all, turned and looked up to us.

Ace snickered, egging on him instead. "What, you scared?"

"O- Of course not!" Grim harrumphed and raised his hand. "Follow after me!"

I sighed as Grim head inside the dark mines with Ace and Deuce following suit.

I stood for a while. Lando hovering next to me;

"Not going after them?" He pondered.

I stepped forward to catch up to the trio after another moment of standing still.

The light grows dim as both Lando and I venture deep into the mines and catch up to the three who moved ahead.

I can barely make out what is around me until I see a faint light from my right, my head shifted to see Lando with his hand emitting out a small light orb.

"…Can ghosts in general even use magic?" I couldn't help but ask.

There's Louie, Sans and James early in the morning but I'm not sure if that applies with Lando as well.

"Depends on what kind of ghosts you're talking about." Lando replied.

"Ones like Louie, Sans and James can use general magic elements. Depending on the ghost's regrets, they also have their own variation of magic equivalent to an actual curse. Some kinds of ghosts can't use magic at all."

I took in the information and nodded. "So you and the three Ramshackle ghosts are…"

He shook his head. "They can't see me. They know I'm around and I know they're there, but they can't see me because I'm a different type of ghost. Our relationship for as long as we could remember is that we haunt around specific places of that old rackety dorm and don't invade each other's spaces."

Huh.

"Doesn't it get lonely?" I wondered.

Lando shrugged. "It is how it is sometimes as dead people."

We venture into the mines in silence.

The mines are… eerie.

I had brief memories of what the mines were like back when I watched Snow White as a kid and compare it to the mines I was venturing into right now.

The mines in my memory of Snow White were bright, and brim with energy as the dwarves sang.

Now these mines were… empty, eerie and lifeless.

A far cry from what I recall of Snow White.

…I'm going to need to read on more history books later so I can compare it to what I can remember of Disney.

In the distance, I see Grim, Ace and Deuce's figure, standing over and looking back.

"Hey you're-"

Grim squawked before he could finish his sentence.

Ace and Deuce screamed.

I closed my ears as the screams echoed the walls of the empty mines.

"What was that for?" I furrowed my brows at them.

"Be- behind you!" Grim pointed behind me.

I turn to see that Grim is pointing at Lando who is still using light magic as a makeshift torch for both of us earlier in his left hand.

Lando frowned at Grim, Ace and Deuce's reaction, unamused. And he lifted his hand, the light changing shape and now in place of the light orb, is a line of letters formed with light magic that says, "Rude."

I now turned my attention back to the trio. "Lando isn't amused."

"Hey, if some random light ball out of nowhere appeared in this dark place, anyone would be scared!" Ace argued.

Well, he does have a point.

Unless you're somebody who can see dead people or any other kinds of supernatural creatures like I am, that's probably what it would have looked like to any normal person.

Still…

"I thought you guys know that Lando is tagging along."

"And not everybody can see dead people like you do." Ace quipped back.

"…Fair enough." I conceded.

…Wait.

"I'm honestly surprised you accept the idea of me being able to see dead people that easily." I blurt out.

Call me curious but I had to wonder why they are so blasé at the fact that ghosts exist beyond being surprised that I can see dead people.

Ace shrugged. "Honestly, when magic exists, anything is possible." He added. "Magic spots are uncommon but they exist in several places in the many countries out there. So at least everyone's seen a ghost at one point."

Oh.

That does explain so much and adds onto why nobody bats an eye at having ghosts around the campus of Night Raven College earlier.

I had to wonder why nobody seem to be reacting at the ghost janitors earlier but I mostly chalk it to them being familiar and knowing that Night Raven College had some ghosts helping the school.

The Headmaster did say that ghosts are usually invisible outside of areas infused with lots of magic.

"And people who can see ghosts without magic are even rarer." Deuce joined this time.

Huh.

"Actually, where do you even come from in the first place for you to have your own version of the Great Seven?"

Ace why-

I thought you would forget about me saying that earlier in the morning.

That was originally meant for Grim to hear!

"…It's a long story."

We venture deep into the mines as I talked about how I got here as a dimensionally displaced person and answering what I meant earlier.

"You mean your versions of the Great Seven aren't even considered real?" Ace implored.

"The lone exception is the King of the Underworld since we have legends about him in our world's history, but the rest are fictional to mostly everyone else." I answered. Adding, "I also double-checked your history with mine together with Grim earlier. There's a huge difference between how things go based on what I remember of them back home."

"Yeah, you say the King of Hearts help pardon most of the people who were punished by the Queen so some semblance of peace can be kept while letting the queen believe what she wants while that never happened in here." Grim joined in.

I nodded at Grim.

"So despite sharing similar roles, even if yours are considered fictional, things ended up differently huh…" Deuce commented, looking thoughtful.

"Your… world, doesn't have magic at all?" The navy hair boy implored.

"…It's not that my world doesn't have magic Deuce."

The Salem Witch trials wouldn't have a reason to exist otherwise. (I thank FGO for giving me an impromptu historical lesson with their characters for this).

Though, that's not counting most of the things that happened throughout the history of the world.

"Most people in my world had long lost their belief in magic or even the supernatural. A majority of them believe that magic, and even ghosts, are fictional and simply an old wives tale." I finished, answering for Deuce.

If you're not in Asia, yes. But even then, there are some people in Asia who don't believe in those kinds of things.

"…That's gotta suck." Ace remarked. "You're missing out the fun of actually having magic."

"It is how it is." I shrugged.

"Oh yeah! Are there anybody like you back where you come from?" Grim asked this time.

"Not a lot." I replied. "Exorcists as a job do exist but even then, people who can see ghosts in general are rare."

"So just about the same as those who can see them in our world;" Ace nodded to himself as I answered. "You know my brother once told me that there are groups who can see them in general-"

Deuce shushed us before we can continue our conversation.

"What is it now?" Ace griped at Deuce's sudden action.

"Something… Something's there!" Deuce's hand reached his magical pen.

Grim shrieked.

And all of us looked above.

Two cartoon looking ghosts wearing a cape over their heads appeared in front of us. Grinning;

"Hee- hee hee! Our first visitors in ten years!"

"Make yourselves at home… for eternity!"

The two ghosts cackled. They almost seem ready to chase after us at our next action and seemed fueled by the group's fear.

My eyes shifted to Ace beside me.

He is in a defensive stance like Deuce was.

Grim is ready to run for his life from the sound of it.

I feel Lando's phantom hand at my shoulder. He's been silent as he listened to us talk earlier.

"Time's ticking kid." He reminded me.

I moved forward, staring straight at the two ghosts as I approach them. "Are you both the only ones left in these mines?"

"Why are you even talking to them!? They're not like the ghosts back in Ramshackle!" I hear Grim exclaiming from behind me.

I paid no mind; however, choosing to focus on the two ghosts in front of me, they gave me a flabbergasted look when they notice how calm I was.

The smaller one of the two ghosts spoke. "There used to be lots of us back in the day ten years ago."

His companion nodded. He joined the conversation. "Yeah, there was Barry, Kevin, Harrison, Gilbert, Danny, and… who else again?"

The ghost shook his head. "Anyway, there used to be lots of us. We just roam around here and scaring people as much as we like!"

"But every one of our pals had gone off to the other realm and move on one by one… so there are only two of us now. It's been that way for ten years." The small ghost had his head hung down, sounding sentimental even at the talk of their old companions.

I nodded at them. "Then what are your names?"

The two ghosts smiled. The small ghost introduced himself. "I'm Rudy! My good ol' pal here is Ben!"

"You can call me Benny!" The two grinned simultaneously as Ben finished.

"…What the heck did I just see in front of me." Ace ruined the moment by commenting after a moment of silence.

I can hear you Ace. Rude.

I can hear Grim sighing. "You should have seen he- uh- them when the ghost in Ramshackle appeared earlier."

"You serious?" I hear Ace directing his question to Grim.

…Anyway!

"Actually, I wanted to ask you both something." I turn my attention back to the two ghosts.

"Alright, go on." Rudy urged me.

So I implored. "So we heard a rumor that there's still some Magic Crystals left in the mines, do you know where it is?"

The grins on their faces curved to a frown.

"…You should leave this mine when you had a chance." Rudy warned.

"What do you mean?" Deuce wondered.

…No.

"…Is there something… dangerous guarding it?" I voiced out, Rudy and Ben's expressions when I asked about the Magic Crystal worried me.

All of the sudden, the air around us felt frigid.

"Oh no…" Ben murmured, frightened.

"It's coming…"

The two ghosts hovered, cowering behind me as they did so.

And that's when we heard a distorted sounding voice that grows louder by the minute.

"…On'T… gIvE…"

"Fnah…" Grim gripped onto my pant leg, shivering and fearing what is to come.

"sToNE… wOn'T GiVE!"

"IT'S HEEEEEEEERE!" Ace, Deuce and Grim screamed as I covered my ears out of the sheer loud volume of their scream.

What's in front of me is…

A monster wearing a red ancient looking shirt, an ink pot for a head with black ink dripping out endlessly and a hat on top of it, and on the monster's left hand is a rather large rusted pickaxe, and a lantern on its right.

The monster is also oozing of this dark energy that feels like it's a whole other bad news.

"I never heard about this monster being around the mines! Let's run for it!" Grim let go of his grip on my pant leg. From the sound of it, he's ready to run.

"Wait; didn't the monster say something about a stone?" Ace pointed out.

"So there are still some magic crystals left!"

Uh. Deuce?

"N-n-n- nope. Nope. I'm a genius but that's way out of my league!" Grim trembled.

"But we're going to get expelled if we don't get it… I'm going!"

DEUCE WHAT THE HELL-

I inhaled a breath as Deuce ran forward, magic pen ready to shoot magic out of it.

Think, think, and think.

We don't have a concrete plan to deal with this monster since we didn't know that it's roaming around the mines.

If I don't act quickly, we'd all be toast.

Ace and Deuce won't have much of a reason to listen to me, Grim is too terrified to fight back right now. There's only Lando and the ghosts left-

Wait.

"Lando, can I ask for your help to make the brightest light possible to blind that monster?"

Lando floated to my side and went forward, his hand raised and giving me a mock salute. "Sure kid."

I now turn to Rudy and Ben. "When the monster is distracted, can you grab Deuce and guide us out of here?"

The two ghosts stare at me.

"You're not a slightest bit afraid?" Rudy wondered.

"No time for it when the safety and lives of the group is on the line."

Really, there's little room to panic at this point. As worried as I am, I have to get us all out of here first.

The two ghosts gave me one last look before nodding. "Alright then!"

I looked back in front to see Ace now joining the fray to give Deuce a helping hand.

Grim still stay stuck under me.

"Grim, we're going to run soon, are you ready?"

Grim looked up, hearing my question, and nodded feebly at me, still frightened at the presence of the monster.

I see the monster about to strike the pickaxe down and I shouted. "Lando, NOW!"

A bright light filled the room, blinding the monster.

Ace and Deuce covered their eyes at the sudden brightness.

"Now come here you two, we're guiding you out of this place." Rudy held onto Ace's shoulders and drag him away while Ben head over to Deuce.

When Ben is about to grab Deuce's shoulders, Deuce shook Ben's spectral hand off. "I can't leave right now."

"But sonny, it's dangerous-"

"I can't! I can't afford to get expelled no matter what!"

Oh for fuck's sake-

I strided forward, this time I grabbed Deuce's arm and directed, "Ben, lead the way out of here with Rudy, please."

Ben nodded at me; meanwhile I gripped onto Deuce's arm tightly and dragged him away from his position bit by bit. "Deuce, I don't know the whole story but at the moment, we don't have a concrete plan to deal with this monster. It's better that we get out of here and think on how to deal with it."

"But-"

"Please Deuce, nobody wants to get heavily injured for this. I doubt the Headmaster wants to find us dead either. We need to regroup."

My plea reached him and he conceded. "…Alright."

"Alright, he should be distracted enough kid, shall we leave now?" I hear Lando above me.

"Yeah, let's get out of here Lando."

Ben and Rudy guided us all the way out of the mines when the monster is still distracted by Lando's light magic.

Before I know it, we find ourselves stopping in front of the empty house.

"Is this… far enough…?" Grim panted, out of breath from all the running he did earlier.

Deuce fell to his knees beside Grim.

Ace fell to the ground, sitting and shoulders sagging. "Ugh… the hell is that? I never heard about that thing…"

"But it doesn't seem like any old ghost…" Deuce murmured.

"It is not a ghost."

Ace, Deuce and Grim jumped and turn to see Ben speaking behind me.

"Wha- why are you here-"

"Because that thing scares us;" Ben started to explain. "That monster… it used to be human."

"…Huh?" The trio gaped.

"Well that doesn't matter anymore. It lost any semblance of humanity at this point to be considered a human right now. There's no saving it." Rudy finished.

At my side, Lando nodded at their explanation.

…There seems to be a lot more to that.

Now's not the time though.

"Ugh let's give up and go home. I'd rather get expelled than to face that thing." Ace shook his head as he said that.

Unfortunately, that only sets Deuce off. "Ahh? Don't screw with me! I'd rather die than face that expulsion!"

"Hah, you talk big for someone with a shoddy level of magic. You go alone then, I'm going home."

"Ahh that right! Then a spineless dumbass like you should stay there trembling in fear!"

…Uh.

"Huh? You calling me a coward? Who is the coward here then, hm?"

…Good grief.

They're going to stay like this for a while, aren't they?

"This is like watching a cat and a mouse fight." Lando remarked, amused at the situation.

Still, while Grim and I won't be affected by the eventual expulsion since we're not students at the moment, but the same can't be said with Ace and Deuce.

Our choices are far limited right now. Considering that Ace and Deuce are new students, they probably don't have a very good control to their magic.

Grim can only use fire, Ace can use wind magic from what I can guess based on our encounter in the morning.

Deuce can summon a cauldron and may have other repertoires of magic, even if he isn't as skilled with that, according to Ace.

Every power and ability has limits.

Same goes with magic.

"Don't try and order me around so easily like you got any say! And all you've been doing is patronizing me ever since I'm here!"

"You're the one who started it by avoiding our dorms' chore!"

Screw this.

"Off to expulsion we go then."

"Eh?"

The two of them stare at me, eyes wide in shock at the words I uttered out.

Deuce, you tried, but none of you are getting anywhere over the past few minutes we've been doing this and I'm getting tired about this.

No one's getting things done.

"Whatever it is that you're complaining of, in the end, none of you could manage to do anything back there." I spoke, loud and clear.

"That's gotta hurt." Rudy remarked on the side.

"But what do you suggest we do…?"

"…I got a few ideas, but I'm going to need you guys to cooperate." I started.

"Cooperate? Hah!" Ace let out a mirthless laughter. "The hell is that. How lame;"

"I have to agree." Deuce interjected. "I have no plans to get along or work together with him."

"Ah, so you'd rather get expelled on the first day of getting enrolled to the school of your dreams?"

The two boys flinched, all while I smiled sardonically as I utter the thought.

"Uuh… that's…"

I hear Grim snickering at the two boys who I gave a dressing down to.

"Don't think that you're off the hook either Grim." I stare pointedly at the cat monster that jumped at the moment he was called.

"Clearly, you took the chance at helping Ace and Deuce in hopes that you can prove yourselves to the Headmaster that you can be a student, but all you've been doing so far is egging on Ace earlier and you wind up terrified when we faced that monster. That is not the definition of helping."

"Fnah…"

Grim's ears flattened.

I shook my head. "Anyway, I got some idea on how to deal with that monster. Care to hear me out?"

Ace exhaled a sigh. "Fine, fine! We just gotta do it, right!?"

Despite so, he grinned at me. "So what's your idea?"

It was simple really.

Grim and I head inside the mines with Rudy and Ben as support. Ace and Deuce stand by outside with Lando.

That sparked some fun discussion.

("Really?"

"Does it look like we have a choice right now?" I rebuked Ace.)

Anyway, we're the distraction team.

"You sure this could work?" Grim wondered, nervous.

"It's a do or die situation at this point." I told him and we head inside with Rudy and Ben accompanying us.

Rudy and Ben guided us into the mine and once we're further in, Grim started shouting.

"Hey, you big luggy monster! O- o- o- over here!"

Like a moth to a flame, the monster appeared in front of us, charging right ahead.

"Let's go Grim."

Grim nodded at me and all four of us started running as the monster chased after us.

The monster is pretty fast, but its movements are sluggish, almost slow.

Maybe it's because of the pickaxe it carries or because it has a different goal in mind.

There's enough interval to predict its attack at any rate.

"On your left!" Rudy informed us and we jumped from the incoming attack.

It's a cycle at that point until we are out of the mines.

Taking a breath, I look up to see

Alright; the monster should be getting closer to us by now.

"Lando!"

Above the entrance, Lando hovered and he snapped his finger when the monster reached the entrance, blinding the monsters' sight once more with light magic.

"Now!" Grim obliged and spew out scorching blue flames at the monsters' direction, Ace soon followed suit with wind magic strengthening Grim's flames.

While the monster is trapped, I called. "Deuce!"

In a few seconds, a gigantic cauldron fell upon the monster.

Deuce summoned more than one cauldron for good measure as the others continue their onslaught of attacks.

"It's time now." Ben called for me.

I nodded.

While the monster is distracted by Ace, Grim, Deuce and Lando's attacks, I entered the cave once more with Ben and Rudy to find the magic crystal.

With enough distraction on the monsters plate, it wouldn't bother trying to chase after me.

I ran ahead than walk since we don't know how long we can distract the monster with Rudy and Ben as our guide.

"There it is!" Rudy pointed towards the colorful rainbow like stone deep in the mines.

The crystal glowed.

I took the crystal in hand and we sprinted out of the mines.

I reached outside in no time with the aid of Rudy and Ben guiding me back to the entrance again, Magic Crystal in hand.

And then there was another flash of bright light, I cover my eyes with my free arm as Lando's light magic encompassed the area.

"Hey, Yuu, did you get the stone!?" Grim called for me. "This monsters' struggling like crazy!"

"I did!" I answered him.

"Alright, nice! Let's get out of here!"

Ace and Deuce both jumped down from their positions and we ran like hell, Lando shooting off one last light magic at the monster before we escape.

We stopped in front of the dwarf's house once more, taking a breath from all the running we did, but even that was cut short when we hear the monster's distorted screaming.

"gIvE sTOnE bAcK!"

"It's still alive!?" Ace exclaimed as the monster got closer. Still out of breath from the sprint.

"But it's considerably weaker than it was earlier." Lando pointed out.

"So you think we got a chance to beat it up now Lando?" I wondered, translating some of the things he said to everyone else in the process.

"Probably."

"…Right." I turned to Ace, Deuce and Grim. "Let's do this, it's probably better that we beat it down once and for all."

I now went to Rudy and Ben, giving them the Magic Crystal. "Sorry, can you hold this for a while?"

The two ghosts nodded and looked for somewhere to hide.

Meanwhile, Ace groaned. "Argh! Fine!"

He stepped forth with Deuce and Grim, ready to attack.

I observed the monster from the distance.

Its movements are sluggish and almost pained even.

It's a good thing Rudy and Ben are hiding away with the Magic Crystal right now.

"…Right, seems like fire would be enough to scare it off."

"Leave it to the great Grim!" Grim now ran forward and spew out fire towards the monster.

Ace followed suit, his pen glowing and summon a wind to strengthen Grim's flames.

Deuce now moved after them and summons cauldrons at the monster.

I walked over to the side, avoiding being in the monsters' line of sight as I observe the fight.

Ace, Deuce and Grim are clearly getting exhausted firing magic at the monster but… so is the monster.

The monster had mostly been attacking in blind rage at this point, tired from the onslaught of attacks and desperation to get the Magic Crystal back.

Still, even as tired as it is, it's still running on magic.

My eyes went towards the large rusted pickaxe the monster is holding.

Perfect.

"Lando, how much can you manage to use magic right now?" I implored.

"Enough to blind the monster temporarily, but doing the same as I did earlier is another story at the moment." He answered.

"Alright, that's good enough."

"On your mark?"

I nodded at the poltergeist boy.

I motioned my hand to him, waited until the monster looked like it's about to swing the pickaxe down that I called my mark.

"Now!"

Lando shoot out a bright light at the monster's face and blinded it.

I ran forward.

"Deuce! Summon as many cauldrons' as you can on it! Throw it to the monsters arms!"

"Alright! Now come forth, cauldron!"

At Deuce's beck and call, one cauldron appeared and is thrown on the monsters arm.

That was enough for the monster to let go of the large rusted pickaxe.

I grabbed onto the wooden handle with both hands and lifted it.

Okay this is heavier than it looks… but maybe I can treat it as a long sword instead.

I swing the pickaxe to my left, slashing the monster.

The monster, still blinded by Lando's light magic and sufficiently damaged from the magic attacks earlier, went down.

I took that moment to swing the pickaxe down, the pickaxe hit on the monsters' ink pot of a head.

I let go of the pickaxe as the monster let out one last anguished cry before vanishing.

The pickaxe it used and the lantern disappearing along with it.

"We… did it…?" I hear Ace behind me.

Slowly, realization sinks in and Grim cheered. "We did it! We did it!"

There was the sound of claps behind me, a high-five, maybe?

I turned towards them now, I see them grinning and eyes shining at the successful victory.

"Nothing like bonding under a near death experience, huh?"

The trio changed their tune as soon as the words left my mouth.

"It- it's not what it looks like!"

"Ye- yeah! We won thanks to the great Grim's genius! Not because we worked together!"

I snorted, and so did Lando, who is floating behind the trio. "Sure, whatever you say."

"…Anyway, making up excuses is just gonna make us sound lamer, huh." I see Ace's shoulders relaxing, all the tension earlier gone.

"Hate to admit it but we won thanks to you." Ace complimented, his hands moved to the back of his head.

I shook my head. "It's a simple plan that anyone can do with enough thinking."

"No, he's right." Deuce interjected. "Without your plan, we wouldn't have been able to get the Magic crystal."

"…Still." Ace exhaled a sigh. "You're the only guy I ever met who is crazy enough to steal a weapon from a monster and beat it to the pulp with it."

"Yeah!" Grim joined in. "What the hell is running on your mind when you decided to steal the pickaxe?"

"The same reason I decided to use a broomstick on Ace early in the morning."

Ace sputtered at my blunt response. Behind the three, I spy Lando guffawing.

Well, that's one advantage as a poltergeist that no one else can see. (Except for maybe those who can)

He can flip the bird at someone and nobody will notice.

…Makes me wish I can get away with that sometimes.

Deuce's eyes widened. "Wait that person who hit this guy with a broomstick was you?"

I shrugged. "Honestly though, I had to make do with what I can at the time. If there's something that I can improvise on as a weapon, I'll take it."

Deuce nodded. "Oh yeah, where's the Magic Crystal now-"

"Over here sonny!"

Deuce turned behind him to see Rudy and Ben, who left their hiding place nearby and holding the Magic Crystal out for him.

Deuce stared at the crystal for another moment and took it from the two ghosts, holding onto it with care. "With this, we wouldn't get expelled… thank goodness…" He murmured.

"Hm? What's this?" Grim wondered, I turned to him and there lies a black stone on the ground.

Its size is as big as the Magic Crystal.

"It smells good though…" Grim's mouth watered.

"Grim no-"

"Bon Appetit!" Grim ignored me and took a bite.

Grim, what the fuck; you really ate a rock on the fucking ground?

"Hey, you okay there!?" Deuce exclaimed when he noticed Grim growing quite.

"…s….It's delicious!" Grim smiled wide and started biting more of the rock like he's on a sugar high, and then he rambled about the flavor of it after he finished eating the… rock.

A suspicious looking black rock that came out of nowhere;

After we defeated that monster, no less!

Ace gagged at Grim. "Blegh, this sure goes to say that monsters had different tastes…"

I decided to walk towards the two ghosts from the mines instead of paying attention to Grim anymore, since it seems like Grim wouldn't listen to me about what he could and could not eat right now.

"The monsters' gone now and the mines are empty save for the two of you… What will you do from now on?" I questioned the two ghosts.

The two ghosts looked at each other before turning back to me.

"You're from Night Raven College right?"

I nodded at them.

"Eh, we'll figure it out later. We still got some things to do in the mines." Ben shrugged.

"Nothing too big, just gonna spend some time there before we decide on what to do." Rudy elaborated.

…Alright then;

Maybe they like their haunting grounds.

"Well, you know where to find me if you decide to leave the mines."

The two ghosts smiled at me. "You know it!"

After saying our goodbyes to Rudy and Ben, we returned to our gateway back to Night Raven College and left the mines.

When we step into the Mirror Chamber, the Headmaster was there standing in the middle of the room.

His eyes widened as he saw us coming out of the mirror. "Everyone of you really went to the Dwarf Mines to find the Magic Crystal?"

That drew out a flabbergasted "Huh?" from Ace, Deuce and Grim.

"To think you actually went into the mines and returned with a Magic Crystal at hand… I had quietly completed Trappola-kun and Spade-kun's expulsion documents earlier."

"Gee, all that adventure for nothing?" Lando drawled.

Meanwhile, Grim got into a hissy fit at the Headmaster. "The nerve of this guy! Just when we almost died from fighting that crazy monster!"

"…Monster, you say?" The Headmaster seems like he's raising a brow under that mask the moment Grim mentions the word "Monster".

"Yeah yeah! It's so gigantic, disgusting and horrifying!" Ace chimed in. Unamused at the

"…Please come with me to the Headmaster's office so you can report to me in detail."

And so we explained and recount the events that occurred in the Dwarf's mines earlier in the privacy of the Headmaster's office.

"…I see…" The crow like man mumbled. "…So all four of you worked together to defeat the mysterious monster…"

"After lots of fighting and egging on each other;" Lando floated around the office and said that while upside down.

The Headmaster took a look at Lando, and then towards the rest of us.

At the next moment, he started… sobbing?

"Uh, Headmaster?" I called out to the man.

"What's wrong with him isn't he an adult?" Grim stared shock, unable to believe at the sight in front of him.

"No no, I am simply joyful!" The headmaster wiped his tears and started. "For all my years since I was chosen as the Headmaster, to think I'll see the day where Night Raven College students hold hand to hand to defeat an enemy!"

"That's an exaggeration." I deadpanned as Ace and Deuce started protesting at the headmaster's choice of words.

"Wha- I did NOT hold his hand!" Deuce stepped away from Ace, Ace himself made a gagging noise at the thought. "I don't want to hold his hand either, gross!""

"Ah, apologies, I'm simply overwhelmed." The headmaster calmed down and now he stepped towards me.

"I've seen what you have done first hand during the entrance ceremony but today's incident in the Dwarf mines proves it."

He pointed towards me. "You have the makings of a Beast Tamer!"

"…I'm sorry, what." I blurted out in the flattest tone possible.

Clearing his throat, the headmaster soon launch into an explanation. "You see, Yuu-san, the students summoned by the Mirror of Darkness are magicians with a budding potential to become even greater than they already were."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "However, magicians in general are treated as a superior group of people by others, leading to magicians growing to be too egoistic and prideful, and as such, they lack the initiative to cooperate with others due to their pride."

…He just dissed the whole student body, didn't he?

Behind us all, I hear Lando snickering. "Too true;"

"Yuu-san," The headmaster called for me. "You lack the ability to use magic beyond having an ability to see ghosts and potentially, other spirits and fantastical creatures that are invisible to the naked eye."

He then smiled. "But that is perhaps, what the school truly needs right now! For, because you lack magic, you are able to gain the initiative to get others to cooperate and work together!"

…Wha?

"He's not saying anything nice, isn't he?"

Gee, thanks for pointing out the obvious Ace.

"Yes, as an educator and Headmaster of the school, I shall lift Trappola-kun and Spade-kun's expulsion and enroll you as a student!"

I stare blankly at the man as he declared that.

Just… what is he even planning?

"…You do know that I don't have the ability to use magic, right?" I brought up. I don't want to know what the student body would think either.

"Fret not, for that's where Grim-kun comes in!"

"Me!?" Grim exclaimed.

"Grim-kun," The Headmaster grimly called for him. "Your actions during the Entrance Ceremony still prove that you can potentially be a danger to the other students."

Grim looked down at that.

"However!" I see Grim perking up at that.

"You have sufficiently proven yourself today. So I grant you the special permission to enroll in Night Raven College as a 2-in-1 student with Yuu-san!"

"…Is that allowed?" I wondered.

"Why of course! Ignihyde's Dorm Leader, Idia Shroud-kun also has a 2-in-1 student deal for his enrollment!"

Huh.

I nodded at the Headmaster and then knelt down to Grim's eye level; Grim's eyes were glistening bright in glee. "Good for you, Grim."

I find myself giving a small smile at the cat monster.

Grim then cheered, the realization of his situation truly sink in. "I did it! I'm a student in Night Raven College now! Nya-ha!"

Grim stood by his two feet, vibrating in joy.

"Now I shall bestow upon you this gem as proof that you are now a student of Night Raven College."

With a flash of the magical pen, a gem embeeded ribbon collar was placed in Grim's neck.

"This is…"

"It's a specially customized magic pen for you, Grim-kun." The Headmaster explained. "You can't use a pen with your paws, after all."

Grim, however, didn't listen in his glee and joy at being accepted at all.

I stood once more turning to the older man. "This is a parole of sorts for him, isn't it?"

"Why yes." The Headmaster confirmed. "Even if he did prove himself today, he is still yet to be off the hook for his actions in the Entrance Ceremony. I will be informing the teachers to keep an eye out on Grim-kun after this as part of his parole. As long as he doesn't cause grievous harm to any of the students outside of matters involving self-defense, Grim-kun is allowed to stay as a student."

"So I'm still technically supervising him."

The Headmaster nodded.

"Whoa, it's only your first day and you get to supervise on Grim like some prefect!"

I winced. "Please just call me Yuu."

"Sure sure. Whatever you say Mr. Prefect;"

"Well, it does make sense, since there's only you and Grim at Ramshackle…" Deuce inputted.

"There's Lando, Louie, Sans and James." I reminded them.

"…Ah, you, Grim and four ghosts." Deuce corrected himself.

...

I decided to ask the Headmaster again. "So we're both still allowed to accommodate in this school?"

He nodded. "Why yes, I shall provide you of food and other necessities you may need through Sam-kun as you do not have anyone as a guardian right now, but you must buy other expenses on your own."

The Headmaster added. "Part-time jobs are also available for students who do need some money of their own in this school. If you are curious, you can ask Sam-kun. I shall be in charge of creating your identification in this school and in Twisted Wonderland in general."

I nodded, taking the information in.

"Are there extracurricular clubs too?" I questioned out of curiosity.

"Why of course!" He happily answered me before he reminded. "However, as you and Grim-kun are in a 2-in-1 student deal, neither of you are allowed to take part in clubs that require the use of magic. And because Grim-kun is what he is, only you yourself are allowed to join any of the clubs at all, Yuu-san."

Grim grumbled when he heard that. "I wanna join clubs too…"

"Makes sense though, he's a raccoon anyway."

"Fnah! I'm not a raccoon!" Grim hissed at Ace.

"Nah, he's a cat. Did you ever take a look at his ears closely?" I denounced Ace as I pointed at Grim.

"I'm not a cat either!"

"Sure, whatever you say."

"Gngngn…." Grim grumbled more. Looking grumpier by the minute;

I turn my head to Ace and Deuce and pointed at Grim's grumpy expression. "See? He's a cat."

Ace bit his lip, trying to hold in his laughter at Grim's expression while Deuce pointedly looked away.

Maybe he wants to give Grim some dignity?

"Oh, Yuu-san," The Headmaster called for me,"before you leave, I shall hand you this magical tool."

With a wave of his magic pen, an item that looked like a Polaroid camera floated.

"This is the Ghost Camera." He informed me.

"As the Prefect and technical leader of Ramshackle Dorm, I ask of you to create memories and capture them in this magical tool."

Well, that, I can do.

"Alright;"

"Man, what a day." Ace sag his shoulders as soon as the five of us left the office.

"Starting a fight early in the day, running away from a chore and nearly getting killed by a fallen chandelier, nearly expelled, then bonding with unlikely people in a near death experience… yep, what a day." I recounted the things Ace got involved in on the span of time I get to know him today.

Ace gaped at me.

Grim, meanwhile, is humming. "Hm~ Hm~ Hm~ I'm a student of Night Raven College now~"

He turned to Ace and Deuce, declaring. "I'm going to beat you two to dust and take the top spot!"

Ace chuckled. "You talk pretty big for someone who just became a student." Despite his words, he smiled at the cat. "Well I suppose it's a good thing."

"Classes started tomorrow, today's event for 1st years is only the extracurricular activity orientations so we get a club to join." Deuce started.

"What does that make for students who don't pick a club yet?" I tilt my head, wondering in curiosity.

"I hear you're still allowed to join clubs late if you haven't made up your mind today. You just need to speak to one of the seniors in that club later so they can give you a form to fill."

"I see." I nodded at him.

"I wonder if things would go well from here though…" I murmured mostly to myself.

There are way too many unknowns to consider.

I barely know anything about Twisted Wonderland, the mobile game, as a whole so I don't know what the future will have in store.

Though I suppose it's also a good thing that I don't know anything about Twisted Wonderland at all.

I won't be blinded with worry for knowing things that will happen in the game proper.

Nor will I be blinded by the idea of seeing any of the people here as fictional characters.

To me, at this point, they're all simply real people with their own problems and their own lives to attend to.

I recognize them more as actual people than fictional characters.

"You're the magicless kid who can see dead people and got guts to brave on without showing a single fear and stay calm throughout our adventure in the Dwarf mines." Deuce smiled in his attempt to calm me of my nerves.

"If you carry that gutsy spirit all the way throughout the school year, nobody would dare to underestimate ya!"

Uh.

"Deuce, I gotta ask, what is up with the sudden informal speech?"

Deuce gasped the moment Ace asked, abashed that he slip up from his polite personality. "Wha, that's, it's normal right-"

"Ehh anyway, let's head back to our dorms. Can't get late from the beginning now that our expulsion is rescinded." Ace informed the navy haired boy.

"Oh right, you guys are staying in Ramshackle right? That unused dorm that you told us about?"

I nodded at Deuce's question.

"Man I want to stay there instead." Ace sulked. "I'd rather not have to deal with seeing Mr. Serious daily here."

"That's my line, slacker ace." Deuce glared at Ace, but I notice that the glare lack any sort of venom or pure hostility to it.

"Sure sure, almost-cried-at-getting-expelled-Deuce-kun." He stuck out his tongue at Deuce before walking ahead. "Well, see ya tomorrow Yuu!"

Deuce followed after Ace quietly as they returned to their dorms.

"Those two are going to make quite a combination." Lando spoke after the duo left the vicinity.

"That they are." I agreed with Lando.

"Oh yeah, are you gonna keep hiding the fact that you're a girl, now that you're a student together with me?" Grim wondered. "They think you're a guy, ya know."

"I don't plan to hide it forever, but I'd like to keep quiet for now." I shook my head. "I'd rather wait until they get used to my presence. It'd sound weird to most of the students here if they learn one of the newer kids identify differently from the get go."

And it's safer to hide it for now.

"So we should call you by "They" pronouns while around others?" Lando decided to ask at the moment.

"Yeah, I don't mind that Lando, call me with "They" and "Them" pronouns until then." I answered.

...Something's been bothering me for a little while we returned so I decided to go ahead and ask. "Why didn't you try talking through using magic like what you did back in the mines earlier?"

Lando sagged. "It takes a hell lot of focus for me to do that. Plus, I'm spent with magic reserves after that encounter."

"...When was the last time you used magic at all actually?"

He gave a shrug at me in response. "Eh, been some decades."

...Well.

I looked down after craning my neck to talk to the poltergeist and found Grim scrutinizing me. "...Seeing you talking to thin air despite knowing that poltergeist guy is with us still feels weird."

He grinned. "But ya know, it's kinda cool! Maybe when I become a great magician, I can see ghosts like you do!"

"That'll be a day then." I smiled.

Grim looked giddy and beckoned. "Well then, let's head back to Ramshackle and get rested up!"

"Let's see if Sam's store is still open, the Headmaster did promise that he'd pay for food ingredients, I can try and cook something for both of us to eat since we didn't have dinner yet." I suggested instead.

Honestly, I don't know where my confidence in cooking comes from in this life, but I'd like to think that I'm a decent cook.

Or maybe it has to do with the fact that my parents as "Yuu" ran a café and they taught me how to cook from a young age.

…At any rate, I don't have my full memories as "Yuu" but maybe I'd remember them, bit by bit.

But for now, we Ramshackle residents will be heading off to Sam's store to get some cooking ingredients before we fully rested.

Black or White Chapter 5 abridge edition:
Ace, Deuce and Grim: Hoe don't do it
Yuu (Rei): (Talks to ghosts like it's any other day and unflinchingly hits the Dwarf Mines Monster with a rusted pickaxe)
Ace, Deuce and Grim: Oh my god-
And with this, we have officially reached the end of the Prologue and off to Heartslabyul!
From here on out I'm going to start referring to "black or white" Yuu as Yuu (Rei) in the notes and the like to differentiate her from canon Yuu when I talk about her and edits will be done for the notes in previous chapters about this.
One of the Japanese words used for ghosts is 幽霊 (Romaji: Yuurei), and since she has the ability to see dead people in general along with other supernatural creatures invisible to the normal eye, it fits and it's part of why I choose this to refer to Yuu from now on. If that's a mouthful for you, you can call her "Rei" for short.
Also, unfortunately for Grim, some of his actions do have real consequences.
He's still not fully off the hook for what he did in the Entrance Ceremony.
What the game narration says is one thing, but when it's applied to reality, it's a different story.
Now the bit with ghosts only being visible in magic infused areas is actually canon from the Halloween event, the rest (Such as Magic spots) are some of the liberties I've taken for this.
Lastly, there is now an official cover for this fic drawn by yours truly! The full picture can be found in my twitter (shuusigure) and tumblr (shuuenmei).
Feel free to send a review or ask some questions!
See you next time!
- shuu