"Yamae must be a key figure in this Dreamscape." Feeling the discomfort in my chest gradually subside, the speculation I had been hesitating over before could finally be confirmed.
Based on my recent series of reactions, Yamae's importance in this Dreamscape is no less than that of the killer.
"So, what kind of role does Miss Yamae play in all this?" Hara Kenji's voice suddenly emerged from the side, a handsome Evil Spirit appeared beside him at some unknown point, winking at him.
I just discovered that there's a computer in this school's archives.
"So?" Hearing this, Kisaragi Chiyo raised an eyebrow.
"So, do you want to go to the office and steal the keys together?" Hara rubbed his hands together and invited with a mischievous grin.
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Author's Note: Sometimes I wonder if it's a bit too vulgar, but once I start writing these things, I just can't stop..
Thanks to the little angels for your support, mwah to everyone 030
Chapter 120
The teacher's office responsible for managing the keys to the school's archives is on the fourth floor.
To avoid running into Yamae, Kisaragi Chiyo took a longer route, choosing the stairs on the right side of the teaching building to go up.
"Where did you go during class time?" Kisaragi Chiyo asked Hara Kenji while climbing the stairs.
At first, Kisaragi Chiyo had actually thought about skipping class altogether. But unfortunately, he had tried six times in a row, almost every single time ended in failure; even if he went to great lengths to hide outside and avoid school, the power of the Dreamscape would forcibly send him to the classroom door.
Therefore, the task of searching for clues during this time period was left to Hara Kenji.
"I've taken a walk through every corner of the school," Hara Kenji said, his gaze falling upon the red neckerchief at the boy's sailor uniform collar. He paused his steps, reached out, meticulously tidied the slightly disheveled neckerchief.
“I have actually heard some interesting things from the students' mouths.”
"Oh?" Kisaragi Chiyo lifted her eyes, raising an eyebrow with great interest.
"Have you ever heard of urban legends about schools?" Hara Kenji blinked at him, acting mysterious.
I heard about those things back when I was in high school too," Kisaragi Chiyo frowned, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. "Almost every school has stories like that, doesn't it? But I went out of my way to investigate back then, there were no so-called ghosts causing trouble; they were just rumors that grew more and more bizarre as students spread them.
"But since this is a Dreamscape constructed by a Curse Dwarf after all, do you think those paranormal incidents might become real?" There was no smile on Hara Kenji's face; he lowered his eyes, his gaze falling upon the youth's tightly pursed lips.
"Speak." After a moment of silence, Kisaragi Chiyo let out a soft sigh. Just as expected, since I am a student, the subsequent development of the story will ultimately be unable to avoid the school.
Will the story ultimately develop from the supernatural to suspense, then head back toward the supernatural once again?
“The non-existent thirteenth step, the sound of diving in the swimming pool at midnight, the abandoned old teaching building, the self-playing piano, the mannequins in the infirmary, the dark shadow knocking on doors in the dormitory building.” Hara Kenji listed the incredible legends he had inquired about one by one, as if he were reciting a menu.
Kisaragi Chiyo: ".."
"So many?" Kisaragi Chiyo let out a soft click of the tongue.
I've only been able to find six," Hara Kenji said with a shrug. "But I've visited all those places, I didn't find anything wrong with them.
In schools where stories like this unfold, problems usually only occur after school or at night," Kisaragi Chiyo felt a sudden sense of foreboding. "I have a feeling we won't be able to avoid making a trip to the school at night.
"If that's the case, then there will be seven to deal with." Hara Kenji did not forget to include that killer still hiding in the shadows.
Do you think there's a possibility.." As he spoke, he rubbed his chin, having come up with an idea: "What if we let the killer and the ghosts in the school fight it out, we just sit back and reap the benefits?
“I don't think it's that simple.” Kisaragi Chiyo always felt that the goal of that killer hiding in the shadows was not as simple as just wanting revenge against me.
If the killer is truly just holding a grudge against me for being a witness and letting him go to prison, then there would be absolutely no need for him to create two additional cases to draw the police's attention before making a move against me.
"Are you saying.. he has nothing to fear?" Hara Kenji stopped in his tracks. They had arrived at the fourth-floor office, since it was currently lunchtime, the faculty office was empty.
Kisaragi Chiyo successfully obtained the keys to the archives.
“Or is this precisely the psychological torture the killer is inflicting on [me]?” After thinking of this possibility, Hara Kenji's brow furrowed deeply. He lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the desks, discovered a leave application on one of them.
That leave of absence belonged to Yamae Namie. Looking at the date, it was from a week ago, the reason for the leave was to help her father, the shrine priest, host a ritual ceremony on that day.
Yamae's father is the shrine priest," Hara Kenji said to Kisaragi Chiyo with a wink. "Do you think it's possible that she could see things that ordinary people cannot?
"Perhaps?" In this Dreamscape, Kisaragi Chiyo had not yet encountered any non-humans other than Hara, so she had no idea whether Yamae Yamena could see special existences.
"Then let's get back to talking about the killer." Hara Kenji's interest quickly dissipated. Although the so-called campus supernatural incidents seemed tricky, compared to the killer hiding in the shadows, these paranormal events were actually easier to avoid.
"What do you think the killer did this for?" Hara Kenji still wanted to hear Kisaragi Chiyo's perspective.
"You have to understand that the feeling of being killed instantly with a single blow is different from being slowly sliced with a blunt blade." Kisaragi Chiyo stopped at the door of the archives and opened it with a key.
The archives were not located within the teaching building, so the two of them spent some time getting there. Fortunately, Hara Kenji had already scouted out the entire school in advance, which prevented them from wasting extra time by taking the wrong path.
Lunch break at Japanese schools lasts about an hour, so Kisaragi Chiyo and the others had to return the archive room keys before the lunch break ended.
"He thinks he's the hunter, I'm just prey who can only resist in vain before being slaughtered." Hara Kenji let out a cold laugh, then he snapped the archive room lights on.
So he has no intention of hiding his purpose; instead, he has high-handedly made it clear to me that he has returned, that those two homicides were a show of force, that I am the next one.
"And after that incident, I was diagnosed with a mental disorder.. Combined with the alternating reality and hallucinations, even if I told my parents or the police, they wouldn't necessarily believe what a mentally unstable kid says." Hara Kenji's voice was very soft. He lowered his eyes, his face expressionless, but Kisaragi Chiyo could sense a momentary scent of sadness emanating from him.
That was normal. Kisaragi Chiyo opened the computer, the dim light from the screen fell upon his cold, stern face.
Although they were called a Dreamscape, everything I experienced here was something that had actually happened in the past.
It was just that.. Kisaragi Chiyo's hand, which was gripping the mouse, paused for a moment. Her misty-gray eyes gazed at the text appearing on the computer's search page, she fell silent for a brief moment.
It was just that they didn't understand yet whose Dreamscape this actually was.. If it truly belonged to me, then it might mean that I had already met my end, Kisaragi Chiyo might also face my fate within the Dreamscape.
As for what happens upon death within the Dreamscape? None of them dared to guarantee it.
Beside him, Hara Kenji had clearly thought of this as well, making his already dark expression look even worse.
"Found them." The first things Kisaragi Chiyo searched for were the two homicides that occurred in the surrounding area after I transferred to the school.
The victims were all female, they were students from the same school.
According to the investigation report released by the police, the victims were not killed directly. The deceased's head had suffered a blow from a heavy object while still alive, after which the victim fell into a coma. It was during this period of unconsciousness that the killer cruelly slit the victim's throat, causing her to die from excessive blood loss.
Furthermore, in the crime scene report provided by the police, traces of the victim struggling multiple times were discovered; it is speculated that the killer might have intentionally let the victim go.
"What a disgusting scum." Hara Kenji showed an expression of extreme disgust after reading the report.
He's too practiced." Kisaragi Chiyo pointed out the problem in a calm tone. "I'm afraid he was like this from the very first time he killed, perhaps he even rehearsed before acting.. He's a complete natural-born sociopath.
Kisaragi Chiyo closed the search page and then opened the student files in the school's internal system.
Since the keys to the archives were always kept by the teachers, generally only school staff members who needed to use the archives or had the authority to query information were involved, the computer program had not been set with a password, which happened to be quite convenient for Kisaragi Chiyo.
He first carefully reviewed my student records, including my transfer history, all of which were written in very official language and did not mention the true reason for my transfer.
But all Kisaragi Chiyo truly wanted to find was the name of the school I had previously attended.
As long as the name of the school was known, searching for the incident that occurred back then would become much easier.
Kisaragi Chiyo found the reports on the original case in just a few strokes, upon checking the date, saw that it had already happened four years ago.
It's just as I thought." Kisaragi Chiyo read the report from beginning to end. "The MO is basically the same, except that compared to the latter two cases, the killer left quite a few obvious traces and clues during the first one, the victim.. was not killed while unconscious.
Looking at the words describing the violent struggle mentioned above, Kisaragi Chiyo felt a heavy weight in her heart.
“That's why the police were able to arrest the killer so quickly back then.” Looking at the crime scene photos, some parts of which were blurred, Hara Kenji realized the reason this report seemed so unprofessional was that it wasn't an official release, but rather from a private account, written in a rather gossipy tone.
"This report looks like it was written by a student from the same school as the deceased." Hara Kenji felt uncomfortable with some of the speculations in the report regarding the victim being killed out of jealousy, but from another perspective, the details revealed in this gossip piece written by someone from the same school were much more meticulous than the official reports.
For example, the deceased's relationships with classmates while they were alive..
"Wait a second." Hara Kenji pressed down on the hand Kisaragi Chiyo was using to hold the mouse.
Kisaragi," Hara Kenji said, narrowing his eyes slightly, "look here.
It was an ordinary photograph; unlike the previous crime scene photos that required heavy pixelation due to the large bloodstains remaining on them, this one appeared to be a display photo of the deceased's personal belongings.
They were all items left behind by the deceased on the seat, such as schoolbags and textbooks that hadn't been taken away yet.
With some unknown motive, he took these photos with a frivolous attitude.
But what caught Hara Kenji's attention was a furry keychain hanging from the deceased's schoolbag; its appearance was identical to the large-eyed frog he had discovered in the bedroom last night.
It seemed to be a threat, hinting at something.
Kisaragi," a bad hunch suddenly surfaced in Hara Kenji's mind, "find a photo of the first victim.
It wasn't a difficult task; photos of the deceased could be found in any previous articles that had reported on the case.
But as the photo of the victim loaded before them, a terrifying thought simultaneously struck both of them.
The victim in the photo was wearing a long-sleeved sailor uniform, with two braided pigtails hanging down over her chest, two dimples could be seen on her cheeks when she smiled.
"Yamae seems to be the same type as her." Kisaragi Chiyo had investigated the deceased's information; although it couldn't be said they were a hundred percent identical, Yamae and the deceased indeed shared the same personality—a bright, cheerful, popular figure on campus.
"Do you think Yamae will become his target?" Kisaragi Chiyo asked in a dry voice.
"I wasn't sure before," Hara Kenji and Kisaragi Chiyo exchanged a glance, both seeing the gravity in each other's eyes.
But now, I feel it is one hundred percent.
I knew it.." Kisaragi Chiyo reached up and tapped her forehead. "In my eyes, Yamae is a special existence, so in this Dreamscape, she must occupy a vital and key position.
"It is now known that the victim of the first case was my close friend." This fact was mentioned in that sensationalist report.
Then, after realizing the killer's hints, would I, who failed to save my friend, just stand by and let Yamae, who looks so much like my friend, walk into the same fate?
"No," Hara Kenji said in a decisive tone.
[I] will definitely find a way to protect Yamae.
"So, it's a conspiracy to kill two birds with one stone." Kisaragi Chiyo stared at the glaring lights of the ceiling and slowly closed her eyes.
“The killer is in no hurry to strike me; first, he is using various means to provoke my mental state, his next target isn't me, but Yamae.”
As Kisaragi Chiyo spoke, she tapped a key on the keyboard and played an audio clip; it was an interview from a media leak released after the killer's arrest.
[If you had the chance to do it all over again, would you still do it?]
Why not?" the killer said. "I will make it more perfect.
And now that the killer has a chance to make up for the imperfection of the first time, what are the chances that he will choose to let it pass?
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Author's Note: Thanks to all the little angels for your support, mwah 030