Henry was surprised when he reached the sign that read Occult club. Firstly, because it actually did take him a couple of minutes to reach it. Not even he was sure of how he managed to cover that much distance in such a short amount of time. Secondly, because:

"Finally! A normal club!"

Henry knocked on the door. The ghastly scream of an unknown creature answered.

"Sorry about that!" The door rapidly slid open to reveal a boy in a black cloak. "We're trying to fix the door."

"W-what was the scream?"

"Rogue curse, apparently the door can feel pain now.”

“Your voice is very similar to the scream I just heard…”

“That’s a coincidence! Who are you!?" The boy looked suspiciously at Henry.

"M-my name is Henry Tailer, I'm a new student. I’m on… an errand for my classmate."

“Are you being bullied?"

"I don’t think I’m being bullied. It's more like a game really. She told me you could produce a paper that I need?"

"Henry! I've been waiting for you!" Another cloaked student called him, this time a girl.

"You know him?"

"No, but he's a classmate of Gimei." The girl conspicuously winked at the boy.

"I don't know any Gimei... Actually, that doesn't sound—"

"Come in, Henry!" The girl put a hand on the boy's mouth.

Unfortunately for him, Henry was starting to get used to students acting weird, so he didn't question what had just happened and simply followed the girl inside. The club room was extremely dark, the windows were painted black and ultraviolet lamps were the only source of light. Everyone's teeth glowed.

"My name is Master." The girl greeted him.

"I doubt that." Henry answered.

"Yeah, but call me that regardless."

"Can I ask why?"

"All my minions call me Master, so it's what I'm used to the most."

"It feels a bit demeaning to call you master."

"You either call me Master on your own free will or call me Master because you're my minion, your choice."

"Just so we're clear, is the word minion being used as a sort of S&M thing or more as an occult thing?"

"Absolutely an occult thing."

"Free will it is then."

The two approached a dark, purple curtain (it could have been any color really; it still would have looked dark and purple in this light). The girl that called herself Master slowly pulled it open to reveal a cauldron bubbling with a phosphorescent green goo.

"Woah. What is this stuff?"

"Glow in the dark paint."

(Disclaimer: I do not advise buying a couple hundred glow-in-the-dark sticks to break open inside a pot and heat up their contents. I feel like that’s a bad idea.)

Henry got closer to the pot and looked at the visible fumes.

"Right. That makes sense."

(Disclaimer: No it doesn't)

"I've heard of the rite from Gimei. I'm happy to see she's found someone as unstable as her."

"I don't know if I'm already at the point where I would call myself unstable..."

"I'm sure you'll get to it!"

"Thanks ...I think?"

"As for why you're here. I do know how to make the paper that you want, but I couldn't just give it to you, right? That would be too easy."

"I don't mind it being too easy."

"I do. Don't worry, I'm just asking for a small favor for the club."

"I fear what a favor for the occult club might be."

"Be not afraid, little lamb! I just need help brainstorming some curses."

"Brainstorming curses?" Henry repeated what the girl had said, wasting a precious line of dialogue.

"We are making a series of books on curses, many of which are original. Right now, we're on the Mild yet Excruciating section, but we've run out of ideas a bit. If you come up with one or two good curses, I will give you the paper!"

"That's... I guess I could try?"

"Good! This is what we have right now."

Master picked up a half-burnt scroll and unrolled it. She cleared her throat, then began reading it with a grandiose and severe tone.

"Your hair shall always grow subcutaneously."

"Remind me a second what the meaning of that word is?"

"Basically, the hair grows but it doesn't come out, forming bubbles under your skin." She kept the grandiose and severe tone.

"That's mild?!"

"You should read the strong ones! Anyway, the next one is: An immortal mosquito shall forever buzz in your ears and sting you every two hours."

"Oh, this one is actual torture."

“Your saliva shall forever taste like someone else's saliva."

"Hmm... I feel like some people might actually enjoy this one."

"Tinnitus."

"...Fair enough."

"You shall always have to sneeze, but never actually sneeze."

"Wow, these are good curses."

"Of course they are." She smiled self-sufficiently, hinting in a not-so-subtle way at who the author of these curses might be. "Think you can come up with something?"

"Hmm, how about... Whenever you order an anime figure, the shipping will be delayed by a month, every month?"

"I fear that might be too specific."

"Your favorite manga series will get axed?"

"Less specific, but still not what I’m looking for."

“You will be shrunk and trapped inside a—”

"No."

"I don't know! I'm not good at this. Can't you just give me the paper? I'm really not in the mood for this right now.”

“This is part of your rite, you know? Are you not up to the task?” She teased him.

“Not up to the task?! You have no idea what I had to go through! I started by crawling out of a hole in the ground and then I had to wander around this Escher maze of a school for half an hour just to find that the damn paper was out in the schoolyard, there was a super messy class with desks hanging from the ceiling, then Gimei appeared as some sort of villain from a copyrighted series and messed with one of the vice principals because I had to take the paper from his bald head, then there was a really contorted treasure map that no sane human could follow without a huge amount of luck, and… and… I feel like my sanity is being attacked at every step!” Henry was about to cry.

"That's... perfect!" Master smiled in the face of Henry’s tears.

"…What?"

"The rite you’re going through could work wonders as a curse! A bit convoluted, sure, but it fits the Mild yet Excruciating section perfectly! I just need to trim it down a bit."

"..Thanks, I'm good at what I do. Can I get the paper now?"

"Of course! I just need to produce it."

"How are you going to produce the paper?"

"Magic, of course."

Master put on a long glove and sank her hand in the pot of glow in the dark dye.

(Disclaimer: Also don’t put your hand in it.)

She stirred her arm around and fished out a piece of paper.

"Here you go."

She extended it to Henry as the paint dropped on the floor. The paper was drenched in dye. It rapidly destroyed itself and melted on the ground with a loud splat.
The two stared at the puddle.

"Please... this hunt is already too hard as it is."

"D-don't worry! I think I can remember what it said! It was... something about sliding blocks… and a club… Right! The non-euclidian club!"

“The non-what? Whatever, just tell me how to reach it…” There was desperation in his words.

“It’s the club next-door.”

“Really? Are you sure?” There was religious ecstasy in his words.

“I’ve been here for two years now, I would know.”

“Oh, thank the lolies for that!”

“thank the what”

"Right, I almost forgot! I’m sure I don’t even need to ask, but I might as well. Was there also a number in the paper?"

"You're right, there was! It was the number eight."

"Of course. Thanks."

POSTFACE

- GULLIBILITY TEST
Rorschakh test: I had to look up how to spell it. They are ambiguous drawings used in some psychological tests to read your brain. They are supposed to have different interpretations, but they all look like me getting bullied in middle school.

Photochromic ink: I found one(1) video of a shirt that had the text made with photochromic ink, and it became visible under the sunlight. Based on that sole evidence I’m going to assume that what Gimei did with the text on the map is also possible.

S&M: If you don't know what it means, you're too young to learn.

Manga getting axed: It's when someone from the production team of the serialization of a manga goes to the author and assaults them with an ax, impeding the continuation of said series.