Not a detective

Page 56

He paused for a moment, then asked, "But... we only have seven incredible stories here, far from a hundred?"

"Because our school has a long history."

Chizuko wiped her mouth with tissues in both hands before saying, "I gathered this information from various rumors. Just over a decade ago, there were several ghost stories, such as 'The Walking Ninomiya Statue,' 'The Sound of Ball Bouncing in an Empty Gymnasium,' 'The Legend of the Slit-Mouthed Woman,' and 'Which Color Do You Like?' Some of them I can't even remember the details of."

"These ghost stories were once part of the Seven Mysteries, but they were replaced and updated to the latest version without us realizing it. This is because different eras have different trends, and students like different ghost stories, just like your story and mine, Asakawa-kun. There are also many older ghost stories that I can't even find out about anymore... With so many ghost stories iterating and being updated layer by layer, the current Seven Mysteries may be completely different from the original version. There may be as many as [a hundred] of them."

“This school has become a huge ‘incubator,’ where the end of each ghost story means that the storyteller has extinguished a light.”

"In the end, when all one hundred stories have been told, something extraordinary will surely emerge, and that will probably be the [Blue Lantern]."

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Thirteen - The Human Model in the Biology Classroom

"How can we solve the problem with Aoandon?" Unconsciously, Asakawa Riku's expression turned serious.

"Before asking this question, we must understand what kind of yokai Aoandon is. What I just said is only its origin and basis, but when we actually face it, we will face a completely different form. Aoandon is a yokai without a physical body or a fixed form. In other words, it has no weaknesses or things to fear."

Chizuko's fingers tapped repeatedly on the table, revealing her anxiety.

"Moreover, you must have felt the danger of the Blue Lantern. Its greatest ability is to materialize popular ghost stories into concrete monsters, like the 'Principle of Monster Birth,' a miniature model, but even more troublesome, because there is a barrier called 'Inspiration' between monsters and the ordinary world. As the world becomes more technologically advanced and modernized, people's superstitious beliefs are gradually broken down, and this barrier will be deepened. Ordinary people in modern times, like you, Asakawa-kun, cannot observe monsters."

"But Aoandon is different. The ghost stories she creates are not constrained by inspiration. Instead, they forcefully break through and intrude into the real world. Even if you, Asakawa-kun, don't have any inspiration, you can still see Hanako in the toilet. If it were an ordinary student, I probably wouldn't even have time to save her before I was dragged into the toilet and killed..."

In other words, "Hanako" is not Aoandon, but rather a kind of ghost story that is a personification of Aoandon.

Even if Hanako is defeated, Aoandon herself cannot be harmed.

Asakawa Riku was silent for a few seconds, then suggested, "What if we eliminate all six of those mysteries?"

“You’re right, I’m afraid this is the only way we can do it.” Chizuko nodded. “At least for now, we have to do this to eliminate the safety hazards and see what happens.”

The two hit it off immediately and decided on their direction.

They initially thought this incident was just an ordinary club activity, like a late-night adventure or a test of courage, but they never expected to discover a huge time bomb hidden in the school. Now they have to carefully defuse the bomb, or it will blow everyone into the air.

Before opening the activity room, Asakawa Riku called out to Chizuko:

"If the problem is too difficult, we can also ask your father for help."

When Kazamatsuri Akihisa came to visit, they exchanged contact information. After all, he was the current head priest and a powerful Onmyoji, so he might know how to deal with Aoandon.

But Chizuko turned her back to him and waved her hand dismissively: "I won't ask him for help... I want to prove that I have the ability to solve problems on my own."

"Chizuko".

"I already told you to use honorifics... what's wrong?"

Chizuko turned around and saw Asakawa Riku's unusually serious expression, so she asked.

Asakawa Riku stared at her and said, "Promise me that no other innocent students will be implicated or harmed, and then I can go along with your nonsense."

This is his principle.

"Well, Asakawa-san is really a kind and upright person."

Chizuko reluctantly raised her hand and said seriously, "Don't worry, as long as we choose to do it at night and there are no other students in the school, there will be no danger."

“Okay.” Asakawa Riku nodded in agreement. He was confident he could protect Chizuko-senpai if it was just her alone.

And so, evening quickly arrived...

...

The second of the seven incredible things on campus: the human body model in the biology classroom.

I saw that thing in Asakawa's terrestrial biology class. It was a life-size human model, just like those plastic mannequins in clothing stores, with white skin and torso.

However, the model's body is cut in a straight line from the top of the head to the hips. The left half is a normal model and skin, while the right half reveals the texture of the human body.

The shapes of muscles and bones, internal organs, and the direction of blood vessels are all clearly marked. The skull is also cut in two, with bloody eyeballs, gums, and corners of the mouth on the right.

This description might sound scary, but in reality, you won't feel anything when you pass by during the day, since everyone knows it's just a model.

But what if... the model came to life?

Half of it is a normal human, and the other half is a corpse that looks like a zombie monster. Such a thing walking around the campus at night is especially terrifying.

It is said that someone witnessed such a scene, which led to the spread of this strange tale.

Asakawa Riku and Chizuko followed yesterday's lead, hiding in the activity room until the school janitor and teachers had all patrolled before they came out to make their move.

The time on his phone was almost eight o'clock. Asakawa Riku recalled that at this time, high school campuses in China would probably still be brightly lit, but here it was deserted...

I couldn't help but sigh.

The school corridor was quiet, with only the two of them remaining. They walked and talked, discussing how to deal with the mannequin later.

"If it's a humanoid monster, it's easy to deal with. I can just go up and knock it down. If that doesn't work, I can disassemble the model and bury the parts separately."

Asakawa Riku clearly treated it as some kind of action game; he even had a plan for what to do if the model could come back to life.

"Okay, Asakawa-kun, you'll be in charge of the direct confrontation."

Chizuko could completely follow his train of thought and nodded in agreement.

In a way, their pairing perfectly matched the game's setup: a melee warrior and a ranged mage, even their combat styles were predetermined.

"If the mannequin cannot be easily defeated, it may contain strange elements. In that case, I can suppress it with exorcism magic. Needless to say, Kiku and Yamawaro will also help. In this way, it should be foolproof."

Although it appears to be just two people, they are actually accompanied by Chizuko's yokai "shikigami," making it a large-scale strategy team.

They walked through the corridor, went downstairs, and found the biology classroom, which was an inconspicuous classroom containing some experimental equipment, including microscopes and so on.

Riku Asakawa remembered that their biology teacher was a boring, serious, middle-aged man, but that didn't matter, since he wasn't here anyway.

Looking through the window, I saw that the biology classroom was empty, just a dark space with clean, tidy desks. The curtains weren't drawn, so moonlight streamed in.

The dim light illuminated the classroom, but the cold light made it seem even more eerie. Asakawa Riku suddenly widened his eyes because he noticed something unusual.

That strange mannequin was originally placed at the back of the classroom, essentially staring at the backs of the students' heads.

But now there's nothing there, it's completely empty.

Disappeared!

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Fourteen - Breaking Up

"The mannequin has started to wander around."

Chizuko quickly noticed the anomaly as well.

She walked to the front and back doors of the biology classroom and pulled on the doorknobs, but they were both locked. Could it be that the mannequin went out through the window?

Asakawa Riku didn't dwell on the mystery of the locked room. He immediately closed his eyes, stood still for a moment, and then quickened his pace, heading towards the end of the corridor.

"Hey... wait!" Chizuko followed quickly from behind.

"Look."

Asakawa Riku suddenly stopped, and the girl could only bump into his back to brake, rubbing her nose and glaring at him resentfully.

Then, following the finger's pointing finger, I looked out the window and saw the wandering mannequin.

Half human, half skeleton and muscle, that bizarre thing walks around the campus, its appearance sending chills down your spine.

From a distance, he looks like an ordinary person, but upon closer inspection, you'll notice something amiss: he's not wearing any clothes, and his walking posture is strange, with a limp.

"It must have sneaked out while we were hiding from the patrolling teachers."

After saying that, Asakawa Riku flipped over and jumped out of the window, seemingly without caring that he was on the second floor.

He landed smoothly with a thud, and Chizuko could only float down slowly on the ghost. The two of them quickly headed towards the model.

"Wait, let's observe first—"

Before Chizuko could finish her shout, Asakawa Riku, like a moving train, crashed into the model and sent it flying.

This is not an exaggerated metaphor; that is the first impression one gets: the model's torso shatters with a loud crash, followed by the boy who barely manages to come to a stop.

Chizuko looked around and, as expected, the commotion attracted attention. She noticed that the lights seemed to flicker in the guardhouse at the school gate in the distance.

There were security personnel on duty 24 hours a day at the school gate. He seemed to peek out and prepare to come over with a flashlight to check the situation.

"Oh no..." Chizuko immediately realized something was wrong.

Unlike yesterday's minor squabble in the girls' restroom, which was unlikely to be noticed, this was a full-blown fight on campus, and it would be terrible if they were discovered.

In the worst-case scenario, there is even the possibility of accidentally harming innocent people.

She turned around and shouted, "Hurry up and finish this, I'll figure out how to stop the others!"

“Okay—” Asakawa Riku responded, seemingly understanding the change in the battle situation.

So Chizuko summoned the ghost Okiku in an attempt to confuse the security guard who came to investigate, leaving only Asakawa Riku to fight the mannequin.

The battle did not end with the collision. Instead, the scattered human structures and organs trembled on the ground with a clattering sound, as if dancing in unison. They then gradually came together and reassembled into the shape of a human model, which stood upright again, its body contorted, before Asakawa Riku.

Although the neck was still slightly crooked, the torso uneven, and the limbs twisted, it was still a complete human form... only more bizarre than before.

"So it really will come back to life."

As he had anticipated, the model had a mechanism for continuous regeneration, just as the resurrected human model was inherently strange.

This is probably also thanks to "Blue Lantern," whose ghost stories are not so easy to deal with.

But Asakawa Riku didn't stop. He took another step forward, kicked the model that had just gathered together, pressed down on the guy's head, and dragged it along the floor all the way forward.

The model made a chilling sound as it rubbed against the ground, but for some reason its structure was unusually hard, and even the paint couldn't be worn off. In the end, it was thrown out like a ball.

It crashed into the wall in the distance and landed with a round, rolling motion.

In order to prevent Chizuko's efforts to stop the security guards from going to waste, Asakawa Riku deliberately led the battlefield deeper into the campus, that is, away from them.

He smashed the head a great distance, trying to see if the model could still be brought to life, but it clearly exceeded his expectations.

The scattered organs and limbs twisted and wriggled on the ground like crawling worms, quickly approaching the main body. Even the head rotated and rolled over on its own. In no time, it was pieced together and reassembled, returning to the original appearance of the model. Although it had been worn down by Asakawa Riku, it could still move.

"What incredible vitality..." he couldn't help but exclaim.

After enduring two attacks from Asakawa Riku, the human model did not choose to retaliate. After assembling its body, it began to slowly walk forward.

Although his steps became more unsteady, he did not stop, as if ignoring Asakawa Riku, and continued walking forward.

Asakawa Riku glanced back, but the direction he was looking towards was an empty campus, with no clear target... It seemed he was just "wandering".

He roughly figured out how the [Blue Lantern] works.

In other words, the rules that Aoandon sets for ghost stories are fixed. For example, Hanako will drag people into the toilet and kill them, so Hanako has a vicious and aggressive nature.

But the ghost stories about the mannequin only mention that it wanders around the campus, so it just wanders aimlessly, nothing more.

Therefore, these ghost stories are not monsters, but rather "summoned creatures" derived from the Aoandon. Unlike monsters, they do not possess their own consciousness and can only act according to rules.

It may seem harmless, but unfortunately, Asakawa Riku cannot let it go. After all, it is an essential part of eliminating Aoandon.

"If a classmate came back in the middle of the night to retrieve lost items, they might be traumatized by you, maybe even develop heart problems or something..."

Riku Asakawa found a suitable reason for himself, and then he punched the model.

The roar of the fist rang out again. Chizuko hadn't misread it; for the first time, he had unleashed his hidden strength, which had been holding back all along.

You can't go all out against humans, but against monsters, there's no need to hold back...

If Kasahara Shizue, who was being bullied, were standing here watching, he would be so shocked that he would be speechless.

"That's hardly a full-force punch!" That's what they'll definitely say.

Under Asakawa Riku's terrifying force, the human model was shattered time and time again, with small fragments of the heart, lungs, bones, and blood vessels flying everywhere.

Disassemble, then reassemble, and repeat this process.

The human model's body wasn't just made of plastic; it seemed to have been enhanced by the influence of ghost stories, making it as hard as steel. Even Asakawa Riku's fist had difficulty penetrating it in one go. The power of these monsters seemed to have been pulled to a bizarre level, and like Hanako, simply stopping its advance was not easy.

If an ordinary person were here, they would probably be helpless. Only Asakawa Riku could break it apart time and time again.

"what……!"

He seemed to be enjoying it.

Aoandon's Autumn: Chapter Fifteen - The Strange Fist

Before the battle began, Asakawa Riku thought that since his opponent was a humanoid monster, he would be easy to deal with.